Category Archives: @news

Found on EBay — The Herald Examiner [Updated]

Posted on April 2, 2011 by lmharnisch

[Update: My nickname for Daily Mirror readers is "the brain trust" because they always impress me with their knowledge. Fibber, Sam and Roger believe this is from the Chicago Herald-Examiner, which dates from 1918 to 1939. I was previously unaware … Continue reading →

Posted in @news | 2 Comments

In Walter (Cronkite) We Trust, March 14, 1981

Posted on March 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

             March 14, 1981: Howard Rosenberg, The Times Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic, watches Dan Rather’s debut in taking over from Walter Cronkite on the “CBS Evening News” and he is not a happy man. Art … Continue reading →

Posted in 1981, @news, art and artists, Art Seidenbaum, Blues, broadcasting, Columnists, Comics, Howard Rosenberg, Television, Walter Cronkite | 2 Comments

NSA Analysts Defect to Soviet Union

Posted on August 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

Aug. 2, 1960: William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell of the National Security Agency defect to the Soviet Union. See David Kahn's classic work "The Codebreakers" and James Bamford's 1982 "The Puzzle Palace" for more details.

Posted in @news, books | Leave a comment

From the Vaults: ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940)

Posted on June 22, 2010 by lmharnisch

I once read an excellent book about single life that included this recipe for depression: “Go out and rent a movie with Cary Grant in it, come back and put the kettle on.” This advice has never failed me. You … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 15 Comments

Russia Shoots Down U.S. Spy Plane

Posted on May 6, 2010 by lmharnisch

    May 10, 1960: A Lockheed engineer says this Soviet photo of the downed U-2 is a fake. May 6, 1960: Although the Soviets shot down a U-2 on May 1, the story didn’t appear in The Times until … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, broadcasting, Front Pages, Television | 1 Comment

Post Office Breaks Prayer Chain Letter

Posted on May 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

  May 5, 1910: The post office halts an “endless prayer chain” letter started by “a religious crank,” The Times says. The postmaster says that the letter is illegal because it threatens  a “dire calamity” for whoever breaks the chain. … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Religion | 1 Comment

Russia Expels Thousands of Jews From Kiev

Posted on April 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

  April 26, 1910:  “Heartless cruelty marked the ejection of the Jews. Young and old, well and ill, the strong and the weak, mothers with babes only a few days old, were driven out at the word of command. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Immigration, Religion | Leave a comment

Faces of the City, April 19, 1960

Posted on April 19, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 19, 1960: 1st and Broadway, just up the block from The Times, has changed drastically in the last 50 years. Ed Dudley’s newsstand vanished long ago and two corners are vacant eyesores. But he wasn’t wrong when he said: … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Downtown | 1 Comment

Union Officer Recalls Lowering U.S. Flag at Ft. Sumter

Posted on April 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 13, 1910: The Times marks the [Update: 49th — I think a 100-year-old correction is some sort of record] 50th anniversary of the firing on Ft. Sumter by interviewing an officer who was there, Lt. Col. W.H. Hamner, a … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Otis Chandler Named Publisher of The Times

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Photograph by Frank Q. Brown / Los Angeles Times  Norman Chandler, left, during the luncheon to announce that his son, Otis, was the new publisher of The Times. April 12, 1960: Otis Chandler is named publisher of the Los … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Photography | 2 Comments

The Times’ Changing Nameplate

Posted on April 8, 2010 by lmharnisch

  The Times’ nameplate before the 1910 bombing, with The Times Building at right.  The revised nameplate of 1913 shows the building on fire. The 1913 nameplate also shows the new building on the site of the old one at … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Downtown, Food and Drink | 2 Comments

Once Around the Radio Dial – 1969

Posted on November 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nov. 16, 1969 One of the true pleasures of contributing to The Daily Mirror is reading old columns by Don Page, The Times' longtime radio critic. I regularly check his work, these days for 1959 and '69. Some things change—by … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, broadcasting, Dodgers, Music, Rock 'n' Roll, Sports | 2 Comments

Found on EBay – Los Angeles Examiner

Posted on November 3, 2009 by lmharnisch

  This book of Los Angeles Examiner front pages from World War II has been listed on EBay. I’ve only seen these books on EBay so I’m not positive but judging by the vendors’ photos, the reproduction appears to be … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, books | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – ‘Quick, Watson, the Camera’

Posted on November 2, 2009 by lmharnisch

A copy of “Quick Watson, the Camera,” has been listed on EBay. Long out of print, “Quick Watson” is terrific survey of photographs by the Watson family and was edited by the late Delmar Watson, formerly of the Mirror-News. Bidding … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, books | Leave a comment

Young Adventurer Sent Home

Posted on November 1, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nov. 1, 1939: Charles Conner of Chicago, who ran away at the age of 14 to fight in the war, is sent home after a remarkable series of adventures. At one point, when the ocean liner carrying him was stopped … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Religion, Transportation | Leave a comment

Stocks Dive in Frenzy, 1929

Posted on October 30, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale notes the role of politics in criticism of Police Chief James Davis.   Oct. 30, 1929: “An incredible stock market tumbled toward chaos today despite heroic measures adopted by the nation's greatest bankers.” What do … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, art and artists, Current Affairs | Leave a comment

The Balloonatics

Posted on October 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

Photograph by Jeff Barnard/Associated Press July 6, 2008: Kent Couch prepares to lift off in a lawn chair from his gas station in Bend, Ore., in a balloon-suspended lawn chair at dawn. About nine hours later, he created a sensation … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Music, Stage, Transportation | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia Revisited

Posted on September 24, 2009 by lmharnisch

I need to make a few points about the coverage of the Black Dahlia case before I move on. The killing and the subsequent investigation are incredibly complicated and the false claims, ridiculous "true crime" books and crackpot websites have … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Front Pages, Homicide, LAPD | 1 Comment

Khrushchev — Postscript

Posted on September 20, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs include an interesting anecdote about his stop at San Luis Obispo on the trip to San Francisco. While mingling with people at the train station, he lost a gold medal of Lenin presented by the Society for … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, books, Politics | 1 Comment

CIA ‘a Farce,’ Khrushchev Says

Posted on September 19, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oct. 4, 1959, Republic Corp. President Victor M. Carter describes comments made by Nikita Khrushchev during a tour of housing developments in the San Fernando Valley. Khrushchev told ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge that the Soviets had intercepted and read secret … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Current Affairs, Film, Hollywood | Leave a comment