A VOICE FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1874) – Written by W.S. Lach-Szyrma. The 1874 date marks when a selection of stories that Lach-Szyrma had written beginning at some point around 1865 in untraced magazines were finally collected in novel form. The author penned more novels in the series as the years went by.
Aleriel, an alien from Venus, has come to Earth by piloting a vessel into space, then hitching a ride on a comet he attached it to. He is winged and, like other Venusians, has a lifespan of thousands of years. To better move around on Earth while observing humans, Aleriel tucks his wings under his shirt in a bulge that lets him pass for a hunchback. He uses the alias Dr. Posela.
Eventually during his years traveling among human beings, “Dr. Posela” rescues a friendly Englishman who is among those trapped in the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The Earthling gets returned to England, and is delighted with Dr. Posela and his philosophical observations about humanity and his theories that life certainly exists on many other planets.
Dr. Posela’s theories are enthusiastically embraced by the young Brit and he impresses his Oxford professors by including them in his own essays.
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AUGUST 22nd 
AUGUST 24th
ANNA AND THE KING (1972) – It’s a shame that so few people remember this 13-episode attempt to make a television series of Margaret Landon’s classic novel Anna and the King of Siam. The producers even scored the coup of signing screen legend Yul Brynner himself to reprise his role as the King of Siam from the novel’s revered musical adaptation The King and I. 
Samantha Eggar was cast as Anna Leonowens, the British governess brought to Siam in 1862 by King Mongkut to provide a more cosmopolitan element to the education of his children, including 12-year-old son and heir Prince Chulalongkorn, played by Brian Tochi. 
1997 CHAMPIONS – HOUSTON COMETS 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #16 (January 26th, 1977) 
Reluctantly, Captain Britain uses some of his super-strength and agility to break free of the cops before they can unmask him. The other police on hand start shooting at C.B. when – out of nowhere – Captain America intervenes. He’s used to authorities in the U.S. often being wrong about superheroes so he offers to fight off the cops while Captain Britain escapes. 
The first Friday of every August marks Frontierado, the holiday devoted to the myth of the old west rather than the grinding reality. For some of us the celebration kicked off Thursday night, for others they wait until the actual day of Frontierado to hold their festivities. 
BUFFALO SOLDIERS – Obviously the historical significance of these African American soldiers begins during the U.S. Civil War and goes far into the 20th Century, but for the purposes of this blog post I’ll be looking only at their involvement in conflicts from 1866-1896. 
BATTLE OF THE SALINE RIVER (August 1867) – In Kansas, Cheyenne warriors led by Tall Wolf attacked and killed a party of railroad workers laying the transcontinental railway. Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Hays were sent out after the Cheyenne, and this resulted in the 8-hour long Battle of the Saline River. Under 100 soldiers from the 10th Cavalry clashed with over 400 Native Americans, inflicting greater casualties on them and making it back to Fort Hays alive. 
May ?, 1875 – Susan B. Anthony delivered a lecture in Sidney advocating for women’s suffrage.
DEADWOOD DICK – In general, the Dime Novel period of westerns, detective, science fiction and horror tales lasted from 1860 to around 1919 or the early 1920s. Pulp magazines took over from there. Many Dime Novels were very loosely based on real-life figures like Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane and others. Many more were purely fictional, like Deadwood Dick. 
BREAKHEART PASS (1975) – (Frontierado is coming up August 2nd and, as always, it’s about the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality.) Alistair MacLean may be more closely associated with espionage and crime thrillers like When Eight Bells Toll, The Eagle Has Landed and Puppet on a Chain but his lone Western, Breakheart Pass, is a very solid story which transfers MacLean’s usual themes to the American West. 
Some critics bash this above-average film because they apparently thought Alistair MacLean’s name on the script meant it would be an over-the-top Western Spy actioner along the lines of Robert Conrad’s old Wild Wild West television series crossed with Where Eagles Dare. Instead, Breakheart Pass comes closer to grittiness than slickness and is all the more enjoyable for that. 
UN AUTRE MONDE (Another World) – This 1895 story was written by Belgium’s revered pioneer in science fiction – J.H. Rosny, real name Joseph Henri Boex. I went with the French title because a while back I reviewed another work of ancient science fiction that also bore the title Another World. 
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