July 24 1937 – The Looney Tunes short, Porky’s Badtime Story, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date. Both characters wear trousers here as part of their work attire. Porky seldom would be seen in pants going forward.
Author Archives: dcaligari
Some days it isn’t worth it to get up
July 24, 1567 –Mary of Guise, the French wife of Scotland’s King James V, gave birth to a daughter named Mary in 1542. A week later, King James died, and the very young Mary became Queen of Scotland. Prince Edward of England proposed marriage to the Scottish Queen almost immediately, and his proposal is thereforeContinue reading “Some days it isn’t worth it to get up”
Once again – sometimes, it’s good to be the king …
July 24, 1908 –You get to decide the length of the Olympic marathon. When the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, a race of 40 kilometers, or 24.85 miles, was held to commemorate the legend of Pheidippides. He’s the guy who ran from Marathon to Athens, cried, “Nike!,” realized he’d forgotten to sign theContinue reading “Once again – sometimes, it’s good to be the king …”
So bad even KISS didn’t want to be in it
July 24, 1978 – The truly execrable Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band starring the Brothers Gibbs was released upon an unsuspecting public on this date. Alice Cooper checked himself into a New York City rehab facility (which he quickly discovered was more of a mental asylum) for alcoholism. He was granted a temporary leaveContinue reading “So bad even KISS didn’t want to be in it”
I had to meet you here today
July 24, 1976 –The Manhattans’ song Kiss And Say Goodbye hits #1 in the US on this date. The song was produced by the Philadelphia-based record producer Bobby Martin, a former member of the MFSB band of session musicians and recorded in 1975 at Joe Tarsia’s Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. It would be aContinue reading “I had to meet you here today”
Live from New York
July 23, 1962 –Telstar relayed the first publicly transmitted, live, trans-Atlantic television program, featuring CBS’s Walter Cronkite and NBC’s Chet Huntley in New York, and the BBC’s Richard Dimbleby in Brussels. The first broadcast was intended to have been remarks by President John F. Kennedy, but the signal was acquired before the president was ready,Continue reading “Live from New York”
The World According to Garp opened
July 23, 1982 –Warner Bros. released George Roy Hill’s adaptation of John Irving’s novel, The World According to Garp, starring Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, and John Lithgow, on this date. Glenn Close plays Robin Williams’s mother, yet she is only four years older than him. Similarly, Close and actress Mary Beth HurtContinue reading “The World According to Garp opened”
Bad Ol’ Putty Tat premiered
July 23, 1949 – The Merrie Melodies short, Bad Ol’ Putty Tat, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Syvester and Tweety Bird, was released on this date. The two badminton players in this cartoon are caricatures of screenwriters Michael Maltese (the short, fat one) and Tedd Pierce (the tall, thin one).
Cinderella Meets Fella premiered
July 23, 1938 – The Merrie Melodies short, Cinderella Meets Fella, directed by Tex Avery, and starring Elmer Fudd, was released on this date. After moving to MGM, Avery made a more famous Cinderella parody entitled Swing Shift Cinderella.
My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.
July 23, 1885 – One of the most famous residents of West 122nd Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant – American general, the eighteenth President of the United States, and a famous horseback-riding drunk – purchased a houseContinue reading “My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.”
