22 September: Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels, TV Crime Drama, made its début on US TV on this date in 1976, 50 years ago. 10 things you might not know.

1. When producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg first presented the idea to ABC, network executives declared it “the worst idea we have ever heard.” It was only thanks to a deal they had with Spelling which guaranteed him $25,000 to write a pilot for a new series that the Angels ever saw the light of day at all.

2. The show was originally going to be called Alley Cats, but that didn’t go down well with the prospective star, Kate Jackson, because of its derogatory connotations towards women. She suggested Harry’s Angels, since Charlie was originally going to be called Harry. It got changed to Charlie to avoid confusion with another series, Harry-O.

3. Charlie’s face was never seen on screen. His voice was that of Dynasty’s John Forsythe. He wasn’t the original choice, however. That was a veteran actor called Gig Young. However, Gig showed up drunk on the day he was supposed to record his part for the pilot. With a deadline looming, Spelling made a desperate phone call to Forsythe at 12.30am, begging a favour. Forsythe obliged; he drove to the studio in his slippers to do the recording and ended up being the voice of Charlie for the whole five years. ABC wanted an episode where the Angels (and viewers) finally got to see Charlie, but despite their pushing for it, it never happened.

4. At the start, Kate Jackson had the most acting experience of the three, but Farrah Fawcett-Majors soon became the star. Her contract stipulated that she must finish shooting at exactly 7 p.m. to make it home in time to cook dinner for her husband, Lee Majors.

5. The third season of the show was the only season to not feature a major cast change. Before the end of the first season, Fawcett-Majors announced she was leaving. ABC tried to sue her for breach of a verbal contract, but in the end settled that she could go on condition she made 6 guest appearances over then next two seasons. She was replaced by Cheryl Ladd in season 2. Kate Jackson was fired at the end of the third season. She’d already been bored of the storylines but the final straw was when she wasn’t allowed to take time out to appear in Kramer vs. Kramer. The part went to Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar. So Kate became increasingly difficult to work with. She was replaced by Shelley Hack in season 4, but audiences didn’t take to her, so she was let go and Tanya Roberts became the sixth (and final) Angel for the show’s fifth and last season.

6. Many more actors have portrayed Angels in film adaptations and spin-offs, though, including Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Kristen Stewart and Peyton List.

7. One of the episodes in season 4 was a bit of an experiment to try out an idea for a spin-off series. It was called Toni’s Boys and the premise was that Toni was a female colleague of Charlie, with whom she had a friendly rivalry. She set up a similar team of crime fighters, all men, including an athlete and a rodeo rider. It didn’t prove popular enough with audiences to justify a series of its own.

8. The show was shown in many other countries. In the vast majority the word “Angels” (or translation thereof) appeared in the title, except in France, where it was called "Drôles de dames" meaning “Peculiar ladies”.

9. All the Angels drove Ford cars: Jill, and later Kris, drove a Cobra, Kelly drove a Mustang, and Sabrina drove a Pinto.

10. Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle are the only cast members to appear in all hundred sixteen episodes of the show. There’s even an episode missing Charlie’s voice, except in the intro.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

21 September: 264

On the 264^th day of the year, 10 fun facts about 264.

1. The A264 is an east–west road in southern England that runs from Pembury in west Kent to Five Oaks in West Sussex.

2. 264 Days is a 2016 short film directed by Sofia Liaka and based on Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me series of books.

3. The Roman numeral for 264 is CCLXIV.

4. In binary, it’s 10000100.

5. HSwMS Trossö (A264) is an auxiliary ship in the Swedish Navy, built in Finland for the Soviet Navy.

6. The year 264 was a leap year starting on Friday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Saturninus.

7. London bus 264 runs from West Croydon Bus Station to St George's Hospital, Tooting.

8. 264 is a slang term meaning non-romantic love and care, from Originating from the social media-driven "264 Movement: Love Beyond Words,” (which is 265, surely, but the Online Urban Dictionary says 264).

9. +264 is the international telephone dialling code for Namibia.

10. 264 Libussa is a Main belt asteroid discovered by C. H. F. Peters on in 1886, in Clinton, New York and was named after Libussa, the legendary founder of Prague.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

20 September: Upton Sinclair Quotes

Born on this date in 1878 was Upton Sinclair, US writer. Sinclair wrote 80 books. His best known novel was The Jungle, an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry. He won the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for the novel Dragon's Teeth. 10 Quotes:

1. It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

2. It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.

3. Fascism is capitalism plus murder.

4. The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.

5. There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.

6. Pessimism is mental disease. It means illness in the person who voices it, and in the society which produces that person.

7. I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.

8. All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.

9. I know that our liberties were not won without suffering, and may be lost again through our cowardice.

10. They use everything about the hog except the squeal.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

19 September: Barometers

On this date in 1648 Florin Perier demonstrated the barometer. 10 things you might not know about barometers.

1. The word barometer was coined by Robert Boyle in the mid 1600s by combining the Greek words for measuring and weight.

2. The first Mercury barometer was created in 1600s by an Italian physicist and mathematician called Evangelista Torricelli, who was a student of Galileo.

3. Florin Perier was Blaise Pascal’s brother-in-law, married to Pascal’s sister Gilberte. He was the one Pascal persuaded to climb a Mountain to test his theory about air pressure. Pascal himself was in poor health and unable to climb the mountain himself. The mountain in question was the Puy de Dôme, at a height of 4,790 feet (1,460 m).

4. Before modern barometers, people used simple devices using Water to measure air pressure and tell when a storm was on its way. One such device was the 'Donderglas' ('thunder-glass' in Dutch) or 'Dutch water barometer' consisting of a vessel and a spout. The level of water in the spout would rise or fall depending on the air pressure.

5. Initially, barometers were used to measure height above sea level, but people started noticing that measurements varied according to the weather. They soon figured out this was a way to predict the weather.

6. From there, they soon became status symbols; talking points that rich people had on display in their homes.

7. Barometers with a round display with a needle pointing to weather-terms such as 'stormy', 'Rain', 'change', 'fair', and 'dry' are called aneroid barometers. The aneroid barometer was invented by French scientist Lucien Vidi in 1844. It works by having a sealed chamber that expands or contracts as the air pressure varies, which is connected to a mechanical system including a pointer.

8. Another type of aneroid barometer is a barograph, which has a revolving drum around which Paper is wrapped, and a nib and ink. The changes in pressure over a period of time can be recorded on the paper as the drum turns.

9. Many modern smart phones have pressure sensors built into the design to pick up changes in weather and to calculate your current altitude. So you may have a portable barometer in your pocket.

10. There’s a man in Spain who has gone as far as to have a barometer implant installed in the back of his head. His name is Manel Muñoz and he’s a cyborg artist. In 2017, he had a chip put in that detected pressure changes. At first, the chip was connected to transmitters in his ears so he could tell the air pressure by the sound. I’m guessing this became rather annoying, like tinnitus, which may be why he had it updated with small motors that vibrate directly through his skull. If the left side of his head vibrates, it means low pressure and possible storms, and if the right side vibrates it means the weather will be fine.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

18 September: I Dream of Jeannie

On this date in 1965, I Dream Of Jeannie, TV Comedy starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, debuted on NBC. 10 facts about the show.

1. For those not familiar with it, I Dream of Jeannie is an American fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie from the fictional nation of Basenji, and Larry Hagman as astronaut Captain Tony Nelson.

2. The pilot episode was called The Lady in the Bottle. In it, Tony Nelson’s capsule, Stardust, lands on a deserted island miles from the planned recovery location. He finds a strange bottle that rolls around by itself. He opens it, rubs it, and out comes a beautiful female genie who only speaks Persian, and has been trapped in the bottle for two thousand years. Tony’s first wish is that she gains the ability to speak English. His second is for the recovery Helicopter to show up and find them. Jeannie is already in love with Tony and so she rolls her bottle into his bag to make sure he takes her home.

3. Jeannie’s bottle was a Jim Beam Whiskey decanter, which was painted and decorated with gold leaf. The inside of it was a set on a sound stage, which Barbara Eden had to climb an eight foot Ladder to get into.

4. Jeannie’s efforts to help Tony and make him fall in love with her raise the suspicions of Tony's commanding officer, Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows, who is also a psychiatrist. He is often the only other person to witness Jeannie's magic and Tony’s efforts to cover it up, and is convinced that Tony is going mad or has a secret.

5. Jeannie has an evil Twin, Jeannie II, who appears in series 3. She dresses in Green rather than Pink and has dark hair. She was played by Barbara Eden in a brunette Wig.

6. The theme music was a song called Jeannie, composed by Hugo Montenegro with lyrics by Buddy Kaye. At least, it was from series 2. The theme for series 1 was an instrumental jazz waltz written by Richard Wess. For some reason, a theme song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King before the show ever aired, was never used.

7. Larry Hagman was drinking heavily at the time the show was being made and was frequently drunk on set. The producers almost fired him because they found him so difficult to work with, and had Darren McGavin lined up to replace him, and a storyline written to explain the change. However, the studio executives vetoed that. Barbara Eden, however, got on with Hagman really well and said in interviews later that she had a connection with him she’d never found with any other actor. The pair were also friends off screen and remained so until Hagman died in 2012.

8. This was the 1960s and so there were some strict rules to follow. Jeannie’s belly button could never be shown and extra layers had to be added to her costume’s bottom half so her legs didn’t show through it.

9. There were also strict rules to ensure that if Tony and Jeannie were ever alone in his bedroom, at least one of them had to be shown leaving the room so nobody could even imagine they got up to anything in there when the camera stopped rolling. It was even forbidden for her bottle to be left in Tony’s bedroom.

10. The decision to have Tony and Jeannie get married in season 5 was made by the network in a bid to improve ratings. Barbara Eden disagreed with this plot development. A genie isn’t human, she argued, so a marriage was probably not even possible (although in season 1 there is a reveal that Jeannie was human once, a girl from a peasant family, and had been turned into a genie by "The Blue Djinn.") Also, it removed the “Will they, won’t they?” tension between the characters and if Jeannie became a housewife it simply wouldn’t be as funny. Another of Eden’s arguments was that it made the show too similar to the rival show of the time, Bewitched.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

17 September: 260

Today is the 260^th day of the year. 10 fun facts about 260.

1. 260 Days is a 2025 Croatian-American English language war drama film based on 2011 autobiographical historical novel of the same name by Marijan Gubina (born 1981) It's based on Gubina's experience of captivity in Serbian concentration camp for 260 days during Croatian War of Independence, from August 1, 1991, to April 16, 1992.

2. The Roman numeral for 260 is CCLX.

3. 260 Huberta is a large asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1886 in Vienna and named after Saint Hubertus.

4. The A260 is a road in Kent, England, which connects the towns of Barham and Folkestone.

5. +260 is the international dialling code for Zambia.

6. Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans used 260-day calendars.260-day calendars are still used in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

7. The year 260 was a leap year starting on Sunday, known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus.

8. London bus route 260 runs between White City Bus Station and Golders Green Station.

9. In binary code, 260 is 100000100.

10. In numerology, 260 resonates with building things and doing business in cooperation with others. It has a comfortable understanding of business legalities and accounting.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

16 September: The Yeomen of the Guard

This date in 1485 saw the establishment of the Yeomen of the Guard, bodyguard of the English Crown, popularly known as Beefeaters. 10 things you might not know about them.

1. Or, at least, the date on the earliest known document that refers to them. In this document, one John Frye, a yeoman of the king's guard, is appointed to the office of Searcher at the port of Bristol.

2. The Yeomen were created by King Henry VII after the Battle of Bosworth Field and is the oldest British military corps still in existence. Of course, monarchs had bodyguards before this, but Henry wanted to reward his for their bravery and loyalty by creating a guard that would protect the King (or Queen) of England forever, of which they would be the first.

3. Their first official act was to escort Henry to his coronation on 1 October 1485. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, led a company of fifty of them.

4. At that time, their primary function was protecting the monarch. This involved creating a physical shield around him wherever he went, even inside his palace, tasting his food and even standing guard in the king’s bedroom all night. In addition, they carried torches, served the King’s meals and made sure he had food and drink in his room in case he woke hungry or thirsty during the night. Making up the King’s Bed was another ritual, which involved stabbing the bed with daggers and jumping on it to spread out the bedding, and disturb any assassins who might be hiding in the bed.

5. This archaic function is reflected to this day in the names of two of the ranks: Yeoman Bed Hanger and Yeoman Bed Goer. Other ranks are Exon, Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Yeoman, Divisional Sergeant-Major and Messenger Sergeant-Major.

6. Today, their role is purely ceremonial. Their uniforms haven’t changed much since Tudor times and they still carry swords, although they are never used. There is an annual roll call and a Sovereign's Inspection about every five years. Their regular commitments include the annual Royal Maundy service, the Epiphany Service in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, installations of Knights of the Garter, summer garden parties at Buckingham Palace and a ritual search of the cellars of the Palace of Westminster in advance of the State Opening of Parliament, a nod to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

7. Fancy joining the Yeomen? It will take a while. Since 1830 the requirements are that all candidates must have served in the British military for at least 22 years, must have attained the rank of sergeant or above, but not be a commissioned officer, and must have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Hence any new recruits will be at least 42 years of age, and retire at age 70.

8. The Yeomen of the Guard are not the same as the Yeomen Warders who guard the Tower of London, although their uniforms are almost identical. The Yeomen of the Guard can be distinguished by their cross belts, worn from the left shoulder.

9. The last time the Yeomen took place in a battle was the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 during the reign of King George II. It was after this that they became largely ceremonial, although King George V re-instated the guarding at the palace role during the first world war, and allowed them permission to join the regular forces and go fight if they wished.

10. Why are they called Beefeaters? Most likely because they tended to be quite beefy in build, but more relevantly, because they were allowed a generous daily meat ration.

For the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta click here: Yeomen of the Guard

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/