Another reason to be cheerful -
Summer begins in 58 days!
April 23, 1896 -
Thomas Edison presented the first publically-projected Vitascope motion picture (with hand-tinting) in the US to a paying American audience on a screen, at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City (at 34th Street and Broadway), with his latest invention - the projecting kinetoscope or Vitascope.
Customers watched the Edison Company's Vitascope project a ballet sequence in an amusement arcade during a vaudeville act.
April 23, 1931 -
William A. Wellman pre-code crime drama masterpiece, The Public Enemy, starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, Edward Woods, Donald Cook, and Joan Blondell premiered in the NYC on this date.
Because of the famous grapefruit scene, for years afterward when dining in restaurants, fellow patrons would send grapefruit to James Cagney, which--almost invariably--Cagney would happily eat.
April 23, 1947 -
Carol Reed's IRA drama Odd Man Out starring James Mason, Robert Newton, and Cyril Cusack premiered in the US on this date.
Richard Burton recorded in his diary a story he had heard Stewart Granger tell frequently about the movie: offered the lead role, Granger skimmed through the script, saw how little dialogue he had and rejected it, realizing his mistake later when the film transformed James Mason's career.
April 23, 1953 -
George Stevens iconic western, Shane, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, and Jack Palance, premiered in New York City on this date.
Jean Arthur, then aged 50, came out of semi-retirement to play Marian Starrett, largely as a favor to her friend, director George Stevens. She would retire completely from the film business after this picture.
April 23, 1958 -
Orson Welles' noir thriller Touch of Evil, starring Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, was released on this date.
Orson Welles initially despised the title Touch of Evil, having had nothing to do with its conception. Over the years, however, he grew to like it, and eventually considered it the best title out of all his films.
April 23, 1971 -
The Rolling Stones, released their 9th British (and 11th American) studio album, Sticky Fingers on their brand new label, Rolling Stones Records, on this date.
The album cover was designed by Andy Warhol. It was a close-up photo of a man wearing tight jeans, and contained a real zipper. (It was rumored that the man wearing the tight jeans was Mick Jagger. It actual was Joe Dallesandro, one of Warhol's Superstars.) This caused considerable problems in shipping, but was the kind of added value that made the album much more desirable (you don't get this kind of stuff with CDs or downloads). Sticky Fingers also marked the first appearance of the famous tongue and lips logo, which was printed on the inner sleeve. The logo was designed by John Pasche, who was fresh out of art school (the Royal College of Art in London).
The Stones liked this date so much that Black and Blue, their 13th British and 15th American studio album was released on this date, in 1976.
Hot Stuff was the working title for the album until they decided on Black And Blue.
April 23, 1976 -
Sire Records released The Ramones eponymous debut album, which arguably ushered in the punk rock era, on this date.
The album took seven days to make and cost $6,400, while its iconic front cover – depicting the band standing against a brick wall – was taken by renowned punk photographer Roberta Bayley and cost the record company just $125.
April 23, 1977 -
Please get ready to shake your groove thang - Thelma Houston's remake of the song, Don’t Leave Me This Way reached no.1 on the Billboard charts on this date.
This song was originally recorded by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes with a soulful lead vocal by Teddy Pendergrass. Released on their 1975 album Wake Up Everybody, it wasn't issued as a single in America.
April 23, 1988 -
... There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it's all dark....
Pink Floyd's album Dark Side Of The Moon, after spending the record total of 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200, left the charts for its first time ever.
How did they ever make ends meet?
April 23, 2001 -
Fatboy Slim releases single Weapon of Choice, music video directed by Spike Jonze starring Christopher Walken dancing.
The video was shot over two days in the lobby of a Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles shortly before Christmas in 2000. The video won six MTV Video Music awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography.
Today's moment of Zen
Today in History:
April 23, 303 -
St George, the future patron saint of England, literally lost his head when he annoyed the Emperor Diocletian so much that the emperor had him separated from his head.
According to legend, George, saved a Libyan king's daughter (Cleodolinda) from a fiery dragon.
You'd think people would be more patient with a local dragon slayer.
William Shakespeare was born on this date in 1564 and wrote a lot of plays then died in the
end—on April 23, 1616.
His accomplishments are all the more remarkable when you consider that he died on the same day he’d been born.
April 23, 1616 -
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra died the very same day as Shakespeare. Mr. Cervantes was a brilliant Spanish humorist, best known for his novel Don Quixote, in which an old man suffering from acute mental illness rides around the Spanish countryside hallucinating, then dies.
Sometimes that's all there is.
April 23, 1867 -
The Zoetrope was patented (#64,117) by William E. Lincoln of Providence, Rhode Island on this date. The device was the first animated picture machine.
It provided an animation sequence of pictures lining the inside wall of a shallow cylinder, with vertical slits between the images. By spinning the cylinder and looking through the slits, a repeating loop of a moving image could be viewed .
April 23, 1899 -
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.
(This is some kind of trifecta for writers.) Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, writer and avid butterfly collector, was born in Saint Petersburg on this date. His work included Lolita, Pnin and Pale Fire.
April 23, 1936 -
I close my eyes, then I drift away, into the magic night I softly say. A silent prayer, like dreamers do, then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you.
Roy Orbison, the coolest singer in sunglasses,was born on this date. (Luxuriate in the voluptuousness of despair.)
April 23, 1940 -
A fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez, Mississippi on this date. More than 200 people died, making it one of the worst fires in US history at the time.
News of the tragedy reverberated throughout the country, especially among the African American community, and blues performers have recorded memorial songs such as The Natchez Burning and The Mighty Fire ever since.
April 23, 1967 -
The USSR launched Soyuz One on this date.
The next day, forced to return to earth, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov became the first casualty of space flight when his capsule's parachute opened improperly.
Oops.
April 23, 1968 -
Students at Columbia University in New York City begin a week long occupation of several campus buildings protesting the Universities affiliation with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a weapons research think-tank affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, on this date.
Students had been demonstrating earlier in March but the Columbia Administration had placed on probation six anti-war Columbia student activists for violating the ban on indoor demonstrations, which in turn caused the students to become more hard line in their protests.
April 23, 1975 -
At a speech at Tulane University, President Gerald Ford says the Vietnam War is finished as far as America is concerned, on this date. “Today, Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by re-fighting a war.”
This was devastating news to the South Vietnamese, who were desperately pleading for U.S. support as the North Vietnamese surrounded Saigon for the final assault on the capital city. I don't think this worked out well, all around.
April 23, 1985 -
Coca-Cola changed its classic formula and released New Coke on this date.
The response was overwhelmingly negative, and the real thing was back on the market in less than three months. If only the public had the same response when they removed the cocaine from the formula!
April 23, 2005 -
The first video uploaded to YouTube, entitled Me at the zoo, made its online debut on this date. The 19-second video was shot by Yakov Lapitsky and shows YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo.
It racked up 19 million views in its first ten years online. It currently has over 90 million views.
And so it goes.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Monday, April 22, 2024
The Earth is what we all have in common.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.
Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment.
Happy Earth Day!
Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
So perhaps you're ready to brave to great outdoors, with or withour your mask and hug a tree.
If you don't want to be this familiar with nature, give a deep bow to your house plants.
April 22, 1939 -
Warner Bros. released the film, Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis (in one of her favorite roles) and George Brent (her favorite actor with whom she had an affair) on this date.
Bette Davis pestered Warner Brothers to buy the rights to the story, thinking it a great vehicle for her. WB studio chief Jack L. Warner fought against it, arguing that no one wanted to see someone go blind. Of course, the film went on to become one of the studio's biggest successes of that year.
April 22, 1942 -
One of Hitchcock's brilliant World War II efforts (and with his first all-American cast), Saboteur, premiered in Washington D.C. on this date.
When the French liner, the S.S. Normandie burned and partially sank in New York City harbor, Alfred Hitchcock quickly dispatched a Universal newsreel crew to the scene to get footage that he incorporated into this movie, intercut with studio shots of the saboteur smiling from the back seat of a taxi as he looks out on the supposedly sabotaged ship.
April 22, 1953 -
Twentieth Century Fox releases the surrealistic science fiction film Invaders from Mars, directed by William Cameron Menzies on this date.
The genesis of this film was when the wife of writer John Tucker Battle woke him up one morning to recount a vivid and disturbing dream she had of Martians invading Earth. He had her tell him as much as she could recall, and he developed the rest of the story from there.
April 22, 1966 -
The Troggs' (who were originally called The Troglodytes) song, Wild Thing was released in the U.S. on this date.
The song went on to reach No.1. Fronted by Reg Presley, Wild Thing became a major influence on garage rock and punk rock.
April 22, 1974 -
Maude and Walter finally leave Tuckahoe, New York and moves to Washington D.C. when she was elected as a congresswoman during the last episode of Maude, Maude's Big Move, aired on CBS TV on this date.
The producers of Maude liked the idea of a show centered around a new Congressional representative (even though they had watched a D.C.-politics show called All's Fair from their studio barely make it through the 1976-77 season) and remade this show three times. The first was the pilot for Onward and Upward, starring John Amos as the Congressman. Amos, who had quit Good Times after its third season, quit this series before any new shows could be made. The next try was called Mr. Dugan (after a couple of name changes) and scheduled for a limited run in 1979 with Cleavon Little in the title role. For third try the producers moved the whole show to a college campus, Hanging In, added a fifth character named Rita (Darrian Matthias) as a wide-eyed student assistant. They also picked up Bill Macy in the lead role and filmed four shows. They aired on CBS-TV in August 1979 and sank into obscurity.
April 22, 1978 -
The Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) make their debut on Saturday Night Live, on this date, later becoming the first characters from the show to get their own movie.
Steve Martin performs King Tut on the same Saturday Night Live episode, popularizing goofy Egyptian dancing.
The song, which portrays the pharaoh as his "favorite honky," goes on to sell over 500,000 copies.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
April 22, 1451 -
Isabella I, Queen of Castille, was born on this date. She also became the Queen of Aragon in 1479.
She was Christopher Columbus' patron, and must therefore share some of the responsibility for the many thousands of casinos across America.
April 22, 1500 -
Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, on a voyage to India, sails far to the southwest and discovers Brazil, claiming it for Portugal. The indigenous people of the area may have had something to say about it but as historian Eddie Izzard has observed, "...they didn't have a flag."
The land was first visited earlier in the year by a Spaniard, Vicente Yanes Pinzon, but in his rush to get two-for-one Caipirinhas, he left his flag on-board ship and failed to claim it for Spain.
April 22, 1870 -
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born on this date He later became Lenin, invented the Communist Party in Russia and made himself first Head Bastard of the Soviet Union.
It's interesting to note that Alexander Kerensky, the leader of Russia's provisional revolutionary government in 1917 until overthrown by Lenin, was born on the same day as Lenin, only eleven years later.
Well, it's interesting to some people.
April 22, 1886 -
Ohio passes a statute that makes seduction unlawful, on this date. Covering all men over the age of 18 who worked as teachers or instructors of women, this law even prohibited men from having consensual sex with women (of any age) whom they were instructing.
The penalty for disobeying this law ranged from two to 10 years in prison. So watch it, Bub!
April 22, 1904 -
Robert Oppenheimer was born on this date. Mr. Oppenheimer is known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb.
The bomb's mother has never been identified to anyone's satisfaction, which only underscores the lax security at Los Alamos.
April 22, 1923 -
I never kept up with the fashions. I believed in wearing what I thought looked good on me..
Bettie Mae Page was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on this date.
April 22, 1946 -
The rudest possible gift is a gift card. It means you think the person is stupid and has no interests. The only good gift card is Bitcoin. You practically have to be a hacker to know about it.
John Waters, film director, actor, raconteur, and the owner of the world's greatest pencil-thin mustache was born on this date.
April 22, 1950 -
Peter Frampton, musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, was born on this date.
If you were a teenager in the mid 70s, you were issued your standard copy of Frampton Comes Alive to face your 'awkward' years. (Mr. Frampton appears doing well these days and has continued his farewell tour.)
April 22, 1952 -
About 200 reporters from across the country gathered on a mound of volcanic rock on the edge of Yucca Lake in Nevada, on this date, to witness the detonation of a nuclear bomb, Operation Big Shot, once again, on United States soil.
Such tests had been in operation for more than a year, but for the first time, the press had been invited to record and broadcast the nuclear explosion.
April 22, 1964 -
President Johnson opened the New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow, Corona Park, New York, on this date.
The Fair also is remembered as the vehicle Walt Disney utilized to design and perfect the system of "audio-animatronics," in which a combination of sound and computers control the movement of life-like robots to act out scenes. In the It's a Small World attraction at the Pepsi pavilion, animated dolls and animals frolicked in a spirit of racially-insensitive unity on a boat-ride around the world.
Once the fair was over, Walt feverishly pushed his Imagineers to build him an 'actual' President. Historians argue that this was the beginning of Ronald Reagan campaign for the Presidency.
April 22, 1994 -
Richard M. Nixon suffered a fatal stroke on this date. His body was laid to rest in the unhallowed grounds of his Presidential Library.
His head was severed from his body and wooden stakes were driven through his heart to make sure he was dead.
Before you go: Passover starts tonight - please bone up on those four questions.
Remember you will not be graded on a curve!
While it's not as bad as not finding the missing easter egg, by all means, please find the Afikoman, (no one wants to accidentally eat a piece of exceptionally stale cracker.)
And so it goes.
Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment.
Happy Earth Day!
Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
So perhaps you're ready to brave to great outdoors, with or withour your mask and hug a tree.
If you don't want to be this familiar with nature, give a deep bow to your house plants.
April 22, 1939 -
Warner Bros. released the film, Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis (in one of her favorite roles) and George Brent (her favorite actor with whom she had an affair) on this date.
Bette Davis pestered Warner Brothers to buy the rights to the story, thinking it a great vehicle for her. WB studio chief Jack L. Warner fought against it, arguing that no one wanted to see someone go blind. Of course, the film went on to become one of the studio's biggest successes of that year.
April 22, 1942 -
One of Hitchcock's brilliant World War II efforts (and with his first all-American cast), Saboteur, premiered in Washington D.C. on this date.
When the French liner, the S.S. Normandie burned and partially sank in New York City harbor, Alfred Hitchcock quickly dispatched a Universal newsreel crew to the scene to get footage that he incorporated into this movie, intercut with studio shots of the saboteur smiling from the back seat of a taxi as he looks out on the supposedly sabotaged ship.
April 22, 1953 -
Twentieth Century Fox releases the surrealistic science fiction film Invaders from Mars, directed by William Cameron Menzies on this date.
The genesis of this film was when the wife of writer John Tucker Battle woke him up one morning to recount a vivid and disturbing dream she had of Martians invading Earth. He had her tell him as much as she could recall, and he developed the rest of the story from there.
April 22, 1966 -
The Troggs' (who were originally called The Troglodytes) song, Wild Thing was released in the U.S. on this date.
The song went on to reach No.1. Fronted by Reg Presley, Wild Thing became a major influence on garage rock and punk rock.
April 22, 1974 -
Maude and Walter finally leave Tuckahoe, New York and moves to Washington D.C. when she was elected as a congresswoman during the last episode of Maude, Maude's Big Move, aired on CBS TV on this date.
The producers of Maude liked the idea of a show centered around a new Congressional representative (even though they had watched a D.C.-politics show called All's Fair from their studio barely make it through the 1976-77 season) and remade this show three times. The first was the pilot for Onward and Upward, starring John Amos as the Congressman. Amos, who had quit Good Times after its third season, quit this series before any new shows could be made. The next try was called Mr. Dugan (after a couple of name changes) and scheduled for a limited run in 1979 with Cleavon Little in the title role. For third try the producers moved the whole show to a college campus, Hanging In, added a fifth character named Rita (Darrian Matthias) as a wide-eyed student assistant. They also picked up Bill Macy in the lead role and filmed four shows. They aired on CBS-TV in August 1979 and sank into obscurity.
April 22, 1978 -
The Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) make their debut on Saturday Night Live, on this date, later becoming the first characters from the show to get their own movie.
Steve Martin performs King Tut on the same Saturday Night Live episode, popularizing goofy Egyptian dancing.
The song, which portrays the pharaoh as his "favorite honky," goes on to sell over 500,000 copies.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
April 22, 1451 -
Isabella I, Queen of Castille, was born on this date. She also became the Queen of Aragon in 1479.
She was Christopher Columbus' patron, and must therefore share some of the responsibility for the many thousands of casinos across America.
April 22, 1500 -
Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, on a voyage to India, sails far to the southwest and discovers Brazil, claiming it for Portugal. The indigenous people of the area may have had something to say about it but as historian Eddie Izzard has observed, "...they didn't have a flag."
The land was first visited earlier in the year by a Spaniard, Vicente Yanes Pinzon, but in his rush to get two-for-one Caipirinhas, he left his flag on-board ship and failed to claim it for Spain.
April 22, 1870 -
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born on this date He later became Lenin, invented the Communist Party in Russia and made himself first Head Bastard of the Soviet Union.
It's interesting to note that Alexander Kerensky, the leader of Russia's provisional revolutionary government in 1917 until overthrown by Lenin, was born on the same day as Lenin, only eleven years later.
Well, it's interesting to some people.
April 22, 1886 -
Ohio passes a statute that makes seduction unlawful, on this date. Covering all men over the age of 18 who worked as teachers or instructors of women, this law even prohibited men from having consensual sex with women (of any age) whom they were instructing.
The penalty for disobeying this law ranged from two to 10 years in prison. So watch it, Bub!
April 22, 1904 -
Robert Oppenheimer was born on this date. Mr. Oppenheimer is known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb.
The bomb's mother has never been identified to anyone's satisfaction, which only underscores the lax security at Los Alamos.
April 22, 1923 -
I never kept up with the fashions. I believed in wearing what I thought looked good on me..
Bettie Mae Page was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on this date.
April 22, 1946 -
The rudest possible gift is a gift card. It means you think the person is stupid and has no interests. The only good gift card is Bitcoin. You practically have to be a hacker to know about it.
John Waters, film director, actor, raconteur, and the owner of the world's greatest pencil-thin mustache was born on this date.
April 22, 1950 -
Peter Frampton, musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, was born on this date.
If you were a teenager in the mid 70s, you were issued your standard copy of Frampton Comes Alive to face your 'awkward' years. (Mr. Frampton appears doing well these days and has continued his farewell tour.)
April 22, 1952 -
About 200 reporters from across the country gathered on a mound of volcanic rock on the edge of Yucca Lake in Nevada, on this date, to witness the detonation of a nuclear bomb, Operation Big Shot, once again, on United States soil.
Such tests had been in operation for more than a year, but for the first time, the press had been invited to record and broadcast the nuclear explosion.
April 22, 1964 -
President Johnson opened the New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow, Corona Park, New York, on this date.
The Fair also is remembered as the vehicle Walt Disney utilized to design and perfect the system of "audio-animatronics," in which a combination of sound and computers control the movement of life-like robots to act out scenes. In the It's a Small World attraction at the Pepsi pavilion, animated dolls and animals frolicked in a spirit of racially-insensitive unity on a boat-ride around the world.
Once the fair was over, Walt feverishly pushed his Imagineers to build him an 'actual' President. Historians argue that this was the beginning of Ronald Reagan campaign for the Presidency.
April 22, 1994 -
Richard M. Nixon suffered a fatal stroke on this date. His body was laid to rest in the unhallowed grounds of his Presidential Library.
His head was severed from his body and wooden stakes were driven through his heart to make sure he was dead.
Before you go: Passover starts tonight - please bone up on those four questions.
Remember you will not be graded on a curve!
While it's not as bad as not finding the missing easter egg, by all means, please find the Afikoman, (no one wants to accidentally eat a piece of exceptionally stale cracker.)
And so it goes.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
I'm tired
(Yesterday was a tough day. And I'm glad I'm the other side of it.)
April 21, 1930 -
Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, starring Louis Wolheim, and Lew Ayres, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.
Lewis Milestone deliberately made the film without music so as not to take away from the seriousness of the subject. Much to his chagrin, however, some movie theaters added music in of their own choosing, as they weren't used to having films delivered to them without any form of background scoring.
April 21, 1951 -
Les Paul and Mary Ford topped the charts with their hit of the classic How High the Moon on this date.
Although it was written by lyricist Nancy Hamilton and composer Morgan Lewis for the 1940 musical Two For The Show, the definitive version of How High The Moon was recorded by the husband and wife team of Les Paul and Mary Ford. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979.
April 21, 1974 -
Julie and Dick In Covent Garden, a music and comedy special starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with Carl Reiner, premieres on ABC-TV on this date.
The program was directed by Blake Edwards, (Julie Andrews' husband). Edwards also directed Andrews in The Tamarind Seed that year.
April 21, 1975 -
Teenages everywhere have themselves a good cry when Eric Carmen's song, (a mash-up of his own song, Let's Pretend and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18,) All By Myself entered the charts on this date.
When he wrote this, Carmen thought the Rachmaninoff music was in the public domain, meaning he could use it free of charge. After this song came out, he found out it wasn't and agreed to a settlement with the Rachmaninoff estate.
April 21, 1979 -
Amii Stewart cover of Eddie Floyd's song Knock on Wood went no. #1 on the Billboard chart on this date.
It was the only hit for Stewart, who was also a dancer and actress - she starred in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar.
April 21, 1981 -
Weird Al Yankovic made his first national television appearance on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
He never receives royalties from the single's initial release because the record company has gone bankrupt.
April 21, 1982 -
The DJs at WKRP spun their last platter when the final episode of the original WKRP in Cincinnati series, Up and Down the Dial aired on CBS TV on this date.
The show was famous for playing music of up-and-coming bands. Many artists have said that their music being on the show helped their popularity, including Blondie, U2, The Cars, TOTO, The Knack, and Devo. Blondie was so grateful for the show making their song, Heart of Glass, a hit that they gave their Gold Record to the producers. It's hanging in the WKRP bullpen in seasons 2 to 4.
April 21, 1986 –
Geraldo Rivera hosted a live, highly promoted two-hour syndicated special from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault, on this date.
Internal Revenue Service agents and a medical examiner stood at the ready should any cash or corpse lay inside. When demolition crews finally made their way inside the only contents were a dirt pile and a bottle of bathtub gin. The hype generated a record rating of 57 with an estimated audience of 30,000,000. The term "Al Capone's Vault" has come to mean any over-hyped event that leads to nothing.
April 21, 1989 -
The film grown men openly wept watching - Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster, premiered on this date.
Burt Lancaster was unaware that Timothy Busfield was part of the cast and had him fetching water and chairs before realizing Busfield was going to be in the scene with him.
April 21, 1990 -
The day after all your 420 celebrations, the largest anti-drug PSA effort in history: the Saturday morning simulcast of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue broadcast on the ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox networks respectively.
This monumental anti-drug (and, to a lesser extent, anti-alcohol) collaboration came at the apex of Nancy Reagan's "just say no!" era.
April 21, 1990 -
Sinead O'Connor's cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2U, went to No 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.
The attention from the song hitting no. 1 had some deleterious effects on the singer. Sinead O'Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization of her music. Nothing Compares 2 U earned her a Grammy for Best Alternative Performance (it was also nominated for Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video) but she rejected the award along with all others offered to her, and refused to appear at the ceremony in protest of materialism in the music industry. O'Connor believed she was being honored for putting up impressive sales figures, not for her art. She wanted no part of it.
Prince wrote and recorded this song in 1984, but didn't release it. He did release a live version with Rosie Gaines on his 1993 album The Hits/The B-Sides, but his original solo recording didn't appear until 2018, when his estate released it from the vault. His version is guitar-based, with more of a rock feel. (Unfortunately, Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, on this date in 2016.)
Did you make it through Jimmy Scott's version without crying? Stronger people than you couldn't.
April 21, 1995 -
Buena Vista released the rom-com, While You Were Sleeping, starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, and Jack Warden on this date.
The role of Lucy was written for Demi Moore. Sandra Bullock took the role, saying she could relate to it having just broken up from a four-year relationship.
April 21, 2005 -
Paul Haggis' film Crash starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe premiered at the Newport Beach International Film Festival on this date.
With only a budget of $6 million for this film, director Paul Haggis had to cut the costs by using his own house for scenes and even his own car for other scenes.
Another bookfrom the back shelves of The ACME Library
Today in History:
April 21, 753 BC -
Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome by Romulus and his brother, Remus, as a refuge for runaway slaves and murderers who captured the neighboring Sabine women for wives (they are hoping to finish building it any day now.)
But since the Gregorian Calendar was just a gleam in Pope Gregory eye - who knows. But by all means, please bring enough lubricant with you to the commemorative orgy tonight.
April 21, 1526 -
Mongol Emperor Zahir-ud-din Babur annihilated Indian Army of Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.
Babur, King of Kabul, established in this year the Mughal dynasty at Delhi. Also, Babur's guns proved decisive in battle, firstly because Ibrahim lacked any field artillery, as well as, the sound of the cannon frightened Ibrahim's elephants, causing them to trample his own men.
But what the hell do you care, you don't own elephants.
April 21,1792 -
Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was having an extremely bad day. The Portuguese rulers of Brazil were not happy with his seditious talk of independence. Tiradentes was hung in Rio de Janeiro on this date. His body was broken into pieces.
With his blood, a document was written declaring his memory infamous. His head was exposed in Vila Rica. Pieces of his body were exposed in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio, in an attempt to scare the people who had listened to the independence ideas of Tiradentes.
He began to be considered a national hero by the republicans in the late 19th century, and after the republic was proclaimed in Brazil in 1889 the anniversary of his death (April 21) became a national holiday.
April 21, 1836 -
With the battle cry, 'Remember the Alamo!' Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, assuring Texas independence .
According to legend, Santa Anna was astride a mulatto, or "yellow" prostitute, Emily Morgan, who came to be celebrated in song as The Yellow Rose of Texas.
Now you know.
April 21, 1910 -
Halley's comet reappeared on this date. It had been last seen in 1835, the year Samuel Clemens was born.
The Earth passes safely through the comet's tail with no perceptible effect, of course, not counting the death of Mark Twain on this date. Twain wrote on his deathbed in Memorandum, "Death the only immortal who treats us all alike whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all-the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved."
This time, the reports were not exaggerated.
April 21, 1918 -
German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as The Red Baron, was shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France on this date.
There is no truth to the rumor that Snoopy fired the fatal shot.
The following people were born on this day:
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (1926),
James Newell Osterberg (1947),
Patti Ann LuPone (1949),
Anthony Salvatore Iadanza (1951),
and Robert Smith (1959)
Make of this coincidence what you will
April 21, 1932 -
As a woman, they think I want to show that I'm a nice person. I'm no one to be feared. When it comes down to it in the end, you're just as rotten as any guy. You'll fight just as hard to get your way..
Elaine May, one of the funniest human being who ever lived, was born on this date.
April 21, 1962 -
President John F. Kennedy took time out of his busy schedule, of engaging in sexual congress with starlets and interns, two, three at a time, to push a button in Palm Beach, Florida and officially open the Top of the Needle (the first revolving restaurant in the United States,) atop the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington on this date.
The President was so high on pain killers that he did not realize that he wasn't in Seattle at the time.
April 21, 1997 -
The ashes of Timothy Leary and Gene Roddenberry were launched into orbit (this marked the beginning of the space funeral industry,) on this date.
I guess this is the highest Dr. Leary will ever get.
April 21, 2003 -
Nina Simone, dubbed the high priestess of soul, died in France on this date.
Kids go out and buy one of her CD's, your life will be better for it.
And so it goes.
April 21, 1930 -
Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, starring Louis Wolheim, and Lew Ayres, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.
Lewis Milestone deliberately made the film without music so as not to take away from the seriousness of the subject. Much to his chagrin, however, some movie theaters added music in of their own choosing, as they weren't used to having films delivered to them without any form of background scoring.
April 21, 1951 -
Les Paul and Mary Ford topped the charts with their hit of the classic How High the Moon on this date.
Although it was written by lyricist Nancy Hamilton and composer Morgan Lewis for the 1940 musical Two For The Show, the definitive version of How High The Moon was recorded by the husband and wife team of Les Paul and Mary Ford. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979.
April 21, 1974 -
Julie and Dick In Covent Garden, a music and comedy special starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with Carl Reiner, premieres on ABC-TV on this date.
The program was directed by Blake Edwards, (Julie Andrews' husband). Edwards also directed Andrews in The Tamarind Seed that year.
April 21, 1975 -
Teenages everywhere have themselves a good cry when Eric Carmen's song, (a mash-up of his own song, Let's Pretend and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18,) All By Myself entered the charts on this date.
When he wrote this, Carmen thought the Rachmaninoff music was in the public domain, meaning he could use it free of charge. After this song came out, he found out it wasn't and agreed to a settlement with the Rachmaninoff estate.
April 21, 1979 -
Amii Stewart cover of Eddie Floyd's song Knock on Wood went no. #1 on the Billboard chart on this date.
It was the only hit for Stewart, who was also a dancer and actress - she starred in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar.
April 21, 1981 -
Weird Al Yankovic made his first national television appearance on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
He never receives royalties from the single's initial release because the record company has gone bankrupt.
April 21, 1982 -
The DJs at WKRP spun their last platter when the final episode of the original WKRP in Cincinnati series, Up and Down the Dial aired on CBS TV on this date.
The show was famous for playing music of up-and-coming bands. Many artists have said that their music being on the show helped their popularity, including Blondie, U2, The Cars, TOTO, The Knack, and Devo. Blondie was so grateful for the show making their song, Heart of Glass, a hit that they gave their Gold Record to the producers. It's hanging in the WKRP bullpen in seasons 2 to 4.
April 21, 1986 –
Geraldo Rivera hosted a live, highly promoted two-hour syndicated special from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault, on this date.
Internal Revenue Service agents and a medical examiner stood at the ready should any cash or corpse lay inside. When demolition crews finally made their way inside the only contents were a dirt pile and a bottle of bathtub gin. The hype generated a record rating of 57 with an estimated audience of 30,000,000. The term "Al Capone's Vault" has come to mean any over-hyped event that leads to nothing.
April 21, 1989 -
The film grown men openly wept watching - Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster, premiered on this date.
Burt Lancaster was unaware that Timothy Busfield was part of the cast and had him fetching water and chairs before realizing Busfield was going to be in the scene with him.
April 21, 1990 -
The day after all your 420 celebrations, the largest anti-drug PSA effort in history: the Saturday morning simulcast of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue broadcast on the ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox networks respectively.
This monumental anti-drug (and, to a lesser extent, anti-alcohol) collaboration came at the apex of Nancy Reagan's "just say no!" era.
April 21, 1990 -
Sinead O'Connor's cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2U, went to No 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.
The attention from the song hitting no. 1 had some deleterious effects on the singer. Sinead O'Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization of her music. Nothing Compares 2 U earned her a Grammy for Best Alternative Performance (it was also nominated for Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video) but she rejected the award along with all others offered to her, and refused to appear at the ceremony in protest of materialism in the music industry. O'Connor believed she was being honored for putting up impressive sales figures, not for her art. She wanted no part of it.
Prince wrote and recorded this song in 1984, but didn't release it. He did release a live version with Rosie Gaines on his 1993 album The Hits/The B-Sides, but his original solo recording didn't appear until 2018, when his estate released it from the vault. His version is guitar-based, with more of a rock feel. (Unfortunately, Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, on this date in 2016.)
Did you make it through Jimmy Scott's version without crying? Stronger people than you couldn't.
April 21, 1995 -
Buena Vista released the rom-com, While You Were Sleeping, starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, and Jack Warden on this date.
The role of Lucy was written for Demi Moore. Sandra Bullock took the role, saying she could relate to it having just broken up from a four-year relationship.
April 21, 2005 -
Paul Haggis' film Crash starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe premiered at the Newport Beach International Film Festival on this date.
With only a budget of $6 million for this film, director Paul Haggis had to cut the costs by using his own house for scenes and even his own car for other scenes.
Another bookfrom the back shelves of The ACME Library
Today in History:
April 21, 753 BC -
Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome by Romulus and his brother, Remus, as a refuge for runaway slaves and murderers who captured the neighboring Sabine women for wives (they are hoping to finish building it any day now.)
But since the Gregorian Calendar was just a gleam in Pope Gregory eye - who knows. But by all means, please bring enough lubricant with you to the commemorative orgy tonight.
April 21, 1526 -
Mongol Emperor Zahir-ud-din Babur annihilated Indian Army of Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.
Babur, King of Kabul, established in this year the Mughal dynasty at Delhi. Also, Babur's guns proved decisive in battle, firstly because Ibrahim lacked any field artillery, as well as, the sound of the cannon frightened Ibrahim's elephants, causing them to trample his own men.
But what the hell do you care, you don't own elephants.
April 21,1792 -
Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was having an extremely bad day. The Portuguese rulers of Brazil were not happy with his seditious talk of independence. Tiradentes was hung in Rio de Janeiro on this date. His body was broken into pieces.
He began to be considered a national hero by the republicans in the late 19th century, and after the republic was proclaimed in Brazil in 1889 the anniversary of his death (April 21) became a national holiday.
April 21, 1836 -
With the battle cry, 'Remember the Alamo!' Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, assuring Texas independence .
According to legend, Santa Anna was astride a mulatto, or "yellow" prostitute, Emily Morgan, who came to be celebrated in song as The Yellow Rose of Texas.
April 21, 1910 -
Halley's comet reappeared on this date. It had been last seen in 1835, the year Samuel Clemens was born.
The Earth passes safely through the comet's tail with no perceptible effect, of course, not counting the death of Mark Twain on this date. Twain wrote on his deathbed in Memorandum, "Death the only immortal who treats us all alike whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all-the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved."
This time, the reports were not exaggerated.
April 21, 1918 -
German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as The Red Baron, was shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France on this date.
There is no truth to the rumor that Snoopy fired the fatal shot.
The following people were born on this day:
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (1926),
James Newell Osterberg (1947),
Patti Ann LuPone (1949),
Anthony Salvatore Iadanza (1951),
and Robert Smith (1959)
Make of this coincidence what you will
April 21, 1932 -
As a woman, they think I want to show that I'm a nice person. I'm no one to be feared. When it comes down to it in the end, you're just as rotten as any guy. You'll fight just as hard to get your way..
Elaine May, one of the funniest human being who ever lived, was born on this date.
April 21, 1962 -
President John F. Kennedy took time out of his busy schedule, of engaging in sexual congress with starlets and interns, two, three at a time, to push a button in Palm Beach, Florida and officially open the Top of the Needle (the first revolving restaurant in the United States,) atop the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington on this date.
The President was so high on pain killers that he did not realize that he wasn't in Seattle at the time.
April 21, 1997 -
The ashes of Timothy Leary and Gene Roddenberry were launched into orbit (this marked the beginning of the space funeral industry,) on this date.
I guess this is the highest Dr. Leary will ever get.
April 21, 2003 -
Nina Simone, dubbed the high priestess of soul, died in France on this date.
Kids go out and buy one of her CD's, your life will be better for it.
And so it goes.
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