Once again, it's my favorite day of the year -

March 4th - the day that orders you to do something!

Today is the 14th Day of The Lunar New Year Festival (stick with me, we're almost there) - tomorrow is Lantern’s Day and it marks the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.  The day before the Lantern Festival, the Lantern Display stages are built in the open square in the front of temples.

People bring their decorated lanterns to the display stage for the competition. Some lanterns might take more than a month to completely decorate.


March 4, 1961 -
Michelangelo Antonioni's landmark of European cinema, L'Avventura, premiered in the US on this date.



At its premiere at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, this was booed so much to the extent that Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti fled the theater. However, after the second screening there was a complete turn around in how it was perceived and it was awarded the Special Jury Prize, going on to become a landmark of European cinema.


March 4, 1967 -
The Rolling Stones song, Ruby Tuesday, topped the charts on this date.



This was supposed to be the B-side of Let's Spend the Night Together, but many radio stations shied away from the sexual implications of that song, so they played this instead and made it a hit.



I remember back in 1975, I had a job painting the ceiling of my former elementary school's gym.  The school had a jukebox that we had jimmied so we could play anything on the machine for free.  We played all the Stones songs the machine had.  Ruby Tuesday had a serious scratch just at the end of the record.  I still can't listen to the song without it abruptly ending just before the end, in my mind.


Today in History:
March 4, 1837 -
The "Windy City", "Chi-Town", "Second City," and the "City of Broad Shoulders" - Chicago became incorporated as a city on this date.



10,000 extra votes from various local cemeteries were counted that day alone.

Remember, vote early, vote often.


March 4, 1849 -
This is a U.S. secret you probably don't know - today is one of the only days America had no President.

Pres. James K. Polk (whose cause of death was officially listed as "diarrhea") officially stepped down as the 11th US president and President Zachary Taylor, the 12th US president (who died in office after eating cherries and milk at a July 4th celebration) refused to be sworn-in on a Sunday.



US Sen. David Rice Atchison (1807-1886) of Missouri then technically held office as president until Zachary Taylor took his oath the next day. However Atchison’s term as president pro tempore of the Senate had also expired, and his new term did not begin until March 5. For the rest of his life, Atchison enjoyed polishing this story, describing his "presidency" as "the honestest administration this country ever had."


March 4, 1861 -
The first official flag of the Confederate States of America, called the Stars and Bars, having seven stars, for the seven states that initially formed the Confederacy, was formally adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America, on this date.

This flag was sometimes difficult to distinguish from the Union flag under battle conditions, so the flag was changed to the Stainless Banner. The union of the Stainless Banner, known as the Southern Cross, became the one more commonly used in military operations. The Southern Cross had 13 stars, adding the four states that joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter, and the two divided states of Kentucky and Missouri.



While, the Southern states were adopting their banner, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States on this date as well.

So now you know.


March 4, 1884 -
...There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.....



Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson begin their work on the case in A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, on this date (or maybe it didn't. I'm not going to join the massive debate the Holmesians get involved in with the accuracy of this date.)


March 4, 1936 -
In Germany, the Hindenburg airship made its maiden flight on this date. It is the largest aircraft in history, and at the time of its first flight, it is thought that the airship represented the future of all air travel.



However, in 1937, the globally publicized Hindenburg disaster brought the expectation that the airship would become a popular method of transport to an end.


March 4, 1945 -
Young Betsy Windsor joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), on or around this date. (The ATS was much like the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in the US.





Elizabeth, who would later become the queen, served in the ATS as a truck driver.


March 4, 1952 -
Ronald Reagan marries his 'mommy' Nancy Davis, in the San Fernando Valley, on this date.

March 4, 1960 -
Waaaa, Ricky I don't want to be married anymore to you, you lousy two bit skirt chasing, whoremonger.

Lucille Ball filed divorce from Desi Arnaz on this date.


March 4, 1966 -
John Lennon claimed that The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", and that "Christianity will... vanish and shrink" on this date.



I guess he was wrong about that.


March 4, 1974 -
The first issue of People Magazine featuring actress Mia Farrow, starring in the movie The Great Gatsby, was released on this date.

The duration of your stay in the bathroom has never been the same.


March 4, 1994 -
Comedian John Candy died on this date.







Just think - the fun Dr. Tongue and Desi Arnaz are having in the 3D House of Slavechicks.



And so it goes