FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

John Samuel Vander Meer (November 2, 1914 – October 6, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds. Vander Meer is most notable for being the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw two consecutive no-hitters. After the impressive start to his major league career, he experienced problems controlling the accuracy of his pitching, and his later career was marked by inconsistent performances.

On June 11, 1938, Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Bees. Four days later against the Brooklyn Dodgers in what was the first night game ever held at Ebbets Field, he threw another no-hitter, becoming the only player in major league history to throw two straight no-hitters.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Ember Days

“Ember Days occur next on June 8, 10, and 11. Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”).

Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”

Which means:

“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”

Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months. As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“

King Kamehameha I Day (Hawaii)

Hawaii is the only American state that was once a kingdom with its own monarchy. One of the greatest kings was King Kamehameha I, also called, appropriately, Kamehameha the Great. His name means “the very lonely one” or “the one set apart.” A statue of him can be found in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

King Kamehameha I probably was born some time around 1758, the year when Halley’s comet became visible over Hawaii. A courageous warrior, the king conquered and united the entire Hawaiian islands into one kingdom. During his reign, which lasted from 1782 to 1819, Hawaii became an important center in the fur and sandalwood trades.

The last king in the Kamehameha dynasty was King Kamehameha V, who ruled from 1863 to 1872. During this time, the king proclaimed June 11 as a day to honor his grandfather, King Kamehameha I. Nowadays, King Kamehameha I Day is celebrated with parades, singing, and feasts.

King Kamehameha V was succeeded by King Lunalilo, King Kalakaua, and finally, the much beloved Queen Lili’uokalani. It was she who wrote the famous song, “Aloha Oe.”“

Question of the Day

Why do people say “Geronimo!” when they jump out of airplanes?

Geronimo, an Apache leader who lived from 1829 to 1909, was known for the raids he led throughout the Southwest in resistance to his people being forced onto reservations. In a tribute to his reputation as a fearless warrior, American military parachute troops adopted his name as their battle cry as they jumped from airplanes.

Advice of the Day

Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.

Home Hint of the Day

Whenever possible, pick flowers in the late afternoon. They have a greater sugar content then and will last longer than ones picked earlier in the day.

Word of the Day

Brontophobia

Fear of lightning/thunder

Puzzle of the Day

The best state in a flood. (Abbreviation of a U.S. state)

Ark

Born

• Joseph Warren (U.S. patriot) – 1741
• Richard Strauss (German composer) – 1864
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau (marine explorer) – 1910
• Vince Lombardi (football coach) – 1913
• Peter Bergman (actor) – 1953
• Joe Montana (football player) – 1956
• Hugh Laurie (actor) – 1959
• Peter Dinklage (actor) – 1969
• Joshua Jackson (actor) – 1978

Died

• John Wayne (actor) – 1979
• Karen Quinlan, (Coma patient. In a pioneering Right to Die case her parents fought to remove her from a respirator after she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state from ingesting tranquilizers and alcohol, after the respirator was removed she lived for many more years before passing away) – 1985
• DeForest Kelley (actor) – 1999
• David Brinkley (reporter and commentator whose NBC broadcasts from 1956-70 helped define and popularize television news in America. Brinkley hosted one of the earliest television news magazines, David Brinkley’s Journal, in the early 1960s) – 2003

Events

• King Henry VIII of England and Katherine of Aragon were married– 1509
• Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove– 1742
• Broad Street Riot, Boston, Massachusetts– 1837
• Sir Barton won triple crown– 1919
• Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched his first no-hit, no-run professional baseball game– 1938

Weather

• A storm washed away 300 feet of Meigg’s Wharf in San Francisco– 1864
• Los Angeles climaxed a four-day heat wave with a temperature of 112 degrees F– 1877
• Phoenix, Arizona, had 1.64 inches of rain, a June record– 1972
• Hailstones as big as baseballs fell from Colorado Springs to Estes Park, Colorado, injuring 60 and causing $625 million in damage.– 1990
• Tornado killed 4 Boy Scouts at Little Sioux Scout Ranch camp in western Iowa, which occupies 1,800 acres. Three boys were 13 and one 14 years old. Scouts were there for a leadership training course. 48 scouts and staff were injured. Tornado struck about 6:30 p.m. 27 more tornadoes touched down in Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska. Those tornadoes killed at least two people in northern Kansas, and destroyed much of the small town of Chapman. At Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, a tornado destroyed a wind erosion lab, damaged several engineering and science buildings, and tore the roof off a fraternity house.– 2008

COURTESY www.almanac.com