I might want to know when I get back

Today is National Caramel Popcorn Day - enjoy!



It's also Sorry Charlie Day. The day is dedicated to remind us that we have all been rejected, and yet somehow survived it.



Celebrate this day by taking a minute to remember a past rejection. After doing this, be happy and realize the fact, that most of us, will not end up in a tuna can.


April 6, 1906 -
J. Stuart Blackton premiered his animated film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces on this date. It is generally agreed upon that this is the first animated cartoon.



Despite the film’s rough use of simple animated chalkboard drawings, the film is a technologically revolutionary achievement.


April 6, 1936 -
Flash Gordon: The Planet of Peril, a film serial which tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless, premiered on this date.



Despite its large budget, this serial utilized many sets from other Universal films, such as the laboratory and crypt set from The Bride of Frankenstein, the castle interiors from Dracula's Daughter, the idol from The Mummy and the opera house interiors from The Phantom of the Opera. In addition, the outer walls of Ming's castle were actually the cathedral walls from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.


April 6, 1946 -
Another in the series of Daffy/ Porky cartoons, Daffy Doodles, premiered on this date.



This cartoon is the first full-length cartoon that animator Robert McKimson directed.


April 6, 1953 -
Universal Pictures released the science fiction comedy film Abbott and Costello Go To Mars, directed by Charles Lamont and starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, in U.S. theaters on this date.



A very young Harry Shearer appears as one of the boys seen near the beginning.


April 6, 1967 -
The Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever premiered on this date. It has been considered the best episode of the series by fans, critics, and crew alike.



The episode was widely be considered controversial for a number of reasons, not the least is which is that the subtext of the storyline addresses issues surrounding the Vietnam-war movement, but the episode is most notable for using the the word “hell” for the first time on television in its parting line (delivered by Kirk), “Let’s get the hell out of here.”


April 6, 1974 –
Waterloo won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden on this date.



ABBA not only recorded this song in their native Swedish and then in English but they also recorded a version in French for the French markets and one in German for the German markets. There is also a version in both French and Swedish that is an overdubbing of both the Swedish and French versions.


April 6, 1984 -
Paul Mazursky's comedy-drama, Moscow on the Hudson, starring Robin Williams and Maria Conchita Alonso premiered in the US on this date.



In preparation for his role, for about a year, lead actor Robin Williams studied Soviet customs and learned the Russian language. Reportedly, Williams spent five hours a day learning Russian and had learned to speak it well within a month. By the time of principal photography, Williams was at a proficiency level where he could carry out a conversation.


April 6, 1992 -
RCA Records released Annie Lennox's debut solo studio album, Diva, in the UK, on this date.



Annie Lennox had plenty to write about when she started work on the Diva album: She had recently become a mother, her father had died, and she was just getting going as a solo artist.


April 6, 2009 -
J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto premiered in Austin, Texas on this date.



The Korean-American actor John Cho was initially uncertain about being cast as the Japanese-American officer Hikaru Sulu, but George Takei, who played Sulu on Star Trek: The Original Series, encouraged him to take the role, as Sulu is a character who represents all of Asia.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
April 6, 1327 -
Francesco Petrarch, former priest and foot fetisher, met Laura de Sade (the wife of Count Hugues de Sade, an ancestor of the Marquis de Sade) in a church at Avignon on this date, and was inspired for the rest of his life. He wrote his finest poems about her beauty and loveliness.
church at Avignon on this date, and was inspired for the rest of his life. He wrote his finest poems about her beauty and loveliness.



This event has been taken to mark the beginning of the Renaissance.

Now you know.


April 6, 1570 -
Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) was an Italian master painter and architect of the Florentine school in High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings. To celebrate his upcoming 37th birthday, Raphael got together with his girlfriend, Margherita and made hot monkey love. As is often the case, too much of a good thing can kill you.



So, on Good Friday, April 6, 1570, attempted to get out of bed after a night of excessive sex, Raphael fell into a fever. And not telling his doctors that this was its cause, given it was Good Friday, was given the wrong cure, which killed him.


April 6, 1868 -
To celebrate the 38th anniversary of the founding of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph Smith Jr. and the 8th anniversary of the the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Joseph Smith III (Joe Jr.'s son), Mormon prophet Brigham Young married 23-year-old Ann Eliza Webb on this date.

This was Young's 27th wife, 18 of which are still married to him.

All I can say is - it's hard enough to keep one woman moderately happy - imagine the amount of energy it takes to keep 19 women amused.


On this day in 1895, Oscar Wilde was arrested in room 118 of the Cadogan Hotel in London.



He was arrested for "gross indecency" i.e. sodomy.


April 6, 1896 -
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were held in Athens, Greece starting on this date. These games were the first modern Olympic Games and the first Games since Roman emperor Theodosius I banned the Ancient Olympic Games in 393.



They were held between Monday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 15, 1896. Europeans were so enthusiastic about the revival of the Olympics, they didn't notice until four years later that the Summer Games were held in early spring.


April 6, 1909 -
A team lead by Robert E. Peary, Matthew A. Henson and four Inuit team members become the first men to reach the North Pole on this date. Arctic explorer Frederick A. Cook claims to have discovered the North Pole a year earlier, but the assertion will later be disproved. They established "Camp Jesup" allegedly within five miles of the pole.



The claim was disputed by skeptics and in 1988 the original navigational records were uncovered from the dog-sled voyage indicating that Peary probably never got closer than 121 miles from the North Pole. The first person to undisputedly reach the exact North Pole was Joseph Fletcher in 1952.


On this day in 1917, the United States formally declared war against Germany and entered World War I. At the time, the war had been going on in Europe for three years, but there was no real immediate threat to the United States.



Up until then, Woodrow Wilson had been opposed to the war. His campaign for president in 1916 included the slogan, "He kept us out of the war," though Wilson never used that phrase himself.


April 6, 1925 -
The first in-flight film was shown on an airplane (Imperial Airline) on a flight from London to Paris on this date.



The film was, The Lost World, the first science-fiction film (with early examples of stop-motion special effects) about prehistoric dinosaurs in a remote South American jungle. Given the plane’s wood frame and fabric hull, the actual film stock, which was extremely flammable, poses a significant danger on the flight.


April 6, 1930 -
Hostess Twinkies were invented by bakery executive James Dewar on this date.



Twinkies are back on the shelves and will probably be there long after we are all carried away by the next pandemic.


April 6, 1971 -
The Rolling Stones held a party in Cannes to unveil the launching of Rolling Stone Records on this date. The record label was created to promote the hits of The Rolling Stones.

The record label was created to promote the hits of The Rolling Stones. The famous Stones trademark, the lips logo, became widely used.



Brown Sugar was the first hit by the Rolling Stones on the new label, followed by Wild Horses and Tumbling Dice.


April 6, 1994 -
The Rwandan Genocide began, on this date, with the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana.



It lasted a little more than 100 days, but claimed over 800,000 lives. (It was very good news that Paul Rusesabagina was finally released.)


April 6, 1987 -
Al Campmpanis, the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers appeared on ABC's Nightline to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his friend, Jackie Robinson's debut in baseball.



Unfortunately, he also gave his opinion that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to hold managerial jobs in major-league baseball. Campanis ended up for his troubles, being fired over his remarks.



Oops.


April 6, 1998 -
Wendy O. Williams, former porn star and singer for The Plasmatics, killed herself with a gun near her Connecticut home on this date.



Please crank this up to 11 in her honor.



And so it goes.

Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum

Happy Easter, everybody!

We've spoken about Ishtar before: there is an ancient story about Tammuz (also known as Attis, Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Orpheus, or Jesus - you get the idea), who was born of a virgin, died, and was reborn. He was the lover of Ishtar.
!

The festival associated with Tammuz began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated, after three days, in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection. Tammuz, beloved of Ishtar, was killed by a wild pig. As Tammuz was killed by a pig, a pig must be slaughtered and eaten on that Sunday.



His blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight.  This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.



There is a forty-day period of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat is to be eaten. Worshipers were to make the sign of a "T" in front of their hearts in honor of Tammuz. They were to make and eat sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" on top.



Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, the celebration begins. That is Ishtar's Sunday, and it is commemorated with rabbits and eggs, which are sacred to her.

Now that Lent is completely over, resume all of your previous bad habits with barely any newfound spiritual insights.



Hopefully you'll find all those Easter eggs, or you'll be sorry. Year-old hard-boiled eggs left behind Grandma's couch really, really stink - enough said.


April 5, 1965 -
Happy Lava Lamp Day. The first motion lamp was designed in 1963 by an engineer, Edward Craven Walker, who sold it under the name Astro Lamp. In 1965, two American entrepreneurs, Adolph Wertheimer and William M. Rubinstein, saw the lamp displayed at a German trade show and were in awe at its beauty. They bought the rights to manufacture the lamp in North America. The Astro Lamp was brought to the USA, renamed the LAVA® brand motion lamp and production took off in Chicago.



Some of the original participants have not stopped celebrating.

Bonus info - Mr. Walker was an avid naturalist (actually he was a naturists but it was too dumb a joke,) and shot several 'documentaries' (nudie flix) during the early 60s under the alias Michael Keatering. (Look 'em up yourself.)


April 5, 1902 -
Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une Infante Défunte, (Pavane for a Dead Princess) premiered in Paris, France on this date.



You may now feel morally superior to the person in the next cubicle for knowing this.


April 5, 1964 -
The Searchers made their U.S. debut when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date.



They were the first British Invasion group to appear on the show after the Beatles.


April 5, 1975 –
Minnie Riperton (Maya Rudolph's mom) had her only No. #1 hit with Lovin’ You on this date.



Riperton worked with Stevie Wonder as a backup singer, and Stevie produced this track for her. Due to contractual obligations, Wonder's name could not appear on the credits, so he's listed as "Black Bull Productions" (Wonder's zodiac sign is Taurus, thus the bull).


April 5, 1978 -
Marvel Comics' first live-action Spider-Man based TV series, The Amazing Spider-Man debuted on CBS TV on this date.



Stan Lee, Spider-Man's co-creator, disliked the show and was vocal about his dissatisfaction with it; he had stated in interviews that he felt the series was "too juvenile" and that the Spider-Man character was being treated as a "Cardboard character".


April 5, 1987 -
The first prime time television series to air on Fox, Married... with Children, premiered on this date.



One of the show's creators said the reason Ed O'Neill was cast was that when he was auditioning for the pilot, he was required to simply walk through the front door into the Bundy home. Right before he opened the door, O'Neill let out a deep breath and slumped his shoulders, as if going home was a defeat. Producers said when they saw that, they knew O'Neill understood the show.

Also premiering on Fox that evening was The Tracy Ullman Show.



Besides being the jumping off point for the cartoon series, The Simpsons, the show featured many musical numbers, choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Paula Abdul.


Another album from the discount bin at The ACME Record Shoppe today


Today in History:
April 5, 348 BC -
According to some religious calculations, Noah's Ark grounded on Mt. Ararat in Turkey. The Bible only gives a general reference as to the landing place of the Ark.



So let's all thank our progenitor grandpappy for steering that ship away from the rocks and on to the right course.


April 5, 1242-
Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle on the Icy More of Pskov (Battle of Lake Peipus) in Estonia on this date.



In 1938, Sergei Eisenstein made one of his most acclaimed films, Alexander Nevsky, based on Nevsky's victory over the Teutonic Knights.


It was on this day in 1614 that Pocahontas married John Rolfe (and not John Smith) in the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia.



The story of Pocahontas has become an American legend; it's been retold countless times, in history books, novels, poems, TV shows, and movies. Many versions distort the facts by focusing on Pocahontas' relationship with John Smith and ignoring her marriage to John Rolfe. The story goes that Smith was captured by the Powhatans and was about to be clubbed to death when a young Pocahontas ran out and took him in her arms, saving his life (Daffy Duck and Porky Pig even get into this act) — but most historians think that Smith made up most of the story.



John Davis, in his 1806 historical novel, The First Settlers of Virginia, added a dramatic romance between Smith and Pocahontas, and that romance has been included in most of the Pocahontas stories since then, including Disney's animated movie that came out in 1995 and Terrence Malick's A New World in 2005.



But it was John Rolfe who married Pocahontas, after she had been abducted by the colonists. They had hoped they could use her as a bargaining chip with her father, the chief of the Powhatan tribe, to negotiate a peace treaty. The kidnapping didn't work out, but after John Rolfe fell in love with the girl, he got the chief's blessing, and the marriage led to a long period of peace between Jamestown and the Powhatan Indians.


April 5, 1794 -
Georges Jacques Danton, a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety was hoisted on his own petard on this date.



Robespierre, once an ally, sends Danton to the guillotine for antirevolutionary activity. Danton's last words were addressed to his executioner. "Don't forget to show my head to the people. It's well worth seeing."


April 5, 1887 -
Anne Sullivan had been attempting to get Helen Keller to make the connection between objects and words for about a month before she had her breakthrough associating the word "water" with water running across her hand.



Helen progressed rapidly after that, and is said to have exhausted Sullivan by running around asking the names of everything she could reach.


April 5, 1900 -
Jean-Baptiste Victor Sipido, a 15 year old Belgian anarchist attempt to shoot Edward, Prince of Wales in his private train compartment, as the train leaves the Brussel-Noord railway station on this date.

Amazingly, although Sipido fires two shoots through the window (and Edward was not a thin man,) he missed everyone inside and was quickly wrestled to the ground. Shockingly, Sipido was acquitted at his trial due to his age.


April 5, 1908 -
Old Age is not for sissies (my understanding is that she didn't use the word 'sissy'}



Ruth Elizabeth Davis, one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, was born on this date.


This appears to be a particularly unfortunate date for celebrities:
April 5, 1923 -
George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert (Lord Carnarvon), died in Egypt from an infected mosquito bite on this date. He financed the excavation of the Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.



But remember, there was no mummy's curse.


April 5, 1964 -
Douglas MacArthur was wrong when he said, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."



The controversial five-star general left his dried husk in his penthouse suite at the Waldorf-Astoria on this date.


April 5, 1976 -
As it must to all men, death came to the frail, syphilitic, obsessive-compulsive bisexual playboy Howard Robard Hughes.



I guess if I had that much money, I'd 'sleep' with anything I could.


April 5, 1994 -
The lead singer and songwriter of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, committed suicide with a shotgun blast to the head, prompting an unprecedented 24 hour MTV Cobain-athon.



Smells like brain splattered against the wall.


April 5, 1997 -
... Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.....



Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet giant died on this date.


April 5, 2008 -
Actor and former NRA president Charlton Heston died at 84 on this date.



Paramedics were finally able to pry that rifle from his cold rigor mortis stricken hands


April 5, 2063 -
Earth makes its first contact with the Vulcan race on this date. This meeting laid the foundation for what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets.



The first Vulcan who interacts with humans is named Solkar. Solkar is the grand father of Sarek, and subsequently the great-grandfather of Spock, (in case you were wondering.)


Before you go - my brother sent me this Easter gift and I had to share it with you:



Deeply disturbing but truly funny!



And so it goes.

A great silence on earth

Today is Holy Saturday; it' s also known as the Great Sabbath, Black Saturday, or Easter Eve. (You kids today are soft; we used to have to fast the entire day today.)





Today is the last day of Lent - you have one more day of having to give up something (or one could have done something extra.)


And now for something completely different - It's World Rat Day



Let's all move on.


April 4, 1914 -
The first episode of the silent film serial The Perils of Pauline premieres in New York. The cliffhanger serials shown in weekly installments feature Pearl White, a perpetual damsel in distress, as the title character.



The term "cliffhanger" originated with the series, owing to a number of episodes filmed on or around the New Jersey Palisades.


April 4, 1931 -
United Artists released the first version of the Hecht and MacArthur newspaper comedy, The Front Page, on this date.



Continuing a practice common to the silent era, the film was shot with three cameras at the same time. This created three different negatives. The best negative was used for the US version. The second best was used for the UK version. And the final negative was used for the general international version. Additionally, some scenes were re-shot with different dialogue for the international markets.


April 4, 1936 -
The Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short The Blow Out, directed by Tex Avery and starring Porky Pig, debuted on this date. This cartoon is notable as the first solo outing for Porky



Stage actress Lucille La Verne provided the voice of "The Bomber". It was surprising for La Verne to do a cartoon since, at that time, many stage actors refused to do film, much less a cartoon. About a year later, La Verne voiced the Wicked Queen/Old Crone, in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs


April 4, 1941 -
A charming but little remembered Sam Wood directed comedy The Devil and Miss Jones, starring Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings, and Charles Coburn premiered on this date.



Careful inspection of the interior set of Merrick's mansion reveals it to be the Xanadu set of the recently shot RKO picture Citizen Kane. The fireplace behind the Merrick's desk with its unique herring-bone brick pattern is the tip-off.


April 4, 1951 -
Another technicolor masterpiece from the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - the film version of The Tales of Hoffmann starring, Robert Rounseville, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann and Léonide Massine, opened in NYC on this date.



A 4K digital restoration has been made by Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation. This includes some scenes that were missing from recent prints and an unseen section introducing the actors and singers.


April 4, 1953 -
While not quite in the same league as Plan 9 from Outer Space, and shot in just four days, the Ed Wood Jr. 'classic', Glen or Glenda, premiered on this date (or maybe it didn't, but does it really matter.)



While the film had no sequel, Edward D. Wood Jr. used the character Glen/Glenda again in two of his novels. In the novel, Killer in Drag, Glen/Glenda has become a serial killer. In its sequel Death of a Transvestite, Glen/Glenda is executed.


April 4, 1963 -
The musical comedy film, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, Bye, Bye Birdie, directed by George Sidney and starring Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, and Ed Sullivan, debuted on this date.



Director George Sidney was so taken with the talent of Ann-Margret that when the film was edited he went to Columbia's executives and proposed the opening and closing bumpers that would showcase her. They refused to pay for any additional filming, so Sidney rented the studio and crew at his own expense. He then asked the composer and lyricist to come up with a title song. He filmed Ann-Margret's skirt-flipping, hair-tossing rendition of that song six months after principal photography was completed -- at a cost of $60,000, which was repaid to Sidney after the movie. And Ann-Margret became a sensation.


April 4, 1964 -
The Beatles set an all-time record on the Top 100 chart of Billboard magazine this day, holding an unprecedented twelve positions on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on this date.



The Beatles accounted for 60 percent of the entire singles record business during the first three months of 1964. Those singles by The Beatles this day were:

Can't Buy Me Love
Twist and Shout
She Loves You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
Please Please Me
I Saw Her Standing There
You Can't Do That
All My Loving
Roll Over Beethoven
From Me To You
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Thank You Girl

Not too shabby


April 4, 1971 -
CBS aired the final episode of Hogan’s Heroes, Rockets Or Romance, on this date.



CBS chairman Fred Silverman had the show canceled, even though it was still popular in the Nielsen ratings, as part of what came to be known as The Rural Purge when he canceled all shows he felt only appealed to older audiences or to audiences that lived in rural areas. Advertisers preferred younger and more urban audiences as they were more likely to buy their products.


April 4, 1975
A television pilot, Black Bart, based on Andrew Bergman's original story for Blazing Saddles, starring Lou Gossett, Jr. as Bart and Steve Landesberg as his drunkard sidekick, premiered on CBS TV on this date.



Many more episodes were filmed after this pilot, apparently four seasons worth, but never aired because, while the studio was contractually obligated to make them in order to keep the rights to Blazing Saddles, due to a contractual loophole, they never actually had to show them.


April 4, 1985 -
The original TV movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future, (which was the basis of the series) originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK (and later on Cinemax in the US), on this date.



Remade almost scene-for-scene as the first episode of Max Headroom TV series, created two years later. Only Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays and Morgan Sheppard appeared in both versions. The obese TV viewer's death by "blipverts", and Carter's reaction to it, as well as the live TV doctor's topic on colon health were discarded.


April 4, 1987 -
The Starship single Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date,



Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now was the third #1 single for Starship (after We Built This City and Sara), but the only members of the group who actually participated in the recording of the song were vocalist Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas, and guitarist Craig Chaquico. Producer Narada Michael Walden preferred to use his veteran session players to round out the instrumental backing, and he programmed the LinnDrum himself.

Don't forget to tune in to The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour today


Today in History:
April 4, 1561 -
Over Nuremberg, Germany, a battle in the sky transpires between black and blood-red balls, disks, and crosses on this date.

It is never made clear who prevailed in this UFO incident.


April 4, 1721 –
Sir Robert Walpole enters office as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George I on this date.



Robert Walpole came into office on the tail end of the South Sea Bubble collapse and was credited with leading the country out of financial disaster, cementing the importance of the Prime Minister position in British government.


April 4, 1841 -

William Henry Harrison was an American military leader, politician, and the ninth President of the United States. He took the oath of office on March 4, 1841 - an extremely cold and windy day. People told him, “Think what your mother would say - take a coat, it’s cold.” Nevertheless, he faced the weather without his overcoat and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history. At 8,445 words, it took nearly two hours to read. He then rode through the streets in the inaugural parade and later caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia and pleurisy. People still told him, “Think what your mother would say - have a lie-down. Have some nice chicken soup.”



He sought to rest in the White House but could not find a quiet room, as he was deluged with people seeking his favor in the hope that he would appoint them to the numerous offices the president then had at his disposal. In addition, his position and new arrival in Washington obligated Harrison to keep an extremely busy social schedule, making any rest time scarce.



His doctors tried everything to cure him, applying opium enemas, castor oil, Virginia snakeweed, and even actual snakes (don’t ask what they did with the snakes). But the treatments only made Harrison worse, and he went into delirium. He died a month later, at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841, of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia, becoming the first American president to die in office. His last words were, “Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more.” Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: only 30 days, 11 hours, and 30 minutes.



A curious fact: Harrison’s name backward is “No Sirrah.” When Harrison took office in 1841 at the age of 68, he was the oldest man to become president - a record that stood for 180 years, until Donald Trump, began his second term in 2025 at the age of 78 and seven months.

Remember, as I've stated before, your mother is always right.


April 4, 1883 -
American inventor and founder of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Peter Cooper died on this date.

Among his many accomplishments, he obtained the first American patent for the manufacture of gelatin. His patent was sold to the makers of Jell-O.


April 4, 1933 -
USS Akron (ZRS-4) the accident-prone helium-filled rigid airship of the United States Navy was lost in a weather-related accident off the New Jersey coast, killing 73 of the 76 crew and passengers on board on this date.



The Akron's loss spelled the beginning of the end for the rigid airship in the US Navy, especially since one of its leading proponents, Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, was killed with 72 other men.


April 4, 1949 -
The (NATO) North Atlantic Treaty Organization pact was signed by the US, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Canada on this date.



It provided for mutual defense against aggression and for close military cooperation. (Bunkies, let's all hope we'll still be a member in good standing.)


April 4, 1958 -
Lana Turner's 14 year old daughter Cheryl Crane, apparently stabs her mother's abusive mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato (it has always been alleged that Lana was the actual killer and that Cheryl, who faced minimal judicial punishment under the circumstances, took the rap for her). A coroner's jury finds she committed justifiable homicide.



Allegedly, while filming the movie, Another Time, Another Place, Lana Turner was rumored to have been having an affair with her costar, actor Sean Connery. Stompanato stormed onto the set, and during a verbal altercation with Connery, Stompanato waved a gun in Connery's face. Connery reacted by taking the gun away from him, physically beating Stompanato and sending him off the film set. After Stompanato's death, there were rumors that organized crime mobsters believed Connery had helped bring on the eventual demise of Stompanato, and Connery is alleged to have laid low for a time. There is no evidence that Connery and Turner were having an affair; this sort of behavior was apparently normal for Stompanato.


April 4, 1968 -
58 years ago today, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a rifleman (possibly James Earl Ray) while standing on the second-story balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had come to Tennessee to support a strike by the city's sanitation workers.



The night before he died, he gave a speech at the Memphis Temple Church in which he said, "I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."


April 4, 1972 -
(This will blow your mind - or maybe it won't. My degree is not in Psychology or Metaphysics.)
Neil Armstrong walked on the moon before the creation of wheeled luggage.

It just seems so strange given how obvious the idea of wheeled suitcases is now, but while the US spent billions on plans for landing on the moon in the early 1960s (not to mention the moon landing in 1969), wheeled cases weren't invented until the early 1970s by Bernie Sadow.

(US patent 3,653,474 for "Rolling Luggage").

The retractable telescoping handle wasn't invented until the late 1980s by Robert Plath.

So now you know


April 4, 1973 -
The World Trade Center in New York was officially dedicated on this date.



In order to create the 16-acre World Trade Center site, five streets were closed off and 164 buildings were demolished. Construction required the excavation of more than 1.2 million cubic yards of earth, which was used to create 23.5 acres of land along the Hudson River, now part of Battery Park City in lower Manhattan. During peak construction periods, 3,500 people worked at the site. A total of 10,000 people worked on the towers; 60 died during its construction.


April 4, 1983 -
NASA launches the Space Shuttle Challenger on its maiden voyage into space from the Kennedy Space Center on this date.



The shuttle is named for the British Naval research vessel HMS Challenger, which sailed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during the 1870s.


April 4th, 1984 -
To the past, or to the future. To an age when thought is free. From the Age of Big Brother, from the Age of the Thought Police, from a dead man... greetings.

Winston Smith began his secret diary on this date. I hope you've all started yours



And so it goes.