National Napping Day provides everyone with the opportunity to have a nap (by themselves or with a friend) and catch up on the hour of sleep they lost due to the spring forward time change.
March 15, 1941 -
The first of three appearances of Cecil Turtle, Tortoise Beats Hare, premiered on this date.
Cecil is one of the very few characters who was actually able to beat Bugs Bunny and the only one to do so three times in a row and at the rabbit's own game.
March 15, 1946 -
Columbia Pictures released Charles Vidor's film-noir classic, Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth and Glen Ford on this date.
There is a rumour that this film is the only time you hear Rita Hayworth's real singing voice, but it is sadly not true. According to the bonus features from the DVD, Rita actually never recorded her own singing voice and was a talented lip-syncher. Anita Ellis dubbed almost all of her singing in Gilda. Rita always wanted to do her own singing, and Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn paid for her voice lessons, but she never developed a voice he considered strong enough to be used, and Rita remained bitter about that for the rest of her life.
March 15, 1956 -
The landmark science-fiction film, Forbidden Planet (think The Tempest in Outer Space), premiered on this date.
This film marked one of the first times a science-fiction project had received a large budget. The genre had rarely been taken seriously by studio executives, and sci-fi films generally received the most meager of budgets. The critical success of this film convinced many in the film industry that well-funded science-fiction projects could be successful.
March 15, 1972 -
The greatest film ever about pasta sauce making and risk aversion management, The Godfather, premiered in New York City on this date.
James Caan improvised the part where he throws the FBI photographer's camera to the ground. The actor's frightened reaction is genuine. Caan also came up with the idea of throwing money at the man to make up for breaking his camera. As he put it, "Where I came from, you broke something, you replaced it or repaid the owner."
March 15, 1975 -
The Doobie Brothers song Black Water hit the No. 1 position on the Billboard charts, on this date.
Black Water wasn't seen as having hit potential, so it was relegated to the B-side of Another Park, Another Sunday.
March 15, 1977 -
Everybody was first welcomed to The Regal Beagle when Three's Company, starring John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, and Suzanne Somers, premiered on this date.
John Ritter is the only cast member to appear in every episode.
March 15, 1977 -
One of the first TV "dramedies", Eight Is Enough began airing on ABC-TV on this date.
Even though Mark Hamill didn't like the more comedic direction in which the show was heading, he decided to honor his commitment to the show. However, the night the pilot aired, he was involved in a serious auto accident where he sustained serious facial injuries and was forced to quit the show. Hamill has stated numerous times that the full extent of his injuries was only a broken nose. It's very possible this was just the excuse he was looking for.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
March 15, 44 BC -
Julius Caesar, already warned to be wary on this the Ides of March by the astrologer Spurinna, was assassinated with pointy knives by a group of Senators, including Brutus and Cassius, at the Pompey theater.
They were angry at him because he had crossed the Rubicon. Later Marc Antony borrowed everyone's ears and told them that Brutus was an honorable man, which upset them so much they had a Civil War.
Sixteen centuries later, more or less, William Shakespeare immortalized the story and eventually Marlon Brando got to play Marc Antony, so everyone was happy in the end.
Caesar is also celebrated because he wrote a famous book called The Garlic Wars, which begins with the famous line, All garlic is divided into three cloves. It also includes the line - veni, vidi, vinci, the exact meaning of which is still a matter of debate but, if my own Latin studies are worth anything, probably involves Druids and hollandaise sauce.
March 15, 1812 -
Luddites attack Frank Vickerman's wool processing factory at Taylor Hill in West Yorkshire, on this date, resulting in general destruction and attempted arson.
So now you know more about Luddites than you thought you ever would (remember, smash the new iphones.)
Today's episode of Oh, that Wacky Russian Revolution:
At two o'clock in the morning on March 15, 1917 the Tsar sent word to Petrograd that he was awfully sorry about the war and starvation and everything, but that he had some really good ideas about what they could do now, was looking forward to working with them, believed that healthy debate was a symptom of good government, and so on.
And so at three o'clock in the afternoon, Nicholas abdicated in favor of his son (who had measles).
At 11:15 pm, Nicholas signed a proclamation that both he and his son (who had measles) would abdicate in favor of his brother, the Grand Duke Mikhail.
The next day, the new government told Nicholas, his son (who had measles), and the Grand Duke Mikhail to blow it out their asses. (It seems that they were anally fixated.)
March 15, 1950 -
New York City suffering through a persistent drought, hired for $100 a day - a very large sum in those times, particularly for a scientist - Dr. Wallace E. Howell, a meteorologist to make rain, on this date. Dr. Howell, who had participated in early scientific research into cloud seeding, set up shop at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, using a police airplane to sprinkle silver iodide crystals into clouds over the Catskill watershed.
March 15, 1964 -
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, finally legitimized their scandalous affair and were married on this date.
Both were already married – he was married at the time to former actress Sybil Williams, she to her fourth husband Eddie Fisher, whom she had famously ‘stolen’ from Debbie Reynolds.
And so it goes.
1 comment:
All garlic is divided into three cloves. Classic!
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