Another page from that book

Today is the feast day of Saint Andrew, older brother of Saint Peter. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and saw Andrew and Simon Peter fishing and told them to join him and become 'fishers of men'. In many faiths, he is sometimes referred to as, 'first called', as he and his brother became the first apostles of Christ.



St. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and singers. He is also the patron saint to several countries and cities including: Scotland, Romania, Russia,, and Ukraine. (Which must be very confusing for him at the moment.)


November 30, 1934 -
W.C. Fields was very busy in 1934 - his fifth film of the year, It's a Gift, co-starring Baby LeRoy, premiered on this date.



The final scene, on Bissonette's "orange ranch", was filmed at the house and property W.C. Fields was living in at the time of the filming. For his entire life, Fields rented living quarters, adamantly refusing to buy a house or land.


November 30, 1956 –
CBS became the first network to broadcast from videotape on this date. It was a rebroadcast to the West Coast of the 15-minute Douglas Edwards and the News program.

The program was broadcast live to the eastern U.S. from New York. It was recorded on 2-inch tape with an Ampex Mark IV machine.


November 30, 1971 -
The TV movie that makes 'real men' weep unabashedly, Brian's Song debuted on ABC-TV on this date.



James Caan initially turned down the role of Brian Piccolo, preferring to focus on his film career, but he liked the script so much that he eventually relented.


November 30, 1977 -
Bing Crosby's last Christmas special premiered on this date. The program was recorded in September, and Crosby died that October.



The show is remembered for Crosby's unusual duet with David Bowie, where they sing a modified version of Little Drummer Boy, with Bowie singing the new Peace On Earth lyrics composed by the show's writers. Even more strange is, when Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in 2010, filmed a shot-for-shot remake, even sticking to the original dialogue.


November 30, 1979 -
Pink Floyd released its album The Wall on this date.



Pink Floyd rarely released singles that were also on an album because they felt their songs were best appreciated in the context of an album, where the songs and the artwork came together to form a theme. Producer Bob Ezrin convinced them that Another Brick In The Wall part II could stand on its own and would not hurt album sales. When the band relented and released it as a single, it became their only #1 hit.


November 30, 1982 -
Michael Jackson’s second solo album, Thriller, produced by Quincy Jones, was released on this date.



Most homes had VCRs in 1983 and sales of videos were big business. Along with the Jane Fonda workout tapes, you could buy a VHS or Beta copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller, which included the full video and also The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a behind the scenes documentary. This tape became the best selling music video at the time, and was later certified by Guinness World Records as the top selling music video of all time, moving nine million units. Part of its appeal was the price, a mere $24.95 at a time when movies on tape cost much more.


November 30, 1990 -
Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's thriller, Misery, premiered on this date.



When Kathy Bates picked up her Oscar and made her speech, one thing she said humorously was, "I would like to thank Jimmy Caan, and apologize publicly for the ankles."


November 30, 1994 -
The Beatles' first album in 25 years, Live at the BBC, is released in Britain on this date.



BBC producer Peter Pilbeam meet an unknown group through their young manager Brian Epstein in February of 1962. He was impressed the group’s four-song audition and thus began a relationship that would span roughly three years, with the Beatles delivering 52 performances for the BBC between 1962 and 1965. Decades later, recordings from these shows would make up the compilation album Live at the BBC.


November 30, 2004 -
Ken Jennings' reign as Jeopardy! champion ended when he lost his 75th game to challenger Nancy Zerg, on this date. The clue: Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year. 



Nancy Zerg, who was in second place with $10,000, revealed her response: H&R Block.  Her $4,401 wager put her just a dollar ahead of Jennings. All eyes were now on the reigning champ.  His answer? ... FedEx. 


More tree lightings to avoid


The focus of Today in History on this date should be used as a guide to help you realize the blessings you should find in life:




On November 30, 1935, the German government proclaimed a failure to accept the tenets of Nazism as grounds for divorce.



Be grateful you never married a Nazi.


Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667,



and Mark Twain was born almost 170 years later, in 1835.



Be grateful that not everyone is taking everything so goddamn seriously.


Winston Churchill (one of my favorite American who became British Prime Minister) was also born on November 30, in 1874, in a coat closet of his family home (really).



Be grateful that not everyone was so grateful for Peas In Our Time.


Otherwise, here are some other events that occurred on this date
November 30, 1858 -
The Mason Jar was invented and patented (U.S. patent #22,186) by Philadelphia tinsmith John Landis Mason.

I wonder if he knew his jar would be used as a cocktail glass.


November 30, 1886 -
George Westinghouse opens the first commercially successful alternating current power plant in the U.S. in Buffalo, New York to compete against Edison’s direct current ventures.



Alternating current power can be transmitted much further than direct current power by using transformers at the source for a higher voltage, which decreases the loss of energy.


November 30, 1900 -
Celebrated Irish author and noted card carrying sodomite Oscar Wilde, died in Paris of meningitis on this date. Wilde had been charged three times with indecency, specifically "the seduction and corruption of young men." Evidence admitted against him included testimony about fecal stains on his sheets.



Be thankful that we obviously have better cleaning detergents than the British did back then.


November 30, 1929 -
Dick Clark, the American Bandstander, was born on this date.



Be thankful the few of us are faced with bargaining with Satan for our careers.


November 30, 1936 -
The Crystal Palace, originally built by Sir Joseph Paxton in London's Hyde Park for the 1851 Great Exhibition, burnt to the ground on this date.



It was said that over 75,000 people came to watch the blaze, among them Winston Churchill, who said, "This is the end of an age". The glow was visible across eight counties.

Be thankful that you weren't down wind from this one.


November 30, 1940 -
Comic actress Lucille Ball first met Cuban-born bandleader Desi Arnaz while filming the Rodgers and Hart stage hit Too Many Girls. At first, Arnaz was not fond of Lucy. When they met again later that day, the two connected immediately and eloped the same year.



They got married in Greenwich, Connecticut on this date. Lucy said "It wasn't love at first sight. It took a full five minutes."


November 30, 1954 -
At 1 pm, an 8.5 pound stone meteorite fell from the sky and struck Ann Elizabeth Hodges from Sylacauga, Alabama. She was the first reported person in modern times to be struck by an object from outer space.



The housewife was seriously bruised but survived, although the meteorite destroyed her radio.

Oh the humanity!

And so it goes