FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Sutter’s Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found gold there in 1848. This discovery set off the California Gold Rush (1848–1855), a major event in the history of the United States.
The mill was later reconstructed in the original design and today forms part of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma, California. A meteorite fall in 2012 landed close to the mill; the recovered fragments were named the Sutter’s Mill meteorite.
CURRENT STATUS
The site of the mill is part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, registered as California Historical Landmark number 530. The current Sutter’s Mill is a replica of the original building. It was built in 1967 based on Marshall’s own drawings and a photograph of the mill taken in 1850.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What exactly do B.C. and A.D. stand for, and was there a year 0?
B.C. stands for before Christ,” and A.D. stands for “anno Domini,” a Latin phrase that translates as “in the year of the Lord.” There is no year 0; the years go from 1 B.C. to A.D. 1.”
Advice of the Day
Use a sponge dampened with vinegar to clean shower curtains.
Home Hint of the Day
To correct a loud banging when the furnace shuts off, locate the offending panel in the duct work and screw a 1-inch-wide metal strip onto that panel in a diagonal position.
Word of the Day
Psychrometer
An instrument used for measuring the water vapor content of the air.
Puzzle of the Day
State nicknames: What state is the Keystone State? Beehive State? Wolverine State? Nutmeg State? Sooner State?
Keystone: Pennsylvania; Beehive: Utah, Wolverine: Michigan: Nutmeg: Connecticut; Sooner: Oklahoma.
Born
- Edith Wharton (author) – 1862
- Vicki Baum (novelist) – 1888
- Leon Kirchner (composer) – 1919
- Neil Diamond (singer) – 1941
- John Belushi (actor) – 1949
- Nastassja Kinski (actress) – 1961
- Mary Lou Retton (gymnast) – 1968
- Matthew Lillard (actor) – 1970
- Mischa Barton (actress) – 1986
Died
- Sir Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister) – 1965
- George Cukor (film director) – 1983
- Vincente Minnelli (film director) – 1986
- Thurgood Marshall (first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court) – 1993
- Jay Monahan (legal analyst for NBC News) – 1998
- Bob Russell (creator of the Miss America Pageant and Name That Tune) – 1998
- Chris Penn (actor) – 2006
Events
- Gold nuggets discovered at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, triggered the California Gold Rush – 1848
- Typewriter copy” ribbon patented by Jacob L. Wortman”– 1888
- Patent 1,404,539 granted for the Eskimo Pie (now Edy’s Pie)– 1922
- Moving picture of a solar eclipse taken from dirigible over Long Island, NY– 1925
- Percy Spencer granted patent for microwave oven– 1950
- Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 crashed in Canada’s Northwest Territories, leaking radioactive waste– 1978
- An otter entertained crowds all winter at the mouth of the Ompompanoosuc River in Norwich, Vermont– 1981
- Apple Computer, Inc. introduced the Macintosh personal computer– 1984
- The Voyager 2 spacecraft sent back photographs from the planet Uranus– 1986
- Rover Opportunity landed on Mars– 2004
- A blizzard that took over New England with blinding snow and blustering wind kept the Cape Cod Times from publishing a print edition for the first time– 2005
Weather
- The temperature in Browning, Montana, plunged 100 degrees in 24 hours, from 44F to -56F, establishing a U.S. record for a 24-hour temperature drop.– 1916
- Fifteen degrees below zero F in Nashville, Tennessee– 1963
- 4 inches of snow fell near Lake Jocassee in South Carolina– 1991
- North Myrtle Beach experienced a low temperature of 16 degrees F– 2003
- Thirty-eight inches of snow on Cape Cod after a 2-day winter blizzard– 2005
COURTESY www.almanac.com
