Once again I will remind you gentle readers that I am not a spokesperson for Bombay Sapphire (yet), I find it is a waste to use it, given it's delicate botanicals in a G and T; but hey, what do I know.
Either way, celebrate responsibly
April 9, 1950 -
Bob Hope made his network TV debut on this date, hosting the Star-Spangled Review extravaganza, on NBC. Among the guest stars were Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Dinah Shore, Beatrice Lillie and Carl Reiner.
Hope holds two entries in The Guinness Book of World Records. One is for having the distinction of being the entertainer with "the longest running contract with a single network - spanning sixty-one years". The second is for being the "most honored entertainer", with over 1500 awards.
April 9, 1964 -
Edward Dmytryk's version of Harold Robbin's The Carpetbaggers, starring George Peppard, Alan Ladd, and Carroll Baker premiered in the US on this date.
Once considered so racy it was advertised as being "for adults only", this film was re-released in 1972, and resubmitted to the MPAA for a rating. Indicating how much standards had changed in nearly a decade, it was given a PG (the PG-13 rating having not been created yet).
April 9, 1974 -
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!, the 12th prime-time animated Peanuts TV special debuted on CBS on this date.
When the Peanuts characters arrive at the mall at Easter time, the mall is decorated for the December holiday season with banners that proclaim: Only 246 shopping days until Christmas.
April 9, 1975 -
The very surreal comedy film concerning the Arthurian legend, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, written and performed by Monty Python, and directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, opened in London, on this date.
During one of the first screenings of this movie in front of a live audience, co-writer and co-director Terry Jones noticed that when music was played during the jokes, there was a marked reduction of laughter from the audience. He went back and edited the music out whenever a punchline was delivered. At subsequent screenings, he noticed a dramatic increase in the audiences' positive reactions to the jokes. From that point on, whenever he directed, he remembered to stop the music for the funny parts.
April 9, 1976 -
Alan J. Pakula's version of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's novel, All the President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, went into general release in the US on this date.
The two lead actors memorized each other's lines so that they could interrupt each other in character. This unsettled a lot of the actors they were playing opposite, leading to a greater sense of authenticity.
April 9, 1976 -
The final film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Family Plot, starring Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris and William Devane premiered in the US on this date.
At one point during filming, Bruce Dern questioned Alfred Hitchcock about why he was cast. Hitchcock replied, "Because Mr. Packinow wanted a million dollars, and Hitch doesn't pay a million dollars." It took Dern a while to realize that "Mr. Packinow" was Al Pacino.
April 9, 1977 –
ABBA had their only no. #1 US hit on the Billboard Charts - Dancing Queen, on this date.
ABBA recorded this about a year before it was released. It was written and recorded around the same time as Fernando, which was chosen as the single. They knew Dancing Queen would also be a hit, so they held it until the album was released before issuing it as a single.
April 9, 1990 -
The very short lived series Capital News, starring Lloyd Bridges, William Russ, Helen Slater, and Wendell Pierce, aired on ABC TV, on this date.
The series consisted of one TV movie (also considered as the pilot) and twelve regular episodes, of which only three were shown on its initial run in the US.
April 9, 2009 -
We got to meet Leslie Knope and her co-workers when Parks and Recreations premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
The original pilot received mixed responses from focus group screenings, leading to parts being rewritten and new scenes shot in order to make Leslie and Mark more likable. Originally, Mark was interested in Ann and asked Ron to green-light the park project purely so he could pursue her romantically. This was rewritten so Mark asks for Ron to help Leslie because he genuinely thought she deserved to succeed.
Another episode of ACME's Little known Animal Facts
Today in History:
April 9, 1241 -
In the Battle of Legnica, Silesia, Mongol armies defeated the Poles and Germans and the Mongols slaughtered the entire infantry. Mongols collected nine bags of ears* after the battle with Henry, Duke of Poland, on this date.
*In case you need to win a very bizarre bar bet, apparently you can fit 25,000 ears into nine bags.
April 9, 1492 -
Lorenzo de' Medici died, turning his face to the wall to avoid the verbal abuse from Savonarola, who commands Lorenzo to confess his sins, indecencies and pride and to give the Florentines back their liberty, on this date.
It's very annoying to have your confessor pester you while you lay dying.
April 9, 1830 -
Today marks the birthday of Eadweard Muybridge, born in Kingston upon Thames, England. He emigrated to California in the 1850s, where he took up photography and quickly became one of the first internationally recognized photographers. Between 1867 and 1872, he captured more than 2,000 photographs, many of them stunning views of Yosemite Valley.
Muybridge was a pioneer in photographic technology. He designed a new type of camera capable of capturing an image in one-thousandth of a second. To test this innovation, he set up twenty-four cameras along a racetrack, each triggered by trip wires. With this setup, he managed to capture a series of photographs of a horse in full gallop—proving for the first time that all four of a horse’s hooves can be off the ground simultaneously. The results won a $25,000 bet for his sponsor, Leland Stanford, a businessman, racehorse owner, and soon-to-be Governor of California. Muybridge’s relationship with Stanford would prove both fruitful and enduring.
In 1874, while living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Muybridge discovered that his wife was having an affair with a man named Major Harry Larkyns. On October 17 of that year, Muybridge confronted Larkyns, reportedly saying, “Good evening, Major. My name is Muybridge, and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife,” before fatally shooting him. One is left to wonder what exactly the Major had written to provoke such a response.
Muybridge believed that his wife’s child had been fathered by Larkyns, although in adulthood, the boy bore a striking resemblance to Muybridge himself. He was put on trial for the murder but was acquitted on the grounds of "justifiable homicide." Though the incident temporarily halted his photographic experiments, it did not affect Stanford’s support—he even financed Muybridge’s legal defense.
April 9, 1860 -
A short song was captured on by a phonautograph, a device created by a Parisian inventor, Edouard-Leon Scott deMartinville, on this date. The device etched representations of sound waves into paper covered in soot from a burning oil lamp. Lines were scratched into the soot by a needle moved by a diaphragm that responded to sound.
The recordings were never intended to be played. Technicians in 2008 were able convert the digital scan of the paper into an audio file. The recording consists of about ten seconds of a person singing Au Claire de Lune. The audio file is now recognized as the oldest audible recording of a human voice ever made.
April 9, 1865 -
General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War, on this date. On April 5th, Grant sent a message to his old college friend Lee that said, "General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. P.S. If you could help an old friend out, send more bourbon. I've finished all of the Union's supply of that fine sippin' whisky of yours yesterday and I have a powerful thirst."
Lee wrote back to say, "Though not entirely of the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance ... I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer, on condition of its surrender. Also expect a barrowful of the heavenly nectar with this dispatch. Please tip the delivery boy, you cheap so and so."
And so they met at the Appomattox Court House on April 9th, Palm Sunday, just after noon. Afterward, Lee rode back to his camp, and crowds of Confederate soldiers along the road began to weep as he passed. Little did Grant know that least than a week later, he would have the sad honor of serving as a pallbearer at the funeral of his greatest champion, Abraham Lincoln.
April 9, 1928 -
“If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend or, perhaps, to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.” — Tom Lehrer
On this day in 1928, Tom Lehrer — singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician — was born. A brilliant mind with a biting wit, Lehrer made a career out of skewering politics, society, and human folly through clever, irreverent songs that still resonate today.
Lehrer’s precociousness was evident from an early age. He entered Harvard University at just 15 years old, having skipped several grades. As part of the application process, prospective students were asked to submit a sample of their written work. In true Lehrer fashion, he offered a lengthy poem written in the style of W.S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). The verse concluded with the lines:
I will leave movie thrillers
And watch caterpillars
Get born and pupated and larva'ed,
And I'll work like a slave
And always behave
And maybe I'll get into Harvard...
The entire poem was published in Scholastic Magazine in 1943, marking his first appearance in print — a fitting start for someone who would go on to use rhyme and rhythm to such devastating and hilarious effect.
Tom Lehrer would eventually become a cultural icon, known for songs like “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” “The Vatican Rag,” and “The Elements.” With his crisp piano playing, dry humor, and unmatched ability to turn societal taboos into singable satire, he left an indelible mark on comedy, music, and political commentary alike.
So today, in celebration of Tom Lehrer’s 97th birthday, let us all throw open the windows of our homes and shout "Happy Birthday!" while gleefully scattering tainted bird seed in his honor.
Because if there's anything we've learned from Lehrer, it’s that the absurd deserves a standing ovation — preferably in perfect meter.
April 9, 1939 -
In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Marian Anderson, an African-American contralto singer, to perform in front of an integrated audience in Constitution Hall.
With the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on this date, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.
April 9, 1959 -
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduces America's first astronauts for Project Mercury to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil 'Gus' Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr. and Donald Slayton, on this date.
The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America's first manned space program .
April 9, 1963 -
The first foreigner to receive honorary United States citizenship on this date, was Winston Churchill (whose mother had been American).
Only Sir Winston, Raoul Wallenberg, William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn, Mother Teresa, Casimir Pulaski, and the Marquis de LaFayette share this distinction. But it was the first time that Congress had actually resolved that honorary citizenship be bestowed, by the President of the United States, on a foreign national.
April 9, 1965 -
TIME magazine featured a cover with the entire Peanuts gang on this date.
After the Peanuts made the cover of TIME magazine, an advertising agent for the Coca-Cola company who had seen the Charles Schulz documentary produced by Lee Mendelson. The agent asked if Mendelson had thought about creating a Peanuts Christmas special. Mendelson fibbed that he had; the following day, he and Schulz came up with the story. A Charlie Brown Christmas is the longest-running cartoon special in history, airing every year since its debut in 1965.
April 9, 2021 -
It's better to get out before you reach the sell-by date. ...
As to all, death came to everyone's favorite itinerant Greek sailor Philip Mountbatten on this date.
And so it goes.
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