The great screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, premiered on this date.
Cary Grant was so convinced this film was not working, he begged to released during production. The film turned out to be a big hit.
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, 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.
Ian Fleming is said to have based the character of the villain Le Chiffre in the novel "Casino Royale" on English occultist Aleister Crowley.
October 21, 1957 -
The film Jailhouse Rock starring Elvis Presley opened in Memphis, Tennessee on this date. (As always, the sick and spiritually frigid should watch the film to receive the healing powers of St. Elvis.)
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote 4 songs ('Jailhouse Rock', 'I Want to Be Free', ' Treat Me Nice', and 'You're So Square') in five hours after their music publisher, under deadline, locked them in their hotel room.
October 21, 1964 -
Possibly the most fully realized movie musical, My Fair Lady premiered at the Criterion Theater in New York, on this date.
Because of the way Rex Harrison talked his way through the musical numbers, they were unable to prerecord them and have him lip-sync, so a wireless microphone (one of the first ever developed) was rigged up and hidden under his tie. Rex Harrison's microphone would occasionally pick up police broadcasts from passing police cars.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 celebration by eating his delicious gut busting cheesy dish on this date.
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.
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.
Shirley Booth, 94, Emmy, Oscar and Tony award winning actress accidentally flipped through the book and promptly dropped dead on this date as well.
And so it goes
There are 10 days until Halloween. Begin purchasing those razor blades and apples
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