Tried to amend my carnivorous habit

Today is National Cheeseburger Day. As with most things, many people and restaurants are claiming the cheeseburgers' origin, going as far back as 1926, when a sloppy 16 year old Lionel Sternberger, while working at his father’s Pasadena, California sandwich shop, dropped a slice of cheese on a burger he was cooking. Although I should not scoff, the sloppy Alexander Fleming, accidentially discovered Penicillin when he didn't wash up his lab before going on vacation.





But remember, according to a 2022 study from Tulane University, if Americans swapped one serving of beef per day for chicken, their diets' greenhouse gas emissions would fall by an average of 48 percent and water-use impact by 30 percent. (I'm just saying.)


September 18, 1933 -
The Looney Tunes short, Bosko's Picture Show, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, starring Bosko, was released on this date.



This is the last Looney Tunes short produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising for Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. The duo moved on to produce cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the first of which were released in the following year.


September 18, 1937 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Dog Daze, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date.



The dogs first shown in the exhibition booths are labeled Bulldog, Wolf Hound, Scottie, and Ralph Wolfe. The latter name (without the "e") reappeared as a character name 16 years later in the Warner Brothers cartoon Don't Give Up the Sheep, the first Ralph Wolf/Sam Sheepdog pairing.


September 18, 1943 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Corny Concerto, directed by Bob Clamplett, and starring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck(?),was released on this date.



The identity of the black duckling in this short has prompted much debate among cartoon fans as to whether or not it is, in fact, Daffy Duck. Supporters of the idea claim it is Daffy due to the character's similar color design (such as the white band around the neck), while naysayers say that if it was supposed to be Daffy then it would have been made more clear in his appearance or by having him speak.


September 18, 1951 -
The film version of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marion Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



Although Vivien Leigh initially thought Marlon Brando to be affected, and he thought her to be impossibly stuffy and prim, both soon became friends and the cast worked together smoothly.


September 18, 1951 -
20th Century Fox premiered the science fiction classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise and starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, in New York, on this date.



One of the reasons Michael Rennie was cast as Klaatu was that he was generally unknown to American audiences, and would be more readily accepted as an "alien" than a more recognizable actor. Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck had shown the script to Spencer Tracy, who was eager to play the role. Producer Julian Blaustein objected, saying that the audience would have numerous expectations about the character upon seeing an actor of such repute emerging from the flying saucer. Blaustein knew that Zanuck had the ultimate control, and if he insisted, Blaustein would either have to resign, or make the movie in an unsatisfactory way. Fortunately, Zanuck agreed, and Rennie was cast instead.


September 18, 1957 -
The western series, Wagon Train, starring Ward Bond Robert Horton, John McIntire, Robert Fuller, Michael Burns, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, and Scott Miller originally premiered on NBC TV on this date, then moved to ABC TV in it's sixth season.



Ward Bond (Major Seth Adams) and Robert Horton (Flint McCullough) did not get along on the set. According to Horton, Bond spread rumors about his sexuality. The two men settled their differences two days before Bond died. Although it was not publicly disclosed at the time, Ward Bond was already in terrible health when the series began. He was ill with high blood pressure, and had been ordered to reduce his workload. However, he continued to drink heavily while working on the series.


September 18, 1960 -
Teen heart-throb Tab Hunter was at the peak of his career when his comedy series, The Tab Hunter Show, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



The Tab Hunter Show seemed like an update of The Bob Cummings Show, aimed at a younger audience. Both featured an artist (Bob a photographer, Tab a cartoonist) whose work had them constantly surrounded by beautiful young women. The biggest difference was Hunter was much younger.


September 18, 1963 -
The show that taught elderly men, twin cousins might be lured into immoral acts with the purchase of grilled sausages - The Patty Duke Show, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



For most of the scenes featuring Patty and Cathy, Rita Walter played "the back of either Patty's or Cathy's head", as appropriate. She can also be seen in several episodes as a background character.


September 18, 1964 -
The most normal family's ever presented on US television, The Addams Family premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Carolyn Jones and John Astin decided to give Gomez and Morticia "a grand romance" as an antidote to the virtually asexual parents then common in television shows.


September 18, 1965 -
Kleenex stock rose precipitously as I Dream of Jeannie premiered on this date.



While filming the first 12 episodes of season 1, Barbara Eden was pregnant with her son, Matthew Ansara. Her pregnancy was disguised by filming her in close-up or with a copious veil covering her front. Barbara Eden has said that wearing all the extra veils made her feel like a walking tent.


September 18, 1965 -
Mel Brooks and Buck Henry started their fight to keep the world safe from KAOS when Get Smart premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



When Don Adams was negotiating his salary, he had his choice between more money per week and no ownership stake in the show, or less money per week and part ownership. Adams chose the ownership deal and never regretted it considering the series' durable popularity in syndication gave him a regular income even as he struggled with being typecast by it.


September 18, 1968 -
The film musical Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand premiered in NYC.



Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif had an affair that lasted for the duration of the production. Director William Wyler, who knew about the affair, tried to channel their real-life chemistry into their performances. Streisand had also enjoyed a liaison with Sydney Chaplin, who portrayed Nick on stage. Both affairs would contribute to the end of her marriage to Elliott Gould.


September 18, 1971 -
The fifth studio album by the Who, Who's Next, reached No. 1 of the Billboard Charts in the U.K. on this date.



In an interview with Billboard magazine in February 2010, Pete Townshend discussed how he feels now that 40 years on this and other Who songs take on a deeper meaning. He explained that when he wrote the band's classic tunes, "The music there was about living in the present and losing yourself in the moment. Now that has changed. Boomers kind of hang on to that as a memory. When I go back and listen to those songs, the Who songs in particular of the late '60s and early 70s, there was an aspiration in my writing to attune to the fact that what I could feel in he audience was - I won't say religious - but there was certainly a spiritual component to what people wanted their music to contain. There's definitely a higher call for the music now which is almost religious. U2, for example, are hugely successful with songs about inner longing for freedom, ideas."


September 18, 1976 –
Wild Cherry's single Play That Funky Music went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



This was going to be the B-side of Wild Cherry's cover of the Commodores' I Feel Sanctified. When they heard it, the owners of their record label suggested that the B-side become the A-side. The song sold over two million copies, but was Wild Cherry's only hit.


September 18, 1978 -
We first started living on the air in Cincinnati when WKRP in Cincinnati, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



The show was videotaped instead of filmed because the rights to rock songs were cheaper for a taped show than for a filmed show.


September 18, 1987 -
Pet bunnies felt a cold breeze on their neck when Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, opened on this date.



Glenn Close still has the knife she used in the movie hanging in her kitchen, stating: "It's beautiful, made of wood and paper. It's a work of art! And it's nice for our guests to see it. It lets them know they can't stay forever."


September 18, 1989 -
The science fiction series Alien Nation, starring Gary Graham, and Eric Pierpoint, premiered on the FOX network on this date.



The fledgling Fox Network first year on the air resulted in a cash crunch that forced the cancellation of this series after its first season, despite a season-ending cliffhanger. The never-produced second season opener was adapted as a novel and a comic book, and the series itself was later revived as a series of TV movies beginning with Alien Nation: Dark Horizon in 1994.


September 18, 1994 -
Ken Burn's series about America's favorite past time Baseball, premiered on PBS on this date.



When working on the original series of films the producer wondered if they should keep in the statement that the Red Sox would never again win the world series, they decided to keep it in, despite this being the favorite team of filmmaker Ken Burns. Then in 2004, the team won the world series. As a result, Burns decided to add a "tenth inning", updating things in a number of ways, including the strike and permanent resolution, the steroids scandal and other aspects of recent baseball history.


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History:
ACME would like to issue a Trigger Warning - all children and those with delicate natures should turn away from their computer screens as we discuss the bizarre deviant sexual behavior on the part of our founding fathers:

On September 18, 1793, President George Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. Capitol. According to numerous sources, President Washington "laid the stone in a Masonic ceremony... preceded by a parade and followed by celebration and feasting."

The 1792 competition for the design of the Capitol had been won by an amateur architect, and the building was therefore burned by the British before it could be completed. Congress had moved into the building on November 22, 1800, but managed to escape the fire.


September 18, 1851 -
The New York Times published its first edition on this date. The newspaper, initially called the New-York Daily Times, was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond, a politician and journalist.

It cost one penny per copy and was published six days per week, changing to seven days in 1861. Its name was changed to the New York Times in 1857.


September 18, 1932 -
24-year-old starlet Peg Entwistle dove head first from the letter "H" of the HOLLYWOODLAND sign in Los Angeles. She is the first person to commit suicide at the landmark.



Her body was discovered in the brush at the base of the hill two days later, and pronounced dead. When police examined her belongings, in her purse they found a note that read:

"I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."



Two days later, in an ironic twist, Entwistle's uncle opened a letter addressed to her from the Beverly Hills Playhouse; it was mailed the day before she jumped. In it was an offer for her to play the lead role in a stage production—in which her character would commit suicide in the final act.


September 18, 1958 -
Bank of America sent out 60,000 “BankAmericards” to their customers in Fresno, California, on this date.



These cards, later renamed 'VISA' were the first nationally licensed credit card program.


September 18, 1961 -
Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the UN, was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on this date. He was flying to negotiate a cease-fire in the Congo.



Hammarskjold was the son of a former Swedish prime minister. In 1953, he was elected to the top UN post and in 1957 was reelected. During his second term, he initiated and directed the United Nation's vigorous role in the Belgian Congo.

Strangely enough, for many years, I worked in an office building that bears his name.


September 18, 1970 -
Jimi Hendrix died in his sleep, in London, from of a barbiturate overdose when chunks of his vomited tuna sandwich wound up in his lungs, causing him to choke, on this date. He was 27 years old.



At least his family could take comfort that he did not choke on someone else's vomit.

Once again I must remind you that Cass Elliot did not choke to death on a ham sandwich. It is an urban myth born out of a quickly discarded speculation by the coroner, who noted a part eaten ham sandwich and figured she may have choked to death. In fact, she died of heart failure.

So cut it out.


September 18, 1975 -
The burst of the Thompson gun stopped ringing in her ears on this date.



Fugitive kipnapped newspaper heiress, then zealot compatriot, Patricia Hearst and three other comrades, Wendy Yoshimura, William and Emily Harris were arrested and arraigned, ending one of the longest manhunts in American history.


September 18, 1977 -
NASA's unmanned space probe Voyager 1 snapped the first photograph of the Moon and the Earth in the same frame while on its mission to study the Solar System and its boundaries. At the time, Voyager 1 was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth.

Voyager 1 continues its mission today and still is in communication with NASA scientists.


September 18, 1981 -
The Guinness Book of World Records verified on this date, that the West Edmonton Mall parking lot, which can hold 20,000 cars, is the largest parking lot in the world.

Interestingly enough, the mall has held other records, too: At one time or another it’s been the World’s Largest Shopping Mall (48 city blocks), the World’s Largest Indoor Amusement Park and the World’s Largest Indoor Water Park (which includes the World’s Largest Indoor Lake and the World’s Largest Indoor Wave Pool).


September 18, 1992 -
Two weeks after being outed in the New York weekly QW, attorney John Schlafly admitted in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner that he enjoys the love that dare not speak it's name. This causes a certain amount of consternation for his mother, archconservative gay rights opponent Phyllis Schlafly.

The Schlafly family never fulfilled their obligation as good Christians to present their rebellious son to the town elders and have him stoned to death as instructed in Deut. 21:18. Now that Schlafly has met her maker, she'll find out what's in store for her.


September 18, 1994 -
Vitas Gerulaitis was killed in his sleep the previous night in the guest cottage of a friend's Long Island estate. His body was discovered on this date. The professional tennis player died from carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by a faulty propane swimming-pool heater.

How many more people must die from killer swimming pools?


September 18, 2025 - Jimmy Kimmel became the latest martyr in the fight for First Admendment rights, on this date.



You know that we're in serious trouble.


Before you go - Happy Anniversary Angie and Eliot -

Hope you're having a lovely day


One more thing - If you find yourself in Westport CT. next Saturday, look for me meandering the streets one more time at the Slice of Saugatuck event - (it benefits the Homes with Hope’s Gillespie Food Pantry.)

The Chamber of Commerce has donated almost $65,000 to the food pantry over the years.



And so it goes

An update from ACME

There are 44 days until Halloween,



71 days until Thanksgiving -



There are 27 days until Canadian Thanksgiving, but we'll talk about that next month -



99 days until Christmas -



And 47 days until the General Election. Make sure that you have registered: Voting is one of your only obligations as a citizen -



While yesterday was the deadline to register, there's is still time to change your rankings on the Naughty/ Nice list. Make your plans accordingly.


September 17, 1932 -
The Looney Tunes short, Ride Him, Bosko!, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising starring Bosko, was released on this date.



Although the short ends with a cliffhanger, it is continued in Bosko's Parlor Pranks", a Happy Harmonies short produced after Harman and Ising had taken Bosko to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where Bosko eventually gets to rescue Honey from the crazy gunmen.


September 17, 1955 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Speedy Gonzales , directed by Friz Freleng, and Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.



Although this is the second appearance of Speedy Gonzales (His first outing was in Cat-Tails for Two), he was redesigned after his debut, and this is the first appearance of Speedy as he is known today.


September 17, 1956 -
Vincente Minnelli's brilliant bio-pix, Lust for Life, opened in NYC on this date.



A very young Michael Douglas and his brother ran screaming from the theater during the scene where Van Gogh severs his own ear because they believed their father, Kirk Douglas, had actually harmed himself.


September 17, 1961 -
William Faulkner's favorite TV show, Car 54 Where are You?, premiered on NBC-TV, on this date.



For the black-and-white location shots, the green parts of the normally black, white, and green patrol cars were painted red so as not to confuse the neighborhood people.


September 17, 1963 -
David Janssen started running when ABC-TV premiered The Fugitive, on this date.



Richard Kimble was originally fleeing his hometown in Wisconsin, until the producers discovered that Wisconsin did not execute murderers. The locale was quickly changed to Indiana.


September 17, 1964 -
United Artists released the third James Bond thriller (in the UK,) Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery, on this date.



Sean Connery never traveled to the United States to film this movie. Every scene in which he appears to be in the U.S. was filmed at Pinewood Studios outside London. This explains why Bond flips a light switch down to discover the golden corpse of Jill, as British light switches are generally turned on by flicking them down instead of up. According to director Guy Hamilton, Cec Linder (Felix) was the only main actor in the Miami sequence who was actually there. Connery, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Margaret Nolan, and Austin Wallis, who played Goldfinger's card victim, all filmed their parts when filming started in Britain, with rear projections used, and in the case of Fröbe and Wallis, stand-ins used for the long shots.


September 17, 1964 -
Dick York started out as Durwood, I mean, Darrin as Bewitched premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The show had an unusual amount of roles played by more than one person: two Darrins, two Gladys Kravitzes, two Louise Tates, two of Darrin's father. Dick York left the show in 1969 due to health problems; his role of Darrin was taken over by Dick Sargent. When Alice Pearce died, her role of Mrs. Kravitz was taken over by Sandra Gould.


September 17, 1965 -
CBS-TV premiered Hogan's Heroes, the first and perhaps only sitcom based in a German prisoner-of-war camp on this date.



Early in production planning, it was decided to make it always be winter, with snow on the ground, and frost on the windows. This was to prevent problems with continuity, and to allow the episodes to be shown in any order (it also makes prison life seem bleaker, and being winter adds even more of a menace whenever Klink or Schultz are being threatened with being sent to the Russian front). Since much of the filming was done in the summer, the cast members had to wear coats and act cold, even when the temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.


September 17, 1965 -

Artemus Gordon and the frequently bare-chested James T. West boarded their specially outfitted train for the first time when Wild, Wild, West premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Robert Conrad has stated that the very tight pants he wore on the show often split open during action scenes. This is especially obvious in several wide angle shots of fight scenes in which Conrad's period incorrect Jockey shorts are clearly visible.


September 17, 1966 –
Wilson Pickett's cover of Chris Kenner's song, Land of 1000 Dances, went to No. 1 on the US Billboard Charts on this date.



Dances mentioned in Kenner's version are: The Pony, Mashed Potato, Alligator, Twist, Watusi, The Yo-Yo, Sweet Pea, Fly, Hand Jive, Slop, Chicken, Bop, Fish, Slow Twist, Tango, and the Popeye. Pickett's version mentions The Pony, Mashed Potato, Alligator, Twist, Watusi, and the Jerk.


September 17, 1966 -
The first mission from the IMF team from Mission Impossible premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Greg Morris and Peter Lupus were the only original cast members to remain on the show throughout the entire run, although Lupus was replaced by Sam Elliott for approximately half of the episodes in season five.


September 17, 1967 -
The Doors appear on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date and things did not go as smoothly as the producers may have hoped.



The band had been asked by producer Bob Precht of The Ed Sullivan Show, to alter the lyrics of the song, Light My Fire, so as to eliminate the phrase “we couldn’t get much higher.” The band agreed to change the lyrics but come show time, Jim Morrison sang the lyrics as originally written. As a result, The Doors were banned from ever again appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show.


September 17, 1968 -
The TV series Julia premiered on this date, starring Diahann Carroll (as a nurse with a young son whose husband was killed in Vietnam), Lloyd Nolan, and Marc Copage. Carroll was the first African-American woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series.



Diahann Carroll said in interview that the show ended when she asked to be let out of her television contract, having grown tired of the controversy surrounding the show from its inception.


September 17, 1969 -
The TV comedy sereis based of the 1963 film with the same name, The Courtdhip of Eddie's Father, starring Bill Bixby, Brandon Cruz, and Miyoshi Umeki premiered on ABC TV, on this date.



In real life, Bill Bixby became a surrogate father to Brandon Cruz, who came from a broken home, and Bixby took him in.


September 17, 1969 -
The adventure/drama television series Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



At the hill climb, several people are wearing "Viewfinders" jackets. The Viewfinders is a club for stunt men and people in the film industry


September 17, 1969 -
It was everyone's first day at Walt Whitman High School, when ABC TV premiered Room 222 starring Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, Michael Constantine, and Karen Valentine, aired on this date.



This was the first of three long-running sitcom franchises created or developed by James L. Brooks that are currently the property of 20th Television, the other two are The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Simpsons. The shows from the first season included a laugh track. However, by the second season the laugh track was gone to help emphasize that the show was a drama, rather than a comedy.


September 17, 1972 -
We got to meet the staff of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital for the first time (on TV) when M*A*S*H, premiered on CBS TV on this date. The series was on TV for 11 years, the Korea War only lasted three years - you figure it out.



Jamie Farr and Alan Alda were the only two main cast members to have actually served in the U.S. Army in South Korea. Both of them did their tours of duty after the 1953 cease fire. Farr was drafted, serving in Japan at Camp Drake before eventually touring and performing throughout South Korea with friend Red Skelton. Alda voluntarily joined the Army Reserve after graduating from Fordham, and completed the minimum six-month tour of duty as a gunnery officer.


September 17, 1982 -
Zoetrope Studios' film Hammett, directed by Wim Wenders and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner, and Roy Kinnear, debuted in the US, on this date.



When director Wim Wenders completed his work, the company Orion was so dissatisfied, that the Zoetrope studio was ordered to re-write and re-shoot nearly the whole movie. Two different versions were produced, but only the second released. According to Wenders the first version, which was finished, is lost.


September 17, 1991 -
ABC-TV introduced us the the Taylor family and the cast and crew of Tool Time when Home Improvement premiered on this date.



Originally, Frances Fisher was cast as Jill Taylor. During the filming of the pilot, audiences reacted poorly, saying that she made the character of Jill whiney and desperate. She was replaced with Patricia Richardson four days before the pilot episode was taped.


September 17, 2011 -
Adele made everyone weep copious amount of tears with her single Someone Like You that it hits no. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



Adele had boundless resources at her disposal, but all this song needed was two people, two days, and a studio with a grand piano. She wrote and recorded it at Harmony Studios in Los Angeles with Dan Wilson of the band Semisonic, whose co-writing credits include Not Ready To Make Nice with Dixie Chicks and Hidden Away with Josh Groban. The demo they recorded at the end of their second day (with Wilson on piano) ended up being so good that Adele decided to use it as the actual recording. She tried recording it with a band and a full orchestra, but couldn't beat that demo.


Another little known Monopoly card


Today in History:
On July 4, 1776, the American colonies told Britain to kiss their hairy American asses. This occurred during the Revolutionary War, during which the Redcoats were coming, a shot was heard 'round the world', and Paul Revere could see the whites of their eyes and knew that their taxes were too high.



The complexities of war demanded organization between the states, so they established Articles of Confederation, which in turn created a Continental Congress. This Congress was adequate to see them through the war, but by the late 1780s it became clear that both the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation sucked.



Even way back then Americans didn't want anything to do with anything that sucked (unless it meant a substantial discount, which in this case it did not).

The Continental Congress tried to fix the Articles of Confederation in 1786. The Congress still sucked, of course, and so they failed.

In the spring of 1787 the states sent new delegates to a new convention designed to produce a government that wouldn't be so awful.



On September 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention voted its approval of a new Constitution, which they immediately ran out to have printed.

The Continental Congress acted with its usual efficiency, and by July 2 of the following year, the Constitution had become the law of the land. The last act of the Continental Congress was to schedule federal elections for their replacements.



Today is Constitution Day in the U.S. Celebrate by refusing to allow soldiers to be billeted in your home.


September 17, 1778 -
The United States signed its first treaty with a Native American tribe, the Delaware Nation, on this date.

Within a year the Delaware Indians were expressing grievances about the treaty. A delegation of Delawares visited Philadelphia in 1779 to explain their dissatisfaction to the Continental Congress, but nothing changed and peace between the United States and the Delaware Indians collapsed. (The day should be called Lies the White Man told Us day.)


September 17, 1859 -

The San Francisco Call Bulletin published a notice on an inside page announcing that our old pal Joshua Norton, formerly a prominent businessman, had proclaimed himself Norton I, “Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico.” He annexed the whole of the US and suspended the Constitution. His Majesty remained on the job until his death in 1880.



The successor to Emperor Norton I has still yet to be anointed. I am still consulting attorneys about this matter, as we speak.


September 17, 1908 -
Thomas E. Selfridge becomes the world's first airplane fatality when the Wright Flyer, a craft he's co-piloting with Orville Wright for the U.S. Army, crashed near Fort Meyer, Virginia on this date.

An untested propeller ripped apart the plane's structure, causing it to nosedive from an altitude of 75 feet.

Orville walks away unscathed and Wilber never quite trusted his brother again, as he was supposed to fly in the plane with his brother. And yet despite the tragic mishap, the War Department awarded the contract for the first military aircraft to Wright.

If you can, please seek out the Karpeles Manuscript Library branch (according to Wikipedia, the world's largest private holding of important original documents and manuscripts), located in Santa Barbara, CA. The museum has several items of correspondence between the Wright Brothers and the War Department on display, including the first contract for the Wright Flyer.


September 17, 1935 -
Len Koenecke was an outfielder with the Brooklyn Dodgers for most of 1935, but near the end of the season he was released for “behavior and erratic play.” The Dodger left St. Louis by passenger plane, but was ordered off in Detroit because of intoxication. Len chartered a three-seater plane for Buffalo that included both the pilot and the co-pilot.

The ballplayer began to play with the airplane controls, and would not stop when ordered. Koenecke and the pilot’s pal were soon fighting on the floor. Knowing that it was either him or us, the pilot grabbed a fire extinguisher and while still flying the plane he continued to whack on the offender’s head hard enough to knock him out. When the pilot finally landed near Toronto, Koenecke was dead at the age of 31.



So kids, please remain in you seat until the plane comes to a complete stop or the pilot may have to kill you.


September 17, 1939 -
The Soviet Union invaded Poland, to fulfill its end of the secret protocols contained in the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. They partition the country along pre-decided lines.



As you well know the last laugh will be on the Russian, when Hitler turns on them.


September 17, 1978 -
The Camp David Peace Accords, a set of agreements between Egypt and Israel was signed on this date. The agreements were the culmination of years of negotiations for peace in the Middle East. Acting as a peace broker, President Jimmy Carter convinced Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to reach a compromise in their disputes.



It is a little sadder knowing Mr. Carter is no longer with us.



And so it goes

Washington just set us back on this front

In 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed September 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.



This year marks the 36th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer following the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (it was at this meeting, that the famous 'hole in the ozone' above the Arctic was announced,) an important milestone in the protection of the ozone layer. This year's theme is supported by the slogan, “Montreal Protocol: fixing the ozone layer and reducing climate change.”

(This will be on the test)


September 16, 1932 -
RKO released the B-film thriller, The Most Dangerous Game, which was shot alongside King Kong, using the same sets and much of the same talent in order to defray costs.



The trophy room scenes were much longer in the preview version of 78 minutes; there were more heads in jars. There was also an emaciated sailor, stuffed and mounted next to a tree where he was impaled by Zaroff's arrow, and another full-body figure stuffed, with the bodies of two of the hunting dogs mounted in a death grip. Preview audiences cringed and shuddered at the head in the bottle and the mounted heads, but when they saw the mounted figures and heard Zaroff's dialog describing in detail how each man had died, they began heading for the exit - so these shots disappeared.


September 5, 1933 -
The Looney Tunes short, Bosko the Musketeer , directed by Ben Harman and Rudolf Ising starring Bosko, was released on this date.



The animation of Honey dancing is reused from Bosko in Person.


September 5, 1944 -
The Looney Tunes short, Plane Daffy , directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Daffy Duck, was released on this date.



Despite being the main character, Daffy Duck doesn't actually appear until the cartoon is over halfway finished.


September 16, 1949 -
The Looney Tunes short, Fast and Furry-ous, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, was released on this date.



This marks the debut of both Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.


September 5, 1950 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Fractured Leghorn, directed by Bob McKimson, and Foghorn Leghorn, was released on this date.



This is the first Foghorn Leghorn short to not feature Barnyard Dawg or Henery Hawk.


September 16, 1953 -
The first movie filmed in the widescreen process CinemaScope, The Robe, premiered at the Roxy Theater in New York on this date.



Richard Burton hated making the film so much that he turned down a contract from 20th Century Fox. He was amazed to receive an Oscar nomination after critics had almost universally described his performance as "wooden". Still, Burton would make more films at Fox than at any other studio.


Sept 16, 1964 -
The first of Sergio Leone’s “Man with No Name” westerns, Fistful of Dollars, opened in Italy, three years before it would arrive in the United States. The term 'Spaghetti Westerns' was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso Sánchez. As pointed out by one of our more astute bunkies, most 'Spaghetti Westerns' were shot in Spain.



The film was a remake of Yojimbo, which itself was based on the as yet unadapted 1929 novel Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. In fact, the film's US release was delayed when Yojimbo's screenwriters Akira Kurosawa and Ryûzô Kikushima sued the filmmakers for breach of copyright. Kurosawa and Kikushima won, and as a result received 15% of the film's worldwide gross and exclusive distribution rights for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Kurosawa said later he made more money off of this project than he did on Yojimbo.


September 16, 1963 -

The science-fiction anthology series The Outer Limits premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The original title for this series was Please Stand By, but because the Cuban Missile Crisis had happened less than a year earlier, executives thought it might make people fearful of an air raid. As a reference to this, when the 1995 revival of the series would cut to a commercial, the Control Voice said, "Please stand by."


September 16, 1965 -
NBC-TV finally put that little ole' wine drinker ... on the air when The Dean Martin Show premiered on this date.



Dean Martin wanted to be on TV but also wanted to be free to do movies and records; his contract required that he only show up to do his variety show one day per week (on Sundays). That's why he always seemed slightly out of step with the rest of the cast, who had rehearsed with Lee Hale standing in for Martin the day before. When Martin made a mistake he'd just laugh it off. The audience loved it.


September 16, 1967 -
The TV series Mannix, starring Mike Connors, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Mike Connors complained that this show was not very good at showing the consequences of violence. He said Joe Mannix would get thrown down a flight of stairs in one scene, and then appear without a scratch in the next.


September 16, 1969 -
The hardest working person in Hollywood had her series, The Debbie Reynolds Show, starring (besides her,) Don Chastain, Patricia Smith, Tom Bosley, and Debbie Thompson debut, on NBC TV, on this date



Debbie Reynolds' contract with NBC guaranteed a two season run, promised her a starring role in a feature film to be produced by the network and would also have given her partial ownership of a future series in which she needn't star. But the adverse publicity resultant from Reynolds' vociferous objections to a cigarette ad appearing on the initial broadcast caused that sponsor to withdraw their advertising from the network and eventually resulted in a lawsuit which gave NBC the right to revoke the guaranteed second season, cancel the proposed feature film and void the entire deal. Reynolds' career never fully recovered, and at one point she found herself homeless and literally living in her car.


September 16, 1971 -
The Western series Bearcats! starring Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole, aired on CBS TV on this date.



Hollywood car builder/customizer George Barris made two replica 1914 Bearcats for the series. A period TV Guide article said they cost $25,000 for the pair, this at a time when a new Corvette was about $5,000. The cars were full scale metal bodied replicas mounted on custom frames and powered by Ford engines and transmissions (out of (then) late model pickups. For safety they featured four wheel brakes, which were not on a genuine Bearcat. The brass radiator is interchangeable with a genuine Stutz unit.


September 16, 1972 -

Everybody's favorite therapist, other than Frasier (see below) walked through his front door as The Bob Newhart Show premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Actor Peter Bonerz who played Jerry the dentist learned how to direct on the set of this show and went on to become an award-winning director of other comedy series.


September 16, 1972 -
An older man takes a younger man under his wing while they cruise along on The Streets of San Francisco, starring Karl Malden and Michael Douglas, on ABC TV, on this date.



By all accounts Karl Malden and Michael Douglas developed a strong professional and personal relationship from their time on the series. Twenty years after last working together on an episode they were both onstage at the 1996 People's Choice Awards. Malden referred to Douglas as "the son I never had" and mentioned that he had wanted producer Quinn Martin to cast Douglas on the series. Douglas responded to the compliment by calling Malden "my mentor," and both also expressed that they enjoyed working together on the show.


September 16, 1977 -
The eponymously named debut LP, Talking Heads: 77, was released on this date.



It has long been considered one of the best debut albums of the CBGB habitués


September 16, 1984 -
In case you you looking for the official date that the 80s began - Miami Vice premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



The series' commitment to the visual quality of every episode made it one of the most expensive shows to produce at the time. In fact, the cost to produce one episode of the show was greater than that of the entire annual budget of the Miami Police Department's Vice Unit.


September 16, 1993 -
Kelsey Grammer continued playing Dr. Fraiser Crane as Frasier, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



David Hyde Pierce has said that, prior to this series, he had no strong interest in wine nor opera. Ironically, he was introduced to both by John Mahoney, whose Martin Crane character eschews anything cultured.


Another episode of ACME"S Little Known Animal Facts


Today in History:
September 16, 1498 -
Tomas de Torquemada, the notorious Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, died in Avila, Spain on this date.

More than 2,000 heretics were burned to death and 9,654 otherwise tortured under his aegis before all the Jews were expelled in 1492. In 1836, vandals break into Torquemada's tomb, cremate the bones, and scatter his ashes upon the winds.


At precisely twelve noon on September 16, 1893 a cannon's boom unleashed the largest land rush America ever saw.



Carried by all kinds of transportation - horses, wagons, trains, bicycles or on foot - an estimated 100,000 raced to claim plots of land in an area of land in northern Oklahoma Territory known as the Cherokee Strip.


September 16, 1810 -
No tequila for you if you thought Mexican Independence Day was Cinco de Mayo.



Today is Independence Day in Mexico.



Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule on this date. Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issued "El Grito de Dolores" (Cry of Freedom), which claimed the end of Spanish rule.


September 16, 1908 -
General Motors Holding Company was formed in Flint, Mich., by William Durant on this date. (Within 12 days the company generated stocks that generated $12,000,000 cash.)



Psst, something else your teachers didn't tell you - Nazi armaments chief Albert Speer told a congressional investigator in 1974 that Germany could not have attempted its September 1939 Blitzkrieg of Poland without the performance-boosting additive technology provided by Alfred P. Sloan (long-time president, chairman, and CEO of General Motors Corporation.)


September 16, 1920 -
A horse-drawn carriage loaded with dynamite exploded in front of the J.P. Morgan and Company headquarters at 23 Wall Street in New York's financial district, on this date. 30 people were killed in the blast. More than 400 were injured.



Although the crime was never solved, it was believed to be the work of anarchists - angry internationalists who thought the only good institutions were smoldering ruins. Anarchist Leon Czolgosz had assassinated President McKinley two decades earlier, on September 6, 1901, in Buffalo - an assassination that brought Teddy Roosevelt to the bully pulpit.

(Despite similarities in spelling, Anarchists should not be confused with Antichrists, Arachnids or Pimentos.)

It was perhaps no accident that the Morgan bombing took place on the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower’s departure from England. The passengers were mostly members of a separatist Protestant congregation (Puritan Party Poopers) breaking away from the Church of England. They came from the English Midlands, first moving to a village near Amsterdam, where they lived in Holland for ten years (generally bringing everybody down), before deciding to start their own society from scratch. They had two boats for the trip across the Atlantic: the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The Speedwell leaked, and much time was wasted trying to repair it.



So when they finally set sail on September 16 (September 6th on the OC), they were way behind schedule. The journey took 66 days. It was rainy, it was cold, and the ocean was rough (They loved it). The boat was 90 feet long and carried 102 passengers. There were no separate cabins. They all had to live in the cargo area. But the Mayflower had previously been used to transport wine, and so the hold smelled wonderful (They hated it).



The Mayflower (without the Speedwell) carried its cargo of Puritan Party Poopers (Pilgrims) to Massachusetts, where they became the first tourists in history to visit Plymouth Rock.

Anarchists hate tourists.


September 16th 1959 -
A live television demonstration made the Xerox 914 the first successful photocopier. It took the Xerox machine around 25 seconds to make one copy – not too bad considering it was the first machine of it’s kind.



One little side note about the machine is that if too many copies were made during one period of time, it would overheat. As a result this overheating would lead to the machine catching fire. So that made photocopying your butt a risky business.


September 16, 1968 -
Presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon appears on the NBC comedy show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and asks Sock it to me? on this date.



George Schlatter, the creator of Laugh-In, unsuccessfully chased after Vice-President Hubert Humphrey to offer him the same opportunity to appear on the show. Humphrey was unable to make room in his schedule and always regretted it, stating that he believed it was one of the reasons he lost the election.


September 16, 1977 -
Maria Callas, American-born prima donna famed for her lyric soprano and fiery temperament, died in Paris on this date.





From October 1971 to March 1972, Callas gave a series of master classes to 25 students at The Juilliard School in New York, who auditioned for the opportunity to be critiqued by her. They were open to the public and the sold-out crowds included opera greats Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Tito Gobbi, Plácido Domingo, Grace Bumbry, and Bidu Sayão, actors Lillian Gish and Ben Gazzara, and director Franco Zeffirelli.


September 16, 2025 -
When you get older, you learn certain life lessons. You apply that wisdom, and suddenly you say, 'Hey, I've got a new lease on this thing. So let's go.'



Charles Robert Redford Jr., actor, director, producer, and founder of the Sundance Festival, passed away earlier today.



And so it goes