Author Archives: dcaligari

August 17, 1979 –Handmade Films released the classic religious satire film, Monty Python’s Life of Brian in the US on this date. When Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate addressed the soldiers daring them to laugh, he was truly daring them. The soldier extras were ordered to stand there and not laugh, but not told whatContinue reading “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”

Each year on August 16th, many people at amusement parks and theme parks across the country participating in National Roller Coaster Day which is celebrated on this date. J.G. Taylor received one of the earliest patents (US patent #128,674) for an inclined railway in 1872. In 1878, Richard Knudsen received a patent (US #198,888) forContinue reading “There are ups; there are downs”

August 16, 1985 –CBS-TV’s adaptation of the Arthur Miller classic Death of A Salesman, directed by Volker Schlöndorff and starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich premiered on this date. Author Arthur Miller always pictured Willy Loman as a short, weak man with a booming voice. After nearly forty years, Miller finally got his wish afterContinue reading “Death of A Salesman”

August 15, 1969 – The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger’s farm in upstate New York. The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today’s hottest commercial jingles. And so it goes

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude. It’s the 109th birthday of Julia Child – Chef, Spy, Philosopher and in my opinion, one of the greatest Americans of the last century. Besides Julia’s, today is the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769), Rose Marie (1925),Continue reading “Know the happiness time brings, do not count the years”

August 14, 1900 –121 years ago today the western powers quelled the Boxer Rebellion in China. In the clearing stood the Boxers, fighters by their trade, and they carried the reminders of every glove that laid them down or cut them til they cried out, in their anger and their pain, they were leaving, theyContinue reading “This story’s seldom told”

August 14, 1995 –The Foo Fighters made their network television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman when they performed their single This Is A Call, on this date. The single peaked at Number Two on the Modern Rock Track chart, though they wouldn’t have a crossover hit until Big Me in early 1996.

It’s Friday the 13th. In most large cities in the United States, many building don’t have 13th floors. In Japan, they don’t have 4th floors, because the word for four sounds similar to the word for DEATH! Some say that the modern basis for Friday the 13th phobia dates back to Friday, October 13, 1307.Continue reading “Try to avoid all unlucky things”

August 13, 1961 –The city of Berlin split itself right down the middle on this date. The Cold War was running pretty hot back then. The Russians were just nasty. They were so evil they convinced East Germany to shut West Germany out. East Germany locked the Brandenburg gate and threw away the key. Then,Continue reading “Karma does appear to bite one in the ass.”

August 13, 1942 –Walt Disney’s Bambi premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York on this date. Unusual for the time, Walt Disney insisted on children providing the voices for the animals when they were young, instead of using adults mimicking youngsters.