Author Archives: dcaligari

October 18, 1957 –Given almost complete control of the program, the eponymously named The Frank Sinatra Show, a variety/drama anthology series, debuted on ABC on this date. Sinatra wanted to do a dramatic television series, while the ABC television network wanted him to host a variety show. The star and the network compromised – 13Continue reading “Frank got another TV series”

October 18, 1975 – The second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live was notable for the reunion of Simon & Garfunkel on this date. This show marked the first public appearance of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel together since 1972. There are 10 musical performances in this episode, the most ever for the show. The NotContinue reading “Oh yes, they did have a bit of comedy on”

October 18, 1967 – The 19th animated feature and the first film Disney Studios released after Walt Disney’s death, Jungle Book, opened on this date. The original child actor who voiced Mowgli, David Alan Bailey, had to be let go as his voice broke during the film’s three-year production.

October 18, 1968 –The police with the help of two sniffer dogs named Yogi and Boo-Boo, on this date, raided the apartment of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and finds a very small amount of pot. The couple is fined £150. Musicians smoking dope – Shocking! Shocking!

The third Friday in October has been set aside to celebrate Global Champagne Awareness Day (or International Champagne Day) and I’m always up for celebrating something. Most champagne-lovers will already know that, in order for the sparkling nectar to be classified as “champagne“, the wine must come from the Champagne province in France. You mayContinue reading “I’ll drink to this”

Today is National Pasta Day. Pasta is one of America’s favorite foods. Collectively, the U.S. consumed 5.95 billion pounds of pasta last year. The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by a Frenchman named Antoine Zerega. Mr. Zerega managed the entire operation with just one horse in his basementContinue reading “Life is a combination of magic and pasta”

October 17, 1958 –What is considered a comeback special, An Evening with Fred Astaire aired on NBC-TV on this date. The special was the first color show pre-recorded on videotape at NBC’s new state-of-the-art ‘Color City‘ studios in Burbank, California.

October 17, 1975 –The British science fiction television series Space: 1999, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson without the use of Supermarionation, starring Barbara Bain and Martin Landau, premiered in the US on this date. Originally conceived as a new season of UFO, which would’ve been set twenty years further into the future with theContinue reading “It’s strange to think that this aired 50 years ago today”

October 17, 1980 –Dire Straits released their third studio album, Making Movies on this date. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Making Movies number 52 in their survey of the 100 Best Albums of the Eighties. The album was the biggest selling album in Italy in 1981 with one million copies sold, with 3.8 million copies soldContinue reading “Getting crazy on the waltzers”

October 17, 1814 –Late on a Monday afternoon on this date, one of the 800lb iron restraining hoop fell off one of the two giant porter vats at the the Meux and Company Brewery on London’s Tottenham Court Road. A clerk made a note of the occurrence but thought no more of it until aboutContinue reading “That’s a lot of beer”