History Schmistory: February 7. “The British are coming, the British are coming!”
Friday, February 7, 2025
1964: The British invade the US. With Rock! The Beatles, already causing Beatlemania in the UK and much of Europe, take their first small steps on US soil at Kennedy Airport. Their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later proved a giant leap for music-kind, marking the beginning of the “British Invasion” in America.
History Schmistory: February 7. Monopoly!
Friday, February 7, 2025
February 7, 1935: Parker Brothers introduces the Monopoly board game.
Culture Buzz: Wax Off!
Thursday, February 6, 2025
In the bustling cities of many Asian countries, including China, India and Japan, you are likely to run into an ear cleaning station here and there. Yes, the meticulous ear cleaners of Asia will, for a small fee, use an array of specially crafted instruments to clean the insides of your brain, (at least that’s what it feels like.) Don’t try it at home, you can really mess things up in there! America has not yet caught the street-side-ear-cleaning buzz, probably because they couldn’t hear it, -with all the wax up in there. But, who knows? Someday ear cleaning stands may become as common as taco trucks. Just so long as they never mix the two 😛
History Schmistory: February 6. Let Us Ride the Rails!
Thursday, February 6, 2025
February 6, 1815. The US says yes to laying the tracks!
Video Schmistory: February 5.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
4 useless observances, Peter Pan and lots of Jello… Must be Feb 5!
History Schmistory: February 4. “Heigh-Hoooooooo!”
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
1938: Walt Disney Productions’ first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released across the nation.
It was also the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, and the first produced in full color. It became a major box-office success, making four times more money than any other motion picture released in 1938, and by 1939 it was easily the highest grossing film of all time. Which is awesome, because most critics seemed certain that Disney’s wildly anomalous film venture would fail miserably. Snow White and her 7 pals were a resounding success on so many levels, yet it still bothers them that their line is always the shortest at Disneyland.
History Schmistory: February 4. Sibling Rivalry!
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
February 4, 211. Roman Emperor, Septimius Severus dies without choosing an heir.
History Schmistory: February 3. Tu-soon!
Monday, February 3, 2025
1637: The so-called “Tulip Mania” in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) collapses faster than the 2008 US economy. Yep, the fleeting tulip craze was more potent than the Macarena or the pet rock, with certain savvy merchants gaining more than 400% of their initial investments. The most sought after tulips were deliberately infected with a mosaic virus which greatly weakened the already prolonged maturation of the plant, but happened to result in a wild array of variegated color schemes that were so popular, merchants began selling “futures”; flowers that did not yet exist! Whaaa?
The craze was predictably short-lived, being rudely interrupted by another unanticipated yet much more hostile virus. Namely, the flippin’ black plague!
Monkeys in contemporary 17th century Dutch dress are shown here dealing in tulips, a satirical commentary on speculators during the time of “Tulip Mania”.
History Schmistory: February 3. Quite a Tunnel!
Monday, February 3, 2025
February 3, 1918. Twin Peaks streetcar tunnel opens in San Francisco.
History Schmistory: February 2. Groundhogs, take warning…
Sunday, February 2, 2025
1887: The first Groundhog Day is observed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000 have gathered to celebrate the holiday ever since. The tradition can actually be traced back to Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers, who brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May.”
-If only Punxsutawney Phil was that eloquent…
