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.
It's National Fig Newton Day, (named not after Sir Isaac Newton but the town of Newton in Massachusetts, near the Kennedy Biscuit Works, which first made the cookie back in 1891.)
Please celebrate responsibly
It's also National Nothing Day, set aside each year for people to sit around for the entire day and just hang out. No celebrating, observing or honoring anything.
It was created by newspaperman, Harold Pullman Coffin in 1972 and first celebrated in 1973. While you celebrate (or not), please continue to read today's postings though
January 16, 1932 -
Funny and definitely risque, Paramount released the Betty Boop animated short, Boop-Oop-A-Doop, on this date.
Please - don't take her boop-oop-a-doop away - Betty is supposed to be just 16.
January 16, 1938 -
Clarinetist Benny Goodman, breaks through cultural barriers to play the first-ever jazz concert at Carnegie Hall. It was considered instrumental in establishing jazz as a legitimate form of music.
The LP, The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert by Benny Goodman, issued in 1950, was the first ever double album, and one of the first records on the new long-playing format to sell over a million copies.
January 16, 1965 -
You finally get control back of the vertical and horizontal of your television set - ABC-TV aired the final episode of The Outer Limits on this date.
When this episode, the series' last show, was originally aired, a live announcer spoke over the Control Voice's closing statement about returning "next week at this same time." The live announcer stated that The King Family Show would be seen "next week in this time period." The regular Control Voice closing for The Probe was heard only in re-runs.
January 16, 1973 - NBC-TV presented the 440th, and final episode of Bonanza (which began airing on NBC on September 12, 1959) on this date.
This is the second-longest-running Western television series, behind Gunsmoke. It continues to air in syndication.
January 16, 1976 - Peter Frampton's platinum live album, Frampton Comes Alive, was released by A & M Records on this date.
Frampton used a talkbox, a device hooked up to his guitar amp that allowed him to make distorted vocal sounds through a tube in his mouth. Other groups had success with the device around that time (Aerosmith used it on Sweet Emotion the year before), but Frampton became known for it because he played a talkbox solo on this. Every time he formed words, the crowd went nuts, especially when he sounded out "I want to thank you," which came out sounding like "I want to f*ck you."
January 16, 1979 -
The landmark nature series Life on Earth presented by David Attenborough first shown on BBC One on this date
At a cost exceeding £1 million ($1.2 million), it was an immense project that involved filming over 100 locations around the world and took three years in the making by a team of 30 people with the help of more than 500 scientists
January 16, 1988 - George Harrison hits #1 with Got My Mind Set On You, becoming the act with the longest time between #1 hits - it was 24 years since Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth).
When George Harrison conceived the Cloud Nine album, he looked for a producer who could carry some of the load and not be intimidated by working with a former Beatle. He sought out Jeff Lynne of ELO for the role even though he had never met him - he connected with Lynne by having their mutual friend, Dave Edmunds, get him the message. It ended up being a great fit. Lynne brought his distinctive production sheen to the tracks and helped out writing some of the songs. Lynne's influence can be heard in the backing vocals of the Got My Mind Set On You chorus. Along with Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty, Harrison and Lynne formed The Traveling Wilburys in 1988.
Today in History: January 16, 1547 - Ivan IV was crowned Tsar of Russia. He is better known by his nickname: Ivan the Terrible. He was the first king of Russia to call himself a Caesar, probably in the hopes that Shakespeare would write a play about him.
He couldn’t pronounce Caesar, however, so he simply called himself "zar," and subsequent arguments over whether that should be spelled czar, tsar, zar, or tzar became so heated that they eventually resulted in Russian History.
January 16, 1865 -
General William T. Sherman issues Special Field Order No. 15, entitling the household of each freed slave "a plot of no more than forty acres of tillable ground" along the Carolina coastline between Charleston and Jacksonville.
After the Confederate surrender, the Johnson administration makes a halfhearted attempt to follow through on the acreage, but all efforts to parcel out the land in question are abandoned just a few months later.
January 16, 1908 - Christmas carols always brought tears to my eyes. I also cry at weddings. I should have cried at a couple of my own..
Ethel Merman, actress, singer and the woman who learned love at the hands of Ernest Borgnine, was born on this date.
January 16, 1920 -
Please save some of your brain cells for another weekend of binge drinking,
and remember that Prohibition went into effect in the U.S. on this date.
January 16, 1939 –
The Superman newspaper comic strip debuted on this date.
Printed daily, they were the first stories to go into detail about the planet Krypton, exploring the story of Superman's parents, Jor-El and Lara.
January 16, 1942 -
Raising money for the war, actress Carole Lombard, her mother, 18 passengers and three crew, were killed when their plane crashed into Mount Potosi, 32 miles southwest of Las Vegas on this date.
Lombard was much loved for her unpretentious personality and well known for her earthy sense of humor and blue language.
January 16, 1959 - Once a song's out there, it's no longer mine. And that's the whole purpose of music: to belong to people.
Helen Folasade Adu, OBE, singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer, was born on this date.
January 16, 1969 -
Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first docking of manned spacecraft in orbit as well as the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another.
Yevgeny Khrunov became the first astronaut to transfer between linked capsules. It is the only time such a transfer will ever be accomplished with a space walk.
January 16, 1991 - Operation Desert Storm commenced as Baghdad was pummeled live on TV, on this date. Targeted with smartbombs were "command and control facilities" and Saddam Hussein himself.
We seem to miss both, but did manage to kill about 100,000 Iraqi soldiers in the surreal bombardments that follow.
January 16, 2003 - NASA launched the Space Shuttle Columbia on its 28th and final mission on this date.
The shuttle's mission ended in tragedy when, 16 days later, on February 1st, the Columbia disintegrated as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven of the shuttle’s crew members. The disaster shocked the nation, and set the space shuttle program back.
And so it goes
BTW - There are 349 days left until next year. Plan accordingly
Start thinking about all the great things you are going to do this year.
Today is National Hat Day. John Etherington, a London haberdasher stepped out of his shop on the Strand, on this date in 1797, wearing a new hat of his own design. His black top hat was so startling that it drew a crowd - one man purported was shoved through a storefront window. Etherington was arrested for disturbing the peace, but within a month, he had more hat orders than he could handle.
Although more body heat is lost from your head than other parts of the body, in Fargo, North Dakota, there is a law that forbids dancing while wearing a hat under the penalty of jail. I hope someone informed Mr. Astaire of that fact.
January 15, 1967 - Ed Sullivan, when he wasn't fall down drunk, swore a lot. He swore that his arch-rival, Walter Winchell was a goddamned bastard. He swore that his 'so called friend' J Edgar Hoover was a goddamned transvestite but surprising spry in his cha-cha heels. And he swore that those goddamned filthy limey boys, The Rolling Stones, would never return to his show.
Sullivan sobered up, looked at his rating when the Stones last appeared on his show and permitted that boys back on The Ed Sullivan Show, on this date.
They were forced to change the lyrics of to Let's Spend Some Time Together.
January 15, 1971 - George Harrison unintentionally rewrites the song He's So Fine and releases it as My Sweet Lord on this date.
Bright Tunes Music, the owner of the publishing rights, sued Harrison because this sounded too much like the 1963 Chiffons hit He's So Fine. The trial took place February 23-25, with various expert witnesses testifying. The key to the case was the musical pattern of the two songs, which were both based on two musical motifs: "G-E-D" and "G-A-C-A-C." He's So Fine repeated both motifs four times, My Sweet Lord repeated the first motif four times and the second motif three times. Harrison couldn't identify any other songs that used this exact pattern, and the court ruled that "the two songs are virtually identical." And while the judge felt that Harrison did not intentionally copy My Sweet Lord, that was not a defense - thus Harrison was on the hook writing a similar song without knowing it. Harrison was found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" in a verdict handed down on August 31, 1976.
Silly Beatle.
January 15, 1974 - America, once again, found it's thrill on Blueberry Hill.
The first episode of Happy Days (series) aired on this date. Potsie sets Richie up with that Mary Lou girl.
Although Fonzie loved motorcycles, Henry Winkler was terrified of them. Most of the scenes of Fonzie riding the motorcycle were shot with the bike attached to a platform, and being pulled by a truck.
January 15, 1977 - The Coneheads at Home, featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin, debuted on Saturday Night Live on this date. For those of you too young to remember, The Coneheads at Home, was a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live featuring a family of extraterrestrials with cone-shaped heads, from the planet Remulak, posing in the suburban United States as immigrants from France.
(sorry, it not the first appearance of the Coneheads.)
The inspiration for the Coneheads came from a proposal by Dan Aykroyd about pin-headed lawyers. This idea was shot down by the producers, fearing it might be offensive. A later trip to the Easter Islands in the South Pacific and the haunting images of stone head monoliths inspired Aykroyd to pen the series drawings that evolved into the Coneheads.
January 15, 1981 - Let's Be Careful Out There
Hill Street Blues premiered on NBC on this date.
The exterior shots of the Hill Street station were those of an actual Chicago police station. Now no longer used by the city, it was at one time the home of the 7th District, located near the old Maxwell Street Market, and is called "The Hill Street Blues Station". It is used by the University of Illinois-Chicago police. During Prohibition this precinct had the reputation as the most corrupt in the U.S.
Today in History: January 15, 1759 - The British Museum, one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world, opened to the public on this date.
I'm sure the Greek Prime Minister is patiently waiting by the phone for word that Elgin Marbles will be returned to Greece (but that's another story.)
January 15 , 1870 -
A Thomas Nast cartoon titled, A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion, was printed in Harper's Weekly on this date.
The cartoon symbolized the Democratic Party with a donkey, a concept still in use today.
January 15 , 1892 -
A little magazine in Springfield, Massachusetts, first published the rules for a brand new game that involved tossing a ball into a high-mounted peach basket.
This was, of course, the precursor of what is today known as "Peachbasket,"
still as popular as ever in Springfield, Massachusetts.
January 15, 1919 -
In Boston an explosion opened a tank of molasses and the cylindrical sides toppled outward knocking down 10 nearby buildings. 2 million gallons of molasses oozed onto the streets and killed 21 people. Another 50 were injured.
So yes, apparently, there are people slower than molasses in Boston.
January 15, 1929 - I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor, political activist and Nobel Prize winner was born on this date.
January 15, 1943 -
Just outside of Washington, DC in Arlington , VA, The Pentagon was dedicated as the world's largest office building on this date.
It covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors.
Once again I ask: what would happen to the DC sewer system if you could have a co-ordinated flush of all the toilets in the building?
January 15, 1947 -
A passerby spotted the nude body of Elizabeth Short, a 22 year old actress in a vacant lot near Hollywood. Her body, cut in half, was bruised and beaten. Grass had reportedly been forced into her vagina, and she had reportedly been sodomized after death. The case was dubbed The Black Dahlia murder and over the years as many as 50 men and women have confessed to this gruesome crime yet it has never been solve.
For those of you with stronger constitutions than mine, you may go on the internet to view truly horrifying actual crime scene photos (you sick puppies.)
January 15, 1953 -
An out-of- control, 16-car train, Train #173, the Federal-Express train, suffers a near-catastrophic brake failure and crashed through the railroad terminal at Union Station in Washington, DC on this date.
Thanks to the quick thinking and action of the engineers, there were only 87 injuries and zero fatalities.
Coincidentally this is the 15th anniversary of airline pilot Sully Sullenberger and his crew 's miraculous ditching into the Hudson River.
January 15, 1967 -
The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Superbowl I on this date.
It was generally agreed upon by most television historians that all known broadcast tapes which recorded the game in its entirety were subsequently destroyed in the the process of recycling videotape by re-recording over previous content. NFL films has been able to recreate a version of the game from various sources.
January 15, 1983 - Meyer Lansky, retired Jewish organized crime genius, (rumored to have photographic proof that J. Edgar Hoover was a homosexual; conspiracy theorists believed this was the reason Hoover wasn't aggressive in pursuing organized crime), died of a fatal nosebleed at Mount Sinai Hospital on this date.
It is not clear where Lansky's estimated $300 million fortune went.
Once again, what a way to go!
January 15, 2001 -
Happy Birthday Wikipedia.
Wikipedia was formally launched on this date, as a single English-language edition at www.wikipedia.com (now found here.)
January 15, 2013 -
Horse DNA was found in beef burgers being sold in supermarkets in Ireland and the United Kingdom on this date.
Health officials stated there was no risk to public health and that the contaminated batches were being recalled from retailers.
For those of you not following that new fangled Gregorian Calendar (and still keep stock with the Julian Calendar), it's January First. Happy New Year
Please feel free to call in sick today and explain to them that it's Orthodox New Years Day in your religion (but remember that you used this excuse when March rolls around and you try to mention that it's New Year's Day again.)
January 14, 1952 -
On a cold East Coast morning at 7 a.m., NBC-TV opened the the first Today show broadcast with a shot of Dave Garroway looking outside through the 'Window on the World' in New York City. The broadcast also featured Jack Lescoulie as co-host.
The show would be a radical departure from the TV industry's accepted programming; a news, features, special events program that would run in the early morning. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue.
January 14, 1967 - Sonny and Cher, one of the big musical duos of the mid '60s released one of their biggest hits, The Beat Goes On, on this date.
In 1968, Chrysler Corporation paid a large sum of money to use parts of the song in an ad campaign for the Plymouth line.
January 14, 1972 -
Sanford and Son, featuring comedian Redd Foxx (whose last name was really Sanford) and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
Throughout the series, whenever Lamont threatened to move out, or things did not go Fred's way, he would clutch his chest and fake a heart attack, shouting variations of "Hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you!" That running gag was blamed for Redd Foxx's death, from a heart attack, while filming The Royal Family. When he complained of chest pains, no one believed him until it was too late.
January 14, 1973 - Touch but the hem of his raiment and be saved!
Elvis Presley made TV history with a live concert, Aloha from Hawaii, televised via satellite on this date. It has been estimated that over one billion people saw the concert.
Aloha From Hawaii made history as the first televised event to be simulcast live to 40 countries world wide. It's still today most watched entertain show with only one performer.
January 14, 1980 - The Blues Brothers movie with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi opened on this date.
John Belushi was nicknamed 'The Black Hole' onset, as he went through hundreds of pairs of sunglasses during production. He would do a scene and then lose the pair before filming the next one.
January 14, 1981 -
This was the date television died.
The FCC freed stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish, and removed any obligation to allocate time for news or public affairs programming.
January 14, 1989 -
The single from Bobby Brown'ssecond studio album, Don't Be Cruel, My Prerogative went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts in the US on this date.
This song helped Brown establish an image as a bad boy and an outcast. He really wasn't all that scandalous at the time, and his music had been far from controversial - his first solo album pretty much cloned his New Edition sound. He was just 19 when the Don't Be Cruel album was released, and considering his fame and fortune, was reasonably grounded - he kept a tight circle of friends, was close with his family, and ended his concerts with a prayer.
January 14, 1990 - The Simpsons episodes, Bart the Genius, premiered on Fox television on this date. This episode was considered the first official episode of The Simpsons, and FOX advertised it as such. The Christmas episode was considered as a special.
Although this episode aired after Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, it was written prior. This is why Santa's Little Helper does not appear in the episode.
January 14, 1993 -
Talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving his late-night show after 11 years on NBC to sign a $16 million deal with CBS.
Seven years later, on January 14, 2000, he had quintuple bypass surgery.
The Clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany on this date.
Any time you watch John Candy, your life is better.
January 14, 1858 -
Emperor Napoleon III (having the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France) and Empress Eugenie escape unhurt after an Italian assassin threw a bomb at their carriage as they travel to the Paris Opera to see Rossini's William Tell, on this date. Felice Orsini and his accomplices threw three bombs at the imperial carriage.
The first bomb landed among the horsemen in front of the carriage. The second bomb wounded the animals and smashed the carriage glass. The third bomb landed under the carriage and seriously wounded a policeman who was hurrying to protect the occupants. Eight people were killed and 142 wounded, though the emperor and empress were unhurt. Napoleon, ever the politician, realized that he and Eugenie had to proceed to the performance and appear in their box.
They really wanted to see the opera.
January 14, 1900 -
Speaking of opera, Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premiered in Rome, to mixed reviews on this date.
This is considered one of the more extreme operas as all of the four main characters die violently.
January 14, 1954 - Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio on this date. Though the marriage between the iconic actress and the baseball star only lasted 274 days, they remained friends over the years.
After Monroe's death in 1962, DiMaggio sent flowers to her grave every week until his own death in 1999.
January 14, 1956 - Little Richard released Tutti Frutti on this date, (to fully take advantage of the healing powers of Little Richard, much like Elvis - you must remove all your clothing (underwears optional) and dance around the house, continually touching your afflicted regions.)
This song introduced Little Richard's famous "Whooooo," and also a big "Aaaaaaahhh" scream which he sings just before the tenor sax solo performed by Lee Allen. Richard's scream had a practical purpose: to let Allen know when to start playing. They were recording on just three tracks, so overdubbing the horns wasn't a practical option.
And yet Pat Boone's cover of the song rose higher in the charts on it's initial release. Many listeners at the time only knew the song through Boone, so Little Richard's promotional materials often labeled him "Original 'Tutti Frutti' Man."
Stupid record buying public.
January 14, 1957 - The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.
Humphrey Bogart, the Greatest Male Star of All Time, model for the Gerber baby and founding member of the Hollywood Rat Pack (a phrase coined by Lauren Bacall) finally decided to let the world catch up with his three drink lead and succumbs to cancer of the esophagus on this date.
And so it goes
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Please feel free to call in sick today and explain to them that it's Orthodox New Years Day in your religion (but remember that you used this excuse when March rolls around and you try to mention that it's New Year's Day again.)
January 14, 1952 -
On a cold East Coast morning at 7 a.m., NBC-TV opened the the first Today show broadcast with a shot of Dave Garroway looking outside through the 'Window on the World' in New York City. The broadcast also featured Jack Lescoulie as co-host.
The show would be a radical departure from the TV industry's accepted programming; a news, features, special events program that would run in the early morning. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue.
January 14, 1967 - Sonny and Cher, one of the big musical duos of the mid '60s released one of their biggest hits, The Beat Goes On, on this date.
In 1968, Chrysler Corporation paid a large sum of money to use parts of the song in an ad campaign for the Plymouth line.
January 14, 1972 -
Sanford and Son, featuring comedian Redd Foxx (whose last name was really Sanford) and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
Throughout the series, whenever Lamont threatened to move out, or things did not go Fred's way, he would clutch his chest and fake a heart attack, shouting variations of "Hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you!" That running gag was blamed for Redd Foxx's death, from a heart attack, while filming The Royal Family. When he complained of chest pains, no one believed him until it was too late.
January 14, 1973 - Touch but the hem of his raiment and be saved!
Elvis Presley made TV history with a live concert, Aloha from Hawaii, televised via satellite on this date. It has been estimated that over one billion people saw the concert.
Aloha From Hawaii made history as the first televised event to be simulcast live to 40 countries world wide. It's still today most watched entertain show with only one performer.
January 14, 1980 - The Blues Brothers movie with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi opened on this date.
John Belushi was nicknamed 'The Black Hole' onset, as he went through hundreds of pairs of sunglasses during production. He would do a scene and then lose the pair before filming the next one.
January 14, 1981 -
This was the date television died.
The FCC freed stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish, and removed any obligation to allocate time for news or public affairs programming.
January 14, 1989 -
The single from Bobby Brown'ssecond studio album, Don't Be Cruel, My Prerogative went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts in the US on this date.
This song helped Brown establish an image as a bad boy and an outcast. He really wasn't all that scandalous at the time, and his music had been far from controversial - his first solo album pretty much cloned his New Edition sound. He was just 19 when the Don't Be Cruel album was released, and considering his fame and fortune, was reasonably grounded - he kept a tight circle of friends, was close with his family, and ended his concerts with a prayer.
January 14, 1990 - The Simpsons episodes, Bart the Genius, premiered on Fox television on this date. This episode was considered the first official episode of The Simpsons, and FOX advertised it as such. The Christmas episode was considered as a special.
Although this episode aired after Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, it was written prior. This is why Santa's Little Helper does not appear in the episode.
January 14, 1993 -
Talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving his late-night show after 11 years on NBC to sign a $16 million deal with CBS.
Seven years later, on January 14, 2000, he had quintuple bypass surgery.
The Clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany on this date.
Any time you watch John Candy, your life is better.
January 14, 1858 -
Emperor Napoleon III (having the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France) and Empress Eugenie escape unhurt after an Italian assassin threw a bomb at their carriage as they travel to the Paris Opera to see Rossini's William Tell, on this date. Felice Orsini and his accomplices threw three bombs at the imperial carriage.
The first bomb landed among the horsemen in front of the carriage. The second bomb wounded the animals and smashed the carriage glass. The third bomb landed under the carriage and seriously wounded a policeman who was hurrying to protect the occupants. Eight people were killed and 142 wounded, though the emperor and empress were unhurt. Napoleon, ever the politician, realized that he and Eugenie had to proceed to the performance and appear in their box.
They really wanted to see the opera.
January 14, 1900 -
Speaking of opera, Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premiered in Rome, to mixed reviews on this date.
This is considered one of the more extreme operas as all of the four main characters die violently.
January 14, 1954 - Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio on this date. Though the marriage between the iconic actress and the baseball star only lasted 274 days, they remained friends over the years.
After Monroe's death in 1962, DiMaggio sent flowers to her grave every week until his own death in 1999.
January 14, 1956 - Little Richard released Tutti Frutti on this date, (to fully take advantage of the healing powers of Little Richard, much like Elvis - you must remove all your clothing (underwears optional) and dance around the house, continually touching your afflicted regions.)
This song introduced Little Richard's famous "Whooooo," and also a big "Aaaaaaahhh" scream which he sings just before the tenor sax solo performed by Lee Allen. Richard's scream had a practical purpose: to let Allen know when to start playing. They were recording on just three tracks, so overdubbing the horns wasn't a practical option.
And yet Pat Boone's cover of the song rose higher in the charts on it's initial release. Many listeners at the time only knew the song through Boone, so Little Richard's promotional materials often labeled him "Original 'Tutti Frutti' Man."
Stupid record buying public.
January 14, 1957 - The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.
Humphrey Bogart, the Greatest Male Star of All Time, model for the Gerber baby and founding member of the Hollywood Rat Pack (a phrase coined by Lauren Bacall) finally decided to let the world catch up with his three drink lead and succumbs to cancer of the esophagus on this date.
The Asian Lunar New Years is 35 days away, (as is Mardi Gras this year). Valentine's Day is 32 days away. And today is Old New Years Eve (Old Style Calendar.)
Feel free to forget it's 'Dry January'
Today is National Rubber Ducky Day. You may ask why? … because that’s what Ernie says!
While scrubbing himself clean at bath time and singing that song we all know from Sesame Street, Ernie said January 13th is his favorite bath time toy’s birthday.
The rubber ducky was first patented in 1928 by Landon Smart Lawrence. They are most often used to make toddlers feel more at ease when taking a bath. Having a friendly, yellow toy makes the water less scary to the little ones and gives them something to play with while a parent scrubs them clean.
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, 1967 - Decca Records released The Rolling Stones single, Let’s Spend The Night Together, (the b-side was Ruby Tuesday,) in the UK on this date,
It's pretty obvious what's going on in this song, as Mick Jagger makes a play to bed down a lovely lady. All this talk of "satisfying her every need" got the attention of censors. Many radio stations either refused to play it or bleeped out the word "night."
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.
Janury 13, 1968 – The Beatles’ non-album single Hello Goodbye was #1 on the Billboard charts for the third week in a row, becoming the band's 15th American chart-topper. (It was the first single that The Beatles released after the death Brian Epstein.)
John Lennon hated the song. He viewed it as an inconsequential song of McCartney's, saying it was "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions." What further infuriated Lennon was that his I Am The Walrus, was issued as the B-side to McCartney's A-sideHello Goodbye.
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: (Very sorry for the late,abbreviated posting today) January 13, 1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., minister, American children's author (Ragged Dick, Tattered Tom and 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 -
Television: A medium. So called because it's neither rare nor well done.
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.)
Bunkies- Smoking Kills.
January 13, 1979 -
The YMCA filed a libel suit against the Village People, on this date, for their YMCA hit. It considered the song defamatory.
The two sides settled out of court and the YMCA later expressed pride towards the band for their song as a salute to their organization. Later, the US Navy recruits Village People to try to work similar magic for Navy recruitment.
So I guess people kept doing whatever they felt like at the Y.
It's a perfect day to celebrate National Hot Tea Day.
January 12, 1934 - George Cukor's star-studded extravaganza Dinner at Eight, went into general release in the US on this date.
Jean Harlow was in awe of Marie Dressler's talents and praised the veteran actress for her generosity. "Being in the same cast with Marie was a break for me," said Harlow. "She's one trouper I'd never try to steal a scene from. It'd be like trying to carry Italy against Mussolini."
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, 1969 - Led Zeppelin‘s debut album was released in the US on this date. It was recorded over just 36 hours at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, costing the band just £1,782.
Most of the tracks were performed ‘live’ in the studio, with very few overdubs added. The groundbreaking heavy rock LP spent more than a year - 71 weeks - on the UK album chart, and the blues-based quartet became one the most influential bands in rock history.
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 premiered 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, 1965 - (File this under: Your taxes dollars at work -)
At 10:58am PST, on this date, US government scientists conduct what they term a “controlled excursion,” launching a nuclear rocket in Jackass Flats, Nevada and burning off a portion of its radioactive core. The resultant radioactive close drifted over Los Angeles before It produced a radioactive cloud over Los Angeles.
Documents released in 1994 revealed that the cloud was an “intentional accident” designed to test the possible effects of a malfunction aboard a rocket. A federal committee noted in 1994 that while the radioactivity levels were extremely low and unlikely to have caused illnesses, Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey, a member of the committer said "an intentional reactor accident releasing a radioactive cloud should not be considered prudent public policy."
Oops.
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, 2007 -
Concert violinist Joshua Bell, played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a subway station in a DC Metro station on this date.
Of the 1,097 people who passed by Bell, only seven stopped to listen him play, including a 3-year old boy, and only one person recognized him. The experiment was initiated by The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten and won him a Pulitzer Prize for the article he wrote about the event.
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.
