Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

July 14, 1789: the Bastille was stormed in Paris, a key turning point of the French Revolution. 3.5 years later Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. Here's a look at the deluge of blood, err prints that emerged depicting his death.




Posters for Harry Kellar (1849–1922) the hugely popular US magician who inspired the likes of Harry Houdini, and reportedly acted as model for the bald-headed wizard in the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz published in 1900. He was famous for his large stage shows during which he'd perform tricks such as the "The Levitation of Princess Karnac" and "Self Decapitation", in which his head seemed to float apart from his body. To accompany his shows he produced a series of artistic promotional posters.


Posters & photos in Library of Congress - not all have been digitized, of course.

In 1907, he became the first person to be named Dean of American Magicians. When Kellar retired in 1908, Howard Thurston (1869-1936) became his successor and transformed Kellar's stage act into "The Wonder Show of the Universe." He was a longtime customer of the Martinka Magic Company (America's longest running magic company since 1877), which built many of his illusions and sets, including the "Blue Room".

Harry Kellar’s “Blue Room” illusion is one that exemplifies the affinity between science, stage magic, and some of the prominent issues circulating within Victorian culture. It involves a series of appearances, disappearances, and transformations that occur within a small, curtained chamber.

The Blue Room and Metempsychosis transformations were created by employing a carefully-choreographed series of undetectable stage reconfigurations centered around a partially-mirrored pane of glass. The mirrored glass was carefully prepared with the silvering gradually scraped away so that the pane, from one end to the other, went from entirely transparent to entirely reflective.

For much more on the details of this "Blue Room", see this 10 page PDF:
Interrogating the Blue Room: Reflections on a Turn-of the-Century Magic Show and the Veracity of the Senses

The Amazing Randi gives a tour of the Martinka Shop with Jackie Flosso, circa 1970s:



Rare Al Flosso interview, the Coney Island Fakir and one time Martinka owner with Bob McAllister. Circa 1970s >  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gs9OvXxIao

“There is an optical illusion about every person we meet.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson



Before Element 115 there was "apergy"

Centering around the creation of a substance called "apergy", a form of anti-gravitational energy, Percy Greg's novel details a flight to Mars taken in 1830. They discover the planet to be inhabited by diminutive beings who, convinced that life couldn't exist any where else apart from on their world, refuse to believe that the unnamed narrator is actually from Earth - deciding instead he is an unusually tall Martian from some remote corner of their planet.

The book is notable as containing what is probably the first alien language in any work of fiction to be described with linguistic and grammatical terminology. It also contains what is possibly the first instance in the English language of the word "Astronaut", which features as the name of the narrator's spacecraft. In 2010 a crater on Mars was named Greg in recognition of his contribution to the lore of Mars. Volume 2 available here.

Across the Zodiac: the Story of a Wrecked Record (1880)


July 14, 1908: Hard times...a poor unknown hungry man, possibly with the surname Ross, died in Goldfield, NV after consuming a pint of library paste, apparently. His headstone in the Pioneer Cemetery at Goldfield, NV, from a Jul 21st article on front page of Carson City Daily Appeal.




July 14, 1938: Future Las Vegas resident Howard Hughes completed his Around the World flight in 91 hours (a new record). A parade was held in his honor on Jul 15, 1938 in New York City.





15 year-old Elizabeth Taylor on the cover of the July 14, 1947 issue of LIFE




July 14, 1955: the experimental XP6M-1 Martin P6M SeaMaster strategic bomber flying boat flew for the first time. The SeaMaster was intended to give the Navy a strategic nuclear strike aircraft superior to the B-52. The program was canceled in August 1959 in favor of the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile. Due to the political shenagians at the Pentagon, the Navy promoted the P6M primarily as a high speed minelayer. And the big daddy BUFF B-52 lives on to this day...projected funding out to year 2050!


The Martin P6M SeaMaster – What Might Have Been - Big, fast, beautiful, and doomed.


July 14, 1972:




"Lou Grant will not be presented tonight..." William Forrest has posted the full 1981 CBS News Reports special series: THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES. Here's part 2: "The Nuclear Battlefield" that aired June 15, 1981:



Bonus: includes original commercials! In hindsight this 1hr vid is quite interesting.
(the nuclear battlefield is... Europe)


I thought they always had their private jets? Oh wait, those were rented rendition aircraft. FBI already has something like $11 billion budget so why not. "We are doing important works for the taxpayer and need to move around greater distances, alot, faster."

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requires an ultra-long-range business jet aircraft to support rapid global transportation of Department of Justice (DOJ) personnel in response to counterterrorism, high-risk operations, and other sensitive missions. The aircraft will also support executive transportation requirements for the FBI Director and the U.S. Attorney General".”

The solicitation was posted on July 11, the same day FBI deputy director Dan Bongino allegedly refused to show up to work after a blow out fight with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel. According to widespread reports, the dust up resulted from the DOJ’s botched roll up of Jeffrey Epstein’s dirty laundry.

The order is curious, given the FBI directors past disdain for top DOJ officials flying private on the Tax Payer’s dime. The FBI should "ground Chris Wray's private jet that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country," Patel said during an episode of "Kash's Corner" podcast in 2023.

According to a report by CBS news, the FBI has refused to confirm “Patel's flight schedule and would not confirm his presence on a number of flights to destinations where he later appeared. During the first weekend in April, for instance, a Boeing 757 owned by the Department of Justice made two round trip flights from Washington to New York.”

As voters of all stripes scream for more disclosures regarding the death of Jeffrey Epstein and the guests that flew on HIS private jet, it looks like America’s top law enforcement officials will continue a long tradition of flying private, away from the maddening crowd.

See the story for more:
Exclusive: FBI Is Buying A Private Jet For DOJ Executives

Aside from getting away from the "maddening crowd", it could be more about avoiding sabotage operations (sleeper cells) by foreign hostile nations.


A tragic loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim in the Dragon Bravo Fire. The rustic lodge was completed in 1937 after the original 1928 inn burned down in 1932. The dragon was hungry...


Dragon Bravo Fire destroys historic Grand Canyon Lodge