Author Archives: dcaligari

July 28, 1945 – A US Army B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 79th floors. An engine plunges down an elevator shaft, sparking a fire in the basement. Eleven people in the building were killed, in addition to the three man bomber crew. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survivedContinue reading “A plane crashed into the Empire State Building”

Today is Milk Chocolate Day. American eat on average 12 lbs of chocolate per year; The Swiss on the other hand eat a little more than 26 lbs a year (that works out to about 450 bars of chocolate.) If you don’t continually gorge on chocolate, the terrorist have won. (Psst, I’ve mentioned this beforeContinue reading “Why celebrate this in the middle of the summer?”

July 27, 1985 –Paul Young hits #1 with the single, Everytime You Go Away, a cover of a Hall & Oates song released in 1980. It’s the only Hall & Oates cover ever to make the Top 40. This song became one of the biggest hits with a grammar gaffe in the title. “Everytime” isContinue reading “Everytime You Go Away topped the charts”

July 27, 1940 –Bugs Bunny made his debut in a cartoon called A Wild Hare, on this day. Warner Brothers’ writers and animators set out to make a rabbit who would be the epitome of cool. They modeled bugs on Groucho Marx with a carrot instead of a cigar. Mel Blanc gave him a BrooklynContinue reading “Happy Birthday Bugs”

July 27, 1984 –Warner Bros. gift to an unsuspecting world, Purple Rain, starring Prince, opened on this date. Morris Day apparently had a substance abuse problem throughout production, and was high during most of filming. He often had to be almost literally dragged out of his room to the set. (you may put your armsContinue reading “Purple Rain premiered”

July 27, 1978 –National Lampoon’s Animal House, the grandfather of all gross-out comedies, opened in New York City on this date. The hole John Belushi makes in the wall with the guitar was the only physical damage incurred to the house during the entire production. Instead of repairing it, the fraternity placed a frame aroundContinue reading “Toga party, anyone?”

July 27, 1586 –Sir Walter Raleigh and some of his men returned to England and disembarked at Plymouth smoking tobacco from pipes, which caused a sensation, on this date. William Camden, a contemporary witness, reports that “These men who were thus brought back were the first that I know of that brought into England thatContinue reading “You could finally smoke ’em if you got ’em”

July 26, 1980 –The Rolling Stones started a seven week run at No.1 (the group’s eighth US No.1,) on the US album chart with Emotional Rescue, on this date. Mick Jagger sang much of the title track in a falsetto, which was the thing to do with disco songs. The Bee Gees did the sameContinue reading “Emotional Rescue topped the charts”

July 26, 1991 –One of Mel Brooks non-film parody movies, Life Stinks, starring Mel, Leslie Ann Warren, Howard Morris, and Jeffrey Tambor opened on this date. (This was one of my father-in-law’s favorite movies.) The film’s original title, Life Sucks, was changed at the studio’s insistence.

July 26, 1951 –Walt Disney’s 13th animated feature, Alice in Wonderland, premiered in the UK and New York City on this date. Continuing the pattern of film versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland not being commercially successful, this movie was a huge box office failure. However, it did become something of a cult film duringContinue reading “You got to ask the animated Alice”