Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht) on This Day in History

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This day in history: Today (or tonight) is Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht). The best way to think about Walpurgis Night is that is the Spring version of Halloween, and it is actually exactly 6 months before Halloween. The festival is named after Saint Walburga who lived 1300 years ago. While Saint Walpurga was known to repel the effects of witchcraft, over time the festival came to be known as a time when witches meet on Brocken mountain under the presidency of Satan, who, on such occasions, generally takes the form of a black he-goat. In the literature of old, Lilith, (Adam's first wife according to mythology), figures prominently in this festival. As the festival has strong Spring associations, it is deeply intertwined with ancient pagan Scandinavian & Germanic cults. 

Alfred Hitchcock on This Day in History

This day in history: The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, died on this day in 1980. He directed over 50 feature films over six decades, films such as Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder etc. Hitchcock was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, but he never won an Oscar. Did you know: One of his favorite movies was the 1977 Burt Reynolds movie Smokey and the Bandit. He was afraid of the police, and fried eggs. Alfred Hitchcock liked using blonde actresses in his movies: “Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.”

Alfred Hitchcock remains an influence on crime writers

As he wrote what has become one of the top-selling novels so far in 2018, "The Woman in the Window," the author who calls himself A.J. Finn was thinking of a certain master of suspense: Alfred Hitchcock.

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You can watch episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" on Youtube for free.

Pink Floyd on This Day in History

This day in history: Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon goes #1 on the US charts on this day in 1973. It stays on the charts for 741 weeks (over 14 years). ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ was the best selling album in the world for a while (it is still third best seller ever)...one in 12 people have been said to own a copy. Did you know: The names Pink and Floyd came from two of Syd Barrett’s favorite Carolina bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Oddly, Pink Floyd are not really a blues band...you could argue that they are not really a rock band either...but they were a great band. Dark Side of the Moon is said to sync perfectly with The Wizard of Oz and led to conspiracy theories that the band had written it with that purpose in mind. Despite their enormous record-breaking chart success with The Dark Side of the Moon, they've only topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart ONCE, with "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. II," hitting #1 in 1979.

Kiss Guitarist Ace Frehley on This Day in History

This day in history: Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley was born on this day in 1951. Frehley does not make the list of Rollingstone's greatest guitarists. In fact, the band Kiss does not make any list that I am aware of. In a nutshell, they were/are a fun band with mediocre musicians that had a great marketing gimmick. The makeup is genius, especially now that these guys are now old. Did you know: Paul Stanley accused Ace Frehley of being anti-semitic, and Frehley did own Nazi memorabilia. This had to be an interesting dynamic since the band's frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are Jewish. Ace Frehley is not alone in this. Lemmy from Motorhead also had a Nazi fascination, and David Bowie was detained by customs officers on a train at the Russian/Polish Border after Nazi books and mementos were found in his luggage...on this day in 1976.

Long German Names on This Day in History

This day in history: German General Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen died on this day in 1881. I am really only mentioning him because of his ridiculously long name. But then there is also Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr, a German typesetter. Actually, that is an abbreviation of his name. The full version of his name is “Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfe­schlegel­stein­hausen­berger­dorff­welche­vor­altern­waren­gewissen­haft­schafers­wessen­schafe­waren­wohl­gepflege­und­sorg­faltig­keit­be­schutzen­vor­an­greifen­durch­ihr­raub­gierig­feinde­welche­vor­altern­zwolf­hundert­tausend­jah­res­voran­die­er­scheinen­von­der­erste­erde­mensch­der­raum­schiff­genacht­mit­tung­stein­und­sieben­iridium­elek­trisch­motors­ge­brauch­licht­als­sein­ur­sprung­von­kraft­ge­start­sein­lange­fahrt­hin­zwischen­stern­artig­raum­auf­der­suchen­nach­bar­schaft­der­stern­welche­ge­habt­be­wohn­bar­planeten­kreise­drehen­sich­und­wo­hin­der­neue­rasse­von­ver­stand­ig­mensch­lich­keit­konnte­fort­pflanzen­und­sicher­freuen­an­lebens­lang­lich­freude­und­ru­he­mit­nicht­ein­furcht­vor­an­greifen­vor­anderer­intelligent­ge­schopfs­von­hin­zwischen­stern­art­ig­raum, Senior.” There is also Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, a name of an organization in Vienna. There is a German law named Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. And who can forget the chidren's song John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt?

See also Long English Words from Times Past

The Use of Long Words by Arthur Fosdick

One Minute Long German Word

New York & Freedom on This Day in History

New York Ranks the Least Free State of All

This day in history: New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates on this day in 1901. My first reaction when reading this was "of course they were. New York has been the least free state in the country for a long time. Economic freedom is New York's greatest weakness, but the state has not kept up with the rest of the country on personal freedoms either. New York is also the worst state on regulatory policy, land-use freedom is very low, primarily because of the economically devastating rent control law in New York City. New York’s local tax burden is double that of the average state, and NY also suffers from a lack of “school choice.” Exorbitant prices on tobacco leads to selling cigarettes as singles, and forget about getting a gun there. More people leave New York than any other State.

America’s Most Libertarian State Is…?

The Trojan Horse on This Day in History

This day in history: The traditional date for the Greeks entering Troy using the Trojan Horse is on this day in 1184 BC. In a nutshell, the story goes as follows: After war with the walled city of Troy for ten years, the Greeks built a huge, hollow wooden horse and secretly filled it with armed warriors, and presented it to the Trojans as a gift for the Athena the goddess, and the Trojans took the horse inside the city's walls. During the night, the armed Greeks slipped out of the wooden horse and captured and then burned the city.

The Trojan Horse has since become a metaphor for "A person or thing intended to undermine or destroy from within." Examples of this are: "A Wolf in sheep's clothing." A Fifth Column (A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group.) A Poisoned Apple (a la Snow White). A Sleeper Cell. A Manchurian Candidate. A Mole, and a Poisoned Chalice (a term applied to a thing or situation which appears to be good when it is received or experienced by someone, but then is found to be bad.) There is even an example from the Bible. An "angel of light" describes someone who appears good but means to do wrong: "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14 RSV

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See also Norse Mythology and Viking Legends - 115 Books on DVDrom

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