Today is National Soft Serve Ice Cream Day. Soft Serve Ice Cream has been around since the 1930s. There are conflicting reports of the origins of the dessert. In 1934, Tom Carvel, the founder of eponymous ice cream brand and franchise, had to sell melting ice cream on a parking lot because his ice cream truck had a flat tire. He noticed that people were delighted with soft frozen dessert and concluded that it was a potentially good business idea.
Dairy Queen also claims to have invented soft ice cream as an experiment. Owners J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, decided to find out if customers preferred ice cream before it was completely frozen, which was how they liked it best.
Just in case this comes up in conversation - an average dairy cow can produce enough milk in her lifetime to make a little over 9,000 gallons of ice cream.
So now you know.
August 19, 1932 -
The Marx Brothers' fourth movie, Horse Feathers, went into general release on this date.
Although the present running time is very close to that of the original, there are still a few bits and pieces and lines of dialogue missing, due to re-editing in 1935 in order to bring the film up to Production Code standards. Apparently the only surviving material also contained some splices which lop off lines of dialogue and bits of action, particularly in the sequence in Thelma Todd's apartment involving the blocks of ice. Another brief gag was cut from the speakeasy scene, in which Harpo stood up on the bar and bowled beer bottles with a grapefruit.
August 19, 1944 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Birdy and the Beast, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Tweety Bird, was released on this date.
This is the first time Tweety was given his official name, as with his previous short, A Tale of Two Kitties, he was originally referred to as Orson in model sheets.
August 19, 1949 -
The first filmed recording of CBS color television was made in Washington D.C. using a U.S. Navy-designed Berndt-Maurer camera on this date.
The next week, on August 25, RCA announced their Dot Sequential color system which is the one we used today. CBS was making color with a system that used a spinning red, blue and green color wheel on the cameras and receivers, so the CBS system was mechanical where the RCA system was all electronic.
August 19, 1961 -
The Looney Tunes short, The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales, was released on this date.
The final Looney Tunes short starring Pepe Le Pew.
August 19, 1964 -
The Beatles first US tour began in San Francisco, California with their concert at the Cow Palace.
They played ten songs to a crowd of over 17,000. The Beatles returned there for another concert in 1965.
August 19, 1969 -
David Crosby, Steven Stills, Joni Mitchell, and the Jefferson Airplane appeared on the Dick Cavett Show, giving a first-hand account of the Woodstock festival that took place over the weekend.
Jefferson Airplane’s performance of We Can Be Together marked the first time the word “fuck” was uttered on live US television.
August 19, 1969 -
The film adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's song Alice's Restaurant, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and William Obanhein, opened on this date
After discovering that the character Officer Obie was modeled after him, actual Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Sheriff William Obanhein demanded that he play the role himself. His reason: "If anyone is going to make a fool out of me, it might as well be me!"
August 19, 1972 -
NBC-TV presented The Midnight Special for the first time on this date.
John Denver hosted the first episode of the show with guests including: Mama Cass, The Everly Brothers, The Isley Brothers, Harry Chapin, Linda Ronstadt and Argent. Helen Reddy was also a musical guest on the show, but did not host this first episode.
August 19, 1972 -
One of Al Green's most popular releases, I'm Still in Love with You, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, starting on this date. It would eventually go on to sell over one million copies.
Rev. Al Green remembered the I'm Still in Love with You album cover in his 2000 autobiography, Take Me to the River: "In my white turtleneck, white patent leather shoes with the stacked heels and just a touch of diamond and gold, I was as cool and in control as the music between that cover."
August 19, 1973 -
The martial-arts classic, Enter the Dragon: The Deadly Three, directed by Robert Clouse and starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien, and Jim Kelly, opened in Los Angeles on this date, (a month after Lee's death.)
Shih Kien was a close friend of Bruce Lee's father since they both worked in Cantonese Opera business. Kien worked as a makeup artist and Bruce's father as an actor. Their relationship was so close that Bruce addressed Kien as "uncle" and Kien called Bruce "nephew". During a break, Bruce got a premonition and said to Kien, "Uncle, I feel that you will live longer than me." Surprised to hear that, Kien then replied, "Nephew, don't force yourself too hard. You are overworking yourself." Bruce died one week before Enter the Dragon was released in Hong Kong.
August 19, 1981 -
Sidney Lumet's crime drama, Prince of the City, starring Treat Williams and Jerry Orbach premiered on this date in NYC.
Brian De Palma who had originally been slated to direct, had worked on the script for over a year before being replaced by Sidney Lumet. Sidney Lumet agreed to direct under two conditions: he wanted an unknown actor to play Leuci and he wanted the running time to be at least three hours long. Treat Williams was unknown at the time but the final cut was edited down to 2 hours and 47 minutes.
August 19, 1988 -
Orion Pictures released Jonathan Demme's gangster comedy, Married to the Mob, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, and Alec Baldwin, on this date in the US.
Matthew Modine initially didn't think that there was anything funny about the script. According to Modine, he was depressed while making this film because of his rough experience making Full Metal Jacket.
Another episode of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts.
Today in History:
August 19, 1601 -
The end of the 16th century was dominated by the personality of Michael the Brave. He became Voivode of Wallachia in 1593, joined the Christian League - an anti-Ottoman coalition initiated by the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire and he succeeded, following heavy battles (Calugareni, Giurgiu) to actually regain the independence of his country.
In 1599-1600 he united for the first time in history all the territories inhabited by Romanians, proclaiming himself "prince of Wallachia, Transylvania and the whole of Moldavia." The domestic situation was very complex, the neighboring great-powers - the Ottoman Empire, Poland, the Hapsburg Empire - were hostile and joined forces to overthrow him; so this union was short-lived as Michael the Brave was assassinated in 1601 on this date.
This bit of historical fluff was totally unnecessary but the next time you want to shut up some snooty blowhard, ask them to name their favorite Voivode of the sixteenth century.
August 19, 1812 -
The first major naval encounter of the War of 1812 took place between the USS Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, and the British HMS Guerriere, commanded by Captain Dacres, about 750 miles out of Boston. The two ships were both rated as frigates and carried similar armaments. After a frenzied 55-minute battle that left 101 dead, Guerriere rolled helplessly in the water, smashed beyond salvage. Dacre struck his colors and surrendered to Hull's boarding party. In contrast, Constitution suffered little damage and only 14 casualties.
While the victory of the Constitution militarily was a modest success, its political effect was substantial. It solidified support from New England for the war effort and countered the poor war news coming from the Canadian front.
August 19, 1902 -
Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long.
Ogden Nash, an American poet known for his comic and playful verse, was born on this date.
August 19, 1934 -
The All-American Soap Box Derby, the first official soap box derby, took place for the first time in Dayton, Ohio.
The race is usually held annually with the World Championship race held every July.
August 19, 1934 -
Adolf Hitler won absolute power when 89.9% of the German electorate consolidates the positions of President and Chancellor into a single office, occupied by him (amazing, given the fact that Hitler was not officially a German citizen.)
Years after the war, many Germans swear that they voted for another candidate but the 'whole hanging voter' thing got in the way.
August 19, 1936 -
Federico Garcia Lorca retired from his position as Spain's most celebrated poet (and playwright) in order to become a gravedigger.
This proved to have been a poor career move: his Fascist supervisors were so displeased with his work that they shot him to death after he had dug only one grave on this date.
August 19, 1946 -
Bubba has made it to 80 today!
William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) 42nd President of the United States of America was born on this date.
August 19, 1960 -
The Soviet Union convicted U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage on this date, sentencing him to three years in prison and seven years of hard labor.
All because he didn't jab himself with the poison needle; another example of our faulty military training.
August 19, 1960 -
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik V into orbit on this date. On board are two dogs (Belka and Strelka,) along with two unnamed rats and 40 mice. The menagerie was recovered safely the next day from the landing capsule.
The two rats were later appointed wardens of gulags in Siberia. Belka entered politics and nearly became Soviet Premier in the late 60s, unfortunately he developed mange and had to retire from public life. Strelka enjoyed a long career on Russian TV, appearing in such classics as, I Love Lenin and 14's Company. Scandal ruined his later career when doctored photos appeared of Strelka humping the leg of Gore Vidal.
August 19, 1977 -
Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?
One of the world's leading commentator on the human condition, Julius Marx gave up the ghost on this date.
August 19, 2018 -
If it wasn't so horrifyingly grotesque, it would be funny -
Indicted co-conspirator Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lawyer claims in interview with NBC Chuck Todd that "truth isn't truth," on this date.
And so it goes.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Some things just don't have a connection
August 18, 1937 -
Following on from the success of Toyota Industries the son of the original founder Sakichi Toyoda of Toyota Industries, Kiichiro Toyoda, founded the Toyota Motor Company in Japan, on this date.
but what the hell do you care. Today is National Bad Poetry Day in the United States.
There's a very fun website will generate on command a great deal of very bad poetry here.
August 18, 1962 -
The Looney Tunes short, Louvre Come Back to Me!, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Peppy Le Pew, was released on this date.
The final Looney Tunes short starring Pepe Le Pew.
August 18, 1969 –
Playing on the unscheduled fourth day, Jimi Hendrix’s version of The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock was considered by some, at the time, to be controversial and disrespectful. Of about 500,000 people who were there over the weekend, only about 30,000 were left, and many of them remember waking up to this song.
He had been playing this version for about a year, beginning as part of a guitar solo he played during Purple Haze. When he played southern states in the US, he was often warned not to play it because the locals made threats against him, but Jimi always played it anyway.
August 18, 1969 -
The mockumentary comedy, Take the Money and Run, directed by Woody Allen, and starring Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, and Louise Lasser, opened on this date.
Woody Allen later said he was not nervous about his first day but was so excited about shooting on location in San Quentin prison that he cut his nose shaving that morning. The mishap can be seen in the prison scene in the movie. He and his team found the inmates there to be very friendly and cooperative. The prison authorities also eagerly welcomed the production but issued a warning: cast and crew were always to be accompanied by guards and if taken hostage, the gates would not be opened to secure their release.
August 18, 1979 -
Chic's single Good Times was their second single to go to No.1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date. The song has become one of the most sampled tunes in music history, most notably in hip hop music.
Nile Rodgers of Chic knew that his song was a block party favorite, but he didn't hear the single Rapper's Delight until he was in a club and the DJ played it. He vigorously objected to the use of his song as the track for another, and threatened legal action. Rather than fight it, Sugarhill Records settled with Chic and awarded them full composer credit, so Bernard Edwards and Rodgers are listed as the only songwriters on Rapper's Delight. With no lawsuit, there was no precedent set for sampling, and artists began incorporating tracks from other songs with impunity throughout the '80s. It was Gilbert O' Sullivan whose 1991 lawsuit against Biz Markie finally established the legal ruling that samples must be cleared.
August 18, 1986 -
Mercury Records released Bon Jovi's third studio album, Slippery When Wet on this date.
The album was going to be called Wanted Dead Or Alive (another song on the album) and show the band on the cover dressed as cowboys. After doing the photo shoot with photographer Mark Weiss, the band decided they were taking it too seriously, changed the title to Slippery When Wet, and found a Jersey girl with ample boobs to wear a wet T-shirt for the cover. That shoot was also with Weiss, this time at Bradley Beach in New Jersey. (The cover with the girl was used on Japanese versions of the album.)
He continued on to earn a law degree from Columbia University in 1968.
August 18, 1999 -
A giant black rainbow encircled the Earth, sucking all oxygen from the atmosphere. The air returns shortly thereafter, but only after millions die from asphyxiation. On the bright side, the survivors go on to build a Utopian civilization.
It all happens precisely as predicted in the 1950s by Criswell, the TV psychic immortalized in the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. If you don't remember this happening, fear not, our new alien Overlords deemed you too stupid to handle this terrifying information and had you anally probed to erase your memory.
It's much too complicated to explain to the likes of most of you.
And so it goes.
Following on from the success of Toyota Industries the son of the original founder Sakichi Toyoda of Toyota Industries, Kiichiro Toyoda, founded the Toyota Motor Company in Japan, on this date.
but what the hell do you care. Today is National Bad Poetry Day in the United States.
There's a very fun website will generate on command a great deal of very bad poetry here.
August 18, 1962 -
The Looney Tunes short, Louvre Come Back to Me!, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Peppy Le Pew, was released on this date.
The final Looney Tunes short starring Pepe Le Pew.
August 18, 1969 –
Playing on the unscheduled fourth day, Jimi Hendrix’s version of The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock was considered by some, at the time, to be controversial and disrespectful. Of about 500,000 people who were there over the weekend, only about 30,000 were left, and many of them remember waking up to this song.
He had been playing this version for about a year, beginning as part of a guitar solo he played during Purple Haze. When he played southern states in the US, he was often warned not to play it because the locals made threats against him, but Jimi always played it anyway.
August 18, 1969 -
The mockumentary comedy, Take the Money and Run, directed by Woody Allen, and starring Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, and Louise Lasser, opened on this date.
Woody Allen later said he was not nervous about his first day but was so excited about shooting on location in San Quentin prison that he cut his nose shaving that morning. The mishap can be seen in the prison scene in the movie. He and his team found the inmates there to be very friendly and cooperative. The prison authorities also eagerly welcomed the production but issued a warning: cast and crew were always to be accompanied by guards and if taken hostage, the gates would not be opened to secure their release.
August 18, 1979 -
Chic's single Good Times was their second single to go to No.1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date. The song has become one of the most sampled tunes in music history, most notably in hip hop music.
Nile Rodgers of Chic knew that his song was a block party favorite, but he didn't hear the single Rapper's Delight until he was in a club and the DJ played it. He vigorously objected to the use of his song as the track for another, and threatened legal action. Rather than fight it, Sugarhill Records settled with Chic and awarded them full composer credit, so Bernard Edwards and Rodgers are listed as the only songwriters on Rapper's Delight. With no lawsuit, there was no precedent set for sampling, and artists began incorporating tracks from other songs with impunity throughout the '80s. It was Gilbert O' Sullivan whose 1991 lawsuit against Biz Markie finally established the legal ruling that samples must be cleared.
August 18, 1986 -
Mercury Records released Bon Jovi's third studio album, Slippery When Wet on this date.
The album was going to be called Wanted Dead Or Alive (another song on the album) and show the band on the cover dressed as cowboys. After doing the photo shoot with photographer Mark Weiss, the band decided they were taking it too seriously, changed the title to Slippery When Wet, and found a Jersey girl with ample boobs to wear a wet T-shirt for the cover. That shoot was also with Weiss, this time at Bradley Beach in New Jersey. (The cover with the girl was used on Japanese versions of the album.)
It looked like they had a winner, but Bon Jovi's record label got cold feet, worried that retail chains wouldn't stock it. They needed a new cover quickly, so Jon Bon Jovi went to Weiss' studio where they wet down a garbage bag and wrote "Slippery When Wet" on it.
August 18 1989 -
Columbia Pictures released Brian DePalma's memorable war drama, Casualties of War, starring Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, John C. Reilly, and John Leguizamo, in the US on this date.
Brian De Palma said that he had been trying to make this film since 1969 when he first read the Casualties Of War article in The New Yorker. But with the Vietnam War still going on, there was no way that was going to happen, even for many years after it ended. However, in the 1980s, following the success of Vietnam War films Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, and his own gangster hit The Untouchables, studio bosses at Paramount gave him the green light to start developing the project.
August 18, 1993 -
Woody Allen reunited with one of his favorite actress, Diane Keaton when Sony Pictures released Manhattan Murder Mystery in the US on this date.
Manhattan Murder Mystery was actually the generic working title during production--Woody Allen films usually have generic titles during production like "Woody Allen Fall Project"--but since no new title could be thought of, Allen decided to leave that as the title.
August 18, 1995 -
New Line Cinema releases the fantasy film Mortal Kombat (based on the popular video game), directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, and Talisa Soto, in the US, on this date.
The locations in Thailand were so remote they were only accessible by boat. Cast, crew and equipment had to be transported by long canoes. An outhouse was built in a secluded area near the set so that the crew didn't have to make constant trips to and from the mainland.
August 18, 2001 –
Alicia Keys' single, Fallin’ reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.
This was the first single from Keys, who was 20 years old when it was released, but had started writing the song three years earlier. A prodigy who signed with Columbia records when she was 16, Keys wrote the song while she was at the label. Her Columbia album never materialized, as she never clicked with their vision. When she was 18, she left for J Records, a new label founded by Clive Davis. Under Davis, she was given more creative freedom, which worked out very well. Fallin' was a huge hit and validated Davis' strategy.
Today's moment of Zen.
Today in History:
August 18, 1227 -
Genghis Khan died in his sleep, after a fall from his horse on this date. His old age and drinking probably contributed to his death.
(or perhap a Tangut princess, to avenge her people and prevent her rape, castrated him with a knife hidden inside her - ouch), which the Mongols manage to keep secret for some time. Recently, it was just announced.
August 18, 1503 -
... In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed — they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock....
Pope Alexander VI (a Borgia) died on this date. He was the father of seven illegitimate children, and during his reign chose as his lover the lovely sixteen year old Guilia Farnese. He is said to have uttered the last words "Wait a minute" before expiring. (Interesting aside - before the pope could be properly buried, his corpse bloated then exploded. Share that at the dinner table tonight.)
August 18, 1590 -
Sent to England to get supplies three years prior, John White finally returns to Roanoke Island and discovers his colony "strongly enclosed with a high palisade of great trees, with [curtain walls] and [bastions] -- very fort-like."
There is no sign of the settlers or where they may have gone, but carved in the bark of one of the trees is the word CROATOAN.
Luckily, REDRUM wasn't carved in the trees, because that would have been scary.
August 18, 1868 -
French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers Helium, while analyzing the chromosphere of the sun during a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India, on this date.
Because helium was found in the Sun before it was found on Earth, its name comes from the Greek word for Sun, helios. It marks the first discovery of an “extraterrestrial” element, since helium hadn’t yet been discovered on Earth.
August 18, 1903 -
German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies a motorized gliding airplane four months before the Wright Brothers make their first flight, on this date.
The plane, equipped with a single-cylinder 10 horsepower Buchet engine and a two-blade pusher propeller, allegedly makes several short flights over distances of up to 200ft (60m) at altitudes of up to 10ft (3m). But who's to say I wasn't there, where you?
August 18, 1905 -
Roald Amundsen and his crew of six aboard Gjøe, a converted herring boat, made contact with the US Coast Guard cutter Bear which confirmed their crossing the Northwest Passage following a 26-month journey, on this date.
but what the hell do you care.
August 18, 1920 -
When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on this date, all American women were guaranteed the right of to vote.
It appeared that the amendment might fail by one vote in the Tennessee house, but 24 year-old Harry Burn surprised observers by casting the deciding vote for ratification. At the time of his vote, Burns had in his pocket a letter he had received from his mother urging him, "Don't forget to be a good boy" and "vote for suffrage."
August 18, 1936 -
Robert Redford, American actor was born on this date.
He was the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, which he named after his character from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He set up the Sundance Film Institute in Utah for independent filmmakers and in 1997 announced the creation of Sundance Cinemas, a venture with a major distributor to set up a chain of theaters for the screening of independent films.
August 18, 1940 -
King George VI felt bad that his brother the Duke of Windsor hadn't really found work after resigning from his previous job, as King Edward VIII of England (but that's another story,) and had him installed as Governor of the Bahamas, on this date.
Edward continued as governor of the Bahamas until 1945. Afterward, he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives essentially in retirement, waiting for death.
Not a particularly happy ending for a fairy tale.
August 18, 1955-
Pete Seeger testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he is asked if he has performed for communists.
Seger replies: "I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life. I have sung in hobo jungles, and I have sung for the Rockefellers, and I am proud that I have never refused to sing for anybody."
August 18, 1957 -
Denis Colin Leary, actor, comedian, writer, and director was born on this date.
He established the Leary Firefighters Foundation. When 9/11 happened, his foundation went into action and was hailed as "the second-quickest charity" to get money into the hands of grieving families. One auction alone raised $600,000.
August 18, 1958 -
... Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. ...
Lolita, a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author into Russian, was finally published on this date in New York. The novel is both internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the book's narrator and protagonist, Humbert Humbert, becoming sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze.
August 18, 1963 -
James Meredith graduated with a political science degree from the University of Mississippi on this date; he was the first African-American to do so.
August 18, 1999 -
A giant black rainbow encircled the Earth, sucking all oxygen from the atmosphere. The air returns shortly thereafter, but only after millions die from asphyxiation. On the bright side, the survivors go on to build a Utopian civilization.
It all happens precisely as predicted in the 1950s by Criswell, the TV psychic immortalized in the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. If you don't remember this happening, fear not, our new alien Overlords deemed you too stupid to handle this terrifying information and had you anally probed to erase your memory.
It's much too complicated to explain to the likes of most of you.
And so it goes.
Monday, August 17, 2026
But the cat came back
Today is known as Cat Night. The term Cat Night harks back to a rather obscure old Irish legend concerning witches and the belief that a witch could turn herself into a cat eight times, but on the ninth time (August 17), she couldn’t regain her human form.
This bit of folklore also gives us the saying, “A cat has nine lives.” Because August is a yowly time for cats, this may have prompted the speculation about witches on the prowl in the first place.
Today is also National Thrift Store Day - the day was created to promote shopping at secondhand stores in their home towns today. We here at the home office are promoting National Thrift Store Day by encouraging everyone to shop secondhand in New York today.
Hey, it's not always the highest quality, but the price is right.
August 17, 1908 -
Fantasmagorie, considered by some film historians as the first fully animated film in history, was exhibited for the first time ever at the Théâtre du Gymnase in Paris, on this date.
To make this film, the director, Émile Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings.
August 17, 1934 -
MGM released its version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, starring Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper and Lionel Barrymore, on this date in NYC.
Jackie Cooper did not like his performance, writing in his autobiography that he felt an older English boy should have played Jim Hawkins.
August 17, 1935 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Merry Old Soul, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date.
This short was likely inspired by the Disney cartoon released two years prior, which featured Old King Cole and characters from Mother Goose. Studio borrowing was common at the time.
August 17, 1959 -
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis' brilliant and influential jazz album, was released on this date by Columbia Records.
It has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time.
August 17, 1946 -
The Looney Tunes short, Of Thee I Sting, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date.
Bugs Bunny appears on a mosquito fighter as a mascot. WW2 era bombers were similarly adorned with illustrations and names.
August 17, 1957 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Ducking the Devil, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Daffy Duck, and the Tasmanian Devil, was released on this date.
The only cartoon in the Golden Age of American Animation where Taz is not paired with Bugs Bunny.
August 17, 1960 -
A great George Pal sci-fi classic, The Time Machine was released on this date.
George Pal wanted the disk on the machine to spin clockwise for travel into the future and counter-clockwise for travel into the past. Due to the way the mechanism was built it was deemed too expensive and time-consuming to add the reversing feature.
August 17, 1963 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Chili Weather, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.
Most of the Guadalajara Food Processing Plant factory footage where vegetables are processed consists of recycled animation from I Gopher You.
August 17, 1968 -
The Doors third studio album, Waiting for The Sun reached No. 1 on the Billboard Album Charts on this date.
Although the album was commercially success, some critics found it pretentious and over-arranged.
August 17, 1974 -
Eric Clapton's second studio album 461 Ocean Boulevard, started a four-week run at No.1 on the Billboard charts on this date.
The house featured on the album cover is 461 Ocean Boulevard in the town of Golden Beach, Florida near Miami where Clapton lived while making the album. He recorded the album at famed Criteria Studios between April and May 1974, where, in 1970, he had recorded Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs with Derek and the Dominos.
August 17, 1979 -
Handmade Films released the classic religious satire film, Monty Python's Life of Brian in the US on this date.
Originally financed by EMI, which backed out because it considered the script blasphemous. The Pythons sued EMI and settled out of court. George Harrison, a huge Monty Python fan, thought it was the last chance to have another Python movie. He created Handmade Films, and "pawned" (his words) his home in London and his office building to raise the £4 million needed. When asked why he said, "Because I want to go see it." Eric Idle joked that it was the highest price ever paid for a cinema ticket.
August 17, 1986 -
Pixar Animation Studios released its first film, Luxo Jr., directed by John Lasseter.
The film sent shock waves throughout the industry. At the time most animators were fearful of the computer; Luxo Jr. made them appreciate that it was just another tool.
August 17, 1990 -
Herbert Ross' crime comedy, (written by Nora Ephron,) My Blue Heaven, starring Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Joan Cusack opened in the US on this date.
The story was loosely based on the life of Henry Hill after he went into witness protection program. Hill was the same man whose story was the basis of Goodfellas. The films' respective writers, Nicholas Pileggi and Nora Ephron, were husband and wife at the time.
August 17, 1987 -
Tom Waits released his ninth studio album, Franks Wild Years, on this date.
Franks Wild Years is the final piece of what is loosely considered the Rain Dogs trilogy (1983’s Swordfishtrombones (which featured the song Frank’s Wild Years )and 1985’s Rain Dogs, marking his third collaboration with wife Kathleen Brennan.
Word. of the Day
Today in History:
August 17, 1807 -
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began heading up New York's Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany. It was the first vessel to demonstrate the commercial use of a steam engine for river transportation.
For some unknown reason, a friend and biographer of Fulton incorrectly referred to the steamboat as 'The Clermont' and the wrong name has stuck ever since.
August 17, 1892 -
It ain't no sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any.
Brooklyn's own, Mae West, actress in burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway, and movies, was born on this date.
August 17, 1896 -
Bridget Driscoll, a 44-year-old mother of two, becomes the world's first automobile fatality when she steps in front of a car outside the Crystal Palace in London. At the coroner's inquest, Arthur Edsall stated he had been driving at only 4 mph.
The motorist also claims that when he saw the pedestrian, he rang his bell and shouted "Stand back!" For whatever reason, the coroner accepts Edsall's preposterous story.
August 17, 1907 -
Pike Place Market, the most popular tourist destination in Seattle, opened for business on this date.
Today, it’s the oldest continually operating farmer’s market in America
August 17, 1929 -
James Horace Alderman, convicted of murdering two Coast Guardsmen and a Secret Service agent in 1927, was hanged at 5:00 a.m. at Coast Guard Base 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on this date. It was reported in the media that Alderman's neck was broken and he died a painless death.
Unfortunately, Alderman kicked and strangled for a full twelve minutes before being pronounced dead by a local doctor. He was the only person ever executed on Coast Guard property.
And I always thought seamen knew how to tie knots.
August 17, 1943 -
Robert De Niro, American actor, was born on this date.
He and Martin Scorsese were brought up blocks apart in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, but never formally met when they were young. When introduced at a party in 1972, the two came to realize that they had seen each other many times but had never spoken.
August 17, 1945 -
... All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others....
Animal Farm by George Orwell, the most famous satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published, on this date.
August 17, 1948 -
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was arrested for passing bad checks in San Luis Obispo, California, on this date. In court a fortnight later, Hubbard pays the $25 fine.
If I say anymore, I might be forced to watch several new releases starring little Tommy Cruise.
August 17, 1978 -
Three Americans from New Mexico, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, completed the first transatlantic balloon flight, landing in a barley field 60 miles from Paris, 138 hours and six minutes after lifting off from Presque Isle, Maine. The helium-filled Double Eagle II covered 3,233 miles in its six-day journey.
The flight, the fourteenth known attempt, was the culmination of more than a century of previous attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean by balloon.
August 17, 1980 -
Dingos snatch baby Azaria from a campground near Ayers Rock, Australia, on this date. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep - A dingo ate my baby), is later convicted of murder and spends three years in prison, but the conviction is ultimately overturned.
Apparently there have been a number of baby/dingo incidents over the years; dingos cannot differentiate animals from humans. Finally, Ms. Chamberlain was cleared of any wrong doing in regards to the death of her daughter.
August 17, 1987 -
Rudolf Hess was found hanged by an electrical cord at Spandau prison,aged 93. He had been incarcerated there for 40 years, 21 of those years as the solitary inmate.
In 1941 Hess flew to Scotland with ideas of peace in his head, making Hitler very very upset.
August 17, 1998 -
President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president in American history forced to testify in a criminal case investigation of which he was the focus (having sex with Monica), on this date. Other presidents before Clinton had testified before grand juries in the past, but they had always done so to give evidence against others.
Thomas Jefferson testified against former Vice President Aaron Burr. Gerald Ford testified in a trial of a man who had tried to assassinate him. Jimmy Carter testified in the bribery trial of a financier named Robert Vesco. But Clinton was the first sitting president ever to be served a subpoena to testify in his own indictment.
Perhaps the President was celebrating the anniversary (August 17, 1992) of Woody Allen admitted to being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, (his longtime companion.)
And so it goes.
This bit of folklore also gives us the saying, “A cat has nine lives.” Because August is a yowly time for cats, this may have prompted the speculation about witches on the prowl in the first place.
Today is also National Thrift Store Day - the day was created to promote shopping at secondhand stores in their home towns today. We here at the home office are promoting National Thrift Store Day by encouraging everyone to shop secondhand in New York today.
Hey, it's not always the highest quality, but the price is right.
August 17, 1908 -
Fantasmagorie, considered by some film historians as the first fully animated film in history, was exhibited for the first time ever at the Théâtre du Gymnase in Paris, on this date.
To make this film, the director, Émile Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings.
August 17, 1934 -
MGM released its version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, starring Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper and Lionel Barrymore, on this date in NYC.
Jackie Cooper did not like his performance, writing in his autobiography that he felt an older English boy should have played Jim Hawkins.
August 17, 1935 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Merry Old Soul, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date.
This short was likely inspired by the Disney cartoon released two years prior, which featured Old King Cole and characters from Mother Goose. Studio borrowing was common at the time.
August 17, 1959 -
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis' brilliant and influential jazz album, was released on this date by Columbia Records.
It has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time.
August 17, 1946 -
The Looney Tunes short, Of Thee I Sting, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date.
Bugs Bunny appears on a mosquito fighter as a mascot. WW2 era bombers were similarly adorned with illustrations and names.
August 17, 1957 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Ducking the Devil, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Daffy Duck, and the Tasmanian Devil, was released on this date.
The only cartoon in the Golden Age of American Animation where Taz is not paired with Bugs Bunny.
August 17, 1960 -
A great George Pal sci-fi classic, The Time Machine was released on this date.
George Pal wanted the disk on the machine to spin clockwise for travel into the future and counter-clockwise for travel into the past. Due to the way the mechanism was built it was deemed too expensive and time-consuming to add the reversing feature.
August 17, 1963 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Chili Weather, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.
Most of the Guadalajara Food Processing Plant factory footage where vegetables are processed consists of recycled animation from I Gopher You.
August 17, 1968 -
The Doors third studio album, Waiting for The Sun reached No. 1 on the Billboard Album Charts on this date.
Although the album was commercially success, some critics found it pretentious and over-arranged.
August 17, 1974 -
Eric Clapton's second studio album 461 Ocean Boulevard, started a four-week run at No.1 on the Billboard charts on this date.
The house featured on the album cover is 461 Ocean Boulevard in the town of Golden Beach, Florida near Miami where Clapton lived while making the album. He recorded the album at famed Criteria Studios between April and May 1974, where, in 1970, he had recorded Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs with Derek and the Dominos.
August 17, 1979 -
Handmade Films released the classic religious satire film, Monty Python's Life of Brian in the US on this date.
Originally financed by EMI, which backed out because it considered the script blasphemous. The Pythons sued EMI and settled out of court. George Harrison, a huge Monty Python fan, thought it was the last chance to have another Python movie. He created Handmade Films, and "pawned" (his words) his home in London and his office building to raise the £4 million needed. When asked why he said, "Because I want to go see it." Eric Idle joked that it was the highest price ever paid for a cinema ticket.
August 17, 1986 -
Pixar Animation Studios released its first film, Luxo Jr., directed by John Lasseter.
The film sent shock waves throughout the industry. At the time most animators were fearful of the computer; Luxo Jr. made them appreciate that it was just another tool.
August 17, 1990 -
Herbert Ross' crime comedy, (written by Nora Ephron,) My Blue Heaven, starring Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Joan Cusack opened in the US on this date.
The story was loosely based on the life of Henry Hill after he went into witness protection program. Hill was the same man whose story was the basis of Goodfellas. The films' respective writers, Nicholas Pileggi and Nora Ephron, were husband and wife at the time.
August 17, 1987 -
Tom Waits released his ninth studio album, Franks Wild Years, on this date.
Franks Wild Years is the final piece of what is loosely considered the Rain Dogs trilogy (1983’s Swordfishtrombones (which featured the song Frank’s Wild Years )and 1985’s Rain Dogs, marking his third collaboration with wife Kathleen Brennan.
Word. of the Day
Today in History:
August 17, 1807 -
Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began heading up New York's Hudson River on its successful round-trip to Albany. It was the first vessel to demonstrate the commercial use of a steam engine for river transportation.
For some unknown reason, a friend and biographer of Fulton incorrectly referred to the steamboat as 'The Clermont' and the wrong name has stuck ever since.
August 17, 1892 -
It ain't no sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any.
Brooklyn's own, Mae West, actress in burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway, and movies, was born on this date.
August 17, 1896 -
Bridget Driscoll, a 44-year-old mother of two, becomes the world's first automobile fatality when she steps in front of a car outside the Crystal Palace in London. At the coroner's inquest, Arthur Edsall stated he had been driving at only 4 mph.
August 17, 1907 -
Pike Place Market, the most popular tourist destination in Seattle, opened for business on this date.
Today, it’s the oldest continually operating farmer’s market in America
August 17, 1929 -
James Horace Alderman, convicted of murdering two Coast Guardsmen and a Secret Service agent in 1927, was hanged at 5:00 a.m. at Coast Guard Base 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on this date. It was reported in the media that Alderman's neck was broken and he died a painless death.
And I always thought seamen knew how to tie knots.
August 17, 1943 -
Robert De Niro, American actor, was born on this date.
He and Martin Scorsese were brought up blocks apart in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, but never formally met when they were young. When introduced at a party in 1972, the two came to realize that they had seen each other many times but had never spoken.
August 17, 1945 -
... All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others....
Animal Farm by George Orwell, the most famous satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism, was first published, on this date.
August 17, 1948 -
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was arrested for passing bad checks in San Luis Obispo, California, on this date. In court a fortnight later, Hubbard pays the $25 fine.
August 17, 1978 -
Three Americans from New Mexico, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, completed the first transatlantic balloon flight, landing in a barley field 60 miles from Paris, 138 hours and six minutes after lifting off from Presque Isle, Maine. The helium-filled Double Eagle II covered 3,233 miles in its six-day journey.
The flight, the fourteenth known attempt, was the culmination of more than a century of previous attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean by balloon.
August 17, 1980 -
Dingos snatch baby Azaria from a campground near Ayers Rock, Australia, on this date. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep - A dingo ate my baby), is later convicted of murder and spends three years in prison, but the conviction is ultimately overturned.
Apparently there have been a number of baby/dingo incidents over the years; dingos cannot differentiate animals from humans. Finally, Ms. Chamberlain was cleared of any wrong doing in regards to the death of her daughter.
August 17, 1987 -
Rudolf Hess was found hanged by an electrical cord at Spandau prison,aged 93. He had been incarcerated there for 40 years, 21 of those years as the solitary inmate.
In 1941 Hess flew to Scotland with ideas of peace in his head, making Hitler very very upset.
August 17, 1998 -
President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president in American history forced to testify in a criminal case investigation of which he was the focus (having sex with Monica), on this date. Other presidents before Clinton had testified before grand juries in the past, but they had always done so to give evidence against others.
Thomas Jefferson testified against former Vice President Aaron Burr. Gerald Ford testified in a trial of a man who had tried to assassinate him. Jimmy Carter testified in the bribery trial of a financier named Robert Vesco. But Clinton was the first sitting president ever to be served a subpoena to testify in his own indictment.
And so it goes.
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