Television is one of those inventions that initially showed great promise of being of potential benefit to humankind but, in the end, did nothing of the kind.
Television is a medium because anything well done is rare.
Fred Allen
Television is chewing gum for the eyes.
Frank Lloyd Wright
KILL YOUR TV
Or blow it up
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On this day in history:
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0164 BC -- Judas Maccabeus restored the Temple in Jerusalem.
1386 -- Timur of Samarkand sacked Tbilisi
1676 – Astronomer Ole Rømer presented the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.
1783 – The first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1877 -- Thomas Edison announced the creation of the phonograph
1894 -- The Japanese captured Port Arthur. The lessons to be learned weren't until during WWI.
1905 -- Albert Einstein's paper on the relationship between energy content and inertia was published.
1910 -- Brazilian Sailors rebelled (The Revolt of the Lash).
1918 -- The Lwow pogrom took place.
1920 -- "Bloody Sunday" in Dublin.
1922 -- Rebecca Latimer Felton became the first female US Senator
1927 -- Striking coal miners were slaughtered with machine guns by state police in the Columbine Mine massacre.
1953 -- The "Piltdown Man" skull was revealed to be a hoax.
1959 – Alan Freed was fired from WABC radio over allegations concerening payola.
1964 -- The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened. (Giovanni da Verrazzano beat Hudson and all those folks, but ...)
1967 – General William Westmoreland said: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."
1969 -- The first permanent ARPANET link was set up between UCLA and SRI
1983 -- The US criminal war against Grenada ended.
1986 -- Oliver North fired up the shredder
2002 -- NATO invited Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to join & help restart the cold war.
2013 -- The Euromaidan began in Ukraine.
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Some people who were born on this day:
It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere
~~ Voltaire
1694 -- Voltaire, historian, playwright, and philosopher, friend of Frederick the Great.
1852 -- Francisco Tarrega, guitarist and composer
1861 -- Tom Horn, police officer and murderer, not a prototype, but an exemplar for sure.
1902 -- Isaac Bashevis Singer, author and playwright
1904 -- Coleman Hawkins, saxophonist and clarinet player
1940 -- Dr. John, singer, songwriter and pianist; gris-gris man as well
1948 -- Lonnie Jordan, singer, songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist (War)
1965 -- Bjork, bjork
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Some people who died on this day:
The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.
~~ Robert Benchley
1695 -- Henry Purcell, organist and composer
1938 -- Leopold Godowsky, pianist and composerv 1945 -- Robert Benchley, humorist, newspaper columnist, and actor
1953 -- Larry Shields, clarinet player and composer (Original Dixieland Jass Band)
1970 -- C. V. Raman, physicist and academic, Raman effect, Raman scattering
1986 -- Jerry Colonna, singer, songwriter, comedian, trombonist and actor; ya gotta be kidding
1999 -- Quentin Crisp, actor, author, and illustrator
2002 -- Hadda Brooks, singer, songwriter, and pianist
2006 -- Robert Lockwood, Jr., guitarist
2010 -- Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, painter and author, co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History
2011 -- Anne McCaffrey, author, dragon rider
2012 – Austin Peralta, pianist
2013 – Bernard Parmegiani, composer
2017 – David Cassidy, TV actor, pop singer, songwriter, and guitarist
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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
National Adoption Day (US)
World Television Day
So, like, adopt a TV ?
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Today's Tunes
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Francisco Tarrega
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Coleman Hawkins
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Doctor John
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Lonnie Jordan
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Bjork
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Henry Purcell
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Leopold Godowsky
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Larry Shields
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Jerry Colonna
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Hadda Brooks
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Robert Lockwood, Jr.
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just for grins: (This ought to eat up the whole morning)
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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com