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August 27, 1943 –(An almost forgotten film) Warner Bros. released the Lillian Hellman anti-fascist drama, Watch On The Rhine, starring Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Beulah Bondi, on this date. Bette Davis repeatedly clashed with director Herman Shumlin throughout production. A novice film director, he had no real experience on a film setContinue reading “Watch On The Rhine premiered”

August 27, 1953 – William Wyler, romantic comedy, Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Arnold, opened in NYC on this date. Paramount originally wanted to shoot this movie in Hollywood. William Wyler refused, insisting it must be shot on location. They finally agreed, but with a much lower budget. This meant theContinue reading “Roman Holiday premiered”

August 27, 1966 –The Beach Boys’ single, God Only Knows peaked at No.2 on the UK singles chart. Surprisingly, it only managed to scrape the Top 40 in the United States. That’s because it was released as a B-side, partly because of fear that radio stations would refuse to play a song with “God” inContinue reading “One of the greatest songs never to top the charts”

August 27, 1965 –A small house party occurred at 525 Perugia Way in Bel Air, California, on this date, one that few knew about while it was taking place: the meeting between the four Beatles and Elvis Presley, in Elvis’s home. The Beatles visit lasted 4 hours during which time they told stories, joked andContinue reading “When Elvis meets the Beatles”

August 26, 1930 –Philo Farnsworth at 24, was finally granted a patent (US Patent No 1,773,980) for a television system on this date. The patent was has been repeatedly delayed by RCA legal action. This is his first patent, with a description of his image dissector tube, which will be his most important contribution toContinue reading “Television took a big step forward”

The first time toilet paper was ever sold on a roll was on August 26, 1871 (Joseph Gayetty, often created as ‘the father of modern TP‘ sold his product in packets of flat sheets.) August 26 was later officially dubbed National Toilet Paper Day. (Seth Wheeler patents rolled and perforated toilet paper (U.S. patent No.Continue reading “Oh, great day in the morning”

If you find yourself in Rome, run, do not walk, to see the Santa Maria della Vittoria Church. It houses one of the most amazing pieces of art – The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini. Today is the Feast of The Transverberation of St. Teresa of Avila (this time, I’m not sure even anContinue reading “Such is my obsession with religion.”

August 26, 1920 –The Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, on this date. The amendment had been first introduced in Congress in 1878, setting in motion supporters who demonstrated, lobbied, marched and spoke out for woman suffrage. They were often met with venomous opposition. Early on,Continue reading “Happy National Women’s Equality Day”

August 26, 1953 –Considered to be one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s, George Pal’s The War of the Worlds was released on this date. Filming was halted briefly, two days into filming, when Paramount discovered that its filming rights of the novel were only for a silent version. It was quicklyContinue reading “The War of the Worlds premiered”

August 26, 1983 –The David Bowie film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, co-starring Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Takeshi Kitano opened on this date Tom Conti does not speak a word of Japanese. He learned his Japanese dialog phonetically.