Author Archives: dcaligari

January 12, 1992 –“… My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.” The HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic Computer) 9000 computer became operational in the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on this date in the film, 2001, A SpaceContinue reading “This is when the AI revolution began”

January 12, 1969 –Led Zeppelin‘s debut album was released in the US on this date. It was recorded over just 36 hours at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, costing the band just £1,782. Most of the tracks were performed ‘live’ in the studio, with very few overdubs added. The groundbreaking heavy rock LP spent moreContinue reading “The first time we were Dazed and Confused”

January 12, 1981 – Aaron Spelling’s glitzy soap opera Dynasty, starring John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins debuted on ABC-TV on this date. John Forsythe (Blake Carrington) is the only actor to appear in all 220 episodes of the series. Joan Collins and John Forsythe did not get along. Ironically, she got along fineContinue reading “Dynasty premiered”

January 12, 1971 –The first episode of All In The Family made television history by broadcasting the sound of a toilet flushing on this date. This is not, however, the first time a toilet tank is seen on television. That honor goes to Leave It to Beaver premiere episode, Captain Jack back in 1957.

January 11, 1980 –The Pretenders eponymous album Pretenders debuted on this date in the UK. In the UK, three singles were released before the album appeared. The first was a cover of The Kinks song Stop Your Sobbing, which was released in January 1979 and reached #34 in March 1979. Kid followed in June, goingContinue reading “The Pretenders burst onto the scene”

January 11, 1940 –The classic newspaper comedy, His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, opened in New York on this date. The film finished shooting seven days behind schedule. The delays were caused by the complexity of shooting the rapid-fire dialogue, which had to be carefully timed with business and movement. The restaurantContinue reading “His Girl Friday premiered”

January 11, 1983 –Painting bad landscapes was never so easy when The Joy of Painting featuring Bob Ross premiered on this date. Bob made three copies of every painting he made. The first copy always hid off screen, and Ross referred to it while the cameras rolled. Ross painted a third copy when filming finished.Continue reading “The Joy of Painting premiered”

January 10 1948 –Musician and front man of the rock band Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, was born on this date. After the death of his friend and co-founder of Steely Dan, Walter Becker, Fagen continues to tour as Steely Dan.

January 10, 1949 (This date is under much debate) –45 RPM’s – the term for the record format introduced by RCA on this date. This soon became the standard format used for vinyl “singles” for several decades. (Kids, RPM stands for “revolutions per minute.”) Just think, all that pleasure from just 7″.

Hold on. Life will get warmer. There are 69 days until Spring (Although we haven’t really had any snow in NYC. I’m sure I’ve brought a kinahora upon us.) Not to upset anyone but there are 299 until the presidential election.