April 18, 1979 –For some reason, never clearly explained by TV professionals, the George Schlatter produced weekly series profiling human interest stories, Real People, premiered on NBC TV on this date. Forms of reality television had been done in the past but Real People blended profiles of everyday citizens, comedic studio commentary and viewer interaction.Continue reading “Real People premiered”
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The dirtiest No. 1 song
April 18, 2004 –Eamon hits no. 1 on the Billboard Charts with F*ck It (I Don’t Want You Back), on this date. The song holds the record for the most expletives ever in a #1 song. (Kids, ask your folks if you can listen to this song.) There are 33 profane words in the lyrics,Continue reading “The dirtiest No. 1 song”
The House that Ruth built opened
April 18th, 1923 –On the first day of the new baseball season, the gates of Yankee Stadium were opened and 74,200 people flooded through turnstiles, while another 25,000 were turned away – an amazing number, given that previous attendance record for a single game was 42,000 for the 1916 World Series in Boston. In anContinue reading “The House that Ruth built opened”
Daffy Duck’s first appearance
April 17, 1937 – Happy Birthday Daffy! Porky’s Duck Hunt, starring Porky Pig, is notable for being the first appearance of the character who would later be named Daffy Duck. It also notable that this is the first cartoon in which Mel Blanc voices both Porky and Daffy.
‘lost’ Jack White song
April 17, 2006 – A big-budget Coke commercial with a new song by Jack White called Love Is The Truth aired once on this date and was pulled. The video was directed by Japanese director Nagi Noda. Although I can find no reason why the commercial was pulled, Jack White has said that he “sawContinue reading “‘lost’ Jack White song”
The finale of Remington Steele
April 17, 1987 – The final episode of Remington Steele, Steeled With a Kiss, starring Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan, Doris Roberts, James Read, Janet DeMay, and Jack Scalia, aired on this date The series was cancelled at the end of season four, on May 15, 1986, with a 60-day option left on the show. ThatContinue reading “The finale of Remington Steele”
Meet the Mets (at Shea)
April 17, 1964 –The New York Mets played their first game at Shea Stadium on this date, when they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3. The five tiered stadium seated 55,601 fans. For previous two years, the Mets had played their home games at the Polo Grounds, previously the home of the New York Giants.Continue reading “Meet the Mets (at Shea)”
Letter from Birmingham Jail
April 16, 1963 –Martin Luther King wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, on this date. He composed it over the course of day, writing on a legal pad provided by his lawyers, margins of a newspaper, and, after running out of both of the above, toilet paper. King’s response to the wrong-time, wrong-place accusationContinue reading “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
J. C. Wilber Building’s cornerstone was laid
A mid-1950s construction worker involved in the demolition of the J. C. Wilber Building finds a box inside a cornerstone. He opens it to reveal a singing, dancing frog (that came to be called Michigan J. Frog,) complete with top hat and cane. According to the cartoon, One Froggy Night (1955), the box also containsContinue reading “J. C. Wilber Building’s cornerstone was laid”
Oh wow, the colors, the lights, man.
April 16, 1943 –LSD was first synthesized on April 7, 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. Its psychedelic properties were unknown until five years later, when Hofmann, acting on what he has calledContinue reading “Oh wow, the colors, the lights, man.”
The Haus of Dcaligari 