Timothy the Tortoise, the last survivor of the Crimean War (which ended in 1856,) who died in April of 2004 at the age of about 165. Timothy (a female tortoise despite her name) was discovered aboard a Portuguese privateer (a type of armed ship) in 1854 and went on to “serve” aboard a number of Royal Navy vessels, including HMS Queen during the first bombardment of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. After her naval service, she retired to live out her life on dry land, taken in by the Earl of Devon at his home, Powderham Castle.
Alfred the Great (b.849), writer and king of Wessex died on this date in 899,
but that has nothing to do with the fact that today we celebrate National Pumpkin Day and Howl at the Moon Day today.
So don't make us wait - howl at the moon, preferably while eating pumpkin pie.
October 26, 1959 -
A gentle and yet still relevant Cold War comedy, The Mouse that Roared, opened in the US on this date.
While filming, Peter Sellers was acting on stage in the comedy Brouhaha, which also dealt with a mythical kingdom whose ruler develops an outlandish plot to secure U.S. aid. Five days a week, he had to be at the studio at 6:30 a.m. for makeup and wardrobe, then get himself to the theatre by 7 p.m. During location shooting, a driver picked him up at the theatre after the performance and he slept in the car on the way to the film shoot.
October 26, 1962 -
The horror camp classic Crawford - Davis paring, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? opened in NYC on this date.
In her book This N' That, Bette Davis said she had a lot of control over how her makeup should be done for the film. She imagined the older Jane as someone who would never wash her face, just put on another layer of makeup. When her daughter, Barbara Merrill, first saw her in full "Jane" makeup, she said, "Oh, mother, this time you've gone too far."
October 26, 1967 -
An excellent (though almost forgotten) thriller from the 60s, Wait Until Dark, premiered on this date.
As a way to get people to see the movie, the filmmakers made a print ad and cautionary trailer that read: 'During the last eight minutes of this picture the theatre will be darkened to the legal limit, to heighten the terror of the breathtaking climax which takes place in nearly total darkness on the screen. If there are sections where smoking is permitted, those patrons are respectfully requested not to jar the effect by lighting up during this sequence. And of course, no one will be seated at this time.' It worked and the film became a huge success because of it.
October 26, 1982 -
TV's longest dream sequence, St. Elsewhere, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
The show never won high ratings but it lasted six seasons on NBC because it appealed to the desirable (for advertisers) educated 18-49 year old demographic.
October 26, 1984 -
James Cameron's sci-fi classic, The Terminator starring the occasionally nude Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton premiered in the US on this date.
James Cameron got the idea of giving Arnold Schwarzenegger even fewer lines in the film than Schwarzenegger's earlier film Conan the Barbarian, in which Schwarzenegger only had 24 lines. In this film, Schwarzenegger has only 14 lines.
October 26, 2001 -
Richard Kelly's cult classic film, Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal went into limited release in US theaters on this date.
At the wrap party for the film, Seth Rogen and Jake Gyllenhaal agreed that they had no idea what the movie was about.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
October 26, 1440 -
Gilles de Rais, French marshal and (alleged) depraved killer of 140 children, was strangled then thrown onto slow fire on this date.
On this date, in 1825, New York City becomes a World Port with the opening of the Erie Canal; a river waterway between Hudson River and Lake Erie opened. It cut through 363 miles of wilderness and measured 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep. It had 18 aqueducts and 83 locks and rose 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
Toll receipts paid back the $7.5 million construction cost within ten years. (This will all be on the test.)
October 26, 1881 -
Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holliday showed up at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, to disarm the Clanton and McLaury boys, who were in violation of a ban on carrying guns in the city limits.
This became the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLowery were killed; Earp's brothers were wounded.
October 26, 1944 -
Freemason and Vice President Harry S Truman publicly denies (yet again) ever having been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
I can't even imagine the feeding frenzy that would have go on today.
October 26, 1965 -
Queen Elizabeth decorated The Beatles with Order of British Empire, at Buckingham Palace, on this date.
The Beatles, ever polite, allowed Her Majesty to add chintz curtains and tufted sofas in their living rooms.
October 26, 1970 -
Doonesbury, the comic strip by Gary Trudeau, premiered in 28 newspapers across the U.S. on this date.
Who knew? (Who reads newspapers anymore?)
October 26, 1979 -
Kim Jae Kyu, director of South Korea's central intelligence agency, "accidentally" shot President Park Chung Hee to death, also killing Park's bodyguard. Park had been president (dictator, effectively) since 1961. Kim was executed the following May for his attempted coup d'etat. (I hate when someone in my cabinet tries to assassinate me.)
In 2005 at the New York Film Festival, the film, The President's Last Bang, recounted the events.
October 26, 1984 -
19-year-old John McCollum shot and killed himself while listening to Ozzy Osbourne records on this date. One year later, McCollum's parents file suit against Ozzy and CBS Records, alleging that the song Suicide Solution from the album Blizzard of Ozz contributed to their son's death.
Except that the song's subject was quite plainly alcohol addiction. The trial court dismissed the McCollum's complaint. (Please, only watch the video once, with adult supervision. And for heaven's sake, don't try to play it backwards!)
October 26, 1991 -
A sudden wind uprooted a 485-pound umbrella, part of an outdoor 'art project' installed by Christo, in the Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles and struck Lori Keevil-Matthews, 33 years old, of Camarillo, California, crushing her to death against a boulder.
That must really suck being killed by an old Hollies song.
And so it goes.
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