Back when Mercedes was just a name of a car.

June 23rd
On this day in 1902 German auto maker DMG registered the brand name Mercedes. Amongst the first auto enthusiasts who wanted to increase performance for racing purposes, DMG used the non-German name to help sell in France and the rest of Europe. The first Mercedes sold could achieve speeds of about 50 mph.

On this day in 1959 Klaus Fuchs is released from prison in Britain. Fuchs was one of the scientists who helped create the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico and was part of the Manhattan project. Shortly after arriving in the United States, Fuchs made contact with a Soviet spy. He was arrested and convicted of espionage after pleading guilty to have given the USSR many of the plans for building an atomic bomb. The USSR would not have been able to build their bomb as soon after WWII as they did if not for Fuchs. He gave the Soviets the needed leverage to compete in the Cold War. He was originally sentenced to only 14 years in prison because at the time of his espionage the Soviet Union was not an enemy of either Britain or the United States. But you can't blame the guy, he was very forthright in saying he was a communist, that's why he left Nazi Germany in the first place.

On this day in 1989 Batman was released. I was in California at the time of its release and watched it with my family. I thought it was pretty good. Michael Keaton has great range as an actor. But now I don't think it holds a candle to the newer Batman movies. Despite being the best of the Batman trilogy (spits on the ground) it is still a little bit silly to be a believable story. I dunno, Jack Nicholson as the Joker was good too. Good for 1989, not so much for 2011. I remember my friend Willie had a Joker poster with him on the beach with a bunch of seagulls around him. One of my favs.