Author Archives: dcaligari

October 16, 1944 – Universal Pictures released the 11th Walter Lantz Woody Woodpecker cartoon, The Beach Nut, on this date. The cartoon marked the debut of Wally Walrus, Woody Woodpecker’s first steady nemesis.

October 16, 1793 –Deposed French queen Joséphe Jeanne Marie Antoinette sat in an open cart, enduring hours of public ridicule as she is slowly driven around the streets of Paris, on this day. Finally, she was taken to the guillotine. On the scaffold she accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot, and her last words were,Continue reading “A little cake probably wouldn’t have helped”

October 16, 1854Today is the birthday of Oscar Wilde, known for his barbed wit, was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. In between bouts of sparkling japes and posing for his Sodomite Trading Card photo, he found time to write the followingContinue reading “Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”

October 16, 1992 – The pilot for Gilligan’s Island was finally aired – 28 years after the series began. Although the pilot was filmed in 1963, because of cast changes, it wasn’t aired this date. The pilot’s cast differed from the series with Kit Smythe as Ginger, John Gabriel as the high school science teacher/professor,Continue reading “The original Gilligan’s Island premiered (finally)”

October 16, 1974 –The Rolling Stones release their the 12th British (and 14th American) studio album, It’s Only Rock N’ Roll, on this date. It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll was an important transitional album for the Rolling Stones. Following the departure of long-time producer Jimmy Miller, the album was self-produced by guitarist Keith Richards andContinue reading “It’s Only Rock N’ Roll dropped”

We here at ACME love to remind people that today is Evacuation Day. They’re celebrating it in Tunisia. It turns out that Evacuation Day recognizes the important contributions made to the world of science by Tunisian proctologists, (it actually commemorates the 1963 withdrawal of the last French troops from the naval port of Bizerte.) TheContinue reading “Follow along, I promise, it will make sense”

October 15, 1893 –The New York Times declared Coney Island “Sodom-by-the-Sea” for the thrilling rides that let men and women clutch each other. The Elephantine Colossus, a 200-foot-tall elephant-shaped hotel had a howdah on its back, topped with a gilded crescent was built on Surf Avenue, in 1885. It housed a concert hall and eventsContinue reading “Seeing the Elephant”

It’s the Feast Day of one of my favorite saints – Saint Teresa of Avila (I’ve mentioned her at least twice this year.) She is also known as the Roving Nun (but should not be confused with the Wandering Nun, the Meandering Nun, or the Hopelessly Disoriented Nun). In case you still don’t know whoContinue reading “Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”

October 15, 1988 –UB40’s cover of Neil Diamond’s Red Red Wine reached the top of the Billboard Charts on this date. UB40 recorded this as a cover of the Tony Tribe 1969 reggae version, which reached #46 in the UK charts. The band did not realize until after it topped the charts that Neil DiamondContinue reading “Red Red Wine went to No. 1”

October 15, 1959 –The TV show The Untouchables with Robert Stack as Eliot Ness, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. According to testimony from Aladena Fratianno, (Jimmy the Weasel), a Mafia boss-turned-FBI informant, the Chicago family of the Mafia ordered the assassination of producer Desi Arnaz, because they didn’t like (a) the fact that theContinue reading “The Untouchables premiered”