Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tomorrow the sun will be perfectly lined up with the east-west streets of New York. (If you miss it on the 11th, you get another shot the next day on the 12th.) Demand Euphoria!

July 10, 1958 –The first parking meter was installed in London, England on this date in 1958, along with the second through 625th. It took nearly two dozen years for the parking meter to travel across the Atlantic: the first American parking meter had been installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935. It wasContinue reading “Times ticking away on this old parking meter”

July 10, 1976 –Starland Vocal Band’s song about afternoon nooky – Afternoon Delights topping the Billboard Pop charts on this date. Despite having only this one hit, the Starland Vocal Band were given their own summer replacement TV series on CBS called The Starland Vocal Band in 1977. An unknown comic named David Letterman appearedContinue reading “Afternoon Delights went to No. 1 on the charts”

July 10, 1972 –Harry Nilsson’s eighth album, Son of Schmilsson was released on this date. It featured George Harrison under the name George Harrysong and Ringo Starr, listed as Richie Snare, on some of the tracks. Peter Frampton also played guitar on most of the album.

July 10, 1942 –RKO Pictures released Orson Welles‘ butchered masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons, on this date. (Like El Dorado or Shangri-La, a work print of Welles’ version supposedly exists in a vault somewhere in Brazil, tantalizingly, just out of reach. I have just read the TCM is currently sponsoring an exhaustive search through a majorContinue reading “The Magnificent Ambersons premiered”

July 10, 1856 –Inventor and electromechanical genius Nikola Tesla, the man who invented the 20th Century, was born to Serbian parents in what is now Croatia on this date. Remember, if we could only harness the free floating electricity, we could do away with the electric companies. And so it goes

July 10, 1978 –World News Tonight with anchors Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings and Max Robinson (the first black anchor on a network newscast in the US) premiered on ABC TV on this date. The program has been anchored at various times by a number of other presenters since its debut in 1948. It also hasContinue reading “World News Tonight premiered”

July 9, 1982 –Buena Vista Pictures releases the sci-fi film Tron, directed by Steven Lisberger and starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes, in the U.S. on this date. Many Disney animators refused to work on this movie because they feared that computers would put them out of business. InContinue reading “Tron premiered”

July 9, 1966 –The Beatles song Paperback Writer, topped the charts on this date. The B-side to this single was John Lennon’s Rain. Paul and John would always compete for the A-side of The Beatles singles.

On the Fourth of July in 1850, President Zachary Taylor snacked on cherries and milk while attending a ceremony at the Washington Monument. It was a hot day, and the heat made him sick. He got sicker and sicker and died on July 9. He remains the only U.S. president to have died from indigestionContinue reading “Sometimes is sucks to be president (Part 2)”