The best way to celebrate is to make your own!
August 2, 1965 -
Michael Caine's first outing as the anti Bond spy, Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File, premiered in the US on this date.
Christopher Plummer was originally considered for the lead role, but dropped out to star in The Sound of Music. The role was then offered to Richard Harris, who also refused it. Harris later regretted his decision, commenting to Sean Connery that he "turned down The Ipcress File, but did Caprice with Doris Day."
August 2, 1967 -
The crime drama In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, opened in New York on this date.
This was the first major Hollywood film in color that was lit with proper consideration for an actor with dark skin. Haskell Wexler recognized that standard lighting used in filming produced too much glare on most black actors and others of dark complexion. He toned down the lighting to feature Sidney Poitier with better results.
August 2, 1975 -
The eponymously named title track from their One of These Nights album, became the Eagles second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Best Of My Love, on this date.
The album signified another development in the Eagles history. Bill Szymczyk had become the Eagles' new producer, joining them from The James Gang - One Of These Nights was their first full album together. Their former producer, Glyn Johns, had left the scene due to artistic differences during On The Border - Johns wanted to maintain a country sound, but the band wanted to break out more into the mainstream rock sound.
August 2, 1985 -
Universal Pictures releases the sci-fi comedy film Weird Science, directed by John Hughes and starring Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LeBrock and Ilan Mitchell-Smith, on this date.
In the scene where Bill Paxton is speaking to Kelly LeBrock while interrogating everyone over what had happened the previous night, in the background, Suzanne Snyder and Anthony Michael Hall are struggling to stay in character, but it is clear they are laughing. John Hughes chose to use this take in the completed film.
August 2, 1989 -
Universal Pictures released Ron Howard's film, Parenthood, starring Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Martha Plymton and Keanu Reeves on this date.
When Grandma (Helen Shaw) inhales the helium balloon and says that when she was born, Grover Cleveland was President. Shaw was born on July 25, 1897, just four months and three weeks after the end of Cleveland's second term.
Contemplating 5pm: A special Word of the Day
Today in History:
August 2, 1100 -
Act of God:
You may often wonder when this phrase came into being - Act of God. You've all seen it long enough and you may unfortunately experienced it when you went to collect on you home insurance policy. As with most things, the English can pinpoint the first popular usage of the phrase.
William started out as King of England on September 26, 1087 and liked to start his day with a vigorous bout of forced sodomy. While he enjoyed sodomy with many of his 'special friends', he really enjoyed a good round of sodomy with some new, mostly unwilling courtier every morning.
And why not - It's good to be the king.
It was drawing upon the 1000th new morning wake up call and William wanted to go on his usual after sodomizing the new guy hunt. So off the royal entourage went and before you knew it, they all raced home, including William's brother, Henry (soon to be Henry I) and William II lie (or lay, I'm never really quite sure) dead, with an arrow shot through his lung, on this date.
Henry, after hurriedly crowning himself the First, called for an inquest into how his brother happened to find himself with an arrow through the lung. Not that Henry was that interested in the answer (literally, no one would pick up William's corpse. A peasant had to bring it round to the back of the Winchester Cathedral on a dung cart - I kid you not.) A Royal commission was held and decided that it was a just end - an 'Act of God' played out on a wicked king.
So there you go - blame the fact you can't get a payment from your insurance company on an English monarch with a penchant for vigorous sodomy.
August 2, 1776 –
Once again, your teachers lied to you - the signing of the Declaration of Independence didn’t occur on July 4.
After the Continental Congress voted to declare independence on July 2, the final language of the document was approved on July 4, and it was printed and distributed on July 4–5. The actual signing was on this date. Matthew Thornton from New Hampshire didn't get around to sign it until November 4, 1776.
August 2, 1876 -
Drinking at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Jack McCall noticed Wild Bill Hickok playing poker at a corner table. Then he calmly walked over to the table and blew a wide hole in the back of Hickok's head with a .45 revolver. The professional gambler and onetime lawman was holding a pair of Aces and a pair of Eights, now known as the "Dead Man's Hand." There is no general consensus on what the fifth card was.
So kids, please remember to split those aces and eights when you are dealt them.
August 2, 1909 -
The first Lincoln head pennies were minted on this date.
August 2, 1923 -
President Warren G. Harding died suddenly at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on this date. His wife Florence forbids an autopsy, and the President's body is embalmed shortly after death. It is speculated by many that the cause of death, initially reported as "a stroke of apoplexy," was in fact poison administered by the First Lady. Mrs. Harding was rather annoyed that her husband was taking dictation from his secretary in the broom closet.
You have to love this asshole - he actually lost the White House china in a poker game. And despite the fact that Prohibition made it illegal, Harding served his friends alcohol.
Harding had the largest feet of any U.S. President. He wore size 14 shoes. I'll just leave you all with that.
Make of it what you will.
August 2, 1943 -
A Navy patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being sheared in two by the Amagiri, a Japanese destroyer, off the Solomon Islands. Two members of the crew were killed in the collision.
An injured Kennedy and the ship's other survivors clung to the wreckage and swam to a nearby island, where Aaron Kumana and Biuku Gasa found them. The pair rowed 35 miles through enemy-held waters to summon a rescue boat.
August 2, 1990 -
After Kuwait refuses to waive Iraq's war debts, 100,000 Iraqi soldiers stream across the border and seize control of Kuwait City. Their troops outnumbered 5-to-1, the Kuwaitis mount no resistance whatsoever. In so doing, Saddam Hussein precipitates the first Gulf War.
This was one of the the reasons we got into the mess in Iraq.
And so it goes.
Before you go - paddling along the shoals of the intraweb, I saw this photo and immediately knew the solution to this poor unfortunate soul's dilemma -
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