August 21, 1952 -
The classic John Ford film, The Quiet Man was released on this date.
In the scene where John Wayne discovers Maureen O'Hara in his cottage, the wind whipped her hair so ferociously around her face she kept squinting. John Ford screamed at her in the strongest language to open her eyes. "What would a bald-headed son of a bitch know about hair lashing across his eyeballs," she shot back.
August 21, 1965 -
The protest song Eve of Destruction, written by P. F. Sloan, was released by Barry McGuire, on this date.
This was originally recorded by The Turtles, who released it on their first album earlier in 1965. The Turtles did not release it as a single, and McGuire's version became the hit. As management problems and personnel changes plagued The Turtles, they finally decided to release this as a single in 1970, shortly before they broke up. It was their last song to chart, reaching #100.
August 21, 1965 -
The Lovin' Spoonful's released their first no. 1 hit, Do You Believe In Magic on this date.
The song was written by John Sebastian, who formed The Lovin' Spoonful with his friend, Zal Yanovsky. Sebastian and Yanovsky were in a group called The Mugwumps, and made a name for themselves playing clubs in Greenwich Village. When the other Mugwumps - Mama Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty - moved to California and formed The Mamas And The Papas, they formed the band and Sebastian began focusing on songwriting. The Lovin' Spoonful started playing electric instruments to get away from the folk music sound and attract a younger contemporary rock audience.
August 21, 1965 -
Out of Our Heads, the third British and fourth American studio album by the Rolling Stones went No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.
In America, London Records released the first version of Out Of Our Heads on July 30, 1965. The UK version, issued by Decca Records, came out two months later, on September 24, and featured some significant differences in the tracklisting.
August 21, 1979 -
Gary Numan released his hit Cars from his album The Pleasure Principle, on this date.
This was Numan's only hit in the US, but he has had many others in England, where he has a large cult following. Numan specializes in electronic music, and was an influence on artists like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.
August 21, 1981 -
John Landis' classic comedy horror film, An American Werewolf in London, starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne, premiered in the US on this date.
Rick Baker claimed to have been disappointed by the amount of time spent shooting the face changing shot for the transformation after having spent months working on the mechanism. John Landis only required one take lasting about seven seconds. Baker felt he had wasted his time until seeing the film with an audience that applauded during that one seven second shot.
August 21, 1987 -
The low-budget film, directed by Emile Ardolino, Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach, premiered in the US on this date.
While the exteriors and cabin scenes were filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia, the lake scene was filmed at Lake Lure in North Carolina in October. There are no close-ups because the cast members were so cold that their lips were blue.
August 21, 1991 -
The Coen Brothers take on 30s Hollywood, Barton Fink, starring John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, and Jon Polito went into general release on this date.
John Turturro took classes at a secretarial school to learn how to use a typewriter for the role. Between takes, he wrote a rough outline for Romance & Cigarettes, written on the typewriter he used in the film. The Coen brothers executive produced that film.
August 21, 1994 -
HBO aired a concert special, Barbra: The Concert, featuring Barbara Streisand on her first public concert in 27 years. (She apparently suffers from severe stage fright.)
The special received a television audience of 11.2 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated musical event in HBO’s history.
Word of the Day
Today in History:
August 21, 1614 -
Erzsebet Bathory, ruler of Transylvania, died at 54, on this date. She had sought immortality by killing young virgins and bathing in their blood (or so they say.) It apparently didn't work.
The Elizabeth Arden's in Union Square closed a few of years ago; I wonder who is still offering this service and where are they finding enough virgins.
August 21, 1888 -
William Seward Burroughs of St. Louis, Missouri (grandfather of Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs) was granted four patents for the first successful “Calculating-Machine,” sometimes referred to as an “adding and listing machine.” (US No. 388,116-388,119)
August 21, 1906 (or 1905?) -
Happy Birthday Friz
Isadore 'Friz' Freleng, one of the original tenants of Warner Bros. Termite Terrace, was born on this date.
August 21, 1911 -
Pablo Picasso was having a very bad day.
At the time, the painting was believed to be lost forever, and it would be two years before the real thief was discovered. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia stole it by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed. Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed da Vinci's painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian museum.
Peruggia may have also been motivated by a friend who sold copies of the painting, which would skyrocket in value after the theft of the original. After having kept the painting in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was finally caught when he attempted to sell it to the directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; it was exhibited all over Italy and returned to the Louvre in 1913. Peruggia was hailed for his patriotism in Italy and only served a few months in jail for the crime.
August 21, 1912 -
Arthur R. Eldred was the first person to have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest in the Boy Scouts of America.
August 21, 1921 -
One of the most famous teddy bears was an 18-inch-high one A. A. Milne and his wife brought from Harrods in London. It was a present for their son, Christopher Robin Milne, in honor of his first birthday on this date. Christopher called the toy bear "Winnie" after a Canadian black bear he often saw at London Zoo.
It was later immortalized in Milne's children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, (The other part of the name, "Pooh," was based on a swan Milne and his family met on holiday).
August 21, 1959 -
Hawaii became the 50th state to enter the Union when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the order, granting the stolen island nation, Hawaii statehood on this date.
Several bills for Hawaii had been presented to the US Congress, in 1919, 1935, 1947 and 1950, but none had passed until this day in 1959. (Nixon gleefully looking on. He was ensuring that little Barry Obama would be born on U.S. soil. Nixon was at the heart a many a conspiracy.)
Please keep the good folk of Maui in mind over the next few weeks.
August 21, 1965 -
Gemini 5, the 11th crewed American spaceflight, was launched with L. Gordon Cooper Jr. and Charles Conrad Jr., on this date.
Gemini 5 doubled the U.S. space-flight record of the Gemini 4 mission to eight days, the length of time it would take to fly to the Moon, land and return.
August 21, 1983 -
Longtime political opponent of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, former Philippine senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was not having a very good day. As Benigno stepped off a airplane at the Manila airport (ending his three years of self-imposed exile in the US,) he was assassinated on this date.
He was returning home to run in the Philippine's next election. These kind of things tend to put people off of travel.
August 21, 1986 -
1,700 people were killed in Cameroon when Lake Nyos emitted a huge cloud of fast-moving fog, quickly enveloping the villages of Nyos, Kam, Cha and Subum on this date.
The lethal mist, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and water vapor, displaces the oxygen in the low-lying zones, killing thousands of cattle and even more birds and wild animals. One eyewitness later describes the landscape as being "littered with human remains and animal carcasses."
That would have ruined a vacation.
And so it goes.
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