Daily Calendar for Thursday, February 15, 2024
Question of the Day
Is there such a thing as a bacterium that eats stone?
Yes, a genus called Thiobacillus is responsible, and one microbe in that family has the ability to convert sulfur dioxide gas (found in the air) into sulfuric acid. The microbe then uses the acid to transform marble into calcium sulfate, better known as plaster. It can attack marble statues, tombs, monuments, and historic buildings, to name just a few objects. In recent years, public concern has arisen because historical monuments have shown a marked increase in such destruction. Automotive and industrial emissions put free sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere, and these bacteria take advantage of it.
Advice of the Day
For better tone, allow good airflow between your piano and the wall.
Home Hint of the Day
To revive cookies that have become hard and dry, place them in a closed tin with a piece of fresh bread.
Word of the Day
Altocumulus cloud
Gray or white layer of patches of solid cloud with rounded shapes.
Puzzle of the Day
Why is a pair of skates like an apple?
Because they have both caused the fall of man.
Born
- Galileo Galilei (astronomer) –
- Henry E. Steinway (piano manufacturer) –
- John Sutter (pioneer) –
- Susan B. Anthony (American social reformer ) –
- Melissa Manchester (singer) –
- Jane Seymour (actress) –
- Matt Groening (cartoonist; creator of The Simpsons) –
- Chris Farley (actor) –
Died
- Nat King Cole (singer) –
- Ethel Merman (singer & actress) –
- Howard K. Smith (newscaster) –
- Jan Miner (actress who gained fame as Madge, the manicurist in Palmolive television ads) –
- Raquel Welch (actress) –
Events
- First mustard manufactured in U.S. advertised in Philadelphia, PA–
- Canada officially adopted a new flag; the Red Maple Leaf became the new symbol, replacing the Union Jack–
- Ocean Ranger offshore drilling rig sank in storm off Newfoundland–
- Rare sighting of yellow-billed loon, Lake Powell, Utah–
- Kyoto Protocol global climate treaty took effect–
Weather
- Parshal, North Dakota, had a low temperature of-60 degrees F–
- Thirty-nine inches of snow fell on Callicoon, New York–
