Author Archives: dcaligari

February 25, 1964 –Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, became the heavyweight champion of the world for the first time on this day when he beat Sonny Liston. Ali went on to become the first person to win the heavyweight champion title three times.

February 25, 1970 –Ernie sings his signature song, Rubber Duckie, on Sesame Street for the first time, on this date. It goes over so well that the song is released as a single, which in September reaches #16 on the Hot 100. Rubber ducks were around since at least the 1940s, but they had aContinue reading “The Rubber Duckie song debuted”

February 25, 1950 –The comedy-variety program Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner, debuted on NBC-TV on this date. (This is not from the first episode) Writers for the show included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart. A common misconception is that Woody Allen wrote for Your Show ofContinue reading “Your Show of Shows premiered”

February 25, 1964 –Bob Dylan appears on the Steve Allen Show, on this date, and performed The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll. This song gives the account of the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by the wealthy young William Devereux “Billy” Zantzinger and his subsequent sentence of six months in jail. The actual incidentContinue reading “Dylan on The Steve Allen Show”

February 24, 1969 –Twentieth Century-Fox adaptation of the novel and play, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, directed by Ronald Neame and starring Maggie Smith and Pamela Franklin, premiered in London on this date. According to Pamela Franklin, even though they were eighteen, she and the other young girls were asked not to eat theirContinue reading “An early Maggie Smith classic”

February 24, 1975 –Led Zeppelin release their sixth album Physical Graffiti on this date. It’s a double album featuring eight new songs, and songs left over from their previous albums Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy. Featuring an intricate die-cut cover of a New York City brownstone, the album goesContinue reading “Physical Graffiti went on sale”

February 24, 1973 –The song, Killing Me Softly with His Song by Roberta Flack topped the charts on this date. Robert Flack heard Lori Lieberman original version of the song on an in-flight tape recorder while flying from Los Angeles to New York. She loved the title and lyrics and decided to record it herself.Continue reading “You can’t keep a good song down”

Today is the Yuan Xiao festival, also called Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is the first full moon night of the new Lunar year calendar. This is the 15th day of the Lunar Festival; it marks the end of the New Year celebrations, marking the return of spring and symbolizing the reunion of family. ThereContinue reading “How high will your lantern go?”

February 23, 1980 –The Queen’s song Crazy Little Thing Called Love hit the No. #1 spot on the Billboard Charts on this date. Freddie Mercury acknowledged that perhaps his limited talent on the guitar helped shape the song: “‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar,Continue reading “Crazy Little Thing Called Love topped the charts”

Tomorrow is Lantern’s Day and it marks the end of the Lunar New Year holiday. The day before the Lantern Festival, the Lantern Display stages are built in the open square in the front of temples. People bring their decorated lanterns to the display stage for the competition. Some lanterns might take more than aContinue reading “You can do it – one more day to go”