106 years ago today, the R34 airship made the first transatlantic crossing going from west to east, arriving in Norfolk, UK on July 13th after 75 hours of flying time. Built for World War I but failing to see any action until after it had ended at Versailles, R34, and her sister dirigible R33, served as semi-reliable passenger aircraft. READ the wonky, makeshift lifespan of R34… (1919)

For readers to appropriately imagine what it was like at the time, R34 was the first aircraft of any type to carry passengers across the Atlantic. That was the only option, however it involved sleeping in hammocks slung along the keel walkway, and eating meals cooked on a steel sheet welded to the exhaust pipe; the latter heating the former.

As the landing party had no experience of handling large rigid airships, Major E. M. Pritchard jumped by parachute onto Long Island, NYC, and so became the first person to reach American soil by air from Europe. Just two years after the flight, R34 was wrecked in a storm.

MORE Good News on this Day:

• The Olympics allowed women to compete for the first time (1908)
• Babe Ruth hits his 700th career home run against the Detroit Tigers (1934)
• Frank Sinatra sang on his first commercial record, From the Bottom of My Heart—a 78 rpm that sold 8,000 copies (1939)
• Roger McGuinn, guitarist and vocalist for The Byrds (Mr. Tambourine Man), was born (1942)
• John F. Kennedy won the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles (1960)

On this day 232 years ago, John Clare, the “peasant poet” was born. Living his whole life in the countryside of Northamptonshire, he was a poet of natural England, the son of a farmer, and the husband to a milkmaid. He started composing poetry after reading James Thomsen’s The Seasons, and sold them as a way to prevent the slow-motion eviction of his father from their farm.

“There was no limit to the applause bestowed upon Clare, unanimous in their admiration of a poetical genius coming before them in the humble garb of a farm laborer,” one reviewer wrote of Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, his first work in 1820.

Clare followed up this success with Village Minstrel and Other Poems, also successful. After this however, he followed the path of many of England’s great poets—the road towards debt and destitution. In Clare’s case, this worsened to mental instability. Nevertheless, his biographer Jonathan Bate called Clare “the greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced. No one has ever written more powerfully of nature, of a rural childhood, and of the alienated and unstable self.” (1793)

Below is an excerpt from The Skylark.

The rolls and harrows lie at rest beside
The battered road; and spreading far and wide
Above the russet clods, the corn is seen
Sprouting its spiry points of tender green,
Where squats the hare, to terrors wide awake,
Like some brown clod the harrows failed to break.
Opening their golden caskets to the sun,
The buttercups make schoolboys eager run,
To see who shall be first to pluck the prize—
Up from their hurry, see, the skylark flies,
And o’er her half-formed nest, with happy wings
Winnows the air, till in the cloud she sings,
Then hangs a dust-spot in the sunny skies,
And drops, and drops, till in her nest she lies,

102 years ago today, the HOLLYWOOD sign was officially dedicated in Los Angeles. At 44 feet tall (13.4 m), the sign was originally created in 1923 as an advertisement for a local real estate development, but became part of the local culture and was kept in place. The sign is protected and was renovated by the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust, while its site is amidst the wilderness of Griffith Park.  

Originally the sign said “Hollywoodland,” the name of the original development. As American as the Hollywood sign is, it was designed by an Englishman: Thomas Fisk Goff.

During the great depression, no lots were being sold in Hollywoodland, so the sign’s caretaker stripped the copper wire from the lighting and sold it for scrap.

Today the sign has as much security as Fort Knox. (1923)

Happy 83rd Birthday to actor Harrison Ford. His many memorable characters include Han Solo in Star Wars, archeologist Indiana Jones, a police detective in Witness, a doctor who was framed in The Fugitive, and an American president in Air Force One. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming.

Another role for which Harrison has made a home inside hearts was Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, a role he reprised, as he did for Han Solo and Indiana Jones, in much-delayed sequels. He often described filming the original Blade Runner as mentally difficult, and very challenging.

Ford’s Bell 407 aircraft has been used twice in mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford’s helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers’ caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; “I can’t believe I barfed in Harrison Ford’s helicopter!” she said later. WATCH a video clip of his Top 10 Performances… (1942)

See all his films and DVDs on Amazon.com… because why not?

Happy Birthday to Sir Patrick Stewart who turns 85 years old today. The English actor of stage and film grew up poor, yet not only excels in Shakespeare, but plays the lead in his own science fiction series—Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also stars as Charles Xavier in the superhero X-Men series.

He became best friends with fellow English thespian Sir Ian McKellen having bonded during the filming X-Men. “We had adjoining trailers… and, the charm of it is, we had so much in common.” McKellen even officiated at the marriage of Stewart and wife, singer Sunny Orvell.

Known for his strong and authoritative voice, which was featured on many animated and narrative projects, he has also recorded an album of country songs, Patrick Stewart Sings Cowboy Classics. WATCH him in Feb. 2020 answer the most googled questions about himself… (1940)

And, on this day in 1985, the Live Aid benefit concerts were held in London, Philadelphia, Sydney and Moscow.

“Feed the World” was sung or shouted by 60 legendary performers during 16 hours of music in the largest satellite link-up television broadcast in history. The telethon, which reached an estimated 1.5–2 billion TV viewers, ultimately raised $200 million to aid starving people in Ethiopia and around Africa and inspired future shows like Farm Aid and Live 8. The hunger relief event was organized by Bob Geldof, the Irishman who previously produced the Christmas fundraising song, “Feed the World.” (DVDs on Amazon or see some highlights and films on YouTube)

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