On This Day in History

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Every now and then some anniversary comes along that I don't know how to fit in another thread.

So, I'll try another one and start us off with . . .




Today marks the 70th anniversary of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier (there's debate on whether such a thing really exists, but the first supersonic flight is important however you want to style it):

+ YouTube Video

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed* his 95 Theses for debate on indulgences on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. There were many events leading up to this and much that had to happen after, but it's the traditional mark of the beginning of the Reformation and the Protestant church. Lots of Protestants celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day or the previous Sunday as Reformation Sunday.



*Some have suggested the actual nailing was a legend and he only mailed the theses, but the consensus still seems to be that he nailed them to the door as was common for announcements.

[Mister.Weirdo Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Mister.Weirdo]

Congrats. I see there's more to the 31st then just being a "spook day". Lol!

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

75 years ago today one of the greatest films in history premiered with Casablanca.



It wasn't meant to succeed. Bergman was positive it would be forgotten to history and she'd be known for Joan of Arc. The writers switched a few times and the script wasn't done when they began filming. No one thought it would last, but 3/4 of a century later it's on every serious list of best movies and makes many critics and fans' #1.

[Mister.Weirdo Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Mister.Weirdo]

Such a great film and score. That ending man, still gets me.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Such a great film and score. That ending man, still gets me.

Yes and yes. Did you know they weren't sure whether she would end up with Rick or Laszlo when they started shooting? I still maintain that if it had any other ending it would not be remembered as the classic it is. But that's just an example of a perfect storm. A lot of great movies came really close to catastrophe.

There are a lot of movies that I have come to like with multiple viewings, but Casablanca, along with Godfather, and Lawrence of Arabia was one of those movies when I saw the first time I thought "I get why people are crazy about this one."

[Mister.Weirdo Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Mister.Weirdo]

Yes and yes. Did you know they weren't sure whether she would end up with Rick or Laszlo when they started shooting? I still maintain that if it had any other ending it would not be remembered as the classic it is. But that's just an example of a perfect storm. A lot of great movies came really close to catastrophe.

There are a lot of movies that I have come to like with multiple viewings, but Casablanca, along with Godfather, and Lawrence of Arabia was one of those movies when I saw the first time I thought "I get why people are crazy about this one."

I read about that once. I seriously think the film would have been slightly worsened, had they gone for a happier ending. The ending really makes the film in a lot of ways. It's such powerful cinema filmmaking. Casablanca is a great example of what black and white could bring to film.

Casablanca is one of those films where I knew it was a classic, but didn't see it until later all the way through. It became an instant favorite of mine. The use of As Time Goes By throughout the film was genius.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was born, 38 years ago.

Time to do acid and go on a space journey.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was born, 38 years ago.

Time to do acid and go on a space journey.

I used to be so into Floyd and the Wall in particular. Now, it's been several years since I've listened through the whole album or watched the movie. Gotta do that.

[Sylent_Asassin Black Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Sylent_Asassin]

It's a day late, but it's still the day that will forever live in infamy. December 7, 1941.

+ YouTube Video

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Today (1/1/2018) marks the bicentennial of the publication of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus and hence basically launced modern horror as we know it (as opposed to heroic mythology and folk lore monsters of yore).



I plan to celebrate by watching the Universal movie tonight with the fam.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Today is the 200th anniversary? I thought you had mentioned that in the other thread and meant to follow up on that. So cool! I don't own the book so I don't have time for a reread, but maybe some movies are in order to celebrate like you are doing. I've been watching those cinnemassacre classic horror retrospectives simce you posted the one about the cardboard in Browning's Dracula, and have really been enhoying them.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

^I actually found this anniversary by accident. Scientific American had an article about how close we are/aren't to re-animation as we near the bicentennial of Frankenstein and a quick wiki search seemed to bear it out. Change of plans: I'm currently streaming one I've never seen (1977's Victor Frankenstein) and the fam and I are now planning to watch Bride of Frankenstein (where Mary Shelly is a character!) tonight.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Is it me or does Elsa Lanchester look exactly like a young Rose McGowan?

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Elsa had a large chest that didn't escape my notice.

This is the stage play that Casablanca was based on:

http://vincasa.com/Screenplay-Everyb...Rick's.pdf

And this is the shooting script for Casablanca (meaning that it was written by the director and the cinematographer from the screenwriters' script and contains the planned shots):

http://mckeestory.com/wp-content/upl...CASABLANCA.pdf