The "Hays Code" on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Motion Picture Production Code was instituted on this day in 1930. The "Hays Code" as it came to be called was a set of moral guidelines of what was acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States. The Code restricted profanity, sexual perversion, childbirth, mixed-race couples, white slavery, nudity, rape, branding of people or animals, racism, denigration of the clergy, drugs, venereal diseases and married couples in the bedroom either had to have separate beds or the wife had to have one foot on the floor. Perhaps this was too restrictive, but I also feel we went too far in the other direction in modern cinema.

Karl May on This Day in History

This Day in History: This day in history: Karl May died on this day in 1912. May was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonist was Winnetou the Apache chief. He was a big deal in his time, selling 200 million copies of his books, and he was a favorite of Hitler and Einstein. Though his novels were set in the Wild West, Karl May never actually went to America. One German writer calls him "an impostor, a liar and a thief -- and one of Germany's most widely read authors. He embellished his own biography with as much fantasy as the scenarios in his adventure novels, and when the deceit was finally exposed, he never recovered. But his legend lives on." Perhaps that's a harsh assessment as I believe that describes many writers. 

See also: Buffalo Bill & the American Wild West, 200 Books on DVDrom
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/buffalo-bill-american-wild-west-200.html

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark for the first time on this day in 1999, which eventually led to the dot-com bubble. The Dow is a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States which is considered to be an adequate representation of the overall U.S. stock market. The 30 Large Cap companies right now consist of 3M, American Express, Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Disney Company, DowDuPont, ExxonMobil, GE, Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, McDonald's, Merck, Microsoft, Nike, Pfizer, P&G, Travelers Companies, United Technologies, UnitedHealth, Verizon, Visa and Wal-Mart. Other market indices may be more accurate such as the Wilshire 5000 or Russell 3000 as they take into consideration the whole of the market.

Stock Market & Investing Books you Won't Believe Are Online For FREE
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2020/01/stock-market-investing-books-you-wont.html

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See also The History & Mystery of Money & Economics-250 Books on DVDrom

See my Economics blog at http://fredericbastiat1850.blogspot.com/

Phantasm the Movie on This Day in History

This Day in History: The horror movie Phantasm was released on this day in 1979. There was something in the air at that time that gave us many horror classics, including the unholy trinity of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. That late 70's early 80's era also gave us Alien, the Shining, The Fog, The Thing, Children of the Corn, An American Werewolf in London, Fright Night, Day of the Dead, The Howling, Creepshow, Poltergeist and Night of the Comet. My apologies to all the other great chillers I missed.

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

Most Terrifying NETFLIX Horror Movies You Should Not Watch Alone

See also Supernatural Horror in Fiction Literature - 350 Books on DVDrom (Lovecraft)
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/supernatural-horror-in-fiction.html

Campbell Soup on This Day in History (March 27)

1953 Campbell's Commercial

This Day in History: American businessman Joseph A. Campbell who founded the Campbell Soup Company died on this day in 1900. At the time of his death Campbell's sold about 500,000 cans of soup per Year. By the early 1920s sales were about 18 million cans per week. Last week, I couldn't even find any on the shelves at my local store. The colors of Campbell's Soup labels come from the colors of the Cornell University football team. Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup Cans art launched his pop art career...and he was a huge fan. He was quoted as saying, "I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for 20 years, I guess, the same thing over and over."

Campbell's remains the best selling soup brand, ahead of Progresso, Nissin and Lipton. Campbell Soup is currently trading at $CPB at $42.69, holding relatively steady despite the market turmoil of late.

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, Norman Borlaug on This Day in History

Norman Borlaug- Man who saved a Billion Lives

This Day in History: Norman Borlaug was born on this day in 1914. A plant pathologist, Borlaug believed that genetically modified organisms (GMO) was the only way to increase food production, and GMOs were not inherently dangerous "because we've been genetically modifying plants and animals for a long time. Long before we called it science, people were selecting the best breeds." He increasingly took the politically incorrect view that environmentalists were hampering world food production by indiscriminately attacking the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In a 1997 article "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity" Gregg Easterbrook states that the "form of agriculture that Borlaug preaches may have prevented a billion deaths." He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.
Norman Borlaug is perhaps the greatest unsung hero of the past century.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/01/forgotten-benefactor-of-humanity/306101/

Penn & Teller on Food

Jules Verne on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Father of Science Fiction, Jules Verne died on this day in 1905. Verne, who wrote Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days is one of the most translated authors ever (150 languages). Before he became famous as a writer he worked as a stockbroker and his works heavily influenced the steampunk movement. He was also a visionary who foresaw Moon travel, Submarines, Helicopters, Holographic Performances, Video Conferencing, Drones to replace soldiers, Taser Guns and Guided Missiles.

See also: Jules Verne's Science In Romance 1903
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/11/jules-vernes-science-in-romance-1903.html

Jules Verne: Prophet or Writer

Fascism on This Day in History

Buy: The Folly of Socialism (40 Chapters) for 99 cents on Amazon

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This Day in History: Benito Mussolini starts his Fascist political movement on this day in 1919. While it is fashionable to state that Fascism is right-wing, Mussolini was a Socialist and he was immersed in socialism by his father. Fascism and Communism (Socialism) were (and are) so similar that they had to define themselves in opposition to each other in order to survive. As an economic system, says Sheldon Richman, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer:

"Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the “national interest”—that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it. (Nevertheless, a few industries were operated by the state.) Where socialism abolished all market relations outright, fascism left the appearance of market relations while planning all economic activities. Where socialism abolished money and prices, fascism controlled the monetary system and set all prices and wages politically."

See also: Thought-Provoking Quotes about Socialism
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/08/thought-provoking-quotes-about-socialism.html

Economics is the Queen of all Sciences by Henry D. Macleod M.A. 1896
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/02/economics-is-queen-of-all-sciences-by.html

See also Over 300 PDF/Acrobat Books on Socialism, Communism and Economics on DVDrom
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/over-300-pdfacrobat-books-on-socialism.html

See also Over 300 PDF/Acrobat Books on Socialism, Communism and Economics and 300 Books on DVDrom for Libertarians, Objectivists and Voluntaryists

For a list of all of my books on disks and other ebooks click here

Playing Cards on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables on this day in 1630. For centuries many believed that the devil invented playing cards as they have been used in fortune telling (cards used to be called the Devil's Bible and later the Devil's Picture book). Cards were ideal for telling fortunes, for instance: The fifty-two cards represent the 52 weeks in the year. Thirteen cards in each suit represent the 13 lunar months, and the 13 weeks in each quarter. The four suits represent the four seasons of the year. The twelve court cards represent the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Number of pips on all the plain cards — 220; Number of pips on the court cards = 12; Counting each of the court cards as 10 = 120; Number of cards in each suit 13; Total equals the number of days in the year 365.

For more see Fortune Telling, Palmistry, Crystal Gazing, 60 Books on CDrom (Clairvoyance) 

See also A Concise History of Playing Cards
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-concise-history-of-playing-cards.html

See also The History of Playing Cards by Astra Cielo 1917
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-history-of-playing-cards-by-astra.html

See also Magic Tricks, Card Tricks plus More - 50 Books on CDrom

For a list of all of my digital books click here

The French Language on This Day in History

Steve Martin on French

This Day in History (March 20): Today is French Language Day. I often marvel as to how ridiculous the French language is. For instance, 99 is "quatre-vingt-dix-neuf." It's like they have to count to 99 to say it. "What is that" in French is "qu'est-ce que c'est?" which means "what is this that this is." In French "the green worm goes towards the green glass" translates to: "LE VER VERT VA VERS LE VERRE VERT!" In French you have to be concerned about the gender of words, and many words have silent endings, making for a lot of wasteful ink. In French Canada, church buildings are swear words. Even Mark Twain weighed in on the French language: "In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language."

Learn the World's Languages - 300 Books on DVDrom (Spanish, Esperanto, German etc)
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/11/learn-worlds-languages-300-books-on.html

Jim Bakker on This Day in History

Top 10 Religious Scandals

This Day in History (March 19): Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as head of the PTL Club because of his sex scandal on this day in 1987. Recently he was also exposed for selling fake coronavirus cures. When you really think about it, the Bible is full of scandals (for instance King David fathers a baby with a married woman and then has the husband killed). While it is fashionable to criticize the many scandals among Protestant and Catholic clergy, other major religions also have leaders that behave badly, indeed very badly...we're just now allowed to talk about those.

See also: Crimes of the Popes by G W Foote & J M Wheeler 1887
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/08/crimes-of-popes-by-g-w-foote-j-m.html

200 Books on DVDrom on the Dark Side of Christianity
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/200-books-on-dvdrom-on-dark-side-of.html

Edgar Cayce and Manly Palmer Hall on This Day in History

The Secret Teachings of All Ages

This day in history: Two influential mystics were born on this day. Edgar Cayce (1877) and Manly Palmer Hall (1901). Many believe that Cayce predicted The Great Depression; The rise of Hitler and a world war which Germany would lose; the fall of communism; eventual peace between the U.S. and Russia; the Jews returning to the Promised Land; the rise of China as a world power; and his own death. Manly P. Hall was a voluminous writer and Reagan often used his words in speeches.

Edgar Cayce -The Sleeping Prophet

https://archive.org/details/EdgarCayce-theSleepingProphet

Edgar Cayce's Story Of Karma

https://archive.org/details/pdfy-huGYaP8x778-BTpB

There Is A River: The Story of Edgar Cayce by Thomas Sugrue

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.60076/page/n11

Principles of Healing by Edgar Cayce

https://tinyurl.com/y23abv8x

The Legend of the Holy Grail by Manly Palmer Hall 1928

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-legend-of-holy-grail-by-manly.html

See also Forbidden Knowledge and the Occult - 300 Books on DVDrom

Fortune Telling and Clairvoyance, 60 Books on CDrom

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/09/fortune-telling-and-clairvoyance-60.html

Cayce, the Other Nostradamus

Saint Patrick on This Day in History

This Day in History: Today is of course St. Patrick's Day, and a quiet St. Patrick's Day at that since the parade has been cancelled. Did you know that St. Patrick wasn't Irish, in fact some would argue that he wasn't sufficiently Catholic either. He was a slave born in either Scotland or Wales around 386 A.D. St Paddy is said to have banished snakes from the Emerald Isle, however last week Ireland reported its first venomous snake bite in over 1500 years. On a side note, Ireland has never been home to snakes...it's just too cold.

See also: A Celebration of St Patrick and the Irish by Senator McDonald 1917
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-celebration-of-st-patrick-and-irish.html

St. Patrick a Protestant
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2020/03/st-patrick-protestant.html

See also: 400 Books on Christian and Church History & the Early Fathers on 2 DVDroms

The Ford Thunderbird on This Day in History

Thelma and Louise in their T-Bird

This Day in History: The Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird on this day in 1958. The last Thunderbird rolled off the assembly line on July 1, 2005 after poor sales. The Thunderbird was the very first car I owned. The T-bird had a good history in pop culture, from the Beach Boys "Fun Fun Fun" to Suzanne Somers driving one in American Graffiti all the way to Thelma & Louise ending it in one. Marilyn Monroe's Raven Black '56 T-Bird sold at auction in 2018 for $490,000. Like many other cars (Pontiac, Seneca, Firebird, Dakota) the Thunderbird derives its name from the Native American legend of a mythic bird that created thunder and lightning. 

H.P. Lovecraft on This Day in History

Supernatural Horror in Literature by Lovecraft

This Day in History: H.P. Lovecraft died on this day in 1937. He is one of the most significant and influential authors of all time, and certainly one of my favorites. However, like Edgar Allan Poe, he was under-appreciated in his time and died in poverty. He had an amazing way with words: "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

As an atheist, he also had good words for the Bible: "An excellent habit to cultivate is the analytical study of the King James Bible. For simple yet rich and forceful English, this masterly production is hard to equal; and even though its Saxon vocabulary and poetic rhythm be unsuited to general composition, it is an invaluable model for writers on quaint or imaginative themes."

If you like audiobooks like I do, make sure you listen to the Lovecraft library with Wayne June as the narrator.

H.P. Lovecraft - The Shunned House - Read by Wayne June

At the Mountains of Madness

The Tomb

This Kindle book, 70 Forgotten Ghost Stories is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only 99 cents and Edgar Allan Poe - An Exhumation is available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only 99 cents

See also: Great Quotes by H.P. Lovecraft
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/10/great-quotes-by-hp-lovecraft.html

See also Supernatural Horror in Fiction Literature - 350 Books on DVDrom (Lovecraft)
http://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/supernatural-horror-in-fiction.html

Read H.P. Lovecraft for FREE Here

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

Today is Pi Day

See also Fun with Mathematics - Over 250 PDF Books on DVDrom

This Day in History: Today is Pi Day (3.14). Also known as "Archimedes' constant" Pi also has an entire language made from the number it. In “Pi-lish” the first word has three letters, the second word has one letter, the third has four letters, and so on. There is an entire book, called "Not a Wake" written in this language. Givenchy sells a men’s cologne with the name ‘Pi,’ Kate Bush has a song called Pi where she actually recites Pi and there is a late 90's movie called Pi that was weird and at the same time rather interesting. Oh, and Albert Einstein was born on Pi day (1879) and Stephen Hawking died on Pi day (2018).

Many have tried to memorize the many digits of Pi (3.14159…). The record for the most digits of Pi memorized belongs to Chao Lu, of China, who recited Pi from memory to 67,890 places in 2005, according to The Guinness World Records. Computers can get even more accurate measurements. As of December 2013, computers calculated Pi to a record 12 trillion digits.

Pi Movie Trailer

See also: The History of Pi, by Marie Gugle 1920

A Bank Holiday on This Day in History

This Day in History: Banks in the U.S. begin to re-open after the three-day national "bank holiday" on this day in 1933 when all the banks were closed. This is to prevent a run on the banks and cool down emotions. This is similar to the 2 market halts this past week. The Stock Market circuit breakers works in three stages. The New York Stock Exchange will be halted for 15 minutes if there is a 7% drop in trading because of panic selling (of the S&P 500). To be shut down a second time for 15 minutes on the same day, there has to be a 13% decline in trading once trading has resumed. After this, when trading takes place again and there is a 20% decline, the stock market is shut down for the remainder of the day.

The stock market was closed for a entire week when Lincoln was shot and killed in 1865. The stock market was also closed for about a week after 9/11. The market halted for a whopping four months at the outbreak of World War I.

These stock market panics come with great opportunities. Tesla stock (TSLA) was trading over $900 a month ago...now it is $560. Apple stock (APPL) is below $250, Ford stock is in the $5 range. Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) is now trading at $9.61, but in December that stock was almost $60. Royal Caribbean (RCL) is now trading for $30, back in December it was $133. These industries will all bounce back.

New Deal or Raw Deal - The Real FDR Record

Popes Innocent and Gregory on This Day in History

All The Popes

This Day in History: Both Pope Innocent I (417) and Gregory I (604) died on this day. You may have noticed that Popes change their names once they become Pope. This started with "Mercurius", back in 533 because he was named for the pagan god Mercury (he changed his name to John II). Pope John has been the most popular name, while Linus and Lando are the least used. The Irish online betting site Paddy Power takes bets on what name the next pope name will be. Right now, Pope Leo is the 11/10 favorite.

See also: The Pope who Rewrote the Bible
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-pope-who-rewrote-bible.html

Romeo and Juliet on This Day in History

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This Day in History: The characters Romeo and Juliet were married this day in 1302 according to William Shakespeare. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Shakespeare. For hundreds of years it was thought that others wrote his plays, like Francis Bacon and Edward de Vere. Also, many of Shakespeare's plays have been accused of plagiarism. Take Romeo and Juliet. This is a variation of the several older stories from Italy, which are also reworkings of the ancient tale of Pyramus and Thisbe contained in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations."

Shakespeare and Plagiarism by Henry Noble MacCracken 1910
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/01/shakespeare-and-plagiarism-by-henry.html

The Shakespeare Riddle by John Elfreth Watkins 1919
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-shakespeare-riddle-by-john-elfreth.html

The Real Shakespeare Problem by Gordon Crosse 1917
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-real-shakespeare-problem-by-gordon.html

Yevgeny Zamyatin on This Day in History

We - Audiobook

This day in history: Yevgeny Zamyatin died on this day in 1937. He wrote a book which foreshadowed Ayn Rand's Anthem and George Orwell's 1984, about a world in which the State, animated by a collectivist ideology attempts to eradicate individuality. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s "We" was first published in English in 1924 (he wrote it in Russian, but it was suppressed in the USSR). In "We", the mathematician D-503 records his thoughts in a world in which individuals are reduced to mere numbers. The slogan of the OneState is “Long live OneState! Long live the numbers! Long live the Benefactor!”

Buy: The Folly of Socialism (40 Chapters) for 99 cents on Amazon

Visit a local listing for this here

See also Over 300 PDF/Acrobat Books on Socialism, Communism and Economics and 300 Books on DVDrom for Libertarians, Objectivists and Voluntaryists

For a list of all of my books on disks and other ebooks click here

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations on This Day in History

This Day in History: Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was published on this day in 1776. This book taught the world the beauty of self-interest. "It is not from the benevolence of the Butcher, the Brewer or the Baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." When wealth is created, it is done by fulfilling a need that at the same time makes society better. When the wealthy Walton family opens a store in the neighborhood, they intend to make money. Because of this act food prices drop 15 percent which then helps the poor. Most wealth is actually active business assets. It's the value of the assets that are actively producing and employing people in production.

I hear young people talk about "unchecked wealth" with words like "every billionaire is a policy failure." There have been many countries that didn't have wealthy citizens...you don't want to live there. Some want to adopt a wealth tax. Almost all "European countries that adopted a wealth tax have since repealed it, citing low revenues, high administration costs, burdensome effects on entrepreneurship, and capital flight." ~Christian Britschgi

Buy: The Folly of Socialism (40 Chapters) for 99 cents on Amazon

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Hachiko the Dog on This Day in History

See also: Forgotten Tales of Dogs - 60 Chapters Of Dogs in Legend, Lore, Love and Intelligence for only 99 cents

This Day in History: Hachiko, one of the most famous dogs in history, died on this day in 1935. Hachiko was a Japanese Akita dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner.

Hachiko would leave the house to greet his master, Professor Hidesaburo Ueno, at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued the daily routine until one day when Ueno did not return. The professor died while giving a lecture without ever returning to the train station in which Hachiko waited. Each day, for nearly 10 years, Hachiko awaited Ueno's return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

I love how the Japanese have continued to honor this dog. After his death, Hachiko's cremains were buried beside his beloved master. In 1934, a bronze statue of Hachiko was erected at Shibuya Station. Another statue stands in Hachiko's hometown, in front of another Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachiko was erected in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate, Japan. Each year on March 8, a solemn ceremony is held in Hachiko's honored at the Shibuya station. In 1994, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachiko barking from an old record that had been broken into several pieces. A huge advertising campaign ensued and in 1994, 59 years after his death, millions of radio listeners tuned in to hear Hachiko bark. Hachiko's voice is captured on several tracks in the 2009 Richard Gere movie: "Hachi: A Dog's Tale." (Richard Gere's last good movie)

The Statue of Hachi and Ueno

The Most Famous Dog Who Ever Lived

The Movie

The Telephone on This Day in History

The History of the Telephone

This Day in History: Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for an invention of the telephone on this day in 1876. However, Antonio Meucci had also invented a telephone device 20 years prior to this, and Elisha Gray invented one about the same time. Bell used to answer the phone by saying "Ahoy." Edison changed it to "Hello." Mark Twain was one of the first people to have a phone in his home. In the late 1940s, there were more than 350,000 switchboard operators working for AT&T, almost all of whom were women. Smartphones are now at the heart of the mobile economy which has added trillions of dollars of wealth around the world.

Aspirin on This Day in History

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This Day in History: Aspirin was patented on this day in 1899. The ancient Egyptian doctors used to give their patients willow bark for pain because it contains salicin—the raw ingredient in aspirin. Low dose aspirin is used to reduce the risk of heart attacks, and studies have found a link between taking regular aspirin and a reduced risk of cancer, particularly colon cancer, however taking aspirin may increase the risk of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. However, there are other uses for aspirin: It helps cut flowers last longer...it can help exfoliate your skin...it can control inflammation caused by mosquito bites or bee stings by applying it wet to your skin...and it is used as a garden aid and it can restore hair color.
There is also a debate as to whether aspirin can revive a dead car
battery. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/35438/can-aspirin-revive-a-flat-car-battery

A Faustian Bargain on This Day in History

This Day in History: The opera "Mefistofele" premiered on this day in 1868. This opera was based on the Faust legend, one of the most popular story lines in literature and imagination. The idea that you can enter into a deal (contract/compact) with the devil has fascinated minds for centuries. This theme has been used in books (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Rosemary's Baby, Memnoch the Devil, The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Devil and Tom Walker etc), in movies (Crossroads, Sleepy Hollow, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Constantine, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Ghost Rider, The Witch etc) and in songs ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band, "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, "Deal with the Devil" by Judas Priest, "The Width of a Circle" by David Bowie, "The Black Rider" by Tom Waits etc) and TV and video games as well.

Even popes are said to have made compacts with the Devil. Read more at
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/12/contracts-with-devil-by-george-jacob.html

See also 200 Books on DVDROM about Satan the Devil & Witchcraft - For a list of all of my disks and digital books click here

The Spanish Flu on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Spanish Flu broke out on this day in 1918. This flu is estimated to have killed between 16 and 30 million people worldwide. If you get a flu these days, you are getting remnants of this same flu, however these kinds of massive pandemic deaths are a thing of the past. When you hear about the Corona virus keep in mind that the media loves bad news (fear sells...if it bleeds it leads). Remember the Swine Flu from a few years ago? It killed people, but many more people died from tuberculosis in the same period. Each swine flu death received 82,000 times more media attention than each equally tragic death from TB. Again, while you keep hearing about the Corona virus know that in the U.S. alone, the regular flu results in about 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations per year and it costs Americans $10 billion annually.

These incidents come and go...many more will follow. Remember SARS? Mad Cow Disease? Anthrax? West Nile Virus? Bird Flu? E.Coli? Ebola? Zika Virus? Measles?

The Ease of Government Created Fear and the Inherent Danger of Panic

What Would Murray Rothbard Say About the Coronavirus?

The Comstock Laws on This Day in History

March 3: The Comstock Laws were passed on this day in 1873. This criminalized the use of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items: obscenity, contraceptives, abortifacients, sex toys, personal letters with any sexual content or information or any information regarding the above items. And this was 1873. Anthony Comstock was not the only self-appointed policeman of what should be regarded as decent. Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) thought the writings of Shakespeare were often too lurid and offensive, so he set out to clean them up in his work "The Family Shakespeare." He removed all those words “...which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family” or which are “...unfit to be read aloud by a gentleman to a company of ladies.” Carry Nation (1846–1911) had a hatred for the "demon alcohol" so she went to saloons with a hatchet to smash as many bottles as she could.

See also: Who Really Wrote Shakespeare's Plays? 50 Books on CDrom
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/who-really-wrote-shakespeares-plays-50.html

Yahoo! on This Day in History

This Day in History: Yahoo! was incorporated on this day in 1995. It had to add the "!" because "Yahoo" was already owned by a company that made BBQ sauce. The company was originally called “Jerry and Dave’s Guide to the World Wide Web” but they changed it to Yahoo which is an acronym for 'Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle'. Back in the 90's, Yahoo actually had a magazine that I regularly bought. Yahoo was once the leading search engine for the Internet, and for a brief time in January 2000, it was the most valuable company in the world and the $YHOO stock traded for $475.00. That stock symbol no longer exists. Google's Page and Brin once offered to sell their algorithm to Yahoo!, but the offer was declined. That may have been their biggest mistake. Yahoo! may now be overshadowed by Google, but it's Sports and Finance pages are still widely regarded.

Kmart on This Day in History

1978 Kmart Ad

This Day in History: The first Kmart store opened in Garden City, Michigan on this day in 1962. By 1981, there were 2,000 Kmart stores across the country. At the time Kmart bought various retailers, including Waldenbooks, Borders, and Sports Authority. In the mid-90's Kmart sold off Office Max, Sports Authority, and a number of other retailers it had acquired. What happened? Walmart happened. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2002. Later on Sears merged with Kmart to create Sears Holdings. At the time, it was the largest retail merger ever. On October 15, 2018, Sears filed for bankruptcy.

Walmart may be surviving, and it is, at least for now, holding its own against its greatest competitor...Amazon. 20 years ago, the top 10 companies were General Motors, Ford, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, GE, IBM, Chrysler, Altria Group, Mobil and AT&T. Today only Walmart, GM and AT&T are still on that list.

Amazon stock ($AMZN) is at around $2000, Walmart's stock ($WMT) is $107 to $118, and Kmart-Sears (SHLDQ) is a pink sheet stock worth only 20 cents.