File under: More things your teachers didn’t tell you

August 11, 1942 –Actress Hedy Lamarr (that’s Hedy not Hedley) and composer George Antheil received a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that will later became the basis for the technology behind Wi-Fi and wireless telephones. In 1997, she and George Anthiel were honored with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award.Continue reading “File under: More things your teachers didn’t tell you”

Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name

St. Clare of Assisi (or Clair or Claire – spelling wasn’t a major issue back then. Living past 29 years old was considered miraculous) didn’t want to marry the rich young man her parents picked out for her and ran away from home to become the biggest Francis of Assisi groupie in the world. StContinue reading “Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name”

The Ren and Stimpy series premiered

August 11, 1991 – The first regularly scheduled episode of The Ren and Stimpy Show premiered on this date. Series creator John Kricfalusi was adamant about Stimpy not having a thick dopey sounding voice commonly seen in dim-witted cartoon sidekicks, having already chosen Billy West to provide Stimpy’s voice, Mr West tested a variety ofContinue reading “The Ren and Stimpy series premiered”

Snoopy

August 10, 1968 –According to the strip below, Snoopy’s birthday is August 10. There had, however, been no reference to this in previous years and it did not become an annual feature of the strip, (in fact, there are some references to Snoopy’s birthday being August 28.) Demand Euphoria!

Fingertips (Part 2) goes to the top of the charts

August 10, 1963 –Stevie Wonder’s single Fingertips (Part 2) becomes the first live recording to hit #1 in the US on this date. Little Stevie Wonder, just 12 years old, was part of a Motown package tour called The Motortown Revue, and was thrilling crowds with his high-energy performances. On March 10, 1963, the RevueContinue reading “Fingertips (Part 2) goes to the top of the charts”