Author Archives: dcaligari

Tequila originated from Mexico in the 1800s and is now one of the most popular alcohols worldwide, especially in America. While I am not a tequila man myself, I would not turn a Frozen Margarita down on a hot and humid day. Demand Euphoria!

July 24, 1977 –Donna Summer’s (with producer Giorgio Moroder,) single I Feel Love reached No. #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. The song was inspired by the jazzy little tune performed by four fish-headed aliens in the Star Wars Cantina scene. When Giorgio Moroder saw the movie, he was taken by how un-futuristicContinue reading “I Feel Love tops the charts”

July 24, 1908 –Sometimes, it’s good to be the king … you get to decide the length of the Olympic marathon. When the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, a race of 40 kilometers, or 24.85 miles, was held to commemorate the legend of Pheidippides. He is the guy who ran from Marathon toContinue reading “The race kept getting longer”

July 24, 1567 –Mary of Guise, the French wife of Scotland’s King James V, gave birth to a daughter named Mary in 1542. A week later King James died and the very young Mary became the Queen of Scotland. Prince Edward of England proposed marriage to the Queen immediately and his proposal is therefore knownContinue reading “(This will be on the test.)”

July 23, 1966 – The “longest suicide in Hollywood” finally came to a sad on this date, with the death of Montgomery Clift of a heart attack brought on by his severe drug and alcohol addictions. After his near-fatal car accident in 1956, (in which, Elizabeth Taylor saved the actor from choking to death byContinue reading “Montgomery Clift”

July 23, 1996 –Fiona Apple released her debut album, Tidal, on this date. Fiona Apple typically works by writing songs that are extensions of her journals, baring her soul for all to hear in a process that can be years in the making. The song Criminal was atypical for her process: she claims she wroteContinue reading “Tidal LP released”

July 23, 1904 –At the turn of the last century, ice-cream men were a breed apart. It was hard work making ice-cream and the rewards were few. “You don’t choose ice cream,” they said, “ice cream chooses you.” Well, Charles E. Menches was an ice-cream man. They say it ran in his veins. (They sayContinue reading “The birth of the ice cream cone (maybe)”

July 23, 1885 –One of the most famous residents of West 122th Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant, American general, the eighteenth President of the United States and famous horseback riding drunk, purchased a house in NewContinue reading “The person actually buried in Grant’s tomb”

July 23, 1962 –Telstar relayed the first publicly transmitted, live, trans-Atlantic television program, featuring CBS’s Walter Cronkite and NBC’s Chet Huntley in New York, and the BBC’s Richard Dimbleby in Brussels. The first broadcast was intended to have been remarks by President John F. Kennedy, but the signal was acquired before the president was ready,Continue reading “The first public trans-Atlantic program transmitted”

July 22, 1951 –It’s the first episode of Dogs In Space – Two Russian dogs, Dezik and Tsygan, were the first canines to make a sub-orbital flight in history on this date. The Russian space program used dogs quite often to determine whether a particular space mission would be safe for humans. Little know fact:Continue reading “First dogs into orbit”