Read the ramblings of Dr. Caligari. Hopefully you will find that Time does wound all heels.
You no longer need to be sad that nowadays there is so little useless information.
The Asian Lunar New Years is 19 days away. Valentine's Day is 32 days away. Mardi Gras is 38 days away. And today is Old New Years Eve (Old Style Calendar.)
Enjoy the day!
According to the American Dialect Society - Insurrection was chosen as Word of the Year (2021) in its annual vote. It was the 31st anniversary of the society’s original Word of the Year vote in December 1990. The term, “More than a year after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the nation is still coming to grips with what happened that day,”
In a press release issued after the ADS vote on January 7, 2021, Ben Zimmer, chair of the society's New Words Committee and language columnist for the Wall Street Journal (and former executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus) provided additional context. “At the time, words like coup, sedition, and riot were used to describe the disturbing events at the Capitol, but insurrection – a term for a violent attempt to take control of the government – is the one that many felt best encapsulates the threat to democracy experienced that day. The lasting effects of that insurrection will be felt for years to come.”
January 13, 1945 -
One of the 'banned' World War II Looney Tunes cartoons, Herr meets Hare, premiered on this date. This cartoon marks the first appearance of Bugs' classic "left turn at Albuquerque" joke.
The cartoon was finally broadcast in its entirety in July, 2001, on a special episode of the Cartoon Network's program Toonheads focusing on World War II cartoons.
January 13, 1966 – Samantha gave birth to a baby girl, Tabitha on the ABC-TV program Bewitched (entitled, And Then There Were Three,) on this date.
This is the first appearance of Cousin Serena, who would be a recurring character for the remainder of the series.
January 13, 1968 - Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and Carl Perkins and the Statler Brothers, performed for a second time at Folsom Prison in the prison cafeteria on this date.
Cash released the concert as an album, At Folsom Prison, a few months later. The album was a hit and it transformed Cash into a nationally popular musician.At Folsom Prison stayed in country music charts for 90 weeks and in the Billboard Top 200 for 122 weeks.
January 13, 1989 -
British comedy sketch show series A Bit of Fry and Laurie starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie debuts on BBC1 on this date.
Stephen Fry was never able to convincingly fake hitting someone, so often he genuinely hit Hugh Laurie while filming the sketches.
Today in History: January 13, 1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., minister, American children's author (Ragged Dick, Tattered Tomand Julius, the Street Boy out West ) and noted pederast was born, on this date.
Some novels, uncompleted at Alger's death, include The Fortune Made Upon My Knees, Nelson, the Randy Pegboy, Impudent Dick and the Lonely Sea Men, Lance, the Brawny Farmhand Boy (who wore no undergarments under his britches), From the Gutter to Fortune (with nothing but bacon grease and a toothless smile) and Jack, the Ruggedly Handsome Raw Meat Delivery Boy (who wore a posing strap under his britches).
(Stop snickering.)
January 13, 1862 -
President Lincoln names Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War on this date. He vigorously pursued the apprehension and prosecution of the conspirators involved in Lincoln's assassination. These proceedings were not handled by the civil courts, but by a military tribunal, and therefore under Stanton's supervision.
Stanton was appointed by President Grant to the Supreme Court, but he died four days after he was confirmed by the Senate, and taking the oath of office on his deathbed, set the record for shortest tenure on the Court.
January 13, 1900 -
To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary decrees German the official language of the Imperial Army on this date.
This causes all of the Esperanto schools in Austria-Hungarian Empire to close.
January 13, 1910 - Lee De Forest, the American inventor of the vacuum tube, demonstrates the first radio broadcast, a live performance of Cavalleria Rusticana with Enrico Caruso from the Metropolitan Opera, on this date.
The broadcast over a telephone transmitter could be heard only by the small number of electronics hobbyists who had radio receivers or could squeeze into telephone booths. De Forest started regular nightly concerts in 1915, increasing interest in radio receivers, which at the time depended on the vacuum tubes manufactured by De Forest's company.
How convenient.
January 13, 1919 - California voted to ratify the prohibition amendment on this date.
Much heavy drinking ensued.
January 13, 1957 -
Back in the 1920s, Yale students invented a game of catch by tossing around metal pie tins from the Frisbee Baking Company in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut. Building inspector Fred Morrison puttered with and refined a plastic flying disc that he sold to WHAM-O (for $1 million, which bought a lot of pies back then) in 1955. The Wham-O Company produced the first Pluto Platter on this date.
Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee in 1958, upon hearing the Yale pie-tin story. (Mattel now owns the rights to Frisbee, which has become an American icon.)
January 13, 1962 -
Nothing in moderation
Ernie Kovacs was killed in an automobile accident when he lost control of his Chevrolet Corvair station wagon while turning fast. Crashing into a power pole at the corner of Beverly Glen and Santa Monica Boulevards, he was thrown halfway out the passenger side, dying almost instantly from chest and head injuries.
Kovacs may have lost control of the car while trying to light a cigar. A photographer managed to arrive moments later, and morbid images of Kovacs in death appeared in newspapers across the United States. An unlit cigar lay on the pavement, inches from his outstretched arm. (I'm not posting the photo - you Google it.)
It's a perfect day to celebrate National Hot Tea Day.
So have a cuppa.
January 12, 1934 - George Cukor's star-studded extravaganza Dinner at Eight, went into general release in the US on this date.
Jean Harlow got along with all of her co-stars, except Wallace Beery. She had worked with him before in The Secret 6 and the two had developed a dislike for each other that carried over. Beery thought that Harlow wasn't experienced enough as an actress and treated her rudely. Harlow found Beery gruff and boorish. Since the two were playing a husband and wife that can't stand each other, the real-life feelings worked to the comic benefit of the characters.
January 12, 1944 -
Probably Alfred Hitchcock's most underrated film, Lifeboat, opened in NYC on this date.
This movie was shot entirely on a restricted set in which the boat was secured in a large studio tank. Alfred Hitchcock, always striving for realism, insisted that the boat never remain stationary and that there always be an added touch of ocean mist and fog compounded of oil forced through dry ice.
January 12, 1955 - Kraft Television Theatre presented the first drama written by Rod Serling, Patterns on this date.
The drama was so popular that it became the first live drama in television history to be broadcast twice due to popularity.
January 12, 1960 - Michael Todd, Jr. released Scent of Mystery in "Smell-o-Vision", starring Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre, Leo McKern, and Diana Dors into general release on this date.
Producer Michael Todd, Jr. famously said of this movie that he was the first movie producer in history to make a movie "and then admit that it smells". He was not amused when most critics were quick to agree with him. Sadly, for all concerned, the critics were right. It was a critical disaster, and a financial failure.
January 12, 1966 - Holy homoeroticism!!!
ABC-TV premiered the tightly colored underwear wearing, perfectly genitally arranged comedy Batman on this date.
After ABC cancelled the series, the producers waited to see if anyone else would pick it up, then bulldozed the Batcave set when it appeared nobody would. Two weeks later, NBC offered to pick it up, unaware that the set had already been dismantled; unwilling to invest in the high cost of rebuilding the entire set, NBC ultimately declined to acquire the series.
January 12, 1967 - You're pretty high and far out son, what kind of kick are you on son?
Dragnet reappeared in color when their iconic episode The LSD Story premiered on this date.
When the revival was in the planning stages, Jack Webb had originally planned on bringing in his former co-star Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Officer Frank Smith. However, Alexander was appearing on the ABC series The Felony Squad and that network would not let him out of his contract to appear on the revival. Webb then chose Harry Morgan to reprise his role of Officer Bill Gannon, from the earlier series.
January 12, 1971 - Oh Geez, stifle yourself.
The first episode of All In The Family made television history by broadcasting the sound of a toilet flushing on this date.
This is not, however, the first time a toilet tank is seen on television. That honor goes to Leave It to Beaver premiere episode, Captain Jack back in 1957.
January 12, 1981 - Aaron Spelling's glitzy soap opera Dynasty, starring John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins premieres on ABC-TV on this date.
John Forsythe (Blake Carrington) is the only actor to appear in all 220 episodes of the series. Joan Collins and John Forsythe did not get along. Ironically, she got along fine with Linda Evans.
January 12, 1991 -
Australian new wave group Divinyls hits #1 on the Australian ARIA chart, #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #10 on the UK charts with their song I Touch Myself on this date.
This was certainly not the first song to touch on the subject of masturbation, but it was one of the most obvious. Very few places banned it, probably because it was so lighthearted. In order to honor the memory of Christina Amphlett, everyone should touch themselves while the song is playing.
January 12, 1997 - Fox-TV premiered the pilot episode of King of the Hill on this date.
Stephen Root was uncredited during the first few seasons. This was because he was also on NewsRadio, and his contract prevented him from being credited on another network's show. After the show was cancelled in 1999, he was able to be credited for this show.
Today in History -
If you were ever an altar boy or ever took Latin, I don't need to tell you what jacta alea est means. But if you're like most Americans, to whom Latin is about as familiar as Urdu, let me translate: it means the die is cast. At least that's how it's usually translated. Back in the early days of English, when the phrase was first translated, that's how they would have said "the dice are thrown."
This Latin snippet is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly because it demonstrates the popularity of gambling with dice in the ancient world, which is an important bit of trivia for keeping wayward adolescents interested in the classics; secondly because it's a short little Latin phrase you can drop into conversation to impress snobs; thirdly because the event of its utterance changed the course of western civilization for ever.
The line was uttered by Julius Caesar on this very date in 49 BC (There is some disagreement on this date - this is clearly one of those dates that most of historians, around at the time, were too busy at the local orgy to clearly denote when a short bald Italian soldier crossed a rivulet.) Caesar and his army had just crossed the Rubicon, a little stream in northern Italy. The Roman Senate had long ago established a rule that Roman citizens should be forbidden from crossing the the Rubicon with their armies, since they figured anyone coming south toward Rome with an entire army probably wasn't up to any good (this should be enacted immediately in the USA - no bald men in a short skirt on horse should ever cross the Potomac with their own army.)
(If the Roman Senate had really wanted to play it safe, maybe they should have designed the infrastructure of their empire so that all roads didn't lead to Rome - but that's beside the point.)
You may be wondering why Caesar would set out to break the law this way. He had, after all, been a popular and successful general and had been governor of Gaul for some time. But that's exactly why he decided to cross the Rubicon: he had become so popular and so powerful that the Roman Senate ordered him to disband his army and give up Gaul. Which has always made me wonder why the Roman Senate didn't say jacta alea est after issuing their demands. Maybe they were just too eager to get back to their dice.
Anyway, by crossing the Rubicon, Caesar had officially committed treason and launched the Roman Civil War. I've also saved you several hours of watching DVD's of the series Rome. Except for the naked parts.
The rest is history and thusly, unimportant to most Americans.
January 12, 1856 - A person with normal eyesight would have nothing to know in the way of 'Impressionism' unless he were in a blinding light or in the dusk or dark.
John Singer Sargent, American Gilded Age portrait painter, was born on this date.
January 12, 1928 - Ruth Snyder became the first woman to die in the electric chair on this date.
She was electrocuted by “state electrician” Robert G. Elliott at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York, along with Judd Gray, her lover and co-conspirator, for the murder of her husband, Albert on March 20, 1927. This was billed in the press as “The Dumb-Bell Murder.”
The case was the inspiration for the novel Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, which was later adapted for the screen by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Cain also mentioned that his book The Postman Always Rings Twice took inspiration from the crime. The man who snuck the camera into the execution chamber Thomas James Howard Jr. is the grandfather of actor George Wendt, and great-grandfather of actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis.
January 12, 1967 -
Dr. James Bedford (a psychology professor at the University of California) became the first person to ever be cryogenically preserved with the intent of being resuscitated in the future.
Dr. Bedford remains were switched to a different tank in 1991 and it would appear that everything has held up thus far. (Remember though, as much as you want it to be true - Disney is not a Popiscle inside Cinderella's castle.)
January 12, 1992 –
“... My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.”
The HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic Computer) 9000 computer became operational in the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on this date in the film, 2001, A Space Odyssey.
January 12, 2010 -
A powerful 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti and crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace on this date. Thousands of people were believed dead and untold numbers were trapped. An estimated three million people were in need of emergency aid.
The quake left over 200,000 people dead. Some 4,500 prison inmates escaped during the earthquake. By April they were terrorizing neighborhoods and fighting turf battles.
Sunday was the start of National Mocktail Week - January 9-15, in honor of Dry January.
In case that's not how you roll, feel free to celebrate Hot Toddy Day.
January 11, 1940 -
The classic newspaper comedy, His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, premiered in New York on this date.
Rosalind Russell thought, while shooting, that she didn't have as many good lines as Cary Grant had, so she hired an advertisement writer through her brother-in-law and had him write more clever lines for the dialog. Since Howard Hawks allowed for spontaneity and ad-libbing, he, and many of the cast and crew didn't notice it, but Grant knew she was up to something, leading him to greet her every morning: "What have you got today?"
January 11, 1966 -
The children's adventure-series Daktari, debuted on CBS-TV on this date.
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion and Judy the Chimpanzee both won PATSY Awards for the Series.
January 11, 1972 -
The TV movie, Kolchak, The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
While filming in Las Vegas, producer Dan Curtis was amazed at how oblivious the casino gamblers were to any events going on around them other than gambling. So as a joke one day, actor Barry Atwater (Janos Skorzeny) was asked to walk through the Sahara's casino in full costume and makeup to see if anyone noticed him. He did this for over 40 minutes, and didn't even get a second glance.
January 11, 1980 - The Pretenders eponymous album Pretenders debuted on this date in the UK.
This was the breakout hit from the first Pretenders album, which was a triumph by any measure. In the UK, three singles were released before the album appeared. The first was a cover of The Kinks song Stop Your Sobbing, which was released in January 1979 and reached #34 in March 1979. Kid followed in June, going to #33 in August. In November, Brass In Pocket was released; it rose to the top in January 1980, and stayed at #1 for two weeks. The album is consistently cited as one of the greatest debuts in rock.
January 11, 1998 - Nike debuted its I Can commercial, introducing the British band The Verve to a wide American audience with the song Bitter Sweet Symphony, on this date.
The song becomes the band's only hit in the States, which is sucked for the band because they had to sign away royalties to the song to get the publishing rights to the string sample from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's version of the Rolling Stones song The Last Time.
Today in History - Harry Gordon Selfridge was born on January 11, 1864. Though American-born, he is best known as the founder of the British store Selfridge and Co., Ltd (think Macy's, for those of you unfamiliar with the store). He receives little or no attention here in the United States. His name does not appear in any textbooks, he is not honored with any holidays. And yet Mr. Selfridge's philosophy has had more impact on western civilization than a dozen Aristotles.
His great maxim is uttered carelessly by a million voices every day, is enshrined in the halls of commerce and government alike, and has permeated our culture to the point where it has become a cliche. Like most successful ideas, we can hardly imagine that his concept was ever new or controversial; we must strain our imaginations to conceive a world unilluminated by his wisdom.
It was Mr. Selfridge's philosophy that "the customer is always right."
January 11, 1878 -
Milk was first delivered in bottles by milkman Alexander Campbell, in New York on this date.
Previously, one had to keep a cow in a spare room of their apartment, making taking out the trash a mandatory daily occurrence.
January 11, 1922 -
The first insulin injection was given to Leonard Thompson, a teenager in Canada, on this date. He weighed only 65 pounds and was about to slip into a coma and die. Drs. Frederick Banting and Charles Best worked on the insulin, then called Isletin, using a fetal calf pancreas extract. Unfortunately, the injection was so impure that Thompson had a severe allergic reaction and further injections were canceled.
Researchers worked around-the-clock for the next 12 days to refine the process, and with the help of Dr. James Collip, the next injection went off without a hitch. The availability of insulin turned diabetes from a fatal condition into a treatable one.
January 11, 1928 - Thomas Hardy, English novelist and all around curmudgeon, died near Dorchester, England on this date. In his will, Mr. Hardy specifically requested to be buried with his beloved first wife. His friends, however, didn’t think this was good enough for the author and lobbied to have him buried in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey instead.
An ugly fight between Hardy fans and family ensued, until they reached a compromise. The author’s heart was removed and buried with his wife; his ashes were preserved in a bronze urn inside the Abbey. There’s also a long-running (but unsubstantiated) rumor that Hardy’s sister’s cat snatched the heart, somehow left on a table, and that a pig’s heart had to be substituted for the burial ceremony.
January 11, 1935 - Amelia Earhart took off from Honolulu on this date, to become the first person to fly solo between Hawaii and California. She landed in Oakland the next day.
Three years earlier, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. According to one of our favorite bunkies, Earhart was hankering for some BBQ and hopped into a taxi after her flight to California to the Everett and Jones barbecue joint. They are still there.
January 11, 1943 -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt flew to Morocco for a top-secret meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He had not flown since 1932, when he traveled from Albany, New York, to Chicago to accept his nomination at the Democratic national convention.
No U.S. president had previously flown while in office because the Secret Service regarded flying as a dangerous mode of transport.
January 11, 1971 - I don't know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.
Mary Jane Blige, eight-time Grammy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American R&B singer-songwriter rapper, record producer, and actress, was born on this date.
Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years.
January 10 1927 -
The film Metropolis premiered in Berlin on this date. It was the most expensive silent film of the time, adjusting for inflation, the budget for Metropolis (7m Reichsmarks) ran around $230 million (2016).
Brigitte Helm's robot costume was extremely uncomfortable to wear. Helm suffered greatly underneath it as it cut and bruised her though Fritz Lang insisted that she had to wear it.
January 10, 1949 (This date is under much debate) - 45 RPM's - the term for the record format introduced by RCA on this date. This soon became the standard format used for vinyl “singles” for several decades. (Kids, RPM stands for "revolutions per minute.”)
Just think, all that pleasure from 7".
January 10, 1952 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus extravaganza, The Greatest Show on Earth, opened on this date.
Despite his made-to-order background as a real-life circus acrobat, Burt Lancaster declined the role of The Great Sebastian, a fact Cecil B. DeMille doubly regretted when he learned that Cornel Wilde was afraid of heights. Wilde was game, however, and ended up performing many of his own stunts on the flying trapeze.
January 10, 1964 -
The American version of the British program That Was The Week That Was(TW3), a weekly show of topical political satire, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
Singer Nancy Ames, Buck Henry, Pat Englund and Alan Alda were among the regulars. The show proved equally groundbreaking in the United States and, like the British version, was no stranger to controversy.
January 10, 1964 - (Follow along this is complicated ...) Introducing the Beatles, the first Beatles album is released in the US by Vee-Jay Records. Originally scheduled for a July 1963 release, the LP came out on this date, ten days before Capitol's Meet the Beatles!
The first editions of the LP were halted after Vee-Jay received a restraining order from Beechwood Music, Inc, who owned the US publishing rights to Love Me Do and PS I Love You. Although approximately 80,000 copies of the album had been sold, it was reissued without those two songs in early February.
January 10, 1984 -
The "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign for Wendy's with Clara Peller was first aired on this date.
Clara Peller was 81 when she came out of retirement to star in the Wendy's spot. Peller died on August 11, 1987, one week after her 84th birthday.
January 10, 1999 - David Chase's landmark series about the lives of gangsters and their existential angst, The Soprano, starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and Lorraine Bracco premiered on HBO on this date.
James Gandolfini said that he was often contacted by real-life "wise guys", complimenting him on the authenticity of the series, as well as giving him advice.
Today in History: Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously (not that Tom didn't know his name - it was theoretically punishable by death to denounce the crown and Tom wasn't quick looking for death at that time) on January 10, 1776, before the American Revolution. Paine wrote it with editorial feedback from Benjamin Rush, who came up with the title.
The document denounced British rule, and through its immense popularity contributed to fomenting the American Revolution. The second edition was published soon thereafter. A third edition, with an accounting of the worth of the British navy, an expanded appendix, and a response to criticism by the Quakers, was published on February 14, 1776.
January 10, 1810 - Napoleon, unable to to produce an heir with his wife, the Empress Josephine, divorced her on this date.
The divorce was unpopular with the people, and also strained Napoleon's relationship with church officials; especially after he quickly remarried an Austrian duchess.
January 10, 1863 -
The London Underground (the Tube) opened to the public on this date. The Underground, a symbol of British culture, was the world's first underground railroad.
Passengers can still ride the original line, which ran between the London's Paddington station and the Farringdon station.
January 10, 1870 - Victor Noir, French journalist, was killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte. Noir had called on him with a companion to present his editor's challenge to a duel because of a journalistic dispute concerning Corsican politics. Bonaparte was so insulted to have been approached by mere "menials" (his phrase, apparently) that he slapped the hapless 22-year-old in the face, pulled out a pistol and shot him on the spot.
Over 10,000 people attended his funeral and public sentiment over Noir's death forces Napoleon III to abdicate. A statue of Noir s prostrate figure became a magnet for anorgasmic women rubbing themselves against him as a sexual charm.
Once again, the French, they are a funny race.
January 10 1883 -
A fire at the six-story Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee killed more than 71 people on this date. For years this was considered one of the worst single structure fires in the United States.
Two famous midgets residing there, General Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton) and his brother-in-law Commodore Nut, were rescued by firefighters.
January 10, 1899 –
British inventor, David Misell who was living in New York, was issued a patent for an Electric Device (US patent #617,592) on this date. The first portable flashlights were hand-made from paper and fiber tubes, with a bulb and a crude brass reflector.
Misell sold those patent rights to Russian immigrant and inventor, Conrad Hubert and his American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company (later renamed the Eveready Battery Company.)
January 10, 1911 -
The first photo was taken from a flying airplane,(a Curtiss Hydroplane,)
by Major Erickson (the pilot was Charles Kenny Hamilton,) over San Diego on this date.
January 10 1948 - Donald Fagen, singer and front man of the rock band Steely Dan, was born on this date.
After the death of his friend and cofounder of Steely Dan, Walter Becker, Fagen continues to tour as Steely Dan.
January 10 1982 -
You could no longer go to Paul Lynde to block on this date. Mr. Lynde was found dead of a heart attack, (an apocryphal story has been going around that he was also naked and clucking a bottle of poppers in his West Hollywood home at the time.)
Mr. Lynde's bed companion, it appears, neglected to call 911 to report the emergency.
Kids, remember - don't count on that hustler to call the paramedics for you (that's always extra.)
January 10 1984 - Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry (1967) to be nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Record of the Year and Song of the Year on this date.
She may be unusual but Cyndi is still going strong more than 30 years later.
January 10, 2016 - I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.
Extraterrestrial and music legend David Bowie returned to his home planet on this date.
During your lifetime, you’ll eat about 60,000 pounds of food.
That’s the weight of about six elephants.
January 9, 1788 - Connecticut ratified the new U.S. Constitution on this date and became the fifth state to join the United States.
I guess that's only important if you come from Connecticut (which I do not.)
January 9, 1959 -
The TV Western, Rawhide, with Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
Clint Eastwood used the same gun and wore the same boots as in his "Spaghetti Westerns" A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He also wore those same boots in Unforgiven.
January 9, 1968 - It Takes A Thief, starring Robert Wagner, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
Alexander Mundy's apartment was in the Watergate complex, famed for Nixon break-in in 1972.
January 9, 1996 - Four extraterrestrials first land on Earth and find Earthlings mostly wanting, when NBC-TV first aired 3rd Rock from the Sun on this date.
One of John Lithgow's reasons for doing this television series was to allow him a "family friendly" work schedule, which he was unable to manage in theatre with an 8 p.m. curtain time, and movies, which required location shooting. Lithgow wanted to be at home with his family and this show allowed that.
January 9, 1998 -
Screenwriters and actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s breakthrough film, Good Will Hunting went into general release on this date.
Casey Affleck ad-libbed most of his lines. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Gus Van Sant later admitted that Casey's improvised lines were much funnier and better than what had been originally written for him.
January 9, 2000 - Fox-TV brought back the single-camera, no-laugh track comedy when, Malcolm in the Middle premiered on this date.
Although the family's surname was revealed as Wilkerson in the pilot episode, it was decided afterwards that they should not have a last name. A running joke on-set was that the family's last name was "Nolastname". This is officially confirmed in the final episode, Malcolm in the Middle: Graduation, when Francis drops his work pass, and his surname is briefly seen. Further confirmation can be seen when Malcolm is introduced to the stage for his speech. His last name is not heard, as the microphone screeches at the crucial moment, but you can read the announcer's lips clearly saying "Malcolm Nolastname".
Another book from the back shelf of the ACME Library
Today in History: January 9, 1768 (I've also seen it posted as April 4, 1768) -
The first modern circus opened in London, England on this date - cavalry sergeant Philip Astley staged the first modern circus, performing elaborate feats on the backs of horses racing around a ring.
Though similar entertainment had existed for centuries, Astley was the first to hold a circus in a ring, and to gather such disparate forms of entertainment together. And people paid good money to smell horse manure in a theatre.
January 9, 1793 -
The first US manned balloon flight occurred as Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew between Philadelphia and Woodbury, N.J.
He stayed airborne for 46 minutes, traveled close to 15 miles and set down at the "old Clement farm" in Deptford, New Jersey. President George Washington was in Philadelphia for the event, along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe and other bigwigs.
January 9, 1913 - Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.
Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, was born on this date.
Also born on this date - January 9, 1913 (or 1911) - Sing out Louise!!!
Rose Louise Hovick, actress, ecdysiast and writer, was born on this date.
January 9, 1915 - When a person has an accent, it means he can speak one more language than you.
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos, actor and director, was born on this date.
January 9, 1920 - The Human Fly, George Polley, attempted to climb to the top of the Woolworth Building (57 Floors) in New York City on this date.
He was able to reach the 30th floor before being arrested.
January 9, 1960 -
Professor Severus Snape, a half-blood wizard who was the son of the witch Eileen Snape (née Prince) and Muggle Tobias Snape, was born on this date.
During his lifetime, Severus Snape was Potions Master (1981-1996), Defense Against the Dark Arts professor (1996-1997), and Headmaster (1997-1998) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (which he attended as a student from 1971-1978.)
January 9, 1981 - Jesus saves and (insert your favorite sports figure here) scores.
Hockey Hall of Famer, Phil Esposito, said he would call it quits as a hockey player after the New York Rangers-Buffalo Sabres hockey game. It was a game that seemed like it might never end - both teams skated to a 3-3 tie. Esposito quit the New York Rangers and went on to become General Manager and coach of the Rangers. Phil Esposito played for the Boston Bruins when he won the Hart Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the NHL in 1969 and 1974 and helped lead the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Championships in 1970 and 1972.
January 9, 1995 - I am very interested in the Universe - I am specialising in the Universe and all that surrounds it.
The very influential English comic/actor Peter Cook, died at 57, on this date.
January 9, 2007 - We're going to make some history together today.
Steve Jobs introduced Apple's iPhone to the world, on this date. The unveiling occurred at the Macworld convention in San Francisco.
(As I always say - lay your hand upon the screen and feel his healing power pulsate through your nether regions.)
and Davy Jones, who was born in 1947, somehow were both born on this date - (you may lay your hand upon the screen and feel the throbbing in your loins. It may or may not be a healing power but it is a throbbing.)
What a strange and wondrous world we live in that they were both born on this date.
In the mood to luxuriate, to lounge, to live the lazy life?
You're in luck, for today is Bubble Bath Day.
January 8, 1950 - Robert Rossen's adaptation of the Robert Penn Warren's novel, All the King's Men, starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru, and John Derek went into general release in the US on this date.
Director Robert Rossen filmed in an unusual manner. Nobody in the cast had a complete script. Rossen let them read it once and took it away from them. According to Broderick Crawford, "We really had to stay on our toes."
January 8, 1968 - Welcome to zee exotic world of undersea explorer...
The first episode of the documentary series, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Sharks premiered on this date.
January 8, 1973 - Carly Simon received a gold record for the single, You're So Vain on this date.
Today in History -
The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, with General Andrew Jackson in command, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and America's vast western lands.
Unfortunately the war ended with the signing of The Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814. News of the peace would not reach New Orleans until February.
Oops
The only 'recognized' monarchy to reign in the United States died on this date.
Joshua Norton was a businessman in San Francisco in the 1800's. In the 1840's, just before the Gold Rush, he tried to corner the market on rice and failed. He went from being very wealthy to being destitute overnight and the experience completely shattered his reason. A couple of months after this event, he put on a formal admiral's uniform, complete with gold braid and epaulets and strode in to the office of the newspaper. He handed the editor a large, official looking proclamation which stated in quite formal language that, due to popular demand, he hereby declared himself Emperor Norton I of the United States, and the Protector of Mexico. He bade all his subjects show him loyalty and the other courtesies due a person of such eminent stature.
On the evening of January 8, 1880, Joshua Norton collapsed on the corner of California Street and Dupont Street (now Grant Avenue) while on his way to a lecture at the Academy of Sciences. His collapse was immediately noticed by another citizen who raised the alarm, and "the police officer on the beat hastened for a carriage to convey him to the City Receiving Hospital." Norton died before the carriage could arrive.
Norton's funeral was a solemn, mournful and large affair. Some accounts report that as many as 30,000 people lined the streets to pay homage, and that the funeral cortege was two miles long. He was buried at the Masonic Cemetery, at the expense of the City of San Francisco.
The day after his funeral, January 11, 1880, the San Francisco skies were blackened with a solar eclipse.
January 8, 1889 –
Dr. Herman Hollerith work on the 1880 census led to his receiving a patent (U.S. Patent No. 395,782) for a tabulating machine on this date.
The 1880 census took eight years to tabulate by hand. With Dr. Hollerith's punch-card tabulating machine, the 1890 census was tabulated in just one year. Herman Hollerith went on to found the company that was to become IBM.
January 8, 1908 -
The Joralemon Street Tunnel carrying the 4 and 5 trains (of the NYC Subway) under the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn first opened for traffic on this date.
It was the first subway tunnel to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn.
January 8, 1963 -
The Mona Lisa was displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC on this date. It was one of the few times the painting ever left France intentionally (without being stolen). The fact that it even came to the US at all was largely due to the influence of First Lady Jackie Kennedy, who mentioned to French cultural minister and writer, Andre Malraux that she would like to see it. He replied off the cuff that the painting should visit America, and President Kennedy ('the man who had accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris') held him to it.
In just 27 days, more than 518,000 visitors filed past the painting, including thousands of children brought in on specially arranged school trips. La Giocandathen headed to New York, for a month-long exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it drew more than a million people.
January 8, 1964 - Lyndon B. Johnson declares his War on Poverty during his State of the Union address on this date 58 years ago.
Unfortunately, poverty continues to win.
January 8, 1992 - George Bush, World War II veteran, sick with the stomach flu, decided to avenge the US for the raid of Pearl Harbor at a Tokyo state dinner on this date.
He vomited in the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister while cameras are rolling, to the great amusement of everyone except the Prime Minister.
Sushi, anyone?
January 8, 2002 - George W. Bush began a major overhaul of the education system in the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act on this date, which rewarded schools based on their students' performance.
The act has been perceived as controversial, because some have seen it as forcing schools to sacrifice a good education in order to achieve good test scores. On December 10, 2015, President Barack Obama signed legislation replacing NCLB with the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Neil Armstrong walked on the moon before the creation of wheeled luggage.
It just seems so strange given how obvious the idea of wheeled suitcases is now, but while the US spent billions on plans for landing on the moon in the early 1960s (not to mention the moon landing in 1969), wheeled cases weren't invented until the early 1970s by Bernie Sadow.
(US patent 3,653,474 for "Rolling Luggage").
The retractable telescoping handle wasn't invented until the late 1980s by Robert Plath.
So now you know
January 7, 1929 – Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D. , illustrated by Dick Calkins, appeared in newspaper comics on this date; (the same date that Tarzan of the Apes, illustrated by Hal Foster, appeared in newspapers, as well.).
The main character, Anthony Rogers, appeared in the in the Sci-Fi magazine, Amazing Stories, six months earlier, in August, as a short novel Armageddon 2419 A.D, by writer Philip Francis Nowlan. His name was changed to the snappier Buck Rogers for the comic strip.
January 7, 1934 – Alex Raymond’sFlash Gordon comic strip debuted in newspapers across the United States.
In addition to the comic strip, Flash has also starred in a live-action serial, a radio show, novels, comic books, animated cartoons, and he even appeared on his own U.S. postage stamp.
January 7, 1961 -
The pilot episode of The Avengers - Hot Snow, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee premiered in the UK on this date.
The vast majority of the first series of The Avengers is missing from TV archives and likely lost forever - only the first 15 minutes of this first episode and three complete later episodes,The Avengers: Girl on the Trapeze (which incidentally does not feature the character of Steed), The Avengers: The Frighteners, and The Avengers: Tunnel of Fear have been recovered and preserved.
January 7, 1967 - The Newlywed Game premiered on ABC TV on this date (the show began airing in 1966 as a local afternoon show in some areas.)
I know your thinking about it - where was the most unusual place you and your husband made whoopee?
January 7, 1972 - David Bowie released Changes as a single in the UK on this date. The track peaked at No.49 on the UK chart and later at No.41 on the US chart.
According to Bowie, this started out as a parody of a nightclub song - "kind of throwaway" - but people kept chanting for it at concerts and thus it became one of his most popular and enduring songs. Bowie had no idea it was going to become so successful, but the song connected with his young audience who could relate to lyrics like "These children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds, are immune to your consultations, they're quite aware of what they're going through."
January 7, 1994 –
Possibly, one of the worst movies made with such a talented cast, Cabin Boy, starring Chris Elliott, Andy Richter, David Letterman, Mike Starr, Brian Doyle-Murray, Russ Tamblyn, and Bob Elliott premiered on this date.
This is the second film to feature Chris Elliot and Brian Doyle-Murray. The first being Groundhogs Day. The two actors also worked together on the Fox series Get a Life.
January 7, 2011 - Tom Hopper's historical drama, The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, premiered in United Kingdom on this date.
Nine weeks before filming began, Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue, discovered a large box in his attic that contained his grandfather's personal papers. The box held Lionel Logue's diary, his appointment book, notes from his speech therapy sessions with King George VI, and over 100 personal letters to Logue from the King. It also contained what is believed to be the actual copy of the speech used by George VI in his 1939 radio broadcast announcing the declaration of war with Germany. Mark Logue turned his grandfather's papers, letters, and diary over to director Tom Hooper and screenwriter David Seidler, who used them to flesh out the relationship between Logue and the King. Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth also read through the material for insight into their characters. The exchange in this movie between Logue and King George VI following his radio speech ("You still stammered on the 'W'." / "Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.") was taken directly from Logue's diary. Firth insisted that it should be included in the movie.
January 7, 2012 –
The group LMFAO 's hit Sexy and I Know It reached No. #1 on the BillboardCharts on this date.
This was LMFAO'ssecond consecutive #1 single on the Hot 100 following Party Rock Anthem. In doing so, Redfoo and SkyBlu became the first duo to achieve back-to-back chart-toppers since OutKast ruled with Hey Ya! and The Way You Move, in late 2003 and early 2004.
Today in History: January 7, 1598 - Theodorus I, [Feodor Ivanovitch], czar of Russia (1584-98), died on this date.
Boris Godunov seized the Russian throne on February 17 upon the death of Feodor I.
But what do you care?
January 7, 1714 –
The world’s first patent (#395) for a “Machine for Transcribing Letters” was granted in England by Queen Anne to Henry Mill.
This first planned typewriter was never actually produced.
January 7, 1789 -
January 7, 1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States, was born on this date. (Often cited as one of the 10 worse Presidents because he backed the Compromise of 1850 that delayed the Southern secession by allowing slavery to spread.)
And no, he didn't install the first bathtub in the White House, that was a hoax by Henry Louis Mencken.
January 7, 1851 - Jean Bernard Léon Foucault first used a pendulum to demonstrate that the Earth rotated on this date. This initial experiment, which is conducted in the cellar of his home using a five kilogram pendulum suspended from a two meter cable, represents the first time the Earth’s rotation has been proven experimentally, rather than through observation.
Foucault went on to give a public demonstration for scientists using an eleven meter wire at the Paris observatory on February 3 and again at the Pantheon in Paris on March 31.
Now you know.
January 7, 1894 - William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for the first practical celluloid film and decided on 35 mm for the size, a standard still used.
The earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture, the Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze is a short film made by W. K. L. Dickson on January 7, 1894 for advertising purposes. Often referred to as Fred Ott's Sneeze, this is is one of the world's earliest motion pictures and America's best known early film production. The star is Fred Ott, an Edison employee known to his fellow workers in the laboratory for his comic sneezing and other gags.
January 7, 1912 - It's hard to say. Sometimes people have had terrible childhoods. And sometimes they just haven't found their special place in life. And sometimes they're dogs from hell and must be destroyed.
Charles Addams, cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters, was spawned on this date.
January 7, 1943 -
The world's greatest inventor, Nikola Tesla, died alone in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel, of heart failure on this date in history.
Despite having sold his AC electricity patents, Tesla died with significant debts on the books.
January 7, 1953 -
Lame duck President Harry Truman, rattling around the White House, packing up empty liquor bottles and other assorted crap, announced that the US had detonated the first hydrogen bomb months earlier.
The development of the bomb came almost in direct response to the news that the USSR had exploded an atomic bomb three years earlier. It was one of the first instances of the technological and military one-upmanship that characterized the Cold War.
January 7, 1957 - I feel like a human pinata. The disappointing thing is, no candy is going to spill out.
Katherine Anne Couric, TV news host and colonoscopy spokes model, was born on this date.
January 7, 1999 –
This was not a great day for Bubba - The impeachment trial of President William Jefferson Clinton began on this date.
It was only the second impeachment of a President in American history, following the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868. And the third one occurred recently.
January 7, 2015 - Two gunmen killed twelve people in the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical publication based in Paris, then killed a police officer outside, (eleven others were wounded in the assault,) on this date.
Please take a moment out of your day to remember the victims.
