May 14, 1925 – On this fine spring day, a middle-aged London society matron goes out to buy flowers for a party. Meanwhile, across town, a shell-shocked World War I veteran is grappling with severe PTSD and planning his tragic exit from a world that refuses to understand him. Just your average Thursday, really. VirginiaContinue reading “Mrs. Dalloway was published”
Author Archives: dcaligari
The Day a Doctor Said, “Trust Me, I Have a Cow”
May 14, 1796 –Edward Jenner performed what is widely considered the first successful smallpox inoculation. The method? Jenner scraped a bit of pus—yes, pus—from a blister on a milkmaid infected with cowpox and rubbed it into a small cut on the arm of an unsuspecting (and very likely confused) 8-year-old boy named James Phipps. (BriefContinue reading “The Day a Doctor Said, “Trust Me, I Have a Cow””
Not too shabby for a show about nothing.
May 14, 1998 –The final episode of Seinfeld aired on this date. Jerry Seinfeld holds both the record for the “most money refused” according to the Guinness Book of World Records by refusing an offer to continue the show for $5 million per episode, and another record for the Highest Ever Annual Earnings For AContinue reading “Not too shabby for a show about nothing.”
The last time we flew by night
May 14, 1989 – Moonlighting, one of the better “boy/girl detective show” aired it’s last episode on ABC on this date. Even after the series had long since ‘jumped the shark‘, Bruce Willis‘ toup was a thing to behold.
Frank Sinatra
May 14, 1998 –The world lost one of its smoothest voices and sharpest suits: Francis Albert Sinatra, better known as Ol’ Blue Eyes, bowed out at the age of 82. If you believe in poetic exits, perhaps the last voice he heard really was his own, crooning from a record player, whispering, “May you liveContinue reading “Frank Sinatra”
Bobby Darin
May 14, 1936 –Walden Robert Cassotto, singer, actor, Bronx Science grad, was born in NYC on this date. Bobby Darin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Where function met etiquette
May 13, 1637 –Cardinal Richelieu, a powerful French clergyman and statesman, is credited with introducing a refinement that would forever change dining etiquette: the table knife. Richelieu was concerned with the increasingly crude and dangerous habits of his dinner guests. Most notably, they had a tendency to pick their teeth with the sharp points ofContinue reading “Where function met etiquette”
He just couldn’t stay away
May 13, 1994 –Almost two years after his farewell appearance on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson made a surprise cameo on the Late Show With David Letterman, on this date. This was his last-ever TV appearance before his death in January 2005. Just before Carson’s death in 2005, CBS executive Peter Lassally revealed something interesting.Continue reading “He just couldn’t stay away”
Remembering Frasier: The End of an Era in TV History
May 13, 2004 –The last episode of Frasier aired on TV on this date. It followed an 11-year run on NBC-TV. The series holds the record for the most Emmy wins for a TV series of any kind. It has won 37 times in both comedy and drama categories.
In my eyes indisposed …
May 13, 1994 –Soundgarden released the second single off their album Superunknown, Black Hole Sun, on this date. Chris Cornell got an idea for this song while driving home from Bear Creek Studio. This studio is near Seattle. Soundgarden were recording a version of New Damage there for a charity album. He shared with UncutContinue reading “In my eyes indisposed …”
