The National Confectioners Association says a choirmaster in Cologne, Germany back in 1670 originally gave the candies to young children to keep them quiet during long church services. Grandmas who still dole out sweets during droning sermons, you've got history on your side. An alternative theory suggests the hook was invented simply to make the candy sticks easier to hang on Christmas trees. These, however, are folktales with little evidence to back them up. The first documented case of candy canes occurred in 1847 when a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce tree with the candy.
Ok bunkies, today is the fourth and last Sunday of the Advent season. The day is called the Fourth Sunday of Advent, sorry no fancy french or latin name.
The fourth candle is often called the Angel candle. It represents the messengers who announced the birth of the Messiah.
Go talk to the old ladies in the back of the church about your new found knowledge.
December 19, 1961 -
Released in time for the holidays, the star-studded Stanley Kramer film, Judgment At Nuremberg, opened in New York City on this date.
Montgomery Clift had a habit of cutting his hair very short when he was between films and would not work until it had grown back. In fact, his scene in this film was shot right after getting one of those haircuts. He also had so much trouble remembering his lines, the scene had to be re-shot many times. Director Stanley Kramer finally gave up and told Clift to ad lib his lines, saying that this would help to convey the confusion in his character's mind while he was being questioned on the witness stand. "Monty seemed to calm down after this," Kramer later recalled. "He wasn't always close to the script, but whatever he said fitted in perfectly, and he came through with as good a performance as I had hoped."
December 19, 1971 -
The pilot for the hit family series The Waltons, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story premiered on CBS-TV on this date
Earl Hamner's two children Scott and Carrie are in the film as two of the children listening to the missionary lady. Carrie is the short-dark-haired girl in a home-made hat and Scott is the boy with paler hair, also wearing a hat.
December 19, 1971 -
A Clockwork Orange premiered on this date, originally with an X rating. Censors objected more to the sex scenes than the violence.
Alex performing Singing in the Rain as he attacks the writer and his wife was not scripted. Stanley Kubrick spent four days experimenting with this scene, finding it too conventional. Eventually he approached Malcolm McDowell and asked him if he could dance. They tried the scene again, this time with McDowell dancing and singing the only song he could remember. Kubrick was so amused that he swiftly bought the rights to Singing in the Rain for $10,000.
December 19, 1979 -
Robert Benson's family drama Kramer vs. Kramer starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry premiered in the US on this date.
The stenographer in the courtroom scenes was a real one. In between takes, Dustin Hoffman would chat with her and he asked her if she worked on many divorce cases. She replied that she used to, but was burnt out by the experience, as she found them to be too emotionally painful. Instead she had moved to homicide cases, which she said were much easier to handle.
December 19, 1987 -
The Pet Shop Boys had their third UK No.1 single with their version of Always On My Mind, on this date.
The duo had performed a version of Always on My Mind on Love Me Tender, an TV special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, their performance was so well-received that the group decided to record the song and release it as a single.
December 19, 1997 -
The movie, Titanic was released in theaters on this date. This movie would become the most financially successful movie in U.S. history, grossing approximately $1.8 billion worldwide (until the release of Avatar in 2009, which grossed an astounding $2.075 billion. Avatar was conveniently directed by Mr. Cameron as well.)
James Cameron went on 12 dives to the real Titanic himself, and found it an overwhelming emotional experience to actually see the sunken ship. During his first trip, he was so goal-oriented that he managed to film the shots he wanted, but as soon as he was back on the surface, he broke down in tears after finally realizing the magnitude of the historic tragedy that he had just witnessed. He ended up spending more time with the ship than its living passengers did.
December 19, 2001 -
New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (based on the epic 1954 novel by J.R.R. Tolkien,) directed by Peter Jackson and starring a very large number of people, premiered in the U.S. on this date.
During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Amongst them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, make-up artists tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Peter Jackson opted to film Mortensen from one side for the entire scene. In the Mines of Moria, when they find the tomb, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene.
Let's hear it for the boys
Today in History:
December 19, 1154 -
Henry was 18 when we met and I was queen of France ... We shattered the commandments on the spot.
December 19, 1733 -
Benjamin Franklin, writing under the pseudonym of Poor Richard, published Poor Richard's Almanack on this date.
The book, filled with proverbs and parables, was published continuously for 25 years and became one of the most popular publications in colonial America, selling an average of 10,000 copies a year.
December 19, 1777 -
These are the times that try men's souls.
General George Washington led his ragtag army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter on this date.
December 19, 1903 -
On this date, the Williamsburg Bridge was opened in New York City. It was America's first major suspension bridge using steel towers instead of the customary masonry towers.
It was built to alleviate traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and to provide a link between Manhattan and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Taking over seven years to complete, the 1,600 foot Williamsburg Bridge was the world's longest suspension bridge until the 1920s.
December 19, 1922 -
In a Sheffield, England, courtroom, accused bigamist Theresa Vaughn admitted under oath that in the past five years she had acquired 61 husbands in 50 cities throughout England, Germany and South Africa, averaging a marriage a month.
And you think you've been busy.
December 19, 1928 -
The first autogyro flight in the U.S., piloted by H.F. Pitcairn, was made on this date.
December 19, 1941 -
Twelve days after Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt under authority of Congress, created the Office of Censorship. The bureau had discretion over communications with foreign countries. Participation by domestic publishers was "voluntary."
December 19, 1972 -
Apollo 17 completed their mission and splashed down in the Pacific on this date.
With this return to earth, the Apollo program of manned lunar landings ended.
December 19, 1974 -
Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States after a House vote. Rockefeller was the second person appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment – the first being Gerald Ford (the man for whom he was serving as Vice President.)
After the proceedings, Rockefeller celebrates by vigorously copulating with three of his assistants in the Warren G. Harding memorial cloakroom.
December 19, 1998 -
Oh, the irony - President Bill Clinton was formally impeached by the House of Representatives for lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the investigation of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton was not required to leave office despite being impeached by the House, since the Senate acquitted him of both charges.
Before you go - Here's another gift suggestion from the back shelves of the ACME Catalogue
And so it goes
vigorously copulating with three of his assistants indeed
ReplyDelete