And now a somewhat famous middle aged lady plays Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 during quarantine.
You may now go about your business.
On this day in 1825, the US patent (#X004009) for food storage in cans to “preserve animal substances in tin” was issued to Ezra Daggett and his nephew Thomas Kensett of New York City. I wonder if they knew that the tin can had been patented in 1810 by Peter Durand.
Never mind. As always, celebrate responsibly.
January 19, 1940 -
The Three Stooges film You Nazty Spy! about the Nazis released with the disclaimer "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."
Filmed in 1939, not released until 1940, the film was the first Hollywood film to spoof Adolf Hitler, released nine months before Charles Chaplin's more famous The Great Dictator.
January 19, 1942 -
The first of nine films to feature Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Woman of the Year premiered on this date.
The first scene shot was the characters' first date, in a bar. Katharine Hepburn was so nervous she spilled her drink, but Spencer Tracy just handed her a handkerchief and kept going. Hepburn proceeded to clean up the spill as they played the scene. When the drink dripped through to the floor, she tried to throw Tracy off by going under the table, but he stayed in character, with the cameras rolling the entire time.
January 19, 1953 -
68% of all television sets in the United States were tuned in to I Love Lucy on this date to watch Lucy give birth to a baby boy - the same day Lucille Ball gave birth to her son, Desi Arnaz Junior.
All the while they couldn't say pregnant on TV or be seen sleeping in the same bed - it appears to be the second virgin birth. The audience for the program was larger than that watching the inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower the following day.
January 19, 1955 -
President Eisenhower decided not to play golf today and allowed a filmed news conference to be used on television (and in movie newsreels) for the first time on this date.
The press conference given by President Eisenhower was filmed in the Indian Treaty Room at the East Wing of the White House.
January 19, 1957 -
Ernie Kovacs burst into the public consciousness with the comedy special, The Silent Show, premiering on this date.
It was filmed for broadcast first, in color, on the NBC network in 1957. A second version of the show was created on videotape and broadcast November 10, 1961, on the ABC network.
Though both were broadcast in color, only B&W kinescopes of these shows survive, although an excerpt of the color show was aired as part of the NBC 50th Anniversary Special in 1976.
January 19, 2012 -
Malik Bendjelloul amazing documentary about the strange but true career of musician Sixto RodrÃguez, Searching for Sugar Man premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, on this date.
Some parts of the documentary were shot on an iPhone App called 8mm Vintage Camera after the producers ran out of film for an expensive real 8mm camera. The app cost only $1.99. The director was cash strapped from making the documentary at the time.
Today's moment of Zen
Today in History:
January 19, 1809 -
Edgar Allan Poe, writer who contributed to the creation of both the detective and science fiction genre, was born in Boston on this date.
His best known stories include: Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart. His most famous poems are The Raven and Annabel Lee.
January 19, 1915 -
George Claude, an engineer, chemist and inventor was the first person to create a lamp by applying an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon. He was issued U.S. Patent No. 1,125,476 for a “System of Illuminating by Luminescent Tubes,” on this date.
This patent was the basis for the neon sign.
January 19, 1937 –
Bisexual Billionaire, future germaphobe and aviator Howard Hughes designed and flew the plane Silver Bullet, setting a landplane speed record and a transcontinental record of 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds,
flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey on this date.
January 19, 1949 -
My access to music when I was growing up was through pirate radio, you know, transistor radio under the pillow, listening to one more and then 'just one more' until your favourite track comes on.
Robert Palmer, blue-eyed soul singer, was born on this date.
January 19, 1977 –
Snow fell in Miami and The Bahamas on this date.
It was the only time in recorded history that it happened.
January 19, 2006 -
NASA launched the New Horizons space probe aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canavera on this date. It's mission was to perform the first fly by of the dwarf planet Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, and Hydra.
It left Earth at an Earth-relative velocity of about 36,373 mi/h (10.10 mi/s), making it the fastest speed ever recorded for a human-made object. It arrived at Pluto on July 14, 2015.
And so it goes
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