There's no snow here

(Once again, the city closed the schools in anticipation of a massive snow storm and it didn't appear. About 60 minutes outside of NYC, they did get about a foot. But hey, the kids are happy to be home.)


Today is my favorite day - March 4th

It's the day that tells you to do something.


March 4, 1922 -
The first vampire film Nosferatu, an illegal adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, was released in Germany on this date.



All known prints and negatives were supposed to be destroyed under the terms of settlement of a lawsuit by Florence Stoker, Bram Stoker's widow.  Over the next few years, surviving copies made their way to the U.S. and UK.


March 4, 1950 -
One of the classic Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoons, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, was released on this date.  This was another show I was not allowed to watch with my family because I laughed too loudly.



By all means, please, stop eating or drinking while watching this cartoon, you may injury yourself.  Also, a State dept report has just been released, the cavalry came to the rescue but it was too late.


March 4, 1961 -
Michelangelo Antonioni's landmark of European cinema, L'Avventura, premiered in the US on this date.



At its premiere at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, the film was booed so much to the extent that Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti fled the theater. However, after the second screening there was a complete turn around in how it was perceived and it was awarded the Special Jury Prize.


March 4, 1967 -
The Rolling Stones song, Ruby Tuesday, topped the charts on this date.



This was supposed to be the B-side of Let's Spend the Night Together, but many radio stations shied away from the sexual implications of that song, so they played this instead and made it a hit.


March 4, 1982 -
The David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker silliness, Police Squad, starring  Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Each week featured a "Special Guest Star" who is killed off in the opening credits. Lorne Greene and William Conrad are knifed and tossed out of cars; Georg Stanford Brown has a safe dropped on him; Florence Henderson is shot during a musical number; Robert Goulet is executed by a firing squad; and William Shatner avoids a burst of machine-gun-fire only to drink a glass of poisoned wine.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
March 4, 1837 -
The "Windy City", "Chi-Town", "Second City," and the "City of Broad Shoulders" - Chicago became incorporated as a city on this date.



10,000 extra votes from various local cemeteries were counted that day alone.

Remember, vote early, vote often.


March 4, 1849 -
This is a US secret you probably don't know - this is the day America had no President.



James K. Polk (whose cause of death was officially listed as "diarrhea") officially stepped down as the 11th US president and President Zachary Taylor (who would die in office after eating cherries and milk at a July 4th celebration) refused to be sworn-in on a Sunday.



US Sen. David Rice Atchison (1807-1886) of Missouri then technically held office as president until Zachary Taylor took his oath the next day. However Atchison’s term as president pro tempore of the Senate had also expired, and his new term did not begin until March 5. For the rest of his life, Atchison enjoyed polishing this story, describing his "presidency" as "the honestest administration this country ever had."


March 4, 1861 -
The first official flag of the Confederate States of America, called the Stars and Bars, having seven stars, for the seven states that initially formed the Confederacy, was formally adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America, on this date.

This flag was sometimes difficult to distinguish from the Union flag under battle conditions, so the flag was changed to the Stainless Banner. The union of the Stainless Banner, known as the Southern Cross, became the one more commonly used in military operations. The Southern Cross had 13 stars, adding the four states that joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter, and the two divided states of Kentucky and Missouri.



While, the Southern states were adopting their banner, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States on this date as well.

So now you know.


March 4, 1884 -
...By a man's finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs -- by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable....



Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson begin their work on the case in A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, on this date (or maybe it didn't. I'm not going to join the massive debate the Holmesians get involved in with the accuracy of this date.)


March 4, 1952 -

Ronald Reagan married his 'mommy' Nancy Davis, in the San Fernando Valley, on this date.


March 4, 1960 -
Waaaa, Ricky I don't want to be married anymore to you, you lousy two bit skirt chasing, whoremonger.



Lucille Ball filed divorce from Desi Arnaz on this date.


March 4, 1966 -
John Lennon claimed that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", and that "Christianity will... vanish and shrink" on this date.



I guess he was dead wrong about that.


March 4, 1974 -
The first issue of People Magazine featuring actress Mia Farrow, starring in the movie The Great Gatsby, was released on this date.

The duration of your stay in the bathroom has never been the same.


March 4, 1994 -
Comedian John Candy died on this date.



Just think - the fun Dr. Tongue and Desi Arnaz are having in the 3D House of Slavechicks.



And so it goes.


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