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July 24, 1567 –Mary of Guise, the French wife of Scotland’s King James V, gave birth to a daughter named Mary in 1542. A week later King James died and the very young Mary became the Queen of Scotland. Prince Edward of England proposed marriage to the Queen immediately and his proposal is therefore knownContinue reading “Refer to your text books – it’s a bumpy ride”

July 24, 1998 –The unflinchingly gritty Steven Spielberg war flick, Saving Private Ryan opened on this date. The Omaha Beach scene cost $11 million to shoot, and involved up to 1,000 extras, some of whom were members of the Irish Army Reserve. Of those extras, 20-30 of them were amputees, issued with prosthetic limbs, toContinue reading “Saving Private Ryan premiered”

July 24, 1948 – … Crumbly Crunchies are the bestLook delicious on your vestServe them to unwanted guestsStuff the mattress with the rest…. A great Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, Haredevil Hare, was released on this date. (It was the first appearance of Marvin the Martian, though he wasn’t named until decades later.)Continue reading “Haredevil Hare premiered”

July 24, 1993 –UB40’s cover of the Elvis Presley song, Can’t Help Falling In Love, hits No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. Elvis Presley originally recorded this in 1961. UB40 were asked to record an Elvis tune of their choice for a new film called Honeymoon In Vegas. The band’s drummer, JamesContinue reading “A cover of Can’t Help Falling In Love topped the charts”

July 23, 1987 –Columbia Pictures released the biopix about Richie Valens, La Bamba, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, and Elizabeth Peña, on this date. This movie is often thought of alongside The Buddy Holly Story, but La Bamba is far more accurate. For example, in the Buddy Holly Story they imply thatContinue reading “La Bamba premiered”

July 23, 1950 –The Singing Cowboy Gene Autry’s series The Gene Autry Show, co-starring Pat Buttram, sponsored by Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum, debuted on CBS-TV, on this date. Two-thirds of the way through the first season’s production, Pat Buttram was severely injured in an explosion and was hospitalized for several months. In order to complete theContinue reading “The Gene Autry Show premiered”

July 23, 1983 –The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 107-date Synchronicity world tour at Comiskey Park (now rebuilt as U.S. Cellular Field) in Chicago, on this date. Co-incidentially, their fifth and last album, Synchronicity, hits #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. The album gained its title from Carl GustavContinue reading “Synchronicity topped the charts”

July 23, 1979 –Electric Light Orchestra dedicated the release, on this date, of the single Don’t Bring Me Down from their album Discovery to Skylab which had crashed back to Earth on July 11, 1979. (The song is the first Electric Light Orchestra single without any strings.) Don’t Bring Me Down became the biggest hitContinue reading “Don’t Bring Me Down dropped”

July 22, 1916In San Francisco, on this date, some 50,000 people marched in a Preparedness Day parade (the largest parade ever held in the city), supporting the US intervention in World War I. The event was sponsored by business leaders and opposed by labor. A bomb went off on Market St. during the parade andContinue reading “The 1916 San Francisco bombing”

July 22, 1977 –Stiff Records released Elvis Costello’s debut studio album, My Aim Is True, produced by Nick Lowe, on this date in the UK. The musicians who were featured on the album were uncredited on the original release (due to contractual difficulties), although the backing band was made up of members of the bandContinue reading “My Aim Is True dropped”