Today is the first day of Summer, also known as the Summer Solstice. It's the longest day of the year (and the shortest night). Everyone pat themselves on the back (now without gloves!) for having made it through the protracted lock down.
The actual moment of the solstice occurred at about 11:31 p.m. EDT, while the sun sat directly above the Pacific Ocean to the west of Hawaii. Don't brag about the good weather tomorrow; remember that it's the beginning of Winter in Australia. (Given most of the restrictions are being lifted in many places, the usual naked run may be mandatory - please celebrate responsibly.)
Today is Father's Day.
Remember, the best gift you can give a Dad is a nap - really
Dads don't get too cocky, celebrating the day - While Mother’s Day has been a national holiday since 1914, people didn't get around to giving it the same legal status until more than half a century later, when President Nixon signed into law a measure declaring the third Sunday of June be observed as Father’s Day.
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.
It's difficult for a nation or other region that is struggling with unemployment or drought or other problems to take in large groups of people, no matter how great their need. It is a crime against humanity when a country criminalizes the struggle of those people and their search for a safer and better life.
June 20, 1941 -
Advertised as their farewell film (they went on to appear in two more,) The Big Store, starring the Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont (in her final appearance in a Marx Bros. film) premiered on this date.
Groucho Marx was bitter when he was called for retakes on the Sing While You Sell number on a day his son Arthur Marx was playing a tennis match. He was even more upset when he got the lines he was to speak in the retakes and found them "six times as unfunny" as the ones they were replacing.
June 20, 1942 -
It's Brian Wilson's birthday today, ushering in those lazy, hazy days of summer.
Let's all appreciate the fact that Brian Wilson is still around and kicking.
June 20, 1946 -
Rex Harrison's first American movie, Anna and the King Of Siam, with Irene Dunne, opened in theaters on this date.
Filming was delayed two months because Irene Dunne's husband was recovering from a heart attack. Twentieth Century Fox almost considered replacing her with Myrna Loy or Jean Arthur.
June 20, 1974 -
Forget about it Jake. It's Chinatown
After several takes that never looked quite right, Faye Dunaway got annoyed and told Jack Nicholson to actually slap her. He did and felt very guilty for it, despite it being Dunaway's decision. The shot made it into the movie.
June 20, 1975 -
Steven Spielberg's thriller, Jaws, premiered on this date. Beach vacations were never the same again.
According to director Steven Spielberg, the prop arm looked too fake in the scene where Chrissie's remains are discovered, so instead, they buried a female crew member in the sand with only her arm exposed.
June 20, 1997 -
The rom-com classic, My Best Friend's Wedding, starring Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett premiered on this date.
The wedding dress worn in the opening credits is the same wedding dress worn by Jennifer Aniston's character, Rachel Green in Friends.
A very timely book for today
Today in History:
June 20, 1756 -
In Calcutta, 146 British prisoners are placed in a 18 foot by 14 foot cell known as The Black Hole by a Bengali, Siraj-ud-daula, and held there until the following morning.
Of those imprisoned, only 23 survive. With things getting back to normal, a 250 sq ft apartment would start a huge bidding war in Manhattan.
June 20, 1793 -
Eli Whitney applied for a patent on his Cotton Gin on this date. More affordable than gin distilled from grain alcohol and juniper berries, Cotton Gin quickly became the drink of choice among America's rural poor.
This led to widespread outbreaks of Cotton Mouth and eventually caused the Civil War.
June 20, 1782 -
Although several people on the committee were Masons, the Masonic institutions themselves deny that the Seal is Masonic; therefore, any resemblance is purely coincidental.
Of course.
June 20, 1791 -
King Louis XVI and his family attempted their escape from Paris to the royalist citadel of Montedy on this date.
They were captured the next day at Varennes-en-Argonne when they were recognized. It didn't go too well for them after this.
June 20, 1837 -
The 18-year old Princess Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV, on this date.
Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, which is the second longest of any British monarch, after her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
June 20, 1893 -
Lizzie Borden was found innocent of giving her stepmother and father 40 and 41 whacks, respectively.
Now that O.J.is out of prison, he promised to get cracking on this case as well as finding the actual killer of his ex-wife.
June 20, 1947 -
Bugsy Siegel (Warren Beatty) was shot to death at Virginia Hill's (Annette Bennings) mansion, on orders purportedly from Meyer Lansky.
The drive-by shooting never was solved and remains an open case.
June 20, 1967 -
The late great Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) had refused to serve in the U.S. military, stating that it went against his religious beliefs and his opposition to the Vietnam War. This led to his conviction of violating Selective Service laws on this date.
The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.
And so it goes.
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