Author Archives: dcaligari

Happy Columbus Never Met An Indigenous Person He Didn’t Kill or Enslave Day! I can’t even imagine how many more indigenous persons Columbus may have murdered if he didn’t have the day off. Columbus Day originated as a celebration of Italian-American heritage and was first held in San Francisco in 1869. The first state-wide celebrationContinue reading “Voyage from the couch to the fridge in celebration”

October 10, 1957 –Guy Williams galloped across TV screens as the masked hero, when Zorro, debuted on ABC-TV on this date. Although Zorro was the most popular show in its Thursday evening slot, the series was pulled in 1959 due to legal wrangling between the Disney Studios and the ABC network. Disney tried to keepContinue reading “Zorro premiered”

Please note: Diwali is in 15 days, Halloween is in 22 days, and Christmas is in 77 days. Plan accordingly. Demand Euphoria!

The celebrations of Cephalopod Awareness Days keep rolling along – Today we celebrate Nautilus Night, highlighting all the lesser-known extant cephalopods – Hopefully the shocking nature of the documentary wasn’t too off-putting for your holiday celebrations

October 9, 1969 –The Supremes released the single Someday We’ll Be Together, on this date. It will be Diana Ross’ last recording with the group. Ross announced she was leaving The Supremes in November, and by the end of December that year, it hit #1 on the Hot 100, giving the group one last chart-topper,Continue reading “Someday We’ll Be Together was dropped”

October 9, 1000 –Leif Ericson discovered Vinland and became the first known European to walk in North America, on this date (or not). In 1964, the United States Congress authorized and requested the President to proclaim October 9 of each year as Leif Erikson Day. The day after Leif Ericson Day in 1965, Yale UniversityContinue reading “Hinga Dinga Durgen!”

October 9, 1985Happy Birthday John (and Sean.) Central Park’s Strawberry Fields was dedicated on John Lennon’s birthday, by Yoko Ono, on this date. Yoko Ono had underwritten the project. And so it goes

October 9, 1986 –The FOX network debuted Joan Rivers’ new The Late Show on this date. At first, Tribune Entertainment was supposed to hire Nell Carter as a talk show hostess for her own show, when it didn’t work, consequently, the job was given to Joan Rivers, and the show was retooled.

October 9, 1984 –The popular children’s show Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends begins its run on BBC-TV, featuring a narrator by the name of Ringo Starr on this date. PBS aired a spin-off called Shining Time Station from 1989-1993. This was created to introduce Thomas the Tank Engine to American viewers.

October 8, 1871 –Mrs O’Leary’s cow started The Great Chicago Fire that destroyed more than 17,000 buildings, killed more than 300 people and left 90,000 homeless, on this date. Catherine O’Leary seemed the perfect scapegoat: she was a woman, immigrant, and Catholic – a combination which did not fare well in the political climate ofContinue reading “Bad cow.”