The purpose of World Turtle Day, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.
May 23, 1929 -
Walt Disney released the ninth film in the Mickey Mouse film series, The Karnival Kid on this date
This is first cartoon in which Mickey Mouse speaks. His first words are "Hot dogs!" In case your a big Mickey fan (I'm not) here's Croissant de Triomphe
Croissant de Triomphe is the first of 19 all new animated shorts from Disney that feature Mickey Mouse making his return to the screen.
May 23, 1966 -
The Beatles released the single Paperback Writer on this date
Paul McCartney wrote this after helping some friends, including John Dunbar, set up the Indica Bookshop (in the basement was the Indica Gallery, where John Lennon eventually met Yoko Ono), in January of 1966. Paul was the first customer of the shop.
May 23, 1980 -
Stanley Kubrick's classic horror thriller The Shining, opened on this date (I remember seeing it at the midnight showing on this date in Time Square.)
The Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon was used for the front exterior, but all the interiors as well as the back of the hotel were specially built at Elstree Studios in London, England. The management of the Timberline requested that Stanley Kubrick not use 217 for a room number (as specified in the book), fearing that nobody would want to stay in that room ever again. Kubrick changed the script to use the nonexistent room number 237.
May 23, 1984 -
Steven Spielberg/ George Lucas' theme park thrill ride film, Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom, opened on this date.
An early draft of the script for Raiders of the Lost Ark had Indy traveling to Shanghai to recover a piece of the Staff of Ra. During his escape from the museum where it was housed, he sheltered from machine gun fire behind a giant rolling gong. The same script also featured Indy and Marion fleeing destruction in a mine-cart chase. Both of these scenes were cut from that script, but resurface in this movie.
May 23, 1997 -
Steven Spielberg's sequel monster movie, The Lost World: Jurassic Park opened nationally, on this date (this date must be a lucky day for Steve.)
At least five scenes were cut from the film before release, and some appeared in the trailer: Peter Ludlow talking to the InGen committee about their expenses, Roland and Ajay talking in a bar, T-rexes trying to attack Kelly, who was left alone in the High Hide, The Raptors and T-rexes fighting in the rex's nest, and Pteranodons attacking the rescue helicopter.
Today in History:
May 23, 1430 -
The French, they are a strange race.
A little french shepherdess goes out into a field for a picnic. And instead of getting food poisoning, which was common, hears the voice of God, which is not.
Joan, heeding God's command, heads the army of France to rout the England and help crown a new French King. And for her troubles, Joan of Arc captured by Burgundians today at Compiegne, who sell her to the British. The British, known for their sense of humor, give Joan the ultimate hot foot.
This is what comes from being the messenger of God.
May 23, 1498 -
What a day for an auto da fe...
Religious fundamentalist Girolamo Savonarola was executed in Florence on this date, Italy for his many heresies, after being excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI. The Catholic Church had already excommunicated the Dominican friar the year before, but Savonarola continued to preach for radical reforms. Among other things, he held bonfires of the vanities for his parishioners' worldly possessions, because they competed with the word of God for attention.
Brother Savonarola was first hanged along with two accomplices and their bodies burned.
This is what comes from trying to follow your own understanding of God's words.
May 23, 1618 -
In what is later called the Second Defenestration of Prague, (yes there was a First) three men representing the soon-to-be Emperor Ferdinand II are thrown from a window in the Hradshin Palace by Protestant noblemen.
Luckily for the imperial emissaries, they land on a large pile of manure and survive (Catholics immediately proclaimed that God’s angels had saved them from certain death.) But when Ferdinand assumes the throne the following year, all hell breaks loose in Europe, starting with Bohemia.
Thus begins the horrific religious conflict that comes to be known as the Thirty Years War. Shockingly, given the European sense of time, the war actually lasted 30 years. It is generally agreed that the war set back the continent a full century.
May 23, 1701 -
Captain William Kidd was hanged in London on this date. After the first attempt fails when the rope snaps, Kidd is brought right back to the gallows and the process repeated. After death, the body is slathered in tar, chained up, and suspended over the Thames where it remains for years as an example to others considering a life of piracy.
Again, the British and their sense of humor.
May 23, 1734 -
Friedrich Anton Mesmer was born on this date.
Mr. Mesmer was a physician and hypnotist who developed a peculiar method of therapy-by-suggestion that bears his name to this day: Antonism.
(Antonism should not be confused with antonyms, an antonym for synonyms. Synonyms should not be confused with cinnamon, which is used on hot buns. It will spare embarrassment at the breakfast table if hot buns are confused with hot buns.)
May 23, 1873 -
The Northwest Mounted Police were founded on this date. The Northwest Mounted Police was one of the first police forces in the Northwest Territories — present day Alberta and Saskatchewan — and the predecessor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also known as the Mounties.
Please rise for the playing of the Mounties Anthem
Yes, this has nothing to do with that fine organization but isn't your day just a little better for having heard this again?
May 23, 1911 -
More than one million books were set in place for the official dedication of The New York Public Library (on Fifth Avenue on the site of the old Croton Reservoir) on this date – exactly 16 years to the day since the historic agreement creating the Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations had been signed.
Please, all of you who forgot to return your books from the opening day, return them. All is forgiven.
No questions asked.
May 23, 1934 -
A group of FBI agents and police officers from two states ambush the notorious Bonnie and Clyde on a highway near Gibsland, Louisiana, on this date.
The men open fire as the bank robbers drive past the concealed posse, unloading hundreds of rounds into the car.
May 23, 1969 -
... It's a boy Mrs. Walker, it's a boy ....
The Who released Tommy, the first rock opera on this date.
Somehow this may or may not be connected with the fact that
the BBC gave the go-ahead for 13 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus on this date as well.
And so it goes.
Before I let you go - Mental Floss' next clip - 50 common misquotations and misattributions:
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