WINTER SOLSTICE The winter solstice is one of the two times each year that the Sun is at its farthest point from the equator and appears to stand still. It occurs today at 5:02 A.M. EST. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol, […]

December Images 2020 Snowman & Wreath (courtesy mascpa.org) 1680s 1686: FICTIONAL ROBINSON CRUSOE LEFT ISLAND AFTER 28 YEARS. DANIEL DEFOE’S STORY IS BASED ON AN ACTUAL PERSON, ALEXANDER SELKIRK, A SCOTTISH SAILOR, WHO WAS FOUND ON AN ISLAND WHERE HE HAD BEEN STRANDED FOR 52 […]

United States Bill of Rights 1789 photo By 1st United States Congress – Available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration. Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org James Madison, primary author and chief advocate for the Bill of Rights in the First Congress By […]

December birthstone Rough and polished tanzanite 2010 photo By Didier Descouens – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org ST. LUCIA’S DAY St. Lucia (also called Lucy) was a fourth-century Italian martyr. Her name is derived from the Latin lux, meaning “light,” so she has […]

December birthstone of Turquoise slab By Parent Géry – Own work, Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org 1780s 1787: PENNSYLVANIA RATIFIED THE CONSTITUTION AND BECAME THE SECOND STATE IN THE UNION 1850s DIED 1851: DR. JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT (INTRODUCED THE POINSETTIA PLANT TO THE U.S.) 1860s BORN […]

Hanukkah table 2007 photo by By MathKnight – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org CHANUKAH BEGINS This eight-day Jewish festival begins this evening at sundown. The festival commemorates events that took place in Judea more than 2,000 years ago, when the Syrian king Antiochus […]

John Lennon in 1969 photo by By Joost Evers Anefo http proxy.handle.net, CC0, https commons.wikimedia.org Every Year FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (CELEBRATED IN MANY CATHOLIC COUNTRIES) 1760s BORN 1765: ELI WHITNEY (INVENTOR) 1880s 1886: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR IS ORGANIZED AT COLUMBUS, OHIO, WITH […]

U.S. Navy battleships at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 (l-r): USS West Virginia (BB-48) (sunk), USS Tennessee (BB-43) (damaged), and the USS Arizona (BB-39) (sunk). 1941 photo By USN; National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY At […]

A depiction of Saint Nicholas with his sack standing next to a Nativity Scene By Ing.Mgr. Jozef Kotulič – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org ST. NICHOLAS DAY Many countries in Europe celebrate the Feast of Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas, on the eve of […]

December birthstone a slab of turquoise 2010 photo by By Parent Géry – Own work, Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org 1780s BORN 1782: MARTIN VAN BUREN (8TH U.S. PRESIDENT). HE WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO BE A U.S. CITIZEN AT BIRTH 1790s DIED 1791: WOLFGANG AMADEUS […]

Yellow narcissus flower for month of December 2008 photo by By Screen stalker – Own work, Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org 1640s DIED 1642: ARMAND-JEAN DU PLESSIS, CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU (FRENCH CLERGYMAN AND STATESMAN) 1780s 1783: AT FRAUNCES TAVERN IN NEW YORK’S LOWER MANHATTAN, GEORGE WASHINGTON […]

Goodbye November 2020 Hello December Christmas tree on Park Avenue (WeLoveThisPic.com).jpg Every Year INDEPENDENCE DAY (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) 1760s 1763: TOURO SYNAGOGUE, OLDEST IN THE UNITED STATES, WAS DEDICATED IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND 1800s 1804: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE WAS CROWNED FRENCH EMPEROR NAPOLEON I OF FRANCE […]

November gemstone Citrine taillee 2009 photo by By Didier Descouens – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https commons.wikimedia.org ANNIVERSARY OF MARK TWAIN’S BIRTH Born on this day in 1835, beloved writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens provided us with endless entertainment through numerous novels, nonfiction books, short […]

November Topaz crystal 2009 photo by By Archaeodontosaurus – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org 1520s 1520: NAVIGATOR FERDINAND MAGELLAN REACHED THE PACIFIC, EMERGING FROM WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN 1750s BORN 1757: WILLIAM BLAKE (POET) 1820s BORN 1820: FRIEDRICH […]

THANKSGIVING DAY In a 1789 proclamation, President George Washington called on the people of the United States to acknowledge God for affording them “an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness” by observing a day of thanksgiving. Devoting a […]

(photo courtesy of InvisionMag.com) 1640s BORN 1643: RENÉ-ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE (EXPLORER) 1710s DIED 1718: BLACKBEARD (PIRATE) 1810s BORN 1819: GEORGE ELIOT (AUTHOR) 1860s 1869: BRITISH CLIPPER CUTTY SARK LAUNCHED 1880s 1880: ACTRESS LILLIAN RUSSELL DEBUTED AT TONY PASTOR’S THEATRE, NEW YORK CITY […]

Chrysanthemum, November flower 2005 photo by GFDL 1.2, https commons.wikimedia.org Every Year WORLD TELEVISION DAY 1620s 1620: THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT, A PRELIMINARY PLAN OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE PILGRIMS, WAS SIGNED IN THE CABIN OF THE MAYFLOWER NEAR WHAT IS NOW PROVINCETOWN, MASSACHUSETTS 1690s BORN 1694: […]

UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY The United Nations General Assembly recommended in 1954 that all countries institute a Universal Children’s Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children and of activity promoting the welfare of the world’s children. Every Year UNIVERSAL […]

Every Year DISCOVERY DAY (PUERTO RICO) 1490s 1493: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS FIRST SIGHTED WHAT IS NOW PUERTO RICO 1750s BORN 1752: GEORGE ROGERS CLARK (MILITARY LEADER) 1790s 1794: JAY’S TREATY BETWEEN THE U.S. AND GREAT BRITAIN SIGNED 1820s DIED 1828: FRANZ SCHUBERT (COMPOSER) 1830s BORN 1831: […]