Author Archives: dcaligari

October 12, 1810 – The first Oktoberfest began on this date as a festival celebrating the marriage of Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen and Prince Louis of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) in Munich, Germany. The festival was such a success, the locals decided to hold it annually. (a great little known fact – Albert Einstein,Continue reading “Remember what we’ve said about Germans and beer halls”

October 12, 1966 –Sammy Davis, Jr. makes a cameo appearance on the ABC-TV series Batman – The Clock King’s Crazy Crimes, during one of their legendary Batclimbs, on this date.

October 12, 1950 –One of the first comedy series to make the successful transition from radio to television The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. George Burns is regarded as being the first entertainer to step out of character and “break the fourth wall” by directly addressing the televisionContinue reading “We got to say goodnight to Gracie”

October 12, 1915 – British nurse Edith Cavell, was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I. The night before her execution she told the Anglican chaplain, Rev. Gahan, who had been allowed to see her, ‘Patriotism is not enough, I must haveContinue reading “Edith Cavell”

October 11, 1944 – The romantic Noir classic, Laura, starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price, premiered in NYC on this date. After two weeks worth of work, Twentieth Century Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck was unhappy with the results and fired director Rouben Mamoulian. Producer Otto Preminger took over theContinue reading “Laura is the face in the misty light …”

October 11, 1962 –We all got to follow the wacky adventures of the crew of PT-73 when McHale’s Navy set sail for the first time on this date on ABC-TV. The entire Pacific Ocean naval base of Taratupa was built on the back lot of Universal Studios. For many years after the show went offContinue reading “We got to visit Taratupa for the first time”

October 11, 1975 –The long running (some say too long running) comedy variety show started at 11:30 PM, on this date, with George Carlin as its host. It was called NBC’s Saturday Night, because ABC featured a program at the same time titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. After ABC canceled the Cosell programContinue reading “It’s hard to believe it’s been on for so long”

October 11, 1961 –The oldest of the Marx Brothers, Leonard ‘Chico‘ Marx, died on this date. Chico was a compulsive womanizer and had a lifelong gambling habit. His addiction cost him millions of dollars by his own account. His brother, Gummo Marx, in an interview years after Chico’s death, said, “Chico’s favorite people were actorsContinue reading “Chico Marx”

In case you’re not keeping track Our neighbors to the north will be celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving this coming Monday while we’ll be celebrating Columbus Never Met an Indigenous Person He Didn’t Kill or Enslave Day, but more on that later. there are 20 days until Halloween. there are 24 more days until the general election.Continue reading “Start making plans”

Today is Hug a Drummer Day. Without drummers, we would soon notice how different and even weak music can be, so hail a day to celebrate such percussionists! And I’m lucky, (when allowed,) I get to hug a drummer all the time