On July 21, 1958, a week after being released, Doris Day’s recording of the song “Everybody Loves a Lover” entered the Billboard Top 40. The 45 RPM single, issued by…
The origins of “V for Victory!”
Almost everyone is familiar with the phrase “V for Victory” and the two-fingered V-for-victory hand gesture popularized by Winston Churchill during World War II. But few people today are aware of…
The stirring words of Haile Selassie that Bob Marley used for the song “War”…
On October 4, 1963, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly that includes a famous quotation you almost surely know if you’re…
“Yada Yada Yada…”
During its long, successful original run on NBC, from 1989 to 1998, the Seinfeld TV show created or popularized many catchphrases. Some of the best known are: ● the famed…
“At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.”
You may not recall the name Eric Blair, but you’re almost certainly aware of his pen name, George Orwell. His novels Animal Farm and 1984 have sold tens of millions…
On this date, “A Raisin in the Sun” exploded on Broadway
On March 11, 1959, the play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City. It was the first Broadway…
“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige (1906-1982) is considered one of the greatest pitchers in history — despite the fact that he only played for teams in the major leagues…
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
The quote “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” is often mistakenly attributed to the Irish lawyer and politician John Philpot Curran and frequently to Thomas Jefferson. In fact, Curran’s…
The MLK speech that almost wasn’t the “I Have a Dream” Speech – and the one that might have been…
The observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on the third Monday of January each year, always makes me think of his most quoted words: “I have a dream…” After…