Im Westen Nichts Neues

April 21, 1930 -
Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, starring Louis Wolheim, and Lew Ayres, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



With the loss of limbs and gory deaths shown rather explicitly, this is undoubtedly the most violent American film of its time. This is because the Production Code was not strictly enforced until 1934, and also because Universal Pictures deemed the subject matter important enough to allow the violence to be seen.


April 21, 1951 -
Les Paul and Mary Ford topped the charts with their hit of the classic How High the Moon on this date.



Although it was written by lyricist Nancy Hamilton and composer Morgan Lewis for the 1940 musical Two For The Show, the definitive version of How High The Moon was recorded by the husband and wife team of Les Paul and Mary Ford. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979.


April 21, 1974 -
Julie and Dick In Covent Garden, a music and comedy special starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with Carl Reiner, premieres on ABC-TV on this date.



The program was directed by Blake Edwards, (Julie Andrews' husband). Edwards also directed Andrews in The Tamarind Seed that year.


April 21, 1975 -
Teenages everywhere have themselves a good cry when Eric Carmen's song, (a mash-up of his own song, Let's Pretend and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18,) All By Myself entered the charts on this date.









When he wrote this, Carmen thought the Rachmaninoff music was in the public domain, meaning he could use it free of charge. After this song came out, he found out it wasn't and agreed to a settlement with the Rachmaninoff estate.


April 21, 1979 -
Amii Stewart cover of Eddie Floyd's song Knock on Wood went no. #1 on the Billboard chart on this date.



It was the only hit for Stewart, who was also a dancer and actress - she starred in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar.


April 21, 1981 -
Weird Al Yankovic made his first national television appearance on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.



He never receives royalties from the single's initial release because the record company has gone bankrupt.


April 21, 1982 -
The DJs at WKRP spun their last platter when the final episode of the original WKRP in Cincinnati series, Up and Down the Dial aired on CBS TV on this date.



The show was famous for playing music of up-and-coming bands. Many artists have said that their music being on the show helped their popularity, including Blondie, U2, The Cars, TOTO, The Knack, and Devo. Blondie was so grateful for the show making their song, Heart of Glass, a hit that they gave their Gold Record to the producers. It's hanging in the WKRP bullpen in seasons 2 to 4.


April 21, 1986 –
Geraldo Rivera hosted a live, highly promoted two-hour syndicated special from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault, on this date.



Internal Revenue Service agents and a medical examiner stood at the ready should any cash or corpse lay inside. When demolition crews finally made their way inside the only contents were a dirt pile and a bottle of bathtub gin. The hype generated a record rating of 57 with an estimated audience of 30,000,000. The term "Al Capone's Vault" has come to mean any over-hyped event that leads to nothing.


April 21, 1989 -
The film grown men openly wept watching - Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster, premiered on this date.



Ray Liotta had no baseball experience, and batted right-handed, although "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was a lefty. Phil Alden Robinson allowed Liotta to bat with his right, but still put him through several weeks of extensive training with University of Southern California baseball coach, and former Brooklyn Dodger, Rod Dedeaux, in order to be convincing as one of the sport's greatest hitters. Liotta eventually developed a good swing. The scene where he hits a line-drive straight back at Kevin Costner actually happened. Costner's fall on the mound was real, and although it was a surprise, he stayed in character.


April 21, 1990 -
The day after all your 420 celebrations, the largest anti-drug PSA effort in history: the Saturday morning simulcast of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue broadcast on the ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox networks respectively.



This monumental anti-drug (and, to a lesser extent, anti-alcohol) collaboration came at the apex of Nancy Reagan's "just say no!" era.


April 21, 1990 -
Sinead O'Connor's cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2U, went to No 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.



The attention from the song hitting no. 1 had some deleterious effects on the singer. Sinead O'Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization of her music. Nothing Compares 2 U earned her a Grammy for Best Alternative Performance (it was also nominated for Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video) but she rejected the award along with all others offered to her, and refused to appear at the ceremony in protest of materialism in the music industry. O'Connor believed she was being honored for putting up impressive sales figures, not for her art. She wanted no part of it.



Prince wrote and recorded this song in 1984, but didn't release it. He did release a live version with Rosie Gaines on his 1993 album The Hits/The B-Sides, but his original solo recording didn't appear until 2018, when his estate released it from the vault. His version is guitar-based, with more of a rock feel. (Unfortunately, Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, on this date in 2016.)





Stronger people than you could not make it through Jimmy Scott's version without crying.


April 21, 1995 -
Buena Vista released the rom-com, While You Were Sleeping, starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, and Jack Warden on this date.



The original screenplay was about a woman in a coma and a man pretending to be her fiancé. Many studio executives thought this to be too predatory, but one suggested reversing the roles. Once the script was rewritten, the movie was picked up by Hollywood Pictures.


April 21, 2005 -
Paul Haggis' film Crash starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe premiered at the Newport Beach International Film Festival on this date.




With only a budget of $6 million for this film, director Paul Haggis had to cut the costs by using his own house for scenes and even his own car for other scenes.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
April 21, 753 BC -
Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome by Romulus and his brother, Remus, as a refuge for runaway slaves and murderers who captured the neighboring Sabine women for wives (they are hoping to finish building it any day now.)



But since the Gregorian Calendar was just a gleam in Pope Gregory eye - who knows. But by all means, please bring enough lubricant with you to the commemorative orgy tonight.


April 21, 1526 -
Mongol Emperor Zahir-ud-din Babur annihilated Indian Army of Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.



Babur, King of Kabul, established in this year the Mughal dynasty at Delhi. Also, Babur's guns proved decisive in battle, firstly because Ibrahim lacked any field artillery, as well as, the sound of the cannon frightened Ibrahim's elephants, causing them to trample his own men.

But what the hell do you care, you don't own elephants.


April 21,1792 -
Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was having an extremely bad day. The Portuguese rulers of Brazil were not happy with his seditious talk of independence. Tiradentes was hung in Rio de Janeiro on this date. His body was broken into pieces.

With his blood, a document was written declaring his memory infamous. His head was exposed in Vila Rica. Pieces of his body were exposed in the cities between Vila Rica and Rio, in an attempt to scare the people who had listened to the independence ideas of Tiradentes.



He began to be considered a national hero by the republicans in the late 19th century, and after the republic was proclaimed in Brazil in 1889 the anniversary of his death (April 21) became a national holiday.


April 21, 1836 -
With the battle cry, 'Remember the Alamo!' Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, assuring Texas independence .



According to legend, Santa Anna was astride a mulatto, or "yellow" prostitute, Emily Morgan, who came to be celebrated in song as The Yellow Rose of Texas.

Now you know.


April 21, 1910 -
Halley's comet reappeared on this date. It had been last seen in 1835, the year Samuel Clemens was born.



The Earth passes safely through the comet's tail with no perceptible effect, of course, not counting the death of Mark Twain on this date. Twain wrote on his deathbed in Memorandum, "Death the only immortal who treats us all alike whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all-the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved."



This time, the reports were not exaggerated.


April 21, 1918 -
German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as The Red Baron, was shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France on this date.



There is no truth to the rumor that Snoopy fired the fatal shot.


The following people were born on this day:
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (1926),




James Newell Osterberg (1947),




Patti Ann LuPone (1949),




Anthony Salvatore Iadanza (1951),




and Robert Smith (1959)



Make of this coincidence what you will


April 21, 1932 -
You know, when I was very young, I thought it didn't matter what happened to me when I died, so long as my work was immortal. As I age, I think, Well, perhaps if I had to trade dying right now and being immortal with just living on, I would choose living on. I never thought I would say that. I feel it's so unethical and wrong..



Elaine May, one of the funniest human being who ever lived, was born on this date.


April 21, 1962 -
President John F. Kennedy took time out of his busy schedule, of engaging in sexual congress with starlets and interns, two, three at a time, to push a button in Palm Beach, Florida and officially open the Top of the Needle (the first revolving restaurant in the United States,) atop the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington on this date.



The President was so high on pain killers that he did not realize that he wasn't in Seattle at the time.


April 21, 1997 -
The ashes of Timothy Leary and Gene Roddenberry were launched into orbit (this marked the beginning of the space funeral industry,) on this date.



I guess this is the highest Dr. Leary will ever get.


April 21, 2003 -
Nina Simone, dubbed the high priestess of soul, died in France on this date.



Kids go out and buy one of her CD's, your life will be better for it.



And so it goes.

I've heard that it's 420 somewhere

Bunkies, if you or your kid cut school or work today, once again, lock up the snacks. They may come home with a case of the munchies.



Be thankful though, they're not out celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Klara Hitler's bouncing baby little evil bastard named Adolf on this date in 1889, (smack them hard across the back of the head if they were thinking about it though.)



Or that you should be concerned if they were celebrating the 27th anniversary of the Columbine attack.



Perhaps you'll probably spent the better part of the day,if you're over 65 or have a compromised immune system, thinking about the FDA's recommendation to get another booster shot for COVID and contemplating the life of St. Agnes of Montepulciano on her feast day.

But what ever you do, celebrate responsible.


April 20, 1939 -
During the 1939 World's Fair, David Sarnoff, president of RCA, unveiled the first commercial publicly accessible television broadcast, on this date. In Flushing NY, Sarnoff proclaimed "Now we add sight to sound" and during the opening ceremonies of the fair on April 30th, FDR became the first president to ever be televised.



The speech is broadcast by RCA subsidiary NBC to two hundred televisions across the state of New York. It might have had a larger audience had more TV sets been available - at this time, there were only a few hundreds TV set in America. By the end of the year, a thousand receivers woull be sold in the U.S. Screens are initially only about five inches across.


April 20 1946 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Hollywood Canine Canteen, directed by Robert McKimson, debuted on this date. This is the first Merrie Melodies short that Robert McKimson directed.



Celebrity caricatures are (in order): Edward G. Robinson, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn, Monty Woolley, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Bing Crosby, Dennis Day, Jerry Colonna, Carmen Miranda, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Penny Singleton (as Blondie Bumstead), Arthur Lake (as Dagwood Bumstead), Leopold Stokowski, Joe Besser, Dorothy Lamour, Frank Sinatra, Kay Kyser, M.A. Bogue, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, and Benny Goodman.


April 20 1957-
The Merrie Melodies short, Boyhood Daze, directed by Chuck Jones, debuted on this date.



According to animation historian Don Markstein, Ralph Philips was Chuck Jones' version of the literary character Walter Mitty. Both are meek, put-upon characters who seek to escape reality through daydreaming about being heroes or villains. The main difference was that Walter is an adult trapped in an unhappy marriage, while Ralph is a little boy with mundane problems.


April 20, 1976 -
George Harrison, who is good friends with Eric Idle, joined Monty Python on stage at the comedy troupe's show at New York's City Center, on this date. Dressed as a Canadian Mountie, Harrison joins the chorus for The Lumberjack Song. No mention is made of Harrison's appearance, and few in the audience recognize him.



The next night, Harry Nilsson shows up to perform the same feat, but with disastrous results, as he fell into the audience and broke his arm.


April 20, 1977 -
Annie Hall, at 93 minutes, the shortest color film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar, premiered on this date (Marty, in glorious B & W was 91 minutes.)



The house under the rollercoaster where Alvy grew up is actually the Kensington Hotel in Coney Island, Brooklyn which was located underneath the Thunderbolt rollercoaster. Allen discovered it while searching locations during filming. The hotel and rollercoaster were demolished in 2000.


April 20, 1981 -
ABC unceremoniously aired the final episode of Soap, leaving many of the plotlines unresolved.



Susan Harris, the creator of the series, went on to create The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, using many of the same actors who first appeared on Soap.


April 20, 1992 -
The life and music of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who died five months earlier following complications from AIDS, was celebrated in a star-studded concert, A Concert For Life, at London’s Wembley Stadium, on this date.



Organized by Mercury’s bandmates, the event not only featured an array of luminaries (including Elton John, David Bowie, Phil Collins, George Michael, and Metallica) but also raised funds for AIDS research, launching the Mercury Phoenix Trust.


April 20, 1993 -
Aerosmith releases their 11th studio album Get a Grip, on this date.



Get a Grip went on to sell more than seven million copies in the U.S. and 20 million copies worldwide, ensuring the album's place as Aerosmith's most successful studio album in terms of global sales.


April 20, 2002 -
An English dubbed version of the Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi,) premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival, on this date.



It was the first anime film to be nominated for (and win) an Academy Award. At 125 minutes, it also has the longest runtime of any other film nominated or winning in that category.


Word of the Day.


Today in History:
April 20, 1233 -
Pope Gregory IX placed the Inquisition, in existence since 1227, under the aegis of the Dominican Order on this date.



Torture is apparently sometimes necessary to save souls, and the office continues to exist today as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.



And the congregation was once headed by ex-Pope (and ex- Nazi Youth), Prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.


April 20, 1841 -
Edgar Allen Poe’s story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, first appears in Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine, on this date. The tale is generally considered to be the first detective story.



The story describes the extraordinary “analytical power” used by Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin to solve a series of murders in Paris. Like the later Sherlock Holmes stories, the tale is narrated by the detective’s roommate.


April 20, 1916 -
The Chicago Cubs played their first game at their new home at Weeghman Park (renamed Wrigley Field in 1926 after William Wrigley bought controlling interest in the Cubs), between themselves and the Cincinnati Reds, on this date.



The Cubs besting the Reds 7–6 in eleven innings. This proved to be the highlight of an otherwise unremarkable season. (And you are saying to yourself, "What's new about that!"


April 20, 1940 -
Vladimir Zworykin, better known as a co-inventor of television, demonstrates the first electron microscope for RCA on this date.

The company was among the first to develop the electron microscope, which remains widely used in many forms of scientific research today.


April 20, 1964 -
The first transcontinental picturephone call is made between the Bell System exhibit at the World’s Fair in New York City and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The device consists of a telephone handset and a small monitor. The system allows users to see each other as a fuzzy video image as they talk.



A three-minute call between the special booths AT&T set up in Chicago, New York, and Washington cost between $16 and $27. The system will be offered commercially in Chicago, but it will never become popular.


April 20, 1979 -
President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a Killer Swamp Rabbit, while on vacation in Plains GA on this date. The rabbit swam menacingly towards him, and he had to repel the ferocious creature with a paddle. There were no injuries.



Press Secretary Jody Powell leaked the story to the press, and the White House had a lot of explaining to do.


April 20, 1992 -
Alone in his apartment watching TV, British comedic legend Benny Hill suffered a fatal heart attack on this date.



His bloated toupee-less body with his underwear around his ankles was found days later.

Sorry but I guess there's nothing funny about that.


April 20, 2010 -
While drilling at the Macondo Prospect, there was an explosion on the rig, Deepwater Horizon, caused by a blowout which killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 35 miles away. The resulting fire could not be extinguished, and, on this date, Deepwater Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the sea floor and causing the largest offshore oil spill in United States history.



BP announced on April 18, 2012 that it has reached a class-action settlement with attorneys representing thousands of businesses and individuals who made claims after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As late as January of 2014, BP was still attempting not to pay claims made against them in the suit. The court has rejected BP attempts.

BP originally projected that its settlement costs would be $7.8 billion. A federal judge approved a $20 billion settlement to end years of litigation. The settlement will be paid over 16 years.


April 20, 2008 -
26-year-old Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Montegi in Montegi, Japan, making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history.



She finished the 200-lap race 5.8594 seconds ahead of Helio Castroneves, then a two-time Indy 500 champ. At the 2009 Indy 500, Patrick came in third behind winner Castroneves and second-place finisher Dan Wheldon. Patrick retired from IndyCar after the 2011 season and fully retired from racing in 2018.



And so it goes.

I want to ride my bicycle

Today commemorates the first recorded 'on purpose' LSD trip taken by Albert Hofmann, on this date in 1943, (Hoffman 'accidentially' dosed himself three days previously.)



If you are going to celebrate the holiday, remember to titrate your trip correctly.


April 19, 1927 -
Cecil B. Demille's silent-film version of The King of Kings premiered on this date.



It is rumored that the film featured author Ayn Rand as one of the hundreds of people in a crowd. At a time when Rand was a struggling immigrant, Cecil B. DeMille gave her the job to help get her on her feet.


April 19, 1935 -
James Whale's brilliant sequel to Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Elsa Lanchester, Ernest Thesiger, and Oliver Peters Heggie, premiered in the U.S. on this date.



Boris Karloff protested against the decision to make The Monster speak, but was overruled. Since he was required to speak in this film, Karloff was not able to remove his partial bridgework as he had done to help give the Monster his sunken cheek appearance in the first Frankenstein. That's why The Monster appears fuller of face in the sequel.


April 19, 1941-
The Looney Tunes short, Porky's Preview, directed by Tex Avery and starring Porky Pig, debuted on this date.



This is the last Porky Pig cartoon Tex Avery directed, alongside his last black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon he directed.



April 19, 1946 -
Raymond Chandler's film-noir classic The Blue Dahlia premiered on this date.



One of the reasons that Veronica Lake was selected to star opposite Alan Ladd was because of her height. Ladd was a notably short leading man (5' 6"), and Lake's similarly diminutive stature (4' 11") meant that the filmmakers did not have to make Ladd appear taller by comparison. At the same time, Ladd resented Doris Dowling, who played his wife in the film, because she was half a foot taller than him, and tried to have her replaced. The producers placated Ladd by having Dowling sitting or lying down during all her scenes with him.


April 19, 1952-
The Looney Tunes short, Water, Water Every Hare, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Bugs Bunny and Gossamer, debuted on this date.



This is the second appearance of the orange monster, but here he is named Rudolph. In his debut in Hair-Raising Hare, he had no name and was simply "Monster" (as is indicated on the locked door from where he first appears in this short). In his third appearance (decades later) in Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century, his name is Gossamer. The mad scientist in this short is patterned after Boris Karloff right down to the heavy eyebrows and Dr. Frankenstein riffs that made Karloff a household name from the 1930s through the 1960s.

April 19, 1961 -
Frederico Fellini's iconic, La Dolce Vita, premiered in the United States on this date.



When shooting the famous Fontana di Trevi scene, director Federico Fellini complained that the water in the fountain looked dirty. A representative of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) present at the shooting was able to supply the film team with some of the airline's green sea dye marker (for use in case of an emergency landing at sea). This was used to color the water, and the director was satisfied.


April 19, 1973 -
The sci-fi thriller Soylent Green, directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson (in his final film role), opened in New York City on this date.



During shooting, Edward G. Robinson was almost totally deaf. He could hear people only if they spoke directly into his ear. His dialogue scenes with other people had to be shot several times before he got the rhythm of the dialogue and was able to respond to people as if he could hear them. He could not hear director Richard Fleischer yell "cut" when a scene went wrong, so Robinson would often continue acting out the scene, unaware that shooting had stopped.


April 19, 1978 -
The Patti Smith Group released the song Because the Night on this date.



Bruce Springsteen wrote this song. He gave it to Patti Smith in 1976 because he thought it would suit her voice. He was also in a legal battle with his manager, Mike Appel, that kept him from recording for almost three years.


April 19, 1980 -
Blondie song Call Me, featured in the Richard Gere movie American Gigolo went to No.1 on the US singles chart on this date.



Disco producer Giorgio Moroder wrote this with Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, who thus became the first woman in British chart history to write three #1 hits. However she wasn't Moroder's first choice. The Italian disco king had originally wanted Stevie Nicks to provide vocals on the track but the Fleetwood Mac vocalist declined the offer.


April 19, 1986
Prince's single Kiss hits #1 on the US Billboard Charts, on this date. The #2 song is Manic Monday by the Bangles, which was written by Prince.





The band Mazarati, which was formed by Prince's bass player Brown Mark and signed to his Paisley Park record label, asked Prince for a song for their debut album, so he took a break from his Parade sessions and dashed off a minute-long bluesy acoustic demo for them on a mini tape recorder. Mazarati and producer David Z re-worked the song, giving it an irresistible funk groove. When he heard it, Prince was smart enough to take the song right back. He replaced their lead vocal, added the guitar break in the chorus and included it as a last-minute addition to his Parade album.


April 19, 1987 -
The Simpsons make their television debut in the short Good Night - a segment for The Tracey Ullman Show.



(I had to hang around the murky world of the internet underground to get this blurry copy of the clip. I'd like to show you a better version of the clip but the goons, I mean lawyers from Fox would break my legs and I've just about gotten used to walking.)

I wonder whatever happened to The Simpsons.


April 19, 1987 -
The short-lived but critically acclaimed series, Duet, starring Mary Page Keller, Matthew Laurance, Allison La Placa, and Chris Lemmon, premiered on the Fox Network, on this date. The series was part of the original Sunday prime time line up for the network that launched in April 1987.





Alison La Placa was only hired to appear in two episodes, but the crew liked her and decided to keep her around. She gradually became the show's breakout character and landed her own spinoff when this series was canceled.


April 19, 1990 -
Folks got to start flying Sandpiper Air, out of Tom Nevers Field airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts, when Wings, starring Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, and Thomas Haden Church, premiered on NBC TV, on this date.



Tim Daly (Joseph Hackett), Steven Weber (Brian Hackett), Crystal Bernard (Helen Chappel Hackett) and David Schramm (Roy Biggins) are the only actors to appear in all 172 episodes of the series


April 19, 1990 -
On the BBC, the television program, French and Saunders Show, airs a Pythonque courthouse sketch featured the guitarists David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore and Lemmy.



The sketch ended with a jam by the musicians. Please watch the clip; you may thank me later.


April 19, 2002 -
The Nia Vardalos written rom-com (some of my friends watch it as a docudrama) My Big Fat Greek Wedding, starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone, premiered in the US on this date.



According to Nia Vardalos, paying for catering during the film proved not to be a problem. Wherever the film was being shot, whenever local Greek restaurants learned about it, they sent over lots of free food.


Another record from the discount bin of (The ACME Record Shopper.)


Today in History:
April 19, 1775 -
Alerted by Paul Revere, the American Revolutionary War began at Lexington Common with the Battle of Lexington-Concord on this date. Eight Minutemen were killed and 10 wounded in an exchange of musket fire with British Redcoats.



In New York, Lexington seems to have won as there is no Concord Avenue.


April 19, 1824 -
Notorious drug user, buggerer, sister sleeping, club footed man about Europe, oh yeah, and poet, Lord George Gordon Byron, died from malaria fever in Greece on this date.



His body was set back to England for burial (his heart, literally remains in his beloved Greece, buried under a tree in Messolonghi) but he was so infamous that neither the deans of Westminster and St Paul's would accept his body for proper burial. His family at last buried him in a small family vault in Northern England.)


April 19, 1897 -
The first Boston Marathon was run in Boston, Massachusetts. John J. McDermott of New York ran the 24.5-mile course of the all-male event in a winning time of 2:55:10. It was the first of its type in the U.S.



The course was lengthened to 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) to conform to the standard set by the 1908 Summer Olympics and codified by the IAAF in 1921.


April 19, 1906 -
It was a rainy day in Paris. One of those days that song writers write about. Nobel-winning chemist Pierre Curie was preoccupied and in a hurry. He tried to run across the street and did not look both ways. He slipped and then was hit and run over by a horse drawn vehicle. His skull was badly fractured.

Kids' once again - Your mother is always right. Just because you're a Nobel winning - look both ways before crossing.


April 19, 1927 -
Mae West, suspected transvestite, was jailed, on this date, for her performance in Sex, the Broadway play she wrote, directed, and starred in. She was sentenced to ten days in prison. While incarcerated on Roosevelt Island, she was allowed to wear her silk panties instead of the scratchy prison issue and the warden reportedly took her to dinner every night.

She served eight days with two days off for good behavior. Media attention to the case enhanced her career - it didn't make her change her act, but it did bring her national notoriety and helped make her one of Hollywood's most memorable, and quotable, stars.

She said: "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."


April 19, 1946 -
He proudly carries the Charles Atlas seal of approval!



Tim Curry, actor and singer was born on this date. Fling toast around the room and do the Time Warp in his honor today!


April 19, 1993 -
More than 80 Branch Davidians died in Waco, Texas as the FBI stages a disastrous final assault on their compound on this date. This brought a sudden end to the 51-day siege.



As you about to see, this helped us a great deal.


April 19, 1995 -
At 9:02 am, 28 years ago today, a large car bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and injuring 500 including many children in the building's day care center.



Authorities charged Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, with the crime.

Both were convicted. McVeigh was executed in 2001 and Nichols is currently serving a life sentence.



And so it goes.