Saturday, December 19, 2015

A Little Holiday Quiz

The folks from the Scene put together a little test to see if you can tell fact from fiction concerning the holidays



That last question was silly - everyone knows Santa is real!


December 19, 1961 -
Released in time for the holidays, the star-studded Stanley Kramer film, Judgment At Nuremberg, opened in New York City on this date.



Burt Lancaster does not utter a single word in the courtroom until his outburst roughly two hours and 15 minutes into the film. However, prior to that he does speak briefly in three scenes set in the prison.


December 19, 1971 -
The pilot for the hit family series The Waltons, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story premiered on CBS-TV on this date



Actresses Josephine Hutchinson and Dorothy Stickney, who portrayed the elderly Baldwin sisters, passed away within two days of each other in 1998, 27 years after this film was made.


December 19, 1971 -
A Clockwork Orange premiered on this date, originally with an X rating. Censors objected more to the sex scenes than the violence.



The doctor standing over Alex as he is being forced to watch violent films was a real doctor, ensuring that Malcolm McDowell's eyes didn't dry up.


December 19, 1997 -
The movie, Titanic was released in theaters on this date. This movie would become the most financially successful movie in U.S. history, grossing approximately $1.8 billion worldwide (until the release of Avatar in 2009, which grossed an astounding $2.075 billion. Avatar was conveniently directed by Mr. Cameron as well.)



In the scene where the water comes crashing into the Grand Staircase room, the film makers only had one shot at it because the entire set and furnishings were going to be destroyed in the shot.


December 19, 2001 -
New Line Cinema released the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (based on the epic 1954 novel by J.R.R. Tolkien,) directed by Peter Jackson and starring a very large number of people in the U.S. on this date.



Christopher Lee read The Lord of the Rings once a year and has done so since the year it was published, and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.


Today's Holiday Special:  TV is always there for you.


Today in History:
December 19, 1154
-
Henry was 18 when we met and I was queen of France ... We shattered the commandments on the spot.

Henry Plantagenet of the Angevin dynasty was crowned Henry II, King of England with Eleanor of Aquitaine as queen, on this date.


December 19, 1733 -
Benjamin Franklin
, writing under the pseudonym of Poor Richard, published Poor Richard's Almanack on this date.



The book, filled with proverbs and parables, was published continuously for 25 years and became one of the most popular publications in colonial America, selling an average of 10,000 copies a year.


December 19, 1777 -
These are the times that try men's souls.



General George Washington led his ragtag army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter on this date.


December 19, 1903 -
On this date, the Williamsburg Bridge was opened in New York City. It was America's first major suspension bridge using steel towers instead of the customary masonry towers.



It was built to alleviate traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and to provide a link between Manhattan and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Taking over seven years to complete, the 1,600 foot Williamsburg Bridge was the world's longest suspension bridge until the 1920s.


December 19, 1922 -
In a Sheffield, England, courtroom, accused bigamist Theresa Vaughn admitted under oath that in the past five years she had acquired 61 husbands in 50 cities throughout England, Germany and South Africa, averaging a marriage a month.



And you think you've been busy.


December 19, 1928 -
The first autogyro flight in the U.S., piloted by H.F. Pitcairn, was made on this date.



The autogyro would later lead to the development of the helicopter.


December 19, 1941 -
Twelve days after Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt under authority of Congress, created the Office of Censorship. The bureau had discretion over communications with foreign countries. Participation by domestic publishers was "voluntary."

From December 1941 to August 1945, every letter that crossed international or U.S. territorial borders was subject to being opened and reviewed for details.

Sounds a little familiar.


December 19, 1972  -
Apollo 17 completed their mission and splashed down in the Pacific on this date.



With this return to earth, the Apollo program of manned lunar landings ended.


December 19, 1974 -
Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States after a House vote. Rockefeller was the second person appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment – the first being Gerald Ford (the man for whom he was serving as Vice President.)



After the proceedings, Rockefeller celebrates by copulating vigorously with three of his assistants in the Warren G. Harding memorial cloakroom.



And so it goes

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