Category Archives: Uncategorized

April 13, 1943 –Given the current situation in Ukraine – this is an important historical reminder: Katyn Forest is a wooded area near Gneizdovo village, a short distance from Smolensk in Russia where, in 1940 on Stalin’s orders, the Soviet secret police shot and buried over 4000 Polish service personnel that had been taken prisonerContinue reading “Katyn – WWII’s Forgotten Massacre”

April 13, 1883 –Alferd Packer, one of the few people in the US ever to be jailed for cannibalism, having allegedly killed and eaten five of his traveling companions while trapped in the Rocky Mountains during fierce winter weather, was sentenced to death in Colorado. During the trial, the judge supposedly said: “Damn you, AlferdContinue reading “Colorado’s most notorious cannibal”

April 13, 1964 –Sidney Poitier became the first African-American male to win the Best Actor Academy Award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field, on this date. However, whatever satisfaction Poitier felt winning this award was undercut by his concern that he won not because Hollywood had shown enlightened thinking, but rather he wasContinue reading “Sidney Poitier wins an Oscar”

I have always felt comedy and tragedy are roommates. If you look up comedy and tragedy, you will find a very old picture of two masks. One mask is tragedy. It looks like it’s crying. The other mask is comedy. It looks like it’s laughing. Nowadays, we would say, ‘How tasteless and insensitive. A comedyContinue reading “Kids, remember to ask you folks if you can watch this”

April 12, 1961 –Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1), on this date. During his flight, Gagarin famously whistled the tune The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows The first two lines of the song are: “The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky“.Continue reading “Yuri Gagarin in space”

April 12, 1861 –The first shots of the American Civil War (aka the War of Northern Aggression) rang out at an attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on this date. Abner Doubleday (of baseball fame or not) aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the Confederate bombardment. No one diedContinue reading “The start of the Civil War”

April 12, 1857 – Nothing around them had changed; and yet, for her, something more momentous had happened than if the mountains had been shoved aside. … It didn’t matter. She was not happy and never had been. Why was life so inadequate, why did the things she depended on turn immediately to dust?… YetContinue reading “But what the hell do you care, you don’t read anyway.”

Happy Walk In The Wild Side Day. Created by Thomas and Ruth Roy on their website Wellcat.com, it was created to recognize that “what others would think” is the dumbest reason not to do something, and rather denotes a lack of courage. This song provided Lou Reed his biggest hit, and it was his onlyContinue reading “Pluck your eyebrows, go in the backroom and become everybody’s darling –”

April 12, 1974 –Elton John song Bennie and the Jets (Penny on the desk) hit No. #1 in the US on this date. Elton wrote the music to this song as an homage to glam rock, a style defined by outrageous costumes that was popular in the early ‘70s, especially in the UK. Artists likeContinue reading “It must be a lucky day for Elton”

April 11, 1954 –According to a team of Cambridge University scientists, this date in history was the most boring day during the entire 20th Century. It appears to have been so boring that it had to be named National Cheese Fondue Day (and 8-track Tape Day) just so those people living through it didn’t killContinue reading “The Most Boring Day”