Author Archives: dcaligari

I Know Only Two Tunes: One of Them Is Yankee Doodle, and the Other Isn’t The 18th U.S. President hated music- all music. Ulysses S. Grant changed his name from Hiram Ulysses Grant because he hated the initials “H.U.G.” Demand Euphoria!

November 5, 1956 – The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC-TV on this date. The Cole program was the first of its kind hosted by an African-American. In the 1956 season, the show had a 15-minute running time. It was expanded to a 30-minute segment in 1957. The show originally aired without a sponsor,Continue reading “The Nat King Cole Show”

November 5, 1605 –Remember, remember the 5th of November The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, or the Powder Treason, as it was known at the time, was a failed attempt by Guy Fawkes and a group of provincial English Catholics to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy inContinue reading “With a dark lantern and burning match….”

Cheetahs love Calvin Klein cologne. Wildlife crews trying to film these skittish big cats tried testing a range of scents of their cameras and equipment in order to draw cheetahs in closer for filming. Of all the scents they tried, Calvin Klein’s “Obsession for Men” proved to be the one the cheetahs loved the most.Continue reading “It must be the amount of Castoreum in their formula”

Today is Diwali, the Festival of Lights, one of the biggest and brightest of all the Hindu celebrations. An ancient festival celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil; the day is also significant in other religions including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word, “deepawali”, meaning “rowContinue reading “May your day be free from darkness and abundant with light.”

November 4, 1928 –Arnold Rothstein, mobster and the man who fixed the 1919 World Series, was having a bit of bad luck. Rothstein had just finished playing a marathon three day game of poker with some ‘business associates‘. Realizing that his losses totaled a staggering $320,000.00, Rothstein quit the game and refused to pay hisContinue reading “Be careful of the company you keep”

November 4, 1978 –Let the warm feeling wash over you, even though the skinny white boy is singing, – place one hand on your monitor and the other hand upon the afflicted area. He is channeling the healing powers of Rev. Al Green. Feel his power emanate and pulsate through your loins. The Talking HeadsContinue reading “Take Me To The River”

November 4, 2016 –Netflix premiered the incredibly successful series about a young woman forced to take over a multinational business after the unexpected death of her beloved father, The Crown, starring, Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Victoria Hamilton, Jared Harris, John Lithgow and Eileen Atkins, on this date. Originally, creator Peter Morgan envisaged theContinue reading “The Crown”

The oldest survivor Of The Crimean War passed away in 2004 Timothy the Tortoise, the last survivor of the Crimean War (which ended in 1856,) who died in April of 2004 at the age of about 165. Timothy (a female tortoise despite her name) was discovered aboard a Portuguese privateer (a type of armed ship)Continue reading “Think of all those benefits accrued”

November 3, 1957 – Laika the dog became the first living creature in space on this date, when she involuntarily fulfilling a canine suicide mission aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2. Soviet engineers expected Laika to die from oxygen deprivation—a painless death within 15 seconds—after seven days in orbit. However, some western researchers speculated, then laterContinue reading “I wonder if the Explorer’s Club served Hot Dogs in her honor that year.”