 Danger rears its pretty heads. 
Above, a cool West German tri-fold promo for the classic camp crime flick Gefahr: Diabolik, aka Danger: Diabolik, with pretty boy John Phillip Law as the titular spy Diabolik and pretty girl Marisa Mell as his muse and sidekick Eva Kant. If you haven't seen the film it's utterly cheesy and great fun. It premiered in West Germany today in 1968.
 He was a Danger to everyone around him. 
Above is a Japanese poster for Mario Bava’s Italian psychotronic masterpiece Danger: Diabolik, a movie we’ve discussed a bit before, and which every movie website in the universe has discussed as well. So, we’ll just reiterate what all those sites say: campy, cheesy, colorful, comical, languid, sexy, tongue-in-cheek, a prime influence on the late Austin Powers series, and so forth. We would add, however, that it was terribly reviewed in its time. But we like it, and it also has a political message that resonates today: Diabolik hoards wealth for his own amusement and lust for luxury, doesn’t care who he hurts or kills in the process, and has taken so much and done it so often that it has left his government destabilized and discredited. Sound familiar? Danger: Diabolik premiered in Japan today in 1968.
        
 Diabolik loves money like an investment banker but is a million times cooler. 
German poster for Mario Bava’s 1968 camp masterpiece Diabolik. We’re a little surprised how few people actually get this film, which pushed the swinging sixties thriller to its illogical extreme. The lead character—played by John Phillip Law—was a thief, and a rather Machiavellian one at that, who didn’t mind innocent people getting hurt if it meant more profit. Sounds a bit like a Goldman Sachs executive, right? But where investment bankers are typically balding math majors pretending to be swashbucklers of high finance, Diabolik was 100% stud, complete with a secret identity, a high tech underground lair, and a female sidekick always ready for some down and dirty. We recommend you check this one out next time you’re in the mood for a laugh. Diabolik premiered in West Germany today in 1968.
 Austrian sex symbol proves difficult to date. 
Above, a rare promo photo of Austrian actress and sex symbol Marisa Mell, who starred in the all-time camp classic Diabolik. We don't know the year on this image, but we think it was around 1970. Update: Right, well, we weren't close on the date. Below is a cover for the German magazine Neue Illustrierte Revue featuring the same shot dated December 1976, and we saw another frame from the session that was used in a November 1976 Playboy. So 1976 it is. Nice cover too.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1967—First Space Program Casualty Occurs
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when, during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere after more than ten successful orbits, the capsule's main parachute fails to deploy properly, and the backup chute becomes entangled in the first. The capsule's descent is slowed, but it still hits the ground at about 90 mph, at which point it bursts into flames. Komarov is the first human to die during a space mission. 1986—Otto Preminger Dies
Austro–Hungarian film director Otto Preminger, who directed such eternal classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Stalag 17, and for his efforts earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, dies in New York City, aged 80, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 1998—James Earl Ray Dies
The convicted assassin of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., petty criminal James Earl Ray, dies in prison of hepatitis aged 70, protesting his innocence as he had for decades. Members of the King family who supported Ray's fight to clear his name believed the U.S. Government had been involved in Dr. King's killing, but with Ray's death such questions became moot. 1912—Pravda Is Founded
The newspaper Pravda, or Truth, known as the voice of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg. It is one of the country's leading newspapers until 1991, when it is closed down by decree of then-President Boris Yeltsin. A number of other Pravdas appear afterward, including an internet site and a tabloid. 1983—Hitler's Diaries Found
The German magazine Der Stern claims that Adolf Hitler's diaries had been found in wreckage in East Germany. The magazine had paid 10 million German marks for the sixty small books, plus a volume about Rudolf Hess's flight to the United Kingdom, covering the period from 1932 to 1945. But the diaries are subsequently revealed to be fakes written by Konrad Kujau, a notorious Stuttgart forger. Both he and Stern journalist Gerd Heidemann go to trial in 1985 and are each sentenced to 42 months in prison.
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