Daily Calendar for Friday, March 10, 2023
Question of the Day
Why aren’t there exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness on the spring and fall equinoxes?
On the equinoxes, the very center of the Sun sets just 12 hours after it rose. But the day begins when the upper edge of the Sun reaches the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises), and it doesn’t end until the entire Sun has set. Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun’s rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon.
Advice of the Day
Prune any tree limbs that have been damaged by ice and snow.
Home Hint of the Day
You can clean the starch off the bottom of an iron by making a paste of baking soda and a little water, rubbing it on the iron wih a soft cloth, and wiping it off with a clean cloth.
Word of the Day
Midsummer Day
June 24. Although it occurs near the summer solstice, to the farmer this day is the midpoint of the growing season, halfway between planting and harvest and an occasion for festivity. The English church considered it a “Quarter Day,” one of the four major divisions of the liturgical year. It also marks the feast day of St. John the Baptist.
Puzzle of the Day
What flowers can be found between the nose and chin?
Tulips (two lips)
Born
- Ferdinand V (King of Aragon) –
- Angel de Saavedra (poet, dramatist) –
- Emily Pauline Johnson (Canadian writer, performer) –
- Lillian D. Wald (social worker) –
- Barry Fitzgerald (actor) –
- Bix Beiderbecke (jazz musician) –
- Victor Manuel Blanco (astronomer who helped build the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile) –
- Kenneth Burns (singer) –
- James Earl Ray (convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.) –
- Chuck Norris (actor) –
- David Rabe (playwright) –
- Lance Burton (magician) –
- Prince Edward (youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II) –
- Mike Timlin (baseball player) –
- Jon Hamm (actor) –
- Lyne Bessette (professional bicycle racer) –
- Shannon Miller (gymnast; Olympic gold medalist) –
- Robin Thicke (musician) –
- Carrie Underwood (singer) –
- Emily Osment (actress) –
Died
- Harriet Tubman (American abolitionist) –
- Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald) –
- Konstantin Chernenko (Soviet leader) –
- Lloyd Bridges (actor) –
- Danny Joe Brown (musician) –
- Corey Haim (actor) –
- Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe writer ) –
- Emilio Delgado (actor; played Luis on Sesame Street ) –
Events
- Thomas Jefferson became U.S. minister to France–
- Thomas Jefferson presented a paper on the megalonyx (which was later determined to be an extinct giant ground sloth)–
- U.S. national paper currency first issued–
- The first royal wedding took place at Windsor Castle in St. George’s chapel. Edward, Prince of Wales, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark–
- Ulysses S. Grant became the Lt. Gen. of Union army in the Civil War–
- Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant saying, Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.–
- Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers officially began the work of the Salvation Army in the U.S.(Battery Park, N.Y.C.)–
- William Knox bowled first perfect 300 game in competition–
- A 6.4 earthquake killed 120 people and caused $50 million in damages, Long Beach, California–
- Mildred E. Gillars, who made wartime broadcasts for the Nazis under the name Axis Sally, was convicted of treason in Washington— she served 12 years in prison–
- Tennessee Williams’s play, Sweet Bird of Youth, opened on Broadway–
- James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and was sentenced to 99 years in prison–
- U.S. Army Captain Ernest L. Medina was court-martialed on murder charges in connection with the My Lai incident of March 1968 (Vietnam War)–
- Uranus rings discovered–
- The Vatican declared its opposition to test tube fertilization, embryo transfer, and most other forms of scientific interference in procreation–
- A previously healthy 25-year old man from Virginia became the first known fatality in the U.S. linked to raccoon rabies–
Weather
- 5.12 inches of rain fell in Wilmington, North Carolina–
- Thirty-four degrees below zero F at International Falls, Minnesota–
- In Colebrook, New Hampshire, snow was 21.5 feet deep–