NOAH WEBSTER’S BIRTHDAY Noah Webster, America’s first lexicographer, was born on October 16, 1758. We remember Webster as the author of the first American dictionary, but he was also the first authority to advocate American English. His American Spelling Book, published in 1783 (later known […]
Entertainment
Daily Almanac for Friday, October 15, 2021; Day 288 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Statue of Liberty, officially known as Liberty Enlightening the World (French: La Liberté éclairant le monde), is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor within New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed […]
Daily Almanac for Thursday, October 14, 2021; Day #287 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. The Memorial is southwest of […]
Daily Almanac for Wednesday, October 13, 2021; Day #286 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The United States Navy Memorial is a memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring those who have served or are currently serving in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine. It lies on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 7th Street Northwest and 9th Street Northwest, adjacent to the Archives station of the Washington Metro and the National Archives building. The National Park Service, […]
Daily Almanac for Tuesday, October 12, 2021; Day 285 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS An iron lung, also known as a tank ventilator or Drinker tank, is a type of negative pressure ventilator (NPV); a mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person’s body, and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space, to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when muscle control is lost, or the work of breathing […]
Daily Almanac for Monday, October 11, 2021; Day 284 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. Michaels currently serves as the program’s showrunner. The show premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC’s Saturday Night. The […]
Daily Almanac for Sunday, October 10, 2021
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Patriots hold the records for most Super Bowl wins (6, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers), appearances (11), and losses (5, tied with the Denver Broncos). Generally unsuccessful prior to the 21st century, the team enjoyed a period of dominance under head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady from 2001 […]
Daily Almanac for Saturday, October 9, 2021
LEIF ERIKSSON DAY In A.D. 1000, long before Columbus, Eriksson led a Viking voyage westward from Greenland and reached the coast of North America, in what is now Newfoundland. He named his discovery Vinland. Although Eriksson is not officially credited with the European discovery of […]
Daily Almanac for Friday, October 8, 2021
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Walter Francis O’Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the […]
Daily Almanac for Thursday, October 7, 2021
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Cornell University is a private Ivy League and statutory land-grant research university, based in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, it has consistently been ranked among the top universities in the world by major educational publications. Cornell was founded with the intention to teach and make contributions […]
Daily Almanac for Wednesday, October 6, 2021; Day 280 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was an American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”, Jolson is credited with being America’s most famous and highest-paid star of the 1920s. He was known for his […]
Historical Happenings for Monday, October 5; Day #278 and World Teacher’s Day
Every Year WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY 1700s BORN 1703: JONATHAN EDWARDS (PHILOSOPHER) 1810s DIED 1813: TECUMSEH (NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER) DIED 1818: NANCY HANKS LINCOLN (MOTHER OF U.S. PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN) 1820s BORN 1829: CHESTER ARTHUR (21ST U.S. PRESIDENT) 1860s BORN 1864: LOUIS LUMIERE (INVENTOR) 1880s BORN […]
Daily Almanac for Monday, August 4, 2021; Day #277 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931 in the Detroit Mirror, and it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote […]
Daily Almanac for Sunday, October 3, 2021; Day 276 of the Year
Every Year UNITY DAY (GERMANY) 1220s DIED 1226: ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI 1790s BORN 1790: JOHN ROSS (CHEROKEE NATION CHIEF) 1860s 1863: PRESIDENT LINCOLN DECLARED THE LAST THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER AS THANKSGIVING DAY 1868: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN FIRST PUBLISHED 1890s BORN 1898: LEO […]
Daily Almanac for Saturday, October 2, 2021; Day 275 of the Year
Every Year INDEPENDENCE DAY (GUINEA) 1800s BORN 1800: NAT TURNER (SLAVE) 1830s BORN 1832: JULIUS VON SACHS (BOTANIST) 1850s BORN 1852: SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY (CHEMIST) 1860s BORN 1869: MAHATMA GANDHI (INDIAN SPIRITUAL LEADER) 1870s 1871: BRIGHAM YOUNG, MORMON LEADER, IS ARRESTED IN SALT LAKE CITY […]
Daily Almanac for Friday, October 1, 2019; A new month; the 10th month with Sweetest’s Day and Halloween looming
MONTH OF OCTOBER In the ancient Roman calendar, October was the name of the eighth month of the year. Its name comes from octo, the Latin word for “eight.” When the Romans converted to a 12-month calendar, they tried to rename this month after various […]
Daily Almanac for Thursday, September 30, 2021; the end of our Ninth Month of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959), for which she […]
Daily Almanac for Wednesday, September 29, 2021; the 271st Day of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig; June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him his […]
Daily Almanac for Tuesday, September 28, 2021; Day #270 of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959), for which she […]
Daily Almanac for Monday, September 27, 2021; the 269th Day of the Year
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed Big Mac, is an American former professional baseball first baseman. His Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career spanned from 1986 to 2001 while playing for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals, winning one World Series championship each, with Oakland as a player in 1989 and […]