Author Archives: dcaligari

August 28, 1964 –The Beatles met Bob Dylan for the first time at The Delmonico Hotel, following their show at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium, on this date. After being introduced by a mutual friend, writer Al Aronowitz, the band offered their guests drinks, but Dylan and Aronowitz expressed interest in smoking weed instead. ThisContinue reading “The Beatles spark up for the first time”

August 28, 1978 –Released by Warner Bros. and produced by Brian Eno, Devo’s debut album , Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo was released, on this date. The album was met with mixed reviews at the time, but today is viewed as one of the most significant albums of the Post-Punk andContinue reading “Devolution began”

August 28, 1898 –Pharmacist Caleb Davis Bradham created a beverage, he believed would aid in digestion and boost energy, calling it “Brad’s Drink,” on this date. He later renamed it Pepsi-Cola, after “pepsin” and the kola nut used to flavor the drink.

August 28, 1946 –Universal’s film-noir classic version of Ernest Hemingway’s story, The Killers, opened in NYC on this date. Burt Lancaster was the third choice for the part of The Swede, and was signed only after actors Wayne Morris and Sonny Tufts proved unavailable. Lancaster was an ex-circus acrobat from Union City, NJ. When producerContinue reading “The Killers premiered”

August 28, 1930 –… Well, art is art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west, and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh… Now you tell me what you know …Continue reading “Animal Crackers premiered”

Most American children learned from an early age to look both ways before crossing the street, but especially during this presidential season, how many of them really know how to protect themselves against political assassination? Not many. And yet, each year, millions of people are killed by assassins. It’s tragic because these are needless deaths,Continue reading “Another Important ACME PSA”

August 27, 1943 –(An almost forgotten film) Warner Bros. released the Lillian Hellman anti-fascist drama, Watch On The Rhine, starring Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Beulah Bondi, on this date. Bette Davis repeatedly clashed with director Herman Shumlin throughout production. A novice film director, he had no real experience on a film setContinue reading “Watch On The Rhine premiered”

August 27, 1953 – William Wyler, romantic comedy, Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Arnold, opened in NYC on this date. Paramount originally wanted to shoot this movie in Hollywood. William Wyler refused, insisting it must be shot on location. They finally agreed, but with a much lower budget. This meant theContinue reading “Roman Holiday premiered”

August 27, 1966 –The Beach Boys’ single, God Only Knows peaked at No.2 on the UK singles chart. Surprisingly, it only managed to scrape the Top 40 in the United States. That’s because it was released as a B-side, partly because of fear that radio stations would refuse to play a song with “God” inContinue reading “One of the greatest songs never to top the charts”

August 27, 1965 –A small house party occurred at 525 Perugia Way in Bel Air, California, on this date, one that few knew about while it was taking place: the meeting between the four Beatles and Elvis Presley, in Elvis’s home. The Beatles visit lasted 4 hours during which time they told stories, joked andContinue reading “When Elvis meets the Beatles”