A delight when well done

Limerick, Ireland’s third largest city, was founded by the Vikings in 812. Some of Limerick’s well-known sons and daughters include actor Richard Harris, rock legends The Cranberries, broadcaster Terry Wogan, novelist and playwright Kate O’Brien and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt.



But that has nothing to do with the fact that it's Edward Lear's birthday.



Please keep all those unfortunate bucket owners from Nantucket in your thoughts today.


May 12, 1944 -
The camp classic, Cobra Woman, directed by Robert Siodmak, starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Sabu, opened in the US on this date.



At the time this film was made, Montez was (along with Abbott and Costello and Deanna Durbin) one of Universal's most popular box office attractions. As a result, no expense was spared in its making, and it features many of the elements that came to personify "The Maria Montez formula": an exotic, fictional setting, vividly colorful (and occasionally outrageous) costumes, elaborate special effects (including matte paintings and process shots) and expensive sets.


May 11, 1951 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Early to Bet, directed by Bob McKimson, debuted on this date.



The cartoon is a sequel to the 1950 short It's Hummer Time, which featured the same bulldog giving the same cat elaborate punishments.


May 12, 1960 -
Elvis Presley guest-starred in The Frank Sinatra Timex Special (the show is commonly referred to as Welcome Home Elvis) on ABC-TV. This was Elvis' first appearance on TV in three years; he had only recently been discharged from the army.

Elvis was paid an at the time incredible sum of $125,000 for less than seven minutes of onscreen time. The special was important to Elvis' career as he tried to move towards a more 'adult' audience.



(I'm not sure if Frank would approve of you touching your 'affected' areas and touching the screen to receive St. Elvis' healing power. But Frank's dead and it's no longer his world; so feel free to heal yourself.)


May 12, 1963 -
Bob Dylan was an aspiring young musician at the time, when he was asked to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, to promote his 2nd album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Although Ed had heard Dylan's audition performance of the song (and had no problem with it,) CBS' Standard and Practice department did not want him to play his song the Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues, because of it's controversial nature. Bob Dylan decided not to appear on the show rather than pick another song or change the lyrics.



The story got widespread media attention in the days that followed helping to establish Dylan’s public reputation as an uncompromising artist. The publicity Bob Dylan received from this event probably did more for his career than the actual Ed Sullivan Show performance would have.


May 12, 1967 -
One of the most widely regarded debut albums in the history of rock music, Are You Experienced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was released in the UK, on this date.



With its spherical fisheye image and strangely saturated colors, the U.S. cover of Are You Experienced remains one of the most iconic album covers of the psychedelic era. But it wouldn’t exist if Hendrix hadn’t absolutely loathed the cover of the earlier U.K. release, which featured a drab photo of the guitarist spreading a cape, Dracula-style, behind the heads of his bandmates.


May 12, 1972 -
Although initially receiving mixed reviews, the Rolling Stones released one of Rock's greatest double albums, Exile on Main St., on this date.



Mick Jagger once complained though, the album was not his favorite Rolling Stones albums. He described it as sounding "lousy" with "no concerted effort of intention", adding "at the time, Jimmy Miller was not functioning properly. I had to finish the whole record myself, because otherwise there were just these drunks and junkies."


May 12, 1987 -
There was a final roll call at the Hill Street Station when NBC TV aired the last episode of Hill Street Blues, It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over, on this date.



The series is regarded as a hallmark in American dramatic television. It was the first dramatic series to incorporate long shots, hand-held shots and continuous story lines. It was nominated for a record 21 Emmys for its first season in spite of low ratings.


May 12, 1989 -
The very silly sci-fi comedy Earth Girls Are Easy, directed by Julien Temple and starrings Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Julie Brown, Charles Rocket and Michael McKean, opened on this date.



Jeff Goldblum taught acting at the time, and inexperienced actors Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans would often go to him for advice. One of Goldblum's techniques was to distract himself before a take by reading aloud from a book right up until "action" was called, so Carrey and Wayans would make loud noises in-character between takes. Julie Brown said, "It wasn't easy to work with them, even though they're all really talented."


May 12, 1993 –
We al said our goodbye to Kevin, Paul and Winnie and shed many a tear when ABC TV aired the final episode of The Wonder Years, Independence Day, aired on this date.



At the beginning of production, it was unclear as to whether the show would renew for another season or not–so the script was open-ended. Ultimately, the series ending elements, such as Kevin‘s closing narration, were added in post-production once the show was officially canceled.


May 12, 1995 -
The action thriller Crimson Tide, directed by Tony Scott, and starring Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen, and James Gandolfini, opened in the US on this date.



Since the U.S. Navy would not cooperate with the filming, for several scenes the French Navy allowed the use of one of their Triomphant Class ballistic missile submarines along with the aircraft carrier Foch.


May 12, 2013 -
After the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records the David Bowie song Space Oddity on board the International Space Station, his sublime rendition is posted to YouTube, quickly garnering millions of views.



Commander Hadfield said that he had made the video for a number of reasons, but “maybe most importantly, it was a chance to let people see where we truly are in space exploration”. David Bowie himself posted on Facebook to say that the cover of his 1969 song was “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created”.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
May 12, 1797 -
Following Napoleon's conquest of Venice, Ludovico Manin reluctantly steps down as its last Doge on this date.

Thus ends the Most Serene Republic's 820-year history of national sovereignty.

So now you know, try working that into a conversation.


May 12, 1926 -
In May of 1926, Roald Amundsen, the leader of the first party to reach the South Pole and Lincoln Ellsworth, a wealthy explorer, wanted to be the first to reach the North Pole (why - because.) Due to the inhospitable terrain, they were preparing to take the Norge, a rigid airship, over the pole. The Norge was built in Rome and was piloted by Umberto Nobile. While they were preparing, Richard E. Byrd arrived in Norway to attempt to fly to the Pole in the Josephine Ford, a Fokker F.VII. On May 9, Byrd flew out from King’s Bay (Kongsfjorden) with Floyd Bennett and returned 15 and one half hours later, saying that he had reached the Pole.

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His claim was quickly accepted, but it was later calculated that it would have taken the Fokker almost 22 hours to get to the Pole and back from King’s Bay, discounting Byrd’s claim. On May 11, Amundsen took off in the Norge, reaching the North Pole on this date. They did not land there, but dropped flags of Norway, the United States, and Italy on the Pole.


May 12, 1929 -
Burt Bacharach, composer, was born in Kansas City, Mo., on this date.



Mr. Bacharach was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.


May 12, 1932 -
Delivery truck driver William Allen pulled his truck to the side of a road about 4.5 miles from the Lindbergh home. He went to a grove of trees to relieve himself, and there he discovered the badly decomposed body of the Lindbergh Baby.



There were signs that the body had been chewed on by various animals as well as indications that someone had made an attempt to hastily bury the body.

These kinds of stories make you want to be a piss bottle man.


May 12, 1937 -
Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Duke of York (and incidentially the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney) through sheer happemstance, was crowned Britain's King George VI at Westminster Abbey on this date.



Television was in its infancy on the day of George VI's coronation. The BBC Television Service filmed its first outdoor broadcast, using a mobile van, showing the new king and his wife Elizabeth (Elizabeth II parents) as they made their way to Westminster Abbey and it was also, the first coronation to be broadcast on television.


May 12, 1937 -
George Denis Patrick Carlin stand-up comedian, social critic, prolific pot smoker, actor and author was born on this date.







In 2004, Carlin placed second on the Comedy Central list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor (not a bad seating arrangement.)


May 12, 1967 -
At Queen Elizabeth Hall in England, Pink Floyd staged the first-ever quadraphonic rock concert on this date. Included in their set was their first UK hit, Arnold Layne.



Please kids, don't be like Syd, titrate your meds correctly.


May 12, 1971 -
Tor Johnson died of congestive heart failure at the age of 67 in San Fernando, California, on this date.



The man who once wrestled under the name "The Super Swedish Angel" leaves behind a legacy of B-movie acting roles, most famously as the bald zombie in Ed Wood's masterpiece Plan 9 from Outer Space.


May 12, 1982 -
A mentally unbalanced priest named Juan Fernandez Krohn attempted to stab Pope John Paul II with a bayonet on this date, but was overpowered by the pope's Swiss Guards before he could do any damage.



When asked later, Krohn said that the pope was an "agent of Moscow" and had to be killed.


I nearly forgot - Happy 70th Birthday, Homer Simpson!

And so it goes.

Hopefully, it will only get warmer from here

May 11, 12 and 13 are the feast days of Saints Mamertus, Pancras and Servais (or Servatuis or Gervatuis.) These three are known as the The Icy Saints not because they were cold during their lifetimes, but because these days are traditionally the coldest of the month. English and French folklore (and later American) held that these days would bring a late frost. In Germany, they were called the Icemanner, or Icemen Days, and people believed it was never safe to plant until the Icemen were gone.

Another bit of folklore claimed, "Who shears his sheep before St. Servatius's Day loves more his wool than his sheep."



Allow you mind to wander to think of all the dirty jokes you can now tell yourself.


May 11, 1931 -
Fritz Lang's first sound film, M (Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder), starring Peter Lorre, premiered in Berlin on this date.



Fritz Lang's cruelty to the actors was legendary. Peter Lorre was thrown down the stairs into the cellar over a dozen times. When Lang wanted to hire Lorre for Human Desire over two decades later, the actor refused.


May 11, 1936 -
Universal Pictures' semi-sequel of the 1931 film Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, starring Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden and Edward Van Sloan, premiered in the US on this date.



Completed for $278,000 it was one of Universal's most expensive productions of the 1930s.


May 11, 1955 -
The sequel to the film Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, went into general release, on this date. It's notable for being the only sequel to a 3-D film also shot in 3-D.



A young Clint Eastwood makes his first uncredited screen appearance as lab technician Jennings. He discusses with Professor Ferguson (John Agar) about an experiment involving a cat and four rats sharing the same cage. He points out that one of the rats in the cage is missing and accuses the cat of eating it, but discovers that the missing rat was in his lab coat pocket.


May 11, 1957 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Fox-Terror, directed by Bob McKimson, starring Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg, debuted on this date.



This is one of the few Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg cartoons where both win at the end.


May 11, 1965 -
The Byrds made their TV debut on NBC's Hullabaloo, performing Mr. Tambourine Man, on this date.



Bob Dylan wrote Mr. Tambourine Man, which was originally released on his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home, on March 22, 1965. His version wasn't released as a single, but when The Byrds released their cover on April 12, 1965, it was a transatlantic hit, topping the charts in both the US (on June 26) and UK (on July 22). It's the only song Dylan ever wrote that went to #1 in America (in the UK, Manfred Mann's cover of Quinn The Eskimo also went to #1).


May 11, 1968 -
Richard Harris released a song about an unfortunate accident with pastry, MacArthur's Park, written by Jimmy Webb, on this date. It ultimately climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Charts. 10 years later, Donna Summer sang about the same experience but her version hits No. 1 on the charts.



Richard Harris sang the title as "MacArthur's Park," and since he was the first to record it, that's how most others (including Donna Summer), sang it. When the song's writer, Jimmy Webb, recorded it for his 1996 album Ten Easy Pieces, he sang it as "MacArthur Park." (Please forgive me if you find yourself humming the song all day long.)


May 11, 1969 -
It's ... the day the Monty Python comedy troupe was formed.



John Cleese and Graham Chapman were introduced to Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin on the set of their British TV series, Do Not Adjust Your Set.


May 11, 1972 -
In an effort to shed his teenybopper image, David Cassidy appears shirtless (and pantless) on the cover of Rolling Stone.

The story is headlined "Naked Lunch Box," a reference to how many kids have his likeness on their school lunch boxes. He comes off as a free spirit, and admits to taking drugs. It's a (literally) revealing look at Cassidy, who provides Rolling Stone with one of their most memorable cover stories.


May 11, 1974 -
ABC Records released Steely Dan's Any Major Dude Will Tell You, on this date, (oh yeah, Rikki Don't Lose that Number was the A-side.)



"Have you ever seen a Squonk's tears," a Squonk is a mythical woodland creature who has the ability to dissolve in its own tears. Steely Dan came across the word in a book by Jorge Luis Borges. Genesis also makes mention of this animal in their song Squonk, from their 1976 album A Trick of the Tail.


May 11, 1985 –
Sade's single Smooth Operator reached #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. Julien Temple directed the video, which finds Sade singing in a nightclub as a shady deal goes down. Most viewers saw the 4:15 version, but an extended version was also made.



Sade Adu was a backup singer in the English band Pride. There was a section of their stage show when she would come to the front and sing some songs she wrote, including this one. That early arrangement was very different, with more of a rock vibe. Sade, who never intended to be a singer (she studied fashion) gradually built her confidence and formed her own band in 1983, which quickly earned a record deal.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
May 11, 1310 -
For you fans of the Da Vinci Code, 54 members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake in France for being heretics on this date.

Established during the Crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land, this military order came into increasing conflict with Rome until Clement V officially dissolves it at the Council of Vienna in 1312.


May 11, 1812 -
Spencer Perceval was a British statesman and Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. On this date in 1812, Perceval was on his way to attend a session of Parliament when he was shot through the heart in the lobby of the House of Commons by a mentally unsound man, John Bellingham, who blamed his financial instability on a casual suggestion of Perceval.



He died almost instantly, uttering the words "I am murdered", and Bellingham gave himself up to officers. He was found guilty and hanged a week later. It is often thought to be illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster, and the place of his actual death and the place of his recorded death are unknown.


May 11, 1888 -
Israel Isidore Beilin was a Russian-born naturalized American composer and lyricist, and one of the most prolific American songwriters in history. Irving Berlin was one of the few Tin Pan Alley/ Broadway songwriters who wrote both lyrics and music for his songs.









Although he never learned to read music beyond a rudimentary level, with the help of various uncredited musical assistants or collaborators, he eventually composed over 3,000 songs, many of which (e.g. God Bless America, White Christmas, Anything You Can Do, There's No Business Like Show Business) left an indelible mark on American music and culture. He composed 17 film scores and 21 Broadway scores.


May 11, 1907 -
A derailment outside Lompoc, California killed 32 Shriners, when their chartered train jumps off the tracks at a switch near Surf Depot on this date.

Many of them were scalded to death when the steam boiler ruptured. I bet no one in Lompoc was celebrating National Train Day this past weekend.



No word on the fate of their groovy fezzes.


May 11, 1949 -
Siam changed its name to Thailand on this date, because everyone was getting tired of those jokes where one guy would say, "Are you familiar with this place?" and the other guy would go "Yeah, Siam," and the first guy would go, "You gonna tell me where we are?" and the other guy would be like, "Yes: Siam." and it would go on and on and they'd never give it a rest.



Had anyone foreseen the glut of restaurants trading on the new name, however - Beau Thai, Thai Me Up, Thai One On, etc—the nation might still be called Siam. (The country had been known as Siam until 1939, when it changed its name to Thailand for nationalistic reasons. It reverted back to Siam in 1945, but when the political scene changed again, it was once again named Thailand.) I'm not going to mention that Constantinople, previously the town of Byzantium and later to be known as Istanbul, was founded in 330 AD.


May 11, 1960 -
Four Mossad agents on this date, abducted factory foreman, junior water engineer and professional rabbit farmer Ricardo Klement



(and, oh yeah, he was also know as fugitive Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann) from a bus stop in Buenos Aires.


May 11, 1981 -
Jamaican music legend and U.N. Peace Medal recipient Bob Marley died of brain cancer in a Miami hospital at the age of 36 on this date.



Marley had quietly begun a course of radiation therapy at Sloan-Kettering a few months prior, but abandoned it just two days later after word leaked out.


May 11, 2011 -
One of the rarest rock T-shirts in the world — a 1979 Led Zeppelin T-shirt from their 1979 Knebworth gig, — sold for $10,000 on eBay, on this date, to an anonymous Australian bidder.



It was the largest sum ever paid for a vintage tee at the time. The seller, Kyle Ermatinger, originally purchased the used t-shirt for $123 and believed that he had overpaid for it.



And so it goes.

Hope you are all enjoying your special day

In case you didn't get you mom a great gift, you can remind her that you will probably be helping with her nursing home costs.

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British version of the day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament.



Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days.

She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.



When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. One of the first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on - spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.



Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States. (Please try to wear your mask while you're outside.)

Please enjoy one of the major holidays with actually encourages daytime drinking.



No matter what you get her, remember to give her a call. Unless you are legally estopped from doing so.


Today is World Lupus Day, created to help us understand that this seemingly random grab bag of symptoms is actually a debilitating, chronic autoimmune disease suffered by approximately 5 million people worldwide, with 1.5 million of them living in the United States alone.



Awareness events for World Lupus Day are held in most of the continents of the world including, North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Julian Lennon is a Global Ambassador for the Lupus Foundation of America. Lupus claimed the life of Julian's childhood friend Lucy, who lost her battle with the disease in 2009 at the age of 46.


May 10, 1941 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Farm Frolics, directed by Bob Clampett, debuted on this date.



This is one of the only two color cartoons that Bob Clampett made with his original unit, the other one being Goofy Groceries (the first color cartoon he ever directed) earlier that year.


May 10, 1941 -
The Looney Tunes short, Porky's Ant, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Porky Pig, debuted on this date. This short is no longer aired due to ethnic stereotypes



This cartoon was colorized twice-once in 1968 in a redrawn version and again in a computer-colorized version in 1990.


May 10, 1947 -
The Looney Tunes short, Rabbit Transit, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle, debuted on this date.



TThis is the second time Cecil is seen without his shell, the first time being in Tortoise Beats Hare". Unlike that cartoon, where Cecil is seen wearing underwear underneath his shell, here Cecil is seen wearing a bathing suit underneath his shell.


May 10, 1952 -
The Looney Tunes short, Sock a Doodle Do, directed by Bob McKimson, starring Foghorn Leghorn, debuted on this date.



Kid Banty was voiced by Sheldon Leonard.


May 10, 1958 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Feather Bluster, directed by Bob McKimson, Foghorn Leghorn and the barnyard dog, debuted on this date.



Although both characters have grandkids, no mention is made of their spouses or their children (who are parents of the grandchildren).


May 10, 1962 -
The Toho studios classic monster movie Mothra (the original Japanese title was Mosura) was released on a double bill with The Three Stooges in Orbit in the U.S. on this date.



This is the first Japanese monster film in which the monster doesn't get "killed" at the end.


May 10, 1962 -
The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in publications by publisher Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 1962), on this date.



In his comic book appearances, following his accidental exposure to gamma rays while saving the life of his friend, Rick Jones during the detonation of an experimental bomb, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is physically transformed into the Hulk when subjected to emotional stress, at or against his will. This transformation often leads to destructive rampages and to conflicts that complicate Banner's civilian life.


May 10, 1964 -
Dusty Springfield made her U.S. television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show on this date.



Besides singing, I Only Want To Be With You, Dusty sang Stay Awhile.


May 10, 1969 -
While President Nixon was conveniently out of the country, the group The Turtles were invited to play at the White House at a party for Tricia Nixon, making them the first rock band to play the White House.

Rumor has it that Mark Volman, fell off the small stage five times during their set



(that could have been because of the pot they smoked or the coke they snorted in the Lincoln Bedroom - I wish I could be clever enough to have made this up.)


May 10, 1986 –
The British Pop Duo Pet Shop Boys had their first of four No. #1 hits when their song West End Girls reach the top of the Billboard charts on this date.



West End Girls is a journey through the club scene in London, where Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe spent many evenings. The glamorous West End is where the action was, contrasting with the rougher East End.


Another record from the discount bin ofThe ACME Record Shoppe


Today in History:
May 10, 238 -
Former soldier and then current Emperor Gaius Maximinus found out the downside of career advancement on this date when his army mutinied after a disastrous loss against a competing army, backed by the Senate and hacked off his and his son's heads and presented them to the Roman Senate in hopes of currying favor with the new administration.

You might have thought by this time, there would have been a warning sticker on the document you signed when you became emperor, pointing out the severe health risks associated with accepting the position.


May 10, 1849 –
After a performance of Macbeth on this date, a riot ensued at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 22 and injuring over 120.



The day after the riot was tense in New York City. Crowds gathered in lower Manhattan, intent on marching uptown and attacking the opera house. But when they tried to move northward, armed police blocked the way. People took their theatre going far more seriously back then.


May 10, 1869 -
The first transcontinental railroad was completed when the Union Pacific Railroad - building west from Omaha, Nebraska - and the Central Pacific - building east from Sacramento, California, met at Promontory Point, Utah. In the desert near Promontory, Utah on this date, railway official Leland Stanford, drove down a golden spike to unite the tracks from the east and the west.
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In perhaps the world's first live mass-media event, the hammer and spike were wired to the telegraph line so that each hammer stroke would be heard as a click at telegraph stations nationwide. Technical problems occurred, so clicks were actually sent by the telegraph operator, which makes this, most likely, the world's first fake mass media event.


May 10, 1871 -
France and Germany signed a peace treaty in which France had to give up a lot of land (Alsace-Lorraine) to Germany.

They weren't happy about it, so after World War I they took it back. In the Second World War the Germans reclaimed it. After the war the victorious allies held it briefly but decided not to get involved. They gave it back to France, where it remains to this day.


May 10, 1877 -
Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the White House on this date.

While Hayes embraced the new technology, few people called him. One reason: The phone, whose number was “1 ,” could be reached only from the Treasury Department, then as now, across East Executive Avenue from the White House. (It was not until 1929 that the president actually had a phone in the Oval Office, and it wasn't until the 1990s that the president had a private line — before that, anyone could listen in on the president by picking up an extension in the White House.)


May 10, 1893 -
The Supreme Court ruled on this date, in the case of Nix v. Hedden that although tomatoes were botanically fruit, they should be legally considered vegetables.



The case came up because at the time there was a tax on imported vegetables, but not imported fruit, leading farmers to contest the definition.

So now you know.


May 10, 1899 -
I have no desire to prove anything by dancing. I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself. I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around.





Frederick Austerlitz was born on this date in Omaha, Nebraska.


May 10, 1924 -
In perhaps the single worst mistake in the history of crime fighting, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone selected J. Edgar Hoover to head the Bureau of Investigation, later known as the FBI, on this date.

Hoover, in his cha-cha heels, red lipstick and Raymond Burr Nipple Rouge will remain at the post until his death 48 years later. (Bet that's an image you won't be getting out of your head anytime soon. You may thank me later.)


May 10, 1933 -
Joseph Goebbels presided over a public book burning in Berlin, which destroys more than 20,000 volumes on this date. The collection includes books by Einstein and Freud.



Some 40,000 people watched or took part. During the bibliocaust, Goebbels declares: "We have directed our dealings against the un-German spirit; consign everything un-German to the fire." Other books burned by "un-German" writers such as: Marx, Brecht, Bloch, Hemingway, Heinrich Mann and Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front.


May 10, 1940 -
Winston Churchill was sworn in as British Prime Minister on this date. Churchill formed a new government and served as the Conservative head of a coalition government with the opposition Labor Party.



Three days after being sworn in, he told parliament that he could offer only "blood, toil, tears, and sweat." This was grudgingly deemed satisfactory by a palpably disappointed parliament, but only after he agreed to be fitted with an IV.


May 10, 1941 -
Running out of fuel and unable to find a suitable spot to land his Messerschmitt, Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess bailed out over Scotland on this date.



When Hess claims to have made the trip in order to negotiate a peace treaty with England, the Nazis declare that he was a psychotic who "lived in a state of hallucination." After the war, Hess was confined to Spandau prison until his apparent suicide in 1987.


May 10, 1969 -
The Battle of Dong Ap Bia began with an assault on Hill 937 on this date. It was one of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War as it spelled the end of major American ground combat operations.



It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill. The ground gained in the battle was soon abandoned to the North Vietnamese Army, which lost some 633 soldiers killed in the fight. The American lost at Hamburger Hill, though not the most in one singular action of the war, set off a firestorm of protest in the US.


May 10, 1977 -
Joan Crawford succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 73 on this date. It is rumored that in the early days of her career, Crawford had performed in several stag films, and later spent a considerable sum buying back the prints to destroy them.



Her final words were purportedly, "Damn it...Don't you dare ask God to help me," which were directed at her housekeeper, who had begun to pray out loud.

You can bet, as with beer, there are no wire coat hangers in Heaven.


May 10, 1994 -
Former building contractor, children party clown, and jail house artist John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Police found 28 shallow graves in the crawlspace beneath Gacy's house in 1978.



After a dinner which included fried chicken, fried shrimp, and french fries, Gacy was strapped to a gurney. When asked if he has any last words, the serial killer obliges with: "Kiss my ass."



And so it goes.