Today is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, time for moving the clocks one hour ahead. The exceptions are Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Credit for Daylight Saving Time belongs to Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested the idea in 1784. The idea was revived in 1907, when William Willett, an Englishman, proposed a similar system in the pamphlet The Waste of Daylight. The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones. This experiment lasted only until 1920, when the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers (cows don’t pay attention to clocks). During World War II, Daylight Saving Time was imposed once again (this time year-round) to save fuel.
Daily Calendar for Sunday, March 12, 2023
Question of the Day
How do I get rid of fire ants for good?
You don’t. There are several species of fire ants—some native, some imported—but by far the most active and most aggressive are the imported red fire ants. Nothing has yet been devised to eradicate them. The only recourse is to knock the population down to a manageable level with baits and mound drenches.
Advice of the Day
Prune your wisteria and American ivy now.
Home Hint of the Day
Portable electric heaters should be used with great caution. Don’t use old electric heaters if the wiring appears at all worn.
Word of the Day
Plough Monday
The first Monday after Epiphany and Plough Sunday was so called because it was the day that men returned to their plough, or daily work, at the end of the Christmas holiday. It was customary for farm laborers to draw a plough through the village, soliciting money for a “plough-light,” which was kept burning in the parish church all year. In some areas, the custom of blessing the plough is maintained.
Puzzle of the Day
Why is a dog dressed more warmly in summer than he is in winter?
Because in winter he wears a fur coat, and in summer he wears a fur coat and pants.
Born
- Thomas Augustine Arne (composer) –
- William Lyon Mackenzie (politician) –
- Jane Means Appleton Pierce (U.S. First Lady) –
- Clement Studebaker (wagon, carriage, & auto manufacturer) –
- Simon Newcomb (astronomer & mathematician) –
- Jane Delano (nurse) –
- Gordon MacRae (actor) –
- Jack Kerouac (author) –
- Edward Albee (dramatist) –
- Andrew Young (politician) –
- Al Jarreau (singer) –
- Barbara Feldon (actress) –
- Paul Kanter (musician) –
- Liza Minnelli (singer) –
- James Taylor (musician) –
- Darryl Strawberry (baseball player) –
Died
- Henry Bergh (ASPCA founder) –
- Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (Chinese revolutionary leader and statesman) –
- Billy Barker (Canadian WWI ace) –
- Charlie Parker (jazz saxophonist) –
- Olive Patricia Dickason (Métis Canadian historian) –
Events
- United States Post Office was established–
- Coca-Cola was first sold in bottles–
- Girl Scouts started by Juliette Low in Savannah, Georgia–
- First transatlantic radio broadcast made–
- Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi began his second civil disobedience campaign to protest the British government’s salt tax–
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first fireside chat” to the nation”–
- Germany invaded and annexed Austria (WW II)–
- Pope Pius XII crowned–
- Less than a year after signing the bill that made the New Hampshire Lottery the first state-run lottery in America, New Hampshire Governor John W. King purchased the first New Hampshire Lottery Sweepstakes ticket–
- Beatle Paul McCartney married photographer Linda Eastman–
- Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird scored 60 points in a basketball game against Atlanta Hawks–
- Les Misérables opened on Broadway–
- Janet Reno became the first woman to serve as attorney general of the U.S.–
- Lance Mackey won his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race–
- Fifty-three year old Mitch Seavey became the oldest winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In 2012, Seavey’s son Dallas became the youngest winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.–
Weather
- Blizzard of ‘88 dumped 50 inches of snow on Middletown, Connecticut–
- All-New England Flood, the costliest and most widespread ever–
- Wichita Falls, Texas, reported a record high of 95F; but only six days earlier, the town had reported a record low of 8F.–
- “Superstorm” developed in eastern U.S.–