Behind every successful woman is herself.

Today marks the observance of International Women's Day, celebrating the achievements of inspiring women around the world. (This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is “Break the Bias”.)



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The earliest Women's Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York; it was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. An annual "international women's day" was first organized by the German socialist and theorist Clara Zetkin along with 100 delegates from 17 countries in March 1911.


March 8, 1933 -
The quintessential backstage musical, 42nd Street, premiered in New York City on this date.



The film was so financially successful that it saved Warner Brothers from bankruptcy. This film single-handedly rescued the movie musical, which had been considered a money-losing proposition since mid-1930. Early "all talking, all dancing" musicals typically suffered from severe camera restrictions coupled with poor musical staging, and soured the public on the genre in general (Universal's huge losses from the lively King of Jazz had put an unofficial moratorium on the musical) and no other studio wanted to risk producing one.


March 8, 1959 -
The apex of the golden age of television was achieved on this date when The Incredible Jewel Robbery aired. Groucho, Chico and Harpo made their final TV appearance together.



It was all down hill from here. Chico died two years later, followed by Harpo three years after that.


March 8, 1964 -
The first of three film adaptions of Richard Matheson novel, I am Legend, The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price, premiered on this date.



To more accurately show how grueling it was for his character to survive, Vincent Price insisted on lifting real people into the back of his car instead of dummies. This is why it seems he's taking extra care with the bodies. For the scene at the pit, however, he's handling dummies for obvious reasons.


March 8, 1967 -
Mad Monster Party was released by Embassy Pictures for Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc on this date.



In her stand-up comedy routine, Phyllis Diller (the voice of the Monster's Mate) referred to her husband as "Fang". She decided to use the name when referring to the Frankenstein Monster - whom her character is married to in the film - because that was what she was used to. The producers decided to allow it since the name of 'Frankenstein' was copyrighted, and referring to the name (or his monster) would have required paying royalty fees.


March 8, 1969 -
Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary hits #2 on the Hot 100 on this date. It stayed at No. 2 for three weeks.



John Fogerty wrote the lyrics based on three song title ideas: Proud Mary, Riverboat,  and  Rolling On A River.  He carried around a notebook with titles that he thought would make good songs, and Proud Mary was at the top of the list.


March 8, 1974 -
All good things must come to an end - the last episode The Brady Bunch series, The Hair-Brained Scheme aired on ABC-TV on this date.



When Bobby can't sell any of his hair tonic he says he's going to give up. Carol tells him winners never quit. She mentions a man by the name of Carl Mahakian, saying no one had ever heard of him because he quit. In reality, Carl Mahakian was the series' post-production coordinator.


March 8, 1991 -
The highest grossing independent film of 1991, New Jack City, directed by Mario Van Peebles was released on this date.



The story is largely based on a real-life Detroit gang known as The Chambers Brothers. Writer Barry Michael Cooper got the idea for the film after visiting Detroit and learning about the gang's exploits.


March 8, 1996 -
The film that put the Coen Bros. into the mainstream consciousness, Fargo, went into limited release on this date.



When Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) character calls Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) for the deal to be done, he tells him, "Thirty minutes, and we'll wrap this up." From that moment, the film's running time left is exactly 30 minutes.


Today's moment of Zen.


Today in History:
March 8 1619 -
Johannes Kepler's three laws of planetary motion provided evidence that the planets, including the Earth, orbit the Sun in an oval shape and that a planet's speed varies at different stages of its orbit. The German astronomer's first two laws were published in 1609. His third law, which he discovered on this date, was outlined in Harmonice Mundi (Harmony of the Worlds) ten years later.



So that and $2.75 will get you a ride on the NYC subway.


March 8, 1910 -
French aviatrix 'Baroness' Raymonde de Laroche was the first woman to receive a pilot's license, No. 36 on this date.



Soon after receiving her license, De Laroche participated in aviation meetings at Heliopolis in Egypt, Saint Petersburg, Budapest and Rouen. During the show in St. Petersburg, she was personally congratulated by Tsar Nicholas II.


March 8, 1941 -
Sherwood Anderson and his fourth wife, Eleanor, were enjoying a well deserved vacation on a ocean liner bound from from New York to Valparaiso, Chile. During a cocktail party on the ship, Anderson was enjoying his olive from a well chilled martini: it would be his last.

Anderson soon became very ill and he and his wife had to disembarked at Colon in Panama and headed to a local hospital. He died in agony, two days later on this date. An autopsy revealed that he had accidentally swallowed a small piece of a toothpick (presumably in the martini olive), which had perforated his colon and caused a fatal case of peritonitis.

Remember, ask not for whom the bell tolls. And don't swallow your toothpick.


March 8, 1950 -
Marshal Voroshilov announced the existence of the Soviet atomic bomb on this date.

This baffled the western powers, who were sure they had left the secret somewhere safe.



33 years later, on this date, the ever swift President Ronald Reagan gets around to calling the Soviets, "an evil empire."

Let us quote that great Tantrist practioner during these trying times and "hope the Russians love their children, too."


March 8, 1968 -
The Soviet submarine, K-129, sank in the Pacific Ocean, killing all 97 crew members aboard. Later in the year a U.S. submarine secretly retrieves an encryption machine, codebooks, and nuclear warheads from the Soviet vessel.



A further bold attempt is made in 1974 to bring up the entire submarine using the CIA ship Glomar Explorer, built by Howard Hughes. That mission supposedly fails, and was made public by the Los Angeles Times to the great embarrassment of the Agency.


March 8, 1971 –
Muhammad Ali lost to Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in New York City on this date.



Frank Sinatra wasn’t able to get ringside seats for the Fight, so he arranged to take photos for Life magazine so that he could be close to the action.


March 8, 1999 -
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio passed away in his Florida home on this date.



We actually know where he's gone. And since he's been dead for more than 20 years, we should take our lonely eyes off of him. It's a little creepy.



And so it goes.