Author Archives: dcaligari

June 23, 1994 –Life may or may not be a box of chocolate but Forrest Gump premiered in Los Angeles, on this date. The line, “My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump,” was ad libbed by Tom Hanks while filming the scene, and director Robert Zemeckis liked it so much that heContinue reading “Forrest Gump premiered”

June 22, 1993 – Liz Phair released her debut album, Exile In Guyville, on this date. The indie rocker approached the project as a track-by-track response to The Rolling Stones’ 1972 album, Exile On Main St. Her candid perspective on sex and relationships earns her favor with critics and a growing fanbase and Guyville isContinue reading “Exile in Guyville released”

June 22, 1342 –Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, Shire Reckoning, after his 13 month absence, on this date. After his return to his home he never spoke of [the ring] again to anyone, save Gandalf and Frodo; and no one else in the Shire knew of its existence, or so heContinue reading “It’s always good to return home”

June 22, 1969 – Today is the anniversary of the Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. If that is too disturbing a holiday to commemorate, it’s also National Chocolate Eclair Day. While the eclair is a delicious dessert, their charms escape me. Maybe it’s the fake vanilla pudding most bakeries use rather thanContinue reading “Cleveland, city of light, you’re calling me”

June 22, 1843 –Mmmm….donuts. – *drools* It’s a great day in the morning at the Simpson house – Donuts, as we know them, were purported invented on this date. One of the most popular credits American seafarer Hanson Crockett Gregory, of Rockport, Maine, with inventing the donut’s hole in 1847 while aboard a spice ship.Continue reading “The birth of the ‘hole’”

June 22, 1955 –Disney’s first film about dog breeding, The Lady and the Tramp, was released on this date. Peggy Lee later sued Disney for breach of contract claiming that she still retained rights to the transcripts. She was awarded $2.3 million, but not without a lengthy legal battle with the studio which was finallyContinue reading “The Lady and the Tramp premiered”

Ettore ‘Hector’ Boiardi – that jovial, mustachioed Italian chef, better known as Chef Boyardee, died on this date. In Italy, Hector started as a chef’s apprentice at age 11. In America, he took jobs in Greenbrier, West Virginia and New York City, and by age 17 had become a chef at New York’s Plaza HotelContinue reading “Chef Boyardee (Ettore ‘Hector’ Boiardi)”

June 21, 1997 –The first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game was played on this date, with the New York Liberty taking on the Los Angeles Sparks at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. A crowd of 14,284 watched as Sparks guard Penny Toler scored the first basket in WNBA history. The Liberty defeatedContinue reading “The first WNBA game played”

June 21, 1913 – Georgia ‘Tiny‘ Broadwick was the first woman to make a successful parachute jump from an aircraft on this date. Glenn L Martin flew her up to 2000 feet above Griffith Park in Los Angeles, CA. In 1914, she demonstrated parachutes to the U.S. Army, which at the time had a small,Continue reading “What goes up, must come down (safely)”

June 21, 1977 –Marvin Gaye’s song Got To Give It Up, reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, replacing Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, on this date. This song was the subject of a landmark court case filed by Marvin Gaye’s estate in 2013 against the writers of Robin Thicke’s hit Blurred Lines.Continue reading “Got To Give It Up hit the top of the charts”