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John Carpenter, director, in 2001

The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter (pictured) and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates and imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other. The film stars Kurt Russell and also features A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, and Keith David. Of the film's $15 million budget, $1.5 million was spent on Rob Bottin's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products, rubber, and mechanical parts used to represent an alien capable of taking on any form. The Thing was released on June 25, 1982, to very negative reviews and earned $19.6 million during its theatrical run, but has been favorably reappraised. It found an audience when released on home video and television. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Wilhelmine Holmboe-Schenström

... that the mezzo-soprano Wilhelmine Holmboe (pictured), who studied in Paris with Pauline Viardot and moved to Italy to perform, was one of the first Norwegian women to be acclaimed internationally for her singing?
... that Faith Cabin Library at Seneca Junior College in South Carolina is also called the "Oberlin Unit" because of the donations of books by the students of Oberlin College in Ohio?
... that as a member of the El Alto Workers' Center, Martha Yujra participated in mass mobilizations that led to the resignations of two Bolivian presidents?
... that Central City College was established as an African American-led alternative to the historically black Atlanta Baptist College?
... that Arlene Kelly made her international debut for the Ireland women's cricket team after nine of their regular players were unavailable for selection?
... that One Griswold Street in Detroit, now owned by the Church of Scientology, was built on the location of the first church building in the city, Ste. Anne de Détroit?
... that Lady Eva Julius once called Girl Guiding "the most important youth movement in the world"?
... that the Gould Memorial Library once hosted pie-throwing contests to raise money?

In the news

Mourning flowers in Oslo

Mass shootings (location pictured) during LGBT pride celebrations in Oslo, Norway, leave two people dead and twenty-one others injured.
The United States Supreme Court determines that abortion is not a protected right, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan kills at least 1,100 people and injures more than 1,600 others.
Gustavo Petro wins the Colombian presidential election, defeating Rodolfo Hernández Suárez in the runoff.

On this day

June 25

Michael Jackson in 1993

1658 – Anglo-Spanish War: The largest battle ever fought on Jamaica, the three-day Battle of Rio Nuevo, began.
1910 – The United States Congress passed the Mann Act, which prohibited the interstate transport of females for "immoral purposes".
1950 – The Korean War began with North Korean forces launching a pre-dawn raid over the 38th parallel into South Korea.
1967 – More than an estimated 400 million people viewed Our World, the first live international satellite television production.
2009 – Singer Michael Jackson (pictured) died as a result of the combination of drugs in his body.

David Douglas (b. 1799)
George Orwell (b. 1903)
Hillel Slovak (d. 1988)

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Crystal Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, as a co-founder and co-editor with her brother Max Eastman of the radical arts and politics magazine The Liberator, co-founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and co-founder in 1920 of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2000, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.

Photograph credit: Edmonston, Washington, D.C.; restored by Adam Cuerden

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