Author Archives: dcaligari

May 5th, 1955 –On this bright and sunny spring day, the United States decided to blow an American city into oblivion in order to test a new cooking method. At 5:10 am on this date, a nuclear bomb assigned to Operation Cue (a.k.a. ‘Apple-2’ or Operation Teapot) was detonated at Area 1 of the NevadaContinue reading “Food experiment gone horribly wrong”

Please take a brief pause from getting ready for the massive margarita you all have to make to celebrate this day. For those of you who don’t know – it’s not Mexican Independence Day (that’s September 16th) – it’s the celebration of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza victory over the French General Charles Latrille de Lorencez.Continue reading “Do not embarrass yourself”

May 5, 2000 –Steely Dan kicked off the fifth year of The Today Show’s Summer Concert series with a rare live performance on this date. The band found it very nerve-racking to appear on a totally live broadcast for fear of any technical glitches out of their control.

May 5, 1952 –One of the most famous episodes of the I Love Lucy series, Lucy Does a TV Commercial, (also known as Vitameatavegamin,) aired on this date. In 1997, TV Guide ranked it #2 on their list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. Ross Elliott, who played the director, said of thisContinue reading “It’s so tasty too, just like candy”

May 4, 1959 –Originally called the Gramophone awards, the first Grammys were handed out on this date, to honor the musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Mort Sahl and held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. At the same time, Recording Academy members convenedContinue reading “The first Grammys”

May 4, 1973 – Bruce Jay Friedman’s Off-Broadway play, Steambath debuted on PBS, on this date. Valerie Perrine became the first woman to display (on purpose) her nipples on American network television. Valerie Perrine was seen taking a shower from the side and her butt was in full view. Only 24 PBS stations were adventurousContinue reading “Steambath premiered”

May 4, 1959 –François Truffaut’s seminal New Wave film, The 400 Blows, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on this date. Jean-Pierre Léaud’s answers to the questions given to him by the psychologist at the camp near the end of the film were not scripted. Francois Truffaut told Leaud in advance aboutContinue reading “The 400 Blows debuted”

May 4, 1954 –An Old Man goes fishing. It was a good day to fish. He catches a fish. It was a big fish. It was a good day for the fish to die. Sharks, big sharks eat the big fish before the old man gets back to shore. The Old Man goes home toContinue reading “Catching a big fish wins Papa the Pulitzer”

May 4th is known as Star Wars Day. You get it – May the Fourth be with you. Oh, never mind.

May 4, 1970 –28 Ohio National Guardsmen read protesting students of Kent State the riot act, but the students, as was their wont, did not disperse. So they shot them. The Guardsmen killed four students and wounded nine others at Kent State University on this date. Neil Young later memorialized the sad incident in theContinue reading “The Kent State shootings”