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February 5, 1983 –The Toto single off their album Toto IV, Africa, went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. The video was directed by Steve Barron, who also did Rosanna and many other early MTV favorites. Toto was one of the few American bands that was making videos even before MTV,Continue reading “Hear the drums echoing tonight”

Today is Liberation Day in San Marino. Americans remain woefully misinformed about San Marino. (American remain woefully misinformed about most countries that aren’t located between Canada and Mexico.) It’s not only Liberation Day in San Marino, but, it’s also the feast day of St. Agatha – (patron saint of breast cancer survivors – but again,Continue reading “Just sing Hail Freedonia while reading”

Today is National Weather Forecasters Day. It is observed on February 5 to commemorate the birthday of John Jeffries, one of the first people in America to begin observing the weather in a scientific way. The day was created to celebrate meteorologists, the men and women who predict – Dark. Turning partly light by morning.

February 5, 1969 –ABC premiered a television pilot for a comedy series titled Turn-On, on this date. The cast included Teresa Graves, Hamilton Camp, Mel Stewart, Chuck McCann, and guest host Tim Conway. The show was cancelled while it was on the air, making it one of the shortest runs of any program. The stationContinue reading “People took this off their C.V.”

February 5, 1956 – Don Siegel subversive take on 50’s Communist paranoia, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, premiered on this date. Production designer Ted Haworth came up with a fairly simple and inexpensive (about $30,000 total) idea for creating the pods. The most difficult part was when the pods burst open, revealing the likenesses ofContinue reading “You’re next! You’re next, You’re next…!”

February 4, 1979 –Co-Ed Fever, one of the three series that attempted to capitalize on the success of the motion picture National Lampoon’s Animal House, (the others were ABC’s Delta House and NBC’s Brothers and Sisters,) had a special preview on CBS-TV on this date. The show had such poor ratings that it was cancelledContinue reading “Take your pick; they all stink”

Today is National Sweater Day in the United States and given how cold it is outside today, IT IS the best day to wear a sweater, striped of not. The first Thurday in February is the best day to wear a sweater for our neighbor to the North. It is National Sweater Day in CanadaContinue reading “A sweater just makes everything better”

February 4, 1970 –Twentieth Century Fox’s film Patton, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, (written by Francis Ford Coppola,) and starring George C. Scott opened in New York on this date. The movie begins without showing the 20th Century-Fox logo, or any other indication that the film is starting. At military bases across the US theaterContinue reading “Patton premiered”

February 4, 1977 –Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album was released 49 years ago on this date. Many of the songs on the album show a darker side in the lyrics. It’s asking you to move on, leave the singer alone. Fleetwood Mac was experiencing the shatter of all of their emotional ties with not one, notContinue reading “Bunkies, we are old”

On February 4, 2008, at 00:00 GMT, NASA transmitted the Beatles song Across The Universe in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth. The transmission was made using a 70m antenna in the DSN’s Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, located outside of Madrid, Spain. It was done with an “X band”Continue reading “The Beatles in space”