Apparently, it floats in gasoline, too.

Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been over mixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float.



Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.


September 23, 1944 -
Frank Capra's screwball comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace finally gets it US general release on this date. The film was based on a hit play and had to wait to be released until after it Broadway run had ended.



Some 20 years before filming this movie, actress Jean Adair had helped to nurse a very sick vaudeville performer named Archie Leach back to health; by the time she was asked to reprise her Broadway Arsenic and Old Lace role as Aunt Martha for this film, Adair and Leach, now known as Cary Grant, were old friends.


September 23, 1962 -
The youth of America want to know, "Where did all that dog poop go?"

The Jetsons debuted on Sunday night's prime time lineup on this date.



The first program ever to be broadcast in color on ABC-TV.


September 23, 1967 -
The Letter by Box Tops topped the charts on this date.



At 1:58, the Box Tops' version of this was the last #1 hit to be shorter than two minutes in length. (You can thank me for the earworm later.)


September 23, 1968 -
Lucille Ball's third TV series, Here's Lucy premiered on this date.



The show came about because of a business transaction. In 1968, The Lucy Show had been running for six seasons, and the ratings remained solid. Lucille Ball sold the Desilu studio that year, however, so in order to retain ownership of her series, she ceased production on The Lucy Show and created Here's Lucy. The new series had a slightly different plot and new character names (plus roles for Lucy's kids), but continued with the same cast and timeslot.


September 23, 1969 -
Marcus Welby MD, starring the not terribly sober Robert Young, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The exterior of Dr. Welby's office was the same building used as the Cleaver family home on Leave It to Beaver with only Welby's shingle as the new addition to the set.


September 23, 1970 -
The only American film Akira Kurosawa almost directed, Tora! Tora! Tora!, was released on this date. Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.



When Japanese characters in the film refer to the date of the attack, they are actually saying "December 8," which is technically correct, as Japan is a day ahead of the U.S.; however, it is translated as "December 7" in the subtitles to avoid confusing U.S. audiences.


September 23, 1990 -
PBS premiered Ken Burns powerful 11 hour miniseries The Civil War on this date.



Shelby Foote became a sudden celebrity after the success of this series. Foote's phone number was listed in his local phone book and he received frequent calls from fans. He never removed his number from the phone book and received calls whenever the series aired for the rest of his life.


Today in History:
September 23, 480 BC -
It's the birthday of the Greek poet Euripides, born near Athens on this date.

Euripides has the greatest number of plays that have survived for the modern reader -19 of them—including Medea.

Remember -  Euripides, I ripa dos.


September 23, 63 BC -
Gaius Octavius Thurinus (Augustus Caesar) was born on this day. The first real Roman Emperor, Caesar introduced the famous Pax Romana. This was a political policy which stated that any country which did not object to being conquered by Rome would be conquered by Rome.



Countries not wishing to be conquered by Rome stood in violation of this policy, and were therefore invaded until they agreed to be conquered. This ensured peace throughout the world.


September 23, 1779 -
During the Revolutionary War, while on break from Led Zeppelin, the American navy under Scotsman John Paul Jones (Robert Stack), commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeated and captured the British man-of-war Serapis on this date. Jones, chose to name the ship after Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard’s Almanac.



Fierce fighting ensued, and when Richard began to sink, Serapis commander Richard Pearson called over to ask if Richard would surrender and Jones responded, "I have not yet begun to fight!"--a response that would become a slogan of the U.S. Navy. Pearson surrendered and Jones took control of Serapis. Imagine the amount of rum consumed (it was an American Ship - I'm sure there was no sodomy!)

The Bonhomme Richard sank two days after the battle.


September 23, 1939 -
Sigmund Freud was not having a good day. He had been suffering from the late stages of cancer of the jaw when he decided to commit suicide with the help of his personal physician, Max Schur on this date.



The good doctor administered 21 mg of morphine -- a lethal dose, in three large doses in the space of several hours. Sometimes 21 mg of morphine is just 21 mg of death.


September 23, 1949 -
Happy Birthday Bruce!







If you are of a certain age, at one point, Bruce meant everything to you.


September 23, 1950 -
Congress passes the McCarran Act, also known as The Internal Security Act of 1950, overriding Harry Truman's veto. The act provides for severe restrictions on civil liberties, suspension of free speech, and placing of undesirable Americans in concentration camps.



Much of the Act has been repealed, but some portions remain intact.

So watch it, bub.


September 23, 1952 -
Responding to accusations that he diverted $18,000 in contributions into his pocket, Senator Richard M. Nixon rescues his candidacy for Vice President by insisting that he had never accepted any money.



Although Nixon does admit he accepted a cocker spaniel named Checkers for his daughter Tricia. The televised monologue rescues his political career.

Little is know about this political operative, Checkers. Recently unclassified FBI documents reveal that Checkers advised Nixon not to shave just prior to his famous televised debate with Kennedy. Checkers was also recorded on his deathbed in late '68 advising Nixon's men about creating a list of enemies of the future President.


September 23, 1969 -
An article in the Northern Illinois University student newspaper  propagated the rumor that "Paul is dead."

But if you play I'm so Tired from the White Album (and smoke an enormous amount of dope,) you hear the question Is Paul McCartney Dead?



And Revolution #9 implores, Turn me on dead man.



Well, sort of. Remember it's I buried Paul and not cranberry sauce.



And so it goes