January 25 in Pop Culture History

• 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell founded the Oriental Telephone Company.
• 1890 – American writer Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochran Seaman) completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
• 1921 – The word ‘robot’ was first used, in the play “R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Karel and Josef Capek.
• The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, starting the first Winter Olympic Games.
• 1961 – From Washington, DC, President John F. Kennedy delivered the first live presidential television news conference.
• If you were born on January 25th,
  You were likely conceived the week of… May 4th (prior year)

A Room of One’s Own Day
Fluoride Day
Macintosh Computer Day
National Irish Coffee Day
National Opposite Day

Everything you want to be, you already are. You’re simply on the path to discovering it.
– Alicia Keys

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind. Failure makes people bitter and cruel.
– W. Somerset Maugham

Dreams on paper are never as good as the real thing.
– Geoff Johns

The kids are really smart. They are sharp and they’re not yet bent over by the system. I think there’s a wonderful intelligence in today’s youth, and it’s a part of growing up.
– Tobe Hooper

While fame impedes and constricts, obscurity wraps about a man like a mist; obscurity is dark, ample, and free; obscurity lets the mind take its way unimpeded. Over the obscure man is poured the merciful suffusion of darkness. None knows where he goes or comes. He may seek the truth and speak it; he alone is free; he alone is truthful, he alone is at peace.
– Virginia Woolf

1783 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (died in 1857)
1874 – William Somerset Maugham, English playwright (died in 1965)
1882 – Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (died in 1941)
1895 – Florence Mills, American singer, dancer, and actress (died in 1927)
1923 – Sally Starr (Alleen Mae Beller), American actress and television host (died in 2013)
1931 – Dean Jones, American actor (died in 2015)
1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (died in 1977)
1943 – Tobe Hooper, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 2017)
1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress and singer
1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress
1973 – Geoff Johns, American author, screenwriter, and producer
1975 – Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress
1981 – Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter

1533 – Henry VIII of England married his second wife Anne Boleyn.

1554 – São Paulo, Brazil, was founded by Jesuit priests.

1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn was played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell formed the Oriental Telephone Company.

1915 – Alexander Graham Bell began the first U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to his assistant, Thomas Watson, in San Francisco.

1937 – The Guiding Light debuted on NBC radio from Chicago.

1939 – Joe Louis KO’d John Henry Lewis in one round for the World Heavyweight boxing title.

1945 – Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first US city to begin fluoridating the drinking water.

1955 – Columbia University scientists developed an atomic clock accurate to within one second in 300 years.

1959 – American Airlines held the first commercial intercontinental flight, from Los Angeles, California to Idlewild, New York.

1961 – 101 Dalmatians premiered in theaters.

1975 – #1 Hit January 25, 1975 – January 31, 1975: The Carpenters – Please Mr. Postman

1985 – The Falcon and the Snowman was released in theaters.

1992 – #1 Hit January 25, 1992 – January 31, 1992: Color Me Badd – All 4 Love

2002 – The Mothman Prophecies debuted in theaters.

2004 – Opportunity rover (MER-B) landed on the surface of Mars.

January 25, 2008 – Minutemen aired on The Disney Channel

2008 – Meet the Spartans, Rambo and Untraceable debuted in theaters.

2013 – Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters debuted in theaters.

I wonder how many times a potential burglar has walked up to my house, tried to open my locked front door, and thought “meh- it’s locked, not robbing this house.”

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge was named after George La Forge, a quadriplegic Star Trek fan who passed away in 1975.

A group of Cod is called a Lap.

“Gremlins” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” were largely responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating.

“We had fantastical feasts… when I lived in the palace.” – Ursula #moviequotes

There should be an emergency lane at the grocery store where you’re only allowed to buy one item you forgot when making dinner.

Toilet paper as we know it now was invented in 1857, but it took until 1930 to be splinter-free. #ouch

The tall chef’s hat is called a toque.

“How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap, stinking chip oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly thou!” – Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange #moviequotes

The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth.

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”- Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) #moviequotes

Google has more influence over our daily lives than any ruler or lawmaker throughout history.

Eagles were/are a symbol of monarchies in Europe. America’s symbol is a bald eagle, because it is a democracy and no one wears a crown.

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