Col. Sanders unveils his signature scent, Chanel No. 5 (1921)
Also today: Karl Marx, monkey astronauts and Childish Gambino
Twisted History: May 5, 2025
On this day in 1921, Coco Chanel unveiled Chanel No. 5, revolutionizing the perfume industry with its intoxicating aroma of vanilla extract, petroleum jelly beans and the Colonel’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.
(Video: Marilyn Monroe is asked what she wears to bed. A: Chanel No. 5)
On this day in 1925, Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching about human evolution. The ensuing Scopes Monkey trial became a three-ring media circus, followed in newspapers across the nation by men, women and of course monkeys.
On this day in 1961, Alan Shepard became the first U.S. astronaut to travel in space. After the flight, he tipped his helmet to Albert II, the world’s first monkey astronaut, who gave his life in a 1949 mission aboard a V-2 rocket. Shepard noted that he and other space explorers were proud to be “standing on the shoulders of monkeys.”
On this day in 2023, The World Health Organization declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency, while acknowledging that “last week COVID-19 claimed a life every three minutes – and that’s just the deaths we know about.” Alrighty then, Mission Accomplished!
On this day in 2018, Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) released the provocative video version of his grimly surrealistic Grammy-winning No. 1 single “This is America” — a powerful, distressing protest song targeting racism, gun violence and hate. (Spoiler alert: It ain’t “America the Beautiful”)
Today's Birthdays:
Karl Marx (1818-1883): philosopher, co-wrote the screenplay for “The Communist Manifesto,” a 1929 comedy starring Groucho and the rest of the Marx Brothers.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855): Danish philosopher-theologian and “Father of Existentialism” whose disgruntled son, Existentialism Kierkegaard, never forgave his dad for giving him such a weird name.
Henry Cavill, 42: actor, played Superman five times on the silver screen; but keep it quiet, everyone thinks he was just playing a mild-mannered reporter named Clark Kent.
Tammy Wynette (1942-1998): Grammy-winning singer, best known for her superhero signature song “Stand by Your Superman.”
Adele, 37: singer, Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer whose No. 1 hits include “Rolling in the Deep” and her politically charged follow-up “Rolling in the Deep State.”
Michael Palin, 82: comedian and semi-professional lumberjack, one of the most gifted comedy trapeze artists in Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
(Video: Palin bickers with John Cleese in “Argument Clinic”)