A Brief History On August 14, 1851, John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia. He would grow up to become a legend of the Wild West as “Doc” Holliday, a dentist turned gambler, gunman, and friend of Wyatt Earp. Digging Deeper A participant in the most famous Western gunfight, Holliday was the son of a veteran of the Mexican American War and the US Civil War. His mother and brother both died of tuberculosis, a disease that would eventually take his life. Doc got his nickname when he graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery and became a…
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A Brief History On August 11, 1492, Rodrigo de Borgia was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Alexander VI. Serving until his death in 1503, Alexander’s reign was one of corruption and depravity, so much so that a Showtime cable TV show was produced about him and his family from 2011 to 2013, called The Borgias. Digging Deeper Although fictional, the show is based on many of the allegations against the Borgia family, including the Pope himself fathering several children via his many mistresses, reaping massive wealth while in office as a Cardinal and then as Pope,…
A Brief History On August 5, 1957, the iconic pop music show American Bandstand made its debut, starting a 37-season run of 3002 episodes and making host Dick Clark a national icon. Despite its impressive record, Bandstand is far from the longest running TV show, and here we list some of the shows that beat Bandstand. Which is your favorite? Digging Deeper Meet The Press, a Sunday morning talk show since November of 1947, over 3600 episodes. CBS Evening News, daily newscast since May of 1948, well over 16,000 episodes. Music & the Spoken Word, a religious LDS show since…
A Brief History On August 4, 1987, the Federal Communications Commission officially removed any obligation of television and radio media to present controversial issues in an even and “fair” manner when they rescinded the Fairness Doctrine. Digging Deeper Much has been made of the blatant cheerleading by mass media for one side or the other in recent years, making so called news programs more partisan than just information. Calling the media “biased” and “fake news” has become an allegation by all sides of every issue anytime the media does not agree with a point of view. The Fairness Doctrine originated…
A Brief History On July 18, 1967, little Mark Sinclair was born in Alameda County, California, a baby that would become one of the highest grossing film actors, Vin Diesel. Digging Deeper Of “ambiguous” ethnicity, Diesel has a mother of English, Scots, and German heritage, while he never met his biological father. He himself claims not to know his exact ethnicity, although his mother described him as “multi-cultural.” At the time of Diesel’s birth, several states had “anti-miscegenation” laws against mixed race marriages, and Diesel has speculated that this fact may have contributed to his hidden background. Diesel took to…