Passover begins at sundown on this day. Passover, or Pesach, is an annual weeklong festival commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and slavery. The holiday, which begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, derives its name from the passing over of the homes of the Israelite slaves during the tenth plague. Family and friends gather together on the first and second nights of the holiday for the high point of the festival observance, the Seder. During the Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, the experience of the Exodus is told in story, song, prayer, and the tasting of symbolic foods. Perhaps the most well-known of these foods is the matzoh (flat, crackerlike unleavened bread), which is a reminder of the haste with which the slaves—who had no time to wait for the bread to rise—left Egypt. Read more about Passover here.
Daily Calendar for Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Question of the Day
I live in the Midwest and am interested in planting day lilies. What time of year should I plant them?
Spring or summer planting is fine. Plants must be watered deeply and kept well watered for a couple of weeks. Dig the soil deeply, adding well-rotted manure, leafmold, peat moss, or compost.
Advice of the Day
To avoid tears, put onions in the freezer for a few minutes before slicing.
Home Hint of the Day
In some areas, it’s illegal to burn brush. If you’re not going to dispose of brush once it’s cut, leave it where it falls. If you gather it into a pile, it won’t rot as quickly.
Word of the Day
Morning star
A planet that is above the eastern horizon at sunrise and less than 180° west of the Sun in right ascension.
Puzzle of the Day
What kind of gum do bees chew?
Bumble gum.
Born
- Booker T. Washington (educator & activist) –
- Washington Atlee Burpee (botanist, seedsman) –
- Spencer Tracy (actor) –
- Bette Davis (actress) –
- Gregory Peck (actor) –
- Colin Powell (former U.S. Secretary of State) –
- Agnetha Fältskog (singer in the Swedish rock group ABBA) –
- Franklin Chang-Diaz (astronaut) –
- Krista Allen (actress) –
Died
- Howard Hughes (industrialist & producer) –
- Sam Walton (businessman) –
- Kurt Cobain (musician) –
- Allen Ginsberg (poet) –
- Lee Petty (race car driver) –
- Saul Bellow (author of Humboldt’s Gift and other novels, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature) –
- Charlton Heston (actor) –
Events
- Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe–
- New York Chamber of Commerce formed–
- Anne Sullivan made a breakthrough with blind/deaf student Helen Keller, by conveying the meaning of the word water–
- Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson to win world heavyweight boxing title–
- Women granted the right to vote in British Columbia–
- Richard J. Daley elected to his first term as Chicago’s 39th mayor–
- J. Robert Oppenheimer, US physicist, declared a security risk in 1954, is named winner of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Enrico Ferni award–
- My Fair Lady won an Academy Award for Best Picture–
- Bobby Orr first NHL defenseman to win scoring title–
- Basketball star Kareem Abdul- Jabbar of the L.A. Lakers became the highest scoring player in NBA history. He reached 31,420 points, beating Wilt Chamberlain’s record–
- A camel named Bert was deputized, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, California –
- A minor earthquake shook southeastern Massachusetts–
- Elsie McLean, at 102 years old, became the oldest golfer to make a hole-in-one on a regulation course–
Weather
- This was the last day of a four-day snowstorm in the northern Rockies and the Black Hills, with the town of Lead, South Dakota, receiving 52 inches–
- A blizzard left 27.2 inches of snow in St. John’s, Newfoundland–