What your coffee knew in October 2021
October 29
“The Huntley–Brinkley Report” premiered on NBC, replacing “The Camel News Caravan,” on this date in 1956.
Your coffee wants 15 minutes of objective national news sponsored by an oil company.
October 28
On this date in 1893, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, premiered in St. Petersburg.
Your coffee wants to be passionate, not pathetic.
October 27
Former Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi was convicted of corruption and illicit financing on this date in 1995.
Your coffee wonders if the U.S. judicial system will follow the Italian example.
October 26
On this date in 1955, the Austrian Parliament enacted a constitutional Declaration of Neutrality.
Your coffee does not want to take sides (but, privately, prefers a Viennese roast).
October 25
The Battle of Agincourt took place on this date in 1415.
Your coffee wants a little touch of Harry in the night.
October 22
On this date in 1883, New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House presented its first performance.
Your coffee wants to make a Faustian bargain.
October 21
The first images of the dwarf planet Eris were recorded on this date in 2003.
Your coffee wants automatic image-searching software with a lower angular motion threshold.
October 20
On this date in 1944, General Douglas MacArthur made his promised return to the Philippines.
Your coffee wants a corn-cob pipe.
October 19
Ph.D. student Albert Schatz at Rutgers University first isolated the antibiotic streptomycin on this date in 1943.
Your coffee wants to look into Bob Dole’s medicine cabinet.
October 18
On this date in 1775, Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet, was emancipated.
Your coffee wants a cover blurb by George Washington.
October 15
The first arrest for burning a draft card took place on this date in 1965.
Your coffee wants a medium-roast draft card.
October 14
On this date in 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Your coffee wants non-violently to resist attempts to serve decaf.
October 13
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series on this date in 1903.
Your coffee wants peanuts, Cracker Jack, and a mocha latte.
October 12
On this date in 1960, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev reportedly pounded his shoe on the rostrum at a meeting of the United Nations.
Your coffee wants a well-heeled autocrat with a generous sole.
October 11
President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane on this date in 1910.
Your coffee wants executive beverage service.
October 8
On this date in 1829, Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive won the Rainhill Trials.
Your coffee wants to supply you with motive power.
October 7
The Granite Railway, the first commercial railroad in the United States, began operations on this date in 1826.
Your coffee wants to rock out on the Quincy to Milton line.
October 6
On this date in 2010, the Instagram app was first released in the iOS App Store.
Your coffee wants a child-warning label.
October 5
Striking set decorators started a riot in front of Warner Brothers’ studio on this date in 1945.
Your coffee wants better placement at the craft services table.
October 4
On this date in 1931, the first “Dick Tracy” comic strip was published.
Your coffee wants a wrist radio app for its Apple Watch.
October 1
The Concorde aircraft broke the sound barrier for the first time on this date in 1969.
Your coffee wants an aisle seat and boom-cancelling headphones.