Bear this in mind

The penalty in England for attempted suicide, until 1961:

death by hanging (not typically enforced)


January 18, 1973 -
The third season finale of Monty Python, Grandstand, aired on this date



This is one of the only episode of the series that does not feature the opening credits. It is also the last episode John Cleese appeared in.


January 18, 1974 -
The sci-fi series, The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors, premiered on the ABC-TV on this date.



The characters of Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) and Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks) appeared on this series and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman. When the spin-off moved to another network, this practice continued. This was the first time the same continuing characters appeared on two different television series broadcast on two different networks at the same time.


January 18, 1975 -
The Jeffersons, a spin-off of All In The Family premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Isabel Sanford did not want to do a spin-off. She told producers that she was happy with her recurring role on All in the Family. When they told her that they were writing Louise Jefferson off of All in the Family, and moving the character to this show with or without her, she decided to stay in the role.


January 18, 1977 -
The last wet dream of the Nietzchian Uberman came to fruition when Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to America, when George Butler’s bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron hit the theaters on this date.



To put some Hollywood asset into the film, actor Bud Cort was offered to appear being trained by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pieces of footage were actually filmed but removed from the final cut on demand of Cort who judged them too distracting from the main subject. He also asked for his salary to be injected into the rest of the production. Some of this footage eventually appeared in Raw Iron: The Making of 'Pumping Iron'.


January 18, 1984 -
The Coen Brothers made their directorial debut (as well as the first major cinematography work by Barry Sonnenfeld) with the release of Blood Simple, starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, and M. Emmet Walsh, on this date.



On the advice of Sam Raimi, the Coens went door-to-door showing potential investors a two minute 'trailer' of the film they planned to make. They ultimately raised $750,000 in a little over a year, enough to begin production of the movie.


Quote of the day


Today in History:
January 18, 1836 -

Knife aficionado Jim Bowie arrived at the Alamo to assist its Texas defenders on this date.


On January 18, 1871, while Prussian guns blasted all hell out of Paris, William I was proclaimed Emperor of a united Germany in nearby Versailles.

For this reason, the Germans have always had a soft spot for France, and have returned often.


January 18, 1882 -
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.



Alan Alexander Milne was born on this date.


January 18, 1892 -
That's another fine mess you've gotten me into.



Oliver Hardy, American comedian, actor and the other half the the world's greatest comedy duo, was born on this date.


January 18, 1903 -
President Theodore Roosevelt sent a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States.

Unfortunately, once again, the ill-chosen "Prince Albert in the can" joke is used - and 'Bertie', the King had already heard the joke ad nauseum (Prince Albert, penis ring wearing enthusiast, was his father ) and was not amused.


January 18, 1904 -
I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.



Archibald Leach, noted actor, acrobat and over the top orgy participant, was born on this date.


January 18, 1911 -
The first landing of an aircraft onto a ship took place on this date. Pilot Eugene Ely was the first person to land a plane onto a ship, the USS Pennsylvania (less than ten years after the airplane was invented.)

The technique would later become commonplace as aircraft carriers became major wartime assets.


January 18, 1912 -
Explorer Robert F. Scott reached the South Pole - only to discover that Roald Amundsen had beaten him there by almost a month.



The Norwegian Amundsen's expedition beat that of the British Scott's by a little more than a month, which Scott discovered upon reading a letter that Amundsen had left at the site.

As my girls would say (and I'm paraphrasing - it must have sucked to be him.)


January 18, 1913 (or 1911) -
You bet I arrived overnight. Over a few hundred nights in the Catskills, in vaudeville, in clubs and on Broadway.



David Daniel Kaminsky, UNICEF ambassador, comedian, actor, was born in Brooklyn on this date.


January 18, 1990 -
Rusty Hamer, the actor who played Danny Thomas' son on Make Room For Daddy, shot himself in the head with a .357 Magnum in DeRidder, Louisiana on this date. Rusty was 42 years old.

Uncle Tonoose made him do it.


January 18, 1990 -
Washington DC mayor Marion Barry was arrested on cocaine possession charges at the Vista International Hotel, as he tokes on a glass crack pipe while being videotaped with his mistress Rasheeda on this date.



Kids remember, say NO to drugs, especially while being videotaped, .



And so it goes


Before you go - The History of Film in 222 Heartbeats (the video is a few years old)



It's about 5 minutes, pull up a chair, watch it, then quiz yourself - how many of them can you name? How many of them have you seen?


1001