Read the ramblings of Dr. Caligari. Hopefully you will find that Time does wound all heels.
You no longer need to be sad that nowadays there is so little useless information.
Ringing in the New Year is the perfect opportunity each year to celebrate National Champagne Day.
It is obviously observed on December 31st (although I've seen it listed as being celebrated on October 18th.) Drink Champagne for breakfast today! It's a new year tomorrow. While we still need to social distant, let's focus on bringing an end to this pandemic once and for all. Wear your mask until we all get our boosters.
It's the Seventh day of Christmas. Today's gift count (84 gifts): you currently have Seven Swans a' swimming, 12 geese a' laying, 15 golden rings, 16 calling birds, 15 French hens, 12 turtledoves and 7 partridges in their respective pear trees.
The seven Swans A-swimming usually signifies the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom , Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of God,) and /or the seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the sick, Marriage, and Holy orders.)
I can't begin to imagine the amount of bird waste you are removing at the point. But keep shoveling, you don't want the EPA on your tail (so to speak.) You may want to consider contacting your local garden store: fresh guano can garner a pretty price.
For those playing the home version - Tonight's the Sixth night of Kwanzaa.
Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) signifies Creativity: To do always as much as one can, in the way one can, in order to leave their community more beautiful and beneficial than they inherited it.
December 31, 1923 -
On New Year's Eve, 1923, BBC engineer AG Dryland climbed onto a roof opposite the Houses of Parliament with a microphone to record the chimes of Big Ben. The sound he captured has been broadcast on BBC radio ever since.
From February 17th, 1924, the bell of Big Ben could regularly be heard on BBC radio, along with the Greenwich 'pips'.
December 31, 1966 - The Monkees'I'm A Believer, hit #1 in America on this date. The song stays at the top for seven weeks.
Neil Diamond wrote this song. He had his first big hit earlier in 1966 with Cherry, Cherry, which got the attention of Don Kirshner, who was looking for material for The Monkees. Kirshner was sold on I'm A Believer, and as part of the deal, allowed Diamond to record the song as well. Diamond's version was released on his 1967 album Just For You.The Monkees version benefited from exposure on their television series.
December 31, 1969 - Walt Disney through its Buena Vista Distribution Company released The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, starring Kurt Russell, and Cesar Romero on this date.
It’s the first motion picture to use the word “computer” in its title.
December 31, 1995 –
Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his Calvin and Hobbes comic strip on this date.
Calvin and Hobbes debuted in 1985 and featured the adventures of Calvin, a hyperactive, overly imaginative, bratty six-year-old, and his best friend, the stuffed tiger Hobbes (who is also an actual tiger.)
Today in History: December 31, 1907 -
For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the New Year on this date.
The New Year’s Eve Ball first descended from a flagpole at One Times Square, constructed with iron and wood materials with 100 25-watt bulbs weighing 700 pounds and measuring 5 feet in diameter.
December 31, 1909 -
The Manhattan Bridge, the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, was opened to traffic on this date (although not officially completed until 1912.)
This must have made it quite an interesting crossing.
December 31, 1935 – Charles Darrow of Pennsylvania was issued the patent (US Patent #2,026,082) was issued for the game of Monopoly on this date; he assigned the patent to Parker Brothers.
Since that day, it has been translated into 37 languages and evolved into over 200 licensed and localized editions for 103 countries across the world.
December 31, 1936 -
Dr. Rolla Harger, a professor of biochemistry and toxicology, patented the Drunkometer, a balloon-like device into which people would breathe to determine whether they were inebriated in 1936. Just in time for New Year's Eve, the first practical use of the device in the field by Indianapolis police was conducted on this day.
The Drunkometer worked by having the person blow into a balloon. The balloon would be attached to a tube of purple liquid - a weak solution of potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid.. The darker the result, the more alcohol the person had in their system. In 1954, Robert Borkenstein, a colleague of Dr. Harger, invented a more portable tool called the Breathalyzer.
December 31, 1958 -
Rebels forces lead by Fidel Castro, marched triumphantly into Havana, Cuba on this date. Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country with 180 of his supporters and personal fortune of more than $300 million dollars amassed through graft and payoffs.
Meanwhile, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the head and gives a kiss, telling him "I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart." Michael appeals to his brother to join him in leaving the country, but Fredo runs away, frightened.
But that's another story ...
December 31, 1999 -
The large Ferris wheel, the London Eye (also called the Millennium Wheel), was built in celebration of the change of millinia, opened on this date.
It went on to become a famous London landmark, and attracts thousands of tourists a year.
ACME would like to wish everyone the Happiest and Healthiest New Year. Hope you all have wonderful plans for this evening, even if it's just sitting at home.
Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians played Auld Lang Syne as a New Year’s Eve song for the first time on this date in 1929.
Somehow it has become the last page of the calendar.
I've often made the comment that it's taken me many years not to think of this as the middle of the year and think of summer break as one long New Years Eve but I can't wait to see this year go. This has been a tough year for most of us - hopefully the upcoming one will be a better one for us all.
December 31st By Richard Hoffman
All my undone actions wander
naked across the calendar,
a band of skinny hunter-gatherers,
blown snow scattered here and there,
stumbling toward a future
folded in the New Year I secure
with a pushpin: January’s picture
a painting from the 17th century,
a still life: Skull and mirror,
spilled coin purse and a flower.
Bunkies, thank you for indulging me for another year.
Please, as your ole' friend the doctor implores you every year, the only advice I can give you is worth repeating - Drink til you drop and drop where you drink - Don't drive drunk - I can't afford to lose readers.
New research by scientists apparently shows that it rains diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn.
In fact the planets have the capability to create 1000 tons of diamonds a year.
Today is the Sixth Day of Christmas. Today's gift count (56 gifts): you currently have Six geese a' laying, 10 golden rings, 12 calling birds, 12 French hens, ten turtledoves and six partridges in their respective pear trees (begin thinking abut gardening tools and an illegal immigrant.)
I'm sorry to have to say this but kill the gaggle of geese immediately (after five, it's considered a gaggle.)
They're filthy disgusting birds - contact your local upscale poultry purveyor. Geese lay approximately one egg every 1.5 days.
Tonight is the Fifth night of Kwanzaa.
Nia (NEE-yah) recognizes purpose, the focus on building and developing of the community in order to restore the people to their traditional greatness
December 30, 1939 - Lewis Milestone's adaptation of the John Steinbeck novella Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, and Lon Chaney Jr., premiered in the US on this date.
Lon Chaney Jr. had played the role of Lennie in the Los Angeles stage production of Of Mice and Men, and asked director Lewis Milestone for a screen test. Milestone was planning on casting Broderick Crawford in the role, but agreed to let Chaney feed lines to actresses testing for the part of Mae. By the end of all the tests, Milestone had changed his mind, and cast Chaney in the part without a test of his own.
December 30, 1942 - Frank Sinatra opened at New York's Paramount Theatre for what was scheduled to be a 4-week engagement (his shows turned out to be so popular, he was booked for an additional 4 weeks). An estimated 400 policemen were called out to help curb the excitement.
It is said that some of the teen-age girls were hired to scream, but many more screamed for free. Sinatra was dubbed 'The Sultan of Swoon,' 'The Voice that Thrills Millions' and just 'The Voice.' Whatever he was known as, it was at this Paramount Theatre engagement that modern pop hysteria was born .
December 30, 1949 - Stanley Donen/ Gene Kelly's wonderful take on the Comden and Green musical, On the Town, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, opened nationwide on this date.
Frank Sinatra, who was very thin, had to wear prosthetic padding to fill out the seat of his uniform. In a TCM interview, Ann Miller said that Sinatra was extremely sensitive about his padding and did not appreciate the usual movie set horseplay involving his lower half.
December 30, 1970 - Paul McCartney sued the other three Beatles to dissolve the partnership and gain control of his interest. The suit touched off a bitter feud between McCartney and the others, especially his co-writer on many of the Beatles compositions, John Lennon.
The Beatles were legally disbanded, four years to the day after Paul McCartney sued his band mates to dissolve the partnership.
December 30, 1980 -
The longest-running series in prime-time television history, The Wonderful World of Disney, was canceled on NBC after more than 25 years on the air. The Government, wanting to honor this momentous occasion, had the Selective Service System send a warning to Mickey Mouse at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The Selective Service said that Mickey was in violation of registration compliance.
Of course, Mickey, age 52 at the time, sent in his registration card proving that he's a World War II veteran.
Today in History: December 30, 1852 -
Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes married Lucy Webb on this date, at the house of Lucy's mother. The wedding was performed by Dr. L.D. McCabe of Delaware.
The couple did not drink alcoholic beverages and Lucy served lemonade and other non-alcoholic drinks at the White House instead, earning herself the nickname "Lemonade Lucy.".
But what the hell do you care.
December 30, 1853 -
Kids, follow along, it gets bumpy.
After the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, border disputes continued between the United States and Mexico. Land that now comprises lower Arizona and New Mexico was part of a proposed southern route for a transcontinental railroad. U.S. President Franklin Pierce (considered one of the worst Presidents) was convinced by Jefferson Davis, then the country's Secretary of War, to send James Gadsden (who had personal interests in the rail route) to negotiate the Gadsden Purchase with Mexico. Under the resulting agreement, the U.S. paid Mexico $10 million (equivalent to about $261million in 2010 dollars, 2021 dollars are just not worth that much anymore) to secure the land.
The matter about the money was to be very contentious: even though the agreement specified $10 million, the US Congress agreed on only $7 million ($183 million in 2010 dollars). When the money finally arrived in Mexico City $1 million ($26.07 million in 2010 dollars) was missing, thus resulting in a total of only $6 million (oh, you do the math.) The treaty included a provision allowing the U.S. to build a transoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, though this option was never exercised. With a few exceptions, such as the resolution of the Chamizal dispute, acquisition of land in this purchase defined the present boundaries of the continental United States.
December 30, 1862 -
The Union ironclad ship the USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., during a storm on this date.
While the design of Monitor was well-suited for river combat, her low freeboard and heavy turret made her highly unseaworthy in rough waters. Sixteen members of the crew were lost.
The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, Illinois, claimed 627 lives on December 30, 1903. It was the single-building fire in U.S. history with the most fatalities, claiming over 100 more fatalities than the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston.
Of the 300 or so actors, dancers, stagehands, etc., only an aerialist (Nellie Reed), an actor in a bit part, an usher, and two female attendants died. The aerialist's role was as a fairy. She flew out over the audience on a trolley wire, showering them with pink carnations. She was trapped above the stage while waiting for her entrance. Comedian Eddie Foy was hailed as a hero for attempting to calm the crowd. Foy's role in this disaster is recreated by Bob Hope in the film The Seven Little Foys.
After the fire, it was revealed that fire inspectors had been bribed with free tickets to overlook code violations. Accusations began to appear that the asbestos curtain was not asbestos. The curtain had disappeared, which meant it was either viewed as incriminating evidence and removed or had burned, in which case it could not have been asbestos, which does not burn.
A result from the Iroquois fire was the development of the first panic exit device by the Von Duprin exit device company, now a part of Ingersoll Rand. Panic exit devices are now required by building codes for high-occupancy spaces.
December 30, 1916 -
Kids, you know I love discussing early 20th Century Russian history as much as the next person, but this item is so good, it has to span over the course of two days (but it will reside on December 30th - you'll see why shortly.
Grigori Rasputin, a self-fashioned Russian holy man, whore monger (I got to use whore monger twice in the same post), very unbathed and alcoholic, was a very unpleasant man. And yet he held tremendous influence over the royal family (which probably hastened their downfall).
On December 16, 1916 O.S. ( Old Style, i.e. - Julian Calendar, so it's really December 29), having decided that Rasputin's influence over the Tsaritsa had made him a far-too-dangerous threat to the empire, a group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Yusupov and the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (one of the few Romanov family members to escape the annihilation of the family during the Red Terror), apparently lured Rasputin to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace, where they served him cakes and red wine laced with a massive amount of cyanide. According to legend, Rasputin was unaffected, although Vasily Maklakov had supplied enough poison to kill five men. Conversely, Maria Rasputin's (one of Rasputin's four children) account asserts that, if her father did eat or drink poison, it was not in the cakes or wine, because, after the attack by Khioniya Guseva (she stabbed him in the gut - no surprise - he survived), he had hyperacidity, and avoided anything with sugar. In fact, she expressed doubt that he was poisoned at all.
Determined to finish the job, Yusupov became anxious about the possibility that Rasputin might live until the morning, which would leave the conspirators with no time to conceal his body. Yusupov ran upstairs to consult the others and then came back down to shoot Rasputin through the back with a revolver. Rasputin fell, and the company left the palace for a while. Yusupov, who had left without a coat, decided to return to grab one, and, while at the palace, he went to check up on the body. Suddenly, Rasputin opened his eyes, grabbed Yusupov by the throat and strangled him. As he made his bid for freedom, however, the other conspirators arrived and fired at him. After being hit three times in the back, Rasputin fell once more. As they neared his body, the party found that, remarkably, he was still alive, struggling to get up. They clubbed him into submission and, after wrapping his body in a sheet, threw him into an icy river, and he finally met his end there on the morning of December 17th O.S. (December 30th) - as had both his siblings before him.
Three days later, the body of Rasputin, poisoned, shot four times and badly beaten, was recovered from the Neva River and autopsied. The cause of death was hypothermia. His arms were found in an upright position, as if he had tried to claw his way out from under the ice. In the autopsy, it was found that he had indeed been poisoned, and that the poison alone should have been enough to kill him.
Yet another report, also supporting the idea that he was still alive after submerging through the ice into the Neva River, is that after his body was pulled from the river, water was found in the lungs, showing that he didn't die until he was submerged into the water. So, apparently, you can't keep a very bad man down.
This will be a test.
December 30, 1946 - Grief starts to become indulgent, and it doesn't serve anyone, and it's painful. But if you transform it into remembrance, then you're magnifying the person you lost and also giving something of that person to other people, so they can experience something of that person.
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith, singer-songwriter, poet, artist, Godmother of Punk, Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was born on this date.
December 30, 1969 - Peter Tork quit The Monkees buying himself out of his contract for $160,000 which left him broke.
He went on to form a group called Release, played banjo on George Harrison's soundtrack to the film Wonderwall and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of his life.
Really, start thinking about those resolutions.
Before you go - Here's another year-end 2021 Movia Mash-up, (this time from a site known as Flick Fanatics) -
I forgot about this site last year but I won't for 2022.
Today's gift tally (37 gifts): you currently have five golden rings, eight calling birds, nine French hens, ten turtledoves and five partridges in their respective pear trees (begin thinking preserves.) The five golden rings represent the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
Speaking of poultry - we've all been misinterpreting the song all these years. The song's seemingly bizarre switch from four birds, to five pieces of jewelry, and back to six birds actually makes perfect sense: The "five golden rings" is more likely a reference to ring-necked pheasants. So the five golden rings in this stanza refer to five ring-necked pheasants, a dish that was sure to be served at some of the king or queen's Twelfth Night feasts during their Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations.
Let's hope your true love does not know this, you do not need to add avian flu into the mix at this time.
Tonight is the Fourth night of Kwanzaa.
Ujamaa (oo-jah-MAH) is a commitment to the practice of shared social wealth and the work needed to achieve it.
December 29, 1933 -
One of their best remembered films, Laurel and Hardy's Sons of the Desert, premiered on this date.
The film's comic take on marital discord mirrored the far more serious and stressful domestic problems that Laurel & Hardy were experiencing at the time. Director William A. Seiter was also in the process of splitting from his first wife, Laura La Plante. Charley Chase also had numerous difficulties at home because of his drinking.
December 29, 1939 - Charles Laughton's masterful turn as Quasimodo in William Dieterle's remake of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, co-starring Maureen O'Hara, premiered in the US on this date.
To turn Charles Laughton into the deformed bell ringer, Perc Westmore covered half his face with sponge rubber, adding a protruding eyeball lower than the average. Laughton's other eye was covered with a milky contact lens. The hump consisted of an aluminum framework stuffed with four pounds of foam rubber, and the rest of Laughton's torso was padded with rubber to create a sense of the muscles developed from pulling on the bell ropes.
December 29, 1939 -
The classic Western comedy, Destry Rides Again, premiered on this date.
The role of Tom Destry was originally intended for Gary Cooper, but he wanted more money than the producers were willing to pay him. It was then offered to Jimmy Stewart, who took it.
December 29, 1940 - Carol Reed's nearly forgotten wartime drama Night Train to Munich, starring Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, and Paul Henreid premiered in the US on this date.
Generally thought of as the first theatrical film where an actor portrayed Adolf Hitler. English music-hall star Billy Russell portrayed the German dictator in an uncredited role.
December 29, 1965 - Thunderball - the best James Bond title - premiered in US on this date.
In the underwater scenes, where Bond encounters sharks, Sean Connery was supposed to be protected by clear plastic panels shielding him from sharks in close-ups. However, the panels only extended about three feet in height and sharks could swim over them. As a result, in some scenes (notably during the pool fight at Largo's mansion), Connery got much closer to the real sharks than he wanted. Director Terence Young said in an interview that scenes used in this movie where Bond reacts in fright at the approach of a shark were miscues, in which Connery was reacting with genuine terror as a shark approached unobstructed by plastic shielding.
December 29, 1967 -
Star Trek first aired The Trouble with Tribbles episode - arguably one of their most famous episodes - on this date.
To create the one tribble moving on its own, the prop supervisor bought a battery powered toy dog and stripped it down to the mechanical works. Once recovered with fur including the toy legs, the prop moved on camera along the railing on the Enterprise bridge without wires or external assistance. The toy was so noisy all the dialogue in the scene had to be looped with ADR (re-recorded after shooting).
December 29, 1967 - Sergio Leone's iconic Spaghetti Western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, premiered in the US on this date. The term originated in the 1960s, when it was cheaper to make movies in Italy than the United States. Moviemakers made their westerns there and had English dubbed in for the Italian actors. Ironically. many of them were actually filmed in Spain, so they probably should have been referred to as Paella Westerns.
As an Italian-made movie, the sound would not have been recorded live. This means that the actors and actresses would have spoken whatever they wanted, and the dialogue would have been dubbed in post-production. This was the traditional way of making movies in Italy and was because of the poor soundproofing in Italian studios. All of the actors and actresses in this movie spoke in their native languages, and were dubbed into other languages in post-production (Italian, German, Spanish, English, et cetera).
Today in History: December 29, 1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was slashed to death by four of King Henry II's knights at the altar of the Virgin Mary. "Is there no one who will rid me from this turbulent priest", cried Henry in frustration earlier that month.
It was apparently not a serious demand for Becket's death, but that did not stop his brains from being splattered in Canterbury Cathedral.
Henry II was forced to walk to Becket's grave while being flogged by eighty monks as penance for his death.
So kids remember, don't ask for things that you don't really want (the whole tears in heaven/ answered prayers thing.)
December 29, 1848 - James Polk became the first president to install gas lighting in the White House on this date, though it had been used sporadically around the country since 1816.
Incidentally, Polk was also the first president to have his inauguration speech broadcast by telegraph, and the first president to have his photograph taken.
December 29, 1851 - It's fun to stay at the YMCA.
The formation of the first YMCA in the United States in Boston, happened on this date.
No, I'm not going to play that song.
December 29, 1852 - Emma Snodgrass, referred to by East Coast newspapers as "the girl who has recently been visiting parts of New England in pants" was "again" arrested in Boston on a charge of vagrancy. Since Emma was regularly employed as a clerk, and paid her bills, the vagrancy charge didn't hold.
She was released after the judge had given her some "wholesome advice about her eccentricities," to which she "responded with becoming grace and promised reformation." The next day, however, Emma was back on the street in her "male attire."
I tremble to think what would have happened if the judge had seen what was going on at the Boston YMCA.
December 29, 1876 - Today's lesson: taking your job too seriously, can get you seriously killed.
On a cold and wintry night, the Pacific Express #5, carrying some 159 passengers and crew, was traveling over a bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio. Only the first engine of the train made it to the other side at 7:28 p.m. as the bridge began to collapse. The rest of the train broke away and plummeted to the bottom of the ravine below. Approximately 92 men, women and children were killed, not from the fall itself, but from the ensuing fire while they were trapped inside the crushed cars.
The bridge was owned by the Lake Shore and Michigan railroad, and was the joint creation of Charles Collins, Engineer, and Amasa Stone, Chief Architect and Designer. After testifying before an investigative jury, Charles Collins quietly went home and shot himself in the head. Amasa Stone committed suicide approximately 7 years later. Stone was held partly responsible for the disaster by the same investigative jury before which Collins had testified, and was publicly scorned for many years. Please remember that YOU are not your job (unless you feel personally responsible from the horrible death of about 100 men, women and children.)
December 29, 1890 -
The Wounded Knee Massacre took place at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on this date, as over 200Sioux were killed by US troops, led by Colonel James Forsyth, who was sent to disarm them.
Forsyth was later charged with killing the unarmed men women and children, but later exonerated.
Another proud moment in American history.
December 29, 1946 -
Baroness Sacher-Masoch (Marianne Evelyn Faithfull), English singer, songwriter, actress
and inventor of the Mars bar tampon, was born on this date.
December 29, 1959 - Paula Poundstone, comedian, was born on this date.
December 29, 1972 - Life ended the weekly publication of their magazine with the issue titled Year in Pictures, on this date. From 1936 it had produced over 1,860 issues.
The magazine was resurrected as a monthly in 1978 and ended again in 2000. From 2004 to 2007 Life appeared as a weekly newspaper supplement. In 2009, the archives were made available electronically.
December 29, 1993 -
Former child star Todd Bridges (who played Willis on Different Strokes) arrested for transportation of methamphetamine.
What the hell were they smoking on that set? Oh, wait a minute ...
There are only 14 possible calendar configurations.
You can reuse a 2011 calendar for 2022. (You're welcome.)
It's the Fourth day of Christmas and you've just received four calling bird, sometimes know as colly birds or collie birds (which are actually blackbirds). Today's score: you currently have 22 gifts - four calling birds, six French hens, eight turtledoves and four partridges in their respective pear trees (when do these trees become a grove?)
The four calling birds are the four Evangelists. Seek out day old bread (You'll need it in a major way.)
Tonight's the third night of Kwanzaa.
The principle celebrated is Ujima (oo-JEE-muh) or collective work and responsibility. That means to build and maintain the community together and take on the community's problems and to solve them together.
December 28, 1945 -
One of the first Hollywood films to deal with psychoanalysis, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound premiered in the US on this date.
Early versions of the script used the words "sex menace", "frustrations", "libido", and "tomcat" in scenes involving the character of Mary Carmichael. These were eliminated when Product Code administration director Joseph I. Breen strongly objected.
December 28, 1958 - Toho Company Ltd. released Akira Kurosawa'sThe Hidden Fortress, starring Toshiro Mifune and Misa Uehara to theaters in Japan on this date.
Misa Uehara, who played the princess, described her first makeup session involving Akira Kurosawa walking into the dressing room with a picture of Elizabeth Taylor, using it to explain what he was looking for in his princess with regards to makeup.
December 28, 1960 -
The MGM film, Where The Boys Are, starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin, was released in the US on this date.
Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss and Connie Francis (Merritt, Tuggle and Angie) were born in the same year. They were 22 years old at the time of filming. Yvette Mimieux (Melanie) is only three years younger than the others and was 19 during filming.
December 28, 1968 - Marvin Gaye's song I Heard It Through the Grapevine hit number #1 on this date.
The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Strong came up with the idea and asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. They refused to credit another writer, so Strong took it to Whitfield, who helped put it together. The song eventually became a Motown classic, but it had a rough start, as executives at the company thought it was too bluesy and lacked hit potential.
Today in History: December 28, 1832 -
US Vice President John Calhoun resigned on this date, having only served 16 days in office because of political differences with President Andrew Jackson. He was the first vice president to do so.
He still continued to be a major force in American politics and was a big influence on the policies of the Confederacy. (Mr. Calhoun has fallen very much out of favor. Statues, paintings and stained glass windows have been taken down or smashed. A lake in Minnesota: Lake Calhoun, the biggest lake in Minneapolis, will now go by its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska.)
December 28, 1869 -
Patent for chewing gum was granted to William Semple (U.S. patent number #98,304), on this date.
William Semple's version, complete with rubber, charcoal, and myrhh, was the first one to be patented. I bet this gum doesn't lose it flavor on the bed post overnight?
December 28, 1895 - Auguste and Louis Lumiere opened the first movie theater at the Grand Cafe in Paris, on this date . Other inventors, including Thomas Edison, were working on various moving picture devices at the time. But most of those other devices could only be viewed by one person at a time. The Lumieres were the first to project moving pictures on a screen, so that they could be viewed by a large audience.
The first film they showed to a paying audience was called Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory. It was a short, single shot with an immobile camera and it showed a concierge opening the factory gates from which dozens of workers walked and bicycled into the street. It ended with the concierge closing the gates again.
It wasn't a movie in the modern sense. It had no characters, no storyline. It was just an animated photograph. Much like most French New Wave films. The Lumiere brothers went on to make more than 2,000 films like this, each one less than a minute long depicting various scenes of human activity with titles like The Arrival of a Train, Boat Leaving the Harbor and Baby's First Steps. They didn't call these "movies" or "films," they called them "views."
It took other filmmakers to turn movies into a medium for storytelling. The Lumieres were primarily documentary filmmakers. But in their film Demolition of a Wall, they added a reverse loop to the film so that after the wall falls to the ground it miraculously picks itself back up. It was the first special effect ever uses in the history of motion pictures.
The Lumieres' movie house was a big success. Within a few months of its opening, more than 2,000 people lined up every night to buy tickets. But the Lumieres themselves thought that movies would be a passing fad. They told their cinematographers not to expect work for more than six months. Auguste went on to become a medical scientist and Louis went back to working on still photographs.
December 28, 1945 -
Please rise while reading this:
The US Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Reverend Francis Bellamy for use at the dedication of the World's Fair Grounds in Chicago on October 21, 1892.
December 28, 1973 -
In between bouts of self-loathing and heavy drinking, Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law on this date. (Sometimes people can surprise you.)
It was the first legislation in American history to focus on protecting animals and their habitats from economic encroachment.
December 28, 1981 -
The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Carr, was born at 7:46 am on this date, two and a half years after the world’s first test tube baby, Louise Brown (from Oldham, England) was born.
Elizabeth was delivered at Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces. She is now a journalist.
December 28, 1983 - Dennis Wilson, original drummer of the Beach Boys, drowned while diving from a boat near Marquesas Pier on this date. He was rather drunk at the time.
You would think that someone in the Beach Boys could swim.
December 28, 1991 - Jack Ruby's pistol, used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, sold at auction at Christie's for $220,000 on this date.
The perfect gift for the man who has everything.
December 28, 1991 - Eight people died in a crush to get into a basketball game at City College in New York. The game was promoted by a young rap promoter named Sean Combs.
Combs later testified that security at the Nat Holman facility was supposed to be provided by NYCC.
(Sean Combs, Sean Combs, I know that name from somewhere.)
Once again, if you're keeping score, you currently have, three French hens, four turtledoves and three partridges with their trio of pear trees (10 gifts.)
The three French hens symbolize the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. The hens, being french, will not associate with the common turtle doves - leave plenty of room between the cage.
Tonight's the second night of Kwanzaa.
To represent the second doctrine or principle the left most red candle is lit after the black one. This principle represents Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah) or Self- Determination.
December 27, 1937 (some sources site the broadcast date as December 12, 1937) -
Middle aged, slightly overweight and possible transvestite performer, Mae West and Don Ameche appeared on the radio show The Chase and Sanborn Hour as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She told Ameche in the show to "get me a big one...I feel like doin' a big apple!"
The FCC later deemed the broadcast vulgar and indecent and far below even the minimum standard which they should control in the selection and production of broadcast programs. West would not perform in radio for another twelve years until January 1950, in an episode of The Chesterfield Supper Club hosted by Perry Como.
December 27, 1940 - Universal Pictures released The Invisible Woman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Virginia Bruce and John Barrymore on this date.
Despite the lightweight nature of the film, it was budgeted at $300,000.00, (about twice the amount of a typical Universal B-feature of the time) making it one of the studio's most expensive productions for 1940.
December 27, 1941 - 20th Century Fox released John Ford's film, How Green Was My Valley, starring Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowall on this date.
Sara Allgood was the only actor who gave John Ford any trouble. At one point, she complained that a scene they were about to shoot wouldn't play. Ford called writer Philip Dunne to the set and relayed her opinion to him. Having worked with Ford before, Dunne knew what to do. He ripped the scene out of the script and said, "Now it plays!" Then Ford turned to Allgood and said, "The sonofabitching writer won't do anything to help us, so we'll have to shoot it the way he wrote it."
December 27, 1947 - Hey kids, what time is it?
A bleary eyed world, fresh from the horrors of a second World War awaken to the sight of a freaky marionette on NBC - Howdy Doody premiered on this date.
This was the first nationally televised American children's television show.
December 27, 1967 -
Future Nobel Laureate Robert Zimmerman returned to his acoustic roots with the release of his John Wesley Harding album on this date.
On the cover of John Wesley Harding, on either side of Dylan (who was wearing the same jacket he'd worn on the sleeve of Blonde On Blonde) is Luxman and Purna Das of the Bengali Bauls music collective, who were staying with Dylan's manager Albert Grossman at the time. Standing behind them is Charlie Joy, a Woodstock carpenter and stonemason. The foursome all sport a rather disheveled "common man" look and the whole arrangement was possibly a dig at the Beatles and their Sgt. Pepper cover with the Fab Four placed at the center of a group of famous personalities.
December 27, 1979 - Knots Landing, CBS' spinoff of Dallas, premiered on this date. The show went on for 14 seasons, making it one of the longest running prime time drama, in television history.
Although it had outlasted all of its contemporaries (even Dallas) and was still in the top forty ratings, the network and the producers mutually agreed that that the show's fourteenth season (1992-93) was to be its last, as further budget cuts would have to be made, should it have stayed on the air for a fifteenth season. The producers and the network decided that less episodes would be produced (nineteen) for the final season, and all actors and actresses were required to be absent from at least some of the episodes to save money. However, Michele Lee offered to forgo her usual salary, and film some episodes for union scale pay. She therefore became the only actress to appear in all three hundred forty-four episodes.
December 27, 1980 -
Weeks after his death, John Lennon's (Just Like) Starting Over goes to #1 in America.
This was one of the last songs recorded for the album, Double Fantasy. Lennon was not sure he should record it, but his producer and session musicians convinced him it would be a hit. It became the first single from the album, released in the US on October 27, 1980, which was the same day Mark David Chapman bought the gun he would use to kill Lennon on December 8.
Producer Martin Richards approached Catherine Zeta-Jones about appearing in this movie version of the play after being wowed by her renditions of carols at a family Christmas party in Bermuda (her and husband Michael Douglas' home). Richards approached her for the role of Roxie Hart, but Zeta-Jones, though not familiar with the original show, did know that the character of Velma Kelly sang the song All That Jazz. She only wanted to play that role because she wanted to sing that song.
Today in History: December 27, 1703 -
The Methuen Treaty was signed between Portugal and England, giving preference to the import of Portuguese wines into England.
So now you know.
December 27, 1831 -
For some unknown reason, naturalist Charles Darwin began his famous voyage on-board a beagle, on the date.
He immediately swam back to shore and boarded the HMS Beagle after the dog drowned.
December 27, 1845 -
Dr. Crawford W. Long first used as an anesthetic, ether, for childbirth on his wife ether while she gave birth to their second child, on this date.
The birth was a success, and it is considered the beginning of modern anesthetics.
December 27, 1900 - Carrie Amelia Moore Nation had been a member of the Women's Christian Temperance organization until she became fed up with their non-violent tactics, and decided to smash up pubs instead. With her cry, “Smash! Smash! For Jesus’ sake, smash!,” the radicalized Nation first picked up her famous hatchet and raided the swank bar at the Hotel Carey in Wichita, Kansas, destroying the interior on this date.
While Nation went on to greater fame after the attack, her plans for the bar backfired; the hotel bar gained nation-wide recognition after the militant prohibitionist waged her attack.
December 27, 1901 - How do you know love is gone? If you said that you would be there at seven and you get there by nine, and he or she has not called the police yet - it's gone.
Marie Magdalene Dietrich, German-born singer and actress best known for her roles in Shanghai Express and Witness for the Prosecution, was born on this date.
The 12 acre complex in midtown Manhattan known as Rockefeller Center developed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., on land leased from Columbia University opened to the public on December 27, 1932.
Radio City Music Hall (named for one of the complex's first tenants, the Radio Corporation of America) opened with a spectacular stage show, featuring Ray Bolger and Martha Graham. The opening was meant to be a return to high class variety entertainment.
Unfortunately, the show bombed and on January 11, 1933, the Music Hall rushed to show the first film on the giant screen, installed in the theatre: Frank Capra'sThe Bitter Tea of General Yen starring Barbara Stanwyck.
Again, the film was not critically well received
December 27, 1961 - Tony Bennett, playing in the Venetian Room of the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel, made his first solo public performance of I Left My Heart in San Francisco, on this date. The song was written by George Cory and Douglass Cross in 1954 (Cory wrote the music and Cross wrote the lyrics) and had languished in obscurity for years.
They pitched the song to Bennett's pianist and musical director, Ralph Sharon, who was looking for new material for Bennett to sing at the Fairmont Hotel. The crowd in the hotel loved the song and Bennett went on to record the song on January 23, 1962.
The rest, as they say, is history.
December 27, 1971 - Charles Schulz’ famous Peanuts comic strip made the cover of Newsweek magazine this day.
Charlie Brown hoped this would help him with his chances with the little red headed girl. Lucy, on the other hand, was unimpressed, having been on the cover of Time magazine six years earlier.
December 27, 1985 - Dian Fossey, famous for her efforts to study and save mountain gorillas in Africa, was murdered in her hut in Rwanda with a machete she had confiscated from a poacher some months earlier.
No suspects were ever found; no charges were made.
Today is the start of Mulchfest 2021. MulchFest is an annual event held by the Department of Parks & Recreation that provides New Yorkers with the opportunity to bring their holiday trees to be recycled at designated sites across the five boroughs.
For more information, visit the Parks Department'sMulchfest page.
Tonight's the first night of Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa means "first fruit" in Swahili.
Today is St. Stephen's Day.
The citizens of the British Commonwealth denote the day by putting on trunks and gloves to beat each other bloody silly.
Another reason to appreciate the American Revolution - a peaceful December 26th.
If you are starting your Christmas shopping for 2022, you're either way ahead of the curve or cheap.
If you're keeping score, you currently have two turtledoves and a pair of partridges in their respective pear trees (four gifts - remember we're counting the partridge and a pear tree as a unit.)
Begin taking extra copies of free daily newspapers - you'll need it in a major way. (The gift, the two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testaments.)
December 26, 1951 -
The film that introduced Akira Kurosawa to world audiences, Rashomon, starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo, premiered in the US on this date.
During shooting, the cast approached Kurosawa en masse with the script and asked him, "What does it mean?" The answer Akira Kurosawa gave at that time and also in his biography is that Rashomon is a reflection of life, and life does not always have clear meanings.
December 26, 1957 -
The Ingmar Bergman classic Wild Strawberries, starring Victor Sjostrom, opened in Sweden on this date.
Ingmar Bergman wrote the movie with Victor Sjöström in mind. He and the production company agreed that there would be no movie without Sjöström. Bergman didn't dare to call his idol Sjöström himself about the movie though, so the head of the production company made the call. Sjöström was initially reluctant, due to his advanced age, but agreed to meet with Bergman to discuss the movie. So Bergman went to his apartment and talked about it, Sjöström said he'll think about it. The next morning Sjöström called and agreed to the part on one condition: that he would be able to come home and have his whiskey grog at 5 pm every day.
December 26, 1963 - The Beatles release their first hit single in the United States: I Want To Hold Your Hand with I Saw Her Standing There on the b-side.
It's their first single issued by Capitol Records; within months the group becomes a Stateside sensation.
December 26, 1967 - 54 years ago today, The Beatles gave their fans a Christmas present - Magical Mystery Tour was shown on the BBC on this date.
After completing Help!, The Beatles wanted to make a live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with John Lennon as Gollum, Paul McCartney as Frodo, Ringo Starr as Sam, and George Harrison as Gandalf. They approached Stanley Kubrick to direct the movie. He declined, saying it was too complex to be properly adapted for the screen. J.R.R. Tolkien, who owned the movie rights, cancelled the adaptation because he didn't like the idea of The Beatles making a movie based on his work.
December 26, 1973 -
Here was a great way to celebrate the holidays; The Exorcist, premiered in the US on this date.
The scene where Regan projectile vomits at Father Karras only required one take. The vomit was intended to hit Jason Miller in the chest, but the plastic tubing misfired, hitting him in the face. His reaction of shock and disgust while wiping away the vomit is genuine, and Miller admitted in an interview that he was very angered by this mistake.
Today in History: December 26, 1776 -
American forces under Gen. George Washington, having crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night, defeated Hessian mercenary troops fighting for the British at the Battle of Trenton, N.J. on this date.
There are reports that the usually stoic future president made a request of the big-boned General Harry Knox: “shift that fat ass Harry, but slowly, or you’ll swamp the damned boat.”
December 26, 1865 -
I'm not a fan of coffee but why isn't this a bigger deal - James Mason (sometimes known as Nason) of Franklin, Massachusetts registered the first U.S. patent (US Patent No. 51,741) for a coffee percolator on this date.
Coffee had really taken off in America after the tea supply was cut off during the War of 1812. By the 1860s, it had become a highly demanded commodity, and only increased in popularity with the invention of the percolator.
On this day in 1913, the author of the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and the satirical dictionary, The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce disappeared into Mexico while traveling with the army of rebel Pancho Villa. In one of his final letters, the 71-year-old Bierce wrote to his niece, Lora,
Good-bye — if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico—ah, that is euthanasia!
December 26, 1919 - Red Sox owner and Broadway Producer, Harry Frazee believed he has solved one of his many headaches when he sold, an overweight, drunk, whoremongering baseball player to the New York Yankees on this date
Oops.
December 26, 2004 -
A massive tsunami caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, devastated Southeast Asia, killing more than 250,000 people in a single day and more than half a million lost their homes. This was most devastating tsunami in modern times
The earthquake has been titled the Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake and is the highest magnitude earthquake in the region in over 40 years. The event had the fourth largest death toll from an earthquake in recorded history. More than 15 years after the quake and tsunami events, the entire region was still trying to recover and to rebuild. Some areas may never recover.
