More Presidential Trivia

With me it is exceptionally true that the Presidency is no bed of roses.

The song Hail to the Chief became specially connected to the presendency, specifically because of James Polk. Although it had been played in connection with at least three earlier presidents, Sarah Polk, James' wife, asked for Hail to the Chief to be played not only at his inauguration, but regularly when he made any appearance since he didn’t stand out (he was only 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 174 pounds). According to historian William Seale, “Polk was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed. At large affairs the band ... rolled the drums as they played the march ...and a way was cleared for the President.”


September 30, 1938 -
RKO Studios released the eighth Marx Brothers film, Room Service, on this date.



Although she seems much older and mature, Ann Miller was actually only 15 years old when she made this film. She had lied about her age and obtained a fake birth certificate when she was about 14 years old, which stated that she was 18. She was so tall, poised and beautiful that she pulled it off.


September 30, 1948 -
Howard Hawks released his iconic western, Red River, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift on this date.



There was some concern that John Wayne and Montgomery Clift would not get along, since they were diametrically opposed on all political issues, and both were outspoken on their views. According to legend they agreed not to discuss politics and the shooting went smoothly. However, both Wayne and Walter Brennan would not get along with Clift, and they stayed away from the young actor when not filming. Clift later turned down Dean Martin's role in Rio Bravo because he did not want to be reunited with those two actors.


September 30, 1952 -
The motion picture process Cinerama -- which employed three cameras, three projectors and a deeply curved viewing screen -- made its debut with the premiere of This Is Cinerama at the Broadway Theater in New York City on this date.



The rollercoaster ride on Playland's Atom Smasher was filmed several times using "short ends" and the complete circuit contains two skilfully edited takes. It was directed by Michael Todd Jr.. At the time, Todd was a 21-year-old college student on vacation from Amherst. Apart from salaries, the sequence cost $33 (rental of a station wagon and the cost of bolts to affix the cameras to the rollercoaster). Todd Jr. also directed most of the European footage.


September 30, 1958 -
The first network series to be filmed entirely in New York City, the police drama, Naked City debuted on ABC-TV on this date.



Because the show was filmed in black and white on-location in New York City, the police cars for the show were painted in false colors so that they would not be mistaken for real police cars.


September 30, 1960 -
The first prime-time animated series aimed at adults, The Flintstones, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The Flintstone's house size, design, and furniture change in almost every episode. The Rubble's house figure is almost always different, when it is shown, which is rare.


September 30, 1965 -

Gerry Anderson's supermarionation take on The Tracy family business, Thunderbirds premiered on this date in the UK.



The five Tracy brothers were named after astronauts from the Mercury program:

Scott Tracy after Scott Carpenter.
Virgil Tracy after Gus Grissom whose real first name was Virgil.
Alan Tracy after Alan Shepard.
Gordon Tracy after Gordon Cooper.
John Tracy after John Glenn.


September 30, 1982 -
Cheers, the comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993, premiered on this date.



Ted Danson's character Sam Malone is a recovering alcoholic. A known practice for people in recovery, is to always be drinking something non-alcoholic, especially around alcohol to help with the desire to want to drink. Sam Malone is almost always drinking a bottle of seltzer or coffee in every scene.


September 30, 1984 -
The inhabitants of Cabot Cove, Maine started dropping like flies when CBS premiered the series, Murder She Wrote, starring Angela Landsbury on this date.



One of Jessica's interesting traits was that she could not drive (unlike the actress who played her, who did drive) and was reliant on bicycles and taxis or rides/lifts from someone in her enormous coterie of friends, relatives, acquaintances, police officers/law enforcement, and, occasionally, suspects.


September 30, 1995 -
Mariah Carey's megahit Fantasy went to No. 1 and stayed there for several months on this date.



Mariah directed the video, which shows her rollicking at an amusement park. The video was shot at Rye Playland in Rye, New York. It is near Long Island, where Carey grew up. She got the idea to shoot it there while driving by it one day. Some of the Tom Hanks movie Big was shot on the same Rye Playland Boardwalk where this video was made.


Another moment of edifying culture


Today in History:
September 30, 1452 -
It's the anniversary of the printing of the Gutenberg Bible in Mainz, Germany on this date. It was the first book ever printed with movable type. What made Gutenberg's invention revolutionary was not that it allowed you to print letters on paper, but that you could print an infinite number of different pages from a small number of letter blocks simply by rearranging them.

The first section of the Bible came out on this day. He printed 180 copies on expensive Italian paper. It was designed to be used for public reading in the dining halls of monasteries. But within three decades there were print shops all over Europe, and Gutenberg's invention launched a revolution in education.



Today about four dozen copies of the Gutenberg Bible survive. One of the most recent copies to come on the market was auctioned in New York in 1987 and sold for more than $5 million.


September 30, 1630 -
Pilgrim John Billington, who arrived on the Mayflower, was hanged at Plymouth for killing John Newcomen with a musket, on this date.

Billington was the first Englishman executed in New England.


September 30, 1846 -
On this evening in 1846, Mr. Eben Frost, suffering from a violent toothache, called upon Dr. William Thomas Green Morton. Dr. Morton administered ether and extracted the tooth.

Thus ether was used for the first time as an anesthetic on this date.


September 30, 1927 -
Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season, on this day.



(Mark McGwire was born on October 1, 1963, however, so this no longer matters to some. Although, the Bambino was only hopped up on booze.)


September 30, 1938 -
The Germans occupied the Sudetenland in late summer of 1938. This enraged the British and the English, who both feared for the loss of the Sudetenland's celebrated pea crops.



British Prime Minister flew to Germany to meet Hitler at Bertesgarden to discuss the situation, on this date.



Hitler assured him that there would be plenty of peas to go around, and Chamberlain returned to England with the famous proclamation of Peas in Our Time. World War II was therefore avoided and did not break out until some time later.


September 30, 1955 -
Teen idol James Dean was killed in a car accident that probably could have been avoided if he had had his car inspected and tuned up regularly, obeyed all posted highway signs, and driven only when alert and sober on this date.



(Remember kids, if you are going to drink til you drop - And don't drive. Also watch your own PSAs.)



And so it goes