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January 20, 1941 – Raoul Walsh’s crime-drama High Sierra, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino opened on this date. In addition to Hal B. Wallis, Humphrey Bogart also sent several telegrams to studio head Jack L. Warner, begging to be cast as Roy Earle. After Paul Muni left Warner Bros. in a contract dispute andContinue reading “A caper with a woman and a dog”

January 20, 1949 –A surprise hit for writer/ director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (which garnered for him his first two Oscars,) A Letter to Three Wives, premiered on this date. The identity of Celeste Holm who did the voice-over for Addie Ross, was kept secret when the film was released. The studio held a number ofContinue reading “A Letter to Three Wives debuted”

January 20, 1964 –The second Beatles‘ album, Meet the Beatles! was released in the United States on this date. It was the first US Beatles album to be issued by Capitol Records. Two days previously, the Beatles entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time, as I Want to Hold Your Hand appearedContinue reading “Oh, yeah, I’ll tell you somethin’”

Today is National Disc Jockey Day – The day is celebrated in remembrance of the death of Albert James “Alan” Freed, (AKA Moondog,) the man who coined the term “Rock ‘n’ Roll”. The first DJ, or Disc Jockey, was sixteen-year-old student Ray Newby, who played the first records over the airwaves at Herrold College ofContinue reading “I found out all I needed to know”

Jimmy Naismith was born in Ramsay township in Ontario, Canada in 1861. He grew up and eventually went to McGill University in Montreal. He became their Athletic Director and in 1891 he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, to take a post at the YMCA Training School. It was there that he was confronted with the problemContinue reading “Where did he find those baskets during the winter?”

January 19, 1949 –I believe that my music is just about feelings, and the style is just a side effect. Robert Palmer, blue-eyed soul singer, was born on this date.

January 19, 1952 – In the first match-up between Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny, Operation: Rabbit, directed by Chuck Jones, premiered on this date. This was the second cartoon to feature Wile E. Coyote (following 1949’s Fast and Furry-ous), and the first in which he is identified by his full name. It is alsoContinue reading “And remember, mud spelled backwoids is dum”

January 19, 1940 –Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle. The Three Stooges short You Nazty Spy! about the Nazis released on this date. Filmed in 1939, not released until 1940, the film was the first Hollywood film to spoof Adolf Hitler, released nine monthsContinue reading “You Nazty Spy! premiered”

January 19, 1953 –68% of all television sets in the United States were tuned in to I Love Lucy on this date to watch Lucy give birth to a baby boy – the same day Lucille Ball gave birth to her son, Desi Arnaz Junior. All the while they couldn’t say pregnant on TV orContinue reading “Ricky, it’s time.”

Blue Monday refers to the third Monday in January, dubbed the “most depressing day of the year” by a psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004 for, Sky Travel, a UK travel company using a pseudoscientific formula to sell vacation packages, factoring in cold weather, debt, and post-Christmas slump. The PR stunt succeeded in generating media buzzContinue reading “Today is known as Blue Monday”