FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Christmas seals are labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs. They have become particularly associated with lung diseases such as tuberculosis, and with child welfare. Christmas seals are regarded as a form of cinderella stamp in contrast with Christmas stamps used for postage.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
At dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in an attempt to cripple the fleet and hinder U.S. intervention in other Japanese targets in the South Pacific. The Japanese military expected that Germany would defeat Great Britain and the Soviet Union and that Japan would control the Pacific. The attack was opposed by Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who cautioned against a war with the United States, but he was overruled. After the attack, he said, “We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve.” He was right. Although airfields, port facilities, and warships were severely damaged and two battleships, the Utah and the Arizona, were destroyed, the attack mobilized the United States and signaled its entry into World War II. Today the Arizona is a memorial and a national park.
Full Cold Moon
December’s Cold Moon reaches peak illumination on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 11:09 P.M. EST. December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us. Read more about December’s Cold Moon here.
Question of the Day
What kind of Christmas tree is most popular?
The top-selling Christmas trees, as reported by growers across the United States, are the Fraser fir, Douglas fir, balsam fir, and silver fir, in that order.
Advice of the Day
To cure hiccups, eat crushed ice. If that fails, apply ice to the larynx.
Home Hint of the Day
If you’re fixing up an old house, be sure to look for the beauty underneath all the dust and dirt. First find out what you have, then decide if you want to cover it up.
Word of the Day
Sleet
Sleet falls in the winter when the air temperature is below freezing near the ground and above freezing up in the clouds. Rain forms in the warm air and falls into the cold air, freezing into little pieces of ice on the way down.
Puzzle of the Day
What word is that which by having a single letter transposed becomes its own opposite?
United (untied)
Born
- Willa Cather (author) – 1873
- Harry Chapin (musician) – 1942
- Johnny Bench (baseball player) – 1947
- Ron Hynes (Canadian singer-songwriter) – 1950
- Larry Bird (basketball player) – 1956
- Terrell Owens (football player) – 1973
- Aaron Carter (singer) – 1987
- Emily Browning (actress) – 1988
Died
- Rube Goldberg (cartoonist) – 1970
- Thornton Wilder (playwright) – 1975
- Jerry Scoggins (sang The Ballad of Jed Clampett” that introduced the Clampett clan on The Beverly Hillbillies”) – 2004
- Harry Morgan (actor) – 2011
Events
- The steam locomotive was used for the first time in Germany when a railroad opened from Nuremberg to Furth– 1835
- The first Christmas postage stamp was released in Canada– 1898
- Christmas seals sold for the first time– 1907
- The crew of Apollo 17, while on their way to the Moon, took a photo of Earth from about 28,000 miles away– 1972
- Gordie Howe became the first professional hockey player to score 1000 goals– 1977
Weather
- The Connecticut and Merrimack rivers in New England flooded after a great rainstorm– 1740
- An ice storm in Nashville, Tennessee, cut electricity to 40,000 houses for several wintry hours– 1989
- Denver, Colorado’s temperature plunged to 0 degrees F– 2005
- Gunnison, Colorado, experienced a frigid temperature of -24 degrees F– 2005
COURTESY www.almanac.com
