Browsing: January 5

A Brief History On January 5, 2018, the fourth movie in the Insidious horror movie series makes its opening across the US, bringing the familiar character, ghost buster Elise Rainier, back into play in a battle against evil.  The film is an absolute must see for Insidious fans, but can easily stand on its own for those unfamiliar with the movie franchise. Digging Deeper Without giving away spoilers, suffice to say the movie reveals the background of our heroine, from her time as a young girl with the dubious “gift” of being able to see and communicate with ghosts.  Smoothly…

A Brief History On January 5, 1066, Edward the Confessor of England died, setting the stage for what became the Norman Conquest.  On January 5, 1500, Charles the Bold also died, killed in battle.  Of course, this guy is not to be confused with Charles the Bald, although he was also known as Charles the Rash, but not because of a skin condition!  In the past we have pointed out the odd names bestowed upon historical figures, and today we speculate about what names our current crop of luminaries would be called if people still were named according to a…

A Brief History On January 5, 1998, former rock and roll star and current Congressman from California, Salvatore “Sonny” Bono, died when he skied into a tree at a Nevada ski resort.  Sonny, former member of rock duo Sonny and Cher, was 62 years old when he died. Digging Deeper Born in Detroit to a Sicilian family, Sonny moved to California at the age of 7.  Bono’s first foray into the music business was as a songwriter, with the hit song “Needles and Pins” to his credit (#13 in US and #1 in the UK in 1964 by The Searchers).…

A Brief History On January 5, 1956, producers and editors of the major Hollywood motion picture, Alexander the Great, starring Richard Burton in the title role, were hard at work preparing the movie for its March 22, 1956 release, cutting its running time from over 3 hours to 135 minutes. Digging Deeper The film is of course about the great Macedonian King and conqueror who ruled an enormous empire carved out of the Middle East and Mediterranean by his own leadership between 336 and 323 BCE.  During his reign, Alexander defeated the great Persian Empire and all others that stood in…

A Brief History On January 5, 1895, French Army officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely convicted of treason for allegedly having passed along secret information to the Germans in what famously became known as the Dreyfus Affair and was sentenced to live at the dreaded Devil’s Island prison in French Guiana.  Dreyfus was eventually pardoned and exonerated.  Although closed since 1953, Devil’s Island prison remains the epitome of notoriously miserable prisons and is virtually synonymous with the term “hellhole.”  Here we list 10 infamous prisons, places with cruel reputations that strike fear in the hearts of convicts and disgust in the hearts of reformers.  Presumably any…