Author Archives: dcaligari

June 3, 1969 – The last episode of the original Star Trek series (Turnabout Intruder) aired on NBC-TV, on this date. This episode was originally scheduled for broadcast on March 28, 1969. Special network coverage of the death of Dwight D.Eisenhower pre-empted it, and it didn’t air until June 3.

June 3, 1972 –The Staple Singers’ song, I’ll Take You There, hits #1 as the group makes a successful transition from gospel to secular music. This was the first of two #1 hits for the Staple Singers, the other is Let’s Do It Again. The Staple Singers were among the first groups to move fromContinue reading “I’ll Take You There took them to the top of the charts”

If you are anywhere in North America today, go outside when it is noon, face south, and yell “fudge!” You will be doing your part to make sure Cobras do not advance and take over North America. Any Cobras that have already made it to North America will turn around and go home.

June 2, 1957 –Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was interviewed on US television for the very first time when CBS’s Face the Nationaired on this date. With Cold War tensions running high, some government officials accused CBS of putting out Communist propaganda. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, love god of Carol Burnett, refused to watchContinue reading “Nikki made his first TV appearance”

June 2, 1981 –Barbara Walters famously asks Katharine Hepburn “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”, on this date. After the interview, Walters’ “tree” question was remembered, but the context in which it was asked was not. The so-called “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would youContinue reading “The question that still amuses”

June 2, 1896 –The first radio patent was issued to Guglielmo Marconi in England for his wireless telegraphy apparatus, described as “Improvements in Transmitting Electrical Impulses and Signals, and in Apparatus Therefor.” (UK No. 12,039) I wonder what will become of that new fangled thing?

June 1, 1967 –Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the UK on this date. The Beatles blew the world’s collective mind away. The album was quite complex to produced and took 129 days and about 700 hours to complete. The Beatles first album, Please Please Me, was recorded in less than 10Continue reading “It was 58 years ago today”

June 1, 1985 –David Lee Roth’s cover of two Louis Prima songs – Just A Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody peaks at No. 12 on the Billboard Charts on this date. Roth’s love of quirky songs from a bygone era stems from his childhood, when he would listen to the underground radio station KPPCContinue reading “I’m just a gigolo …”

June 1, 1968 –The British television series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, had its American premiere on CBS-TV, as a summer replacement for a Jackie Gleason series, on this date. At the end of the run of Secret Agent, there was a party, and some members of Parliament attended. Someone said to McGoohan, “So, whatContinue reading “Remember, we are NOT a number”

June 1, 1966 –Dick Van Dyke tripped over the ottoman for the last time when CBS aired the last episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Last Chapter on this date. In the show, Rob writes his autobiography and shows it to everyone. At the end of the show Alan decides to buy theContinue reading “The last Dick Van Dyke episode”