Kwanzaa (/ˈkwɑːn.zə/) is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day.[1] It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
I have a strange fungus appearing in numerous spots around my mulched flower beds. It first appears as a thick, bright yellow, bubbly liquid (almost paintlike). As it dries, it forms a tan crust across the top. If it is sprayed with water, it produces small clouds of dark brown dust. What can I do to eliminate it?
It sounds as if you have slime mold, a fungus that lives on mulch. Although it doesn’t decay the mulch, it is quite unsightly. To control the problem use corn meal as that will kill off the disease, or even diluted milk. These two treatments will not harm soil organisms. This is also an excellent way to control brown patch, a fungus that gets into Saint Augustine grass in the late summer.
Advice of the Day
Onion skins very thin, mild winter coming in.
Home Hint of the Day
To remove mothball odor in clothing that has been stored, place the clothing in the dryer with scented fabric-softener sheets and run on the air-only setting for 15 minutes.
Word of the Day
Solar eclipse
Earth enters the shadow of the new Moon, which cuts off all or part of the Sun’s light. Total: Earth passes through the umbra (central dark part) of the Moon’s shadow, resulting in totality for observers within a narrow band on Earth. Annular: The Moon appears silhouetted against the Sun, with a ring of sunlight showing around it. Partial: The Moon blocks only part of the Sun.
Puzzle of the Day
You may pass over a flat piece of ground whose name read backward or forward is always the same.
Level
Died
- Jean Grolier (bibliophile) – 1565
- Paul Cezanne (painter) – 1906
- Pretty Boy Floyd (gangster) – 1934
- Pablo Casals (cellist) – 1973
- Nadia Boulanger (pianist) – 1979
- Richard Helms (headed the CIA for 6 years before President Nixon fired him for refusing to block an FBI probe into the Watergate scandal) – 2002
- Soupy Sales (American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado) – 2009
Born
- Sarah Bernhardt (actress) – 1844
- N. C. Wyeth (illustrator) – 1882
- John Reed (journalist) – 1887
- George Wells Beadle (geneticist) – 1903
- Joan Fontaine (actress) – 1917
- Doris Lessing (author) – 1919
- Timothy Leary (educator) – 1920
- Donald H. Peterson (astronaut) – 1933
- Christopher Lloyd (actor) – 1938
- Tony Roberts (actor) – 1939
- Annette Funicello (actress) – 1942
- Catherine Deneuve (actress) – 1943
- Jeff Goldblum (actor) – 1952
- Brian Boitano (figure skater) – 1963
- Jonathan Lipnicki (actor) – 1990
Events
- The College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, was granted its charter by the royal governor of NJ– 1746
- Andre Jacques Garnerin, French aeronaut and inventor of the parachute, made first parachute jump from a balloon, at height of 2,000 feet– 1797
- New York’s original Metropolitan Opera House opened with a performance of Charles Gounod’s Faust– 1883
- First national horse show opened in New York City– 1883
- Chester Carlson produced the first xerographic copy– 1938
- Percy L. Julian, Edwin W. Meyer, and Norman C. Krause received patent for cortisone– 1940
- Margaret Meagher became Canada’s first female ambassador (to Israel)– 1958
- Jean-Paul Sartre, French writer and philosopher, rejected the Nobel Prize for literature– 1964
- The Kwanzaa U.S. postage stamp was first issued; Synthia Saint James did the artwork.– 1997
- Fisherman caught a rare purple lobster off the coast of Winter Harbor, Maine– 2019
Weather
- Los Angeles, California, hit 100 degrees F– 1965
- San Diego, California, reached 104 degrees F– 1965
- Vermont received 4-5 inches of snow, the most in October in 43 years– 1969
- Portland, Maine, received 10.53 inches of rain in 24 hours– 1996
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