Day Tripping: May 17

Doing the full English

Heads Roll

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII and a former lady-in-waiting to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Her effect on King Henry would change the religious landscape forever, but her marriage could not survive her inability to bear him a son. On this day in 1536, the King’s court convicted and executed four of Anne’s so-called lovers, and Henry VIII had his marriage to her annulled, which was convenient because she was beheaded two days later.

Fate would eventually play a cruel trick on King Henry VIII when none of his subsequent wives could produce a rightful heir to the throne. Anne Boleyn’s eldest daughter Elizabeth ultimately became Queen of England and the last sovereign from the House of Tudor.

Fingers Point

In 1966, Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar and amped up the band for his new tour. The folk singer’s turn from his folk roots did not sit particularly well with Brish fans. At his show in Manchester, England at Free Trade Hall, Dylan was preparing to play his next song, Like A Rolling Stone when an irate fan shouted “Judas!”

Undeterred, Dylan shouted back, “I don’t believe you. You’re a liar!” Bob then turned to his bandmates and said, “play the song f**king loud.” Plugging in and going electric brought Bob Dylan into the mainstream of music consciousness, and the detractors faded away.

Tongues Click

Modern British architecture took a hard slap to the face in 1984 when Prince Charles looked at a proposed design for an extension to the National Gallery of London. While a guest of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Prince of Wales opined, “What is proposed is like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend.” Needless to say, the offending design never went forward and it was replaced by a more pedantic vision of London architecture.

The heir to the British throne had ventured into uncharted waters by publicly stating his views on the London cityscape. As it turned out, the Prince was expressing a sentiment held by the majority of Londoners at the time.

Musical Milestones

Louie Louie was a smash hit song for the Kingsmen, but the FBI spent more than two years investigating the lyrics for obscenity. Unable to decipher the words at all, the FBI finally dropped the charge in 1965.

Narratives

Deciding that the yet unpublished memoirs of Lord Byron were too scandalous for public consumption, six of the poet’s closest friends burned the manuscript at the office of John Murray. Their act of tearing pages of the great poet’s life story and throwing them on the fire was considered by many to be “the greatest crime in literary history”.

Remembrance

Author of The Winds of War and Pulitzer Prize winner for his work, The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk passed away in 2019, ten days short of his 104th birthday.

Notable Births

1936 — Dennis Hopper came to fame as the director and co-writer of the iconic sixties road movie, Easy Rider.

1942 — Multi-instrumentalist and bluesman Taj Mahal.

1962 — A very funny Scottish comedian who had a successful late-night talk show, Craig Ferguson.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace 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 Noah Levy

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