Hey kids remember -

Today is a Holy Day of Obligation (yeah, you have to go to church.)

Today is the Feast of Assumption of Mary. If you had problems understanding this or the Immaculate Conception, please go bother some old lady in church, saying her rosaries, I'm not even going to try explaining this one to you.


August 15, 1979 -
The very long delayed epic, Apocalypse Now, premiered in NYC on this date.



It took Francis Ford Coppola nearly three years to edit the footage. While working on his final edit, it became apparent to him that Martin Sheen would be needed to tape a number of additional narrative voice-overs. Coppola soon discovered that Sheen was busy and unable to perform these voice-overs. He then called in Sheen's brother, Joe Estevez, whose voice sounds nearly identical to Sheen's, to perform the new narrative tracks. Estevez was also used as a stand-in/double for Sheen when Sheen suffered a heart attack during the shoot in 1976. Estevez was not credited for his work as a stand-in or for his voice-over work.


Today in History:
August 15, 1057 -
Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on this date, by Malcolm Canmore, the eldest son of King Duncan I, who was deposed by Macbeth years earlier

He had been king of Scotland for 17 years. For those of you who do not know, you're not suppose to say the name of the Scottish king 'aloud'.


August 15, 1534 -
St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending Catholicism against heresy and undertaking missionary work, on this date. Ignatius converted to Christianity while convalescing after a battle and wrote his Spiritual Exercises meant as a guide for conversion.

In Paris, Ignatius and a small group of men took vows of poverty, chastity and papal obedience. Ignatius formally organized the order in 1539 that was approved by the pope in 1540. The society‘s rapid growth and emphasis on scholarship aided in the resurgence of Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation.

You may now impress your friends with that bit of knowledge.


August 15, 1877 -
Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA on this date (stay with me.)



The letter stated that the word, "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone.

So now you know


August 15, 1911 -
Procter and Gamble unveiled Crisco shortening on this date.



The new motto should be, "When you open the can, it's always a party!"


August 15, 1914 -
The SS Ancon cargo ship was the first to pass through the newly-built Panama Canal on this date.



Today, more than 14,000 ships pass through each year.


August 15,1914 -
100 years ago today, Julian Carlton, a servant of architect Frank Lloyd Wright burned down Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin and murdered seven people,including Wright's lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney,and her two children. Wright was in Chicago at the time, working on a project.



Carlton was almost immediately captured and jailed, but died six weeks later (a result of having swallowed acid), without uttering a meaningful word about the motive behind his rampage.


August 15, 1935 -
Will Rogers, the most famous man in America, died near Barrow, Alaska when his sea plane plunges into a lagoon. At the time, he and one-eyed aviator Wiley Post were surveying possible flight paths between Seattle and the Soviet Union.



Remember kids, let this be a lesson to you - don't take a flight with a drunken, one eyed pilot.


August 15, 1945 -
Harry Truman hadn't sobered up yet. He could not quite believe that he was President and got to drop not one but two atomic bombs.



Truman had announced the Japanese surrender the day before. But it was on this day in 1945 that the Allies officially declared V-J Day.


Aug 15, 1947 -
At the stroke of midnight on the 14th of August, Britain withdrew its control on the jewel in its crown and India and Pakistan became two separate, independent, democratic nations,after some 200 years of British rule.



The division of Pakistan from India prompted mass emigration: Muslims moving west to Pakistan and Hindus moving east toward India. The event also unleashed a period of religious turmoil in India and Pakistan that would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including Gandhi.


August 15, 1965 -
The Beatles played to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, on this date,  marking the birth of stadium rock.




People tend to forget that this was one of the first major stadium concerts by a rock group.


August 15, 1969 -
The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger's farm in upstate New York.



The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today's hottest commercial jingles.


I had my first French meal and I never got over it. It was just marvelous. We had oysters and a lovely dry white wine. And then we had one of those lovely scalloped dishes and the lovely, creamery buttery sauce. Then we had a roast duck and I don't know what else.



It's the 102th birthday of Julia Child - Chef, Spy, Philosopher

Besides Julia, today is the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769),



Rose Marie (1925),



Oscar Peterson (1925),



Linda Ellerbee (1944), (possibly the second greatest living American)



Jimmy Webb (1946),




Oh, and my friend Liz
(but she knows how old she is.)



And so it goes.