FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Swan Lake (Russian: Лебединое озеро, tr. Lebedinoye ozero, IPA: [lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə] listen (help·info)), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time. The scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian and German folk […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing Arizona in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state’s first Representative for eight terms before entering the Senate, Hayden […]

TODAY’S ALMANAC Question of the Day What is the incubation period of a chicken egg? The incubation period is 21 days. Advice of the Day Never descend to flatter or withhold a deserved compliment. Home Hint of the Day To tighten a glass doorknob that is loose and […]

TODAY’S ALMANAC Question of the Day When I was young and it would rain while the sun was shining, someone might say, “The Devil is beating his wife.” Where did this saying come from? We think that the saying originated in Hungary, and in the United […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Jo Raquel Welch (née Tejada; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first won attention for her role in Fantastic Voyage (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer Film Productions, […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes /ˈɡævi.ɪfɔːrmiːz/. DESCRIPTION Loons, which are the size of large ducks or small geese, resemble these birds in shape when swimming. Like ducks […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Double Dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously. It is believed to have originated among Dutch immigrants in New York City, although it has been a popular school playground […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Mirai Aileen Nagasu (長洲 未来, Nagasu Mirai, born April 16, 1993) is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2016, bronze in 2011 and 2017), the 2007 JGP Final champion, a two-time World Junior medalist (silver in 2007, bronze in 2008), and […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Burt Freeman Bacharach (/ˈbækəræk/ BAK-ə-rak; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. He composed hundreds of pop songs from the late […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018. Allen is widely considered to be one of […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Simon Willard (April 3, 1753 – August 30, 1848) was a celebrated American clockmaker. Simon Willard clocks were produced in Massachusetts in the towns of Grafton and Roxbury, near Boston. Among his many innovations and timekeeping improvements, Simon Willard is best known for inventing the eight-day patent timepiece that came to be […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur DBE (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, a feat […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los Angeles area as part of a […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Oregon Spectator, was a newspaper published from 1846 to 1855 in Oregon City of what was first the Oregon Country and later the Oregon Territory of the United States. The Spectator was the first American newspaper west of the Rocky Mountains and was the main paper of the region used by politicians for public […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America’s Cup. AMERICA’S CUP Conner has won the America’s Cup three times, successfully defending the […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Julia Ward Howe (/haʊ/; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and the original 1870 pacifist Mother’s Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism and a social activist, particularly for women’s suffrage. TODAY’S […]

February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the leap day. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (the other four being April, […]