Category Archives: Today

Tidbits of History, July 13

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July 13 is:
Barbershop Music Appreciation Day
National French Fries Day
Beans ‘n’ Franks Day

1787 – The Northwest Ordinance was enacted by the Continental Congress. It established governing rules for the Northwest Territory. Also, the Congress also established procedures for the admission of new states and limited the expansion of slavery.

July 13, 1821 – Birthday of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate cavalry officer. From his obituary published in the New York Times:

…Immediately before the close of the war, the characteristic types of the soldiers of the South were sketched. It was pointed out that while Virginia, and what might be called the “old South,” produced gallant soldiers and dignified gentlemen, the South-west, the rude border country, gave birth to men of reckless ruffianism and cut-throat daring. The type of the first was Gen. Robert E. Lee; that of the latter, Gen. Bedford Forrest.

July 13, 1865 Horace Greeley advised his readers to “”Go west, young man”.

Guglielmo Marconi patented the radio in 1898.

The dedication of the Hollywood Sign on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1923. It originally read “Hollywoodland ” but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949. Afterwards, “HOLLYWOOD” was spelled out in 45-foot-tall white capital letters, and is 350 feet long. It was originally created as an advertisement for a local real estate development.

From Today in Science:
Rubik's cubeErno Rubik was born 13 Jul 1944.
Rubik was a Hungarian mathematician, educator and inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, a popular toy of the 1980s. Rubik’s Cube consists of 26 small cubes that rotate on a central axis; nine coloured cube faces, in three rows of three each, form each side of the cube. When the cube arrangement is randomized, the player must then return it to the original condition of faces with matching colours, which is one among 43 quintillion possible configurations.

Tidbits of History, July 12

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July 12 is:

National Pecan Pie Day

July 12 or 13 – 100 BC: Julius Caesar was born.

King Henry VIII of England married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace in 1543.

July 12, 1804 – Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton died. He had been shot in a duel vs Aaron Burr.

Birthday of Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817), American author of “Walden” or “Life in the Woods”. He died of tuberculosis at age 45.

Birthday of Sir William Osler (July 12, 1849), Canadian physician and teacher noted for his research on the circulatory system.

Birthday of George Eastman (July 12, 1854), American inventor of cameras.

Birthday of Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, born in New York City in 1895. Best known for his collaboration with Richard Rodgers in creating such epics as Oklahoma, Carousel, Show Boat, The Sound of Music, The King and I, and South Pacific. I’ve created a file on “BenneynLinda.com” which includes the lyrics and some midi files for the songs from these classic musicals.

Interestingly, although the film “Oklahoma” was initially to have been shot on location in the title state, the producers opted to shoot elsewhere, apparently because the oil wells would be a distraction for exterior scenes. Location shooting was done mostly in Nogales, Arizona. The corn field in the opening number as well as the reprise song, “Surrey With the Fringe On Top” was shot at the historic Canoa Ranch in Green Valley, Arizona. The train station used in the “Kansas City” routine was located in Elgin, Arizona.

From Today in Science:
In 1920, the Panama Canal was formally dedicated. It had taken more than 30 years to overcome the enormous engineering challenges and complete at a cost of $347 million. The first ship had, in fact, traveled through six years earlier when the Panama Canal opened to shipping on 15 Aug 1914. At that time, the world scarcely noticed the event since German troops were driving across Belgium toward Paris and the newspapers relegated the Panama story to their back pages; the greatest engineering project in the history of the world had been dwarfed by the totality of World War I.

Tidbits of History, July 11

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July 11 is:

Cheer up the Lonely Day
World Population Day
Slurpee Day
National Blueberry Muffin Day
National Mojito Day – mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water, and mint.

England’s King Henry VIII was excommunicated on this date in 1533.

Martin Frobisher sighted Greenland in 1576.

JQAdams, born July 11, 1767John Quincy Adams , the sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Mass on July 11, 1767.

The United States Marine Corps was re-established by an Act of Congress in 1798; it had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.

Vice-President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel near Weehawken, N.J. on July 11, 1804. See Burr-Hamilton Duel

Waterloo railway station in London opened in 1848.

Big Ben, the great bell inside the famous London clock tower, chimed for the first time on July 11, 1859.

1893 – The first cultured pearl was obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto.

On July 11, 1899, E. B. White, the American writer of essays and children’s books, was born. His classic children’s books, “Stuart Little”, “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Trumpet of the Swan” continue to sell in the hundreds of thousands every year.

Taft nominated Chief Justice June 301921 – Former President of the United States William Howard Taft was sworn in as 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices. To Taft, the appointment to the Supreme Court was his greatest honor; he wrote: “I don’t remember that I ever was President.”

July 11, 1944, Franklin Roosevelt announced that he would run for a fourth term as President of the United States.

Anniversary of the dedication of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Lowry Air Base, Colorado in 1955.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was first published in 1960.

LadyBird died July 11, 2007July 11,2007, former first lady Lady Bird Johnson, wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, died in Austin, Texas, at age 94.

Astronomers announce the discovery of Styx, the fifth moon of Pluto. in 2012.

From Today in Science:
In 1997, the first sequencing of pieces of DNA extracted from a Neanderthal-type specimen was published in the journal Cell, by a team of scientists led by Svent Pääbo. In the groundbreaking study, mitochondrial DNA was amplified from a sample (a small piece of the arm bone) from the first Neanderthal man found (1856). “The Neanderthal sequence falls outside the variation of modern humans.” The results suggested that from their common origin (“African Eve”), Neanderthals split off from humans a little over 550,000 years ago as a separate species and “went extinct without contributing mtDNA to modern humans.” (Using population models, Pääbo, more recently estimated that Neanderthals could have contributed up to 25% of their genetic makeup to modern human, but likely much less.)

Tidbits of History, July 10

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July 10 is:

Teddy Bear Picnic Day
Pick Blueberries Day
National Piña Colada Day

Birthday of John Calvin (July 10, 1509), Protestant theologian and reformer.

Alexander Mackenzie reached the Mackenzie River delta in 1789.

The first US frigate, the “United States,” was launched in Philadelphia on July 10, 1797.

The United States took possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain in 1821.

The Pont Royal and the Pavillion de Flore - Camille Pissarro Birthday of Camille Pissarro (July 10, 1830), Danish-French Impressionist. See Wikiart for samples of his works.

Birthday of Nikola Tesla (July 10, 1856), Croatian scientist who designed and built the first alternating current induction motor in 1883.

Wyoming headerWyoming Statehood Day 1890 forty-fourth state

  • Bird: Meadowlark
  • Flower: Indian paintbrush
  • Tree: Cottonwood
  • Capital: Cheyenne
  • Nickname: Equality State/Cowboy State
  • Motto: Equal rights

See our page on Wyoming for more interesting facts and trivia.

On July 10, 1913, Death Valley, California hit 134 °F (~56.7 °C), which is the highest temperature recorded in the United States.

Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins on July 10, 1925 with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

From Today in Science
Edward H Lowe Born 10 Jul 1920; died 4 Oct 1995 at age 75.
American inventor of Kitty Litter. After Navy duty (1941-45), Lowe joined his father’s company in Cassopolis, Mich., selling industrial absorbents, including sawdust and an absorbent clay called Fuller’s Earth. In 1947, Lowe suggested the use of the clay instead of ashes for his neighbor’s cat’s box to avoid sooty paw prints. It worked well and Lowe thought other cat owners would use this new cat-box filler. He filled ten brown bags with clay, wrote the name “Kitty Litter” on them and began selling it through the local pet store. By 1990, his marketing effort had grown into a clay mining and consumer product business, the largest U.S. producer of cat-box filler, now improved, 99% dust free, and sanitized against odor-causing bacteria. He held 67 US and foreign patents.

Tidbits of History, July 9

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July 9 is:

National Sugar Cookie Day

King Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves on this date in 1540.

1776 – George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read out loud to members of the Continental Army in New York, New York.

July 9 – 1816: The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata declared independence, as the predecessor state of Argentina.

Birthday of Elias Howe (July 9, 1819), American inventor of the sewing machine.

Taylor died July 9, 1850Death of Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States. He died in Washington, D. C. at age 65 on July 9, 1850. He died in office of acute gastroenteritis. Millard Fillmore succeeded him as 13th President of the United States.

1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

1900 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gave Royal Assent to an Act creating Australia, thereby uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.

Dick Clark’s 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand on July 9, 1956. It was on the air until 1989.

Donkey Kong, a video game created by Nintendo, was released in 1981. The game marks the debut of Nintendo’s future mascot, Mario.

From Today in Science
In 1872, New England sea captain, John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Maine, patented the doughnut cutter, (but can’t take credit for the hole). The origin of the doughnut as a deep-fried egg-batter pastry was from Holland with the Dutch name of olykoeks — “oily cakes.” In 1847, another New England ship captain’s enjoyed his mother’s pastries. Made using a deep-fried spiced dough, Elizabeth Gregory put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center, where the dough might not cook through – “doughnuts.” Captain Hanson Gregory claimed credit for originating the hole in the doughnut. Originally, he cut the hole using the top of a round tin pepper box. This made more uniform frying possible with increased surface area, commemorated by a bronze plaque at his hometown, Rockport, Maine.

Also from Today in Science
In 1878, an improved corncob pipe was patented by Henry Tibbe in Washington, Missouri, which he assigned to himself and Anton Tibbe, his son. (No.205,816). In 1869, Tibbe, Dutch immigrant woodworker, began manufacture of the corncob pipe, and founded what became the Missouri Meerschaum Company in 1907. The pipe was made from a special type of white kernel corn with smaller kernels on the cob (the kind used to make taco and tortilla flour). Famous corncob smokers included Presidents Ford and Eisenhower, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and of course, Popeye, Mammy Yokum and Frosty the Snowman.

Tidbits of History, July 8

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July 8 is :
Video Games Day
International Town Crier’s Day
National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

1663 – Charles II of England granted a Royal charter to Rhode Island to John Clarke.

NYC authorized first police uniforms in American colonies on July 8, 1693.

1775 – The Olive Branch Petition was signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict.

US State Dept issued 1st American passport on July 8, 1796.

From Today in Science
In 1881, a patron came into Edward Berner’s drug store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and sat down at the soda-fountain counter. Since it was the Sabbath, the customer couldn’t have the desirable, but scandalous, flavored soda water. Berner compromised by putting ice cream in a dish and poured over it the chocolate syrup that was previously only served as flavoring in ice-cream sodas. That was an ice cream Sunday! The name became “sundae”, after the day on which Berner served it.

The first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published in 1889.

From Today in Science
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Born 8 Jul 1926; died 24 Aug 2004 at age 78.
Swiss-American psychiatrist who was a leading authority on the psychology of dying. She is best-known for twelve books, beginning with On Death and Dying (1969), in which she proposed that the terminally ill go through five stages in their attitude. These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, perhaps, acceptance. The book offers strategies for caregivers. The work grew from a seminar she founded at the Billings Hospital of the University of Chicago where dying patients talked about their thoughts upon the approach of death. The best-selling success of the book led her into a career of clinical practice to the treatment of dying patients of all ages. Her lectures changed institutional attitudes towards the terminally ill.

1960 – Francis Gary Powers was charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.

Saddam Hussein1982 – Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The Dujail Massacre refers to the events following this assassination attempt. More than 140 people were sentenced and executed for their alleged involvement in the plot including four people who were mistakenly killed during the executions. Hundreds more were sent into exile and their houses, farms and properties were demolished. The executions in Dujail were the primary charges for which Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006.

Tidbits of History, July 7

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July 7 is the 189th day of 2020.

Chocolate Day – In 1550, Europe introduced the first chocolate.
National Strawberry Sundae Day
National Macaroni Day

On July 7, 1456, a retrial verdict acquitted Joan of Arc of heresy. Unfortunately, this was 25 years after her death.

Mexican–American War: American troops occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena (now called San Francisco) on July 7, 1846, thus beginning the U.S. acquisition of California.

From Today in Science
Nettie Maria Stevens born 7 July 1861
American geneticist who was born in the year that the Civil War began, and despite difficult times and limited women’s educational opportunities, became one of the first American women to achieve recognition for her contributions to scientific research. As a cell biologist and geneticist, her great contribution to science was as one of the first scientists to find that sex is determined by a single difference between two classes of sperm – the presence or absence of an X chromosome.

United States begins its first military draft in 1863; exemptions cost $300.

Execution by hanging of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair in Washington City; they had been convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

1907 – Birth of Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (d. 1988); author of “Stranger in a Strange Land”, “Starship Troopers”, etc.
A couple of quotes:

Reason is poor propaganda when opposed by the yammering, unceasing lies of shrewd and evil and self-serving men.
My old man claimed that the more complicated the law the more opportunity for scoundrels.
Specialization is for insects.
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930 at age 71 (born 22 May 1859). Scottish author and physician whose fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, emulates the scientist, diligently searching through data and to make sense of it. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Later in life Doyle was a spiritualist.

The Roswell incident, the (supposed) crash of an alien spaceship near Roswell in New Mexico on July 7, 1947.

Elvis Presley made his radio debut in 1954 when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”

Sandra Day O'Connor, July 71981 –U.S. President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99–0.

Tidbits of History, July 6

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July 6 is the 188th day of the year.

International Kissing Day
National Fried Chicken Day

1535 – Sir Thomas More was executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.

Birthday of John Paul Jones (July 6, 1747), American naval office of the Revolutionary period and founder of the American Navy.

1785 – The dollar was unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.

Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo on July 6, 1848

From: Today in Science
In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur and his colleagues injected the first of 14 daily doses of rabbit spinal cord suspensions containing progressively inactivated rabies virus into 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been severely bitten by a rabid dog 2 days before. The immunization was successful. This was the beginning of the modern era of immunization, which had been presaged by Edward Jenner nearly 100 years earlier. Pasteur’s rabies immunization procedure was rapidly adopted throughout the world. The boy grew up and became caretaker of the Pasteur Institute.

Horlick’s of Wisconsin offered the first malted milk to the public on July 6, 1886. It was patented as an artificial infant food.

In 1887 – David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was forced at gunpoint by Americans to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

Nancy Reagan, born July 6, 1921Birthday of Nancy Reagan (July 6, 1921), wife of Ronald Reagan; first lady 1981-1989

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.

George W Bush, born July 6, 1946Birthday of George W Bush (July 6, 1946), 43rd president of the United States.

AK-47 produced July 6, 1947The AK-47 went into production in the Soviet Union in 1947.

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Tidbits of History, July 5

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July 5 is the 187th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 179 days remaining until the end of the year.

Work-a-holics Day
National Apple Turnover Day

Birthday of Jonathan Carter Hornblower (July 5, 1753), English mining engineer who invented the first compound steam engine for which he claimed better efficiency, using two cylinders of unequal size attached to the same beam.

author of Federalist PaperPublication of Federalist Paper #83: The Judiciary in Relation to Trial by Jury written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788.

Birthday of Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum (July 5, 1810), American museum administrator and circus owner. He is remembered for his showmanship. He began as proprietor of the American Museum in New York City, which included not just freak shows, but also serious scientific exhibits, for which he actively collected natural history specimens.
See 10 things you may not know about P. T. Barnum from History.com.

In 1865, a lower speed limit – of 2 mph in town and 4 mph in the country – was imposed in Britain under the Locomotives and Highways Act. The “Red Flag” Act also required three drivers for each vehicle – two on the vehicle and one to walk ahead carrying a red flag. It was repealed in 1896, after nearly two decades of strong support from horse interests. The repeal of the act was celebrated by a 60 mile car run from London to Brighton – at the new and previously illegal speed of 12 mph.

Spam, the luncheon meat, was introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation on July 5, 1937. The word “spam” referring to unsolicited electronic bulk messages comes from a 1970 sketch of the BBC television comedy series” Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. The sketch is set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes Spam canned luncheon meat.

First bikini bathing suit displayed (Paris) in 1946.

1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon. It was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971 by North Carolina, the 38th state to do so, the quickest ratification of an amendment in history. It has since been ratified by an additional 5 states. No action has been taken on the amendment by the states of Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah.

In 1996, Dolly, a cloned sheep, was born at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tidbits of History, July 4

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July 4, Independence Day, the birthday of the United States, celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

National Country Music Day
Sidewalk Egg Frying Day
National Barbecued Spareribs Day
Caesar Salad Day

July 4, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was announced to the American people.

Birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1804. American novelist who wrote “The Scarlet Letter” and the “House of Seven Gables”.

Birthday of Stephen Collins Foster in 1826. American composer remembered for writing “Oh! Susanna”, “Old Folks at Home”, and “Beautiful Dreamer” along with others.

July 4, 1826: US Presidents John Adams , second President of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson , third President of the United States, died on the same day. Adams was 90 years old; Jefferson was 83.

July 4, 1831, death of James Monroe , fifth President of the United States. He died in New York City at age 73 from heart failure and tuberculosis.

“America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)” is first sung in Boston on this day in 1832. There are eight different verses to the song.

My country, ’tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.

The melody is the same as “God Save the Queen” or “God Save the King”, national anthem of Great Britain:

God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save The Queen!
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save The Queen!

January 5, Coolidge diedBirthday of Calvin Coolidge in 1872; 30th president of the United States.

Katherine Lee Bates published “America the Beautiful” in 1895.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

49 star flag, July 4, 1959July 4, 1959- America’s new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled. (7 rows of 7 stars)

July 4, 1960July 4, 1960, America’s new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood unfurled.( 5 rows of 6 stars plus 4 rows of 5 stars)

Preamble to the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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