Happy Birthday Erich von Däniken!

Born April 14, 1935 in Zofingen, Switzerland, Erich von Däniken is a controversial Swiss author who is best known for his theories about extraterrestrial influence on human culture since prehistoric times, known as paleocontact and ancient astronaut theory.

There isn't alot of information about Erich's childhood & young adulthood, except for his appearances before the courts: while still a boy he was charged with stealing money from the Boy Scouts; in the early 1960s, when in his mid 20s, he was convicted of defrauding the hotel where he worked and also petty theft, for which he was fined; and in 1967, at the age of 32, Von Däniken was convicted of a large scale embezzlement, forgery and tax evasion, and spent three and half years in prison. During his time in prison he wrote his second book. Von Däniken has also admitted to forging some of his evidence. Pottery depicting UFOs that he claimed came from archaeological digs was in fact created by a modern potter. When confronted with evidence of his fraud Von Däniken claimed it was justified because some people would only believe if they saw proof.

His 26 books have been translated into more than 20 languages, selling more than 60 million copies worldwide, and his documentary TV-shows have been viewed in Germany and the United States. His influence can also be seen in science fiction, the New Age culture and some modern religions like Scientology. The scientific community has universally dismissed von Däniken's theories, considering them unfounded speculation at best. Most historians regard his claims as pseudoscience, and are of the opinion that he is drawing far-reaching conclusions from little evidence and is disregarding more likely alternative hypotheses, but a large group of followers, some of whom have written books of their own, are of the opinion that his theories are likely to be true.

The scientific community's dismay at von Däniken led to the publication of The Space Gods Revealed by Ronald Story in 1976 (ISBN 0060141417 hardback, ISBN 0450033708 paperback). It is a careful refutation of the theories and evidence in von Däniken's most famous work—Chariots of the Gods—almost page by page.

von Däniken claims that the Moai must have been made & moved by ETs, since such primitive people couldn't have done it on their own

"When Easter Island was discovered by the Dutch Captain Roggeveen in 1722, the Easter Island statues were buried up to their chins in the Earth."

Currently von Däniken is a prominent member of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA), of which he is a co-founder. Von Däniken has developed a theme park called Mystery Park, based in Interlaken, Switzerland, and he lives nearby with his wife of 45 years, Elisabeth Skaja. The Park opened May 23, 2003. A new science fiction Action-Adventure television series based upon his books is under production.

Other Historical Highlights for Today are:

• 1629 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch Astronomer, clockmaker (he invented the Pendulum Clock), mathematician, physicist, is Born (d. 1695)
• 1759 - Georg Friedrich Handel, composer, died (b. 1685)
• 1828 - Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary
• 1860 - The first Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento, California
• 1865 - Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth; he dies the next day
• 1894 - Thomas Edison demonstrates the kinetoscope, a device for peep-show viewing using photographs that flip in sequence, a precursor to movies. Edison's Patent for this device was used to claim he invented motion pictures, a claim that was overturned due to Louis Le Prince patent for his process for "the successive production of objects in motion by means of a projector"
  & preexisting art of Eadweard Muybridge's zoopraxiscope, not to mention The Lumière Brothers' cinématographe.
• 1904 - Sir John Gielgud, actor, winner of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award, is Born (d. 2000)
• 1910 - President William Howard Taft begins the tradition of throwing out the first baseball on opening day
• 1912 - RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg on its maiden voyage - it finishes sinking at about 2:20 am the next day.
• 1917 - Ludovich Lazarus Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto, died (b. 1859) [*}1925 - Rod Steiger, actor, is Born (d. 2002)
• 1933 - Morton Subotnick, composer of Silver Apples of the Moon, is Born
• 1936 - Kenneth Mars, actor, is Born
  
• 1940 - Loretta Lynn, country music singer, is Born
• 1941 - Julie Christie, actress & a leading figure in the glamorous London of the 1960s, is Born
  
• 1941 - Pete Rose, Blacklisted baseball player, is Born
• 1945 - Ritchie Blackmore, rock music guitarist, is Born
• 1969 - At the Academy Awards, a tie between Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand results in the two sharing the Best Actress Oscar; Hepburn also becomes the only actress to win three Best Actress Oscars.
• 1995 - Burl Ives, folk singer, actor, died (b. 1909)

On 2005-04-14 08:56, freddiefreelance wrote:
[*]1945 - Ritchie Blackmore, rock music guitarist, is Born

WHOA! Today is Ritchie Blackmore's Birthday?!? If you've ever read "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", you know how important that is!!
I shoulda taken the day off!

[*]1995 - Burl Ives, folk singer, actor, died (b. 1909)

Oh - and an anagram of Burl Ives is "Rub Elvis"!

I dunno - I've always gotten a kick out of that...

Doctor Z
Mix-maestro of the Castaway Lounge & Casino,
Redondo Beach, CA

[ Edited by: Doctor Z on 2005-04-14 15:29 ]

On 2005-04-14 08:56, freddiefreelance wrote:
since such primitive people couldn't have done it on their own

the idea that e.t.'s built ancient monuments is kind of fun, but it irks me that his reasoning is that the easter islanders did not at once possess the technology. i find that kind of arrogant...

but i do belive e.t.'s helped ritchie blackmore learn his guitar licks :)

freddiefreelance wrote:

when in his mid 20s, he was convicted of defrauding the hotel where he worked and also petty theft, for which he was fined; and in 1967, at the age of 32, Von Däniken was convicted of a large scale embezzlement, forgery and tax evasion, and spent three and half years in prison.
"Kind conniver he" is an anagram for Erich von Däniken. Coincidence?