If you're planning to go to someone else's house for Thanksgiving dinner next week, you probably should have already left to beat the traffic, but that's just me.
Today is also the feast day of St. Cecilia. According to legend, Cecilia was a young Christian of high rank betrothed to a Roman named Valerian. Through her influence, Valerian was converted, and was promptly martyred along with his brother, Tiburtius.
Hey, I don't try to explain everything. Go have a discuss with those old ladies in the back of the church saying their novenas
November 22, 1940 -
The Letter, starring Bette Davis (at her best) premiered in NYC on this date.
Jack L. Warner originally asked William Wyler to test James Stephenson for the role of the lawyer. Wyler was surprised at how suited Stephenson was for the part and then was astonished when Warner balked at casting him, worrying about the stock player's lack of name recognition. Wyler insisted on keeping him, putting him in the odd position of having to fight to cast an actor that Warner had originally suggested.
November 22, 1944 -
The film that introduced the perennial holiday song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meet Me In St. Louis, premiered in St. Louis, Missouri, on this date.
Following Margaret O'Brien's rapid ascent to stardom, her mother believed they were entitled to a significant raise, and she used this film as leverage, realizing how integral the role of Tootie was to the story. MGM counter offered by announcing the casting of Sharon McManus in O'Brien's place. McManus was the daughter of a studio electrician and the brass went so far as to fit her with costumes, assuming this would pressure O'Brien's mother into accepting their terms. But she held fast, and MGM was ultimately forced to concede to her demands for the salary increase. Once production was underway, O'Brien was filming a scene when McManus' father, who was employed on the film, intentionally dropped a heavy lighting instrument from the catwalk to the sound stage floor, narrowly missing the pint-sized star. He was taken away and briefly admitted to a mental institution for his deed.
November 22, 1963 -
Unbeknownst to Phil Spector, he unfortunately chose this date to release his holiday record, A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, which he worked on all summer with his best musicians.
Given the timing with the events in Dallas this day, the album suffers dismal sales initial. Later, the album would go on to be ranked No. 142 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2012. And in 2017, it was ranked the 130th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.
November 22, 1965 -
The documentary, Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees, narrated by Orson Welles, premiered on CBS, on this date.
Watched by over 25 million viewers, the documentary brings Jane Goodall to international attention.
November 22, 1967 -
Embassy Pictures' film, The Producers, directed by Mel Brooks (in his directorial debut,) and starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars, premiered in Pittsburgh, PA, on this date.
Roger Ebert recalled how he was in an elevator with Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft in New York City after the film premiered. A woman got onto the elevator, recognized him and said, "I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar." Brooks replied, "Lady", he said, "it rose below vulgarity."
November 22, 1968 -
The Beatles released their long-awaited double album, simply called The Beatles, but better known as The White Album.
The album was the first the Beatles undertook following the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, and the first released by their own record label, Apple.
November 22, 1975 –
KC and the Sunshine Band song, That’s the Way (I Like It), hit No #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.
This was the second of an astounding five US #1 hits from KC and The Sunshine Band. Their first #1 was Get Down Tonight, which gave them the template for songs like this. Like all their hits, this was written by their bass player/producer Rick Finch and frontman Harry Wayne Casey.
November 22, 1989 -
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction film, Back to the Future Part II, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson, in general release in the U.S. on this date.
The plot line of George McFly being dead in 1985 was based entirely on Crispin Glover's refusal to do the sequel.
November 22, 1991 -
Barry Sonnenfeld take on Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons, The Addams Family, starring Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci, premiered on this date.
The idea for the film came during a car ride. Scott Rudin, head of production at 20th Century Fox, was riding in a van with other company executives one day after a movie screening. "Everyone was there (studio chiefs) Barry Diller, Leonard Goldberg, and (marketing chief) Tom Sherak, when Tom's kid started singing The Addams Family TV series theme," Rudin told the Los Angeles Times. "And suddenly everyone in the van was singing the theme, letter perfect, note for note." The next day, Rudin proposed to Diller and Goldberg that they make an Addams Family movie, and they went for it.
November 22, 1994 -
Epic Records released the third album of Pearl Jam's, Vitalogy, on this date, but only on vinyl. Their CD was released two weeks later on December 6th.
Vinyl was completely outdated and not yet retro-cool, but many people still had record players and Pearl Jam liked the imperfect sound, with the scratches and blips providing a different listening experience each time.
November 22, 1995 -
Toy Story was released, as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery, on this date.
Sid Phillips is said to be inspired by a former Pixar employee of the same last name who was known to disassemble toys and use the parts to build bizarre creations.
Another unimportant moment in history
Today in History:
November 22, 1888 -
According to the Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel,
Tarzan of the Apes (Lord Greystoke) was born on this date.
November 22, 1928 -
Maurice Ravel composition Boléro has it's first public performance in Paris on this date.
Boléro became Ravel's most famous composition, much to the surprise of the composer, who had predicted that most orchestras would refuse to play it.
November 22, 1963 -
We, in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. - from the address that President John F. Kennedy never got to deliver in Dallas on this date.
A covert CIA operation privately funded by a plutocratic cabal of multinational industrial interests acting in conjunction with extraterrestrial forces and the Knights Templar succeeded in making it appear that Lee Harvey Oswald had assassinated President Kennedy, on this date.
Or if this is too much for you, you can always believe in the MAGIC BULLET.
Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office on this date, hours after President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, on Air Force One. Johnson's hasty swearing-in was the first time the ceremony has occurred on an airplane and also marked the first time a woman administered the oath of office. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath to Johnson.
November 22, 1963 -
The Steam Ferry Cornelius G. Kolff vanished without a trace, on this date. On its way with nearly 400 people, mostly on their way to work, the disappearance of the Cornelius G. Kolff remains both one of New York’s most horrific maritime tragedies and perhaps its most intriguing mystery.
You probable think that you never heard about this event because it was overshadowed by the assassination of JFK that same day - but you never heard about it because it never happened. Artist Joe Reginella created the elaborate hoax using slick brochures, a web site and even a statue are luring hapless tourists to a far corner of Staten Island in search of a museum devoted to the made-up tragedy.
November 22, 1968 -
Many a KKK member and Daughter of the Civil War were given the vapors on this date in history.
Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) share the first interracial kiss (of major characters on a series) in TV history on Star Trek on this date.
November 22, 1975 -
Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias was proclaimed King of Spain after he confirms with advisers that Francisco Franco planned to be dead for a while.
Juan Carlos is related to both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (and as you know they are related to each other.) To confuse matters even more, his wife Queen Sofia, is related to all three of them. King Juan Carlos had to abdicate in favor of his son, Felipe VI (who is so related to King Charles through all four of the above mentioned people that they are practically first cousins,) proving once again, sometimes it's not good to be the king who spends too much money.
Oh, love among the royals.
November 22, 1998 –
CBS’s series 60 Minutes aired an interview with Dr. Jack Kevorkian showing him administer a lethal injection in an assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient, on this date.
Kevorkian was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder. He served a little more than 8 years before being paroled.
Before you go - Greggs UK (completely unknown in the US) makes savory pastries, think sausage rolls. Somehow, the very posh Nigella Lawson (think a younger Martha Stewart,) has made her very first Christmas advert for them:
All I can guess is that she ran out of her settlements from her divorce from Charles Saatchi in 2013.
In case you needed one, here's a great appetizer to bring
And so it goes
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