FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American car company (formerly: Markin Automobile Body). Both companies were owned by Morris Markin by the 1930s.

The Checker, particularly the 1959–82 Checker A series sedans remain the most famous taxicab vehicles in the United States. The vehicle is comparable to the London Taxi in its internationally renowned styling, which went largely unchanged from 1959 to keep production costs down.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

I’ve heard people talking about orange cucumbers that are supposed to be full of vitamins. What are these?

A beta-carotene-rich cucumber has been developed, and you may be able to find seeds for this cucumber at a local garden store. It apparently tastes like its green cousins, with a hint of tropical flavor, and is as good for you as carrots and sweet potatoes.

Advice of the Day

A suspicious parent makes an artful child.

Home Hint of the Day

Trim hedges often. For most species, frequent trimming produces more compact growth.

Word of the Day

Pluviophobia

Fear of rain

Puzzle of the Day

To love ruin (Rearrange this phrase into a single word meaning violent change or turnover.)

Revolution

Born

• E.W. Scripps (newspaper publisher) – 1854
• James Montgomery Flagg (illustrator of Uncle Sam I Want You for the U.S. Army” poster”) – 1877
• Sylvia Porter (economist) – 1913
• Paul McCartney (musician) – 1942
• Roger Ebert (film critic) – 1942
• Isabella Rossellini (actress) – 1952
• Carol Kane (actress) – 1952
• Kurt Browning (figure skater) – 1966
• Willa Holland (actress) – 1991

Died

• Ethel Barrymore (actress) – 1959
• John Cheever (author) – 1982
• I.F. Stone (journalist) – 1989
• Jack Buck (broadcaster) – 2002
• Doris Dowling (actress) – 2004
• Vincent Sherman (director) – 2006
• Tasha Tudor (children’s author & illustrator) – 2008
• Clarence Clemons (musician) – 2011

Events

• The United States declared war on Great Britain– 1812
• Napoleon’s troops were defeated at Waterloo (present-day Belgium)– 1815
• First fly-casting tournament in the United States, Utica, New York– 1861
• Checker Cab put its first taxi on the streets– 1923
• National Postal strike in Canada– 1924
• Sally Ride became the first American woman in space– 1983
• A 9-lb. 6-oz. kokanee salmon caught in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia– 1988
• Edward Fincke first U.S. astronaut in space during birth of his child– 2004
• 63-lb. 8-oz. flathead catfish caught, James River, South Dakota– 2006
• 103-year-old Julia Hawkins won the 100-meter dash at the National Senior Games– 2019

Weather

• Phoenix, Arizona, had a temperature of 115 degrees F– 1989
• Tucson, Arizona, had a temperature of 113 degrees F– 1989
• Atlanta had 3.47 inches of rain within an hour– 1991
• A thunderstorm over Uruguay and northern Argentina produced a single flash of lightning that lasted 17.102 seconds, setting a world record for the longest duration of a single lightning bolt. – 2020

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