Author Archives: dcaligari

August 29, 1966 –The Beatles performed their last concert before paying fans at in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on this date. The performance marked the end of a four-year period dominated by touring and concerts including nearly 60 U.S. appearances and over 1400 internationally.

August 28, 1964 –The Beatles met Bob Dylan for the first time at The Delmonico Hotel, following their show at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium, on this date. After being introduced by a mutual friend, writer Al Aronowitz, the band offered their guests drinks, but Dylan and Aronowitz expressed interest in smoking weed instead. ThisContinue reading “Apparently, the first time they smoked a dooblie”

August 28, 1968 –Simon & Garfunkel’s fourth studio album, Bookends, went to No. 1 on the U.K. Billboard charts on this date. At the 1969 Grammy ceremony, Simon & Garfunkel won the Record of the Year and Best Contemporary-Pop Performance by a Vocal Duo or Group awards for Mrs. Robinson.

August 28, 1837 –Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins began commercially manufacturing Worcestershire Sauce on this date, based on an Indian recipe brought to them by Lord Marcus Sandys — an ex-governor of Bengal. If they told you the recipe (it contains anchovies), they’d have to kill you.

August 28, 1946 –Universal’s film-noir classic version of Ernest Hemingway’s story, The Killers, opened in NYC on this date. After leaving Warner Brothers for Universal with The Killers, producer Mark Hellinger initially wanted to borrow Warners director Don Siegel, but the loanout fee proved prohibitively high for a director of his limited reputation at thatContinue reading “The Killers premiered”

August 28, 1930 –… I’m sick of these conventional marriages. One woman and one man was good enough for your grandmother, but who wants to marry your grandmother? Nobody, not even your grandfather. Think! Think of the honeymoon! Strictly private. I wouldn’t let another woman in on this. Well, maybe one or two. But, noContinue reading “You’ve left out a Hungerdunger. You left out the main one, too.”

Most American children learned from an early age to look both ways before crossing the street, but how many of them really know how to protect themselves against political assassination? Not many. And yet, each year, millions of people are killed by assassins. It’s tragic because these are needless deaths, almost all of which couldContinue reading “An announcement from this Mutual Broadcasting Network”

August 27, 1969 –An early Francis Ford Coppola film, The Rain People, starring Shirley Knight, James Caan and Robert Duvall opened on this date. George Lucas visited the set while finishing film school, having heard that Francis Ford Coppola, a fellow film school graduate, was directing. The two struck up a fast friendship and becameContinue reading “The Rain People premiered”

August 27, 1947 – 20th Century Fox’s classic film-noir, crime-drama, Kiss of Death, directed by Henry Hathaway, and starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, and Richard Widmark, premiered on this date. When New York mobster Joe Gallo–a vicious killer known as “Crazy Joe“–was starting out as a small-time hoodlum, he saw this movie andContinue reading “Kiss of Death premiered”

August 27, 1967 –Brian Epstein, the man who discovered the Beatles and guided them to mega-stardom, died at his London residence, from an overdose of sleeping pills, on this date. Many critics believe this traumatic event ultimately lead to the Beatles breakup.