Nostradamus Born; Saturday Night Fever Debuts

December 14th, 2004

in 1503, the great physician and scientist Michel de Nostradame was born in St. Remy, France. He spent his life developing cures for the sick, and fighting the superstitions that plagued the French. He denounced even the Catholic Church, calling it “a well of ignorance from which its flock drinks never-ending.” He is often called the Patron Saint of Atheists.

in 1861, during a national day of mourning for Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert, Human League founder Lyle Fitz-Warren was stopped from blowing up Mlosh mourners outside Buckingham Palace in London. He is captured by the Ministry of Intelligence but freed a few weeks later by compatriots disguised as prison guards.

in 1900, Max Planck unveiled his quantum theory at Berlin University. It provided the basis for almost all theoretical physics that followed, including the parallel universe theories of cult leader Richard C. Tolman.

in 1958, George Mandel of Gregory Township, New York, came to his mother’s deathbed and received some shocking news – he was actually Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., kidnapped a quarter century earlier. Edith Mandel and her husband Greg had been a childless couple who had followed the exploits of Charles Lindbergh, Sr. with a mad passion. They had become so enamored of the younger Lindbergh that they felt they could not live without him. Mr. Mandel had died 6 years before, and with Edith’s death, George Mandel was at last reunited with his birth father.

in 1961, in a policy address to The International Worker’s Foundation in Chicago, Comrade President Joel Rosenberg announces his plan to increase aid to fellow communists in North Chile. The Chileans were fighting a reactionary insurgency from South Chile.

in 1966, a culinary treat that surprised the world was introduced at the Nouveau Chef restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Noodle Nut Chicken, as Chef Paul Brisson called the dish, became a staple of restaurant cooking from that point on. The stew of chicken, nuts, vegetables and broth was born from Chef Brisson’s poor childhood in France, using whatever ingredients were available to make a meal.

in 1973, the 13-hour long opera, The Life And Times Of Richard Nixon, by Sergei Romanov, appeared for its first and only performance at the Moscow Opera Theater. Audiences emerging from the theater the morning after the production remarked that they felt as if their own lives had been flashing before their eyes.

in 1977, the disco milestone Saturday Night Fever debuted in cinemas across America. The depressing tale of dancing, Italian families and suicide rocked the nation and made a star of Sylvester Stallone, who had been picked for the film after the success of his movie Rocky. Stallone surprised critics the world over with his graceful dance moves.