Author Archives: dcaligari

January 19, 2006 –NASA launched the New Horizons space probe aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral on this date. It’s mission was to perform the first fly by of the dwarf planet Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, and Hydra. It left Earth at an Earth-relative velocity of about 36,373 mi/h (10.10 mi/s), makingContinue reading “Flying round the universe”

January 19, 1955 –Michael Anthony began doling out the life changing checks from John Beresford Tipton when The Millionaire premiered on CBS-TV on this date. (The million dollar check would now be worth about $10 million dollars.) The mysterious philanthropist John Beresford Tipton was named for Tipton, Missouri, the birthplace of producer Don Fedderson’s wife,Continue reading “The Millionaire premiered”

On this day in 1825, the US patent (#X004009) for food storage in cans to “preserve animal substances in tin” was issued to Ezra Daggett and his nephew Thomas Kensett of New York City. I wonder if they knew that the tin can had been patented in 1810 by Peter Durand. Oh, Never mind. AsContinue reading “Think I’ll kick it down the street”

January 18, 1968 –At a White House luncheon to discuss the rise in urban crime, Eartha Kitt gets into a notorious spat with First Lady Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson, declaring, “Vietnam is the main reason we are having trouble with the youth of America. It is a war without explanation or reason.” Although accountsContinue reading “When ladies lunch”

January 18, 1975 –The Jeffersons, a spin-off of All In The Family premiered on CBS-TV on this date. When the show first started, George constantly referred to Tom as a honky. After a few seasons, Sherman Hemsley asked the writers to stop having George call him that, as he felt that the characters were friends,Continue reading “The Jeffersons premiered”

The way we experience life is not linear, but logarithmic. We’ve all noticed that a year keeps feeling shorter, but it’s because there’s a mathematical formula for it. It’s called Weber’s Law. Life is truly too short. Before we ever notice, it’s over. And so it goes

January 17, 1860 O.S. – (which means Julian calendar. We celebrate his birthday on the 29th of January N.S. – which means Gregorian calendar. So it not really his birthday today but he’s dead so I don’t think he really cares.) – Anton Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia. Tragically, a bureaucratic snafu at theContinue reading “Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s day to day living that wears you out.”

January 17, 1922 –Don’t try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them. You know people who are already saying, ‘I’m going to be 30 – oh, what am I going toContinue reading “Betty White”

January 17, 1893 –A group of American businessmen stole Hawaii on this date. Queen Liliuokalani, the monarch of Hawaii, was overthrown by a group of sugar plantation owners who wanted a more pro-American government. The coup took place with the tacit approval of the United States, though the new leader of Hawaii, Sanford Dole, refusedContinue reading “Another proud moment in America history –”

January 17, 1949 –American audiences finally got to see family that lived in Apt. 3B of 1030 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, after hearing them for years on the radio, when The Goldbergs premiered on CBS-TV on this date. Many episodes of The Goldbergs were recorded live, and others were only shown once andContinue reading “The Goldberg premiered”