Category Archives: Uncategorized

August 16, 1948 –Famed booze hound, skirt chaser and home-run slugger George Herman “Babe” Ruth died at age 53 in New York City. He is credited with turning baseball from a game of speed and skill to one of power. And so it goes

August 16, 1985 –CBS-TV’s adaptation of the Arthur Miller classic Death of A Salesman, directed by Volker Schlöndorff and starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich premiered on this date. Author Arthur Miller always pictured Willy Loman as a short, weak man with a booming voice. After nearly forty years, Miller finally got his wish afterContinue reading “Death of A Salesman premiered”

Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up.. It’s the 110th birthday of Julia Child – Chef, Spy, Philosopher and in my opinion, one of the greatest Americans of the last century. Besides Julia’s, today is the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769), RoseContinue reading “A plethora of birthdays”

August 15, 1969 –The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger’s farm in upstate New York. The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today’s hottest commercial jingles. Demand Euphoria!

August 15, 1979 – The very long delayed epic, Apocalypse Now, premiered in NYC on this date. (Order some Banh xeo and a couple of bottles of Tiger Beer, and watch the Redux version, in honor of the anniversary.) It took Francis Ford Coppola nearly three years to edit the footage. While working on hisContinue reading “Apocalypse Now premiered”

August 15, 1977 –The Big Ear radio telescope, operated at Ohio State University by the SETI project, receives a strong seventy-two second narrowband radio signal from deep space (6EQUJ5.) The event is named the “Wow! signal” for the notation made by Jerry Ehman, a volunteer on the project. The signal appears to have come toContinue reading “Sometimes it’s just one and done”

Today is the Feast of Assumption of Mary. Kids it’s a Holy Day of Obligation. (While the day only became a Holy Day of Obligation recently – on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith – in fact, the Feast of the Assumption is oneContinue reading “It’s also known as the Dormition of the Mother of God”

August 15, 1948 –CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast with anchorman Douglas Edwards. Mr. Edwards held the job for 14 years and was succeeded by Walter Cronkite.

August 14, 1900 –122 years ago today the western powers quelled the Boxer Rebellion in China. In the clearing stood the Boxers, fighters by their trade, and they carried the reminders of every glove that laid them down or cut them til they cried out, in their anger and their pain, they were leaving, theyContinue reading “Where the ragged people go”

August 13, 1899 –When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, ‘It’s in the script.’ If he says, ‘But what’s my motivation?, ‘ I say, ‘Your salary.’. Arguably, the most famous film director in the 20th Century, Alfred Hitchcock was born on this date. Hitchcock, known as the masterContinue reading “Alfred Hitchcock”