August 15, 1911 -
Procter and Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening on this date.
I guess there's celebrations somewhere.
It's the feast of Assumption of Mary. If you had problems understanding the Immaculate Conception, please go bother an old lady in church saying her rosaries, I'm not even going to try explaining this one to you..
Hey remember - this is a Holy Day of Obligation (yeah, you have to go to church.)
August 15, 1979 -
The very long delayed epic, Apocalypse Now, premiered in NYC on this date.
While in pre-production, director Francis Ford Coppola consulted his friend and mentor Roger Corman for advice about shooting in the Phillipines. Corman's advice: "Don't go."
I can't even begin to tell you what this film meant to me while I was in film school at the time.
Today in History:
August 15, 1057 -
Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on this date.
He had been king of Scotland for 17 years. For those of you who do not know, you're not suppose to say the name of the Scottish king 'aloud'.
August 15, 1534 -
St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending Catholicism against heresy and undertaking missionary work. Ignatius converted to Christianity while convalescing after a battle and wrote his Spiritual Exercises meant as a guide for conversion.
In Paris, Ignatius and a small group of men took vows of poverty, chastity and papal obedience. Ignatius formally organized the order in 1539 that was approved by the pope in 1540. The society‘s rapid growth and emphasis on scholarship aided in the resurgence of Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation.
Yes, as you may have have probably ascertained, I was taught by the Jesuits (and can only imagine the amount of alcohol I've consumed.)
August 15, 1935 -
Will Rogers, the most famous man in America, dies near Barrow, Alaska when his sea plane plunges into a lagoon. At the time, he and one-eyed aviator Wiley Post were surveying possible flight paths between Seattle and the Soviet Union.
Remember kids, let this be a lesson to you - don't take a flight with a drunken, one eyed pilot.
August 15, 1945 -
Harry Truman had sobered up yet. He could not quite believe that he was President and got to drop not one but two atomic bombs.
Truman had announced the Japanese surrender the day before. But it was on this day in 1945 that the Allies officially declared V-J Day.
August 15, 1961 -
Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin taking Robert Frost a little too literally and built a wall--the Berlin Wall--to permanently close off access to the West.
For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War--a virtual "iron curtain" dividing Europe.
August 15, 1965 -
The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, marking the birth of stadium rock.
August 15, 1969 -
The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger's farm in upstate New York.
The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today's hottest commercial jingles.
Today is the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769),
Rose Marie (1925),
Oscar Peterson (1925),
Linda Ellerbee, (1944), (possibly the second greatest living American)
Jimmy Webb (1946),
Oh, and Liz
(but she knows how old she is.)
And so it goes.
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