Author Archives: dcaligari

July 3, 1940 –(More things you were never taught)Following the German invasion and occupation of France, French warships fled to the port of Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria. Britain gave the french Vichy government the options of the following for it’s French Navy: Join British naval forces in the fight against Germany. Hand the ships over toContinue reading “Basically your teachers fed you pablum”

It’s National Fried Clam Day today. Unlike most of these so called ‘holidays’, this one is actually based on an event. The story goes that Lawrence “Chubby” Woodman of Essex, Massachusetts was the first person to make deep fried clams, in 1916. As one if Woodman’s specialties was making potato chips, he already had theContinue reading “Happy National Fried Clam Day”

July 2, 1959 –Ed Wood’s greatest opus (not counting Glen or Glenda), Plan 9 from Outer Space, opened on this date. Bela Lugosi appears in footage shot just before his death, but with no script in mind. Edward D. Wood Jr. wrote the script to accommodate all the footage shot in a cemetery and outsideContinue reading “Plan 9 from Outer Space opened”

July 2, 1966 –The title track of Frank Sinatra’s comeback album, Strangers in the Night reached the number one spot (on this date) on the Billboard charts and marked his return to the top of the pop charts in the mid-‘60s. Sinatra knocked The Beatles down a peg when this song hit #1 in theContinue reading “Strangers in the Night hit the top of the charts”

Basically, everything you learned was a lie; today is actually Independence Day – The US Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain on this day (in 1776); the formal Declaration of Independence was approved two days later on July 4. Demand Euphoria!

July 2, 1947 –An object speculated to be a UFO crashes near Roswell, New Mexico on this date, though the United States Air Force claims it is a weather balloon. I love a good ‘faked‘ alien footage. It’s World UFO Day today. So remember to Keep Watching The Skies!

One day in the second half of the ninth century, a poor young woman on her way to the market dropped her basket of eggs, breaking all of them. The young woman knelt on the ground beside the fallen basket and began to weep. The local bishop had been out for his morning stroll andContinue reading “What passed for a miracle in the Middle Ages”

July 1, 1982 –Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release the early rap classic The Message, on this date. It’s the first hip-hop hit with lyrics about struggle in the inner city. Unlike many early hip-hop hits, like Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight or Kurtis Blow’s The Breaks, which turned on thumping, up-tempo disco tracks, composersContinue reading “The Message was released”

July 1, 1893 –President Grover Cleveland underwent a secret oral surgery aboard the yacht Oneida for a cancerous growth in his upper palate on this date. The cancer operation remained a secret until July 1, 1917, when the doctor who performed the operation revealed the story. And so it goes

July 1, 1956 –TV critic John Crosby panned the following performer’s performance, calling it an ‘unspeakable, untalented and vulgar young entertainer.’ Elvis Presley appeared on NBC- TV’s The Steve Allen Show and performed Hound Dog, to a live Hound Dog.