Author Archives: dcaligari

June 13, 1865 – The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time. – William Butler Yeats, Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures in 20th Century literature, was born on this date. He won the Nobel Prize in 1923. He was brother of the artist Jack Butler Yeats, the sonContinue reading “W.B. Yeats”

It’s the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua. One of the most beloved of saints, his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, he is sometimes called the Evangelical Doctor. He is especially invoked for the recovery of things lost (I’ve often wondered if Marcel ProustContinue reading “The breadth of charity widens the narrow heart of the sinner”

Each year on June 12, people in the United States observe National Red Rose Day. The day is honors the red rose, the flower that is a symbol of love and romance. Apparent the other color roses don’t have as strong a lobby. Today is also Crowded Nest Awareness Day. While this holiday has beenContinue reading “Love and a red rose can’t be hid”

June 12, 1839 –Alexander Cartwright, and not, Abner Doubleday, should be credited with the invention of Baseball, which was not created on this date. On the one hundredth anniversary of the apocryphal story, June 12, 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York (in an effort to bring tourists to town.)Continue reading “Baseball was not invented on this date”

June 12, 1942 –A young Dutch girl received the crappy gift of a diary as a birthday present on this date. She natters on for a little more than two years of small, inconsequential things young girls usually do in their diaries and then she abruptly stops writing. Today, her diary has been published inContinue reading “The birthday gift that keeps giving”

June 12, 1989 –The short lived TV comedy series Doctor, Doctor starring Matt Frewer, premiered on CBS TV on this date. It series was picked up for a full season the following fall. A second season followed in fall 1990, but the show was cancelled at the end of the 1990-1991 season, due to lowContinue reading “I’m almost certain you didn’t see this one”

June 12, 1981 –A bizarre coincidence for sure, but Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part 1 and Lucas/ Spielberg’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark both premiered on this date. According to Mel Brooks, the Moses scene was a last minute addition. “Sometimes, you will get very lucky, and the set will give you ideasContinue reading “Feel free to bring this up at your next cocktail party”

June 12, 1972 –The Wings single, Silly Love Songs, (written by Paul and Linda McCartney,) went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this day. The song was McCartney’s 27th American number one as a songwriter; the all-time record for the most number one hits achieved there by a songwriter. Paul wrote this inContinue reading “Silly Love Songs topped the charts”

June 11, 1977 – Electric Light Orchestra’s record Telephone Line reached #7 on the Billboard Charts in the US, giving the band its first gold single. ELO’s first manager was Don Arden. When he lost interest in the group, he gave them to his daughter Sharon who ran Jet Records. Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne aContinue reading “Hello, how are you?”

June 11, 1889 –The Neapolitan pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created the Pizza Margherita on this date, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. The pizza was garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, to represent the national colors of Italy as on the Italian flag.