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In Wiltshire, England, on August 1, 1774 Joseph Priestley focused sunlight through a lens in order to heat a sample of mercuric oxide (red calx). The resulting gas supported the burning of a candle with a vigorous flame, was essentially insoluble in water, and accommodated a mouse under glass for some time. And that’s howContinue reading “Oxygen discovered (sort of)”

August 1, 30 BC (again, this date is not fixed in stone; the annual calendar makers orgy and dinner dance was held on this date as well) –Mark Antony, (not the not so handsome ex-husband of J-Lo but) lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII and claimant to the Roman throne, was the most interestingContinue reading “The Death of Mark Antony”

August 1, 1971 – George Harrison presented his two Concerts For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York City, on this date. The concert was mainly intended to provide financial aid to refugees from the Bangladesh area, who were fleeing by the thousands. In total, the concert and other efforts stemming from it raisedContinue reading “The Concerts For Bangladesh”

The festival of Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest, when people go to church to give thanks for the first grain to be cut. This is the long way of saying that it’s August again. How did a single month become so important? Like almost everything else that’s difficult to understand, the history ofContinue reading “The days just lay there and sizzle”

August 1, 1981 –MTV launched 41 years ago today, starting with the video, Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles followed by Pat Benatar’s You Better Run. Western civilization has been on a rapid decline ever since. Demand Euphoria!

July 31, 1980 (I’m going with 1980 and not getting involved in the 1979 controversy) –Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard was born on this dates. J K Rowlings, the Harry Potter brand author, and unfortunately loony bigot, shares a birthday with her creation (born 1965). Her ‘children’s stories‘ haveContinue reading “Happy Birthday Harry”

July 31, 1964 –The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted the first photo moon’s surface ever taken by a U.S. spacecraft, mapping the surface for a future lunar landing, on this date. Ranger 7 carried six slow-scan vidicon TV cameras capable of transmitting high-resolution television pictures of the lunar surface. A total of 4,308 photographsContinue reading “Ranger 7 sends back photos of the moon”

July 30, 1975 –Jimmy Hoffa was or wasn’t killed on this date. Jimmy is or isn’t buried somewhere in the Meadowlands or a horse farm or was made into ground meat and consumed at some very unfortunate barbecue (the FBI still continue to try to sort it all out.)

July 29, 1972 –Gilbert O’Sullivan topped the charts with his hit Alone Again (Naturally) on this date. This was Irish-born singer Gilbert O’Sullivan’s only American #1. It sold 2 million copies, spent six weeks at the summit in America and earned him three Grammy Award nominations (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year,Continue reading “Alone Again (Naturally) went to No. 1”

July 29, 1981 –In the fairy tale wedding of the century, Britain’s Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in an internationally televised ceremony at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London, England on this date. The couple was later divorced in 1996, Diana was ‘killed‘ in a car accident in 1997, and Charles fulfilled his long timeContinue reading “Hey, fairy tales don’t always have happy endings.”