Sept. 25, 2022 September 25th, 2022 |
Quiz: When you describe someone describing staging as “proscenium” what does that mean?
Yesterday’s Question Answered below: On a motion picture location shoot, what are the Honey Wagons?
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History for 9/25/2022
Birthdays: William Faulkner, Jean Phillipe Rameau, Mark Rothko, Dmitri Shoshtakovich, Sergei Bondarchuk, Phil Rizzutto the Scooter, Bob MacAdoo, Christopher Reeve, Glen Gould, Barbera Walters, Red Smith, Aldo Ray, Heather Locklear is 60, Will Smith is 5, Michael Douglas 78 & Catherine Zeta-Jones-54, Mark Hamill is 71
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
1066- Battle of Stamford Bridge -the last great Viking raid. The king of the Northmen Harald the Dragon landed an army at the old Roman city of Eboracum, now called in Norse, Yoorvik or York. There he was met by the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold Goodwinson. "Give us land." The Vikings said." We'll give you as much land as needed to cover your bones!" said Harold, then defeated the Vikings in a huge battle. Harald the Dragon went down fighting as did his English ally Earl Tostig.
Almost as soon as the fight was over, the Saxons learned a new invasion force had landed in the south near Dover. They were the Normans under William of Normandy. King Harold having to fight in north England, then rush by forced marches down to the south to fight another big battle, was a factor in his final defeat at Hastings.
1218- Simon De Monfort, leader of the Crusade against the Albigensian heretics of southern France, was hit in the face by a catapult stone whilst besieging Toulouse. Legend says the lucky catapult shot that nailed Simon was fired by the women & children of Toulouse, who knew they could expect no pity from him.
1493- Christopher Columbus sailed from Cadiz for the New World on his second trip, this time with seventeen ships. He had been named Governor General of the Indies and Admiral of the Ocean Seas.
1513- Vasco Nunez de Balboa emerged from the Panamanian rainforest to view the great expanse of the western ocean. He called it "Pacific" the "Peaceful Ocean."
1525- THE PEACE OF AUGSBURG- German Emperor Charles V wanted his rebellious people to knock off all this Protestant Reformation stuff and stay Catholic like him. But they fought him all over Germany in the Schmalkalden Wars. Even his own sister joined the new faith. Finally Charles made a peace. All could have religious toleration- well, not really. It just said whatever your local prince said was the official religion. This was the first official state acknowledgment that more than one version of the Christian faith now existed.
1690- The first American newspaper published in Boston; " Publick Occurances Both Foreign and Domestick, Issue Number One" There was no number two because the Royal Governor of Massachusetts colony promptly closed it down.
1775- American patriot leader Ethan Allen was captured by the British while attempting an assault on Montreal. He was sent to England for prison, but exchanged two years later.
1777- British Lord Howe after pushing aside Washington's little army CAPTURED THE AMERICAN CAPITOL OF PHILADELPHIA. The rebel congress had picked up their Declaration of Independence and hightailed it for Harrisburg.
It was the American's luck that at this time the colonies were so loosely knit and decentralized that losing the capitol wasn't very important to anyone except Philadelphians. Local Loyalists had a field day routing out rebel sympathizers. Because the Quakers espoused non-violence everyone thought they were on the other side, so they were singled out for especially rough treatment- pelted with stones, tar & feathers, etc.
Lord Howe complained to London that by now he had defeated the American army several times and captured it's capitol, yet the Rebellion showed no signs of dying out. America only had four major cities, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston and they all had been captured by His Majesties forces at one time or another. Except for little pirate John Paul Jones and a ship or two, they had sunk most of the American Navy. But the Yankees still wouldn’t give up. Obviously a military solution to the American problem was not the answer." I can only pacify the colonies if I had two soldiers for every colonist." London responded by replacing Lord Howe.
1789- James Madison proposed a series of ten amendments be added to the new Constitution guaranteeing basic personal freedoms, the BILL OF RIGHTS. This day it was approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
1828- The September Conspiracy. Simon Bolivar the Liberator was confronted by assassins sent by his own vice president to kill him. He escaped death thanks in part to his mistress, Manuela Saenz.
1840- By order of the Mexican Government, slavery was outlawed in California- except.....Indian children were bought and sold for another ten years.
1887- The first Sears Catalog published.
1888- The beginning of the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Hound of the Baskervilles.
1890- Spurred on by the writings of John Muir and John Wesley Powell, Congress created Yosemite National Park in California.
1911- Groundbreaking in Boston for Fenway Park.
1917- After the Red Baron, Germanys greatest WWI air ace was Werner Voss. He shot down 48 enemy planes. This day Werner Voss died in one of the most spectacular dogfights in aviation history. Alone in his baby-blue Fokker Triplane, Voss took on 8 British planes, all aces like himself, and fought them all in a wild, whirling melee in the sky. Shortly before Voss went down, the British saw his propellor stop turning. Did he run out of fuel? Or was his so badly wounded he could no longer control his plane? No one is sure. He was 20.
1918- Brazil declared war on Austria. This was seen as purely ceremonial, the Great War was just about over.
1928- Walt Disney wrote to his brother Roy and lead animator Ub Iwerks, “ Carl’s (Stalling) idea of a Skeleton Dance as a musical novelty has been growing on me…”
1933- Young writer John Huston was driving drunk on Sunset Blvd when he struck and killed a pedestrian. His father Walter Huston was a top movie star, so to avoid scandal, MGM head Louis B. Mayer paid $46,000 to cover it up. John Huston went on to become a great Hollywood director and screenwriter.
1953- Alfred Hitchcock wrapped filming on his only 3D film, Dial M for Murder.
1957- President Eisenhower sent the bayonet wielding 101st Airborne to enforce the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, after the governor refused to use the National Guard. Three days earlier the Guard stood by doing nothing when a mob almost lynched a 15 year old girl trying to enter the school. She was saved by a sympathetic white friend. Eisenhower was not exactly colorblind himself, but the Supreme Court ordered school desegregation, and to the old general, orders were orders. Escorted by troops, nine black students entered the school through hordes of jeering whites. One girl was spit on so many times she had to wring her dress out in a sink afterward.
1961- Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color debuted on NBC TV today. Moved over from ABC. This episode introduced the character of Ludwig von Drake.
1965- The Beatles animated cartoon show premiered.
1975- The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened. The movie version of the successful cult stage musical. Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.
1980- John Bonham of Led Zeppelin was found dead of alcohol poisoning.
1984- THE RUBBERHEADS STRIKE- Disneyland workers including the actors who stroll the park in big Mickey and Goofy heads went on strike.
1988 – Former President Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy died. Billy Carter was one of the more embarrassing presidential relatives- he used his influence as a paid lobbyist for Khaddafi’s Libya, and produced BillyBeer, undoubtedly the worst beer I ever tasted.
1992- Michael Mann’s epic film, “The Last of the Mohicans” premiered. “I will find you!”
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Yesterday Quiz: On a motion picture location shoot, what are the Honey Wagons?
Answer: They are a row of small, mobile dressing rooms, for actors who are not the stars. So named because in the 1930s they were for the pretty girls dancing in the chorus.