A Brief History On August 6, 1994, Italian singer, Domenico Modugno, died of a heart attack at the age of 66. Americans remember his 1958 hit song, “Nel blu dipinto di blu,” better known in the US as “Volare.” Digging Deeper Covered by many artists, “Volare” was the first foreign language song to rank #1 on the US Billboard Chart. Modugno won Grammys for Best Song and Record of the Year, as the singer and composer of the hit. There have been many songs not in English in the US but only eight hit #1. A Japanese song, “Sukiyaki,” by…
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A Brief History On August 2, 2022, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas by Shea Ernshaw was published by Disney Press, a sort of sequel to the popular Tim Burton movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Digging Deeper The story is told from the perspective of Sally, a rag doll that marries Jack Skellington, aka The Pumpkin King, thus becoming the queen of Halloween Town, a title and job she is not too sure she either wants or can handle. The story takes Sally out of what she believes is her native Halloween Town to other…
A Brief History On August 30, 1936, the Blue Riband was awarded to the RMS Queen Mary for the fastest transatlantic crossing. The Queen Mary made its maiden voyage earlier that year, serving until 1967, including transporting troops during World War II, as many as 16,000 passengers on a single trip, a record that still stands. Digging Deeper The Blue Riband eventually went to the SS United States in 1952, but the 81,000 ton Queen Mary over a thousand feet long, along with her sister ship, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, were the standard of luxury until their retirement. Instead of scrapping…
A Brief History On August 29, 1958, the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, opened, joining the US Military Academy, the US Naval Academy, and the US Coast Guard Academy as the premier officer producing schools of the US military. Digging Deeper Established in 1954, the Air Force Academy produces graduates with a Bachelor’s degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. About 1200 new cadets enter each year, with attrition leaving an average of about 4300 cadets in residence. Located at an elevation of 7,250 feet above sea level, USAFA cadets claim…
A Brief History On August 28, 1565, Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed on the East coast of Florida and founded the city of St. Augustine, the oldest city in what is now the United States to be continuously occupied. Digging Deeper An explorer and conquistador, de Avilés was the mastermind behind Spain’s establishment of trans-Atlantic convoys of “treasure fleets” to ferry the riches of the New World back to Spain. A major figure in the Spanish conquest of the New World, de Avilés made many voyages to the New World, establishing forts, exploring, fighting and trading with native…