FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
George Franklin Grant (September 15, 1846 – August 21, 1910) was the first African-American professor at Harvard. He was also a Boston dentist, and an inventor of a wooden golf tee.
BIOGRAPHY
Grant was born on September 15, 1846, in Oswego, New York, to Phillis Pitt and Tudor Elandor Grant.
He entered the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1868, and graduated in 1870. He then took a position in the department of mechanical dentistry in 1871, making him Harvard University‘s first African-American faculty member.
Grant was a founding member and later the president of the Harvard Odontological Society and was a member of the Harvard Dental Alumni Association where he was elected president in 1881. In 1899 he improved on Percy Ellis’ “Perfectum” tee.
Grant died on August 21, 1910, at his vacation home in Chester, New Hampshire, of liver disease.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What is the name of the dog in the classic Dr. Seuss tale How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
The dog’s name is Max.
Advice of the Day
Drop peeled apples, pears, and potatoes in cold, lightly salted water, and they won’t turn brown.
Home Hint of the Day
Dog odor can be eliminated by sprinkling baking soda on the dog’s coat, working it into the fur with your hands, then brushing well. The dirt in the dog’s fur will come out along with the soda.
Word of the Day
Ombrophobia
The fear of rain
Puzzle of the Day
Why is the inside of everything so mysterious?
Because we cannot make it out.
Died
- Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett (introduced the poinsettia plant to the U.S.) – 1851
- Robert Browning (poet) – 1889
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt (astronomer) – 1921
- Dee Brown (author) – 2002
- Keiko the killer whale (star of the Free Willy movies, died at 27 of pneumonia in a Norwegian fjord) – 2003
- Peter Boyle (actor) – 2006
- Tom Laughlin (actor) – 2013
Born
- Edvard Munch (artist) – 1863
- Frank Sinatra (singer) – 1915
- Bob Barker (game show host) – 1923
- Edward Ed” Koch” (former mayor of New York City) – 1924
- Connie Francis (singer) – 1938
- Dionne Warwick (singer ) – 1940
- Madeleine Wickham (author, aka Sophie Kinsella) – 1969
- Jennifer Connelly (actress) – 1970
- Katrina Elam (country music singer) – 1983
Events
- Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution and became the second state in the Union– 1787
- Joseph Hayne Rainey became the first African-American to serve as a U.S. representative– 1870
- Golf was played for the first time in the U.S. at Franklin Park, Boston– 1890
- George Grant received patent for improved golf tee– 1899
- Father Edward Flanagan founded a home for boys in Omaha, Nebraska—the start of Boys Town– 1917
- Orange soil discovered by Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt during their second day of exploration on the lunar surface– 1972
- Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones accepted a knighthood from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace– 2003
- Jean Chretien stepped down after 10 years as Canada’s popular and often argumentative prime minister. Paul Martin, a former finance minister, inherited his post, becoming the 21st prime minister. – 2003
Weather
- Snow accumulated to 16 inches in Nantucket, Massachusetts– 1960
- Baltimore received 12 inches of snow in the first of three major storms that winter– 1960
- 20.4 inches of snow covered Newark, New Jersey– 1960
- Albany, New York, registered a low of -12 degrees F– 1988
- After a two-day storm, 17.1 inches of snow covered Minneapolis, Minnesota. The snow event set an all-time record for two-day snowfall in December. The weight of the snow caused a tear in the roof of the Metrodome and deflated it, forcing the Vikings-Giants game to be rescheduled and moved to Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.– 2010
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