Author Archives: dcaligari

August 13, 1942 –Walt Disney’s Bambi, (arguably Disney’s first horror film,) premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York on this date. Unusual for the time, Walt Disney insisted on children providing the voices for the animals when they were young, instead of using adults mimicking youngsters.

August 13th, 2008 –Michael Phelps won his 11th career gold medal on this date. With 11 gold medals, Phelps had officially won more gold medals than any other Olympic athlete in history. Between the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps has 28 medals in total – 23 of them gold medals, moreContinue reading “Phelps went for the gold, again”

August 13, 1997 – Trey Parker and Matt Stone decide to become millionaires many times over when their program South Park debuted for the first time on Comedy Central on this date. To date, South Park still holds the Guiness World Record for “Most Swearing in animated series.”

August 12, 1981 –IBM introduced its Personal Computer (PC) also known as the IBM Model 5150 on this date. Developed in less than a year, using existing off-the-shelf components, it proved a runaway success in the small business market, and launched the era of the personal computer. IBM’s first PC ran with a 4.77 MHzContinue reading “The first PC went on sale”

August 12, 1939 – The Bugs Bunny everyone knows takes another step forward when Hare-um Scare-um debuted on this date. It was during production of this cartoon that Bugs Bunny’s name originated. Designer Charles Thorson redesigned the rabbit character and labeled the model sheet “Bug’s Bunny,” after co-director Ben Hardaway’s nickname, Bugs. It’s also theContinue reading “Hare-um Scare-um premiered”

Today is National Vinyl Day (and not Record Store Day which was April 22nd this year.) National Vinyl Record Day is celebrated every year on August 12 (commemorating the day Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877) to remember the culture, art, the very sound of the vinyl record. Don’t forget, whatever you do today,Continue reading “Fire, water, gravel and vinyl.”

August 12, 1939 –Considered one of the highlights of the Golden Age of Hollywood, The Wizard of Oz debuted on this date in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset-style device around her torso so that she would appear younger and flat-chested, as she was 16 years old at the time ofContinue reading “The Wizard of Oz premiered”

August 12, 1997 –MTV debuted the Fleetwood Mac reunion concert The Dance, on this date, marking the first time the five had been on stage together since 1982. This special MTV concert was recorded at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California on May 23, 1997 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their bestselling album Rumours.

August 11, 1942 –Actress Hedy Lamarr (that’s Hedy not Hedley) and composer George Antheil received a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that will later became the basis for the technology behind Wi-Fi and wireless telephones. In 1997, she and George Anthiel were honored with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award.Continue reading “The Hollywood Actress Who Helped Invent WiFi”

August 11, 1929 –Booze hound and notorious whore monger Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run at Cleveland’s League Park on this date, becoming the first baseball player to do so. He ended his career in 1935 with 714 career home runs – still the third best in Major League Baseball history.