I'm running very late today

For those of you not following that new fangled Gregorian Calendar (and still keep stock with the Julian Calendar), it's January First. Happy New Year

Please feel free to call in sick today and explain to them that it's Orthodox New Years Day in your religion (but remember that you used this excuse when March rolls around and you try to mention that it's New Year's Day again.)


January 14, 1952 -
On a cold East Coast morning at 7 a.m., NBC-TV opened the the first Today show broadcast with a shot of Dave Garroway looking outside through the 'Window on the World' in New York City. The broadcast also featured Jack Lescoulie as co-host.



The show would be a radical departure from the TV industry's accepted programming; a news, features, special events program that would run in the early morning. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue.


January 14, 1967 -
Sonny and Cher, one of the big musical duos of the mid '60s released one of their biggest hits, The Beat Goes On, on this date.



In 1968, Chrysler Corporation paid a large sum of money to use parts of the song in an ad campaign for the Plymouth line.


January 14, 1972 -

Sanford and Son, featuring comedian Redd Foxx (whose last name was really Sanford) and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Throughout the series, whenever Lamont threatened to move out, or things did not go Fred's way, he would clutch his chest and fake a heart attack, shouting variations of "Hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you!" That running gag was blamed for Redd Foxx's death, from a heart attack, while filming The Royal Family. When he complained of chest pains, no one believed him until it was too late.


January 14, 1973 -
Touch but the hem of his raiment and be saved!

Elvis Presley made TV history with a live concert, Aloha from Hawaii, televised via satellite on this date. It has been estimated that over one billion people saw the concert.



Aloha From Hawaii made history as the first televised event to be simulcast live to 40 countries world wide. It's still today most watched entertain show with only one performer.


January 14, 1980 -
The Blues Brothers movie with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi opened on this date.



Some performers were not used to lip-syncing to pre-recorded songs, standard procedure for movie musicals. James Brown ended up singing his number live with a recorded backing (the rest of his choir was lip-syncing). John Lee Hooker's performance of Boom Boom was recorded live at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market. Aretha Franklin's performance is cut together from many, many takes, using the parts where her lip-syncing was actually in sync.


January 14, 1981 -
This was the date television died.



The FCC freed stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish, and removed any obligation to allocate time for news or public affairs programming.


January 14, 1990 -
The Simpsons episodes, Bart the Genius, premiered on Fox television on this date. This episode was considered the first official episode of The Simpsons, and FOX advertised it as such. The Christmas episode was considered as a special.



Although this episode aired after Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, it was written prior. This is why Santa's Little Helper does not appear in the episode.


January 14, 1993 -
Talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving his late-night show after 11 years on NBC to sign a $16 million deal with CBS.



Coincidentally, seven years later, on January 14, 2000, he had quintuple bypass surgery. Co-incidence, you decide.


An important ACME PSA


Today in History:
January 14, 1690 -

The Clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany on this date.



Any time you watch John Candy, your life is better.


January 14, 1858 -
Emperor Napoleon III (having the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France) and Empress Eugenie escape unhurt after an Italian assassin threw a bomb at their carriage as they travel to the Paris Opera to see Rossini's William Tell, on this date. Felice Orsini and his accomplices threw three bombs at the imperial carriage.

The first bomb landed among the horsemen in front of the carriage. The second bomb wounded the animals and smashed the carriage glass. The third bomb landed under the carriage and seriously wounded a policeman who was hurrying to protect the occupants. Eight people were killed and 142 wounded, though the emperor and empress were unhurt. Napoleon, ever the politician, realized that he and Eugenie had to proceed to the performance and appear in their box.

They really wanted to see the opera.


January 14, 1900 -
Speaking of opera, Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premiered in Rome, to mixed reviews on this date.



This is considered one of the more extreme operas as all of the four main characters die violently.


January 14, 1954 -
Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio on this date. Though the marriage between the iconic actress and the baseball star only lasted 274 days, they remained friends over the years.



After Monroe's death in 1962, DiMaggio sent flowers to her grave every week until his own death in 1999.


January 14, 1956 -
Little Richard released Tutti Frutti on this date, (to fully take advantage of the healing powers of Little Richard, much like Elvis - you must remove all your clothing (underwears optional) and dance around the house, continually touching your afflicted regions.)



This song introduced Little Richard's famous "Whooooo," and also a big "Aaaaaaahhh" scream which he sings just before the tenor sax solo performed by Lee Allen. Richard's scream had a practical purpose: to let Allen know when to start playing. They were recording on just three tracks, so overdubbing the horns wasn't a practical option.



And yet Pat Boone's cover of the song rose higher in the charts on it's initial release. Many listeners at the time only knew the song through Boone, so Little Richard's promotional materials often labeled him "Original 'Tutti Frutti' Man."

Stupid record buying public.


January 14, 1957 -
I should never have switched from scotch to martinis



Humphrey Bogart, the Greatest Male Star of All Time, model for the Gerber baby and founding member of the Hollywood Rat Pack (a phrase coined by Lauren Bacall) finally decided to let the world catch up with his three drink lead and succumbs to cancer of the esophagus on this date.



And so it goes