Saturnalia starts today.

It is an ancient Roman festival that was held in honor of the god Saturn.

It was an occasion for celebration, visits to friends, and the presentation of gifts, particularly wax candles (or mentholated ACME Bung Balm.) The Saturnalia was originally celebrated in Ancient Rome for only a day, but it was so popular it soon it lasted a week, despite Augustus' efforts to reduce it to three days and Caligula's, to five.



Imagine, there's a holiday that the rulers of the known world couldn't control.



More about Saturnalia later (it figures in our Christmas story.)


December 17, 1959 -
Stanley Kramer film-version of Nevil Shute's drama, On The Beach, premiered worldwide on this date.



The film had its world premiere on this date, in more than 20 cities worldwide, including Moscow. It was the first time an American film had had a premiere in the Soviet Union. The special premiere in Moscow was held at a workers' club, with 1200 Soviet dignitaries, the foreign press corps and diplomats including US Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson attending. Gregory Peck and his wife traveled to the Soviet Union for the premiere.


December 17, 1965 -
The special, The Music Of Lennon and McCartney, was shown across the United Kingdom on this date.



All the songs were lip-synced


December 17, 1969 -
Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on the Tonight Show on this date.



The event attracted between 40 and 50 million viewers.


December 17, 1971 -
David Bowie releases his fourth album, Hunky Dory, which opens with the iconic Changes, on this date. The album was the first to feature all the members of the band that would become known the following year as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars.



Two singles were released from the album: Changes/ Andy Warhol in January 1972 and Life on Mars which was released late June 1973. Bowie himself considered the album to be one of the most important in his career.


December 17, 1976 -
Paramount Pictures releases a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong, directed by John Guillermin and starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange on this date.



The 40-foot Kong was constructed with a 3.5-ton aluminum frame, covered with rubber and 1,012 lbs. (460 kg.) of Argentinian horse tails, sewn into place individually. Its insides were comprised of 3,100 feet of hydraulic hose, and 4,500 feet of electrical wiring. It was controlled by 20 operators, and cost a total of $1.7 million.


December 17, 1982 -
Sydney Pollack's comedy take on gender roles, Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange and Bill Murray (in a howlingly funny supporting role) opened in general release in the US on this date.



Dustin Hoffman tried out his role as Dorothy by passing himself off as his daughter's Aunt Dorothy at her parents' evening at school. His performance was so strong he actually convinced the teachers. They never suspected.


December 17, 1989 -
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, also known as The Simpsons Christmas Special, the first full-length episode of The Simpsons, premiered on this date.



This special was not originally intended to be The Simpsons pilot. Production problems, particularly with the first produced episode, The Simpsons: Some Enchanted Evening, saw the show delayed from its planned October debut until late December, thus dictating that this Christmas-themed episode, the eighth one produced, was the first to be broadcast. (Some Enchanted Evening was eventually broadcast as the last episode in the first season).


December 17, 1991 –
Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again (Naturally) was ‘sampled’ in Biz Markie’s Alone Again, and the United States Federal Court for the Southern District of New York agreed with the 70’s artist that Biz needed to get permission to use his music in a very landmark case.



That permission typically involves direct payment or a portion of the net profits today. The case is decided quickly and decisively - The judge delivers a harsh repudiation of Warner Bros., opening his ruling by quoting the book of Exodus: "Thou shalt not steal."


December 17, 1994 –
(Laying down some old school beats) Ini Kamoze song Here Comes The Hotstepper hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart on this date.



The "na-na-na-na-na" chorus is sampled from Cannibal And The Headhunters' version of Land Of 1,000 Dances. Fats Domino receives royalties from this. He was credited as co-author on Land Of 1,000 Dances in exchange for recording the song.


Today's holiday special: Mankind is our business.


Today in History:
December 17, 1843 (there is some controversy concerning this actual date, some sources place it on the 19th of December.) -

Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol on this date. Dickens wrote the novel after his first commercial failure. His previous novel, Martin Chuzzlewit had flopped, and he was suddenly strapped for cash. Martin Chuzzlewit had been satirical and pessimistic, and Dickens thought he might be more successful if he wrote a heartwarming tale with a holiday theme.



He got the idea for the book in late October of 1843, the story of the heartless Ebenezer Scrooge, who has so little Christmas spirit that he wants his assistant Bob Cratchit to work on Christmas Day.



Dickens struggled to finish the book in time for Christmas. He no longer had a publisher so he published the book himself, ordering illustrations, gilt-edged pages and a lavish red bound cover. He priced the book at a mere 5 shillings, in hopes of making it affordable to everyone. It was released within a week of Christmas and was a huge success, selling six thousand copies the first few days, and the demand was so great that it quickly went to second and third editions.



God bless us, everyone!!!


December 17, 1903 -

Orville Wright made the first recorded flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in a plane he built with his brother, Wilber. The flight lasted a mere twelve seconds and covered only 120 feet, but a short flight had been expected: after all, two Wrights don't make it long.



The TSA was waiting to go through their luggage.


December 17, 1925 -
Balto was a Siberian husky and sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported to combat an outbreak of the disease.





Balto was present for the unveiling of his own statue in Central Park on this date in 1925.


December 17, 1927 -
U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggested a worldwide pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy on this date. Virtually all of the major powers of the world signed the Kellogg-Briand pact in Paris on August 27, 1928.

The pact went into effect on July 24, 1929. War was finally outlawed and the people of the earth were filled with joy.



The peace achieved by the Kellogg-Briand Pact was an idyll like none other. It is still referred to as the happiest seven minutes in human history.

Ah, 1929, that sweet summer of human happiness!

But perhaps we do not give sufficient credit to the authors and signers of that ill-fated pact for their ironic sense.



It was thought up on the 242nd birthday of Humphry Davy, the inventor of among other things, laughing gas.


December 17, 1969 -
The United States Air Force closed its Project 'Blue Book' by concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.



Our Alien Overlords were briefly satisfied and decide not to destroy the Earth - for now.


December 17, 1977 -
Elvis Costello and The Attractions made a rare United States television debut on Saturday Night Live when Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols failed to show up for the gig.



Producer Lorne Michaels refused to allow Costello to perform Radio, Radio because of the song's criticism of the broadcasting industry, but a few measures into Less than Zero, Costello halted his group and played the forbidden song.



Naughty, naughty Elvis

And so it goes