Daily Calendar for Thursday, November 21, 2024
Question of the Day
Where did the phrase “mad as a March hare” originate?
Although this phrase originated at least as far back as the 1500s, and appeared in several works, including Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s, it became especially popular when the concept appeared in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which was published in 1865. It is now used to describe anyone behaving in an odd or foolish way. Hares tend to be unusually wild in March, during their breeding season, when they leap, box, and chase each other around the countryside during courtship. They appear mad or, in our common usage, crazy.
Advice of the Day
Tossing out bread crumbs is inviting the ancient curse of famine.
Home Hint of the Day
To remove rust from knives or scissors, soak them in a mild solution of water and ammonia for 10 minutes. Then scrub off the rust with a steel-wool soap pad. Rinse and dry.
Word of the Day
Bluey
A bushman’s blanket; — named from its color, or a bushman’s bundle; a swag; — so called because a blanket is sometimes used as the outside covering.
Puzzle of the Day
What is that which is full of holes and yet holds water?
A sponge
Born
- Voltaire (writer) –
- William Beaumont (surgeon) –
- Sir Samuel Cunard (merchant and shipowner who founded the first regular Atlantic steamship line) –
- Rene Francois-Ghislain Magritte (painter) –
- Stan Musial (baseball player) –
- Marlo Thomas (actress) –
- Goldie Hawn (actress) –
- Lorna Luft (actress & singer) –
- Nicolette Sheridan (actress) –
- Reggie Lewis (basketball player) –
- Troy Aikman (football player) –
- Ken Griffey, Jr. (baseball player) –
- Jena Malone (actress) –
Died
- Henry Purcell (composer) –
- Florence Kling Harding (U.S. First Lady) –
- Robert Benchley (humorist) –
- Bill Bixby (actor & director) –
- Quentin Crisp (writer) –
- Deborah Raffin (actress and audiobook publisher) –
- David Cassidy (singer and actor) –
Events
- The Mayflower Compact, a preliminary plan of government for the Pilgrims, was signed in the cabin of the Mayflower near what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts –
- North Carolina became the 12th state –
- HMHS Britannic sank –
- William C. Bullitt became the first U.S. ambassador to the U.S.S.R. –
- Tweety Bird debuted –
- President Harry Truman became the second U.S. president to ride underwater in a submarine. (Theodore Roosevelt was the first.) –
- HMCS Labrador achieved the first circumnavigation of North America in a single voyage –
- Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island, the the world’s longest suspension bridge, formally opened –
- 3.8 earthquake near Northglenn, Colorado –
- Deadly fire at MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada –
- After a summer of asking, Who shot J.R.?, viewers tuned in to see J.R.’s mistress, Kristin Shepard, holding the smoking gun –
- Jonathan Jay Pollard arrested for spying –
- Race car driver Jimmie Johnson set a NASCAR record by winning his fifth consecutive NASCAR championship –
Weather
- The Long Storm dropped 12 inches of snow on New York City –
- Snowflakes fell on Orlando, Florida –