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Most American children learned from an early age to look both ways before crossing the street, but how many of them really know how to protect themselves against political assassination? Not many. And yet, each year, millions of people are killed by assassins. It’s tragic because these are needless deaths, almost all of which couldContinue reading “You’ve got to be taught”

August 27, 2004 –After 1,190 episodes, Craig Kilborn called it quits as the host of The Late Late Show on CBS TV, on this date. The Scottish-born American comedian Craig Ferguson took over the show on January 3, 2005.

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 the movieContinue reading “Roman Holiday premiered”

August 26, 1972 –Looking Glass‘ single Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) hit No. 1 on this date. This was not typical of the band’s sound, which caused a problem at concerts. While audiences expected pop songs like this one, the Looking Glass played rock, which left the crowds disappointed. The band broke up less thanContinue reading “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) topped the charts”

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 “You never appreciate what you have until it’s gone”

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 “One of the first major steps in the development of TV”

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. George Pal initially planned to portray the Martians and their fighting machines similarly to how they appear in the original novel. However, after being informed by aContinue reading “The War of the Worlds premiered”

It’s the birthday of Declan Patrick MacManus, one of the most prolific musicians of the late 20th Century. In addition to recordings as “Elvis Costello” (often backed by The Attractions), he has recorded music as “Declan MacManus“, “Napoleon Dynamite and The Royal Guard“, “The Coward Brothers” (with T-Bone Burnett), “Nick Lowe and His Sound“, “TheContinue reading “Elvis (not that one)”

August 25, 1975 –Bruce Springsteen’s third album Born to Run was released on this date. The stunning success of Born To Run was tempered by the fine print on Springsteen’s contract with his manager, Mike Appel, which gave Appel a degree of control over who Bruce worked with. They sued each other in 1976, andContinue reading “Born to Run dropped”

August 25, 1986 –WEA Records released Paul Simon’s award-winning Graceland album on this date. At first, Simon considered the word “Graceland” a placeholder title until he could come up with something better – maybe something that had to do with Africa. After a while, he realized the title wasn’t going away, and he got comfortableContinue reading “Graceland dropped”