It’s fair to say that Edison was one of the world’s most notorious intellectual property thieves. Of the 1,093 things he smashed a patent on, he stole near enough most of them off real geniuses like Nikola Tesla, Wilhelm Rontgen and Joseph Swan – the latter of whom originally invented the lightbulb!
Today is the Feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola
July 31, 1928 -
MGM’s Leo the lion roared for the first time on this date.
He introduced MGM’s first talking picture, White Shadows on the South Seas. The film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred Monte Blue. It won an Oscar in 1928-29 for Best Cinematography
July 31, 1971 -
James Taylor's cover of the Carole King song, You've Got A Friend hit #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.
Taylor heard this song for the first time in November 1970, when he played a week of shows at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. By this time, his album Sweet Baby James had taken off, and Taylor was drawing large crowds. He asked his good friend Carole King to be his opening act, and King grudgingly accepted - she wasn't used to playing her own songs live and was very nervous.
July 31, 1987 -
Timothy Dalton took on the mantle of James Bond in the John Glen helmed, The Living Daylights, also starring Maryam d'Abo and Joe Don Baker, which premiered in the US on this date. (Depending on how you are counting, this was the fifteenth entry in the film series.)
A stuntman was originally going to play the role of The Impostor, the Russian assassin in Gibraltar at the beginning, but after watching rushes, director John Glen decided that they needed a real actor for the part, and it was given to Carl Rigg. At the time, Rigg was out of work and staying home, taking care of his baby, while his wife was away on business. Upon getting the call, Rigg left the baby with a neighbor, left his wife a note telling her he'd gone to be in a James Bond movie, and caught the next plane to Gibraltar to start filming.
July 31, 1991 -
The Jim Abrahams spoof of Top Gun, Hot Shots!, starring Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, and Jon Cryer, premiered on this date.
The aircraft carrier on which the movie takes place is actually a wooden deck built on the edge of a cliff at a deserted Marineland facility. The film was shot at an angle that made the deck look like a ship at sea.
July 31, 1992 -
Miramax Films released the Mike Newell's film Enchanted April, starring Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Joan Plowright, Alfred Molina, and Jim Broadbent in the US on this date.
When she was cast as Mrs. Fisher, Dame Joan Plowright said that about twenty years earlier she and Dame Maggie Smith had planned an adaption of the same novel in which they would play the parts of Lottie Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot.
It's been another tough week for many; 5 pm can't get here soon enough
Today in History:
July 31, 1485 -
Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, was first published on this date.
Malory wrote this classic tale of knightly love and chivalry while in prison for armed assault and rape.
July 31, 1790 -
Samuel Hopkins was issued the first patent for a process of making potash, potassium carbonate, an ingredient used in fertilizer. The patent was signed by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and President George Washington.
July 31, 1944 -
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French aviator and author best know for his novella The Little Prince, went missing while flying in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on a reconnaissance mission over Marseilles, on this date.
In the days and weeks that followed, various parties speculated that Saint Exupéry was shot down over the Mediterranean, had a flight accident, or even committed suicide. The latter theory grew out of the fact that the flyer had felt isolated from his squadron and was pessimistic about the future.
July 31, 1945 -
Wearing a stolen army uniform, prisoner John Giles attempted to escape from Alcatraz island by boarding an outbound cargo boat. But instead of San Francisco, the vessel heads for Angel Island, where Giles was promptly captured.
When attempting your escape from prison, do not attempt to save money by purchasing a round trip ticket. Please confirm that you have boarded the correct escape craft.
It was on this day in 1954 that human feet first stood upon the summit of Pakistan's K2 mountain, the second-tallest mountain in the world.
July 31, 1948 –
At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport was dedicated by President Harry Truman on this date.
A 30 year old Congressman John F. Kennedy suddenly had a blinding headache that day and didn't know why.
July 31, 1964 -
The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted the first photo moon’s surface ever taken by a U.S. spacecraft, mapping the surface for a future lunar landing, on this date. Ranger 7 carried six slow-scan vidicon TV cameras capable of transmitting high-resolution television pictures of the lunar surface.
A total of 4,308 photographs were taken before Ranger 7 crashed in Mare Cognitum (Sea of Clouds). The total cost of the mission was about $170 million (your tax dollars at work.)
July 31, 1966 -
The Beatles records were burned in Birmingham, Alabama on this date -- only because John Lennon innocently declared that the band happens to be "more popular than Jesus."
The record burning of course has the opposite effect, as sales of Beatles records dramatically increase (in part to burn them.)
July 31, 1971 -
One of the most expensive car rides occurred on this date,
Apollo 15 crew members, James B. Irwin and David R. Scott took the Lunar Roving Vehicle or "Moon Buggy" on its premiere jaunt on the surface of the Moon.
July 31, 1976 -
NASA released the famous Face on Mars photo taken by the Viking 1, on this date.
but until then, the face would spark imaginations and lead to rampant conspiracy theories.
Tomorrow is the festival of Lammas, an ancient harvest festival, (which we will have more to say about tomorrow.)
According to Shakespeare, Guiletta Capulet was born on "Lammas Eve at night," so Juliet's birthday is July 31st (sharing her birthday with Harry Potter and his creator, J. K. Rowlings.)
July 31, 1980 (I'm going with 1980 and not getting involved in the 1979 controversy) -
Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard was born on this dates.
J K Rowlings, the Harry Potter brand author, and unfortunately loony bigot, shares a birthday with her creation (born 1965). Her 'children's stories' have made her a billionaire.
July 31, 2003 -
Felix Baumgartner, became the first man to glide across the English Channel without an aircraft when he jumped from a plane thirty thousand feet above Dover, England wearing carbon fiber wings attached to his back.
He glided 23 miles across the Channel in ten minutes at a starting speed of 220 mph and slowing to a speed of 135 mph. Baumgartner finished his flight using a parachute landing in Cap Blanc-Nez, France.
And so it goes.
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