Day Tripping: July 26

A Day For Fame

Aldous Huxley was born in 1894 to a family of biologists and zoologists. He followed the academic ways of his family by attending Oxford University where he wrote and edited for the school poetry magazine. He published his first novel when he was seventeen.

“The victim of mind manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.”

Aldous Huxley delved into the psychedelic experience by experimenting with mescaline, which he wrote about in The Doors of Perception. His interest in mysticism and universalism, Eastern and Western philosophy as well as dystopia and utopia were all subjects for his work.

Later in life, he became a Hollywood scriptwriter but continued to evolve his works of philosophical significance. In his last book, Huxley wrote, “The individual must learn to decondition himself, must be able to cut holes in the fence of verbalized symbols that hems him in.”

Today is:

One Voice Day — This initiative was created to unite the countries of the world in a covenant of peaceful coexistence. Somewhere along the way, the Olympic movement lost that part of their initiative.

National Coffee Milkshake Day — Is this a thing? Ok, I’m game.

Musical Ride

During a US tour in 1977, Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant was told his 5-year-old son Karac has died from a stomach virus. The tour ended and Led Zeppelin never toured in the United States after that.

Interesting Notes

This is a uniquely good day for the birth of writers and philosophers. George Bernard Shaw, Carl Jung, and Stanley Kubrik were all born on this day.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Olivia de Havilland began her career as a leading lady to Errol Flynn and starred in many of Hollywood’s epic films. Before her death last year in 2020, Dame Olivia was the oldest living Oscar winner as well as the earliest surviving awardee. The illustrious de Havilland was 104.

Notable Births

1940 — Dobie Gray

1943 — Mick Jagger

1945 — Helen Mirren

1949 — Roger Taylor

1959 — Kevin Spacey

1964 — Sandra Bullock

Wow! What an incredible group of talent. Yes, even Kevin.

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping