Hey Joe, did we miss this class?

November 27 is the Feast of St. Josaphat, a Middle Age prince who renounced his wealth to do charitable work.

Well, St. Josephat, turns out to be a Christianized version of a legend about Buddha (yeah Siddhartha Gautama.)



As the years slip by more swiftly, I can remember some things clearly, others only dimly; As an old friend from elementary school can testify, I don't remember them telling us about this back at St. John's.

Oh, that wacky Catholic Church!


November 27, 1920 -
United Artists released the silent film The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks on this date. The film will go on to be extremely influential in the world of comics.



In the Golden Age of Comic Books, this was the film to which Thomas and Martha Wayne took their young son Bruce on the night that they were murdered in front of him in Gotham City in 1920, the experience which led him to become Batman.


November 27, 1948 -
You see what some ducks will do for money!



Another (less familiar) Daffy and Porky pairing, Riff Raffy Daffy, premiered on this date.


November 27, 1967 -
The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour album the US on this date.



Unfortunately, Charles Manson used to refer to life as A Magical Mystery Tour after hearing the title song. He later warped other Beatles songs (Helter Skelter, Piggies, Blackbird) to explain a race war named Helter Skelter. He used to say that the Beatles were telling it like it is.


November 27, 1979 -
For those so inclined, you could start spending time in the boys locker room of Carrver High School when The White Shadow premiered on this date.



Ken Howard was nicknamed "The White Shadow" while he played for Manhasset High School 's basketball team. He was the only white starter on his team. Howard based his performance on his high school basketball coach, Fritz Mueller. Carver's team colors, orange and blue, were based on the the colors of Howard's school.


November 27, 1980 -
The sitcom Bosom Buddies, staring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



(Yes, I know, this is not the original theme song - the production company lost the rights to the song.) The producers pitched the series to ABC as a relatively straightforward buddy comedy in the spirit of Billy Wilder's comedy films. When they used the film Some Like It Hot as an example, the network agreed to the series, but only if the main characters were disguised as women. Although the producers had to change the series quickly, they were able to produce it with little network creative interference.


November 27, 2013 –
The Walt Disney's film, Frozen, the highest-grossing animated film of all time, starring Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell, went into general release in the US on this date.



In a magazine interview, Idina Menzel told the story about her young son boasting to his classmates that his mom sings the songs in Frozen. To this, another child replied, "So does everyone else's."


Anpther book from the back shelves of the ACME Library


Today in History:
November 27, 1835 -
On this date, a crowd gathered outside Newgate Prison in London to witness a macabre, notorious and historic event – the hanging of the last two men in England to be executed for the ‘abominable crime of buggery’ - sodomy.

Londoners James Pratt, also known as John Pratt, and John Smith were arrested in August 1835 after being observed having sex in the room of another man, William Bonill. Pratt and Smith were hanged in front of Newgate Prison.


November 27, 1852 -
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was bled to death to cure her uterine cancer on this date. (In a strange coincidence, her father was also bled to death to cure a fever.)



She is often thought of as the world's first computer programmer, due to her interest in mathematics and her work on Charles Babbage's analytical engine.


Alfred Nobel signed his last will, which established the Nobel Prize on this date in 1895. (Yes, this is the second reference to Alfred in the same week.)

Mr Nobel is interesting because his fortune was founded in large part on the commercial success of something he invented in 1866: dynamite. Dynamite proved so lucrative for Mr Nobel that he was able to spend most of the rest of his life blowing things up in the interests of world peace. World peace was not achieved in his lifetime, however, and he therefore endowed a foundation with millions of dollars to give prizes to the men and women of future generations who helped bring the world closer to peace by blowing things up.



Sadly, in recent years the foundation appears to have forgotten its roots and has begun awarding prizes to men and women whose work for peace has resulted in things blowing up.



I encourage you all to write the Nobel Committee to take immediate corrective action, lest they continue to mislead people into thinking that Peace can be achieved by anything other than the blowing up of Evil Bastards.


November 27, 1910 -
Although the Pennsylvania Station had already begun service for the Long Island Rail Road several months earlier (September 8th); it was on this date that trains from the Pennsylvania Railroad entered Manhattan for the first time by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.



The famed station was demolished in 1963, which sparked the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which has preserved thousands of historic buildings in New York City and across the country.


November 27, 1924 -
Macy's sponsored its first Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (called Macy's Christmas Parade) in New York City on this date. The three-hour parade is held annually and is the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade along with Detroit's "America's Thanksgiving Parade," which began on the same day.



Three floats (pulled by horses), four bands and zoo animals from the Central Park Zoo - camels, donkeys, elephants and goats - starred in the parade (balloons didn't show up until 1927.)

Santa Claus was last in the lineup, a tradition that continues to this day.

(Yes, yes, I know the parade in Philadelphia is older.)


November 27, 1934 -
Notorious US murderer and bank robber Baby Face Nelson was killed in a gun battle with the FBI on this date. Known as the Battle of Barrington, the shootout occurred in Barrington, Illinois. Two FBI officers also were killed.



During his criminal career, Nelson, whose real name was Lester Joseph Gillis, killed more FBI agents than any other US citizen in history.


November 27, 1978 -
City Supervisor Dan White entered San Francisco City Hall through an open basement window (avoiding metal detectors), walked into the office of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and shot him dead. Then White went on to kill Supervisor Harvey Milk on this date.



Apparently, Mr. White consumed too many Twinkies. (Given there has been no noticeable increases in incidents of Twinkie induced rages, the Hostess Company may have changed the formula since their resuscitation.)

Don't forget:

Before you go - Advent means 'Coming' in Latin.
Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (those trying to figure out their Advent Calendars, you may open the first window on the First of December). Today is the first Advent Sunday of this season. It is a time to "get ready" for the celebration of Christmas.

(I didn't just joke around at St. John's; once in a blue moon I paid attention.)



And so it goes