Author Archives: dcaligari

The United Nations General Assembly designated this date, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educationalContinue reading “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”

January 27, 1984 –Cyndi Lauper released the second single, Time After Time, from her debut album She’s So Unusual on this date. Cyndi Lauper wrote this song with Rob Hyman, who also sang backup. Hyman was in a Philadelphia band with Eric Bazilian and Rick Chertoff. When Rick took a job as a staff producerContinue reading “If you’re lost you can look and you will find me …”

January 27, 1991 –The little remembered TV series, Davis Rules, starring Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters premiered on ABC TV on this date. (The series moved to CBS TV for its’ second and final season.) The show premiered right after the Super Bowl in 1991.

January 27, 1976 –Laverne and Shirley, a spinoff from Happy Days, starring Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Various Happy Days cast members have talked about the vicious fights next door on set of Laverne and Shirley, so loud that they would listenContinue reading “The first time most American heard ‘Schlemiel and Schlimazel’”

January 26, 1973 –Elton John’s sixth studio album, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, was released on this date. It was his second straight No. 1 album in the US. According to Elton John: The Definitive Biography, here’s how the album got its title: While in Los Angeles, Elton was introduced to theContinue reading “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player went on sale”

Today is the 74th (or 75th, I’ve seen it referred to both ways) annual Republic Day in India. Usually spectators line up to watch dancers from all over the nation gather in New Delhi every year on this day to dance in the huge National Arena and all along a five mile parade route, (notContinue reading “Yes, they are all related (somehow)”

Today is the Feast Day of St. Timothy. St. Timothy is known to be the patron saint of those who suffer from stomach aches or other intestinal disorders (he was prescribed ‘a little wine’ for his own stomach troubles.) Timothy is famous for being the companion and secretary to St. Paul. One of the requirementsContinue reading “It does not pay to be a prude”

January 26, 1979 –The sitcom McLean Stevenson left MAS*H for, Hello, Larry, created by Dick Bensfield and Perry Grant, premiered on NBC TV, on this date. (TV Guide ranked the sitcom #12 on their 50 Worst Shows of All Time in 2002.) Since it was cancelled, the show has become a metaphor for low-quality andContinue reading “Another series you probably never saw but have heard about”

January 26, 1980 –Three months after the 1979 release of his second album, simply-titled Prince, Prince made his debut on American Bandstand on this date. While he delivered confident performances of I Wanna Be Your Lover and Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad, the ‘shy‘ artist struggled to answer Dick Clark’s questions.

January 25, 1924 – The first Winter Olympics opened on this date in Chamonix, France. Prior to this event, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympics. Few, if any, of the athletes survived those winter sports during the Summer Olympics, as the rinks continually melted. And you don’t want toContinue reading “The flame must have kept them warm”