Happy National Submarine Day!
National Submarine Day is celebrated annually on April 11th to commemorate the U.S. Navy's acquisition of its first modern commissioned submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1), on this day in 1900.
The USS Holland was designed by Irish-American inventor John Phillip Holland. The Holland VI prototype was purchased for $150,000 on this date It was the first to successfully utilize dual propulsion (gasoline for surface, electric for submerged) and modern weaponry.
Feel better knowing this
April 11, 1942 -
The Looney Tunes short, Saps in Chaps, directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date.
This is the last black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon that Friz Freleng directed.
April 11, 1942 -
Bob Clampett was the first to tackle an adaption of a Dr. Seuss book when Merrie Melodies released Horton Hatches the Egg, on this date.
Peter Lorre was a favorite characterization for the famed Warner Bros. cartoonists, as he tangled several times with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
April 11, 1947 -
Charlie Chaplin's very dark comedy, Monsieur Verdoux, premiered on this date in NYC.
The film was a colossal box-office flop on its 1947 release, despite being ardently championed by writer-critic James Agee, who considered Charles Chaplin's acting performance the greatest male performance he had ever seen in films.
April 11, 1955 -
The Paddy Chayefsky drama, Marty, starring Ernest Borgnine (the man who taught Ethel Merman the lessons of love) and Betsy Blair and directed by Delbert Mann, premiered in New York City on this date.
Film historians have credited this film for demonstrating the viability of low budget films in the United States. It also showed the potential for independently-produced films. This led to the proliferation of such films. Studio executives knew low budget, independent, and realistic films had been successful in Europe for many years. However, most studios remained skeptical about the possibility of such successes in the United States..
April 11, 1973 -
In one of the show's most memorable moments, Stevie Wonder plays a funky, live version of Superstition on Sesame Street, on this date.
The song was originally intended for Jeff Beck, who was brought in to play some guitar parts on the album in exchange for a song. At one of the sessions, Stevie came up with the riff and wrote some lyrics, and they recorded a rough version of the song that day for Beck. It took Beck a while to record the song, and by the time he released it, Wonder's version had been out for a month and was a huge hit.
April 11, 1980 -
ABC's attempt at live late-night sketch comedy, Fridays, premiered on this date.
Michael Richards, Larry David, Bruce Mahler, Maryedith Burrell and Melanie Chartoff would all work on Seinfeld in various capacities.
April 11, 1981 –
One of the songs that aired on MTV's first day of broadcast - Daryl Hall and John Oates' Kiss on My List, reached no. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.
This is a very misinterpreted song, as many people hear the lyric as "kiss on my lips." According to Daryl Hall, it is what he calls "an anti-love song," and the lyric, "Your kiss is on my list of the best things in life" means that the kiss is simply another item on the guy's list - and certainly not the best thing. Said Hall: "Everyone thinks it's 'I love you and without you I would die.' It's exactly the opposite of that."
April 11, 1983 -
R.E.M. release their debut album, Murmur, on this date.
Radio Free Europe was R.E.M.'s first single, released in 1981 before they signed to a major label. A better-produced version was included on Murmur, the band's first full-length album, in 1983.
April 11, 1997 -
Buena Vista Pictures' surprise hit, Grosse Pointe Blank, starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, and Joan Cusack, premiered in the US on this date.
The director originally planned to shoot the high school scenes at Grosse Pointe South High, but was unable to get permission from the school board. They felt that it would be inappropriate to show someone graduating from Grosse Pointe's school system to become a hit man.
April 11, 2009 –
Lady Gaga second hit off her debut album The Fame, Poker Face, hit no. #1 on the Billboard charts, on this date.
When this song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Lady Gaga became the first artist to top the chart with his or her first two entries since 1999-2000, when Christina Aguilera achieved the same feat with Genie in a Bottle and What a Girl Wants.
Today in History:
April 11, 1034 -
An ancient corollary—lost to the ages—of the phrase "Don't go to bed mad," may very well have been "Don't take a bath mad." After cutting his wife's allowance in an attempt to balance the Byzantine Empire’s budget, Emperor Romanos III Argyros was drowned in his bath on this date — allegedly by the eunuch (and probable lover) of Empress Zoe, a man named Michael.
April 11, 1713 -
Psst... in case it ever comes up in conversation: Spain ceded Gibraltar in perpetuity to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht on this date.
That should impress the person in the next cubicle—or at least win you a few points at trivia night.
April 11, 1814 -
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
He was allowed to retain his title of Emperor and was granted sovereignty over the small Mediterranean island of Elba, along with a modest pension and a personal guard of 400 volunteers. Island life, however, didn’t quite suit the little general. Less than a year later, he returned for his famous Hundred Days campaign (see: March 20), as retirement simply didn’t agree with him.
April 11, 1865 -
President Abraham Lincoln delivered what would be his final public speech on this date. Speaking from a window at the White House, he advocated for limited voting rights for African Americans.
Among the crowd was actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Enraged by Lincoln’s words, Booth reportedly turned to a companion and said, “That means n**** citizenship. That is the last speech he will ever give.” Booth, who had previously plotted to kidnap the president, now resolved to assassinate him.
April 11, 1890 -
Joseph "John" Merrick, better known as The Elephant Man, died at the Royal London Hospital on this date at the age of 27.
Although long believed to have suffered from Elephantiasis, modern experts suggest that Merrick likely had Proteus Syndrome or possibly neurofibromatosis type I (formerly called von Recklinghausen’s disease). Either condition would account for the severe deformities that plagued his short but remarkable life
April 11, 1905 -
Albert Einstein, then a lowly patent clerk in Switzerland, published a groundbreaking paper that would revolutionize physics: the Special Theory of Relativity. Among its propositions was the now-iconic equation: E = mc².
The world was astonished, as previously, “E” had always just been the fifth letter of the alphabet.
April 11, 1935 -
Richard Berry, the composer of Louie Louie, was born on this date.
The song has been recorded more times than any other rock song in history.
April 11, 1947 - Jackie Robinson took to the field on this date, for the Brooklyn Dodgers in an exhibition match between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees becoming the first black player to play in Major league baseball.
April 11, 1951 -
The Stone of Scone, the legendary coronation stone of Scottish monarchs, was discovered at the altar of the ruined Arbroath Abbey on this date. Scottish nationalist students had stolen it from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, as a symbolic act of defiance.
It had been at Westminster since 1296, taken by Edward I as spoils of war, and kept in spite of the Treaty of Northampton in 1328, in which England agreed to return it to Scotland. In 1996, it was transported to Edinburgh Castle, arriving on St. Andrew’s Day, and is now in the Crown Room alongside the crown jewels of Scotland. It will be briefly returned for future coronation ceremonies to Westminster Abbey.
April 11, 1951 -
President Harry S. Truman roused himself from the fourth boiler maker of the day and relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command on this date. Though MacArthur was a major force in the army in both World War II and Korea, he repeatedly ignored or stretched Truman's orders, suggesting the nuclear option on the peninsula.
Despite his fame from WWII and the Korean War, MacArthur had repeatedly challenged Truman’s authority and advocated for the use of nuclear weapons in Korea. Truman reminded MacArthur—and the nation—that military leaders serve under civilian authority. The general’s dismissal was controversial, but a key moment in preserving the principle of civilian control of the military.
April 11, 1954 -
According to a team of Cambridge University scientists, this date in history was the most boring day during the entire 20th Century.
Everything goes better with fondue,
And nothing organizes your music collection quite like a K-tel Tape Selector.
April 11, 1979 -
Kampala, the capital of Uganda, fell to Tanzanian forces on this date, officially toppling dictator Idi Amin.
Amin, a brutal and erratic ruler responsible for the deaths of an estimated 300,000 people (and an occasional cannibal, just to keep things interesting), fled to Libya and eventually found asylum in Saudi Arabia. His fatal mistake? Invading Tanzania — a move that, historically, hasn’t worked out well for megalomaniacs with dietary quirks.
And so it goes.
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