In 1980, I was a) living in Australia and b) didn’t have access to commercial television, but even *I* heard about the fuss over who tried to do ol’ JR in. The Who Shot J.R.? episode of the television evening soap Dallas was seen by more U.S. viewers than any other television program in history. […]
Who Shot JR? 33 years ago today.. Read More »
Howard Carter and George Herbert discovered the entrance to King Tutankhamen tomb ninety-one years ago today, in 1922. They may have guessed what was inside, but the fact that the tomb was virtually intact, with all Tut’s wealth and worldly goods about him was a rare find and received a huge amount of press from
Tut’s Tomb Discovered Read More »
The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico; el Día de los Muertos, where it is a very big deal indeed, with parades and rituals of all kind that paranormal romance lovers should shiver with delight over. In particular, the Catrinas (both dolls and made-up women) that are a part of the celebrations are
The Day Of The Dead Read More »
Watching History Unfold Vampires get to watch history go by. Just because they live for decades and centuries, they witness the unfolding of human affairs and can observe the changing of society over time. There is a lot about a vampire’s life that would be utterly miserable, including watching humans you love wither and die
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Harvard College is one of the two colleges within the Harvard University. It is the oldest tertiary institution in North America, and was founded today, in 1636. The Harvard dining hall (The Annenburg Hall) looks so spectacular…and eerily like the hall at Hogwarts, from the Harry Potter movies. You’d think that learning would be
Harvard — Real World Hogwarts Read More »
Leif Ericson — or, more properly, Leifr Eiríksson (Old Norse version) — and his crew landed in Vinland in the year 1000. Supposedly, that happened on October 9, but I always have to wonder how historians manage to pin down a date like that so precisely, when even the location of Vinland, or even if
Vikings in Canada — 1013 years ago today. Read More »
Cats, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City, 1982. Thirty-one years ago today. Wow. I was fortunate enough to see Cats at the Sydney Opera House a year or so later. It ran at the Opera House for over a year. (Of course, I
CATS is Thirty-One Today. Read More »
The internationally adored “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz had its debut today, in 1950. It ran until 2000 (wow!) and now is syndicated and re-runs the world-over. I can’t put any “Peanuts” images here with the post as the copyright is strongly upheld, which is a pity, because there is one strip in
Peanuts is 63 today. Read More »
Passenger trains are nearly two hundred years old. Today marks the 188 anniversary of the first passenger train in operation, in England, in 1825. Passenger trains, particularly the romantic steam train variety, have featured in much literature and the movies. I always think of the heroine stepping through a cloud of steam and appearing