Officials are urging people to avoid looking at the sun without the certified glasses, as it can cause permanent eye damage. While these glasses are dark, black sunglasses are not a substitute because you could still cause damage to your eyes.
The next time a solar eclipse passes over the United States will be 2044. Get out there and check it out, safely!
It may be the birthday of Siddhartha Gautama, (if you're reading this in Japan and I'm sure I have many readers there) ACME would like to wish you Namo Amituofo -
And in Tibet it's usually a month later.
April 8, 1953 -
Columbia Pictures released the first 3-D feature by a major studio, Man in the Dark, directed by Lew Landers and starring Edmond O'Brien, Audrey Totter and Ted de Corsia, on this date.
Despite reaching theaters first, House of Wax, which will open the following day, will be heavily promoted by Warner Brothers as “the first feature produced by a major studio in 3-D.”
April 8, 1968 -
The TV special Petula airs on NBC on this date. Most people would not remember this special except at one point in the show, host Petula Clark grabs hold of Harry Belafonte's arm while they are singing a duet.
As bizarre as this may seem, the show marked the first time a man and a woman of different races had physical contact on American television.
April 8, 1975 -
Aerosmith released their third album Toys In The Attic, on this date.
The album is their most commercially successful studio LP in the US, selling over eight million copies.
April 8, 1977 -
CBS Records released the debut studio eponymous named album by The Clash, on this date.
The group was signed by a CBS-affiliated record company for 100,000 British pounds, an unprecedented sum for a group who had little noteworthy performance history. Many of the punk establishment criticized the group for selling out, but the records were received well in the UK.
April 8, 1978 -
The TV comedy series, Another Day, starring David Groh and Joan Hackett aired on CBS TV on this date.
Apparently, audiences weren't into this show, as it was canceled after only four episodes.
April 8, 1979 -
The 204th and final episode of All in the Family, Too Good Edith, aired on this date.
The series would come back in the fall in the less successful offering, Archie's Place.
April 8, 1983 -
In front of a live audience of 20 tourists, David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear. A large opaque screen appeared between two giant pillars. When the screen fell, the Statue of Liberty vanished. Then the screen went back up, and when it fell again, the statue was back.
The secret to the Lady Liberty illusion was nothing more than a rotating platform. Copperfield had seated his audience on a surface that turned via a hydraulics system. He then raised the curtain and kept the audience distracted with loud music and general showmanship, while the platform was slowly rotated a few degrees. Then, when the curtain was lowered, one of the pillars that had previously supported it now blocked the audience's view of the statue. In the area that the platform now faced, Copperfield and his team had set up a circle of lights identical to the ones that encircled the real Liberty.
April 8, 1990 -
It wasn't a very good day for Laura Palmer - The cult series Twin Peaks, the series about cherry pie and Damn fine cup o' coffee!, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
The series was originally to be titled Northwest Passage. The character of Josie Packard (played by Joan Chen) was originally named Giovanna "Jo" Pasqualini Packard, and was intended to be played by Isabella Rossellini, who was dating David Lynch at the time.
April 8, 1991 -
English trip hop group Massive Attack released their debut studio album Blue Lines, on this date.
Massive Attack at the time was a three-man production team: Robert "3D" Del Naja, Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles. They used various vocalists on their song. It has been long rumored that the artist Banksy is Massive Attack singer Robert “3D” Del Naja.
April 8, 2000 -
In a Saturday Night Live skit where Blue Öyster Cult is recording (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Christopher Walken demands more cowbell from Will Ferrell, who complies.
A catch phrase is born
Word of the Day
(Just one more day of an abbreviated posting)
Today in History:
Once again, some days, it's NOT good to be the king -
April 8, 217 -
The very hygienically minded Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoniius) Roman emperor (188 – 217) was murdered by one of his guards with a single sword stroke while defecating.
Not a pleasant way to go . . but don’t feel too sorry for him. He shared the empire with brother Geta until he had Geta’s throat cut as he lay in their mother’s arms.
April 8, 1143 -
John II Comnenus Emperor of Byzantium (1118-43), died when he was accidentally infected by a poisoned arrow while out hunting.
April 8, 1364 -
John II the Good, King of France (1350-64), died at 44 after a night of heavy drinking in London.
April 8, 1498 -
Charles VIII the Affable, King of France (1483-98), died in a freak tennis accident -
striking himself on the head while passing through a doorway, leaving the tennis court. A few hours later, he fell into a sudden coma and died.
Tennis - it's an extreme sport.
April 8, 1820 -
The famous marble sculpture, the Venus de Milo, was discovered on the island of Milos by Yorgos Kentrotas and a French naval officer, Jules Dumont d'Urville on this date.
The Marquis de Rivière presented it to Louis XVIII, who donated it to the Louvre the following year. The complete arms were never found.
April 8, 1832 -
Some 300 American troops of the 6th Infantry, lead by Brigadier General Henry Atkinson left Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, to confront the Sauk Indians in what would become known as the Black Hawk War, on this date.
This is one of history's funny coincidences, in which Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis led troops on the same side - Lincoln as a captain of militia, Davis as a lieutenant of Regulars.
Impress the habitués of your local tavern.
April 8, 1904 -
Mayor George B. McClellan signed the resolution on this date, changing the name of Long Acre Square in Manhattan, New York, to Times Square.
April 8, 1950 -
Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky, one of the most gifted male dancers in history - celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations, died on this date, in a psychiatric hospital in London.
No film exists of Nijinsky dancing. Sergei Diaghilev never allowed his ballet company, the Ballets Russes, to be filmed. He felt that the quality of film at the time could never capture the artistry of his dancers and that the reputation of the company would suffer if people saw it only in short jerky films.
April 8, 1973 -
...Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink any more....
Pablo Ruiz Picasso, one of the most recognized figures in twentieth-century art, he is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the wide variety of styles embodied in his work and sleeping with almost anything that moved, died on this date.
April 8, 1974 -
The largest crowd in Atlanta Braves history (53,775) on this date, watched Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth's home run record on this date with a hit in the 4th inning off Los Angeles pitcher Al Downing. The ball landed in the Braves bullpen where reliever Tom House caught it.
While cannons were firing in celebration and Aaron rounded the bases, two college students appeared and ran alongside of him before security stepped in.
April 8, 1986 -
Clint Eastwood was elected on this date; with twice the voter turn out showing up, Clint got a whopping 72.5 % of the vote. He was the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California for two years.
As mayor, Eastwood adopted a pro-business and tourism stance. He overturned, for instance, a local law banning the sale and consumption of ice cream on Carmel's streets.
April 8 1994 -
Kurt Cobain's body was found three days after committing suicide with a shotgun.
That was probably not a pretty sight (I won't even mention the smell - definitely not teen spirit.)
April 8, 1997 -
Singer-songwriter Laura Nyro died at age 49 of ovarian cancer, on this date.
Laura Nyro was discovered thanks to her father's persistence. Lou Nigro was a trumpeter and piano tuner and was working on a piano for A&R exec Artie Mogull when he just couldn't keep quiet about his daughter's songwriting talents. Exasperated, Mogull finally told Lou to bring Laura by sometime. "Next day, this little, short, unattractive girl comes up," Mogull recalled, "and the first three songs she plays are Wedding Bell Blues, Stoney End, and then When I Die. I almost fainted. I went crazy."
And so it goes.
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