Author Archives: dcaligari

December 23, 1823 –The famous poem A Visit From St. Nicholas was first published on this date. It begins, Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse …. Fourteen years after its first publication, an editor attributed the poem to a wealthy professorContinue reading “A Visit From St. Nicholas published”

Festivus for the rest of us As not to embarrass yourself tonight at your Festivus family gathering, here are the four tenets of the holiday: The Festivus Pole: During Festivus, an unadorned aluminum pole is displayed. The pole was chosen apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, because it is “veryContinue reading “Tinsel is distracting”

December 23, 1964 –The Beach Boys made their first appearance on ABC-TV’s musical variety series Shindig!, on this date The performance was tape on December 14th. Besides Dance, Dance, Dance, the band went on to perform Little Saint Nick, Monster Mash, Papa Oom Mow Mow, Johnny B. Goode,and We Three Kings of Orient Are. (OnlyContinue reading “The Beach Boys on Shindig”

December 23, 1954 –Walt Disney’s live-action film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, premiered on this date. In 1969, Captain Nemo’s pipe organ, which had been on display in Disneyland, was redressed and now resides in the ballroom of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. A duplicate was constructed for the ballroom of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom HauntedContinue reading “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea premiered”

December 22, 1975 – Archie Bunker’s “little girl” Gloria gave birth to a son, Joseph Michael Stivic, on CBS’s All in the Family, on this date The birth occurred in the second part of a two-part episode, The Baby, which begins with Edith and Archie (Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor) beating Mike and Gloria (RobContinue reading “The birth of Joey Stivic”

December 22, 2000 –Joel and Ethan Coen’s purported adaptation of The Odyssey, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning, premiered in the US on this date. George Clooney, upon reading the script did not immediately understand his character andContinue reading “O Brother, Where Art Thou? premiered”

Demand Euphoria!

Acme would like to, once again, bring you this new Christmas classic, Dear Satan, from the folks at Anomaly London. It’s popularity may have something to do with the fact that Sir Patrick Stewart narrated their video. So kids, remember, two letters transposed and literally, Bob’s yer uncle.

The Winter Solstice in Northern Hemisphere will be at 4:48 PM (EST), the shortest amount of daylight of the year and the longest night. It’s officially the first day of Winter and one of the oldest known holidays in human history. Anthropologists believe that solstice celebrations go back at least 30,000 years, before humans evenContinue reading “O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

December 21, 1969 –Diana Ross and the Supremes make their final television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, on this date. The song they sang, Someday We’ll Be Together, would become the last of their 12 number one singles.