A better way to watch the evening news

Another Sesame Street mashup (not from Sesame Street), this time John Oliver and Cookie Monster report from W-ORD Channel 7 News



And that's the way the cookie crumbles


September 3, 1983 -
One of the songs that defined MTV in the 80s, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics, giving them their only US chart topper..



In 1978, Squeeze had a UK hit with Take Me I'm Yours, which features the line "Dreams are made of this" in the chorus.



Marilyn Manson recorded the song in 1995, giving a much darker tone to the song.



(In Manson's auto-biography, he related to this song by mentioning that he met people who wanted to be abused by him; and who wanted to use him as well.)


September 3, 1965 -
Carlos Irwin Estévez, actor, substance abuser and noted panderer is another year older today.



Say what you want about Charlie; he seems to know how to live on his own terms and makes it work.


September 3, 1973 -
The Rolling Stones released their hit, Angie, on this date.



The big rumor about this song is that it was written about David Bowie's wife, Angela, who wrote in her autobiography that she once walked in on Bowie and Mick Jagger in bed together - a story Jagger vehemently denies.


September 3, 1982 -
Cameron Crowe's coming of age teen comedy (directed by Amy Heckerling), Fast Times at Ridgemont High, opened on this date.



For his masturbation scene, Judge Reinhold brought a large dildo to work with, unbeknown to the rest of the cast. Phoebe Cates look of horror and disgust is very real.


Today in History:
On September 3, 301, during an epic game of hide-and-seek, St. Marinus the Stonemason ran up Mount Titano in Italy to hide from the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

It was a good hiding spot and he was never found.



He started his own country to pass the time and Most Serene Republic of San Marino survives to this day.


On September 3, 1189, Richard Lionheart, an enthusiastic french speaking sodomite (which was technical illegal in England,) was crowned King of England on this date.



The son of Henry II (no relation to Rocky II) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard spent most of his ten-year reign abroad. For two of these years he was imprisoned by the Holy Roman Emperor, who was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an emperor, but a nasty little man just the same.



When Richard finally returned to English soil he discovered there had been Intrigues, some of which involved his brothers. He therefore crossed the Channel and defeated France before dying from an arrow wound to the neck inflicted by an 11 year old boy.



He had only produced one son, and the most crushing defeat of Richard's tragic life was his discovery that the child was a little bastard.


September 3, 1838 -
Frederick Douglass escaped slavery disguised as a sailor on this date. Later he wrote about his experiences in a book called The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, the title of which may have diminished the effectiveness of his disguise.

(Publishers thought The Narrative Life of a Muscular and Barechested Black Guy Wearing Snug Fitting Sailor Pants with No Underwear would have limited appeal outside certain fetishist circles.)


September 3, 1939 -
Germany continued its invasion of Poland even though Britain had asked it very nicely to stop.



This upset the British sensibility. They declared war on Germany, France followed suit six hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, making this the official launch of World War II in Europe on this date.


September 3, 2004 -
A siege on a Russian school ended with more than 300 people dead, many of them children.  The school had been taken hostage by Chechen terrorists on September 1st.



To bring an end to the hostage situation, the Russian military (purportedly under direct order from President Vladimir Putin, who was able to use the crisis to consolidate more power for the Russian Presidency) stormed the school with explosives. 334 hostages died and several hundred others were injured or missing.



And so it goes

Remember to wish everybody, "Off with their heads!"

On the long list of make believe holidays that litter the internet, today is National Beheading Day. I'm still hoping to convince the board of directors of ACME to become the main corporate sponsor.



So remember to wish your friends and neighbors Happy National Beheading Day. Enjoy the odd look they give you.


September 2, 1950 -
This program is brought to you by the Eagle Hands Laundry. Does your eagle have dirty mitts?

Another classic Daffy/ Porky outing, The Ducksters, was released on this date. (I still have to watch this cartoon on the sly in my home - I laugh too much and too loudly.)



On the game show Porky Pig wins:
1. The Rocky Mountains
2. A 17- Jewel half Nelson
3. The La Brea Tar Pits
4. The Rock of Gibraltar
5. 600 gallons of genuine Niagara Falls
6. $26,000,000.03


September 2, 1965 -
The Rolling Stones appeared on the British TV show Ready Steady Go! on this date.



The boys all joined in a parody of Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe.

Oh those scalliwags!


Today in History -
Phidippides of Athens sets out on his famous run that inspired the Marathon on this date in 490 BC

(we'll catch up with this foolhearty soul later.)


September 2, 1666 -
Thomass Farrinor forgot to put out his oven at the end of his shift, on this date.



Unfortunately, the resulting fire cost him his job as official baker to King Charles II of England and started the Great Fire of London. (Quite surprisingly, only six people 'officially' were declared dead because of the fire. To remember the fire, the city of London erected a monument. Six people have committed suicide by jumping off of it, and two have fallen accidentally to their deaths. You might hear this fun fact repeated on tours or forums: more people have died from falling off the monument than died in the fire. But it's not true - more like several hundred and quite possibly several thousand; very poor people likely died in the fire, burnt so beyond recognition (and not on the 'official radar') that their remains were not counted.



On the plus side, it burned out of control and destroyed four-fifths of London, thereby ending the Black Plague.


Lydia Kamekeha Liliuokalani was born on this date in 1838.

Upon the death of her brother in 1891, she became sovereign Queen of Hawaii. This was considered posing by the American colonials of Hawaii, who reminded her that monarchy was unconstitutional in the United States.



She reminded them that Hawaii was not part of the United States. This was more than unconstitutional: it was cheeky.



She was immediately deposed, then wrote wrote Aloha Oe and retired.

(If I were Mr Obama, I would have been hesitant to show my birth certificate.)


September 2, 1901 -
Twelve days before the assassination of President William McKinley, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair on this date.



Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis."


USS Shenandoah was the first of four United States Navy rigid airships. She was built from 1922 to 1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and first flew in September, 1923. She developed the Navy's experience with rigid airships, even making the first crossing of the North American continent by airship.

On September 2, 1925, Shenandoah departed Lakehurst on a promotional flight to the Midwest which would include flyovers of 40 cities and visits to state fairs. Testing of a new mooring mast at Dearborn, Michigan was included in the schedule.



While passing through an area of thunderstorms and turbulence over Ohio early in the morning of the 3rd, the airship was torn apart and crashed in several pieces near Caldwell, Ohio. Shenandoah's commanding officer, Commander Zachary Lansdowne and 13 other officers and men were killed.


September 2, 1930 -
Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Lt. Maurice Bellonte arrived in Valley Stream, N.Y. from Paris (3,852 miles) in 37 hours and 18 minutes, aboard the Question Mark - the first non-stop westbound fixed wing aircraft flight between Europe and America.



The flight was a commemorative return visit of Lindberg's historical flight to Paris in 1927


Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, Prisoner of Love and the legend surrounding his early death.



On September 2, 1934, Columbo was shot under peculiar circumstances by his longtime friend, photographer Lansing Brown. Columbo was visiting him at the studio one day. In lighting a cigarette, Brown lit the match by striking it against the wooden stock of an antique French dueling pistol. The flame set off a long-forgotten charge in the gun, and a lead pistol ball was fired. The pistol ball ricocheted off a nearby table and hit Columbo in the left eye, killing him almost instantly.

Columbo's death was ruled an accident, and Brown exonerated from blame. His funeral mass was attended by numerous Hollywood luminaries, including Bing Crosby and Columbo's fiancée Carole Lombard.

Literally, with friends like this, who needs enemies.


September 2, 1945 -
In front of an assembled group of Allied sailors and officers, General Douglas MacArthur signed documents during the surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri on this date.



The unconditional surrender of the Japanese to the Allies officially ended the Second World War six years and a day since it began in Poland back in 1939. (Remember, those Hitler World Tour T-Shirts are still quite valuable.)


September 2, 1969 -
Six weeks after landing men on the moon, America's first automatic teller machine (ATM), at the time called the Docuteller, made its public debut on this date, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. 

It marked the first time reusable, magnetically coded cards were used to withdraw cash. Today there are well over 1 million ATMs around the world, with a new one added approximately every five minutes.



And so it goes.

Of course this wasn't filmed in NYC

Bissell has an interesting way to promote their new Symphony All-in-One cleaner



If this were filmed in NYC, the rats would have eaten the food on the floor before he finished tucking in his napkin.


September is the ninth month of the year, which is why its name is derived from the Latin Septem, meaning seven. (We have previously addressed this problem last month; see August, the Sixth Month.)  In Slovakia, September is "the time when the goats rut," and in Russia, September is "the gloomy month or the month of dirt,"  (the anticipation of this month could explain much of Mr. Putin's recent behavior.) The Basque refer to it as "ear month," and the Congolese, "sánza ya libwá" (Ninth month), the Irish called it "the month of plenty", and the Estonian, "September."



September is Great American Breakfast Month, Internet Safety Month (remember always use protection while surfing the net), National Pleasure Your Mate Month (again - protection), Cable TV Month (except for Comcast subscribers) and Pediculosis Prevention Month (I beg you, don't look it up), as well as Metaphysical Awareness Month and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.



So remember, if you notice someone with their thumbs up their ass, they may just be celebrating.

Since September ends with an 'r',



join The Walrus and The Carpenter in their discussion of cabbages and kings (Dare to eat an oyster today.)


While you're enjoying your last hot dog and ice cold beer of the summer today, let's remember that there is actual a point to Labor Day -



to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers.


It's Emma M. Nutt Day, the first woman telephone operator, hired in 1878. She was hired personally by Alexander Graham Bell. A few hours after Emma started work her sister Stella Nutt became the world's second female telephone operator.

She loved the job, and worked at it for 33 years. Emma, reportedly, was able to remember every single phone number in the New England Telephone Company directory.

She apparently had no life.


September 1, 1902 -
Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon),written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston, considered to be the first science fiction movie, was released on this date.



It is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells.


September 1, 1939 -
Mary Jean Tomlin, Academy Award nominated, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award winning actress, comedian, writer and producer was born on this date.








One of her first "professional" gigs was as a waitress in Howard Johnson's on Broadway near Times Square. Her comments to customers and staff heard over the eatery's microphone attracted her first big-city audience.


September 1, 1938 -
Frank Capra bounced back from the disastrous reviews of Lost Horizon, released the previous year, with You Can't Take It with You, which opened in NYC on this date.



Shortly before filming began, Lionel Barrymore lost the use of his legs to crippling arthritis and a hip injury. To accommodate him, the script was altered so that his character had a sprained ankle, and Barrymore did the film on crutches. Barrymore would receive injections every hour to help relieve the pain of his arthritis.


September 1, 1947 -
The screwball comedy, which won Sidney Sheldon an won an Academy Award for the screenplay, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, opened nationwide on this date.



Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple play sisters in the film yet Myrna Loy was more than 20 years older that Shirley Temple.


September 1, 1972 -
David Bowie released John, I'm only Dancing in the U.K. on this date.



The official video features dancers from Lindsay Kemp's mime troupe (Kemp trained both Bowie and Kate Bush in dance). Top of the Pops banned the video as they considered it too provocative.


Today in History:
September 1, 1854 -
Engelbert Humperdinck was born on this date,



No, that that one,



this one, the German opera composer.


September 1, 1897 -
The first subway in North America was opened in Boston on this date. Trolley car grid-lock and street congestion on main thoroughfares motivated the Massachusetts Legislature to authorize the construction of the subway.



The "cut and cover" method of construction was used, with a deep trench dug or "cut" on Tremont Street, and a steel structure built around it and then filled in or "covered up." The Budapest Subway, and the later Paris Metro, were visited by the Boston subway designers.


September 1, 1914 –
The last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo on this date. There are various reasons for the extinction of the passenger pigeon - the main one unfortunately was they tasted so damn good broasted.



Her body was frozen into a block of ice and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it was skinned and mounted. Currently, Martha (named after Martha Washington) is in the museum's archived collection, and is once again on temporary display (celebrating the 100th anniversary of her demise.)


September 1, 1923 -
The worst earthquake in Japan's history hit the Kanto Plain between Tokyo and Yokohama with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale. The earthquake and subsequent fires killed nearly 140,000 people and destroyed most of both cities.



The fires started because the earthquake occurred at noon, when charcoal cooking stoves were in use.

People, please stop using your hibatchis in your rice paper houses.


September 1, 1939 -
Germany, ever eager to start their Second World War Tour, began, it at 5:30AM on this date when German troops invade Poland.



Hitler was so happy that day, he orders extermination of mentally ill on this day as well.


And so it goes.

Just think how clean your innards can get.

Another video has gone viral about the magical cleansing properties of Coca-Cola (even without cocaine.)



You know what - on second thought - maybe you don't want to to think about your insides and soda coursing through them.


August 31, 1929 -
RKO released the musical film-short St. Louis Blues, starring singer Bessie Smith, on this date.



At W.C. Handy's suggestion, Bessie Smith was picked to be the star of the film. Bessie had scored a huge hit in 1925 with her recording of "St. Louis Blues", which had featured Louis Armstrong on cornet. It was Bessie Smith's only film appearence.


August 31, 1945 -
Let's all wish the intensely  litigious and curmudgeonly, George Ivan Morrison, singer and songwriter, happy birthday.





Van the Man, is still the greatest living blue-eyed soul singer.


August 31, 1946 -
Howard Hawks' version of Raymond Chandlers classic Philip Marlowe yarn (William Faulkner was one of the screen writers), The Big Sleep, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was put into general release on this date.



William Faulkner came out to Hollywood to work on this film, but found that being around the set didn't agree with him, so he asked Howard Hawks if he could work "from home." Hawks agreed, assuming that Faulkner meant from his Hollywood apartment. Instead, Faulkner returned to his home in Oxford, Mississippi, leaving Hawks rather unhappy.


August 31, 1948 -
Los Angeles police arrested actor Robert Mitchum, the coolest cat in Hollywood, for marijuana possession on this date. He later received a 60-day sentence.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands celebrated her Golden Jubilee on this date as well. (You figure out the connection.)


August 31, 1957 -
Shrinking in the sea so cold, topless ladies look away



Glenn Tilbrook, singer, guitarist and with his writing partner Chris Difford, formed the pop group Squeeze, was born on this date.


August 31, 1987 -
Epic/CBS Records released the Michael Jackson album, BAD on this date.



An 18 minute video of the title song, written by novelist and screenwriter Richard Price and directed by Martin Scorsese, debuted on CBS-TV on this same day, as well.


Today in History -
Gaius Caesar Caligula was born on August 31 in the year 12 AD. Caligula succeeded Tiberius in the year 37, and his reign was most notable for its policy of Sex with the Emperor.



(Please note - this guy not only slept with the unwilling wives of senators and his sisters, he married his horse and tried to have him made a god.) This turned out to have been a weak Political Philosophy, because the Romans all had classical educations and saw right through him.



So they killed him.


August 31, 1422 -
Henry V of England, one of the great warrior kings of the Middle Ages, died suddenly of dysentery on this date. He was 34 at the time.

At the time of his death, Henry had not only consolidated power as the King of England but had also effectively accomplished what generations of his ancestors had failed to achieve through decades of war: the near unification of the crowns of England and France in a single person.



In 2002 he was ranked 72nd in the 100 Greatest Britons poll. And yet, lack of proper sanitary conditions carried him away. Let this be a lesson to us all - wash your hands after visiting the rest room (or at least carry around a bottle of Coke.)


August 31, 1879 -
Alma Maria Schindler, noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence, was born on this date.

In her youth she was an aspiring composer. But that's not why I bring her up. She was the wife, successively, of the composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel, and lover to the painter Oskar Kokoschka. Rather than try to encapsulate the story of this very busy woman,



Listen to Tom Lehrer's song Alma, which nicely gives you the gist of her life.


August 31, 1919 -
Workers of the world unite!

In Chicago, journalist John Reed established the American Communist Labor Party, on this date,

providing entertainment for Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover for decades.


August 31, 1976 -
George Harrison was found guilty of unintentionally plagiarizing My Sweet Lord.



Those damn Beatles could never come up with an original tune.


August 31, 1977 -
Ian Smith, espousing racial segregation, won the Rhodesian general election with 80% of overwhelmingly white electorate's vote.



Oops.


August 31, 1997 -
On August 28, 1997, My wife and I were coming out of the revolving doors at the Ritz Hotel in Paris and a very famous couple were coming in. A few days later on this date, a charming, slightly addled, beautiful divorcee with two children decides to take a car ride with her very rich Middle Eastern boyfriend and his very drunk driver. She makes the fatal mistake of not buckling her seat belt and paid a very heavy toll.



So ended the glamorous and controversial life of Diana Spencer Mountbatten-Windsor.

Kids here a good piece of advice for anyone, if you don't want to end up dying in the backseat of a black 1994 Mercedes-Benz W140 in a road tunnel in Paris - BUCKLE UP.



And so it goes .

The line forms on the right dear.

August 30, 1959 -
Bobby Darin's jazzy interpretation of Mack The Knife began its 26-week stay on the pop-singles charts.



Darin decided to perform this song when he saw a production of The Threepenny Opera in Greenwich Village in 1958. He thought up his own way of presenting the song, and started performing it in his nightclub act, where it was well received.


August 30, 1967 -
John Boorman's crime drama thriller, Point Blank, premiered on this date.



Lee Marvin faked the recoil from the .44 Magnum when he shoots in Lynne's bed. These were in fact blanks, but afterward when shooting in Alcatraz they tried with real bullets and there was no recoil at all. Marvin said to director John Boorman, "Fiction overtakes reality".


August 30, 1968 -
Apple Records released its first single, Hey Jude by The Beatles on this date.



Paul McCartney wrote the song as a way meant to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian as his parents were getting a divorce. In 1987 Julian ran into Paul in New York City when they were staying at the same hotel and he finally heard Paul tell him the story of the song firsthand. He admitted to Paul that growing up, he'd always felt closer to him than to his own father.


Today in History:
August 30, 1780 -
General "Eggs" Benedict Arnold secretly promised to surrender the West Point fort to the British army during the American Revolution. The measure of Arnold's treachery was made worse by the fact that he was considered by many to be the best general and most accomplished leader in the Continental Army.



In fact, without Arnold's earlier contributions to the American cause, the American Revolution might well have been lost; notwithstanding, his name, like those of several other prominent traitors throughout history, has become a byword for treason and a brunch staple.


August 30, 1859 -
At the University of Göttingen, PhD candidate Albert Niemann isolates the alkaloid C17H21NO4 from leaves of the plant Erythroxylum coca.



Niemann names his white, powdery discovery cocaine and observes firsthand its peculiarly strong anesthetic effect: "it benumbs the nerves of the tongue, depriving it of feeling and taste."



Oh, that's what cocaine does. Now I know.


August 30, 1918 -
Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin should have been having a great day on this date. Six weeks earlier, Lenin had the previous tenant of Kremlin, Tsar Nicholas II, permanently taken off the lease. After speaking at a factory in Moscow, Lenin was shot twice by Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Social Revolutionary party. Lenin narrowly survived an assassination attempt, but was severely wounded.



As Lenin was a 'godless' communist, he did not turn the other cheek. The assassination attempt set off a wave of reprisals by the Bolsheviks against the Social Revolutionaries and other political opponents. Thousands were executed as Russia fell deeper into civil war.


August 30, 1930 -
Warren Edward Buffett often called the "Sage of Omaha", "Oracle of Omaha", or "Omaha Steak", American investor, businessperson and philanthropist is born on this date. Buffett has amassed an enormous fortune from astute investments managed through the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the largest shareholder and CEO.



With an estimated current net worth of around $66.7 billion, he was ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world as of yesterday afternoon, falling behind behind Bill Gates (with a net worth of $80.6 billion.)

Once again, I, on the other hand, did not make a blip on the list.


August 30, 1967 -
Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who was best known for arguing the Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court, became the first black US Supreme Court Justice.



The US Senate voted 69 to 11 to appoint Marshall. He served on the Court from 1967 to 1991.


August 30, 1993 -
The Late Show with David Letterman premiered on this date, on CBS-TV.





Towards the end of the show, listen for Dave to mention that Robin Williams will be on the show tomorrow.



And so it goes.

No, just ash and soot will rub off

August 29, 1915 -
Ingrid Bergman, the Swedish three-time Academy Award, two-time Emmy Award, and Tony Award - winner was born (and died in 1982) on this date.



Her luck was as phenomenal as her talent. In New York City, a Swedish couple praised a film of hers to their son, an elevator operator in the apartment building where one of film producer David O. Selznick's young talent scouts lived. Six months later, Ingrid was on her way to Hollywood. "I owe my whole career to that elevator boy", she would say laughingly.


August 29, 1920 -
Charles Christopher "Bird" Parker, jazz saxophonist and composer was born on this date.



Along with trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie, he created the sporadic rhythms known as "be bop" in the 1950s.


August 29, 1953 -
Warner Brothers introduced Speedy Gonzalez in the cartoon Cat-Tails for Two on this date.




While this is the first cartoon featuring the character Speedy Gonzales, his depiction here is vastly different from the character he would later become. It wasn't until his second appearance, Speedy Gonzales (two years later,) that he was re-designed as the character we know him as today.


August 29, 1964 -
Roy Orbison’s single, (Oh,) Pretty Woman, was released on this date.



Roy Orbison was writing with his songwriting partner Bill Dees at his house when he told Dees to get started writing by playing anything that came to mind. Orbison's wife Claudette came in and said she was going to go into town to buy something. Orbison asked if she needed any money, and Dees cracked, "Pretty woman never needs any money."


August 29, 1964 -
Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins opened on this date. This is first movie I ever saw (but not on this date.)



After many attempts, P.L. Travers finally relented and sold the film rights to Walt Disney in 1961, although she retained script approval rights. One of the reasons prompting her to do so was a decline in her book sales.


August 29, 1967 -
ABC's television ratings soared through the roof as David Janssen and Barry Morse starred in the final episode of The Fugitive on this date.



It is commonly given that this show was based on the Samuel Sheppard murder case of 1954. While the show does feature some similarities to the case, Roy Huggins consistently denied that he based Richard Kimble on Sheppard or the fictional murder on the real one.


Today in History:
August 29, 29/30AD ( The date is a best guess, and the subject of much debate. Once again, Romans were too busy with their orgies and draining lead-lined wine goblets to accurately document events of the day.)
John the Baptist (cousin of the itinerant carpenter of Nazareth) received a severe haircut from King Herod, because his teenage step-daughter, Salome (the Miley Cyrus of her day,) couldn't keep her shorts on while dancing.



Children are always such a handful.


August 29, 1533 -
Atahualpa, the last Incan Emperor, discovered on this date, that the European exploration of the new world was not going to go well for the indigenous people. Francisco Pizarro, one in a long line of Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Andes, with a bible in one hand and a sword in the other.  Atahualpa was quickly captured by the Spanish and held for ransom.  After paying an immense ransom for his release (a room, 22 ft by 17 ft by 8 ft high, once filled with gold and twice with silver within two months), Pizarro decided it was better to kill his hostage and keep the random.



Atahualpa was condemned to be burnt at the stake - which was anathematic since the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if the body were burned.  Atahualpa offered and paid an additional random to be ritualistically garroted after a proper Christian baptism, which occurred on this date in 1533.

And in keeping with the true spirit of diplomacy, Pizarro had Atahualpa corpse burned afterwards.


More on Political Philosophy ...
Jean Baptiste Colbert was born on August 29, 1619.

Colbert was the finance minister to King Louis XIV of France. His own Political Philosophy consisted of a big pile of money. This was a very effective politics, and therefore deemed insufficiently philosophical, which is why you tend to hear more about Locke and Hegel.


Another important political philosopher was born this week: John Locke was born on August 29, 1632. Mr. Locke was a political philosopher, and many of his ideas found their way into the American Constitution.



He is best known for his essay concerning human understanding, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which remains famous to this day as the shortest essay ever written.


August 29, 1896 -
Here is one of those bright dividing lines: if you know what Chop Suey is - you're old. If you've tasted Chop Suey - you're really old.



The Chinese-American dish Chop Suey was invented in New York City by the chef to visiting Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-chang on this date.


August 29, 1949 -
The Soviet Union joined the nuclear club on this date when they detonated a nuclear weapon, code-named First Lightning (Pervaya Molniya) at a test site in Kazakhstan. American experts were shocked and dismayed because they had thought the Soviets were still years away from having a workable bomb.



The resultant fear helped trigger an arms race that would see the Americans and Soviets stockpile approximately 32,000 and 45,000 nuclear devices.


August 29, 1958 -
Michael Joseph Jackson, the self-crowned King of Pop was born on this date.



He has achieved the dubious distinction of being in the number one position on Forbes magazine's list of "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities", two years in a row. 



Last year, Jackson's posthumous earnings were $160 million dollars (Jackson beat out his former dead father-in-law Elvis, who earned over $55 million dollars.)


August 29, 1966 -
The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at in San Francisco's Candlestick Park on this date.



The performance marked the end of a four-year period dominated by touring and concerts including nearly 60 U.S. appearances and over 1400 internationally.


August 29, 1991 -
After a vote in the Soviet Union's parliament on this date, the Supreme Soviet, dissolved the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The move brought an end to one of the world's largest communist governments.


August 29, 2005 -
Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. The death toll eventually reached at least 1,600. An estimated 300 Louisiana residents died out of state; some 230 people perished in Mississippi. Property damage estimates were in the hundreds of billions of dollars.



The name Katrina was officially retired on April 6, 2006 by the World Meteorological Organization at the request of the U.S. government. The name will never again be used for another North Atlantic hurricane.



And so it goes.

Hooray for Captain Spaulding!

August 28, 1930 -
... How much would you charge to run into an open manhole? ...

The Marx Brothers second outing at Paramount, Animal Crackers, opened on this date.




In 1957, Paramount forgot to renew the soundtrack rights which reverted back to the authors of the play (the studio did renew the picture rights, though). As a result the film could not legally be seen in the USA until 1974, when Universal, which had since purchased Paramount's film library, was persuaded by fan requests to re-release it. The film was re-released to theaters before being released to television. Groucho Marx attended the premiere.


August 28, 1946 -
Universal's film-noir classic version of Ernest Hemingway's story, The Killers, premiered in NYC on this date.



Author of the original short story Ernest Hemingway liked the film. Prior to its release, producer Mark Hellinger sent publicity man Al Horwits to Sun Valley, Idaho, to give Hemingway a private screening. Hemingway had a pint of gin in one pocket of his overcoat and a pint of water in the other so that he could sip from them if the film got bad. After the screening, Hemingway held up the full bottles, grinned and said "Didn't need 'em".


August 28, 1951 -
Paramount's second film version based on Theodore Dreiser's novel, An American Tragedy, A Place in the Sun, opened in NYC on this date.



The box office failure of the 1931 adaptation of An American Tragedy prompted the filmmakers to seek an alternative title. One such title was "The Prize". There was a $100 reward for whoever came up with the best new title, and George Stevens's associate Ivan Moffat successfully pitched for "A Place in the Sun". He never received his $100 reward.


Today in History:
August 28, 476 A.D. -
Today is believed to be the date when the Western Roman Empire, which had lasted for almost 500 years, came to an end as Emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by a barbarian. (Well, his father, Orestes, the real power behind the throne, was executed on this date - he, Augustulus, relinquished the throne on September 4, 476 and disappeared into obscurity.)

Historians have been theorizing about the causes of the fall of Rome ever since. Edward Gibbon's book The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776) put forward the idea that the Christian Church was to blame. After Christianity became the official religion of the empire, the best and the brightest leaders became leaders of the church rather than leaders of the government or the military. Another theory is that the aqueducts, which carried the water supply, were lined with lead, and so the Romans slowly went crazy. Some geologists believe that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius released so much ash into the air that it ruined Roman agriculture and weakened the empire. One of the more recent theories is that the Roman army had been infiltrated by the barbarians themselves.



But whatever the cause, the fall of Rome actually wasn't the catastrophic event most people think it was. So-called barbarian rulers kept most of the basic laws in place, Latin remained the official language of government, everyone remained Christian and orgies continued but in private.


August 28, 1837 -
Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins began commercially manufacturing Worcestershire Sauce on this date, based on an Indian recipe brought to them by Lord Marcus Sandys -- an ex-governor of Bengal.



If they told you the recipe (it contains anchovies), they'd have to kill you.


August 28, 1898 -
Pharmacist Caleb Davis Bradham created a beverage, he believed would aid in digestion and boost energy, calling it "Brad's Drink," on this date.



He later renamed it Pepsi-Cola, after "pepsin" and the kola nut used to flavor the drink.

And still made with no cocaine.


August 28, 1907 -
Two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan decide to start the American Messenger Company in Seattle, on this date. The company's name was later changed to the United Parcel Service.

Hopefully you have those tracking numbers available, some of those packages will arrive soon.


August 28, 1922 -
The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City (WEAF stood for Water, Earth, Air and Fire.)

It was a 10-minute advertisement for the Queensboro Realty Co., which had paid $100.  Programming must have really stunk if people listened to a 10 minute commercial.


August 28, 1938 -
Charlie McCarthy (Edgar Bergen’s wooden partner ) received the first degree given to a ventriloquist’s dummy on this date.

The honorary degree, “Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback,” was presented on radio by Ralph Dennis, the dean of the School of Speech at Northwestern University.

I wrote my dissertation on. "Oh, that's too much vermouth." And I earned my degree without someone's hand up my ass.


August 28, 1963 -
During a 200,000-person civil rights rally in at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech, 51 years ago today.



The speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.


August 28, 1982 -
Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can't sleep with the window open. - George Bernard Shaw

Two crazy kids got married on this date.

Happy Anniversary Mary.


August 28, 1996 -
Unfortunately for others, the fairy tale has a very unhappy ending,

Britons Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, were divorced on this date.

One year later, almost to the day, Diana, would have a very nasty accident in a Paris underpass.



And so it goes

I use a body rub called SEMPRINI

The girls and I fell upon The Buzz Aldrin Show and laughed our heads off



(It was the first time they watched an entire episode.)


Before you go on -
Most people have learned to watch their weight and properly apply sunscreen, but how many Americans really know how to protect themselves against assassination? Not many. And yet, each year, millions of people are killed by assassins.

It’s tragic because these are needless deaths, almost all of which could have been prevented. I have found on the internet, a few simple precautions can help ensure that no assassin’s bullet will ever have your name on it:

A) First, get plenty of exercise, eat plenty of vegetables, and avoid being born into royalty.
B) Don’t be president, prime minister, or other Top Person. 
C) Don’t create a military junta or mastermind a coup. 
D) Don’t say or write anything that might be considered disparaging by anyone with their own military junta. 
E) Do not found a religion. 
F) Do not oppose a religion. 
G) If your parents are gods, dismember them. 
H) If your children are gods, devour them. 
I) Excel at nothing. 
J) Stay indoors. 
K) Always call shotgun when driving with suicide car-bombers.


It's the feast day of St. Monica of Hippo.

Monica, who was originally from Rhino and moved to the better neighborhood of Hippo, was known as a virtuous woman. Much to her disappointment, she was also the mother of St. Augustine. She continually encouraged (nagged) her son (the lazy bum) about his debauched ways until she successfully convinced him to convert.  She is the patron saint of all mothers with disappointing children.


August 27, 1943 -
(An almost forgotten film) Warner Bros. released the Lillian Hellman anti-fascist drama, Watch On The Rhine, starring Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Beulah Bondi, on this date.



Bette Davis repeatedly clashed with director Herman Shumlin throughout production. A novice film director, he had no real experience on a film set and certainly none in dealing with a prima donna actress like Davis. Producer Hal B. Wallis was forced to lean hard on Shumlin when he saw how over the top Davis was in her performance.


August 27, 1947 -
20th Century Fox's classic film-noir, crime-drama, Kiss of Death, premiered on this date.



According to Richard Widmark, there were pads on the bottom of the stairs during Mildred Dunnock's scene as well as men to catch her, but the cameraman forgot to rack the film and the scene had to be shot a second time.


August 27, 1961 -
Francis the Talking Mule was mystery guest on 'What's My Line' on this date.

This was a gentle reminder that we are not living through the nadir of television.


Today in History:
August 27, 413 BC -
A lunar eclipse interrupted a lovely evening of sodomy among the sailors of the Athens fleet on this evening, affecting the outcome of a battle in the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians were ready to move their forces from Syracuse when the Moon was eclipsed. The soldiers and sailors were startled by this celestial omen and clung tightly to their ship mates.



The fleet’s commander, Nicias, gutted a sheep and postpones the fleet’s departure for 27 days. The delay gave an advantage to their enemies, the Syracusans, who went on to defeat the entire Athenian fleet and army, killing Nicias in the process.


August 27, 410 -
In case you were keeping score, the Sack of Rome still continued unabated. The orgies were winding down: lubricants were in short supply and everything that moved had been used. The Visigoths were forced to engage in unnatural acts with statuary.

For those of you with a more genteel nature, I won't tell you how the statuary was used.


Political Philosophy has caused more human death and suffering than any other disease. No inoculations exist. Outbreaks are sudden and almost always fatal. Political Philosophy strikes young and old alike, healthy and sickly, nimble and clumsy, lefty and righty. By the time its symptoms are visible, you have very little time to protect yourself. Popular referendums will only exacerbate the problem.

Emigrate at once.

Case studies:

On August 27, 1793, the Committee of Public Safety in Paris, France, accepted its newest member, Maximilien Robespierre.

Robespierre soon rose to prominence on the basis of his Political Philosophy, the Guillotine, which was quicker than Inalienable Rights and more readily understood than Separation of Powers.

On August 27, 1770, Georg William Hegel was born on this date. Georg's family was so poor that they couldn't afford the second 'e' in his first name. Hegel was also a kind of political philosopher.

He believed in theses and antitheses and that sooner or later everyone ended up in Synthetics. Unfortunately there was no way to test his theory, as this was well before the invention of polyester.


August 27, 1882 -
Schmuel Gelbfisz, (Samuel Goldwyn), glove maker, sales man and pioneer filmmaker was born in Warsaw, Poland on this date.



His sayings, sometimes known as "Goldwynisms," were famous for their unintentional wit, which was partially as a result of his somewhat limited understanding of the English language that surfaced when he tried to comment on certain situations. There are many examples of this, such as "Include me out" or "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.".


August 27, 1916 -
Martha Raye, singer, actor, denture wearer was born in Butte, Montana, on this date.



Martha left the bulk of her estate to Mark Harris, but left some money to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Harris spent a portion of his money designing a line of furs.


August 27, 1952 -
Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) American actor, writer, comedian and public onanist was born on this date.



Reubens credits pioneer TV children's show host Pinky Lee as a partial inspiration for his "Pee-Wee Herman" character. Like Reubens, Lee also wore a tight checked suit and hat as part of his characterization.


August 27, 1967 -
Brian Epstein, the man who discovered the Beatles and guided them to mega-stardom, died at his London residence, from an overdose of sleeping pills, on this date.



Many critics believe this traumatic event ultimately lead to the Beatles breakup.



And so it goes.

Thank God that's been settled.

Many have wondered, Is it OK to Pee in the Ocean?, and the people at  Reactions have heard you. 



Hopefully they can come up with the definitive length of time you have to stay out of the pool after lunch.


I have no problem with a holiday celebrating pets. National Dog Day reminds potential dog owners to adopt their dogs from shelters, rather than buying from pet stores.



But why isn't it celebrated during the dog days of summer?


Today is the Feast of The Transverberation of St. Teresa of Avila (again, find an old lady saying her rosary in church to explain it to you.)



If you find yourself in Rome, run, do not walk, to see the Santa Maria della Vittoria Church. It houses one of the most amazing statues - The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini. (According to one of my faithful readers, you can turn on a light switch to illuminate the statue.  Just think, God had to do that with his shafts of pure light.)



The statues depict a moment described by Saint Teresa of Avila in her autobiography, where she had the vivid vision of an angel piercing her heart with a golden shaft, over and over again, causing her both immense joy and pain. The flowing robes and contorted posture abandon classical restraint and repose to depict a more passionate, almost voluptuous trance.

Such is my obsession with religion.


The first time toilet paper was ever sold on a roll was on August 26, 1871. August 26 was later officially dubbed National Toilet Paper Day.



The Chinese took a break from inventing everything else and found time to create TP on this date in 580 AD. They were far too serious to be messing around with any old orgies not to note the correct date.


August 26, 1953 -
Considered to be one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s, George Pal's The War of the Worlds was released on this date.



The sound effects of the Martian war machines' heat ray were created from three electric guitars played backward. The sound of the Martian screaming after Forrester hit it was a mixture of a microphone scraping along dry ice and a woman's scream played backward. The former set of sound effects became widely used stock sound effects after the film was released. They are still in use.


Today in History:
August 21, 1498 -
A statue was commissioned for the tomb in St. Peters of the French cardinal Jean de Billheres (who was a representative in Rome), on this date.



Michelangelo (23 at the time) won the commission to make the Pieta.


August 26, 1743 -
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was born on this date. Dr. Lavoisier discovered Oxygen but not on this date; he was usually too busy celebrating his birthday.



The discovery was a great boon to science, as it enabled Breathing, without which many subsequent scientific advances would have been impossible.


August 26, 1883 -



Krakatoa erupted, between Java and Sumatra on this date. The two-day eruption and related tidal waves killed 36,000 people and destroyed two thirds of the island. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Krakatoa is West of Java.)



On a lighter note, "Krakatoa" sounds like "cracked a toe, huh?" and can be used in many humorous puns.


August 26, 1957 -
The first Edsel, named Edsel for Henry Ford's son, Edsel Bryant Ford, made by the Ford Motor Company rolled off the assembly line on this date.



110,847 of the cars are built before Ford pulls the plug due to lack of sales.



And so it goes.

From the truth society to neurotic erotica

It's the birthday of Declan Patrick MacManus, one of the most prolific musicians of the late 20th Century.



In addition to recordings as "Elvis Costello" (often backed by The Attractions), has recorded music as "Declan MacManus", "Napoleon Dynamite & The Royal Guard", "The Coward Brothers" (with T-Bone Burnett), "Nick Lowe & His Sound", "The Emotional Toothpaste" and "The Imposter".


August 25, 1962 -
Little Eva's record The Loco-Motion topped the charts on this date.



The husband and wife songwriting team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote this song. Little Eva was Eva Boyd, the babysitter - actually more of a nanny - being paid $35/week to watch their daughter Louise and clean the house. They were all young: Eva was 17, King 19 and Goffin 22. One day King came up with a melody that Goffin thought sounded like a locomotive, and when he saw Eva dancing with their daughter to the tune, he got the idea to make the song about a brand new dance - The Loco-Motion.


August 25, 1975 -
Bruce Springsteen's third album Born to Run was released on this date.



Springsteen played the title song, Born to Run, for the first time on May 9, 1974 when he opened for Bonnie Raitt at Harvard Square. Rock critic Jon Landau was at the show and wrote in Boston's Real Paper: "I saw rock and roll's future - and its name is Bruce Springsteen." Landau eventually became Springsteen's manager.

 
August 25, 1986 -
WEA Records released Paul Simon's award-winning Graceland album on this date.



In 1984 a friend gave him a tape of South African music called Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits #2, and he listened to it over and over. For his next album, he wanted that sound - not just guys in New York playing African music, but the actual African musicians he heard on the tape. So in 1985 he went to South Africa and found them.


Today in History:
The Council of Nicaea ended on August 25, 325, resulting in the Nicene Creed. This established the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which proved that the Father and Son were not two, but three and therefore one. This controversial creed alienated many math teachers from the church.



Its repercussions eventually caused a Schism, which caused Infidels, which caused considerable bloodshed and ultimately resulted in more Political Philosophy.


August 25, 1718 -
French colonists, led by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur De Bienville, established the Louisiana settlement and fortress of Nouvelle Orleans.



In honor of the Big Easy, Laissez les bons temps rouler


August 25, 1830 -
The 'Tom Thumb' steam locomotive, designed by Peter Cooper, ran the famous first race between a locomotive and a horse-drawn vehicle, over a nine mile stretch, between Relay and Baltimore, Maryland. The locomotive was off to a promising start, but broke down, and the horse won .



Strangely enough on this date in 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in less than 22 hours. The only connection between both the event - the wayback machine.


August 25, 1835 -
The New York Sun published stunning revelations that Sir John Hershel, having built a new super powerful telescope, had observed little men living on the surface of the moon.



The stories, now generally believed to be false, brought the paper record circulation.


August 25, 1900 -



No, Nietzsche is dead, on this date.



God finds this very amusing.


August 25, 1901 -
Clara Maass, a 25 year old army nurse, volunteered for an experiment to prove that the mosquito carries yellow fever.

Unfortunately for her, the experiment proved successful and Maass died. Her death roused public sentiment and put an end to yellow fever experiments on humans.


August 25, 1925 -
The Sleeping Car Porters' Union was established by A. Phillip Randolph, a political malcontent who'd been agitating for reform ever since his ejection from the Wide Awake Car Porters' Union.



Mr. Randolph was the principle organizer for the March on Washington in 1963.


August  25, 1944 -
The City of Paris, occupied since June 1940, was liberated from German occupation by Free French Forces under General Jacques LeClerc and his 2nd Tank division on this date (Charles De Gaulle might beg to differ.)



Although ordered by Adolf Hitler to leave Paris a smoldering ruin, Paris' military governor Major General Dietrich von Cholitz lied to his superiors and left the city's landmarks intact.

I bet Hitler wasn't a happy camper today.


August 25, 1967 –
George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party, was relieved of his duties by means of the usual Nazi method: he was shot to bloody hell on this date.

Former party member John Patler was later convicted of the killing.


August 25, 1970 -
Elton John, a virtual unknown, started the first night of a six night engagement at the Troubador Club in Los Angeles on this date, making his first American public appearance.



After the first night, Robert Hilburn, music critic for the Los Angeles Times, wrote: “Tuesday night at the Troubadour was just the beginning. He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.” And as Hilburn predicted, in 1990 Rolling Stone magazine declared these shows to be among the 20 most important concerts in the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll.



And so it goes.

Ask me my opinion, my opinion will be

August 24, 1937 -
William Wyler's crime-drama film, Dead End, premiered in NYC on this date.



This was the first appearance of the Dead End Kids who later evolved into the East Side Kids and later the Bowery Boys. Producer Samuel Goldwyn brought the boys - who had appeared in the original Broadway production of the play - to Hollywood to appear in the movie.  He later regretted the decision, as the boys ran wild through the studio, destroying property and crashing a truck through the wall of a sound stage. Afterwards, Goldwyn decided not to use the boys again and sold their contract to Warner Brothers.


August 24, 1966 -
One of the quintessential films of the 60s, Alfie, opened in the US on this date.



Several well-known actors (including Richard Harris, Laurence Harvey, James Booth and Anthony Newley) turned down the title role due to the then taboo subject matter of abortion. Despite having played "Alfie" on Broadway, Terence Stamp categorically declined to reprise the role on film, thus giving his good friend and then roommate Michael Caine the breakthrough role of his career.


August 24, 1966 -
The (still surprising good) sci-fi film, Fantastic Voyage, premiered on this date.



During filming, one of the two 3 inch "Proteus" models used in the miniaturization sequence was left by an open window and was subsequently carried off by a crow.


August 24, 1968 -
The Rascals song People Got to Be Free topped the charts on this date.



This was the third #1 hit for the group (after Good Lovin' and Groovin'), but the first under their original name. In 1966-67 all their singles were credited to the "Young Rascals," a name imposed upon them by Atlantic Records to avoid confusion with the Harmonica Rascals.


Today in History:
August 24, 79 –
The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were fired by Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius, ever the vengeful volcano god buried those happening Roman vacation spots, apparently to punish the debauchery that made the towns famous. Tens of thousands of people perished only to have plaster casts made centuries later of the hollows their bodies once occupied.



Once again, People, this is what happens when a city goes on the cheap and starts sacrificing any old whore rather than a proper virgin.


August 24, 1572 -
Troops loyal to the French crown alongside Catholic civilians massacre the Protestant Huguenots of Paris, estimates range between 20,000 and 100,000 deaths. At news of this carnage of this St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a gleeful Pope Gregory XIII ordered celebrations and a medal to be struck.



Sometimes, you just have to be embarrassed to be a Catholic.


August 24, 1680 -
Colonel Thomas Blood, Irish adventurer who stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671, died on this date.



Captured after the theft, he insisted on seeing King Charles II, who had a reputation for liking bold scoundrels. Charles not only pardoned him, but granted Blood Irish lands worth £500 a year!


August 24, 1814 -
The White House and other public buildings in the District of Columbia were torched by the invading British army on this date.



The President's wife, Dolley Madison and Paul Jennings, her husband's enslaved manservant, are torn away from Mrs. Madison's ice cream and candy making duties to save a couple of chairs,

and an unfinished portrait of some dead Virginian Slave holder, Masonite and dope smoker.


August 24, 1853 -
It is believed that the original potato chip recipe was created by chef George Crum, at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York, on this date.



He was fed up with a customer (the popular myth wrongly identifies him as Cornelius Vanderbilt) who continued to send his fried potatoes back, claiming that they were too thick and soggy. Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that they couldn't be eaten with a fork, nor fried normally in a pan, so he decided to stir-fry the potato slices. Against Crum's expectation, the guest was ecstatic about the new chips. They became a regular item on the lodge's menu under the name Saratoga Chips. They soon became popular throughout New York and New England.

You don't want to know how Crum got the vinegar flavor for that damn chip.


August 24, 1932 -
Amelia Earhart flew from Los Angeles to Newark, becoming the first woman to complete a non-stop, transcontinental flight on this date.



She completed the journey in 19 hours and five minutes.


August 24, 1958 -
Red China commenced the shelling of the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, which hold one-third of Chiang Kai Shek's troops, on this date. The United States threatens nuclear retaliation for this, but the American people do not support the stance.



A very strange compromise is worked out, permitting China to shell the islands on odd dates and Chiang Kai Shek's troops to resupply the islands on even dates.


August 24, 1968 –
France exploded its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.



The Germans break out in an ever slight sweat. (The 1998 film Godzilla uses this particular test as the basis for the monster Godzilla, an infant green iguana mutated by the fallout from the blast.)

Another reason to hate the French.


August 24, 1989 -
Pete Rose was suspended from baseball for life for gambling on this date.



It is rumored that Pete has begun discussions with Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred team about finally lifting the ban after 25 years.


August 24, 2006 -
The planet Pluto was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on this date. Pluto's status was changed due to the IAU's new rules for an object qualifying as a planet.



The other planets have been picking on Pluto ever since.



And so it goes.