Author Archives: dcaligari

July 18, 1980 –Closer, the second and final album from Joy Division, was released on this date, just two months after the suicide of founding member and singer Ian Curtis. Despite or perhaps because of the tragedy surrounding Joy Division, the band has had an indelible effect on the post-punk music scene, which later morphedContinue reading “Closer went on sale”

July 18, 1936 –After Carl Mayer approached his uncle Oscar with the idea of driving a giant hot dog through Chicago streets, the first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile rolled out of General Body Company’s factory on this date. The Wienermobile started as a smallish 13-foot affair – Carl Mayer drove around with his head sticking throughContinue reading “The first Hot Dog drove down the road”

July 17, 1955 –That place is my baby, and I would prostitute myself for it. – Walt Disney Disneyland, the happiest place in the world, opens in Anaheim, California on this date.  Things didn’t go so well on that first day. A 15 day heat wave raised temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, dueContinue reading “Disneyland opened”

July 17, 1917 – Britain’s King George V issues a royal proclamation changing his family’s surname from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. Thus, everyone is fooled into believing that a bunch of inbred Germans are really English. Which is convenient, because England just so happens to be at war with the other side of theContinue reading “Meanwhile in England”

July 17, 1968 – The premiere of the drug-induced, Big Blue Meanie-infested cartoon Beatles film Yellow Submarine, was held at the London Pavilion on this date. In summer 1967, director George Dunning brought German artist Heinz Edelmann to London to work as production designer on this movie. The script wasn’t ready, and Edelmann wasn’t givenContinue reading “Yellow Submarine opened”

July 17, 1999 – The series, Spongebob Squarepants, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, started regularly airing on Nickelodeon on this date. (It’s actually the second episode. The pilot episode had premiered in May of 1999) Frequently, a French accented-voice comes on to note a passage of time. It’s an homage to Jacques-YvesContinue reading “Series premiere of SpongeBob Squarepants”

July 17, 1943 –Originally released in B & W (re-release as a color version in 1968 and 1990,) Porky Pig’s Feat debuted on this date. This is the first time the Raymond Scott composition Powerhouse is used in a Warner Bros. cartoon. A rare appearance for Porky Pig (his last appearance in a black andContinue reading “Porky Pig’s Feat premiered”

July 16, 1951 –The Catcher in the Rye was published 72 years ago today. The book contained secret code words by means of which its author, J.D. Salinger, was able to communicate diabolical commands to his evil minions. Exactly six years after the Trinity test, and fourteen years later, the tunnel connecting France and ItalyContinue reading “Everyone is a phony”

July 16, 1945 –…If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One – I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds…. – thus began the Atomic Age. Fittingly, in a desert named Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death,) code-named Trinity, theContinue reading “The Atomic Age really began”

July 16, 1958 –The classic Vincent Price Sci-Fi film, The Fly, opened in San Francisco on this date. Although many people swear they have seen this film in black and white, they never have. This is sometimes referred to as the “Mandela Effect“, which is simply a false memory. It’s extremely common. The Fly wasContinue reading “The Fly premiered”