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September 1, 1914 –The last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo on this date. There are various reasons for the extinction of the passenger pigeon – the main one unfortunately was they tasted so damn good broasted. Her body was frozen into a block of ice and sentContinue reading “Very proud, very sad, but very wise”

September 1, 1902 –Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston, considered to be the first science fiction movie, was released on this date. After finishing work on the film, Georges Méliès intended to release it in America and thereby make lotsContinue reading “A Trip to the Moon”

Cleopatra was the first member of her dynasty to speak Ancient Egyptian. Ancient Egyptian is considered one of the most difficult languages to master in history. Well, Cleopatra was able to master it. Along with eight other languages including: Ancient Greek, Ancient Iranian, Ancient Parthian, Syriac, Ethiopian, Troglodytae, Hebrew and Arabic. Unfortunately she wasn’t asContinue reading “It’s always nice to learn a language”

September is the ninth month of the year, which is why its name is derived from the Latin Septem, meaning seven. (We have previously addressed this problem last month; see August, the Sixth Month.) On the French Revolutionary calendar, September is known as Vendémiaire (vintage,) and in Dutch, September is “the begining of autumn“, Hertmaand.Continue reading “Welcoming Summer’s Ghost”

August 31, 1879 –Alma Maria Schindler, noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence, was born on this date. In her youth she was an aspiring composer. But that’s not why I bring her up. She was the wife, successively, of the composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel, andContinue reading “Ach, that is the fräulein I must have!”

August 31, 1929 –RKO released the musical film-short St. Louis Blues, starring singer Bessie Smith, on this date. At W.C. Handy’s suggestion, Bessie Smith was picked to be the star of the film. Bessie had scored a huge hit in 1925 with her recording of St. Louis Blues, which had featured Louis Armstrong on cornet.Continue reading “St. Louis Blues”

August 31, 1950 –A mouse flew on a US V-2 rocket from New Mexico, USA on on this date, reaching an altitude of 137 km (85 miles). It was the first mouse in space. Unfortunately the rocket disintegrated because the parachute system failed. But what the hell do you care.

Louise-Marie-Thérèse de Saint Maurice, Comtesse de Vercellis farted while she was dying. She said, “Good. A woman who can fart is not dead.”

August 30, 1859 – At the University of Göttingen, PhD candidate Albert Niemann isolates the alkaloid C17H21NO4 from leaves of the plant Erythroxylum coca. Niemann names his white, powdery discovery Cocaine and observes firsthand its peculiarly strong anesthetic effect: “it benumbs the nerves of the tongue, depriving it of feeling and taste.“ Oh, that’s whatContinue reading “The more you know”

August 30, 1993 –Moving himself and his gang of cohorts from NBC-TV, The Late Show with David Letterman premiered on CBS-TV, on this date. The microphone on David Letterman’s desk was an old RCA DX 77. It was a replacement for the original microphone given to him as a gift from the NBC crew whenContinue reading “The Late Show with David Letterman”