FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.

Throughout her prolific writing career, Brooks received many more honors. A lifelong resident of Chicago, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968, a position she held until her death 32 years later. She was also named the U.S. Poet Laureate for the 1985–86 term. In 1976, she became the first African American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Month of May

May is named for the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants.

May Day

Ancient spring rites that related human fertility to crop fertility gave birth to most modern May Day festivities. May 1 is the traditional day to crown the May queen, dance around the maypole, perform mummers’ plays, and generally celebrate the return of spring. Although our Pilgrim fathers were horrified by these reminders of a pagan past and outlawed all such activities, the maypole dance remains an enduring event. In Great Britain, the custom of “bringing in the May” involves gathering “knots,” or branches with buds, on the eve or early morning of May 1. In England, a favorite branch is hawthorn. In Scotland and Wales, people choose the rowan, or mountain ash. In North America, we often select forsythia, lilac, or pussy willow branches to bring spring and the prospect of new life into our homes. Learn more about May Day here!

Question of the Day

I have a waterfall in my garden that allows for plants to be set out at the top of it near the running water. My problem is that the plants I have used keep drowning, and I have no way to cut off the water flow without stopping the waterfall. Are there any plants (small, please) that thrive in areas of abundant moisture?Good flowers for the rim of a pool or waterfall are astilbes, cardinal flower, Japanese and Siberian irises, loosestrife, marsh marigold, rose mallow, daylilies, and perennial candelabra-type primroses. Water plants include water lilies, water hyacinths, water poppies, and water snowflakes, although the latter three are not winter hardy.

Advice of the Day

A snowstorm in May is worth a wagon load of hay.

Home Hint of the Day

When sharpening a knife, position it so that when you stroke the stone, the edge of the knife is leading. If you stroke it with the edge trailing, it will leave a fine feather edge that will not stand up to use.

Word of the Day

TattooOf Polynesian origin. To color, as the flesh, by pricking in coloring matter, so as to form marks or figures which can not be washed out.

Puzzle of the Day

What is never out of sight?The letter S.

Died

• Pope Pius V – 1572
• Dr. David Livingstone (explorer, missionary) – 1873
• Spike Jones (band leader, musician, & comedian) – 1965

Born

• Benjamin Henry Latrobe (architect) – 1764
• Glenn Ford (actor) – 1916
• Jack Paar (entertainer) – 1918
• Joseph Heller (novelist) – 1923
• Rita Coolidge (singer) – 1944
• Joanna Lumley (actress) – 1946
• Tim McGraw (country singer) – 1967
• Ariel Gade (actress) – 1997

Events

• Great Britain formed– 1707
• Electric streetlights installed in Ottawa, Ontario– 1885
• Scofield Mine disaster occurred in Utah– 1900
• The Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City– 1931
• Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize– 1950
• Existence of Van Allen radiation belts announced– 1958
• Harper Lee won Pulitzer Prize for her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird– 1961
• Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas– 1967

Weather

• Polebridge, Montana, had a temperature of -5 degrees F– 1954
• Ice out, Dublin Lake in Dublin, New Hampshire (home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac)– 1972

COURTESY www.almanac.com