Author Archives: dcaligari

July 8, 1964 –Probably Jerry Lewis‘ best directorial effort, The Patsy, premiered on this date. (This was Peter Lorre’s last film; he died four days after completing his role. Lorre hated the experience and death must have seems a welcome release.) In the opening scene when Lewis makes his entrance he’s wearing an English ChelseaContinue reading “Mr. Lewis, you are a complete nut.”

July 7, 1947 –The US Army sends a team of men to a reported crash site near Roswell, New Mexico. This ‘recovery‘ has become the subject of intense speculation, rumor and questioning. There are widely divergent views on what actually happened and passionate debate about what evidence can be believed. The United States military maintainsContinue reading “Keep Watching The Skies”

July 7, 1936 –The first ever television show was broadcast by NBC/RCA on this date. It was seen by only a few hundred people who had access to the new television. The first ever program featured newsreel items, as well as a variety show of sorts, which included female dancers performing a water lily dance,Continue reading “It’s pretty much the beginning”

July 6, 1921 – Several members of the Chicago White Sox went on trial for throwing the 1919 World Series, on this date. The White Sox players despised their owner Charles Comiskey. He was notoriously stingy. He would offer bonuses for performance and then take them back at the last minute. Gamblers knew that theContinue reading “Say it ain’t so”

July 6, 1967 –Pink Floyd made their first appearance on the BBC music show Top Of The Pops to promote their new single See Emily Play, on this date. Like many television programs from the ’60s, the videotape master was erased for re-use and the performance was assumed to be lost. A badly damaged homeContinue reading “Let’s try it another way”

July 5, 1801 –Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, born on this date, was the first senior officer of the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his possibly apocryphal order at the Battle of MobileContinue reading “He gets around”

July 4, 1826 –Frienemies Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both lay dying in there respective homes on this date. Jefferson, the nation’s third president, deeply in debt at age 83, died at one o’clock in the afternoon and correctly surmised that Adams had outlived him. John Adams, the second president died at age 90 inContinue reading “How patriotic.”

On July 3, 1969, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones drowned in his own swimming pool on this date. Although he was the first Rolling Stone to do so, Mr Jones is just one of millions of people to have drowned in their own swimming pools. As a public service I have therefore chosen toContinue reading “Today in Rock History”

The Dog Days of Summer begin today. The following is provided for the benefit of non-astronomers. Sirius is the name of the brightest star in the night-time sky (the brightest star in the day-time sky is called “the sun“), and it’s known as the dog star because it’s located in the constellation Canis Major –Continue reading “Siriusly –”

One day in the second half of the ninth century, a poor young woman on her way to the market dropped her basket of eggs, breaking all of them. The young woman knelt on the ground beside the fallen basket and began to weep. The local bishop had been out for his morning stroll andContinue reading “Just another day in Medieval England”