By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Concord Hymn”
Patriots Day commemorates the events of April 19, 1775, that marked the start of the American Revolutionary War, especially the midnight rides of Paul Revere and others to warn of the approach of British troops, and the battles of Lexington and Concord. Today, Massachusetts and Maine celebrate Patriots Day as a legal holiday on the third Monday in April, with reenactments and other events.
Learn more about the first shots fired on Lexington Green to “the shot heard round the world” at Concord’s North Bridge by visiting the Minute Man National Park in Concord. The annual running of the Boston Marathon also takes place on this day. You may want to do your patriotic duty and check out the official Web site of the Boston Marathon, sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association.”
Question of the Day
Can you tell me the origin and the history of the phrase: “The best laid plans of mice and men?”
It is a line from the poem “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns, the 18th century Scottish poet. The full quote, however, is the two-line stanza: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/Gang aft a-gley.” (A free translation of the second line could be: Often go awry or become unraveled.)
Advice of the Day
To keep a dog at home, clip a bit of its coat and place it under the doormat.
Home Hint of the Day
If you decide to heat with coal rather than wood, buy anthracite coal, which is sprayed with oil to keep down the dust and allow the burn to start more easily.
Word of the Day
Regatta
Originally, a gondola race in Venice; now, a rowing or sailing race, or a series of such races.
Puzzle of the Day
What happened to the female cat who swallowed a ball of yarn?
She had mittens.
Born
Samuel Chase(lawyer)–
John Pierpont Morgan(business tycoon)–
Thornton Wilder(author)–
William Holden(actor)–
Olivia Hussey(actress)–
Boomer Esiason(football player)–
Joel Murray(actor)–
Jennifer Garner(actress)–
Died
Benjamin Franklin(U.S. statesman
)–
Linda McCartney(photographer, singer, activist, & wife of Beatle Paul McCartney)–
Dr. Robert C. Atkins(cardiologist who introduced the Atkins Diet”“)–
Doris Roberts(actress)–
Barbara Bush(U.S. First Lady)–
Events
Christopher Columbus’s trip financed by Spain–
Lewis M. Norton patented a vat for forming pineapple-shape cheese–
First Minot’s Ledge Light in Massachusetts swept away during storm–
Song Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here, was copyrighted–
Geraldine Mock completed solo flight around the world–
Apollo 13 returned safely to Earth after having major difficulties–
6-lb. 10-oz. goldfish caught in Lake Hodges, California–
Spacelab’s final mission, Neurolab, launched–
Discovery of first Earth-size planet in Habitable Zone” publicized”–
Weather
Eastern Massachusetts was blanketed with 12-18 inches of snow–
Twenty-eight degrees F at St. Louis, Missouri–
The Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota reached 20 feet above flood stage–
Eastern U.S. heat wave:
80 degrees F, Portland, Maine;
97 degrees F, Newark, New Jersey
–
Del Rio, Texas, experienced a temperature of 101 degrees F–
