Down to Green Street

Today is National Black Cow Day - Everybody grab a root beer float today and run around to celebrate. Especially if you add bourbon to the drink.



According to several websites, the Black Cow was made by Frank J. Wisner, of Cripple Creek, Colo., in 1893. He was already making sodas for the people of his town, but decided to make a sweet treat for kids: root beer combined with vanilla ice cream. According to legend, he was inspired by the sight of the dark Rocky Mountains capped with white snow in the moonlight. And the rest is history. (Except, as I understand, you can substitute Coke for Root Beer and Chocolate ice cream for Vanilla, but I digress ...)



What day isn't a good day to play a Steely Dan song.


June 10, 1933 -
The charming Merrie Melodies short, I Like Mountain Music, directed by Rudolf Ising, was released on this date.



The cartoon contains caricatures of popular personalities of the period include Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, Ed Wynn, Edward G. Robinson, George Arliss, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and King Kong.


June 10, 1939 -
MGM released the first cartoon in the Barney Bear series, The Bear That Couldn't Sleep, on this date.



Barney Bear was a character patterned after actor Wallace Beery, a character actor known for playing gruff but lovable characters, as well as the occasional villain.


June 10, 1953 -
Arguably, one of the worse films ever (save those of auteur Ed Wood), Robot Monster was released upon an unsuspecting public, on this date.



Released to negative critical response and weak box-office, the title was quickly changed to Monster From Mars. The film, however, illustrates clearly that the monster is from the moon.



Close examination of the Ro-Man's helmet reveal it to be very similar to the helmets worn by the moon-men on the lunar surface in Republic Pictures' serial Radar Men from the Moon.


June 10, 1966 -
The Beatles song Paperback Writer was released in UK, on this date.



This claimed the top spot in the US for two non-consecutive weeks; it was interrupted for one week by Frank Sinatra's Strangers in the Night.


June 10, 1968 –
The classic romantic drama, Petulia, directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Arthur Hill, Shirley Knight, Joseph Cotten, and Richard Chamberlain, opened on this date.



The radical editing techniques employed by the film were the subject of many angry exchanges between director Richard Lester and Rudi Fehr, the Hollywood veteran who was, by then, the head of the Warner Bros. Editing Department. Lester had right of final cut in his contract, and exercised this right despite constant pressure. Later, he was very proud of having received a very detailed letter of congratulation on the editing of the film from David Lean, who, before becoming a director, had been one of the world's foremost film editors.


June 10, 1975 -
The comedy, Love and Death, directed by Woody Allen and starring Woody Allen, and Diane Keaton, opened on this date.



The movie is considered a spoof of the Russian novel, particularly the works of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, particularly The Idiot, The Gambler, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov.


June 10, 1983 -
United Artists released the 13th (or the 12th or the 14th, depending on how you count 'em) James Bond film, Octopussy, starring Roger Moore in the US on this date.



During filming, Roger Moore was misdiagnosed with heart problems. When he got home, Maud Adams had her boyfriend, who was a doctor, give him a second opinion. He pronounced him medically fit.


June 10, 1985 -
On May 23, 1985, Francis Albert Sinatra, native son of Hoboken received an honorary degree of engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. Garry Trudeau decided to take his life into his own hands when he rudely reminded the American public that Mr. Sinatra was a friend of 'organized crime' in a Doonesbury comic strip on this date.

Over 800 newspapers decided to join him in the foolhardy enterprise and carried the panel. By the next week, lawyers representing Frank Sinatra demanded a list of the names of newspapers that published the Doonesbury cartoon strip satirizing Mr. Sinatra from the distributor of the comic so they can seek retractions.


June 10, 1989 -
De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, peaks at #24 on the Billboard 200 chart.



On the same day, Me, Myself and I hits #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.


June 10, 1991 -
The last episode of the second season of Twin Peaks: Beyond Life and Death aired on ABC TV on this date.



In the 2014 book Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks by Brad Dukes, Jules Haimovitz (who was the president and COO of Spelling Entertainment while Twin Peaks was on) says that during the show's run, he got a call from the financier Carl Lindler demanding to know who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking not for himself but for then-president of the United States George Bush, who was in turn asking for Mikhail Gorbachev, then the leader of the U.S.S.R.


June 10, 1994 -
Jan de Bont's breezy summer thriller, Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, and Dennis Hopper, premiered in the US on this date.



The bus jump scene was done twice, as the bus landed too smoothly the first time. The bridge was actually there, but erased digitally.


June 10, 2007 -
The final episode of (what could arguably have been the greatest television series ever broadcast) The Sopranos aired on this date.



I'm not even going to comment upon what actual happened in the last few moments of the broadcast.




Coincidence or not, Italian Businessman John Gotti died on this date in 2002.

Make of it what you wish


Another episode of The ACME Little Known Animal Facts.


Today in History:
June 10 1190 -
Sometimes, it is not good to be the king ...

While en route to the Holy Land for a jolly vacation of pillaging and sodomy (The Third Crusade) with his fellow sovereigns, Richard (of the Lionheart fame) and Phillip II of France, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned near Silifke Castle in the Saleph river, on this date. Accounts of the event are conflicting. He either:

a.) Drowned while crossing the river via swimming
b.) Thrown from his horse and the weight of his armor dragged him down
c.) Drowned from exhaustion (that's what comes from a day of jolly pillaging and sodomy.)

Some historians believe he may have had a heart attack which complicated matters. Some of Frederick's men put him in a barrel of vinegar to preserve his body (which apparently did not work at all.)



On of many legends that have sprung up around the king is the famous Italian Gesture. When Barbarossa was in the process of seizing Milan in 1158, his wife, the Empress Beatrice, was taken captive by the enraged Milanese and forced to ride through the city on a donkey in a humiliating manner.



Some sources of this legend indicate that Barbarossa implemented his revenge for this insult by forcing the magistrates of the city to remove a fig from the anus of a donkey using only their teeth. Another source states that Barbarossa took his wrath upon every able-bodied man in the city, and that it was not a fig they were forced to hold in their mouth, but excrement from the donkey. To add to this debasement, they were made to announce, "Ecco la fica", (meaning behold the fig), with the feces still in their mouths. It used to be said that the insulting gesture, (called fico), of holding one's fist with the thumb in between the middle and forefinger came by its origin from this event.


June 10, 1692 -
Bridget Bishop, owner of two taverns, was hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts after having been convicted of "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries" on this date.

Bishop was just the first casualty of what will come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials. (Interestingly enough, a year after her death, her husband married one of the chief witnesses against her.)


June 10, 1840 -
The premiere of 19th century's favorite show - Shoot the Queen started on this date. Today, during Victoria's first pregnancy, eighteen-year old Edward Oxford attempted to kill the Queen whilst she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert in London. Oxford fired twice, but both bullets missed.

Many suggested that a Chartist conspiracy was behind the assassination attempt; others attributed the plot to supporters of the heir-presumptive, the King of Hanover. After his trial, Oxford was found to be "not guilty by reason of insanity". He was committed to the State Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Bethlem, Southwark, where he remained as a model patient for the next twenty-four years.


June 10, 1921 -
It's better to get out before you reach the sell-by date.



Today would have been the birthday of everyone's favorite itinerant Greek sailor Philip Mountbatten (Prince Philippos of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.)



I believe that celebrations will be muted today in some isolated jungle villages in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, who usually celebrate the birthday of Duke of Edinburgh, who was worshipped as a god there.

It must have been nice for him to be worshipped somewhere. But it is sad to think his Grace didn't make it to his 100th birthday.


June 10, 1935 -
God, grant me the serenity ...

It's the anniversary of the establishment of A(lcoholics) A(nonymous), in Akron, Ohio. It was founded by a stockbroker named Bill Wilson and a surgeon, Bob Smith, who found that the best way to keep from drinking was to spend time with other people who were trying to keep from drinking. Between the two of them, they developed the main traditions of AA: anonymity, confession and mutual support.



Alcoholics Anonymous grew rapidly in the '40s and '50s, but Bill Wilson refused to appear on the cover of Time, wouldn't accept an honorary degree from Yale, because believed in anonymity, and he stuck with it to the end.


June 10, 1940 -
Italy entered the Second World War on the side of the Axis countries on this date. After initially advancing in British Somaliland and Egypt, the Italians were defeated in East Africa, Greece, Russia and North Africa.



For all his troubles, Benito Mussolini attempted to resign as Head Rat Bastard of Italy but Hitler thought better of it and busted him out of his retirement home (prison). He tried to feign interest in his old job as dictator but his heart just wasn't in it. The partisans of Italy tried to relieve his ennui by machine-gunning him to death, suspended upside down, and urinated on his corpse.

One again bunkie, sometimes, it is not good to be the king (or at least Head Rat Bastard)...


June 10, 1973 -
The 17-year-old grandson of J. Paul Getty was abducted in Rome on this date. When the kidnappers demand a $17 million ransom, the billionaire refuses. "I have 14 other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren." After the grandson's severed ear arrives in the mail, Getty finally coughs up the money.



Even if he had to pay $17 million dollars for each of his grandchildren, it still would have left him well over $750 million dollars of his estimated $1 billion dollar fortune.

This is the kind of love you can only find in wealthy families.


June 10, 2004 -
Ray Charles Robinson known by his stage name Ray Charles, American pianist and musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues, died on this date.



In February 2005, Ray was awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal.



And so it goes.

Inspiring but overwhelming

Today is International Archives Day. Don't worry about how to celebrate the holiday correctly, the various Congressional, Senate and Independent committees already has all the information you might need. So you can just go about your business; They're already on the case.







Take it from your doctor and check out Archives.gov (or Archive.org); just about everything you may want, will find it's way there.


June 9, 1934 -
92 years ago today, an American legend made his first appearance on the silver screen. The Silly Symphony short The Wise Little Hen premiered; it star, resplendent in his trademark sailor jacket and cap. Since then, he has appeared in over 450 films in more than 200 languages, held lead roles in dozens of television serials and hundreds of specials, and has been featured in books and magazines in every language.



He is, of course, the world's favorite lazy, hot-headed, bare-assed mallard: Donald Fauntleroy Duck. He has done all of this without wearing pants - I know it is long past the time anyone would want to see me on the silver screen sans pants.


June 9, 1945 -
The last appearance of a 'nude' Tweety and before his famous pairing with Sylvester, A Gruesome Twosome, premiered in the US on this date.



Tweety rides on the back of a classic Vaudeville style horse in a salute to the popular radio drama The Lone Ranger.


June 9, 1946 -
The first car commercial on television for Chevrolet aired on this date. The live ad was the start of the car company's sponsorship of a series of variety shows that aired in four cities on the DuMont network.


(This is obviously not the actual commercial.)
The ad marked Chevrolet's first regular sponsorship of programs on network TV.


June 9, 1947 -
Another of Orson Welles' (The patron saint of Independent film makers) mangled studio films The Lady from Shanghai was released on this date.



Orson Welles' original rough cut of this picture ran 155 minutes (the released version ran 92 minutes). Numerous cuts made by Columbia Pictures executives included a shortening of the famous "funhouse" finale.


June 9, 1962 -
The thriller, Experiment in Terror, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers and Ross Martin, opened on this date.



Blake Edwards was a fan of Alfred Hitchcock as evidenced by his homage to his filmmaking such as in the telephonic terror of Dial M for Murder, the unhinged cross-dressing antagonist like in Psycho, urban backdrop like in Vertigo, and beautiful blonde in danger of Psycho and innumerable others.


June 9, 1978 -
The Rolling Stones' 14th British and 16th American studio album, Some Girls, was released on this date.



The album cover was a parody of a newspaper ad for wigs, but the women wearing the wigs were celebrities like Raquel Welch, Lucille Ball, and Farrah Fawcett. They had to remove the famous women when faced with a lawsuit.


June 9, 1989 -
William Shatner was at the helm when Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, starring all the other folks from the original TV series, premiered in the US on this date. (It has been said that this was the worst Star Trek film and 'nearly sank the franchise.')



George Takei has said that he originally turned down this film because he did not want to be directed by William Shatner, with whom he has had a longstanding feud. But Shatner convinced Takei to reprise his role. According to George Takei, despite studio pressure to complete the film on time, William Shatner maintained a creative and enthusiastic atmosphere on set. "I have enormous admiration for his ability to block that kind of pressure from seeping on to the set." Moreover, Takei acknowledged, "despite our sometimes strained personal history, I found working with Bill (Shatner) as a director to be surprisingly pleasant."


June 9, 1993 -
The Tina Turner bio-pix, What's Love Got To Do With It, starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, premiered in the US on this date.



Angela Bassett lip-synched all of the songs in this movie; Tina Turner sang all the tracks herself. Bassett herself admitted that she can act and dance, but isn't much of a singer. Laurence Fishburne actually sang Ike Turner's parts.


June 9, 1997 -
The FOX series Married... with Children was abruptly cancelled and a hastily shot episode was aired, How to Marry a Moron (Part 2), (which was designated as the season finale.) Five weeks later, Chicago Shoe Exchange was aired on this date, out of production order and also widely considered the final episode.



With this episode, Ed O'Neill was the only cast member to appear in every episode of Married... with Children. Amanda Bearse does not appear in this episode.


June 9, 2007 -
Rihanna's Umbrella, with a guest verse from her label boss Jay-Z, reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on this date, where it stays for seven weeks.



Jay-Z, who runs Rihanna's record label Roc-A-Fella Records, performs a somewhat gratuitous rap at the beginning of the song emphasizing his wealth and business success. His presence on the song made it much more marketable even if it didn't advance the storyline.


Today's moment of Zen.


Today in History:
June 9, 68 -
Rather than suffer a Senate-imposed death by flogging, Nero implored his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat. The freedman complies, giving the condemned emperor a quick death on this date, just as centurions arrive at the villa to haul him away.

As Nero's four faithful servants prepared his funeral pyre, the Emperor gasped out with his last breath: Qualis artifex Pereo, (How great an Artist dies here.) You certainly can't get help like that anymore even on Mad Men.



Administrative Professionals Day, former known as Secretaries Day, always falls on the last week of April. I believe it should occur on June 9th


June 9, 1870 -
Charles Dickens dropped dead at his chair at the dinner table in his home in London on this date. He died from a stroke, or apoplexy as it was called then. This must have put a dent in the dinner conversation at the time.



He was 58 years old. In the months before he died, he must have already suffered a stroke? He spoke in his letters of weakness and deadness on the left side and of not being able to pick up things with his left hand.



Being the ever prolific writer, Mr. Dickens still manages to write three more short stories, a humorous monograph and a recipe for rum punch while on the way to his burial.


June 9, 1891 -
He may have hair upon his chest
but, sister, so has Lassie.







One of the most sophisticated American, and Peru, Indiana's favorite son, Cole Porter, was born on this date.


June 9, 1902 -
Joe Horn and Frank Hardart open the Horn and Hardart Automat Restaurant, the first restaurant with vending machine service, at 818 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.





If you are of a certain age, you used to call them Horny and Hardon.


June 9, 1909 -
Starting out from a rainy Manhattan, New York on this date, Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old New Jersey mother, drove with three of her girlfriends (who didn't know how to drive a car) to San Francisco, California. The trip took 59 days and when she and her companions arrived in California on August 7th, Ramsey (and her companions) became the first woman to drive across the United States.



She made the 3,800-mile journey in a Maxwell automobile. The Maxwell company was the precursor to the Chrysler Group. She was named the “Woman Motorist of the Century” by AAA in 1960. She repeated the trip another 30 times — in shorter periods of time — before her death on September 10, 1983, at the age of 96.


June 9, 1930 -
Jake Lingle, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, was shot dead gangland-style at the Illinois Central train station underpass, during rush hour. Dozens of people witness the murder, and the Leo Vincent Brothers were caught four months later after an intensive manhunt.



Lingle was allegedly killed over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.

Bunkies, how many times do we have to go over this - don't borrow money unless you can pay the vig?


June 9, 1946 -
Bhumibol Adulyadej (known as Rama IX ) came to the throne in Thailand, upon the death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, on this date in 1946. (Just don't ask who shot his brother - it's a crime. As a matter of fact, don't say anything negative about the King - it's a crime.)



King Rama IX of Thailand passed away almost five years ago, leaving the former Queen Elizabeth II of England as the longest living reigning monarch in history, at the time.


June 9, 1954 -
Have you left no sense of decency?

During Senate-Army hearings, Sen Joseph McCarthy charged that one of Joseph Welch's attorneys had ties to a Communist organization.



As an amazed television audience looked on, Welch responded with the immortal lines that ultimately ended McCarthy's career. At that point, the Senate gallery erupted in applause for the only brave soul to have finally stood up in the committee hearings against the “Red Scare” witch hunt that had paralyzed the nation’s psyche.


June 9, 1980 -
In the midst of a cocaine binge, comedian Richard Pryor attempts suicide by dousing himself with rum and setting it ablaze. The self-immolation attempt goes haywire when the flaming man leapt from his apartment window and ran down the street, screaming in agony.



Pryor barely survives the incident, and only after six weeks of intensive care and three skin graft surgeries.


June 9, 1992 -
Talk about having a lousy day...
Entertainer Ben Vereen was critically injured when he was struck by a van while walking along the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, California. The driver, producer/composer David Foster, was not charged.



Some hours earlier, Vereen had run into a tree while driving his own car. He blames that mishap for the later accident. He said, "I had hit my head on the steering wheel but felt fine. Later that evening as I was walking in Malibu, I had [a] stroke as a result of that accident." Vereen says he then stumbled into the roadway and was hit by the van.



And so it goes.

And yes -

as my children knew as their first spoken phrase - a bone dry Bombay Sapphire Martini, straight up, olives !

Today is National Name Your Poison Day. As described on many websites, "... National Name Your Poison Day is observed each year on June 8. Over the years, bartenders have been known to use the phrase, “name your poison,” when asking patrons what they would like to drink. This observation celebrates that phrase and is a day to commemorates making a choice or a decision."



I do not wished to be embalmed. I hope they just douse me with a strong drink or two before they cremate me. Drink enough and you'll agree with me. Apparently you will become quite artistic and see lots of things once you drink enough Bombay Sapphire.


June 8, 1935 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Into Your Dance, directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date.



Many networks airing this short, remove the scene of a blackface minstrel group performing Go Into Your Dance as the crowd enters the show.


June 8, 1940 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Tom Thumb in Trouble, directed by Chuck Jones, debuted on this date.



This is the final cartoon in which Shepperd Strudwick provided a voice. All cartoons Strudwick worked on were directed by Chuck Jones.


June 8, 1940 -
The Looney Tunes short, The Chewin' Bruin, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date.



The muskrats that the bear hunter were quietly scaring with his rifle, escape and dig in holes in the nearby fallen log that spell out GOODBYE, MR CHIPS.


June 8, 1946 -
The Looney Tunes short, Kitty Kornered, directed by Bob Clampett and featuring the first pairing of Porky Pig and Sylvester, was released on this date.



The goldfish couple are shown sleeping in the same bed. At the time, such a portrayal was pushing the censorship envelope. The Hayes Code required twin beds for spouses, even in a cartoon.


June 8, 1950 -
The Asphalt Jungle, the superb film noir directed by John Huston, was released on this date.



During the production, Walter Huston came to Hollywood for his son John Huston's 44th birthday party. Two days later, with John at his side, the legendary actor of stage and screen died of heart failure at age 66.


June 8, 1957 -
The Looney Tunes short, Steal Wool, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, was released on this date.



This is the fourth animated short film by Warner Bros. Cartoons to feature Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog as the main characters. This is also their last appearance in the 1950s, as they would make their next appearance in 1960.


June 8, 1963 -
The Crystals' Da Doo Ron Ron peaked at No.3 on the US singles chart. Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich wrote this song.



Phil Spector produced this song, marking his first real "Wall of Sound" production. He had a massive hit a few years earlier with To Know Him Is To Love Him by The Teddy Bears, but Da Doo Ron Ron provided the template for his unique studio sound that he would replicate on classic songs like Be My Baby.


June 8, 1963 -
The Looney Tunes short, Hare-Breadth Hurry, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote, was released on this date.



This is the final pairing between Bugs and Wile E. Coyote in the classic era.


June 8, 1968 -
The Rolling Stones released Jumpin' Jack Flash on this date.



This was intended for Beggar's Banquet, but they left it off the album and released it as a single because The Stones were very pleased with the results. One year later on this date, founding member Brian Jones quit (some say 'pushed out') The Rolling Stones.



He died a month later, at age 27.


June 8, 1974 -
Dolly Parton's single I Will Always Love You went to No.1 on the US country charts on this date.



Elvis Presley let it be known that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. Parton refused.



I Will Always Love You later became a worldwide No.1 hit for Whitney Houston in 1992 when featured in The Bodyguard.


June 8, 1983 -
John Landis' mega-hit comedy Trading Places, starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis premiered in the US on this date.



In 2010, as part of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act, which was to regulate financial markets, a rule was included which barred anyone from using secret inside information to corner markets, similar to what the Duke brothers tried to do in the movie. Since the movie inspired this rule, it has since become known as the Eddie Murphy Rule.


June 8, 1984 -
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!



Ivan Reitman's comedy - horror film, Ghostbusters, premiered on this date.



In the middle of the film's initial release, to keep interest going, Ivan Reitman ran a trailer that was basically the commercial the Ghostbusters used in the movie, but the 555 number was replaced with a 1-800 number, allowing people to actually call in. Callers got a recorded message of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd saying something to the effect of "Hi. We're out catching ghosts right now." They got 1,000 calls per hour, 24 hours a day, for six weeks.


June 8, 1985 –
The Tears for Fears song Everybody Wants to Rule the World became the group's highest-charting single when it reached No. #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



This song is about the quest for power, and how it can have unfortunate consequences. In an interview with Mix magazine, the band's producer Chris Hughes explained that they spent months working on Shout, and near the end of the sessions, Roland Orzabal came into the studio and played two simple chords on his acoustic guitar, which became the basis for the song. Said Hughes: "'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' was so simple and went down so quickly, it was effortless, really. In fact, as a piece of recording history, it's bland as hell." The song has been covered by a diverse group of people - Patti Smith, Lorde and the jazz group, The Bad Plus are among the artists to cover this song. Weezer included it on their 2019 covers collection known as The Teal Album.



And amazingly, they have performed the song again nearly 40 years later.


June 8, 1996 -
The Fugees' reworking of Killing Me Softly, featuring lead vocals by Lauryn Hill, goes to #1 in the UK, on this date, where it becomes the top-selling single of 1996.



The Fugees wanted to change the lyrics and make it a song about poverty and drug abuse in the inner city with the title Killing Him Softly, but the songwriting team of Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel refused.


Word of the Day.


Today in History:
June 8, 632 -
According to tradition, the prophet Mohammed died on this date. He was the founder of Islam, and his death was the first in a long chain of events that ultimately resulted in the Treaty of Tordesillas. Whether he is at this very moment reclining on a soft couch somewhere in Paradise, being serviced by a high-bosomed virgin with dark eyes or consuming a handful of raisins is debatable.

And if you think I'm going to post a picture of the Prophet, you've got another thing coming.


June 8, 1810 -
Robert Schumann, the great composer during the Romantic period, was born on this date. Schumann was able to create a large amount of work while battling the twin demons of bi-polar disease and dementia brought on by mercury poisoning related to the treatment of syphilis, contracted in his teens.



For the last two years of his life, after an attempted suicide, Robert Schumann was confined to a mental institution at his own request.

You may now impress your friends with this info.


June 8 1869 -
Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago patented his sweeping machine (patent # 91,145,) the first suction vacuum cleaner, on this date.

This suggests that Chicago was famous for sucking long before the emergence of the Cubs.


June 8, 1906 -
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt signed the American Antiquities Act, first proposed in 1882. It was used to set aside American resources by executive order.



Roosevelt had urged the passage of the Antiquities Act to allow the president to designate areas of scientific, historic or archeological significance as national monuments without the approval of Congress.


June 8, 1928 -
On May 31, 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harry Lyon and James Warner left Oakland California in a Fokker VIIb-3m, called the Southern Cross, to attempt the first flight across the Pacific.



Flying via Hawaii and Fiji, they reach Brisbane, Australia 7,389 miles away, nine days later, on this date.


June 8, 1933 -
Certain key structural areas of the late, great Joan Alexandra Molinsky, comic and actress, were born on this date.



Unfortunately, some of her 'newer' parts have outlived her.


Nancy Sinatra was born on this date - it would be impolite to say how old she is.



Her boots must be made for endurance walking


June 8, 1978 -
Naomi James broke the solo round-the-world sailing record by two days with her 53 ft yacht Express Crusader when she crossed the finish line in Dartmouth taking 272 days to complete the record. She also became the first woman to sail solo around the globe via Cape Horn - the classic "Clipper Route".



In 1979 Naomi was given the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her achievement. Naomi gave up sailing in 1982 after winning the Round Britain Race with her husband Rob James. In 1983 Rob fell overboard whilst sailing to Salcombe from Plymouth and drowned, their daughter was born ten days after the tragedy.


June 8, 1982 -
President Ronald Reagan became the first US chief executive to address the two houses of British Parliament on this day.



His assistants became slightly concerned about the President's faculties when Reagan mentioned to them, that he believed that scene went well but he could be more convincing in the next take. He also mentioned to them that he'd be having dinner with Hedy Lamarr at the Trocadero.



And so it goes.