Be mindful when you use the facilities

The eleventh day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally known as the day to welcome Zigu Shen (the “Purple Lady,” the “Lady of the Latrine,” or the “Third Daughter of the Latrine”). According to legend, Zigu was a concubine of a wealthy man in ancient China. Out of jealousy, the man’s wife killed her in the toilet. Zigu came to represent women who suffered under oppression in feudal society and became a deeply relatable figure for women living within patriarchal systems.

Rituals in her honor often involved chanting to put her spirit at ease, acknowledging her suffering and seeking her guidance as a deity of the domestic sphere.

The figure of Zigu is sometimes associated with other tragic women from history, most notably Lady Qi, a concubine of the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang. After his death, Lady Qi was brutally mutilated and thrown into a privy by Empress Lü Zhi. Later generations, moved by sympathy for her fate, commemorated her as a deity. According to some versions of the legend, the Heavenly God took compassion on Zigu Shen and appointed her the goddess of the toilet. (I remain somewhat ambivalent about the reward she received in this arrangement.)



Traditionally, the eleventh day of the Lunar New Year is also when a wife’s father invites his son-in-law to a meal at home. This custom provides an opportunity for bonding between the two families. The feast often makes use of surplus food and high-quality dishes originally prepared for the Jade Emperor’s Birthday (the ninth day). Using these leftovers is considered both efficient and auspicious, neatly captured by the idiom yi ju liang dé (“to kill two birds with one stone”).

As the Lantern Festival (the fifteenth day) approaches, families begin purchasing lanterns and preparing ingredients for tang yuan (sweet glutinous rice balls), the traditional dessert served during the festival.


It's National Kahlua Day! Kahlua, for those under 21 or Mormon, is a rich, creamy, coffee based alcoholic liqueur from Mexico.



this will be on the test (and Kahlua can send me my check for the advertising space I provided.)



(As always, celebrate as you see fit.)


February 27, 1920 -
A film that we're somewhat familiar with here, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, opened in Germany on this date.



The final look and feel of the film was based as much on low-budget practicalities as it was on creative inspiration and expressionism. Electricity was strictly rationed in post-WWI Germany at the time the film was being shot, so director Robert Wiene ended the film simply painting light beams on backdrops. Shooting on severely confined sets forced him to use unusual camera angles


February 27, 1937 -
An early Porky Pig cartoon, drawn by Tex Avery, Picador Porky, premiered on this date.



This is the first Warner Bros. cartoon to feature Mel Blanc's voice.


February 27, 1938 -
A Looney Tunes short What Price Porky, directed by Bob Clampett, featuring Porky Pig in a parody of the film What Price Glory?, opened on this date.



The warfare shown here was a mix of that from WW1 (trenches, dirigibles, gas, no hen's land (no man's land) and new technology (airplanes and modern ships, including an aircraft carrier). WW2 was not far off, which would significantly change how conflicts were fought.


February 27, 1954 -
A Merrie Melodies short, No Barking, directed by Chuck Jones, and featuring Tweety Bird, Claude Cat, and Frisky Puppy debuted on this date.



Just before Claude is hit by the elevated train, a billboard is seen that reads DON FOSTER FOR MAYOR. Don Foster was one of the animators.


February 27, 1968 -
CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite's commentary on the progress of the Vietnam War solidified President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision not to seek reelection in 1968. Cronkite, who had been at Hue in the midst of the Tet Offensive earlier in February, said: "Who won and who lost in the great Tet Offensive against the cities? I m not sure." He concluded: "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out...will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could."



Johnson called the commentary a turning point, saying that if he had "lost Cronkite," he'd "lost Mr. Average Citizen." On March 31, President Johnson announced he would not seek reelection.


February 27, 1971 -
Janis Joplin's album released three months after her drug overdose, Pearl hits #1 in the US, where it stays for nine weeks, on this date.



Pearl was Janis Joplin's most commercially successful album, yet it only reached #50 in the UK. Pearl was one of Joplin's nicknames.


February 27, 1979 -
The short-lived anthology series Cliffhangers, starring Susan Anton, Geoffrey Scott, and Michael Nouri, premiered on this date. (The series only aired 10 episodes.)



Of the three short weekly installments (Stop Susan Williams, The Secret Empire, and The Curse of Dracula,) that made up the series Clilffhangers, The Curse of Dracula was the only one of the three stories to be completed by the time Cliffhangers was cancelled.


February 27, 1980 -
During a live telecast from Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the only Grammy for Best Disco Recording ever, was awarded to Gloria Gaynor, Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren (the producers of the song) for I Will Survive.



Gaynor told Billboard magazine that it doesn't bother her in the least that she will forever be tied to her signature ode. "From the beginning I recognized it was a timeless lyric that everyone could relate to," said Gaynor, "so I don't get tired of singing it. I'm always freshening it up; changing the beat, the lyrics, modernizing the arrangement - I've even stuck a hip-hop section in the middle of it. I become 295% grade A ham when I do this song because people still love it."


February 27, 1981 -
The Who release their first single since the death of their drummer, Keith Moon, You Better You Bet, with Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces, on the drums, on this date.



The black-and-white music video features the band and keyboardist John Bundrick playing the song onstage. It was the fourth clip played upon MTV's launch on August 1,1981 and was also the 54th video clip to be aired on the fledgling music channel, making it the first video to be shown on MTV more than once.


February 27, 1997 -
The teen drama Some Kind of Wonderful, directed by Howard Deutch and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson, opened on this date.



Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Amanda Jones, but refused believing the character was too similar to her role in The Breakfast Club as well as having a desire to take on other characters to avoid being typecast. Because of this, this marked the end of her successful relationship with John Hughes, a decision she has stated she regrets as she was typecast anyway.


February 27, 1998 -
New Line Cinema released the influential (but little seen) science fiction film Dark City, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly, in the U.S., on this date.



Although Alex Proyas wrote the original screenplay, very little of the plot was retained (besides the fact that the lead is wanted for murders). Lem Dobbs wrote the final draft and reformed the plot as it appears in the film with the exception of the special effects sequences. Although the powers of the Strangers were alluded to they would never actually be depicted. David S. Goyer was hired to write the shooting script when they had secured a bigger budget. He added all the action scenes that appear in the film and which show explicitly the operating background of the Dark City.


February 27, 2000 -
Another bio-pix mini-series about America's favorite band, The Beach Boys: An American Family began aired on ABC on this date.



During scenes in which Brian Wilson (Frederick Weller) is demoing I Get Around and In My Room, the real Brian Wilson contributes the vocal, recorded specifically for this film. However, an uncredited Jeffrey Foskett, a member of Wilson's touring band, provides the high notes during the In My Room demo.


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History:
On this date in 280 A.D. (or another date or year, again remember lead cups and constant orgies, do not good calendar keepers make), Emperor Constantine the Great was born.



Constantine took half the Roman Empire and moved it to Byzantium, a little village which he built up into such a magnificent city that it was eventually named after him: Istanbul.

And it's nobody's business but the Turks.


February 27, 1859 -
Censured Congressman Dan Sickles of New York (who escorting a known prostitute into State chambers) shot and killed Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The younger Key was having an affair with the congressman's wife at the time.



He was tried on a charge of murder, but was acquitted after a sensational trial involving the first use of the insanity defense in U.S. history.



An interesting aside: Sickle went on to become a Union general and was involved in some of the bloodiest fighting at Gettysburg and lost his own right leg in the battle. He had the leg preserved and sent to Washington D.C., where it was exhibited in a little wooden coffin at the Medical Museum of the Library of Congress. Sickles frequently visited it himself.


February 27, 1902 -
John Steinbeck, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose novels included The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men, was born in Salinas, California on this date in 1902.



He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.” Before his death at age 66, he authored 27 books, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories.


February 27, 1932 -
I am a very committed wife. And I should be committed too - for being married so many times.



Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, actress and serial bride was born on this date.


February 27, 1933 -
The Reichstag conveniently went up in flames on this date. A mad Dutchman who was arrested at the scene, Marinus van der Lubbe, may have been partially responsible but if this is so, he is likely someone's patsy. The Nazi Party benefit greatly from the subsequent crack down, and it's suspected that SA stormtroopers set things up for van der Lubbe.



Another important life lesson - bad Germans in leather shorts, beer halls and matches do not mix.


On February 27, 1939, Neville Chamberlain, everyone's favorite legume supporter, recognized General Franco's government on this date. The Fascist regime was on it's way to achieved victory in the Spanish Civil War.

Ernest Hemingway had been defeated.

The war had been so successful that Europe decided to have the Second World War, which was every bit as exciting as the Spanish Civil War but with more geography and submarines.

General Franco and Ernest Hemingway are still heroically dead.


February 27, 1951 -
The 22nd Amendment to the American Constitution was ratified by Minnesota, the 36th state out of 48 to ratify, thereby making it the law of the land. The 22nd Amendment states that no person shall be president of the United States more than twice unless they're Harry Truman. (Someone please explain this to the current occupant of The White House)



Really, look it up - it says that.

In the graphic novel Watchmen, a crushing U.S. victory in the Vietnam War leads to the repeal of the 22nd Amendment and the repeated reelection of President Richard M. Nixon, who still serves as of 1985, the year in which Watchmen is set.

Similarly, in the time-travel movie Back to the Future Part II, an alternate timeline newspaper headline, before changing to report Ronald Reagan considering a second term, reports Nixon considering a fifth term. In a Saturday Night Live sketch, Dan Aykroyd portrayed Richard Nixon writing to random congressmen, asking for repeal of the amendment.


February 27, 1992 -
Trying to get the lid off her McDonald's coffee to add cream and sugar, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck accidentally splashes the 180-degree liquid on herself, causing third-degree burns to the thighs, genitals, and buttocks.



After skin graft surgery and weeks of recuperation, Liebeck asks McDonald's to turn down the temperature of their coffee and pay $20,000 to defray her hospital bills. McDonald's told the old lady go suck an egg, as they had done for a decade of similar burn claims. Ultimately, a jury awards Liebeck $2.9 million in the resulting lawsuit, which immediately triggers a renewed call for legislative tort reform and makes that one expense cup of coffee.


February 27, 2003 -
All of our neighborhoods were a little less beautiful when our good neighbor, Fred McFeely Rogers died on this date.



But let's make the most of this beautiful day.



And so it goes.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it

In Chinese, shí, meaning “ten,” and shí, meaning “stone,” share the same pronunciation. Thus, the tenth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally considered the Birthday of the Stones, in the hope of shí quán shí mi - “everything in perfect completeness.” In ancient China, stones were regarded as the foundation of the Earth. Therefore, the Birthday of the Stones is synonymous with celebrating the Earth’s birthday. Today is also known as “Shi Bu Dong,” meaning “Do Not Move Stones.”

On this day, it is forbidden to cut into a mountain for rock or to build a house with stone, as doing so is believed to bring misfortune to the crops. Families burn incense and candles for the stones and offer pancakes to the God of Stone.



ACME Construction would like to wish everyone a lucky and prosperous Lunar New Year. As tradition forbids moving any stone today - including stone rollers, stone mills, and stone mortars - remember: with ACME, when you need something stuck in the ground, it stays put.



The day follows the Birthday of the Jade Emperor, and there is often an abundance of leftover food from the celebration. On the tenth lunar day, families may finish the vegetables, animal sacrifices, cakes, and fruit prepared for the ceremony, extending the feasting in honor of the Jade Emperor.



Tomorrow will be the eleventh day, and the day after that, the twelfth. Are you really still celebrating?

But by all means, continue to drink with wild abandon.


February 26, 1944 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny and Three Bears family (Pa, Ma, and Junyer Bear), debuted on this date.



Throughout most of the first half of the cartoon, there is a nude photo of a woman visible on the wall calendar in the background, most notably in the opening scene and when the titular Three Bears are gathered around the dining table to eat their carrot soup.


February 26, 1947 -
This Looney Tunes short Mexican Joyride, directed by Arthur Davis, and starring Daffy Duck was released on this date



During one scene when Daffy screams in front of the audience after a harrowing experience with the local cuisine that literally sets his mouth afire, there is a fireplace, complete with wood on fire, visible in his throat.


February 26, 1949 -
This Looney Tunes short Mississippi Hare, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny was released on this date.



Includes a rare scene where Bugs has 5 fingers: When he is rolling the coin across his hand at the first meeting of Colonel Shuffle.


February 26, 1966 -
While Nancy Sinatra was on the same record label (Reprise) as her famous father, her record label was going to drop her because her first few singles flopped. Things changed when they teamed her with producer Lee Hazlewood. These Boots Are Made for Walkin' topped the charts on this date.



It was her first hit. In 1996, Nancy Sinatra gave a pair of white go-go boots she wore to promote this song to the Hard Rock Cafe in Beverly Hills.


February 26, 1967 –
Gene Kelly starred in Jack and the Beanstalk on NBC (produced by Hanna-Barbara) on this date. It was the first TV special to combine live action and animation.



Dick Beals, who was 39 years old provided the singing voice for 8-year-old Bobby Riha's character, Jack.


February 26, 1979 -
The shortlived sitcom, Flatbush, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



The show was so disliked that CBS switchboards were flood with negative comments about the show that night. Only three of the episodes aired.


February 26, 1979 -
NBC hoped to capitalize on their previous series Columbo, by casting Kate Mulgrew, as his never seen wife, now a crime solving reporter in Mrs. Columbo, co-starring Henry Jones, premiered on this date.



The series was originally about the exploits of the crime reporter wife of Lt. Columbo, but when the series couldn't capitalize on the popular earlier series, producers changed Mrs. Columbo's name to "Callahan" and soon, all references to the fictional cop were removed.


February 26, 1988 -
John Water's great, albeit more mainstream feature (Water's first PG-rated film), Hairspray, opened on this date.



Ricki Lake began rapidly losing weight due to the intense dance lessons she had to take for the film. She reportedly had to "eat like crazy" in order to stay plump.


February 26, 1988 -
The science fiction film Alien from L.A., directed by Albert Pyun and starring Kathy Ireland was released in US theaters, on this date.



And the only reason to note it is because the MST3K guys spoofed it.


February 26, 2011 –
Lady Gaga single, Born This Way hit No. #1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.



Gaga performed this song at the Grammy Awards in 2011. The Grammys don't let performers do new songs very often at the ceremonies, but Gaga was the hottest thing going at the time. Her album The Fame Monster took home the Best Pop Vocal Album award later in the show, and when she accepted the award, she thanked Whitney Houston, stating the when she wrote Born This Way, she imagined Whitney singing it, "because I wasn't secure enough in myself to imagine I was a superstar."


Another little known Monopoly card


Today in History:
February 26, 1076 - Godfrey III (the hunchback) was assassinated on this date. He was murdered while going to the latrine with a spear through his behind. This apparently happens more frequently than I thought.

Godfrey was the duke of Lower Lorraine. (His wife, Matilda of Canossa, countess of Tuscany , known as Os Vulvae by her friends - look it up - was probably having an affair with Pope Gregory VII.)


February 26, 1815 -
One of the Top 10 prison breaks of all time



Napoleon managed to sneak past his guards and somehow escape from Elba, slip past interception by a British ship, and start on his return to France.


February 26, 1829 -
Levi Strauss, inventor and manufacturer of blue jeans was born, on this date.



He originally planned to make canvas tents for miners in the California gold rush, but soon found that durable pants sold better.


February 26, 1870 -
The Beach Pneumatic Transit, the first pneumatic-powered subway line in New York City was opened to the public on this date.

Propulsion was provided by a giant fan, nicknamed The Western Tornado, operated by a steam engine, drawing air in through a valve, and blowing it forcefully into the tunnel.



The tunnel was only a block long, and the line had only one car. Rush hour must have been a bitch.


February 26, 1908 -
What, all this junk, the yak-yak-yak? It would've broke my heart! Dialogue gags are a dime a dozen, but a good sight gag is hard to come by.







Frederick Bean (Tex) Avery, animator, cartoonist, and another member of the legendary Termite Terrace was born on this date.


February 26, 1916 -
If you have it and you know you have it, then you have it. If you have it and don't know you have it, you don't have it. If you don't have it but you think you have it, then you have it.



John Herbert Gleason, (The Great One) comedian, actor and musician was born on this day.


February 26, 1918 -
The Grandstands at the Hong Kong Jockey Club collapsed and burnt, killing 604 spectators on this date. It was the worst disaster in sports history.



Even though mad dogs and Englishmen may go out in the midday sun - they apparently will not leave a burning stadium.


February 26, 1919 -
In early January 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon a national monument, protecting its 800,000 acres from private development.



Congress did not officially outlaw private development in the Grand Canyon until this date in 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act, establishing most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park.


February 26, 1932 -
Country star Johnny Cash was born on this date in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas, one of seven children born to Ray Cash and Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers).



He was originally born J.R. Cash. The J.R. didn’t stand for anything because his parents couldn't think of a name. He took on the first name John when he joined the Air Force because the military wouldn't accept a name with just initials.


The good people at Volkswagen seem to overlook this anniversary every year.



On this date in 1936, Some junior officers in the Japanese Army mistook Japan for a foreign country and tried to conquered it.

This disrupted the Japanese automotive industry, giving Adolf Hitler the opportunity to preside over the official opening of the first Volkswagen factory on this date. (More about Hitler and cars in a moment.)


February 26, 1970 -
National Public Radio (NPR) was created by Congressional mandate, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on this date.

Its programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered rank among the most popular radio programs in America.


February 26, 1974 -
A U.S. Senate report reveals Ford Motor's involvement in Nazi Germany's war efforts, for which CEO Henry Ford was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle at the behest Adolf Hitler himself.

After the war, the car company was paid nearly $1M reparation by the U.S. government to compensate for one of its plants that was bombed within the Reich.

And some people worry about buying a BMW.


February 26, 1993 -
33 years ago on this date, a bomb explodes on level B2 of the World Trade Center, creating a five story crater and leaving six dead and over 1,042 injured.



Mohammed A. Salameh was later arrested in connection with the bombing as he tries to claim a refund on a rented van believed to have carried the explosion.

Genius, sheer genius.


February 26, 1994 -
Bill Hicks, writer and comedian, died of pancreatic cancer on this date.




In the years after his death, Hicks' work has achieved significant admiration and acclaim.


February 26, 2012 –
Trayvon Martin, a teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, was fatally shot in an altercation with George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling the townhouse community of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida.

On August 13, 2013, George Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder charges. Trayvon Martin would have been 41 years old on February 5.



And so it goes.

Another birthday - more cake

Today is the Ninth Day of the Lunar New Year. It marks the birthday of the Jade Emperor, King of Heaven.

The Jade Emperor - also known as Yù Huáng or Yù Dì - is the ruler of all the Heavens (of which, in traditional belief, there are more than thirty), as well as Earth and the Underworld. He is regarded as the creator of the universe and, later, its supreme emperor. His many honorific titles include “Peace Absolving, Central August Spirit Exalted,” “Ancient Buddha,” “Most Pious and Honorable,” “His Highness the Jade Emperor,” and “Xuanling High Sovereign.”
(This will be on the test.)



According to Taoist legend, all the deities of Heaven and Earth celebrate this day, and grand ceremonies are held in Taoist temples in his honor. The Jade Emperor is also said to be the mythological architect of the Chinese Zodiac, which defines each lunar year. He organized a great race across a river for all the animals; the first twelve to finish were each granted a year in the zodiac cycle, in the order of their arrival.



The Jade Emperor is one busy ruler. I’d be exhausted if I had to celebrate a holiday for this long.


February 25, 1939 -
A Merrie Melodies cartoon, Gold Rush Daze, directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton opened on this date. The story follows a gold-hungry prospector who heads to the hills after hearing a gas station attendant's tall tales of the 1849 Gold Rush.



This short is seldom aired now. One of the issues is the caricature of the Asian camp cook who is stirring the gold bullion.


February 25, 1941 -
Another Preston Sturges' comic masterpiece, The Lady Eve, premiered in the US on this date.



Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda rarely retired to their dressing rooms between takes. Instead, they hung out with Preston Sturges, listening to his stories and reviewing - and often re-writing - their lines.


February 25, 1946 -
Part of Roberto Rossellini Neo-realist classic war trilogy, Roma, città aperta (Rome Open City) opened in the US on this date.



The film about the behavior of the Nazi military in Italy was not allowed to be shown in theaters in Germany until 1960, about 15 years later. The lengthy scene depicting the torture of a Communist activist was truncated.


February 25, 1950 -
The comedy-variety program Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner, debuted on NBC-TV on this date.



Writers for the show included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart. A common misconception is that Woody Allen wrote for Your Show of Shows; he in fact wrote for its successor program, Caesar's Hour, which ran from 1954 to 1957.


February 25, 1956 -
Elvis Presley had his first national hit when I Forgot To Remember To Forget went to No.1 on the Billboard Country & Western chart, on this date and stayed there for two weeks. This is one of just 10 songs Elvis recorded for Sun Records, where he got his start. (The B side of the record is Mystery Train.)



The Beatles covered this song once for the BBC radio show, From Us To You, on May 1, 1964, with George Harrison on lead vocals.


February 25, 1964 -
Bob Dylan appears on the Steve Allen Show, on this date, and performed The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll.



This song gives the account of the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by the wealthy young William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger and his subsequent sentence of six months in jail. The actual incident took place February 9, 1963 at a ball at the Emerson Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Dylan's song accurately implies, but never states, that Carroll was black and Zantzinger is white.


February 25, 1970 -
Ernie sings his signature song, Rubber Duckie, on Sesame Street for the first time, on this date. It goes over so well that the song is released as a single, which in September reaches #16 on the Hot 100.



Rubber ducks were around since at least the 1940s, but they had a popular resurgence thanks to Rubber Duckie. Early versions came in different shapes, sizes and colors, but Ernie's small yellow duck became the standard. For parents, the toy could provide some relief at the dreaded bathtime (many families had to share bathwater, making it even less appealing to kids who were late in line). It was inexpensive, durable, and could float - really the perfect bath toy.


February 25, 1977 -
The cult classic comedy Slap Shot starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean, opened in the US on this date.



The swearing in the film, by 1977 standards, was considered so foul, advertisements contained an additional warning underneath the R-rating: "Certain language may be too strong for children."


February 25, 1980 -
The acclaimed British political satire, Yes Minister, written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, and starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, and Derek Fowlds, first aired on BBC Two on this date.



The first season of Yes Minister was ready to air in 1979, but the BBC opted to delay broadcast until well after the general election of that year to avoid any accusations of political commentary.


February 25, 1995 -
Madonna started a seven week run at No.1 with Take A Bow, on the US singles chart, which was co-written with Babyface.



This song is about a failed romance Madonna had with "a movie star," possibly Warren Beatty, whom she starred opposite in the movie Dick Tracy and had a 15-month relationship. Beatty, a notorious ladies' man, was also rumored to be the mysterious subject of Carly Simon's You're So Vain.


February 25, 2000 -
The crime comedy film, The Whole Nine Yards, starring Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Natasha Henstridge, opened in theaters on this day.



Bruce Willis agreeing to guest appear on Friends for free because he lost a bet to Matthew Perry during filming is an urban legend. In People Magazine: Star Spotlight 2000, "Willis agreed to a guest stint on 'Friends' simply because he and Perry thought it would be fun". News outlets mistakenly reported on the rumor, and fans have been perpetuating it ever since. Willis was paid for the role, including syndication runs, but donated the money to various charities.


Another episode from ACME's Little Know Animal Facts


Today in History:
February 25, 1570 -
Pope Pius V issued a Papal Bull on this day excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I, whom he called "the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime."



As Elizabeth was already the head of her own religion, Church of England, this Papal Bull did not make her break stride. She did however, respond by hanging and burning Jesuit priests.


February 25, 1601 -
Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, was beheaded following a conviction of treason on this date. His plot to capture London and the Tower had failed.

He was the last person to be beheaded in the Tower of London. It was reported to have taken three strokes by the executioner to complete the beheading.



Ouch!

Let this be a lesson to all you playas - never try to steal you girlfriends' country.


February 25, 1836 -
Samuel Colt was granted his first patent for a multi-chamber gun on this date.

Please celebrate responsibly.


February 25, 1870 -
Hiram Rhodes Revels, a representative from Mississippi, became the first African-American congressman when he was sworn in to finish out Jefferson Davis' term.



The seat had been left vacant when Davis left to become the president of the Confederacy.


February 25, 1879 -
Charles Frederick Peace, infamous Victorian cat burglar and The Murderous Musician was executed by hanging on this date.

Peace's notoriety was such that he appeared as a character in short stories by both Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain.


February 25, 1888 -

John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Eisenhower, was born on this date.



Haven't we all made a fool of ourselves over John Foster Dulles.


February 25, 1899 -
The first test drive fatality occurs in Grove Hill Harrow, England on this date. The accident occurs while the car, a Daimler Wagonette, was being demonstrated for Major James Richer, Department Head of the Army & Navy Stores. The car apparently lost a wheel and both Mr E.R. Sewell, the driver, and Richer were thrown from the car onto the road.

Sewell was killed on the spot; he was fired by Daimler Motors five days later. The unfortunate Major Richer, died four days later, without regaining consciousness. The accident became a dubious double-first – the first death of a driver in Britain, followed by the first death of a passenger in a car


February 25, 1908 -
President Theodore Roosevelt, after a vigorous round of calisthenics, flipped a switch on his desk and signaled the start of service through the Hudson and Manhattan railway tunnels, (also known as The McAdoo Tunnel,) carrying passengers between Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey. If allowed, Roosevelt would have driven the first train though the tunnel himself.

The tunnel, completed on March 8, 1904, was the first railroad tunnel under a major river in the U.S.


February 25, 1922 -
Henri Landru, the notorious French serial killer known as "Bluebeard", was guillotined for murdering ten women, and one boy on this date. His motive was purely financial; by placing classified ads Landru lured selected women into his clutches, married them, and disposed of their bodies without a trace.

While denying guilt to the end, a drawing given to his attorney had written on the reverse, "I did it. I burned their bodies in my kitchen oven".



Charles Chaplin based his movie, Monsieur Verdoux on this case.


February 25, 1932 -
The German state government of Brunswick, in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Adolph Hitler of Austria to a minor administrative post this month and on this day gave him German citizenship.

Hitler was thus able to stand against Hindenburg in the forthcoming Presidential election.

Oops


February 25, 1964 -
Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, became the heavyweight champion of the world for the first time on this day when he beat Sonny Liston.



Ali went on to become the first person to win the heavyweight champion title three times.


February 25, 1969 -
In Vietnam, a 25 year old Navy Lt., Bob Kerrey, took part in a SEAL raid in the Mekong Delta where over a dozen women, children and old men were killed in the village of Thanh Phong, on this date. Kerrey received a Bronze Star for the raid and later strongly regretted his actions.



Soon after the raid, Lt. Kerrey lost a leg at Hon Tam Island and was later awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2001, the former Governor and Senator from Nebraska, publicly discussed his participation in the raid of Thanh Phong, at length for the first time. "We fired because we were fired upon," Kerrey said at a news conference, "We did not go out on a mission to kill innocent people. I feel guilty about what happened." Governor Kerrey described the event in his 2002 memoir.



Bui Thi Luom, 12 at the time of the incident, the only survivor from her hut of 16, disputed Kerrey claim. saying, "Only civilians, women and children" were killed.


February 25, 1983 -
Playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead on this date, in his New York hotel room after he choked on a bottle cap during the night.



Once again, another victim of not reading the pill bottle label correctly.



And so it goes.