Dream of the Rarebit Fiend was a newspaper comic strip by American cartoonist Winsor McCay, begun September 10, 1904, that depicted fantastic bizarre dreams. It was McCay's second successful strip, after Little Sammy Sneeze secured him a position on the cartoon staff of the New York Herald. Rarebit Fiend was printed in the Evening Telegram, a newspaper published by the Herald. The strip had no continuity or recurring characters. Instead, it had a recurring theme: a character would have a nightmare or other bizarre dream, usually after eating a Welsh rarebit—a cheese-on-toast dish. The dreams often revealed unflattering sides of the dreamers' psyches—their phobias, hypocrisies, discomforts, and dark fantasies. The strip is mostly recognized as an adult-oriented precursor to McCay's signature strip, Little Nemo. The popularity of Rarebit Fiend and Nemo led to a job with William Randolph Hearst's chain of newspapers with a star's salary. Many characters from the strip, such as giant monsters laying waste to cities, anticipated later fiction and films, including King Kong and Godzilla.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rarebit_Fiend
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1279:
The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order suffered a great loss when 71 knights died in the Battle of Aizkraukle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aizkraukle
1616:
Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, describing his heliocentric theory of the Solar System, was prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium
1811:
Peninsular War: In the Battle of Barrosa, an Anglo-Spanish- Portuguese force trying to lift the Siege of Cádiz was able to defeat a French attack, although they were ultimately unable to break the siege itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Barrosa
1936:
The prototype of the Supermarine Spitfire, a British single- seat fighter that was later used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during the Second World War, flew for the first time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire
1966:
BOAC Flight 911 disintegrated and crashed near Mount Fuji shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport, killing all 113 passengers and 11 crew members on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
mesmerism: The method or power of gaining control over someone's personality or actions, as in hypnosis or suggestion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mesmerism
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Two things have always been true about human beings. One, the world is always getting better. Two, the people living at that time think it`s getting worse. It's because you get older, your responsibilities are different. Now I'm taking care of children instead of being a child. It makes the world look scarier. That happens to everyone. --Penn Jillette https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Penn_Jillette