The Caps Lock Key Is Loud!

Today is INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK Day. It is the day that campaigns for the removal of the caps lock button from standard QWERTY keyboards (or for the moving of the button), due to people continually accidentally pressing the button when they mean to use other keys.

There’s also a tendency for people to ‘shout’ (either intentionally or accidentally) by using capital letters when typing, especially online. International Caps Lock Day was created in 2000 by Derek Arnold of Iowa.

Feel free to seek him out and blame him.


October 22, 1932 -
The Looney Tunes short, Bosko the Drawback , directed by Hugh Harmen and Rudolf Isingm and starring Bosko, was released on this date.



This is the first cartoon to use Whistle and Blow Your Blues Away as the opening song.


October 22, 1938 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas, directed by Tex Avery, and starring , was released on this date.



This short hardly airs on American television due to prominent Native American stereotyping..


October 22, 1942 -
The biggest box office hit of Bette Davis' career, Now, Voyager opened in NYC on this date.



Paul Henreid's act of lighting two cigarettes at once caught the public's imagination and he couldn't go anywhere without being accosted by women begging him to light cigarettes for them.


October 22, 1948 -
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger technicolor fever dream about the world of ballet, The Red Shoes, starring Moira Shearer and Anton Walbrook, opened in New York City on this date. Little girls and boys were forever ensnared in it's magical, evil web.



Much to his surprise, Michael Powell had great difficulty persuading Moira Shearer to be in the film. She held out for a year before giving in. Shearer herself, however, did not particularly care for Powell. In later years, she described the making of the film as being a terrible ordeal. She said that Powell was distant and aloof and never really gave her much direction; further, having to dance for hours on end on concrete floors physically took a toll on all the dancers, making their legs swell.


October 22, 1949 -
The second film in director John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, premiered on this date.



Although several reviewers praised John Wayne's portrayal, the general critical consensus was not in favor of his trying something new and expanding his range. Wayne recalled rather bitterly that he never got the credit he deserved for the picture, so he just went back to "re-acting" for the rest of his career.


October 22, 1955 -
Quatermass II, the sequel to The Quatermass Experiment, a British science fiction serial, premiered on BBC Television, on this date.



Reginald Tate, from the original series, was cast again as Quatermass but died shortly before filming. André Morell was offered Quatermass but was attached to another project so John Robinson was cast at the eleventh hour.


October 22, 1965 -
The Beatles recorded the song Nowhere Man for their influential album Rubber Soul on this date.



Natalie Merchant performed this at the 2001 special, Come Together: A Night For John Lennon's Words And Music. She did a mellow version, as the show was also a tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks on America.


October 22, 1965 -
The Rolling Stones released the single Get Off My Cloud on this date in the U.K.



The B-side of this single was I'm Free, which remained obscure until it was revived by The Soup Dragons in 1990.


October 22, 1966 -
The Supremes became the first female music group to attain a No. 1 selling album, The Supremes A’ Go-Go, a Motown LP, on this date.



Additional songs recorded for the album, but not included were: Tom Jones It's Not Unusual, The Miracles Mickey's Monkey, Stevie Wonder Uptight (Everything's Alright), Marvin Gaye Can I Get a Witness, Martha and the Vandellas In My Lonely Room, and The Rolling Stones (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.


October 22, 1971 -
Peter Bogdanovich's break out film, The Last Picture Show opened on this date.



Cloris Leachman's last scene in the movie was printed on the first take without any previous rehearsals. She wanted to rehearse the scene, but director Peter Bogdanovich thought it would ruin the scene if it was rehearsed. After she completed the take, she said to him, "I can do better." He replied, "No, you can't; you just won the Oscar." Ultimately his sense of direction paid off, as Leachman won the Academy Award for her performance.


October 22, 1976 -
Bob Seger releases his ninth studio album (and his first studio album to credit the Silver Bullet Band,) Night Moves, on this date. It is his first studio album to make an impact outside of Michigan.



The phrase "night moves" has a number of meanings, which made it an intriguing song title. It could mean "putting the moves on" a girl in the back seat of a car, but Seger says it also relates to the impromptu parties he and has buddies threw in the fields of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they would turn on the headlights and dance their "night moves." They called these gatherings "grassers."


October 22, 2012 -
Taylor Swift released her fourth album, Red on this date. The first single is the No. 1 We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, a kiss-off to an ex she refuses to name (according to my daughters, think Jake Gyllenhaal.)



The video was shot in one continuous take with no edits and features Swift in five different outfits, which required some very quick costume changes by the singer. "All modesty had to go out the window," Swift said to MTV News about her five furiously fast outfit switches. "All my clothes were put together with Velcro and snaps so that I could have three different outfits layered on top of each other."


Another little known Monopoly card


Today in History:
October 22, 1797 -
In 1785, J.P. Blanchard threw a dog wearing a rudimentary parachute out of a hot-air balloon. History does not divulge the outcome of this experiment. Mr. Blanchard may simply have been a disgruntled cat person.

There lived at that time a swindler by the name of Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who traveled around France offering (for a fee from his spectators) to ascend into the sky in a hot-air balloon and leap to the earth in a parachute. Strangely enough, his balloon never managed to get off the ground. Refunds were never offered.

One day an angry spectator brought Garnerin's con to the attention of the local authorities, who promptly arrested him. He was given a choice: he could either get his balloon to fly and make the promised jump or he could go directly to jail.

And so, one early evening 229 years ago today, Garnerin's balloon rose 3000 feet into the evening air above Paris.

Then it exploded.



Fortunately, Garnerin was already in his parachute and survived the landing. The suddenly successful showman didn't die his inevitable horrible aviation-related death for a full quarter-century later.


It was on this day in 1836 that Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas. Texas had become an independent nation after winning its independence from Mexico, and would not be incorporated into the United States as a state until 1845.

There are some who insist to this day that Texas was never properly admitted into the Union because, like everything else, its admission had been Unconstitutional. (We will leave this conversation to Mr. Cruz.)


October 22, 1844 -
The 'Second Coming' failed to occur on this date, for the Seventh Day Adventists, led by Bible scientist William Miller. The Millerites were expecting the End Times to accompany the appearance of Jesus Christ, so that didn't happen either.



Oops, I guess Mr. Miller has some explaining to do.


The Gare Montparnasse, one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris, became famous for a derailment on October 22, 1895 of the Granville-Paris Express that overran the buffer stop. The engine careened across almost 100 ft off the station concourse, crashed through a two foot thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes more than 30 feet below, where it stood on its nose.

All on board the train survived, five sustaining injuries: two passengers, the fireman and two crew members; however, one woman on the street below was killed by falling masonry. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine drivers who were trying to make up for lost time. The conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty; he was also sent to prison for two months.



Do you think the passengers got their money back?


October 22, 1907 -
President Theodore Roosevelt visited The Hermitage, in Nashville, Tennessee, home of the late President Andrew Jackson on this date.

Years later, Maxwell House claimed that Roosevelt had praised a cup of its coffee during this visit by saying it was "good to the last drop."


October 22, 1918 -
The cities of Baltimore and Washington ran out of coffins during the Spanish Influenza epidemic on this date.

This puts much of the recent pandemic in perspective.


October 22, 1934 -
Here's another story of your tax dollars at work:

FBI agents, led by the ambitious Melvin Purvis and local Ohio authorities captured and killed Public enemy No. 1, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, in a shoot out on this day. Or so the official story goes. But as many of you loyal readers know the 'authorized' version and actual facts of events can differ wildly.



Chester Smith, a retired East Liverpool Police Captain, the sharpshooter who claimed that he shot Floyd first, stated in a 1979 interview, that after he had (deliberately) wounded, but not killed, Floyd.

"I knew Purvis couldn't hit him, so I dropped him with two shots from my .32 Winchester rifle."

Smith claims that he then disarmed Floyd, and that Melvin Purvis, the agent in charge, ran up and ordered: "Back away from that man. I want to talk to him." Purvis questioned him briefly and then ordered him shot at point-blank range, telling agent Herman Hollis to "Fire into him." The interviewer asked if there was a coverup by the FBI, and Smith responded: "Sure was, because they didn't want it to get out that he'd been killed that way."

This account is extremely controversial. If true, Purvis effectively executed Floyd without benefit of judge or jury.



Floyd’s body was quickly embalmed and shipped back to Oklahoma, where between twenty and forty thousand people attended his funeral - still the largest in Oklahoma’s history.


October 22, 1962 -
President John F. Kennedy appeared on television, on this date, to inform Americans of the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.



The President demanded their removal and announced a naval "quarantine" of Cuba. A little more than a year later, the nation was safe but the president was dead.


October 22, 2008 -
India launched the unmanned Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe on this date. It was India's first lunar exploration mission.



The mission ended early, after just 312 days, but largely succeeded in its objectives.



And so it goes

Put this on your TO DO list

Halloween is in 10 days. Although much of the world's situation is rather dire, I feel I should urge readers to begin purchasing those candies filled with poison.

(If you find yourself in a pinch though, a few Canadian pennies will do in a pinch. Loose change is at a premium nowadays.)


October 21, 1937 -
The great screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, premiered on this date.



When Leo McCarey received his Best Director Oscar for the film, he reportedly said that he got it for the wrong film, a clear reference to his fondness for Make Way for Tomorrow, which he made the same year.


October 21, 1939 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Good Egg, directed by Chuck Jones, was released on this date.



This is the first Chuck Jones-directed cartoon to feature an ACME product (in this case, an ACME Toaster).


October 21, 1942 -
The first of three movie musicals in which Judy Garland and Gene Kelly starred in, For Me and My Gal, premiered in New York City on this date.



This was the first film in which Judy Garland had her name billed before the title, which showed her growing importance and stature at MGM.


October 21, 1949 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Bye, Bye Bluebeard , directed by Arthur Davis and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date.



Among the items in the medicine cabinet are "Frizby Mixtur(e)" (after Friz Freleng), "Maltese Minestrone" (after Michael Maltese), "Ted Pierce's Medicine" (after Tedd Pierce), "Dr. Foster's Panace[a]" (after Warren Foster), "McKink's Solution" (after Robert McKimson) and "Jones Laxitive" (after Chuck Jones).


October 21, 1950 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Stooge for a Mouse, directed by Friz Freleng and starring Sylvester the Cat and Mike the Bulldog, was released on this date.



Remade in 1957 as Bugsy and Mugsy, with Bugs in the mouse's place and many of the same gags reused.


October 21, 1954 -
The episode of Climax!, an anthology series - broadcast live, on this evening was the first time James Bond (Barry Nelson) appeared on-screen in Casino Royale, and more than half a century later Bond is still making movies.



The program was thought to be lost for decades until it resurfaced in 1981 when film collector and airlines executive Jim Shoenberger discovered a 16mm kinescope print of it among some old cans of film.


October 12, 1959 -
The Looney Tunes short, What's My Lion?, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Elmer Fudd, was released on this date.



The final Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by Robert McKimson.


October 21, 1964 -
Possibly the most fully realized movie musical, My Fair Lady premiered at the Criterion Theater in New York, on this date.



When Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle) was first informed that her voice wasn't strong enough and that she would have to be dubbed, she walked out. She returned the next day and, in a typically graceful Hepburn gesture, apologized to everybody for her "wicked behavior".


October 21, 1972 -
Chuck Berry lands his only #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 with the single My Ding-a-Ling, on this date.



While many rock critics dismiss this song as a senseless novelty ditty, Berry is quite proud of the song. He told Rolling Stone in 2010 that he wanted to be a comedian at one point, and enjoys getting a laugh. He added that the song was originally about a ring sliding onto a finger (as a metaphor for sex), but he toned it down and recorded it as Little Girl Sing Ting-A-Ling in 1968. In 1972 he turned it into Ding-a-Ling, earning him a #1 hit and a check for $200,000.


October 21, 1975 -
Asylum Records released Tom Waits' third studio album, Nighthawks at the Diner, on this date.



The album has been generally well received by critics, and is considered by some to be the best album of his early career.


October 21, 1977 -
Meat Loaf released the landmark album Bat Out Of Hell, on this date.



The album, written by Jim Steinman and produced by Todd Rundgren, became one of the most popular albums of the '70s, eventually selling over 14 million copies in America.


October 21, 1980 -
Originally written for the Ramones, but kept for himself, Bruce Springsteen's single, Hungry Heart was released on this date. It would become Springsteen's first Top 10 hit as a performer.



When Springsteen met Joey Ramone in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for his band, The Ramones. Springsteen wrote Hungry Heart that night but decided to keep it on the advice of his producer and manager, Jon Landau.


Another episode of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts.


Today in History:
October 21, 1805 -
The Battle of Trafalgar was a historic sea battle fought on this date, between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy - the battle, it self, was the most decisive British victory of the Napoleonic Wars and was a pivotal naval battle of the 19th century.



Admiral Lord Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle, becoming and remaining Britain's greatest naval war hero.



Nelson's body was placed in cask of brandy, mixed with camphor and myrrh, and returned to England for a spectacular funeral. An enduring rumor has evolved that the sailors aboard ship kept taking a sip from Nelson's liquory tomb hence the phrase 'Nelson's blood' came into use for rum.


October 21, 1837 -
It's another banner day for the relations between the United States and the Native American tribes. During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), under a flag of truce during peace talks, U.S. troops under Gen. Thomas S. Jesup violated a truce and captured Indian Seminole Chief Osceola in Florida and sent him and several other leaders to prison, where the chief later died of malaria.

Osceola's capture by deceit caused a national uproar. General Jesup and the administration were condemned.

Makes you proud to be an American.


October 21, 1869 -
The first shipment of fresh oysters came West overland from Baltimore via refrigerated train cars on this date.

Fresh cases of E-coli poisoning, Salmonella and Hepatitis A were soon on the menu across the US.


October 21, 1879 -
Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Alva Edison demonstrated the incandescent electric lamp on this date (or some other date, as previously mentioned.)



That invention was the fruit of study, hard work (of people other that Edison,) and years of persistent experimentation (of people other than Edison,) rendering it entirely inappropriate for discussion here.

More worthy of our attention is Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize, born on this date in 1833.

Mr Nobel is interesting because his fortune was founded in large part on the commercial success of something he invented in 1866: Dynamite.



Dynamite proved so lucrative for Mr Nobel that he was able to spend most of the rest of his life blowing things up in the interests of world peace. World peace was not achieved in his lifetime, however, so he endowed a foundation with millions of dollars to give prizes to the men and women of future generations who helped bring the world closer to peace by blowing things up.


In 1943, Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, the maître d' of the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, prepared the first plate of crunchy, spicy nachos for Texas women who were on a shopping trip.



To honor his ingenious creation, we celebrate by eating his delicious gut busting cheesy dish on this date.


There were days I could barely struggle into a size 46 or 48, months of larges and XXLs, and endless rounds of leggings with the elastic at the waist stretched to its limit and beyond - topped with the fashion equivalent of a tea cozy. And always black, because I was in mourning for my slimmer self.

Carrie Fisher, actress and writer was born on this date. You can't say anything bad or funny about her that she hasn't already said better herself.


October 21, 1959 -
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in New York City on this date.



The structure faced harsh criticism when it opened in 1959. One critic dismissed it as "a war between architecture and painting, in which both come out badly maimed." Another called it "an indigestible hot cross bun." NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses snapped that it looked like "an inverted oatmeal dish."


October 21, 1973 -
John Paul Getty III's ear was cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome; It doesn't arrive until November 8.

So much for the Italians getting the trains to run on time.


October 21, 1992 -
A day after her Erotica album was released, Madonna's erotic-book Sex went on sale in the nation's bookstores on this date. Everything about it is shocking: the $50 price, the Mylar wrapping, the metal covers, and especially the images inside.



Shirley Booth, 94, Emmy, Oscar and Tony award winning actress accidentally flipped through the book and promptly dropped dead on this date as well.


October 21, 2015 -
Today is the day that Dr Emmett Brown takes Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer to the future to prevent their kids from "ruining their lives", back to the future



Trivia like this can be exciting but let's all calm down. (Wow, I'm so old.)



And so it goes

Measure the girth of the chef and you can rate his restaurant

Today is International Chefs Day. celebrated every October 20 to honor the culinary profession, recognize the creative contributions of chefs.



Founded in 2004 by the late Chef Dr. Bill Gallagher through the World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs), a primary goal is to teach kids about nutrition, balanced diets, and the joy of cooking. So remember to kiss the cook!


October 20, 1918 -
Rarely seen now, but one of Charlie Chaplin's most popular films at it time, Shoulder Arms, was released on this date.



Chaplin's fellow director, Ernst Lubitsch, once said that this was the best film depiction of World War I.


October 20, 1934 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Rhythm in the Bow, directed by Ben Hardaway, was released on this date.



This short is the final Merrie Melodies short produced in black-and-white.


October 20, 1934 -
The Looney Tunes short, Buddy the Woodsman, directed by Jack King and starring Buddy, was released on this date.



Networks now usually edits the scene of the Chinese cook announcing dinnertime in broken English/Chinese gibberish.


October 20, 1939 -
The ninth Marx Brothers film, At the Circus, premiered on this date.



The Marx Brothers had been out of favor at MGM since the sudden death in 1936 of their producer and benefactor Irving Thalberg during the production of A Day at the Races. So in the middle of the production of this film, longtime Thalberg rival Louis B. Mayer removed songwriters Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg from this film and reassigned them to the "prestige" MGM production The Wizard of Oz.


October 20, 1945 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Peck Up Your Troubles, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.



One of the few times Sylvester actually is heard meowing like a cat, if only for a moment.


October 20, 1951 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Bear for Punishment, directed by Chuck Jones was released on this date.



This is the last Three Bears cartoon in the golden age of animation.


October 20, 1955 -
Harry Belafonte, advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes, recorded the famous Day-O (Banana Boat Song) on this date.





This song was first recorded in 1952 by Edric Conner, a musician from Trinidad who sang it with his band The Carribeans as Day De Light. The song re-emerged in 1956 when the folk singer Bob Gibson taught the song to the folk trio The Tarriers (Alan Arkin was a member of the trio,) after hearing it on a trip to Jamaica. Once The Terriers recorded it, the Calypso Craze took off in America, and Belafonte capitalized on the trend: According to BMI, the Calypso album was the first to sell over 1 million copies.



(Now try getting the song out of your head today.)


October 20, 1957 -
Walter Cronkite's documentary series, The Twentieth Century, premiered on CBS-TV on this date, with Churchill, Man of the Century.



The program presented filmed reports on news and cultural events that were important for the development of the 20th century.


October 20, 1962 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Mother Was a Rooster, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg, was released on this date.



Barnyard Dawg first breaks the fourth wall as he steals the ostrich egg and then continues to narrate the action.


October 20, 1973 -
One of the rare ballad for The Rolling Stones, Angie became a #1 hit on this date.



Keith Richards wrote this song in Switzerland after the Exile on Main St. album had been approved by the record company, but before it was released. Angie was one of the first songs The Stones recorded for Goat's Head Soup, which they first attempted in Jamaica at the Dynamic Sounds studio in Kingston. They got very little done at these sessions, arriving nightly with armed escort and locking the doors until they were done for the day. Much of the album was done at sessions in Los Angeles and London under more hospitable conditions.


October 20, 1976 -
The Led Zeppelin concert documentary The Song Remains The Same, directed by Peter Clifton and Joe Massot premiered in London and New York, with the band attending the New York opening.



For their three New York performances, the band members wore exactly the same clothes to facilitate seamless editing of the film, except for John Paul Jones who wore three different sets of attire on each of these nights, which created continuity problems.


October 20, 1979 -
Bob Dylan performed his first and only time on Saturday Night Live, on this date. The songs he performed were Gotta Serve Somebody, When You Gonna Wake Up, and I Believe in You.



Dylan debuted I Believe in You when he was on Saturday Night Live that evening. The first time he played it during a full concert was on November 1, 1979, in San Francisco. Since then, he's played it live more than 250 times.


October 20, 1980 -
U2 released their debut album, Boy, produced by Steve Lillywhite, on this date.



It doesn't yield any hits but I Will Follow becomes one of their most popular songs.


October 20, 1985 -
The first of two reunion films, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later, starring Barbara Eden, Wayne Rogers, and Bill Daly aired on NBC on this date. Larry Hagman was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson reportedly because he was too busy filming his CBS series Dallas at the time.



At first, Barbara Eden said no to NBC executives about reprising her role as Jeannie: "I had no intention of playing Jeannie again. It's a super-high risk to repeat something done well in the first place. And the series is still running in syndication". She later explained: "I read the script, and it was fun - and before I knew it, I was doing it. And I don't have any regrets".


October 20, 1991 -
Exactly six years after the broadcast of I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later, I Still Dream of Jeannie, airs on NBC on this date., Barbara Eden, and Bill Daly once again reprise their roles. Once again, Larry Hagman was unavailable to reprise his role of Tony Nelson, as he had just completed a 14½ season run on Dallas and was taking a vacation with his family.



Bill Daily openly admitted that he disliked the reunion movies, due to faulting the scripts and the absence of Larry Hagman.


Today's moment of Zen.


Today in History:
October 20, 480 BC - (Sometimes the world changes in a day)
The Athenian fleet, under the command of Themistocles, defeated the Persians in the Naval Battle of Salamis on this date. And please get your minds out of the gutter, Salamis is the name a place.

Though the Persians armies scored a major victory over Athens only weeks prior, this decisive naval victory, coupled with the losses the Persians suffered in the Battle of Thermopylae forced Persian forces to withdraw from Greece.



That victory will arguably lead to the rise of Greece as a global power and the eventual dissemination of Greek philosophies and ideals, such as democracy, throughout the western world. And as always, there was much roasted lamb consumed and much sodomy engaged in that night.


October 20, 1720 –
Caribbean pirate Calico Jack Rackham, one of the first pirates to use the “Jolly Roger”, was captured by the Royal Navy, on this date.



While the majority of pirate crews used designs that had a depiction of full human skeletons using some weapon, Calico Jack promoted an iconic pirate flag design that today represents a synonym for a naval piracy - black flag with white human skull and two white crossed swords beneath it.


October 20, 1818 -

Canada and the United States in the "Convention of 1818", established the 49th Parallel as their mutual boundary (known as the International Border) for most of its length from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky mountains.



The International Boundary is commonly referred to as the world's longest undefended border, but this is true only in the military sense, as civilian law enforcement is present. But we're keeping an eye on those sneaky Canadians and their cheese curd fries.

There are some 150 people who live in the Northwest Angle, MN, a spot of land that is separated from the rest of the USA by Lake of the Woods.



Students who live in the Northwest Angle go to school in Warroad, MN, the Angle Inlet School (the only surviving one room school,) and have to cross the international border on their way to and from school each day. It must suck to get a full body cavity search every day before school.



Thank you neighbors from the north for your kind words. Now keep to your side of the parallel!


October 20, 1930 -
Death row murderer William Kogut committed suicide in San Quentin prison with MacGyver like ingenuity, on this date.

He tore the red spots from a deck of playing cards, at the time the red dye used on the pack of cards was made from nitrocellulose, saturated them with water, and jammed them into a length of steel pipe from his bed frame. Kogut placed the bomb on the heater and waited for science to take it's course.

I wonder if he went to a specialized High School.


October 20, 1944 -
Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 1/2 years after he'd said, "I shall return," on this date.



He landed with Sergio Osmena, the president-in-exile, Gen’l. Carlos Romulo, who later served as foreign minister and a boatload of press and photographers to record the event.


October 20, 1947 -
Chaired by J. Parnell Thomas (one of the committee's members was Richard M. Nixon), The House Un-American Activities Committee began its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood.



The resulting hysteria results in the creation of a blacklist in the film industry, preventing certain individuals from working in the business for years.


October 20, 1967 -
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin reported that on this date they had captured a purported Sasquatch on film at Bluff Creek, California. This came to be known as the Patterson-Gimlin film, which is purported to be the best evidence of Bigfoot by many advocates.



If only that had named their film - Bigfoot: I want to grab you by your nether regions, perhaps it would have done better box office in it's opening weekend.



Many years later, Bob Heironimus, an acquaintance of Patterson's, claimed that he had worn an ape costume for the making of the film. Organizations such as Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization have suggested that that Heironimus himself is a fraud.


October 20, 1973 -
The Saturday Night Massacre: Richard Nixon fired Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus when they each refuse to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox on this date.



Who was the man who finally fired Cox: Robert Bork -

it's that evil beard.


October 20, 1977 -
En route to a gig at Louisiana State University, Lynyrd Skynyrd band members Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines were killed when their private plane runs out of fuel and crashes into a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Their record company MCA withdraws the flame-filled cover art for their ironically-named Street Survivors album



Drunken frat boys everywhere cry out in their mournful lamentations, "Play 'Freebird' man".



And so it goes