Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile.

Here's a point of information - The Autumnal Equinox occurs in 32 days.

The 2026 Midterm Election occurs in 74 days.


August 20, 1937 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Sunbonnet Blue, directed by Tex Avery, was released on this date.



George and his girlfriend appear again in The Mice Will Play, which was also directed by Tex Avery.


August 21, 1941 -
The classic romantic comedy, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, directed by Alexander Hall, and starring Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, James Gleason, Edward Everett Horton, Rita Johnson, and John Emery went into general release on this date.



Columbia chief Harry Cohn had serious misgivings about this adaptation of Harry Segall's minor stage play. He preferred to reserve his more lavish budgets for surefire successes (e.g., anything featuring the studio's biggest star, Rita Hayworth). However, Sidney Buchman eventually was able to talk Cohn into forking out for costly celestial sets and Farnsworth's elaborate mansion and also into hiring Robert Montgomery on loan-out from MGM. Buchman was also able to convince Cohn that he had a better appreciation of what the public would pay to see than the Wall Street bankers to whom Cohn answered.


August 21, 1943 -
The war time Looney Tunes short, Scrap Happy Daffy, directed by Frank Tahlin, and starring Daffy Duck, was released on this date.



This short is the final appearance of Daffy Duck in black-and-white.


August 20, 1948-
The Merrie Melodies short, Hot Cross Bunny, directed by Bob MvKimson, and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date.



The impersonation that Bugs Bunny does in the wheelchair is of Lionel Barrymore in character from his radio series Mayor of the Town.


August 21, 1952 -
The classic John Ford film, The Quiet Man was released on this date.



This was a significant departure for Republic Pictures, which specialized in low-budget westerns, comedies and war pictures. It was the company's first and only film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.


August 21, 1965 -
The protest song Eve of Destruction, written by P. F. Sloan, was released by Barry McGuire, on this date.



This was originally recorded by The Turtles, who released it on their first album earlier in 1965. The Turtles did not release it as a single, and McGuire's version became the hit. As management problems and personnel changes plagued The Turtles, they finally decided to release this as a single in 1970, shortly before they broke up. It was their last song to chart, reaching #100.


August 21, 1965 -
The Lovin' Spoonful's released their first no. 1 hit, Do You Believe In Magic on this date.



The song was written by John Sebastian, who formed The Lovin' Spoonful with his friend, Zal Yanovsky. Sebastian and Yanovsky were in a group called The Mugwumps, and made a name for themselves playing clubs in Greenwich Village. When the other Mugwumps - Mama Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty - moved to California and formed The Mamas And The Papas, they formed the band and Sebastian began focusing on songwriting. The Lovin' Spoonful started playing electric instruments to get away from the folk music sound and attract a younger contemporary rock audience.


August 21, 1965 -
Out of Our Heads, the third British and fourth American studio album by the Rolling Stones went No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



In America, London Records released the first version of Out Of Our Heads on July 30, 1965. The UK version, issued by Decca Records, came out two months later, on September 24, and featured some significant differences in the tracklisting.


August 21, 1979 -
Gary Numan released his hit Cars from his album The Pleasure Principle, on this date.



This was Numan's only hit in the US, but he has had many others in England, where he has a large cult following. Numan specializes in electronic music, and was an influence on artists like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.


August 21, 1981 -
John Landis' classic comedy horror film, An American Werewolf in London, starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne, premiered in the US on this date.



David Naughton, then known as Dr. Pepper's star of the "I'm A Pepper" commercials, was let go by Dr. Pepper because of his nude scenes in this film.


August 21, 1987 -
Columbia Pictures released the neo-noir film, The Big Easy, directed by Jim McBride, written by Daniel Petrie Jr, and starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, and Ned Beatty, on this date.



It was reported that Robert Redford had to literally dragged producer David Puttnam, who was the CEO of Columbia Pictures at the time, to a screening of the film at the Sundance Film Festival. Afterwards, Puttnam then picked-up the picture for distribution.


August 21, 1987 -
The low-budget film, directed by Emile Ardolino, Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach, premiered in the US on this date.



While the exteriors and cabin scenes were filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia, the lake scene was filmed at Lake Lure in North Carolina in October. There are no close-ups because the cast members were so cold that their lips were blue.


August 21, 1991 -
The Coen Brothers take on 30s Hollywood, Barton Fink, starring John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, and Jon Polito went into general release on this date.



The first film to win all three major awards (Palme D'or, Best Director, and Best Actor) at the Cannes Film Festival. Also, it was unanimously chosen for the Palme D'or.


August 21, 1994 -
HBO aired a concert special, Barbra: The Concert, featuring Barbara Streisand on her first public concert in 27 years. (She apparently suffers from severe stage fright.)



The special received a television audience of 11.2 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated musical event in HBO’s history.


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History:
August 21, 1614 -
Erzsebet Bathory, ruler of Transylvania, died at 54, on this date. She had sought immortality by killing young virgins and bathing in their blood (or so they say.) It apparently didn't work.



The Elizabeth Arden's in Union Square closed a few of years ago; I wonder who is still offering this service and where are they finding enough virgins.


August 21, 1888 -
William Seward Burroughs of St. Louis, Missouri (grandfather of Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs) was granted four patents for the first successful “Calculating-Machine,” sometimes referred to as an “adding and listing machine.” (US No. 388,116-388,119)

One year after making his first patent application on January 10, 1885, he incorporated his business as the American Arithmometer Corporation, with an investment of $100,000.


August 21, 1906 (or 1905?) -
Happy Birthday Friz



Isadore 'Friz' Freleng, one of the original tenants of Warner Bros. Termite Terrace, was born on this date.


August 21, 1911 –
Pablo Picasso was having a very bad day.

His so-called friend, French poet Guillaume Apollinaire - who had once declared that the Louvre should be “burned down" - came under suspicion when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the museum on this day. He was arrested and jailed. True to form, Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated.

Very nice guy.

At the time, many feared the painting was lost forever. It would take two years before the real thief was identified: Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia. He had stolen the masterpiece by entering during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with it tucked under his coat after closing time..



Peruggia claimed patriotic motives - he believed da Vinci’s painting belonged in Italy, not in France. However, he may have also been encouraged by an accomplice who sold Mona Lisa forgeries, whose value would skyrocket after the original disappeared.

After keeping the painting hidden in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient. He was finally caught when he tried to sell it to the director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The Mona Lisa was displayed throughout Italy before being triumphantly returned to the Louvre in 1914.

Peruggia was celebrated as a patriot in Italy and served only a few months in jail for the theft.


August 21, 1912 -
Arthur R. Eldred was the first person to have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest in the Boy Scouts of America.

A few weeks after becoming the first Eagle Scout, Eldred helped to save another Scout from drowning and was awarded the Bronze Honor Medal for his actions.


August 21, 1921 -
One of the most famous teddy bears was an 18-inch-high one A. A. Milne and his wife brought from Harrods in London. It was a present for their son, Christopher Robin Milne, in honor of his first birthday on this date. Christopher called the toy bear "Winnie" after a Canadian black bear he often saw at London Zoo.



It was later immortalized in Milne's children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, (The other part of the name, "Pooh," was based on a swan Milne and his family met on holiday).


August 21, 1959 -
Hawaii became the 50th state to enter the Union when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the order, granting the stolen island nation, Hawaii statehood on this date.



Several bills for Hawaii had been presented to the US Congress, in 1919, 1935, 1947 and 1950, but none had passed until this day in 1959. (Nixon gleefully looking on. He was ensuring that little Barry Obama would be born on U.S. soil. Nixon was at the heart a many a conspiracy.)

Please keep the good folk of Maui in mind over the next few weeks.


August 21, 1965 -
Gemini 5, the 11th crewed American spaceflight, was launched with L. Gordon Cooper Jr. and Charles Conrad Jr., on this date.



Gemini 5 doubled the U.S. space-flight record of the Gemini 4 mission to eight days, the length of time it would take to fly to the Moon, land and return.


August 21, 1983 -
Longtime political opponent of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, former Philippine senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was not having a very good day. As Benigno stepped off a airplane at the Manila airport (ending his three years of self-imposed exile in the US,) he was assassinated on this date.



He was returning home to run in the Philippine's next election. These kind of things tend to put people off of travel.


August 21, 1986 -
1,700 people were killed in Cameroon when Lake Nyos emitted a huge cloud of fast-moving fog, quickly enveloping the villages of Nyos, Kam, Cha and Subum on this date.



The lethal mist, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and water vapor, displaces the oxygen in the low-lying zones, killing thousands of cattle and even more birds and wild animals. One eyewitness later describes the landscape as being "littered with human remains and animal carcasses."

That would have ruined a vacation.



And so it goes.

On the radio (for the first time)

August 20, 1920 -
The first commercial radio station begins operating in Detroit, Michigan with call sign 8MK (Now WWJ (Newsradio 950) ). (8MK went on the air without a license on this date. I understand that KDKA went on the air in Pittsburgh as the world’s first commercially licensed station on November 2, 1920.)



The radio station was started by The Detroit News newspaper and is now owned and run by CBS.



To celebrate the event, National Radio Day, UNESCO formally announced the formation of International Radio Day in February of 2012 (celebrated February 13th), after a suggestion put forward by Spain to celebrate this important means of communication. In some parts of the world, radio still remains an important lifeline to the outside world.


August 20, 1941 -
William Wyler's pitch-perfect adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis, premiered on this date.



Bette Davis and William Wyler fought a great deal during filming. Disagreements ranged from Davis's interpretation of the character (Wyler thought she should be more sympathetic) to the appearance of the house (Davis thought it was far too opulent for a family struggling financially), to her appearance (Wyler thought her white makeup made her look like a Kabuki performer.) Davis eventually walked out of production, but returned when she heard rumors she was going to be replaced by Katharine Hepburn or Miriam Hopkins.


August 20, 1942 -
An almost forgotten comedy from Columbia Pictures, Talk of The Town, directed by George Stevens starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman, premiered on this date.



This was the first time since the silent era that Ronald Colman was billed below another male lead.


August 20, 1944 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Dog Gone South, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Charlie Dog, was released on this date.



This cartoon marks the second and final classic appearance of Colonel Shuffle.


August 20, 1955 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Kiddies Kitty, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.



Sylvester's only lines of dialogue in this short is saying, "Yeah" four times.


August 20, 1960 -
The Looney Tunes short, Mice Follies, directed by Bob McKimson, was released on this date.



This cartoon was the third of three parodies of The Honeymooners, following The Honey-Mousers and Cheese It, the Cat!


August 20, 1969 -
The horror film, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? directed by Lee H. Katzin and starring Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller and Mildred Dunnock, opened on this date.



The third film in Robert Aldrich's loose trilogy of psycho-biddy films (a subgenre of horror films featuring older women going insane), following What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Aldrich was the producer of this film, but unlike the previous two films, he did not also direct it.


August 20, 1972 -
Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on this date. More than 100,000 fans show up to hear Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers, and Kim Weston, among others, perform at what becomes known as Black Woodstock.



Among the artists who were scheduled to appear at the concert but couldn't due to various reasons were Little Milton, The Emotions, Johnnie Taylor and Luther Ingram. In fact, Ingram's performance was actually performed on a sound stage a few weeks later with various crowd shots interspersed throughout his performance and the other acts were filmed at various locations in Los Angeles in the weeks following the concert.


August 20, 1977 -
The Emotions hit #1 in the US with the single Best Of My Love for the first of five weeks, on this date. (Two years earlier, the Eagles hit #1 with a song with the same title.)



Songwriter Maurice White sued Mariah Carey and C+C Music Factory for plagiarizing this song for Mariah's 1991 #1 hit Emotions (C+C produced the song for Mariah). Said White, "Sampling is one thing, but she took the whole song." The lawsuit was settled out of court.


August 20, 1988 -
Steve Winwood's single Roll With It when to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



The song was Winwood's biggest solo hit in the US, spending four weeks at #1 and also topped the pop chart in his native Britain. The album of the same title also topped the US albums chart.


August 20, 1991 -
Spin Doctors release their debut album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite on this date.



The album went on to sell over 5 million copies thanks to the hits Little Miss Can't Be Wrong and Two Princes.


Another little known Monopoly card


Today in History:
August 20, 1865 -
In the great tradition of the American presidency, President Andrew Johnson rouses himself from an alcoholic stupor,

and formally declared the Civil War over (months after Lee's surrender at Appomattox.)


August 20, 1885 -
Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, The Mikado opened at the Fifth Street Theatre in New York on this date.



The production originally opened on March 14, 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances.


August 20, 1896 -
A patent application was filed (US Patent No. 597,062) by brothers John and Charles J. Erickson & Alexander E. Keith for the rotary dial telephone on this date.



The dial telephone made it possible for people to dial phone numbers on their own thereby making the communication process easier and more efficient. The patent issued January 11, 1898.



There is another clear, bright line on how old you are - have you ever had to dial a phone?


August 20, 1940 -
As the Battle of Britain, the aerial conflict between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe, reached its apex, Winston Churchill give another of his famous rousing speeches, on this date. Paying tribute to the fortitude of the Royal Air Force, he coined one of his most famous lines, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."



Churchill used the example of the success of the RAF to promote confidence in the British war effort, stressing that it was better equipped for modern warfare than in the Great War with the numerical strength of the army, the naval command of the sea and scientific superiority in weaponry and intelligence.


August 20, 1940 -
Soviet Professional Leon Trotsky liked his job, but the strain was wearing on him — dictatorial burnout. In the summer of 1940 he finally used some of the vacation time he'd accumulated to head down to Mexico and think through his options.



On this date, in Mexico City, Trotsky met with one of Stalin's human resources representatives, who suggested he take an early retirement.



The suggestion was accompanied by several persuasive blows to the head with an axe, which seriously impeded Trotsky's growth potential. Sadly, he died the next day before he could sue for damages.


August 20, 1948 -
... ... You feel quite distant by playing at huge stadiums year after year, where you only can see a great darkness in front of you....



Robert Anthony Plant CBE, button phobia rock singer and songwriter, was born on this date.


August 20, 1977 -
NASA bizarrely decided to go into the record business. Scientists, not quite understanding the record industry, press only one record but make it out of gold, believing that the unaffordable price will boost profit. The record is nearly unlistenable except for the recording of the Chuck Berry song, Johnny B Goode. NASA decided to hide this costly blunder by including the recording in the payload of the space probe Voyager 2, launched on this date, on a mission to Jupiter and beyond. (This will confused the aliens when they realize that NASA launched Voyager 1 on September 5, 1977.)



The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, and thunder, and animal sounds, including the songs of birds and whales. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earthlings in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General (and ex-Nazi) Kurt Waldheim. Remember these facts when the aliens come to invade the planet. It passed Jupiter in the summer of 1979, and is still traveling, probably right out of our solar system.

In a memorable Saturday Night Live segment, it was announced by Steve Martin that the first message from extraterrestrials was being received. Once decoded, the message stated, "Send more Chuck Berry."


August 20, 1986 -
US Postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot and killed 14 coworkers, and then himself, on this date.

The shooting, which happened in Edmond, Oklahoma, is generally accepted as the event that spawned the "going postal" phrase.


August 20, 1989 -
The two Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, shot their parents to death on this date and then went to the movies to establish an alibi. They called 911 when they returned home from the movies to report the murders.



Though they weren't initially suspected, the two brothers ultimately were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. And shockingly, we have lived long enough to see that they may be released from prison soon.


On August 20, 1991, the Estonian parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union.

The next day, Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Union and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared he was back in full control after a 60-hour coup by old-school Communists finally crumbled.



Full control of exactly what?


Today's brief quiz: What did Vincenzo Peruggia steal on August 21, 1911?

a. The Shroud of Turin
b. Home plate
c. The Mona Lisa
d. documents from Mar-a-Lago
e. The Hope Diamond

Bonus: what was his day job? (Answer tomorrow)



And so it goes.

You can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream

Today is National Soft Serve Ice Cream Day. Soft Serve Ice Cream has been around since the 1930s. There are conflicting reports of the origins of the dessert. In 1934, Tom Carvel, the founder of eponymous ice cream brand and franchise, had to sell melting ice cream on a parking lot because his ice cream truck had a flat tire. He noticed that people were delighted with soft frozen dessert and concluded that it was a potentially good business idea.



Dairy Queen also claims to have invented soft ice cream as an experiment. Owners J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, decided to find out if customers preferred ice cream before it was completely frozen, which was how they liked it best.



Just in case this comes up in conversation - an average dairy cow can produce enough milk in her lifetime to make a little over 9,000 gallons of ice cream.

So now you know.


August 19, 1932 -
The Marx Brothers' fourth movie, Horse Feathers, went into general release on this date.



Although the present running time is very close to that of the original, there are still a few bits and pieces and lines of dialogue missing, due to re-editing in 1935 in order to bring the film up to Production Code standards. Apparently the only surviving material also contained some splices which lop off lines of dialogue and bits of action, particularly in the sequence in Thelma Todd's apartment involving the blocks of ice. Another brief gag was cut from the speakeasy scene, in which Harpo stood up on the bar and bowled beer bottles with a grapefruit.


August 19, 1944 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Birdy and the Beast, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Tweety Bird, was released on this date.



This is the first time Tweety was given his official name, as with his previous short, A Tale of Two Kitties, he was originally referred to as Orson in model sheets.


August 19, 1949 -
The first filmed recording of CBS color television was made in Washington D.C. using a U.S. Navy-designed Berndt-Maurer camera on this date.



The next week, on August 25, RCA announced their Dot Sequential color system which is the one we used today. CBS was making color with a system that used a spinning red, blue and green color wheel on the cameras and receivers, so the CBS system was mechanical where the RCA system was all electronic.


August 19, 1961 -
The Looney Tunes short, The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales, was released on this date.



The final Looney Tunes short starring Pepe Le Pew.


August 19, 1964 -
The Beatles first US tour began in San Francisco, California with their concert at the Cow Palace.



They played ten songs to a crowd of over 17,000. The Beatles returned there for another concert in 1965.


August 19, 1969 -
David Crosby, Steven Stills, Joni Mitchell, and the Jefferson Airplane appeared on the Dick Cavett Show, giving a first-hand account of the Woodstock festival that took place over the weekend.



Jefferson Airplane’s performance of We Can Be Together marked the first time the word “fuck” was uttered on live US television.


August 19, 1969 -
The film adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's song Alice's Restaurant, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and William Obanhein, opened on this date



After discovering that the character Officer Obie was modeled after him, actual Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Sheriff William Obanhein demanded that he play the role himself. His reason: "If anyone is going to make a fool out of me, it might as well be me!"


August 19, 1972 -
NBC-TV presented The Midnight Special for the first time on this date.



John Denver hosted the first episode of the show with guests including: Mama Cass, The Everly Brothers, The Isley Brothers, Harry Chapin, Linda Ronstadt and Argent. Helen Reddy was also a musical guest on the show, but did not host this first episode.


August 19, 1972 -
One of Al Green's most popular releases, I'm Still in Love with You, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, starting on this date. It would eventually go on to sell over one million copies.



Rev. Al Green remembered the I'm Still in Love with You album cover in his 2000 autobiography, Take Me to the River: "In my white turtleneck, white patent leather shoes with the stacked heels and just a touch of diamond and gold, I was as cool and in control as the music between that cover."


August 19, 1973 -
The martial-arts classic, Enter the Dragon: The Deadly Three, directed by Robert Clouse and starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien, and Jim Kelly, opened in Los Angeles on this date, (a month after Lee's death.)



Shih Kien was a close friend of Bruce Lee's father since they both worked in Cantonese Opera business. Kien worked as a makeup artist and Bruce's father as an actor. Their relationship was so close that Bruce addressed Kien as "uncle" and Kien called Bruce "nephew". During a break, Bruce got a premonition and said to Kien, "Uncle, I feel that you will live longer than me." Surprised to hear that, Kien then replied, "Nephew, don't force yourself too hard. You are overworking yourself." Bruce died one week before Enter the Dragon was released in Hong Kong.


August 19, 1981 -
Sidney Lumet's crime drama, Prince of the City, starring Treat Williams and Jerry Orbach premiered on this date in NYC.



Brian De Palma who had originally been slated to direct, had worked on the script for over a year before being replaced by Sidney Lumet. Sidney Lumet agreed to direct under two conditions: he wanted an unknown actor to play Leuci and he wanted the running time to be at least three hours long. Treat Williams was unknown at the time but the final cut was edited down to 2 hours and 47 minutes.


August 19, 1988 -
Orion Pictures released Jonathan Demme's gangster comedy, Married to the Mob, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, and Alec Baldwin, on this date in the US.



Matthew Modine initially didn't think that there was anything funny about the script. According to Modine, he was depressed while making this film because of his rough experience making Full Metal Jacket.


Another episode of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts.


Today in History:
August 19, 1601 -
The end of the 16th century was dominated by the personality of Michael the Brave. He became Voivode of Wallachia in 1593, joined the Christian League - an anti-Ottoman coalition initiated by the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire and he succeeded, following heavy battles (Calugareni, Giurgiu) to actually regain the independence of his country.



In 1599-1600 he united for the first time in history all the territories inhabited by Romanians, proclaiming himself "prince of Wallachia, Transylvania and the whole of Moldavia." The domestic situation was very complex, the neighboring great-powers - the Ottoman Empire, Poland, the Hapsburg Empire - were hostile and joined forces to overthrow him; so this union was short-lived as Michael the Brave was assassinated in 1601 on this date.

This bit of historical fluff was totally unnecessary but the next time you want to shut up some snooty blowhard, ask them to name their favorite Voivode of the sixteenth century.


August 19, 1812 -
The first major naval encounter of the War of 1812 took place between the USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, and the British HMS Guerriere, commanded by Captain Dacres, about 750 miles out of Boston. The two ships were both rated as frigates and carried similar armaments. After a frenzied 55-minute battle that left 101 dead, Guerriere rolled helplessly in the water, smashed beyond salvage. Dacre struck his colors and surrendered to Hull's boarding party. In contrast, Constitution suffered little damage and only 14 casualties.



While the victory of the Constitution militarily was a modest success, its political effect was substantial. It solidified support from New England for the war effort and countered the poor war news coming from the Canadian front.


August 19, 1902 -
Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long.



Ogden Nash, an American poet known for his comic and playful verse, was born on this date.


August 19, 1934 -
The All-American Soap Box Derby, the first official soap box derby, took place for the first time in Dayton, Ohio.



The race is usually held annually with the World Championship race held every July.


August 19, 1934 -
Adolf Hitler won absolute power when 89.9% of the German electorate consolidates the positions of President and Chancellor into a single office, occupied by him (amazing, given the fact that Hitler was not officially a German citizen.)



Years after the war, many Germans swear that they voted for another candidate but the 'whole hanging voter' thing got in the way.


August 19, 1936 -
Federico Garcia Lorca retired from his position as Spain's most celebrated poet (and playwright) in order to become a gravedigger.



This proved to have been a poor career move: his Fascist supervisors were so displeased with his work that they shot him to death after he had dug only one grave on this date.


August 19, 1946 -
Bubba has made it to 80 today!



William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) 42nd President of the United States of America was born on this date.


August 19, 1960 -
The Soviet Union convicted U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage on this date, sentencing him to three years in prison and seven years of hard labor.



All because he didn't jab himself with the poison needle; another example of our faulty military training.


August 19, 1960 -
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik V into orbit on this date. On board are two dogs (Belka and Strelka,) along with two unnamed rats and 40 mice. The menagerie was recovered safely the next day from the landing capsule.



The two rats were later appointed wardens of gulags in Siberia. Belka entered politics and nearly became Soviet Premier in the late 60s, unfortunately he developed mange and had to retire from public life. Strelka enjoyed a long career on Russian TV, appearing in such classics as, I Love Lenin and 14's Company. Scandal ruined his later career when doctored photos appeared of Strelka humping the leg of Gore Vidal.


August 19, 1977 -
Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?



One of the world's leading commentator on the human condition, Julius Marx gave up the ghost on this date.


August 19, 2018 -
If it wasn't so horrifyingly grotesque, it would be funny -



Indicted co-conspirator Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lawyer claims in interview with NBC Chuck Todd that "truth isn't truth," on this date.



And so it goes.