Daily Calendar for Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Question of the Day

What’s the difference between a cantaloupe and a muskmelon?

Out of the several types of melons that are cultivated, these come from two different melon groups of Cucumis melo.

A true cantaloupe is a member of the Cantalupensis Group, named for Cantalupo, a former papal villa near Rome. This group is usually characterized by a rough, warty, hard rind and sweet orange flesh. These melons are mostly grown in Europe and Asia, and seldom grown in North America.

In the United States, what is called a “cantaloupe” is usually a muskmelon, which is a member of the Reticulatus Group and characterized by a netlike ribbed rind and sweet, fragrant orange flesh. 

Advice of the Day

Take time when time comes, lest time steal away.

Home Hint of the Day

When spreading drop cloths to protect floors from paint spatters, avoid using plastic. It is too slippery and can cause accidents.

Word of the Day

Declination
The celestial latitude of an object in the sky, measured in degrees north or south of the celestial equator; analogous to latitude on Earth.

Puzzle of the Day

What is the beginning of all eternities, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, and the end of every race?
The letter E.

Born

  • Friedrich Nietzsche (philosopher)
  • P. G. Wodehouse (author, humorist)
  • C.P. Snow (novelist)
  • Lee Iacocca (businessman)
  • Linda Lavin (actress)
  • Penny Marshall (actress & director)
  • Jim Palmer (baseball player)
  • Richard Carpenter (musician)
  • Emeril Lagasse (chef)
  • Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York)

Died

  • Clara Kimball Young (actress)
  • Cole Porter (composer)
  • Edie Adams (actress & singer)
  • Dorcus Reilly (home economist)
  • Suzanne Somers (actress)

Events

  • First day of conversion to Gregorian calendar from Julian for several countries (Poland, Spain, Italy, Portugal), due to Pope Gregory XIII’s decree. Great Britain and colonies did not convert until 1752
  • First U.S. Agriculture Bureau scientific publication issued
  • Edison Electric Light Company established
  • American Angler, the first fishing magazine in the U.S., was published in Philadelphia, PA
  • Symphony Hall in Boston was inaugurated as the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Mata Hari, one of history’s most famous spies, was executed
  • Statue of Liberty designated as a National Monument
  • President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill creating the Department of Transportation
  • An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale shook southern California
  • Veterans Memorial Bridge opened, Port Arthur-Bridge City, Texas
  • Andy Green became the first person to break the sound barrier in a land-based vehicle, at 763.035 mph
  • In New York, the Staten Island ferry plowed into a pier killing 10 people and injuring 42 more
  • China launched its first manned space mission becoming the third country in history to send a person into orbit — four decades after the Soviet Union and the United States
  • A magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred near Kailua-Kona on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii

Weather

  • Hurricane Hazel hit the Carolinas
  • Hurricane Hazel struck southern Ontario
  • Hazel II storm flooded Toronto
  • 15.88 inches of rain fell in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida