Tennessee Williams’ most famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire, debuted on Broadway in 1947. A journalist who was able to find his way backstage asked one of the performers how he would summarize the play. The actor replied, “It’s about a guy who comes to take a woman to an insane asylum.” The fellow who talked to the journalist just… Read more »
In an 1883 collection of Christmas carols, Away in a Manger was called “Luther’s Cradle Hymn.” This note followed: “Composed by Martin Luther for his children and still sung by German mothers to their little ones.” Nice try. Today we know that James Murray of Cincinnati composed the tune in the late 1800s. No one has positively identified the author of the lullaby… Read more »
As recently as 125 years ago, some of the world’s brightest thinkers solemnly declared human beings would never fly. They were wrong. About the same time, engineers confidently predicted that the long-distance transmission of pictures was contrary to the laws of physics. They were wrong, too. These days science fiction fans are desperately hoping that the world’s most eminent physicists… Read more »
Jackie Chan is famous for doing his own stunts. The Hong Kong native, whose six-decades-long career has included more than 150 movies, was considered the heir apparent to Bruce Lee when the legendary Kung Fu master died at the height of his fame in 1973. Film studios expected that Chan’s own brilliance would quickly transform him into a star. … Read more »
