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May 18, 1974 –India became the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb when they conducted their first nuclear test (project Smiling Buddha) in Pokhran, India on this date. Though the yield of the device detonated at Pokhran is debated, it is believed that the actual yield was around 8-12 Kilotons of TNT. The highlightContinue reading “First Indian Nuclear Test”

May 18, 1985 –Simple Minds song Don’t You Forget About Me went to No.1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff wrote this song specifically for The Breakfast Club. Forsey, who also co-wrote Shakedown for Beverly Hills Cop II and the title song to Flashdance… What a Feeling, was inContinue reading “Don’t You Forget About Me goes to No. 1”

May 18, 1998 – The final episode (or so we thought) of Murphy Brown, Never Can Say Goodbye, aired on CBS-TV on this date. (The re-boot of the series ran for about a year.) One of the running series jokes was Murphy Brown’s inability to get a good secretary or one that could work withContinue reading “The Murphy Brown finale”

May 17, 1940 –Garson Kanin’s screwball comedy, My Favorite Wife, opened on this date. Leo McCarey was supposed to direct the film, but shortly before the filming began, he was injured in an automobile accident and had to hand over the direction to Garson Kanin. Gail Patrick has stated that the severity of McCarey’s injuriesContinue reading “My Favorite Wife premiered”

May 17, 1899 –Thomas Alva Edison copyrighted the first western film, The Cripple Creek Bar Room, which he had shot at his Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, on this date. Although there was little, if any, plot to this short film (please note, the role of a barmaid was played by aContinue reading “The first Western”

May 17, 1980 –Call Me by Blondie reached No. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Call Me was the most successful of all Blondie singles in the USA, where it was the best-selling single of 1980.

May 16, 1966 – The Beach Boys released their 11th studio album, Pet Sounds on this date. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential albums in the history of popular music and is widely regarded as one of the best albums of the 1960s. All that beautiful music and barking dogs,Continue reading “Pet Sounds was released on this date”

May 16, 1986 –In one of the most notorious cheats in the history of television, Pam Ewing woke up to find her husband Bobby in the shower — no small feat, considering he’s been dead for a whole season. In order to revivify Bobby’s character, the Dallas writers resorted to dismissing the entire preceding yearContinue reading “It was all a dream”

A crocodile can’t stick out its tongue. Crocodiles have a membrane that holds their tongue in place on the roof of their mouth so it doesn’t move. This makes it impossible for them to stick it outside of their narrow mouths. That can be handy for the reptile when snapping its jaws shut rapidly. ItContinue reading “At least they won’t bite their tongues”

The first inoculation against Smallpox was administered on May 14, 1796, by Edward Jenner, when Jenner took fluid from a cowpox blister and scratched it into the skin of James Phipps, an eight-year-old boy (a brief aside – how much do you trust your kid’s doctor –“Good Afternoon Mr and Mrs. Phipps. Little Jimmy seemsContinue reading “Follow along, it will all make sense”