Posts Tagged ‘movies’
History of Star Trek: 60 Years Ago, Now, and the Future
Reading Time: 16 minutesHISTORY OF STAR TREK Podcast tar Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 60 years ago. It is my favorite television show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a significant influence on my choice of a career in technology. The show…
Read MoreHistory of Woodstock: Almost 60 Years Ago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF WOODSTOCK August 15 marks the anniversary of the “3 Days of Peace & Music” held in 1969 at Max Yasgur‘s 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the village of Woodstock. This outdoor music event, despite thunderstorms, gave voice to the counterculture youth generation of its time. A documentary film followed…
Read MoreHistory of William Wilberforce: Champion of British Slavery Abolition
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE ne hundred ninety-three years ago today, on July 26, 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act passed its third reading in the House of Commons, ensuring the end of slavery in the British Empire. William Wilberforce had championed the cause for nearly half a century. This article, published on the anniversary of the…
Read MoreHistory of St. John the Baptist Day: Midsummer
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST DAY Podcast version he Feast of St. John the Baptist, or the Nativity of St John the Forerunner, sometimes called St. John the Baptist Day, is celebrated on June 24 in many places worldwide, though not much in the United States, as we’ll see below. The celebration of…
Read MoreHistory of D-Day: 82 Years Ago
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF D-DAY Podcast version Why has D-Day captured the imagination of American consciousness for over three-quarters of a century? Eighty-two years ago, on June 6, 1944, the Allies launched an offensive on the Normandy coast of France to liberate continental Europe from the Nazi German occupation. On Twitter/X, the hashtag is #DDay82…
Read MoreHistory of the Golden Gate Bridge: 89 Years Old
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE his week, we celebrate the 89th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened to traffic after more than five years of construction. I remember asking my father when I was young: “Why isn’t the Golden Gate Bridge golden?” He didn’t…
Read MoreHistory of Towel Day: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF TOWEL DAY May 25 celebrates Towel Day to honor Douglas Adams, the author of the five (or six) book “trilogy” Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Created in May 2001 to mark the passing of English science fiction humor author Douglas Adams, the day is set aside for fans of his writings to carry a…
Read MoreHistory of Star Wars: Premiered 49 Years Ago
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF STAR WARS The original Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… …in Berkeley, in November 1976, I picked up a new science fiction novel called “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by George Lucas. I did not know then that…
Read MoreHistory of The Who’s Tommy: 55 Years Ago
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF THE WHO’s TOMMY ifty-seven years ago today, on May 23, 1969, the British rock group The Who released the double-album rock opera Tommy in the U.K. Commercially, the record went Gold in the U.K. and Double Platinum in the U.S. It was released in the U.S. on May 17 or 19; reports vary.…
Read MoreHistory of St George and the Dragon
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON aint George’s Day is April 23, likely the day of his martyrdom. He is often depicted as a knight in armor. He is the patron saint of England, and his day has been celebrated there since the 9th century and more recently throughout the British Commonwealth. However, he…
Read MoreHistory of the Super Bowl: A Humorous Look at this Religious Holiday
Reading Time: 5 minutesuper Bowl™ is a territory-acquisition athletic contest played on a fixed agrarian grid, using an inflated porcine prolate spheroid as a token. Some will say it is the most important holiday of the year in America. While it is ostensibly a secular holiday, others argue it is truly a religious holiday. And there are several…
Read MoreHistory of Peter Pan: the Story Behind the Disney Classic
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF PETER PAN Podcast version All of this has happened before, And it will all happen again. o begins my favorite Walt Disney animated movie, Peter Pan, which debuted on February 5, 1953. The original movie poster said: “It will live in your heart forever” …and indeed it has. Why was…
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