Silent film star Mabel Normand died on February 23, 1930, after a short but stellar career as an actress, screenwriter, director and producer. She collaborated with Mack Sennett and appeared with Charlie Chaplin in a dozen films and Fatty Arbuckle in another 17. It was in one of those films, that she made cinematic history, in a scene that she became associated with for the rest of her career, when she received a pie in the face from Fatty Arbuckle.
This bit of slapstick became a staple in comic films from then on, and it is the rare comedian who has not received at least one pie in the face.
Pie throwing reached something of a peak in 1965 in the film The Great Race. In a technicolor pie fight scene that took five days and cost over $200,000 to film, a total 4,000 pies were hurled in just over four minutes.
Hanging Around in England
In November 1884, Ellen Keyse was found dead in the pantry of her 
Exeter, England, home. She had been beaten and her throat had been cut. John Lee, who worked for the wealthy victim was charged with the crime. The 19-year-old was found guilty and was sentenced to be hanged on February 23, 1885. On the day of his comeuppance, Lee was led to the gallows, where his executioners placed a noose around his neck. They pulled the lever that would release the floor under him and drop him to his death. The big oops: John Lee was not dispatched — red faces all around. The apparatus had been thoroughly tested the previous day and had been in fine working order. They tried once again. Nothing. And again. Still a no-go. Flabbergasted, they returned Lee to his prison cell, while they pondered the situation.
The authorities remained mystified, so they did what authorities often do when mystified. They attributed the malfunction to an act of God, and rather than risk God’s anger, they commuted his sentence and removed him from death row. He spent 22 years in prison, and upon being released, promptly set sail for America.
Wretched Richard's Almanac 