“On this day, Great Lent begins in the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church; it always falls on the 7th Monday before Orthodox Easter. Also called Clean Monday or Pure Monday, this religious observance is a day of fasting and spiritual purification and reflection, similar to Ash Wednesday of the Western Church.
The first week of Great Lent is also called Pure Week. Great Lent lasts for 40 days and ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Orthodox Palm Sunday. The next week is Holy Week, and ends on Easter, the day of Christ’s resurrection.”
Question of the Day
During a discussion about low temperatures in Minnesota, a friend stated that at minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit and below, sulfur-headed matches will not light. This sounds preposterous, but is it true?
We didn’t know the answer to your question, so we called one of the biggest manufacturers of matches in the country, and they said that it’s not true. The temperature has to be much colder than that for matches not to light. By then, your fingers would freeze and you wouldn’t be able to hold the match anyway, so it wouldn’t matter.
Advice of the Day
A cure for all sorrows is conversation.
Home Hint of the Day
Before pouring paint into a roller pan, put a plastic bag over the pan. When the job is finished, just throw away the bag; the pan needs no cleaning.
Word of the Day
Syzygy
The nearly straight-line configuration that occurs twice a month, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction (on the same side of Earth at the new Moon) and when they are in opposition (on opposite sides of Earth at the full Moon). In both cases, the gravitational effects of the Sun and the Moon reinforce each other, and tidal range is increased.
Puzzle of the Day
Why is it that a man cannot own a cane that is too short?
Because it can never be-long to him.
Born
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(poet)–
John Steinbeck(novelist)–
Elizabeth Taylor(actress)–
Howard Hesseman(actor)–
Donal Logue(actor)–
Chelsea Clinton(daughter of U.S. President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton)–
Josh Groban(singer)–
Died
Lillian Gish(actress)–
Spike Milligan(comedian)–
Fred Rogers(host of the PBS children’s show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)–
William F. Buckley Jr.(writer & founder of National Review)–
Frank W. Buckles(last surviving U.S. WW I veteran; he was 110 years old)–
Leonard Nimoy(actor)–
Events
During the American Revolutionary War, Loyalists were defeated in the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, North Carolina–
First Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans–
Saccharin was discovered–
22nd Constitutional Amendment, enforcing term limits, ratified. (Limits U.S. presidents to two terms.)–
The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, stipulating a maximum of two consecutive presidential terms–
Edwin Land granted patent for self-developing film–
Mickey Mantle signed a $100,000 contract with the NY Yankees. His new salary tied him with Joe DiMaggio as the most highly paid Yankee players of their time.–
Italian government asked public for ideas on how to save the leaning Tower of Pisa–
16-year-old Tiger Woods, youngest PGA golfer in 35 years, teed off in L.A. Open–
A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 125 miles north of London, England–
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile–
Nine-foot tall bronze sculpture of civil rights activist Rosa Parks unveiled in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.–
Weather
Amenia, North Dakota, had its first above-zero reading in 47 days.–
61-mph winds, Nantucket, Mass.–
Nine and a half inches of snow fell at Indianapolis, Indiana–
