Perhaps just some broth today

Today is the 14th Day of The Lunar New Year Festival - tomorrow is Lantern’s Day and it marks the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The day before the Lantern Festival, the Lantern Display stages are built in the open square in the front of temples.





People bring their decorated lanterns to the display stage for the competition. Some lanterns might take more than a month to completely decorate.



Remember, ACME is the leading distributor of 'off brand' fireworks in the world.


February 25, 1941 -
Another Preston Sturges' comic masterpiece, The Lady Eve, premiered in the US on this date.



With so many people on the set, Preston Sturges dressed eccentrically so that he would stand out. He usually wore either a brightly coloured beret or a hat with a feather in it. This sartorial splendor led to his being dubbed the worst-dressed man in Hollywood.


February 25, 1946 -
Part of Roberto Rossellini Neo-realist classic war trilogy, Roma, città aperta (Rome Open City) opened in the US on this date.



Before starting filming, Roberto Rossellini had signed a contract for distribution with Artisti Associati. However, the firm would not honor its commitments, arguing that the film was more a report than a fiction film. Rosselini then managed to sell his rights to Minerva Films, which finally released it.


February 25, 1950 -
The comedy-variety program Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner, debuted on NBC-TV on this date.


(This is not from the first episode)

Writers for the show included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart. A common misconception is that Woody Allen wrote for Your Show of Shows; he in fact wrote for its successor program, Caesar's Hour, which ran from 1954 to 1957.


February 25, 1956 -
Elvis Presley had his first national hit when I Forgot To Remember To Forget went to No.1 on the Billboard Country & Western chart, on this date and stayed there for two weeks. This is one of just 10 songs Elvis recorded for Sun Records, where he got his start. (The B side of the record is Mystery Train.)



Elvis didn't want to record this song because he thought it was too Country, so drummer Johnny Bernero from Memphis was added to the mix. Up until this time there was only Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Bass on bass and Elvis on rhythm guitar. This added an uptempo beat - Elvis liked it and recorded the song, which became a Country hit.


February 25, 1964 -
Bob Dylan appears on the Steve Allen Show, on this date, and performed The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll.



This song gives the account of the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by the wealthy young William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger and his subsequent sentence of six months in jail. The actual incident took place February 9, 1963 at a ball at the Emerson Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Dylan's song accurately implies, but never states, that Carroll was black and Zantzinger is white.


February 25, 1970 -
Ernie sings his signature song, Rubber Duckie, on Sesame Street for the first time, on this date. It goes over so well that the song is released as a single, which in September reaches #16 on the Hot 100.



Rubber ducks were around since at least the 1940s, but they had a popular resurgence thanks to Rubber Duckie. Early versions came in different shapes, sizes and colors, but Ernie's small yellow duck became the standard. For parents, the toy could provide some relief at the dreaded bathtime (many families had to share bathwater, making it even less appealing to kids who were late in line). It was inexpensive, durable, and could float - really the perfect bath toy.


February 25, 1995 -
Madonna started a seven week run at No.1 with Take A Bow, on the US singles chart, which was co-written with Babyface.



Babyface sang backup and also produced this track to give Madonna the R&B feel she wanted for the Bedtime Stories album. When the two met, they were quite impressed with each other in that neither of them swept in with a big entourage. They worked on this song and Forbidden Love at Babyface's house in his writing room.


Meet the staff


Today in History:
February 25, 1570 -
Pope Pius V issued a Papal Bull on this day excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I, whom he called "the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime."



As Elizabeth was already the head of her own religion, Church of England, this Papal Bull did not make her break stride. She did however, respond by hanging and burning Jesuit priests.


February 25, 1601 -
Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, was beheaded following a conviction of treason on this date. His plot to capture London and the Tower had failed.



He was the last person to be beheaded in the Tower of London. It was reported to have taken three strokes by the executioner to complete the beheading.

Ouch!

Let this be a lesson to all you playas - never try to steal you girlfriends' country.


February 25, 1836 -
Samuel Colt was granted his first patent for a multi-chamber gun on this date.

His pistol was different from others; its design allowed several shots to be fired in succession without reloading.

Please celebrate responsibly.


February 25, 1870 -
Hiram Rhodes Revels, a representative from Mississippi, became the first African-American congressman when he was sworn in to finish out Jefferson Davis' term.



The seat had been left vacant when Davis left to become the president of the Confederacy.


February 25, 1879 -
Charles Frederick Peace, infamous Victorian cat burglar and The Murderous Musician was executed by hanging on this date.

Peace's notoriety was such that he appeared as a character in short stories by both Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain.


February 25, 1888 -



John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Eisenhower, was born on this date.



Haven't we all made a fool of ourselves over John Foster Dulles.


February 25, 1899 -
The first test drive fatality occurs in Grove Hill Harrow, England on this date. The accident occurs while the car, a Daimler Wagonette, was being demonstrated for Major James Richer, Department Head of the Army & Navy Stores. The car apparently lost a wheel and both Mr E.R. Sewell, the driver, and Richer were thrown from the car onto the road.

Sewell was killed on the spot; he was fired by Daimler Motors five days later. The unfortunate Major Richer, died four days later, without regaining consciousness. The accident became a dubious double-first – the first death of a driver in Britain, followed by the first death of a passenger in a car


February 25, 1908 -
President Theodore Roosevelt, after a vigorous round of calisthenics, flipped a switch on his desk and signaled the start of service through the Hudson and Manhattan railway tunnels, (also known as The McAdoo Tunnel,) carrying passengers between Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey. If allowed, Roosevelt would have driven the first train though the tunnel himself.

The tunnel, completed on March 8, 1904, was the first railroad tunnel under a major river in the U.S.


February 25, 1922 -
Henri Landru, the notorious French serial killer known as "Bluebeard", was guillotined for murdering ten women, and one boy on this date. His motive was purely financial; by placing classified ads Landru lured selected women into his clutches, married them, and disposed of their bodies without a trace.

While denying guilt to the end, a drawing given to his attorney had written on the reverse, "I did it. I burned their bodies in my kitchen oven".



Charles Chaplin based his movie, Monsieur Verdoux on this case.


February 25, 1932 -
The German state government of Brunswick, in which the Nazi Party participated, appointed Adolph Hitler of Austria to a minor administrative post this month and on this day gave him German citizenship.

Hitler was thus able to stand against Hindenburg in the forthcoming Presidential election.

Oops


February 25, 1964 -
Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, became the heavyweight champion of the world for the first time on this day when he beat Sonny Liston.



Ali went on to become the first person to win the heavyweight champion title three times.


February 25, 1969 -
In Vietnam, a 25 year old Navy Lt., Bob Kerrey, took part in a SEAL raid in the Mekong Delta where over a dozen women, children and old men were killed in the village of Thanh Phong, on this date. Kerrey received a Bronze Star for the raid and later strongly regretted his actions.



Soon after the raid, Lt. Kerrey lost a leg at Hon Tam Island and was later awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. In 2001, the former Governor and Senator from Nebraska, publicly discussed his participation in the raid of Thanh Phong, at length for the first time. "We fired because we were fired upon," Kerrey said at a news conference, "We did not go out on a mission to kill innocent people. I feel guilty about what happened." Governor Kerrey described the event in his 2002 memoir.



Bui Thi Luom, 12 at the time of the incident, the only survivor from her hut of 16, disputed Kerrey claim. saying, "Only civilians, women and children" were killed.


February 25, 1983 -
Playwright Tennessee Williams was found dead on this date, in his New York hotel room after he choked on a bottle cap during the night.

Once again, another victim of not reading the pill bottle label correctly.



And so it goes.