Author Archives: dcaligari

January 28, 1986 –The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 74 seconds into its flight, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the crew. Their capsule plunged intact into the ocean, pulverizing everyone on impact, making a rescue attempt difficult, if not impossible. The cause was later found to be failure of a booster rocket O-ringsContinue reading “Avoid rocket travel this week, if possible.”

January 28, 1973 –Barnaby Jones, starring Buddy Ebsen, premieres on CBS-TV, on this date. Barnaby Jones guest stars frequently included children of the regulars. Among them, Buddy’s daughter Bonnie Ebson appeared in six episodes, playing a different character every time. Also featured were Lee Meriwether’s daughter, Kyle Aletter, and producer Quinn Martin’s daughter, Jill Martin.

January 27, 1967 –A launchpad flash fire in the Apollo I capsule killed the astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward H White and Roger B Chaffee at Cape Canaveral on this date. An investigation indicated that a faulty electrical wire inside the Apollo I command module was the probable cause of the fire. And so it goes

The United Nations General Assembly designated this date, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educationalContinue reading “For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.”

Thomas Crapper died on January 27, 1910. In popular American folklore, the British Mr. Crapper was the man who invented and gave his name to the flush toilet. Unfortunately, there is little historical evidence to support Mr. Crapper as anything but a friendly British plumber. I say unfortunately because the world is ambiguous enough asContinue reading “Sooner or later, all magazines end up in the toilet.”

January 27, 1976 – Laverne and Shirley, a spinoff from Happy Days, starring Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Various cast members from Happy Days have talked about the vicious fights next door on set of Laverne and Shirley, so loud that theyContinue reading “Laverne and Shirley premiered”

Dukes of Hazzard premiered on CBS television with the episode, One Armed Bandits – (A shipment of slot machines is hijacked.) High comedy indeed for the Tiffany Network.

St. Timothy is known to be the patron saint of those who suffer from stomach aches or other intestinal disorders (he was prescribed ‘a little wine‘ for his own stomach troubles.) Timothy is famous for being the companion and secretary to St. Paul. One of the requirements of the job was circumcision; Timothy, ever piousContinue reading “A good life with contentment is itself a great wealth”

Today is the 73rd annual Republic Day in India. Usually spectators line up to watch dancers from all over the nation gather in New Delhi every year on this day to dance in the huge National Arena and all along a five mile parade route, (not so much, this year.) It’s Australia Day today (formerlyContinue reading “Imagine the cosmic convergence”

January 25, 1949 –The first Emmy Awards, which were devoted solely to local Los Angeles programming, were held on this date, at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The very first Emmy, for Outstanding Personality, went to Shirley Dinsdale, a 20-year-old ventriloquist from UCLA, star of the children’s show Judy Splinters—named after her talking puppet and broadcastContinue reading “The First Emmy Awards”