December 16 in Pop Culture History

• 1773 – The Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
• 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge
• 1947 – William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain built the first practical point-contact transistor.
• 1950 -US President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency after Chinese troops enter the fight in support of communist North Korea.
• If you were born on December 16th,
  You were likely conceived the week of… March 24th (same year)

“Fear… can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy. If you’re afraid you don’t commit yourself to life completely; fear makes you always, always hold something back.”
– Philip K. Dick

“People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what’s wrong with it.”
– Noël Coward

“The one thing for an actor that is death, is if you’re bored. The boredom will show in your work. It’s an amazing blessing to do something you love.”
– Benjamin Bratt

“The higher the building the lower the morals.”
– Noël Coward

“Perhaps it is better to be un-sane and happy, than sane and un-happy. But it is the best of all to be sane and happy. Whether our descendants can achieve that goal will be the greatest challenge of the future. Indeed, it may well decide whether we have any future.”
– Arthur C. Clarke

“Law school teaches you one thing above all: how to speak while saying absolutely nothing.”
– Krysten Ritter

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
– Philip K. Dick

1777 – Virginia became the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

1811 (Earthquake) An 8.6 magnitude earthquake hit the United States, the largest in our history. The area affected included: Missouri, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Amazingly, no people were killed.

1835 – Great Fire of New York City. Over 600 buildings were destroyed.

1884 – The first US patent (#309,219) was issued for an automatic liquid vending machine to William H. Fruen of Minneapolis, MN. People could get a measured amount of a liquid for coin payment.

1893 – Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor From the New World was performed at Carnegie Hall. The music had African roots, and the piece greatly influenced the American musical landscape for the next century.

1912 -The world’s first stamp to depict an airplane was issued in the US, available at Post Offices on January 1, 1912.

1920 (Earthquake) Haiyuan County, Ningxia, China

1944 – Attacking the Allies in northern France through northwestern Belgium, Hitler’s army started the Operation Mist (aka Ardennes Offensive or the Battle of the Bulge).

1951 – Dragnet debuted on NBC.

On December 16, 1965, The first music played in Space was on GEMINI SIX, to wake up Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford – it was the first Musical Astronaut WAKE UP CALL, that has become a tradition with NASA since then. Jack Jones sang a parody of the hit Broadway tune Hello Dolly – which was a big hit at the time.
In the early days, they went with classical music like Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, Hungarian Rhapsody #2 by Lizst, and Madame Butterfly by Puccini. Over Time they really mixed it up, Flinstones Theme, Theme From Friends, and Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner, which would be an excellent song to wake up to, with a sunrise over the Earth’s Horizon.

1968 -Second Vatican Council: Officially revoked of the 1492 Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.

1972 – #1 Hit December 16, 1972 – January 5, 1973: Billy Paul – Me and Mrs. Jones

1983 – Silkwood and Uncommon Valor debuted in theaters.

1988 – Rain Man, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Torch Song Trilogy were released in theaters.

1994 – Dumb and Dumber was released in theaters.

2006 – #1 Hit December 16, 2006 – February 23, 2007: Beyonce – Irreplaceable

2010- CNN’s Larry King Live aired the last original episode.

2011 – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol were released in theaters.

Make out your Chopin Liszt early before Debussy season, when you have time to check out Verdi good bargains are, can still get gifts Faure good price, not have to Handel large crowds and have time to give Bach things you decide you don’t want.

Every day, man is making beggir and better fool-proof things, and every day, nature is making beggir and better fools. So far, I think nature is winning.

Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford made Jingle Bells the first song performed in space. They played it on a harmonica with bells (and implied spotting Santa) while orbiting Earth on Gemini 6 on Dec. 16, 1965.

The Capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires

“Rosebud.” – Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) in Citizen Kane, 1941

Three sports movies have won the Oscar for best picture: Rocky (1976), Chariots of Fire (1981), and Million Dollar Baby (2004)

They say you shouldn’t make mountains out of molehills, but somewhere out there there are actual moles making molehills out of mountains. Good on them.

The 1960 Italian film La Dolce Vita was the origin of the term ‘paparazzi’, named after a character in the film, Paparazzo.

The ‘talking mirror’ trope from fairy tales probably originated when a careless time-traveler was seen using a Smartphone or a tablet.

1986, London’s bakers apologized for the Great Fire of London, 320 years after it happened.

“It never rains in California… Matadors…” #misunderstoodlyrics

The Scary Statistic: Lightning Strike odds: 1-in-83,930

What to do: Stay indoors, be grounded, or live in your car.

Many people who win the lottery end up bankrupt. Few financially responsible people win the lottery, because buying lottery tickets is not a financially responsible thing to do.

The Capital of Antigua and Barbuda is Saint John’s

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