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June 14, 1963 –The Soviet spacecraft Vostok 5 was launched into orbit on this date. Over the course of the next five days, Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky would set a new record for the longest manned space flight in history. The record would later be broken by the crew of Gemini 7, but Bykovsky will continueContinue reading “Vostok 5”

June 14, 1997 –Puff Daddy and Faith Evans started a 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with I’ll Be Missing You, a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G., on this date. The song samples Every Breath You Take by The Police, which was one of Diddy’s favorite songs. He didn’t sortContinue reading “I’ll Be Missing You topped the charts”

It was on this date in 1777 that the Stars and Stripes was adopted as the official flag of the United States of America. The first Flag Day observance was not held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1877, as some sites might tell you, butContinue reading “Please rise for the reading of this post”

The Full Strawberry Moon occurs this evening. This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christenedContinue reading “The Strawberry Moon”

June 14, 1976 –The Gong Show debuted on NBC on this date. People with dubious talents perform their acts before a celebrity panel of judges, who are free to eject the performer at any time by banging a large gong. The best non-gonged performer each night wins $516.32. During the time the show is onContinue reading “The Gong Show premiered”

June 13, 1865 –In case it should come up in conversation today – William Butler Yeats, Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures in 20th century literature, was born on this date. He won the Nobel Prize in 1923. He was brother of the artist Jack Butler Yeats, the son of JohnContinue reading “William Butler Yeats”

The Coldplay single Viva la Vida released on this date, goes on to become their first US No. 1 hit. A little-known US group called Creaky Boards accused Coldplay of stealing this song’s melody from a number they wrote in 2007 called, ironically, The Songs I Didn’t Write. Andrew Hoepfner, Creaky Boards’ singer and songwriter,Continue reading “Viva la Vida was released”

It’s the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua. One of the most beloved of saints, his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, he is sometimes called the Evangelical Doctor. He is especially invoked for the recovery of things lost (I’ve often wondered if Marcel ProustContinue reading “A ray of light enables us to see the dust that is in the air.”

June 13, 1970 –The Beatles song, The Long and Winding Road becomes their last U.S. number one hit on this date. The Beatles recorded this in January 1969 as a fairly simple ballad. By 1970, The Beatles were breaking up and and Phil Spector was brought in to go through the tapes and produce theContinue reading “The Long And Winding Road reaches No. 1”

June 12, 1942 –A young Dutch girl received the crappy gift of a diary as a birthday present on this date. She natters on for a little more than two years of small, inconsequential things young girls usually do in their diaries and then she abruptly stops writing. Today, her diary has been published inContinue reading “Gifts sometimes matter”