Friday, June 5, 2015

I owe it all to little chocolate donuts.

Did you know that NYC (and other parts of the country) will be celebrating the 77th anniversary of National Donut Day today?



The holiday began as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army in 1938. It is celebrated annually on the first Friday of June, and honors all the female volunteers who served donuts to soldiers behind the front lines during World War I.



To celebrate Donut Day 2015, a few donut shops are offering a free donut deal. Celebrate at Krispy Kreme with a free donut of any variety, or at Dunkin' Donuts which is offering a free donut with the purchase of any beverage.



And in Madison Square Park, Entenmann's will be handing out free Entenmann’s donuts and coffee. Get your picture taken with the first Entenmann’s Donut Mobile (whatever floats your boat.)


Today is also Dead Duck Day, an annual event celebrated at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.



Do you have anything else to do today? Perhaps you should do it. I'll give you a moment -



Still interested - It's the anniversary of the first known observation of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.

Now, go about you business


June 5, 1939 -
The Wizard of Oz was test screened on this date.



(Folks, the video is a joke - the screening though did occur on this date.)


June 5, 1956 -
Elvis Presley
appeared on Milton Berle's TV show on this date. His undulating hip movements during the song Hound Dog cause quite a national controversy.  (Once again kids - place one hand upon the screen and the other upon your 'afflicted' region.  Feel the healing powers of Elvis emanate throughout your body.)



Elvis' pelvis and Uncle Miltie's 'special gift' - American virginity was never the same again.


June 5, 1961 -
Roy Orbison's
record Running Scared reached the number one position on the charts, on this date.



This was the last song Roy Orbison ever sung live. His final performance was on December 4, 1988, just two days before his sudden passing, at a Cleveland-area venue. As was his usual habit, Orbison closed the show with "Running Scared."


June 5, 1989 -
Peter Weir's
under rated film, The Truman Show (often credited with predicting the reality television phenomenon,) starring Jim Carrey, Laura Linney and Ed Harris, premiered on this date.





The location shoot for Seahaven Island (the film's town in the dome) was in a place called Seaside, Florida. When director Peter Weir arrived there with his pre-production team he said "Unpack our things, we've found our town." The week they arrived during the location scouting is the week they began pre-production.


Today in History:
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula
(aka Pancho Villa), one of the most famous generals of the Mexican Revolution (or notorious bandit, history is very fickle that way) was born on this date.



Pancho Villa was also responsible for a raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916, which was the first attack on U.S. soil since 1812.


June 5, 1938 -
The first machine in history to produce intelligible speech-like sounds was exhibited by Bell Telephone scientists Homer Dudley, Richard Riesz, and Stanley Watkins. Called “Pedro, the Voder,” it is put on display to the public at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this date.



In addition to human voices, it can imitate the sound of various farm animals.


June 5, 1967 -
The Six Day War erupted in the Middle East as Israel, convinced an Arab attack was imminent, raided Egyptian and Syrian military targets on this date.



I have enough problems with the Chinese government that I don't need any trouble with the entire Middle East by commenting on this fracas.


June 5, 1968 -
Seconds after Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan in a Los Angeles hotel, witnesses wrestle the assassin to the ground and grab his smoking .22-caliber revolver, on this date.



Sirhan later claims to have been acting unconsciously, the result of hypnotic brainwashing, possibly under the orders of a dog named Harvey in Long Island.


June 5, 1975 -
... Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun...



During the Wish You Were Here recording sessions on this date, Syd Barrett just happens to wander into Abbey Road studio while Pink Floyd were mixing Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a song written about Barrett. At first, none of Syd's former bandmates recognizes the fat, bald lunatic who is compulsively brushing his teeth.



When someone tried to break the ice by asking Syd how he had put on so much weight, he maniacally replied, "I've got a very large fridge in the kitchen, and I've been eating a lot of pork chops!" This would be the last time any of the Pink Floyd members saw him.


June 5, 1998 -
Reuters and ABC News both erroneously reported the death of Bob Hope, after Arizona congressman Bob Stump announces the comedian's demise on the floor of the U.S. Congress.

This was a tremendous surprise of Bob Hope himself, who was eating breakfast at the time.

Oops.



And so it goes.

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