Some context: The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" - born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" - born November 20, 1939), American singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic guitar, Dick on string bass), which usually led to arguments between the siblings. Tommy's signature line was, "Mom always liked you best!" Tommy (the elder of the two) acted "slow", and Dick, the straight man, acted "superior".
The brothers were both born on Governors Island in New York Harbor, where their father, Thomas B. Smothers, Jr., a West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, was stationed. Tom was born on February 2, 1937, and Dick was born on November 20, 1939. Major Smothers served in the 45th Infantry Regiment (United States) and died during World War II, while being transported from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Fukuoka, Japan, to a POW camp in Mukden, Manchukuo. They were raised by their mother in the Los Angeles area.  They graduated from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California, and attended San Jose State University. After a brief time in a folk group called the Casual Quintet, the brothers made their first professional appearance as a duo in February 1959 at The Purple Onion in San Francisco. They were a popular act in clubs and released several successful top 40 albums for Mercury Records, the most successful being Curb Your Tongue, Knave! in 1964. Their first national television appearance was on The Jack Paar Show on January 28, 1961.  The brothers appeared in a segment of the television series Burke's Law, in 1964, in which they played two compulsive hoarders. Their first television series was a situation comedy, The Smothers Brothers Show (1965-1966). Tom played an angel come back to earth to oversee his brother Dick, who played a swinging bachelor. It did not do well in the ratings and had little of the music that was identified with the brothers. Tom would say in 1969 that "Four Star gave me ulcers."
When did they start coming on TV?
A: Their first national television appearance was on The Jack Paar Show on January 28, 1961.
Some context: Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in his grandparents' house on 16 June 1890 at 3 Argyle Street, Ulverston, Lancashire in north west England. He had two brothers and a sister. His parents, Margaret (nee Metcalfe) and Arthur Jefferson, were both active in the theatre and always very busy. In his early years, the boy spent much time living with his maternal grandmother, Sarah Metcalfe.
In 1941, Laurel and Hardy signed a contract at 20th Century Fox to make ten films over five years. During the war years, their work became more standardised and less successful, though The Bullfighters and Jitterbugs did receive some praise.  In 1947, Laurel returned to England when he and Hardy went on a six-week tour of the United Kingdom, and the duo were mobbed wherever they went. Laurel's homecoming to Ulverston took place in May, and the duo were greeted by thousands of fans outside the Coronation Hall. The Evening Mail noted: "Oliver Hardy remarked to our reporter that Stan had talked about Ulverston for the past 22 years and he thought he had to see it." The tour included a Royal Command Performance for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in London. The success of the tour led them to spend the next seven years touring the UK and Europe.  Around this time, Stan found out that he had diabetes, so he encouraged Ollie to find solo projects and he did, taking parts in John Wayne and Bing Crosby films.  In 1950, Laurel and Hardy were invited to France to make a feature film. The film was a disaster, a Franco-Italian co-production titled Atoll K. (The film was entitled Utopia in the US and Robinson Crusoeland in the UK.) Both stars were noticeably ill during the filming. Upon returning to the United States, they spent most of their time recovering. In 1952, Laurel and Hardy toured Europe successfully, and they returned in 1953 for another tour of the continent. During this tour, Laurel fell ill and was unable to perform for several weeks.  In May 1954, Hardy had a heart attack and cancelled the tour. In 1955, they were planning to do a television series called Laurel and Hardy's Fabulous Fables based on children's stories. The plans were delayed after Laurel suffered a stroke on 25 April 1955, from which he recovered. But as the team was planning to get back to work, his partner Hardy had a massive stroke on 14 September 1956, which resulted in his being unable to return to acting.
how was he involved with 20th Century Fox
A: Laurel and Hardy signed a contract at 20th Century Fox to make ten films over five years.
Some context: The Menominee (also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People;" known as Mamaceqtaw, "the people," in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized nation of Native Americans, with a 353.894 sq mi (916.581 km2) reservation in Wisconsin. Their historic territory originally included an estimated 10 million acres (40,000 km2) in present-day Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The tribe currently has about 8,700 members. The tribe was terminated in the 1950s under federal policy of the time which stressed assimilation.
In 1634, the Menominee and Ho-Chunk people (along with a band of Potawatomi who had recently moved into Wisconsin) witnessed the French explorer Jean Nicolet's approach and landing. Red Banks, near the present-day city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, later developed in this area. Nicolet, looking for a Northwest Passage to China, hoped to find and impress the Chinese. As the canoe approached the shore, Nicolet put on a silk Chinese ceremonial robe, stood up in the middle of the canoe and shot off two pistols.  For at least forty years in the 20th century, this event was presented in a biased fashion to elementary school students studying Wisconsin history. The Native people were said to fear "the light-skinned man who could make thunder." John Boatman has said it was more likely the native people feared for the light-skinned man, as he had demonstrated questionable mental faculties. Anyone with local knowledge would know better than to stand up in a canoe on the choppy waters of Green Bay.  Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), a French Catholic clergyman, professor, historian, author and explorer, kept a detailed journal of his travels through Wisconsin and Louisiana. In 1721 he came upon the Menominee, whom he referred to as Malhomines ("peuples d'avoines" or (Wild Oat Indians), which the French had adapted from an Ojibwe term:  After we had advanced five or six leagues, we found ourselves abreast of a little island, which lies near the western side of the bay, and which concealed from our view, the mouth of a river, on which stands the village of the Malhomines Indians, called by our French "peuples d'avoines" or Wild Oat Indians, probably from their living chiefly on this sort of grain. The whole nation consists only of this village, and that too not very numerous. 'Tis really great pity, they being the finest and handsomest men in all Canada. They are even of a larger stature than the Potawatomi. I have been assured that they had the same original and nearly the same languages with the Noquets, and the Indians at the Falls.
where did the encounter take place?
A:
Red Banks, near the present-day city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, later developed in this area.