Author Archives: dcaligari

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? There are 69 days until Spring

It’s the birthday of the 37th President of the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon, (born in Yorba Linda, California) on this date in 1913. He had a childhood full of tragedy and disappointment. When Nixon was 12, his older brother had a vision of young Dick’s future and got a headache that turned out toContinue reading “The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them.”

The only ‘recognized‘ monarchy to reign in the United States died on this date. Joshua Norton was a businessman in San Francisco in the 1800’s. In the 1840’s, just before the Gold Rush, he tried to corner the market on rice and failed. He went from being very wealthy to being destitute overnight and theContinue reading “Emperor Norton I of the United States, and the Protector of Mexico”

Elvis the King (who was born in 1935,) (As I always say – lay your hand upon the screen and feel his healing power pulsate through your nether regions.) and Davy Jones, who was born in 1947, somehow were both born on this date – (you may lay your hand upon the screen and feelContinue reading “What great cosmic forces convened for this”

January 7, 1943 –The world’s greatest inventor, Nikola Tesla, died alone in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel, of heart failure on this date in history. Despite having sold his AC electricity patents, Tesla died with significant debts on the books.

January 7, 2012 –The group LMFAO ‘s hit Sexy and I Know It reached No. #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. This was LMFAO’s second consecutive #1 single on the Hot 100 following Party Rock Anthem. In doing so, Redfoo and SkyBlu became the first duo to achieve back-to-back chart-toppers since OutKast ruledContinue reading “Sexy and I Know It”

January 7, 1851 –Jean Bernard Léon Foucault first used a pendulum to demonstrate that the Earth rotated on this date. This initial experiment, which was conducted in the cellar of his home using a five kilogram pendulum suspended from a two meter cable, represents the first time the Earth’s rotation has been proven experimentally, ratherContinue reading “Foucault’s Pendulum”

January 7, 1961 –The pilot episode of The Avengers – Hot Snow, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee premiered in the UK on this date. The vast majority of the first series of The Avengers is missing from TV archives and likely lost forever – only the first 15 minutes of this first episode andContinue reading “The Avengers premiered”

It’s the Feast of the Three Kings (Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar), Little Christmas, the Epiphany etc. If you’re playing the home version of the game – the Gifts of the Magi were Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (or the watch fob and a set of combs, or more obscurely, cigar box and soap dish would haveContinue reading “Small things start us in new ways of thinking”

January 6, 1973 –The animated lesson series Schoolhouse Rock premiered on ABC with the Multiplication Rock series. You have to love a children’s cartoon that celebrates threesomes.