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June 19, 1865 –Marching his troops into Galvaston, Texas, Union General Gordon Granger announced the emancipation of slaves on this date. The day has become known as Juneteenth or Emancipation Day. And so it goes

June 19, 1623 – Blaise Pascal was born in France on this date (which worked out extremely well for him as he wanted to grow up to be French.) At the age of 17 he wrote a paper entitled Essay on Conic Sections, which quickly became the best-selling paper on conic sections in European historyContinue reading “Blaise Pascal”

Can you hear those glasses chilling? We might never know how utterly charming, brilliant and entertaining we are were it not for martinis. I’m not talking a cup of cheap gin splashed over an ice cube. I’m talking satin, fire and ice; Fred Astaire in a glass; surgical cleanliness, insight.. comfort; redemption and absolution. I’mContinue reading “He knows just how I like my martini – full of alcohol”

Today is Father’s Day. Remember, many people will say that the best gift you can give a Dad is your love (or a good nap) – I say, provide Dad (or at least me) a perfectly chilled martini before dinner. Dads don’t get too cocky, celebrating the day – While Mother’s Day has been aContinue reading “Fathers carries pictures where their money used to be”

June 19, 1954 – … All the world loves a lover, but in this case, we’ll make an exception. The Tasmanian Devil, Taz, made his debut in the Looney Tunes cartoon, Devil May Hare, on this date.

European history would have been dramatically different if only for a higher fiber diet. One of the most decisive battles in the history of Europe was fought in Belgium on June 18, 1815, as a resurgent Napoleon Bonaparte launched his last military offensive against the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Marshal Blücher. Nearly 50,000Continue reading “Eat your vegetables kids”

June 18, 1966 –The Beach Boys release the single Wouldn’t It Be Nice (with God Only Knows on the flip side of the 45), on this date. Brian Wilson wrote the song with contributions from vocalist Mike Love and lyricist Tony Asher. Asher wrote all of the lyrics except for the “Good night, my baby,Continue reading “Wouldn’t It Be Nice was released”

June 18, 1948 –Goodbye to our old 78’s A CBS employee named Edward Wallerstein walked into a room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York with Goddard Lieberson, the president of Columbia Records and publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3, on this date. Unlike the standard 10-inch 78 rpm record, whichContinue reading “Things that draw you to vinyl – the expense and the inconvenience”

June 18, 1983 –Almost 20 years to the day after the USSR sent Valentina Tereshkova into orbit, the United States sent its first woman astronaut into space. Sally Ride, an astrophysicist from Stanford University, and four other colleagues lifted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger. During the six-day mission, Ride operated the robot’s arm, whichContinue reading “Sally Ride in space”

June 18, 1956 –The pilot episode for the quiz show To Tell the Truth premiered on CBS on this date. The series debuted on CBS on December 18, 1956. The series outlasted most of the others of the period, especially after the 1958 quiz-show scandal, partly because every contestant was supposed to be untrustworthy.