Take heart

While it may be Bread and Circuses down in DC.

It was Knicks in 5 and there are 200 days until New Year's Eve! (And there are 142 days until November 3.)



Reservations are still available - Plan accordingly


You may remain seated while reading this, but please remove your hat:

It was on this date in 1777 that the Stars and Stripes was adopted as the official flag of the United States of America.



The first Flag Day observance was not held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1877, as some sites might tell you. But read on, bunkies; this seems to be the real story:



In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, a man named George Morris persuaded his city of Hartford, CT, to undertake a patriotic celebration on behalf of the Union. But the concept didn't catch on, either there or elsewhere.



Two decades later, in 1885, a 19-year-old Waubeka schoolteacher named Bernard Cigrand plunked a small flag into an inkwell on his desk and assigned his students to write essays on patriotism. Later, he traveled the country promoting respect for the flag and eventually became president of the American Flag Day Association.

In 1916, after years of toil, Cigrand persuaded President Woodrow Wilson to issue a proclamation on May 30, 1916, calling for a nationwide observance of Flag Day.



In 1949, President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating the 14th day of June each year as National Flag Day.



So now you know. (You may now be seated and put your hat back on.)


June 14, 1939 -
Ethel Waters became the first African-American singer to perform on television on this date when she appeared in an NBC variety show. (Unfortunately, other than publicity stills, the program was not recorded and videotapes of it do not exist.)

Waters was also the first African-American woman to be given equal billing with white stars in Broadway shows, and to play leading roles in Hollywood films.


June 14, 1949 -
A truly dark comedy, Kind Hearts and Coronets, directed by Robert Hamer, and starring Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and the ever present Alec Guinness, opened in London on this date.



The scene where six members of the D'Ascoyne's family, all played by Alec Guinness, are seen together, took two days to film. The camera was set on a specially built platform to minimize movement. In addition, the camera operator spent the night with the camera to ensure that nothing moved it by accident. A frame with six black matte painted optical flat glass windows was set in front of the camera, and the windows opened one at a time so each of the characters could be filmed in turn. The film was then wound back for the next character. Most of the time was spent waiting for Guinness to be made up as the next character.


June 14, 1959 –
The first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, Disneyland's Monorail System, had it's grand opening in Anaheim, California, on this date.



The Nixon's enjoyed their ride but the ride had to be taken off-line while it took them several hours to hose out the cars to get rid of the stench of his sweat.


June 14, 1967 -
One of the iconic films from the 60s, the British drama To Sir, with Love, starring Sidney Poitier premiered in the US on this date.



Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by E.R. Braithwaite and his experiences teaching in a tough secondary school in a poor area of post-war East London the film's portrayal of Braithwaite's character may not have been entirely accurate. After the film was released, several former pupils of Braithwaite's claimed that, the real Braithwaite was a stern and tough disciplinarian who often used corporal punishment in class and was far from the sympathetic and likeable character as played by Sidney Poitier.


June 14, 1970 –
The Grateful Dead released their fourth studio album, Workingman's Dead, on this date. In 2003, the album was ranked number 262 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.



This was one of the Dead's first attempts to reach beyond their little cult and take a shot at the mainstream. According to Dennis McNally, the band's biographer and publicist, a Warner Bros. executive was so ecstatic when he heard Uncle John's Band, which he considered a marketable song from the band, it sent him running down the hallways with the news. "He was expecting more of Anthem Of The Sun stuff, and he ran down the corridors of Warner Bros., screaming, 'The Grateful Dead have written a song we can put on the radio!' And he was very happy."


June 14, 1975 –
The band America's single, (from their fifth album Hearts,) Sister Golden Hair went to No.1 on the Billboard singles chart, on this date. It was the group’s second No.1



George Martin, who was The Beatles producer, produced this track and the rest of the Hearts album (he started working with America on their previous album, Holiday). It was Martin's 20th US #1 as a producer, and his first away from The Beatles (by this point, each former Beatle had reached #1 outside of the group). Martin would have three chart-toppers: Ebony and Ivory, Say Say Say and Candle In The Wind '97.


June 14, 1976 -
The Gong Show debuted on NBC on this date. People with dubious talents perform their acts before a celebrity panel of judges, who are free to eject the performer at any time by banging a large gong. The best non-gonged performer each night wins $516.32.



During the time the show is on the air, it's creator, Chuck Barris, suffered a complete mental breakdown, he said from the stress of being a secret CIA hit man.



No really, I'm not kidding you.


June 14, 1985 -
One of John Houston's last films, the black comedy Prizzi's Honor, starring Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston, Robert Loggia, John Randolph, CCH Pounder, Lawrence Tierney, William Hickey, and Stanley Tucci (in his film debut,) opened on this date.



John Huston is the only director to direct two members of his own family to win Academy Awards. The first was his father Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, who won Best Actor in a Supporting Role, then his daughter Anjelica Huston won Best Actress in Supporting Role for this movie.


June 14, 1985 -
Michael Nesmith in Television Parts, a 30-minute comedy-variety show summer replacement series (a sequel of sort to his Grammy Award-winning video Elephant Parts) premiered on NBC-TV on this date. It was hosted by Nez himself, who participated in many of the sketches. Television Parts also featured guest appearances by a variety of comedians, including Martin Mull, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Martin, and Garry Shandling, whose appearance laid the foundation for It's Garry Shandling's Show.



Unfortunately, the series was canceled after just five episodes. The last airing ran for 90 minutes and was broadcasted in the Saturday Night Live time slot.


June 14, 1997 -
Puff Daddy and Faith Evans started a 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with I'll Be Missing You, a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G., on this date.



The song samples Every Breath You Take by The Police, which was one of Diddy's favorite songs. He didn't sort out the legal issues until after the song was released. Sting, who wrote the Police song, was granted a writers credit, resulting in substantial royalties. Sting appreciated the sentiment in Diddy using Every Breath You Take to honor his fallen friend. The Police frontman even performed the song with Diddy and his crew at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he sang the chorus.


Another album from the discount bin at The ACME Record Shoppe 


Today in History:
June 14, 1648 -
Midwife Margaret Jones was hanged in Boston for witchcraft on this date.

It is the first such execution for the Massachusetts colony, but not the first in the colonies.


June 14, 1940 -
Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund had a quick drink as they planned to leave Paris, with their friend Sam, ahead of the Nazi invasion. Little does Rick know that Ilsa does not plan to join him (but that's another story ....)



Paris fell to the Nazis on this date. Marshal Philippe Petain became the head of the French government and sued for peace. Gertrude Stein translated Petain's speeches and hailed him as a hero of the French nation.

And sometimes, a rose is just a collaborator.


June 14, 1946 -
Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.

Donald Trump was born on this date. That's all I'm going to say.


June 14, 1949 -
Albert II was launched into the Space inside a V-2 rocket. Everything went as planned in beginning his rocket reached a height of 134 km and Albert II became the first mammal to reach space.



After spending a few minutes in Space his capsule returned back to the Earth. While re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere his capsule's parachute system did not work and he died upon impact. The take away for today - do not travel with anyone, man or primate, named Albert into space.


June 14, 1951 -
UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer), developed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, makers of ENIAC, was presented to the general public, on this date. Designed for the U.S. Census Bureau, it was billed as the world's first commercial computer.



UNIVAC I, as the first successful civilian computer, was a key part of the dawn of the computer age. Despite early delays, the UNIVAC program at the Census Bureau was a great success. The Bureau purchased a second UNIVAC I machine in the mid-1950's, and two UNIVAC 1105 computers for the 1960 census.


June 14, 1954 -
At the Lincoln Memorial, President Dwight Eisenhower signs a law inserting the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance. Eisenhower declares: "From this day forward, the millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty." Precisely which Almighty is left to the listener's imagination.

This year, I'd like to think that Ike was thinking about the deity Xochiquetzal..


June 14, 1961 -
Let's face it: I've got a bit of a reputation.



1980s pop music star George Alan O'Dowd was born in Kent, England on this date.


June 14, 1962 -
Albert Henry DeSalvo, a small time petty criminal confessed that he murdered Anna Slesersby, a petite divorcee, by strangling her with the belt from her robe on this date. She was only the first victim of The Boston Strangler.

A few years ago there was positive DNA evidence to link DeSalvo to the crimes.


June 14, 1963 -
The Soviet spacecraft Vostok 5 was launched into orbit on this date. Over the course of the next five days, Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky would set a new record for the longest manned space flight in history.



The record would later be broken by the crew of Gemini 7, but Bykovsky will continue to hold the endurance record for a solo flight.


June 14, 1966 -
The Vatican announced the abolition of its Index librorum prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books), originally instituted in 1557 by Pope Paul IV. Notable novelists on the list have been Laurence Sterne, Voltaire, Daniel Defoe, Honor de Balzac, Jean-Paul Sartre.

If you are ever in doubt of what to read - check out the Index.


June 14, 1989 -
Zsa Zsa Gabor was arrested for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer and driving with an expired license. Afterwards Zsa Zsa complains to the press that the handling she received from the BHPD "was like Nazi Germany."


Ultimately, Gabor is convicted and sentenced to 72 hours in jail.


And on a personal note:

Happy Birthday Thierry


One more thing -

This is not an acceptable gift for Father's Day. Just saying.



And so it goes.

It almost slipped my mind

Somehow I forgot that today is the 17th World Gin Day as well - (I've added this after the fact, and not because I was celebrating,) started by Neil Houston and Emma Stokes in 2009, always celebrated on the second Saturday in June, (National Martini Day is coming up on Thursday, June 19, a few days after Father's Day - I will just have to pace myself!).

I wait patiently by the phone for confirmation that I have become the new spokesperson for Bombay Sapphire.



Remember - A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy (or Paris - pick your poison.)



(As always, please celebrate responsibly.)


It's the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua. One of the most beloved of saints, his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, he is sometimes called the Evangelical Doctor.

He is especially invoked for the recovery of things lost (I've often wondered if Marcel Proust prayed to him); as well as against starvation, barrenness; patron of amputees, animals, boatmen, Brazil, diocese in Beaumont, Texas, domestic animals, the elderly, expectant mothers, faith in the Blessed Sacrament, Ferrazzano, fishermen, harvests, horses, lower animals, mail, mariners, oppressed persons, Padua, paupers, Portugal, sailors, scholars, sterility, swineherds, Tigua Indians, travel hostesses, travellers, and watermen.



While it may be hard to be a saint in the city, the people of Beaumont, Texas take comfort in having a saint to pray to.


June 13, 1941 -
Fritz Lang wartime thriller, Man Hunt, starring Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine and Roddy McDowall premiered in NYC on this date.



This was one of several films mentioned in the September 1941 Senate subcommittee hearings on Propaganda in Motion Pictures, where isolationist Senators Nye, Clark and Wheeler attacked Hollywood for "war-mongering." Senator Nye, who testified before the committee, had not seen most of the films mentioned. The subcommittee did not reconvene due to the attack on Pearl Harbor in December.


June 13, 1942 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Hold the Lion, Please, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date.



Chuck Jones explicitly established a rule starting with this short that Bugs must always be provoked in order to give the rabbit a valid reason to torment his enemies.


June 13, 1952 -
The seventh collaboration of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Pat and Mike, was released on this date.



The husband and wife writing team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon were close friends of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. They wrote this script especially for them to capture the essence of their real-life personalities and relationship as well as to showcase Hepburn's athletic abilities. Tracy really was cranky but lovable, and Hepburn really was a terrific athlete. She was excellent at golf and one of the best tennis players in Hollywood.


June 13, 1953 -
Another classic 50s drive-in movie, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, directed by Eugène Lourié, with stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen, and starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Lee Van Cleef, and King Donovan, opened on this date.



While visiting his friend Ray Harryhausen on the set, Ray Bradbury was given a copy of the script (with the working title Monster From the Sea ) and asked if he could do some rewriting on it. After reading the script, Bradbury remarked about a scene of the monster destroying a lighthouse, which seemed very similar to a short story that he'd had published in The Saturday Evening Post several years earlier called The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Bradbury's story was about a dinosaur that destroys a lighthouse. The next day he received a telegram offering to buy the film rights for $2,000. After the sale, the film's title was changed to The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. When Bradbury's story was reprinted years later, he changed its title to The Fog Horn. When the film was released, Bradbury's name was used heavily in promotional advertising.


June 13, 1959 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Backwoods Bunny, directed by Bob McKimson, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date.



This is the first of two cartoons featuring the hillbilly buzzards Pappy and Elvis, alongside The Dixie Fryer, a Foghorn Leghorn cartoon, the following year.


June 13, 1962 -
The fantasy adventure film, Jack the Giant Killer, directed by Nathan H. Juran, and starring Kerwin Mathews, Judi Meredith, and Torin Thatcher, opened in the US on this date.



When Charles Schneer and Ray Harryhausen were looking for a producer for The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, one of the hopefuls was Edward Small, who turned them down. When Sinbad proved to be a huge hit, Small was determined to duplicate the former movie with the same director and stars. Although he couldn't get Harryhausen, Jim Danforth came close to duplicating Sinbad's monsters with Cormoran, the flying dragon, and the Imp instead of the Cyclops, Dragon, and Genie.


June 13, 1962 -
Stanley Kubrick's take on Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel, Lolita, premiered on this date.



Stanley Kubrick held a special screening for Vladimir Nabokov a few days before the film's premiere. It was at this time the author learned that most of his screenplay had been jettisoned, but he reported himself very happy with the finished picture, praising Kubrick, and the cast.


June 13, 1967 -
The fifth film in the James Bond series, You Only Live Twice, directed by Lewis Gilbert, and starring Sean Connery, opened in the US on this date.



The henchman that Bond fights in Osato's office was played by Samoan pro wrestler Peter Fanene Maivia, known by his ring name "The High Chief". Maivia also served as the film's fight choreographer, and is the grandfather of wrestler Dwayne Johnson.


June 13, 1970 –
The Beatles song, The Long and Winding Road becomes their last U.S. number one hit on this date.



The Beatles recorded this in January 1969 as a fairly simple ballad. By 1970, The Beatles were breaking up and and Phil Spector was brought in to go through the tapes and produce the album. Spector was known for his "Wall Of Sound" recording technique, where he added many instruments and layered the tracks to create a very full sound. On this track, he took out most of The Beatles instruments and added a string section and choir (The Mike Sammes Singers). The result was very different from what the group originally had in mind.



Even though he wrote this song, Paul McCartney didn't go to the sessions where Spector produced it. When McCartney heard the results, he made it clear that he hated what Spector did to his song, and tried to get the original version, which was mixed by engineer Glyn Johns, on the album. The band was already falling apart, and this caused further turmoil within the group, as Harrison and Lennon both supported Spector. Paul has not changed his stance over the years, and still believes Spector butchered it.


June 13, 1970 -
The Mungo Jerry song, In The Summertime hit #1 in UK, on this date.



The song was written by Ray Dorset, who was the group's lead singer and guitarist. He penned the song in 1968 when he was working for Timex in the UK - his band was just getting started and music was more of a hobby at the time. Dorest says that the famous melody just popped into his head one day, and the next day he wrote the lyrics very quickly.


June 13, 1980 -
Meatloaf displayed the range of his talents when he played a roadie in the film Roadie, which opened in the U.S. on this date.



It's been mistakenly reported that screenplay was inspired by Alice Cooper's 1977 song Road Rats (a tune about roadies which he re-recorded for the film). Originally, Cooper's role was written for Mick Jagger.


June 13, 1989 -
The 16th (by some counts) James Bond film, License to Kill, starring Timothy Dalton premiered in London, on this date.



Throughout the franchise, Q is constantly reprimanding Bond for damaging or losing his equipment. Here, as a touch of irony, after he uses his rake/radio, he blithely tosses it in the bushes and walks away. This was Desmond Llewelyn's idea.


June 13, 1995 -
Alanis Morissette's third studio album, Jagged Little Pill, is released on this date.



Alanis Morissette started out as a dance-pop singer, releasing her first album in her native Canada in 1991 when she was 16. Another album was released a year later, but then she was dropped from her label. Looking to change direction, she went to Los Angeles and met with producers, looking for someone to help fulfill her vision. She found her man in Glen Ballard, who worked for Quincy Jones' label and produced the first Wilson Phillips album.


June 13, 2008 -
The Coldplay single Viva la Vida released on this date, goes on to become their first US No. 1 hit.



A little-known US group called Creaky Boards accused Coldplay of stealing this song's melody from a number they wrote in 2007 called, ironically, The Songs I Didn't Write. Andrew Hoepfner, Creaky Boards' singer and songwriter, alleged that Chris Martin attended a Creaky Boards concert in New York in October 2007. Coldplay vigorously denied the allegations claiming that on the night Martin was supposed to be watching them, he was actually working at the Air Studio in London. Additionally this song was written and demoed seven months before the night in question.

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


Today in History:
June 13, 1381 -
In Medieval England, the famous Wat Tyler's Rebellion began, on this date.



Since most of you reading this don't live in England, most of you don't give a damn.


June 13, 1865 –
In case it should come up in conversation today -

William Butler Yeats, Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures in 20th century literature, was born on this date. He won the Nobel Prize in 1923.



He was brother of the artist Jack Butler Yeats, the son of John Butler Yeats, and along with J. M. Synge and Sean O'Casey, was one of the driving forces behind the Irish Literary Revival. Together with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn, he founded Abbey Theatre, and served as its chief playwright.


June 13, 1886 -
The recently-deposed monarch of Bavaria wasn't having a great day today.

Mad King Ludwig II, who wasn't so much mad as homosexual, had been under house arrest ever since his uncle, Prince Luitpold von Bayern, staged a coup a few days earlier, let it be known that he wasn't happy about his current situation.



That afternoon, the bodies of the King and his physician, Dr. Gudden, were discovered floating face-down in Lake Starnberg.



It's always a problem when you're the King of Bavaria and your family can't accept your lifestyle.


June 13, 1917 -
18 German Gotha bomber planes flew over London in the first aerial bombardment in history (not counting Zeppelins). They were met by over 90 British fighters, but not one Gotha was brought down. This bombing raid caused 162 deaths.



On June 13, 1944, Germany commemorated the anniversary by launching the first of its V-1 flying bombs, also called the Doodlebug (Fieseler Fi-103), on southern England. Only one of the four missiles London saw that day caused any casualties, but a steady stream of V-1s causing severe damage and casualties increased in London in coming months.



On June 13, 1990, East Germany began officially tearing down the Berlin Wall. The date apparently has some significance in the Teutonic psyche.

Don't make any sudden moves when you come in contact with men in lederhosen (and their active sodomy lifestyles - I had to go for it, jokes always work better in threes.)


June 13, 1920 -
The United States Postal Service ruled that children may not be sent via Parcel Post on this date. Before that, children had been clogging the mail chutes of America.

I wonder what the rules are about kids and Fed Ex?


June 13, 1934 -
Two months before becoming Fuhrer, Hitler meets Mussolini in Venice. Unfortunately, Mussolini refuses to have an interpreter and his German was not good, so neither man could understand the other.



After a midnight gondola ride (or two), Mussolini began to refer to the German leader as "a silly little monkey."


June 13, 1966 -
In 1963, Ernesto Miranda was accused and convicted of abduction and rape due to a seemingly coerced confession that he later recanted. The Supreme Court determined on this date in Miranda v. Arizona, that all criminals must be informed of their rights before interrogation. This evolved into the standard language provided in a Miranda warning



The Supreme Court overturned his conviction, but he was retried and convicted again in 1966. He was released from prison in 1972 and later stabbed to death in a men's room at a bar where he was playing poker in 1976.


June 13, 1971 -
Next to the White House wedding photo of President Nixon's daughter Tricia, the New York Times ran its first story on the Pentagon Papers, a top secret DoD analysis authored by the RAND Corporation detailing every mistake and deception made during the 30-year history of the Vietnam War.



Attorney General John Mitchell manages to block any further publication of the embarrassing documents, but the court order is countermanded two weeks later in a Supreme Court decision. (Once again, I am reminded (by a very loyal bunkie) of a quote, attributed to Tom Lehrer, about John Mitchell: If you like John Mitchell, you'll love Ed Meese.)



And so it goes.

Let's jump right into it (Sorry, running very late)

Each year on June 12, people in the United States observe National Red Rose Day. The day is honors the red rose, the flower that is a symbol of love and romance.



Apparent the other color roses don't have as strong a lobby.



Today is also Crowded Nest Awareness Day. While this holiday has been celebrated for years, once again this obscure holiday has never seemed more appropriate, since COVID, many family began multi-generational living together again.



Crowded Nest Syndrome (sometimes referred to as CNS by people not suffering from it) occurs when you have children who have moved out of the house and you've gone through Empty Nest Syndrome only to have your children (and possibly their children) come back home again and/or having your parents or in-laws move in with you so you can care for them.


June 12, 1913 -
Pathé Frères studios releases Dachshund (also known as The Artists Dream,) the first animated cartoon made in the U.S. with modern techniques.



John Randolph Bray invented and patented the process while producing the film. He patented many of his improvements on the animation process, realizing early on the business potential of these developments.


June 12, 1943 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk , directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date.



Released during World War II, which explains the giant's victory garden, Bugs' blackout references and "Put out that light!" which was the catch-phrase for those failing to observe blackout conditions.


June 12, 1948 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Bugs Bunny Rides Again, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, debuted on this date.



In the dancing sequence, there is a building in the background that says "Ken Champin Veterinarian". Ken Champin was one of the Looney Tunes key animators.


June 12, 1950 -
Elia Kazan's film-noir thriller, Panic In The Streets, opened on this date.



In the scene where Palance hits Widmark on the head with a gun, the actors rehearsed it with a rubber gun, but when the cameras rolled, Palance substituted a real gun. Widmark, who wasn't expecting it was out for twenty minutes. According to Widmark "Why did he switch? Who knows?" In a 1986 interview Widmark also recalled how Palance got into the mood of his character by beating on flunky Zero Mostel off-screen. A black and blue Mostel had to go to the hospital after his first week on the movie. "They had to soak him in epsom pads."


June 12, 1963 -
The four-hour film spectacle, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, premiered in New York City, on this date.



A clerical error by Twentieth Century Fox probably cost Roddy McDowall a Best Actor in a Supporting Role Academy Award nomination for his performance in this movie. The studio erroneously listed him as a leading player rather than a supporting one. When Fox asked the Academy to correct the error, it refused, saying the ballots were already at the printer. Fox then published an open letter in the trade papers, apologizing to McDowall: "We feel that it is important that the industry realize that your electric performance as Octavian in 'Cleopatra,' which was unanimously singled out by the critics as one of the best supporting performances by an actor this year, is not eligible for an Academy Award nomination in that category . . . due to a regrettable error on the part of Twentieth Century Fox."


June 12, 1967 -
The fifth James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery, (screenplay by Roald Dahl,) premiered in London, on this date.



The atmosphere during the production was reportedly chilly. Sean Connery had grown bored with the Bond role and frustrated with the public fascination with the franchise. The movie posters declaring that "Sean Connery IS James Bond" didn't help. Furthermore, Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell were appearing in the James Bond knock-off Operation Kid Brother with Neil Connery, Sean's younger brother, and the elder Connery let them know he was not happy about it.


June 12, 1968 -
Roman Polanksi's horror classic Rosemary's Baby, premiered on this date.



Ira Levin felt that this film is "the single most faithful adaptation of a novel ever to come out of Hollywood." William Castle speculated the reasons for this were because it was the first time Roman Polanski had ever adapted another writer's work, unaware he had the freedom to improvise on the book.


June 12, 1972 -
The Wings single, Silly Love Songs, (written by Paul and Linda McCartney,) went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this day. The song was McCartney's 27th American number one as a songwriter; the all-time record for the most number one hits achieved there by a songwriter.



Paul wrote this in response to a post-Beatles breakup comment by John Lennon, in which Lennon claimed that the only songs that Paul wrote for the Beatles were "Silly Love Songs." Like John Lennon, Paul McCartney made lots of music with his wife. Linda McCartney is credited as a co-writer on this track and was a member of Wings (the writing credit is sometimes listed as just Paul, but it's published with her name on it as well). This track is very lovey-dovey, with both of them singing "I love you" throughout the chorus. It would be very cloying if it wasn't so genuine: they had a very tight bond and were together until Linda's death in 1998.


June 12, 1981 -
MGM released the fantasy film Clash of the Titans, directed by Desmond Davis, special effect by Ray Harryhausen, and starring Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Maggie Smith, with a cameo by Ursula Andress, in the U.S. on this date.



Laurence Olivier was so ill during the making of the film, he would often go and lean on his tall, burly co-star Pat Roach, saying, "Let me draw some of your strength, dear boy."


June 12, 1981 -
A bizarre coincidence but Mel Brooks' History of the World Part 1 and Lucas/ Spielberg's Raiders Of The Lost Ark both premiered on this date.



According to Mel Brooks, the Moses scene was a last minute addition. "Sometimes, you will get very lucky, and the set will give you ideas for jokes", Brooks said in a 2012 interview with the Directors Guild of America. One day, he was gazing out at the scenery that had been built for the caveman segments, when the gears in his head started turning. "I immediately thought, 'Well, where do I go from here?'" Brooks recalled. Heading into the shoot, his plan was to "skip the Bible and go to Rome." But eventually, he realized that the Stone Age set might enable him to explore another chapter in world history. With a few minor alterations, Brooks converted his fake caves into a mountaintop, and the Moses bit was born.



The famous scene in which Indy shoots a marauding and flamboyant swordsman was not in the original script. Harrison Ford was supposed to use his whip to get the sword out of his attacker's hands, but the food poisoning he and the rest of the crew had gotten made him too sick to perform the stunt. After several unsuccessful tries, Ford suggested "shooting the sucker". Steven Spielberg immediately took him up on the idea, and the scene was successfully filmed.

Aren't you glad that you know all of this.


June 12, 1987 -
20th Century Fox releases the science fiction action film Predator, directed John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall, in the U.S. on this date.



Jesse Ventura was delighted to find out from the wardrobe department that his arms were one inch bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger's. He suggested to Schwarzenegger that they measure arms, with the winner getting a bottle of champagne. Ventura lost, because Schwarzenegger had told the wardrobe department to tell Ventura that his arms were bigger.


June 12, 1989 -
The short lived TV comedy series Doctor, Doctor starring Matt Frewer, premiered on CBS TV on this date



It series was picked up for a full season the following fall. A second season followed in fall 1990, but the show was cancelled at the end of the 1990-1991 season, due to low ratings.


June 12, 1997 -
Joel Schumacher's 'odd' take on the Batman story, Batman and Robin, starring the engorged nipple clad George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, and Chris O'Donnell premieres in Los Angeles, on this date.



Most of the scenes with Batgirl were cut, because Alicia Silverstone had gained a few pounds during production and the wardrobe team had to refit her costume. When the press discovered the news, they slammed Silverstone's weight gain and mocked the actress for being "too fat" to fit into her costume. Director Joel Schumacher publicly defended Silverstone during interviews and press meetings, joking "What is this girl's big sin - that she ate some pizza?" When the taunting continued, Schumacher lashed out at the reporters that taunted her. He said in a magazine interview, "It was horrible. I thought it was very cruel. She was a teenager who gained a few pounds - like all of us do at certain times. I would confront female journalists and I'd say, 'With so many young people suffering from anorexia and bulimia, why are you crucifying this girl?'"


June 12, 2001 -
Blink 182 second album, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (masturbatory pun and all,) was released on this date.



During the making of the album, Tom DeLonge was listening to a lot of post-hardcore bands like Fugazi and Refused, which influenced the heavier sound of the tracks.


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History -
In early 1381 England imposed a new tax, which was called the "Pole Tax" because everyone got the shaft.

Peats, led by Wat Tyler marched on London, on this date, where they destroyed the houses of government ministers.


June 12, 1839 -
Alexander Cartwright, and not, Abner Doubleday, should be credited with the invention of Baseball.



On the one hundredth anniversary of the apocryphal story, the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York (in an effort to bring tourists to town.)



The first five inductees were Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Babe Ruth.


The Swiss Army Knife was patented on June 12, 1897. It was the fruit of centuries of Swiss research, development, and testing. Its release was heralded as the dawn of a golden age of Swiss technology.



Switzerland may not have won a war since, but they've never been caught without a corkscrew.


June 12, 1923 –
In New York City on this date, Harry Houdini performed one of his most famous stunts - escaping from a straitjacket, suspended 40 feet in the air, from a crane being used to build the New York subway.



Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.


June 12, 1942 -
A young Dutch girl received the crappy gift of a diary as a birthday present on this date.

She natters on for a little more than two years of small, inconsequential things young girls usually do in their diaries and then she abruptly stops writing. Today, her diary has been published in over 30 languages.



So parents, chose wisely when giving your children birthday gifts.


June 12, 1963 -
Civil rights leader and NAACP official, Medgar Evers was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by the KKK.



An informant in the KKK, Delmar Dennis, later served as a key prosecution witness in convicting Byron De La Beckwith for the slaying. Beckwith was convicted of murdering Evers and sentenced to life in prison; he died in 2001 at age 80.


June 12, 1967 -
59 years ago today, the US Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriages.



Mildred Jeter and her white husband, Richard Loving, married in 1958, had been arrested in Virginia within weeks of arriving from Washington DC and convicted on charges of "cohabiting as man and wife."


June 12, 1978 -
David Berkowitz was sentenced to a maximum of 315 years in prison without the possibility of parole on this date.

Berkowitz killed six New Yorkers between 1976 and 1977, known collectively as the Son of Sam murders.

Harvey, Sam Carr's dog, was not charged with any crime.


June 12, 1982 -
The largest anti-nuclear protest, with some one million anti-nuclear demonstrators rallied in Central Park, NYC on this date.



At the time, it was also the largest political demonstration, of any kind, in American history.


June 12, 1987 -
President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate.



Although there is some disagreement over how much influence, if any, Reagan's words had on the destruction of the wall, the speech is remembered as an important moment in Cold War history.



And so it goes.