Monday, January 25, 2021

Today -100: January 25, 1921: Of reparations, dead Lenins, mad mullahs, and universal robots


The Interallied Conference discusses German reparations. “The difference arises from a divergence in the fundamental conception of Germany’s position. England sees Germany in the light of a bankrupt who owes more than he can pay, but who is entitled to be given an opportunity to settle on a basis on which the creditors can agree. France regards Germany as a criminal who should be sentenced to thirty years’ hard labor to repair the damage of his crime.”

Headline of the Day -100:  


The graphic descriptions in such stories (front page, above the fold) continue to startle me.

British planes bomb the shit out of the Somali strongholds of the Mad Mullah, which is not going to make him less mad (actually, he died a month ago of influenza).

Russia denies rumors that Lenin is dead. Again.

Headline of the Day -100:  


Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) premieres in Prague. The US premiere in 1922, with 22-year-old Spencer Tracy and Pat O’Brien, both in their Broadway debuts, will introduce the word “robot” into the English language.

If you’re going to read Čapek, and you should, you’re better with his short stories or his novel The War with the Newts.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

2 comments:

  1. RUR was our school play back in 1963. I was the robot who lead the revolution. Gee I wonder if that had anything to do with political attitude. Well, even at that point I kind of figured out that I had made my entire acting range and went on to other things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And the world lost the next Spencer Tracy.

    ReplyDelete