That was one expensive piece of meat

 (I'm having some problems with the new Blogger formatting. Hoping to solve it soon.)

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - a rural cuban farmer once owned the most expensive cow in history.

On November 30, 1960, Rufina, a female cow was killed by a falling chunk of U.S. satellite in Cuba. This was during a time where tensions between Havana and Washington were at their highest. So the Cuban government decided to make the best out of a bad situation and had a good laugh at their American neighbors. A cow was paraded through the streets with a sign reading “Eisenhower, you murdered one of my sisters”. Tthe American government awarded the Cuban government $2 million dollars compensation.

September 18, 1951 -
Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marion Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



Although Vivien Leigh initially thought Marlon Brando to be affected, and he thought her to be impossibly stuffy and prim, both soon became friends and the cast worked together smoothly.


September 18, 1951 -
20th Century Fox premiered the science fiction classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise and starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, in New York, on this date.



One of the reasons that Michael Rennie was cast as Klaatu was because he was generally unknown to American audiences, and would be more readily accepted as an "alien" than a more recognizable actor.


September 18, 1963 -
The show that taught elderly men, twin cousins might be lured into immoral acts with the purchase of grilled sausages - The Patty Duke Show, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



For most of the scenes featuring Patty and Cathy, Rita Walter played "the back of either Patty's or Cathy's head", as appropriate. She can also be seen in several episodes as a background character.


September 18, 1964 -
The most normal family's ever presented on US television, The Addams Family premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Jackie Coogan was originally rejected as Uncle Fester. He went home, shaved his head, and did his own Fester makeup and costume. This won him the part.


September 18, 1965 -
Kleenex stock rose precipitously as I Dream of Jeannie premiered on this date.



While filming the first 12 episodes of season 1, Barbara Eden was pregnant with her only son, Matthew Ansara. Her pregnancy was disguised by filming her in close-up or with a copious veil covering her front. Barbara Eden has said that wearing all the extra veils made her feel like a walking tent.


September 18, 1965 -
Mel Brooks and Buck Henry started their fight to keep the world safe from KAOS when Get Smart premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



When Don Adams was negotiating his salary, he had his choice between more money per week and no ownership stake in the show, or less money per week and part ownership. Adams chose the ownership deal and never regretted it considering the series' durable popularity in syndication gave him a regular income even as he struggled with being typecast by it.


September 18, 1968 -
The film musical Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand premiered in NYC.



At the wrap party, William Wyler gave Barbra Streisand a director's megaphone in mock recognition of her devotion to every aspect of filmmaking, including directing. Streisand gave Wyler an eighteenth century gold watch inscribed "TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME."


September 18, 1978 -
We first started living on the air in Cincinnati when WKRP in Cincinnati, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



In some scenes, bulletin boards or wall spaces are plastered with bumper stickers for radio stations across the USA. They were sent by real-life radio DJs who were avid fans of the show.


September 18, 1987 -
Pet bunnies felt a cold breeze on their neck when Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, opened on this date.



Glenn Close still has the knife she used in the movie hanging in her kitchen, stating: "It's beautiful, made of wood and paper. It's a work of art! And it's nice for our guests to see it. It lets them know they can't stay forever."


September 18, 1994 -
Ken Burn's series about America's favorite past time Baseball, premiered on PBS on this date.



Ironically, first aired in the fall of 1994 when much of the season and the World Series were cancelled due to a strike. This made it the only "baseball" available to millions of unhappy fans at what should have been the most exciting time of the season.


Kids, stop going out at 5 pm to go to your favorite bar


Today in History:
ACME would like to issue a Trigger Warning - all children and those with delicate natures should turn away from their computer screens as we discuss the bizarre deviant sexual behavior on the part of our founding fathers:

On September 18, 1793, President George Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. Capitol. According to numerous sources, President Washington "laid the stone in a Masonic ceremony... preceded by a parade and followed by celebration and feasting."

The 1792 competition for the design of the Capitol had been won by an amateur architect, and the building was therefore burned by the British before it could be completed. Congress had moved into the building on November 22, 1800, but managed to escape the fire.


September 18, 1851 -
The New York Times published its first edition on this date. The newspaper, initially called the New-York Daily Times, was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond, a politician and journalist.

It cost one penny per copy and was published six days per week, changing to seven days in 1861. Its name was changed to the New York Times in 1857.


September 18, 1932 -
24-year-old starlet Peg Entwistle dived head first from the letter "H" of the HOLLYWOODLAND sign in Los Angeles. She is the first person to commit suicide at the landmark.



Her body was discovered in the brush at the base of the hill two days later, and pronounced dead. When police examined her belongings, in her purse they found a note that read:

"I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."



Two days later, in an ironic twist, Entwistle's uncle opened a letter addressed to her from the Beverly Hills Playhouse; it was mailed the day before she jumped. In it was an offer for her to play the lead role in a stage production—in which her character would commit suicide in the final act.


September 18, 1961 -
Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the UN, was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on this date. He was flying to negotiate a cease-fire in the Congo.



Hammarskjold was the son of a former Swedish prime minister. In 1953, he was elected to the top UN post and in 1957 was reelected. During his second term, he initiated and directed the United Nation's vigorous role in the Belgian Congo.

Strangely enough, for many years, I worked in an office building that bears his name.


September 18, 1970 -
Jimi Hendrix died in his sleep, in London, from of a barbiturate overdose when chunks of his vomited tuna sandwich wound up in his lungs, causing him to choke, on this date. He was 27 years old.



At least his family could take comfort that he did not choke on someone else's vomit.

Once again I must remind you that Cass Elliot did not choke to death on a ham sandwich. It is an urban myth born out of a quickly discarded speculation by the coroner, who noted a part eaten ham sandwich and figured she may have choked to death. In fact, she died of heart failure.

So cut it out.


September 18, 1977 -
NASA's unmanned space probe Voyager 1 snapped the first photograph of the Moon and the Earth in the same frame while on its mission to study the Solar System and its boundaries. At the time, Voyager 1 was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth.

Voyager 1 continues its mission today and still is in communication with NASA scientists.


September 18, 1981 -
The Guinness Book of World Records verified on this date, that the West Edmonton Mall parking lot, which can hold 20,000 cars, is the largest parking lot in the world.

Interestingly enough, the shopping center around which it was built is not the largest in the world. While it is the largest shopping mall in North America, the New Century Global Center in Chengdu, China (with 7.1 million sq ft of leasable space) is the world's largest shopping mall and sits mostly empty due to economic downturns in the area.


September 18, 1992 -
Two weeks after being outed in the New York weekly QW, attorney John Schlafly admitted in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner that he enjoys the love that dare not speak it's name. This causes a certain amount of consternation for his mother, archconservative gay rights opponent Phyllis Schlafly.

The Schlafly family have still not fulfilled their obligation as good Christians to present their rebellious son to the town elders and have him stoned to death as instructed in Deut. 21:18. Now that Schlafly has met her maker, she'll find out what's in store for her.


September 18, 1994 -
Vitas Gerulaitis was killed in his sleep the previous night in the guest cottage of a friend's Long Island estate. His body was discovered on this date. The professional tennis player died from carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by a faulty propane swimming-pool heater.

How many more people must die from killer swimming pools?



And so it goes


125


Before you go - Happy 5781





Rosh Hashanah begins on Friday evening, so we here at ACME are wishing our friends L’shanah Tovah.