Life is not worth living if I cannot have pasta

Today is National Pasta Day. Pasta is one of America’s favorite foods. Collectively, the U.S. consumed 5.95 billion pounds of pasta last year. The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by a Frenchman named Antoine Zerega. Mr. Zerega managed the entire operation with just one horse in his basement to power the machinery. To dry his spaghetti, he placed strands of the pasta on the roof to dry in the sunshine.



According to the National Pasta Association, Americans consume about 20 pounds of pasta per person each year. Italians eat more than 3 times that amount. During the 1980s, macaroni, which was traditionally considered a “blue-collar” down-home meal, was transformed into the more upscale “pasta.” As more and more people began to have fun with it and romanticize it throughout the ’60s and ’70s, its image began to change along with its name.


October 17, 1916 -
A Daughter of the Gods opens in New York City. It contained what is considered the first complete nude scene by a major star.



The character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman, is shown nude in a waterfall; however, her body is mostly covered by her hair. It is the first U.S. film production to cost $1 million to produce. Although a few stills remain, the film is considered lost.


October 17, 1939 -
Frank Capra's contribution to the Golden age of Hollywood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, premiered in Washington D.C. on this date.



Bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works.


October 17, 1944 -
The little known and under appreciated drama directed by Clifford Odets, None But the Lonely Heart, starring Cary Grant, Ethel Barrymore and Barry Fitzgerald, was released on this date.



This film marked a return to the big screen after an 11-year absence by star Ethel Barrymore. Prior to making this film, Barrymore had considered movie appearances an inferior art to the stage. However, her time on set, her critical acclaim, and her hefty paycheck changed her mind. After making this film, she moved from New York to California so she could concentrate on making movies instead of Broadway plays


October 17, 1956 -
Producer Michael Todd's adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, starring David Niven, Shirley Maclaine, Cantinflas and just about every other actor in Hollywood, premiered in New York on this date.



After winning the Oscar, producer Mike Todd rented Madison Square Garden and threw a huge party. Over 18,000 guests attended, and the celebration frequently threatened to degenerate into all-out chaos. Todd himself called the party a disaster.


October 17, 1957 -
MGM released the film that contained the sequence that some have called, "Elvis Presley's greatest moment on screen," when Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis premiered in Memphis, Tennessee, on this date.



Originally choreographer Alex Romero created a dance for the song Jailhouse Rock that was in a style apropos for a more classically trained dancer than Elvis Presley. When Romero realized that his plans for the number were never going to work, he asked Elvis how would he normally move to the song, leading Elvis to become the uncredited choreographer for what many consider his most famous dance number in all of his movies.



(Please note: this is the film that Elvis is scourged for your sins. Only you know how much clothing you should remove to receive the healing benefits from St. Elvis. As always, place one hand upon the screen and the other upon your bare (or nearly bare) afflicted region.)


October 17, 1958 -
What is considered a comeback special, An Evening with Fred Astaire premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



The special was the first color show pre-recorded on videotape at NBC's new state-of-the-art 'Color City' studios in Burbank, California.


October 17, 1966 -
Another iconic film from the 60s, Georgy Girl, starring James Mason, Lynn Redgrave and Alan Bates, premiered in the US on this date.



Vanessa Redgrave backed out of the role of Georgy just before shooting started. Her sister Lynn picked up the part instead.


October 17, 1968 -
One of the defining police crime dramas of the 60's, Bullitt starring Steven McQueen premiered on this date.



While filming the scene where the giant airliner taxis just above Steve McQueen, observers were shocked that no double was used. Asked if the producers couldn't have found a dummy, McQueen wryly replied, "They did."


October 17, 1975 -
The British science fiction television series Space: 1999, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson without the use of Supermarionation, starring Barbara Bain and Martin Landau, premiered in the US on this date.



Originally conceived as a new season of UFO, which would've been set twenty years further into the future with the title UFO 2. The plot would have had the aliens from that series trying to destroy SHADO's moonbase by knocking the moon out of orbit. According to UFO's Ed Bishop (Commander Ed Straker), several scripts for UFO's aborted second season ended up being reworked as early Space: 1999 episodes.


October 17, 1998 –
The first big hit for Barenaked Ladies, One Week hit No.1 on this date



The band has said that this song is about a big fight in a relationship. The lyrics are essentially meaningless, but wildly entertaining, showing off their clever wordplay in a rapid-fire interplay between their lead singers, Ed Robertson and Steven Page. Robertson wrote the song.


October 17, 1988 -
The Traveling Wilburys release their debut single, Handle With Care, (the B-side is Margarita,) on this date.



The group made a music video for this song that proved quite popular on VH1. Directed by David Leland, it has a sepia tone to give it a dusty, old-timey feel as we see the group performing the song around a microphone. It's the only Traveling Wilburys video they made while Roy Orbison was still alive. Just two months after the album was released, Orbison died of a heart attack.


October 17, 2005 –
Stephen Colbert brilliant takes on cable-news punditry, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central on this date.



On the set, there is an artificial fireplace with the engraving "Videri Quam Esse", meaning, "to seem to be rather than to be". It is a play on the traditional Latin phrase "esse quam videri", or, "to be, rather than to seem to be", reflecting Colbert's mock right-wing personality.


Another ACME Safety Film


(I'm sure it doesn't seem like it but this has to be an abbreviated posting today - I'm having some very difficult technical issues with my computer.)
Today in History:
The Sixth Crusade ended on this date in 1244 after the Saracens ("Infidels") defeated the Franks ("Infidels") at Gaza.

But you know after the Fourth Crusade, I just stopped counting, didn't you?.


October 17, 1777 -
At one of the turning points of the American Revolution, British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, N.Y. on this date.



The surrender demonstrating American determination to gain independence. After the surrender, France sided with the Americans, and other countries began to get involved and align themselves against Britain.


October 17, 1814 -
Late on a Monday afternoon on this date, one of the 800lb iron restraining hoop fell off one of the two giant porter vats at the the Meux and Company Brewery on London’s Tottenham Court Road. A clerk made a note of the occurrence but thought no more of it until about an hour later when the wooden staves of the vat burst.



The vat, which was full to the brim with 3,550 barrels (more than a million pints) of finest 10-month-old Meux’s Porter, created a tsunami of beer, bursting the other behemoth vat. The resulting flood, weighing close to 600 tons, plus wood and metal from the vat knocked out the wall of the brewery and gushed into the street, drowning eight and injuring dozens more. A ninth final victim actually succumbed some days later of alcohol poisoning.

What a way to go!


October 17, 1961 -
Henri Matisse's Le Bateau went on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. 47 days later, the curator learned from an art student the painting had been hung upside down.

An estimated 116,000 viewers, during the period, had not noticed the mistake.


October 17, 1966 -
The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place in the Flatiron District neighborhood of New York City, on this date. A group of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department responding to a fire at 7 East 22nd Street entered a building at 6 East 23rd Street as part of an effort to fight the fire.



Twelve firefighters were killed after the floor collapsed, the largest loss of life in the department's history until the collapse of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks of 2001.


October 17, 1967 -
The play Hair, full of dancing naked people, unshaven armpits, and body odor, opens at the 299-seat Anspacher Theater on Broadway on this date. At the time, the musical's depiction of the use of illegal drugs, sexuality, profanity, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy.



The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of the "rock musical", utilizing a racially-integrated cast, and by inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-in" finale.


October 17, 1979 -
... I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love..



Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Roman Catholic nun who cared for the sick and poor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, on this date.



She may have been canonized but what she really wanted to do was direct.


October 17, 1984 -
The New York Times ran an article entitled CIA Primer Tells Nicaraguan Rebels How to Kill. The story describes the secret manual Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare which the CIA furnished to the Contras in Nicaragua.

The booklet instructed how to kidnap and assassinate civil officials, such as judges and police.

Most people do not have access to the CIA's gift shop and Barnes and Noble no longer sells the primer but you can order it from Amazon.

(You didn't hear it from me.)


October 17, 1989 -
The Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Francisco on this date. The damaging earthquake was notable for being the first in history to be broadcast on live TV.



The World Series was being played there at the time and cameras covering the event live were able to capture the devastating scenes.



And so it goes

Halcyon

Look it up - It's a good word, infrequently used. It a great day to look up words; today is Dictionary Day.



October 16, the birth of Noah Webster is commemorated as Dictionary Day. Celebrate the day by learning some new words, learning how dictionaries came to be, sprucing up your dictionary skills, or even creating your own dictionary!

OK, I'll calm down.


October 16, 1944 –
Universal Pictures released the 11th Walter Lantz Woody Woodpecker cartoon, The Beach Nut, on this date.



The cartoon marked the debut of Wally Walrus, Woody Woodpecker's first steady nemesis.


October 16, 1954 -
Elvis Presley made his first appearance on the radio on the program Louisiana Hayride, on this date.



Whether it was Elvis' stage fright or the originality of his act before a new audience, his performance was flat much like his Grand Ole Opry debut a few weeks previous.


October 16, 1966 -
The film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, directed by Richard Lester and starring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford, Michael Hordern, and Roy Kinnear premiered on this date.



Actual fruits and vegetables were used during shooting, and were often left to rot in the sun at the end of the shooting day; as a result there were flies present all through shooting. The closing titles features flies as a tribute to the fly-ridden production.


October 16, 1968 -
20th Century Fox released Richard Fleischer's crime drama, The Boston Strangler, starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman and William Hickey in the US on this date.



Shortly before filming was set to begin, the real Albert DeSalvo escaped from the mental institution where he was imprisoned. He was later captured after being on the run for thirty-three hours.


October 16, 1974 -
The Rolling Stones release their the 12th British (and 14th American) studio album, It's Only Rock N' Roll, on this date.



It's Only Rock 'n Roll was an important transitional album for the Rolling Stones. Following the departure of long-time producer Jimmy Miller, the album was self-produced by guitarist Keith Richards and singer Mick Jagger under the pseudonym "The Glimmer Twins".


October 16, 1979 -
The comedy sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, starring Rowan Atkinson, Chris Langham, Pamela Stephenson and Mel Smith debuts on BBC 2, on this date.



The original pilot episode had a different cast: Rowan Atkinson and Chris Langham were joined by Chris Emmett, Christopher Godwin, John Gorman, Willoughby Goddard and Jonathan Hyde. The pilot was due to air on April 2, 1979, but was cancelled due to BBC fears over its political content just before a general election, and has never been broadcast.


October 16, 1992 -
The pilot for Gilligan's Island was finally aired - 28 years after the series began. Although the pilot was filmed in 1963, because of cast changes, it wasn't aired this date.



The pilot's cast differed from the series with Kit Smythe as Ginger, John Gabriel as the high school science teacher/professor, and Nancy McCarthy as Bunny (Ginger's co-worker from Kansas that became Mary Ann in the series).

Another job posting from The ACME Employment Agency.


Today in History:
On this date in 1792 (or 1799), there was baptized in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, a boy named Francisco Morazàn. He was young, like most newborns, and full of idealism. After a disappointing childhood, in which he turned out not to have been born to wealth and privilege, he decided first to educate himself and then to enlist in the fight against Mexican annexation of Honduras.

After a disappointing loss, in which Honduras turned out to be a part of Mexico even though neither of them was any longer a part of Spain, Morazàn joined the government of the United Provinces of Central America. Two years later he was the president of the Honduras State legislature and the following year he became president of the entire United Provinces by means of the traditional Central American electoral process ("civil war").

As president, he tried to limit the powers of the Roman Catholic Church, which eventually led to a new round of elections ("civil wars") that produced a new president, this time from the State of Guatemala. The new president exiled Morazàn, who returned several years later calling for electoral reform ("revolution") and was therefore impeached ("shot in the head") by one of his own troops.

It's a holiday in Honduras today.

But it is not a holiday in Guatemala. Or Mexico.


October 16, 1793 -
Deposed French queen Joséphe Jeanne Marie Antoinette sat in an open cart, enduring hours of public ridicule as she is slowly driven around the streets of Paris, on this day.

Finally, she was taken to the guillotine. On the scaffold she accidentally stepped on the executioner's foot, and her last words were, "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose."



She wasn't having a good day.


October 16, 1846 -
The first successful demonstration of the inhalation of ether vapour as a means of overcoming pain of surgery by Henry Jacob Bigelow (following the use of ether by the dentist William Thomas Green Morton two weeks earlier) at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, on this date. Edward Abbot, the 20-year-old patient, had a congenital vascular formation removed from his neck. Afterwards Mr. Abbott told those assembled, “I did not experience pain at any time, though I knew that the operation was proceeding.”

Ether Day, the anniversary of that events is still celebrated today by the doctors and staff of Massachusetts General annually on October 16th. I can not verify if the drug is actually huffed by the staff or merely admired.


Today is the birthday of Oscar Wilde (1854), known for his barbed wit, was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day.

In between bouts of buggery and posing for his Sodomite Trading Card photo, he found time to write the following passage in The Picture of Dorian Gray: "Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the caveman had known how to laugh, History would have been different." Unfortunately for Oscar, had he fled England in the spring of 1895, his history would have been different.



I believe that cavemen did indeed know how to laugh, and that people who accuse humanity of being too serious obviously aren't paying attention. Voluminous scientific research has incontrovertibly proven that we are the only species to giggle at one other's farts.



I reminds you that our lives are haphazard accidents in an indifferent world and that the very absurdity of life is what gives it the most meaning. Burp. Laugh.

Ignore the serious bastards (and remember that the only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.)


October 16, 1908 -
The first airplane flight in England was made at Farnborough, accomplished by Samuel Cody, a self-proclaimed American cowboy who built his own flying machines.

The machine had been damaged at the end of the October 16th flight.

After repairs and extensive modifications Cody flew it again early the following year.


October 16, 1916 -
Margaret Higgins Sanger opened the first birth control clinic at 46 Amboy St. in Brooklyn on this date. After opening her clinic in Brooklyn, she spent 30 days in jail for creating a public nuisance.

Sanger coined the term "birth control" and made the cause a worldwide movement.


October 16, 1934 -
Mao Tse-tung decided to abandon his base in Kiangsi due to attacks from Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. With his pregnant wife and about 30,000 Red Army troops, he set out on the "Long March," - the longest march in the history of warfare.



The march lasted one year and four days, covering more than 6,000 miles (about 9,656 kilometers). In late 1935, with 8,000 survivors, he reached northwest China, and established Chinese Communist headquarters.

(Hey, I want the Chinese censors to note that I occasionally have good stories about the PRC.)


October 16, 1946 -
10 high-ranking Nazi officials were executed by hanging for World War II war crimes in Nuremberg, Germany, on this date.

Many of the hangings were badly botched as of the prisoners were slowly strangle to death. One would have thought we'd have perfected that whole 'hanging thing' - America had been hanging prisoners with pride for almost two centuries at that point.



Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force, was to have been among them but he committed suicide in his cell the night before.


October 16, 1964 -
China detonated its first atomic bomb (to commemorate the anniversary of the "Long March") and became the world's fifth nuclear power on this date.



If you know what's good for you, please tip the delivery guys a hell of a lot more.


October 16, 1968 -
American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos sparked controversy at the Mexico City Olympics by giving "black power" salutes during a victory ceremony after they'd won gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter race on this date. (And you think people are pissed at the 'kneeling during the anthem' thing.)



Little remembered is the third athlete on the podium with Smith and Carlos, Australian athlete Peter Norman, who joined the American athletes in solidarity and paid a huge price.



Take a moment to hear more about the story of this forgotten man in a major story of the Olympic Games history.


October 16, 1972 -
A light plane carrying House Democratic leader Thomas Hale Boggs of Louisiana (the most outspoken and critical member of the Warren Commission and late famed reporter Cokie Roberts' dad) and three other men was reported missing in Alaska. The plane was never found.



Perhaps if they had that famous bridge to nowhere, they would have found them.


October 16, 1978 -
The Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II on this date, making him the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.



The previous non-Italian pope was the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, who served from 1522 to 1523.

October 16, 1984 -
... Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness..



Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa won the Nobel Peace Prize on this date, for his struggle against apartheid.


Hey, BTW - Halloween is in 15 days. Get your costume together. Remember, you can alway go as a sociopath - they look just like you and me



The General Election is in 20 days.



Thanksgiving is in 43 days



The start of Hanukkah and Christmas are 70 days away.





Check to see where you are located on the naughty/ nice list and make the appropriate adjustments.



And so it goes

Pain is never permanent.

Tell the old ladies in the back of the church that it's the feast day of your favorite saint, they'll be duly impressed - Saint Teresa of Avila (I mention her at least twice a year.)

She is also known as the Roving Nun (but should not be confused with the Wandering Nun, the Meandering Nun, or the Hopelessly Disoriented Nun). In case you still don't know who this Saint is - she's the one who was repeatedly pierced by God's golden shaft of light, again and again and again. She is the patron saint not only of Spain, but also bodily ills, headaches, laceworkers, opposition to Church Authorities and people ridiculed for their piety.



She died in the arms of her close friend Anne of Saint Bartholomew, allegedly from Transverberation ("the crossing of verbs"). Her pierced heart is on display at Alba de Tormes, so if you're the kind of person that's interested in 400-year-old pierced human hearts you'll probably want to pay a visit. (You'll probably find it in the "Pierced Internal Organ Room" of the "Three-to-Five Hundred Estactic Orgasm Wing.")

Saint Teresa famously said , "There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers", (Truman Capote took this quote very seriously.) "God," she famously prayed, "deliver me from sullen saints!"



Friedrich Nietzsche, who was born on this day in 1844, apparently shared her sentiments if not her tactics. Being Germanic in nature, he though God was dead so he could not experience his golden shaft of light, but that's another story.


We here at ACME love to remind people that today is Evacuation Day. They're celebrating it in Tunisia. It turns out that Evacuation Day recognizes the important contributions made to the world of science by Tunisian proctologists, (it actually commemorates the 1963 withdrawal of the last French troops from the naval port of Bizerte.)

The less said about the gastroenterological rituals performed on this holiday the better.

Which leads us to the fact that today is Global Handwashing Day. It is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap, the campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention (now, more important than ever.) This years theme is - Clean hands are within reach..



Children suffer disproportionately from diarrheal diseases – with more than 3.5 million children under five dying every year from diarrhea and pneumonia-related diseases. The simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea rates among children under five by almost 50 %, and respiratory infections by nearly 25 %. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends washing for at least 20 seconds and suggests singing Happy Birthday twice to allow enough time to remove and rinse off germs.

Remind me not to shake hands with any children, people from Tunisia (or anyone, who has not gotten their boosters, for that matter.)


October 15, 1940 -
Two of the most famous men in the world, not only had superficially similar looks, most famously their mustaches, but were born only four days apart in April of 1889 and both grew up in relative poverty. One of them decides to take a huge risk and release a film taking advantage of this freakish similarity, The Great Dictator, on this date.



When Charles Chaplin first announced that he was going to make this film, the British government, whose policy at the time was one of appeasement towards Nazi Germany (remember peas in our time), announced that they would ban it. By the time of the film's release though, Britain was at war with Germany and in the midst of the blitz, so the government's attitude towards the film had completely changed toward a film with such obvious value as propaganda.


October 15, 1951 -
A former starlet convinced the alcoholic, womanizing head of a television network to run the TV version of her somewhat successful radio program.



I Love Lucy, the television situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, also featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley, went on to run on CBS for 181 episodes (including the "lost" Christmas episode and original pilot).



Then, the show introduced three more seasons, running from 1957 to 1960, known as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (while Ball and Arnaz go through an acrimonious divorce). I Love Lucy won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations. In 2002, it was ranked #2 on TV Guide's top 50 greatest shows of all time, behind Seinfeld and ahead of The Honeymooners. In 2007, it was placed on Time Magazine's (unranked) list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".



I Love Lucy was the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the ratings (to be matched only by The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld), although it did not have a formal series finale episode. Episodes of I Love Lucy are still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world.


October 15, 1959 -
(Speaking of Desilu,) The TV show The Untouchables with Robert Stack as Eliot Ness, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



This series was (very loosely) based on the book Ness co-wrote with journalist Oscar Fraley (who, in turn, confessedly "embellished" Ness' role into the fall of Capone). In spite of Fraley's additions, in the book, Ness and his eleven agents are not reported as doing much more than busting alcohol shipments and depots, yet the series had Ness intervening in dozens of totally fictional events. As a witness of the time put it about the series, "not even two percent of it is true".


October 15, 1954 -
The eponymously named series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin premiered on ABC-TV on this date.

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A popular children's record titled Rinny and Rusty and Rip was released in the 1950's about the three lead characters. It was a 78 rpm Golden Records release, sung by Anne Lloyd and The Sandpipers, with Mitch Miller and his orchestra.


October 15, 1965 -
The poker playing version of The Hustler, The Cincinnati Kid, directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Steve McQueen, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Rip Torn, and Cab Calloway premiered in New Orleans on this date.



This was Ring Lardner Jr.'s (one of the screen writers) first major studio work since his 1947 blacklisting as one of The Hollywood Ten.


October 15, 1974 -
Tom Waits releases his second album, The Heart of Saturday Night, on this date, written as a tribute to Beat novelist Jack Kerouac.



Speaking before the first-ever performance of the title song, which appeared on radio station KFPK, Waits said it was a tribute to "Kerouacians," meaning fans of American novelist Jack Kerouac. Kerouac's rambling, plain-language style, which sometimes incorporated elements of jazz improvisation, gave a mystical shine to the simplest aspects of American life. Other than Charles Bukowski, no other literary influence is more obvious to Waits' work, especially his earlier stuff.


October 15, 1981 -
New Line Cinema released the comedy horror film The Evil Dead, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and Betsy Baker, on this date in the US.



Bruce Campbell put up his family's property in Northern Michigan as collateral so that Sam Raimi not only could finish the film, but also blow it up to 35 mm film which was required for theatrical release. Raimi was so grateful for his financial contribution, he credited him as co-producer.


October 15, 1988 –
UB40's cover of Neil Diamond's Red Red Wine reached the top of the Billboard Charts on this date.



UB40 recorded this as a cover of the Tony Tribe 1969 reggae version, which reached #46 in the UK charts. The band did not realize until after it topped the charts that Neil Diamond wrote it and originally recorded it.


October 15, 1994 -
R.E.M.'s ninth studio album, Monster, released by Warner Bros., went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.



After releasing two consecutive slow-paced albums, Out Of Time and Automatic For The People, R.E.M really wanted to rock out on their album Monster. They were also trying to find their place in the alternative landscape as the early '90s saw grunge explode out of Seattle, and U2 reinventing their sound with the theatrical Achtung Baby.


October 15, 1995 -
Paul McCartney and his wife Linda appear on an episode of The Simpsons where they help Lisa become a vegetarian.



Paul explains that if you play Maybe I'm Amazed backwards, you'll hear a recipe for lentil soup. (Now with less pork in it!)


October 15, 2006 -
Patti Smith closed down the celebrated Manhattan music club CBGB, playing the last show at the venue.



The club closes after an extended dispute between club owner Hilly Kristal and the Bowery Residents Committee. Rock fans try to preserve the building as a historical landmark, but those efforts fail and a men's clothing store moves in.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
October 15, 1582 -
Finally, with the formal implementation of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII, this day actually exists in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.



The calendar jumped from October 4 directly to October 15. People are generally relieved but never quite get over the feeling that they missed something during those 11 days.


October 15, 1783 -
Frenchman Jean Pilâtre de Rozier made a tethered, captive-balloon ascent, in the gardens of La Muette on this date. The Montgolfier (of Monty Python fame)-made balloon, Aerostat Reveillon, carrying Pilâtre, first man to leave the earth, rose to the end of its 250 ft tether.

It stayed aloft for 15 minutes, then landed safely nearby.


October 15, 1893 -
The New York Times declared Coney Island “Sodom-by-the-Sea" for the thrilling rides that let men and women clutch each other.



The Elephantine Colossus, a 200-foot-tall elephant-shaped hotel had a howdah on its back, topped with a gilded crescent was built on Surf Avenue, in 1885. It housed a concert hall and events bazaar in its belly, a museum in what would be its left lung. Its head was an observatory and its eyes were telescopes; you could climb up and peer out at the surrounding city. With 31 rooms and 12 stories, its front legs housed a cigar store and diorama, and its hind legs had spiral staircases leading to the rooms contained above. By 1893, though, tourists got tired of the gimmick, and prostitutes started moving in. It became a giant elephant-shaped brothel. “Seeing the elephant” became local parlance for picking up prostitutes.


October 15, 1917 -
The German spy Mata Hari, a Dutchwoman named Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, was executed by the French on this date. There wasn't much actual evidence of espionage, but she had been seen naked with German officers and the French considered this distasteful enough to kill her.



(I think finally this appears to be the actual date of her execution. Sorry about that, Margaretha.)


October 15, 1924 -
President Calvin Coolidge declared the Statue of Liberty to be a national monument on this date.

Previously, the statue had been considered merely a large French broad oxidizing in New York Harbor.


October 15, 1928 -
The airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin completed its first transatlantic crossing when it arrives in the United States at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey four days after leaving Friedrichshafen, Germany on this date.



The Naval Air Station Lakehurst, located in Lakehurst, New Jersey, was the western terminus for the commercial transatlantic flights of the German dirigibles Graf Zeppelin and, later, the Hindenburg.


October 15, 1964 -
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was too busy pounding his shoe at every official meeting to realize that he was ousted



and replaced by Alexei N. Kosygin as premier and by Leonid I. Brezhnev as Communist Party secretary.


October 15, 1990 -
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave up the practice of shoe banging practices of the Soviet Premier all together



and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this date.


October 15, 1991 -
Despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, The Senate confirmed Judge Clarence Thomas as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by a vote of 52-48, the closest confirmation vote in court history (at the time.)

Given all that came down from the court this past calendar year - pray for the United States.


October 15, 2002 -
Former ImClone Chief Executive Officer Samuel Waksal pleaded guilty to insider trading as part of an ongoing investigation into the trading of shares from his biotech company on this date.

And this wasn't a good thing for his friend, home decor diva, Martha Stewart.



And so it goes