Happy National Nachos Day! In 1940 a customer at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, just over the border from Texas, asked for a different snack than the usual fare. Owner Ignacio Anaya, whose nickname was "Nacho", took a look around the kitchen when divine inspiration hit him. And we're all, every one of us, thankful for that moment.
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This is The Reset Button from Classic Nerd, resetting your day.
Here are five things that happened on November 6th at the intersection of nerd and pop culture.
Birthdays of honor: Ethan Hawke (1970), Sally Field (1946), Glen Frey (1948), Emma Stone (1988), Rebecca Romijn (1972), Maria Shriver (1955), James Naismith (1861), John Philip Sousa (1854), Peter DeLuise (1966).
Today in 1947, the longest-running show in American television hit the airwaves for the first time when Meet the Press debuted.
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The show was ported from radio, and initially was in the style of a press conference of sorts, with a guest, moderator, and several panelists who could ask questions. The first guest was James Farley, who had served as Postmaster General and campaign manager for Franklin Roosevelt. Martha Rountree, who was also the show's creator, served as the first host.
Meet the Press has since gone on for 70 seasons and over 3,600 episodes, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Although, as a kid, that title was really confusing. I just thought it was a show that highlighted members of the press or something.
It's amazing how many huge bands got their start playing at a school. And today in 1970, Aerosmith played their first show at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts.
Mendon is about an hour from Aerosmith's hometown of Boston, with a population of just over 6,000. The band has said they landed the gig because Joe Perry's mom knew someone who worked there, and they charged about a dollar per person.
I wonder what people at that show were thinking — whatever it was, I doubt they predicted the band would go on to sell over 150 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling hard rock group in history.
Today in 1995 anyone not from Cleveland was once again thankful they're not from Cleveland when "The Move" hit the NFL.
Art Modell, owner of the storied yet simultaneously beleaguered Cleveland Browns franchise, decided to announce — in the middle of the season — his intention to move the team. This set off a litany of lawsuits and legal action (not to mention fan protests), ultimately resulting in a compromise that has since become a model for franchise moves in other leagues.
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Ultimately, Modell was able to start an expansion team in Baltimore, but all team records stayed in Cleveland. In exchange, Cleveland would build a new stadium and come back to the league once it was truly feasible — which they did in an expansion draft in 1999.
Of course, Modell wasn't alone — three other teams moved between 1995 to 1997, with the Rams and Raiders leaving Los Angeles, and the Oilers moving to Tennessee.
In other notable band debuts, the Sex Pistols played their first show today in 1975 at St. Martin's School of Art in London. Again with the schools — and I get it's an art school and all, but still, pretty gutsy to book a band called the Sex Pistols (bassist Glen Matlock was a student there at the time).
And notably, they actually opened for another local band called Bazooka Joe, whose lead singer, Stuart Goddard, was so impressed by the set that he dropped out of school and took on a new moniker — Adam Ant.
