January 29, 1595 -
Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife....
William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet was probably first performed on this date (unless it wasn't).
I don't know, I wasn't there, were you?
January 29, 1959 -
With a budget that exceeded $6 million, Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty premiered in Los Angeles on this date.
Second only to Dumbo (who didn't speak at all), this Disney title character has only about eighteen lines of actual dialogue throughout the entire film, in which she only appears in the film for eighteen minutes and which is actually about the three fairies who protect her, not about the Sleeping Beauty herself.
January 29, 1964 -
Introducing us to saving our precious bodily fluids and the rule about no fighting in the War room, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was released in the United States, on this date.
George C. Scott was reputedly annoyed that Stanley Kubrick was pushing him to overact for his role. While he vowed never to work with Kubrick again, Scott eventually saw this as one of his favorite performances.
January 29, 1977 -
The Rose Royce song Car Wash, went to No. #1 on this date. The soundtrack album for the film Car Wash, went gold and this song won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture.
Norman Whitfield, who wrote many Motown classics, was commissioned to write songs for the soundtrack of the movie Car Wash. He was having a meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken while watching a basketball game, when inspiration struck. He wrote the lyrics on the bag containing the chicken.
Today's moment of Zen
Today in History:
It's Thomas Paine's birthday today. He was born in 1737.
You could commemorate the occasion by reading (or rereading) Common Sense. You could also commemorate the occasion by registering to vote or piercing your perineum or bleaching someone else's rectal area.
I don't care, it was just a suggestion.
January 29, 1845-
Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poem The Raven was originally published in the New York Evening Mirror, on this date, where it met with lukewarm reviews.
Poe was almost completely unappreciated during his lifetime, but later became an extremely popular author in both the detective and Gothic genres.
January 29, 1886-
Karl Benz patented the Benz Patent Motorwagon, on this date, which looked much like a tricycle with a cushioned seat; this was the first gas-powered car.
January 29, 1929 -
The Seeing Eye was incorporated in Nashville, Tennessee by Dorothy Harrison Eustus and Morris Frank, on this date. A few weeks later, the first seeing-eye Dog Guide School in the United States opened in Nashville. (The name the Seeing Eye came from Proverbs 20:12 in the Bible, "The seeing eye, the hearing ear; The Lord hath made them both." )
Frank had trained under Jack Humphrey in Switzerland at a kennel owned by Dorothy Eustis. Humphrey's became the Seeing Eye’s first geneticist and served as chief instructor.
January 29, 1954 -
Oprah Gail Winfrey, the most influential (and one of the wealthiest) woman in the world, is another year older.
Although Oprah is not going to run for president in 2020; she still could easily get weapon grade uranium - don't piss her off.
January 29, 1979 -
Brenda Spencer fired repeatedly at the school across from her residence in San Diego, killing two and wounding eight children, using the rifle her father had given her as a gift.
I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day. -- The reason she gave inspired the Boomtown Rats song.
Remember: guns don't kill people, it's the damn gifts our father's give us.
And so it goes.
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