Todd Lohenry

On this day in 1977, Memorial Day weekend opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters. The incredible success of Star Wars—it received seven Oscars, and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close to $800 million worldwide—began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox, months before the movie’s release date. “It wasn’t like a movie opening,” actress Carrie Fisher, who played rebel leader Princess Leia, later told Time magazine. “It was like an earthquake.” Beginning with—in Fisher’s words—“a new order of geeks, enthusiastic young people with sleeping bags,” the anticipation of a revolutionary movie-watching experience spread like wildfire, causing long lines in front of movie theaters across the country and around the world. With its groundbreaking special effects, Star Wars leaped off screens and immersed audiences in “a galaxy far, far away.” By now everyone knows the story, which followed the baby-faced Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he enlisted a team of allies—including hunky Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the robots C3PO and R2D2—on his mission to rescue the kidnapped Princess Leia from an Evil Empire governed by Darth Vader. The film made all three of its lead actors overnight stars, turning Fisher into an object of adoration for millions of young male fans and launching Ford’s now-legendary career as an action-hero heartthrob.

With George Washington presiding, the Constitutional Convention formally convenes on this day in 1787. The convention faced a daunting task: the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as it had been defined by the Article of Confederation. The process began with the proposal of James Madison’s Virginia Plan. Madison had dedicated the winter of 1787 to the study of confederacies throughout history and arrived in Philadelphia with a wealth of knowledge and an idea for a new American government. Virginia’s governor, Edmund Randolph, presented Madison’s plan to the convention. It featured a bicameral legislature, with representation in both houses apportioned to states based upon population; this was seen immediately as giving more power to large states, like Virginia. The two houses would in turn elect the executive and the judiciary and would possess veto power over the state legislatures. Madison’s conception strongly resembled Britain’s parliament. It omitted any discussion of taxation or regulation of trade, however; these items had been set aside in favor of outlining a new form of government altogether. William Patterson soon countered with a plan more attractive to the new nation’s smaller states. It too bore the imprint of America’s British experience. Under the New Jersey Plan, as it became known, each state would have a single vote in Congress as it had been under the Articles of Confederation, to even out power between large and small states. But, the plan also gave Congress new powers: the collection of import duties and a stamp tax, the regulation of trade and the enforcement of requisitions upon the states with military force.

Tempesttours’s image http://fb.me/OU162pb7

Expectations and being ‘right’ http://fb.me/1B2e5PAqD

Sleep Better: Separate Covers for Blanket-Hog Partners #30DaysofGOOD http://bit.ly/KKtN6w

Chill… A Delay Is Not A Denial, OK? :o) http://bit.ly/JPvaEP

Should Your Workplace Ban Facebook? http://bit.ly/KKtKI3

Which nations consume the most water? http://bit.ly/JPvd3g

On the Road to Surrender http://bit.ly/JPv8wz

It happens for a reason… http://fb.me/1EYcoyHyt

♫ Various Artists – Bach: For Relaxation And Meditation http://spoti.fi/JPzbJi #Spotify

Channel Surfing http://bit.ly/KKtFnG

The Garden Provides More Than Food http://bit.ly/JPv14c

creativedreadhead: from my Language of Letting Go (by melody… http://bit.ly/Jxr2VZ

BBC http://bit.ly/LuecGJ

8 Ways to Feel Good at the End of the Work Day http://bit.ly/Lxpwp8

Meta Widget Turns Nearly Any Web Page Into a Widget on Android [Video] http://bit.ly/JwTUgW

The Instagram-ish Facebook Camera App http://bit.ly/JwTVBN

Quiet Your Mind and Just Play http://bit.ly/JXo69M

Put Your Pants On Without Your Underwear Bunching Up http://bit.ly/K2JjNM

Sitting her nest… http://bit.ly/JWJn3t

Sitting her nest… (Taken with instagram) http://bit.ly/Mx6miw