Daily Calendar for Friday, November 29, 2024
Question of the Day
In Homer’s Iliad and Sophocles’ Ajax, who is identified as Ajax’s brother, and what does he do?
His name is Teucer, half brother and faithful comrade of Ajax. Teucer was considered the greatest archer of the Trojan War.
Advice of the Day
To cure insomnia, eat raw onions.
Home Hint of the Day
To remove lead pencil marks from fabric, try rubbing with a clean, soft eraser.
Word of the Day
Rainbow
Rainbows are formed opposite to the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays in drops of falling rain. The raindrops are responsible for the colors of rainbows. They break the sunlight up into the full spectrum of colors, each drop acting as a sort of miniature prism. Each color emerges at a slightly different angle on each raindrop. When millions of raindrops gather, the spectrum shows up as distinct bands of color — each with a different length. Red is the longest and violet the shortest band. The arc is most pronounced when the Sun is close to the horizon.
Puzzle of the Day
What things increase the more you contract them?
Debts
Born
- Wendell Phillips (abolitionist crusader) –
- Morrison Remick Waite (Chief Justice) –
- Louisa May Alcott (author) –
- Sir John Ambrose Fleming (physicist) –
- C. S. Lewis (novelist) –
- Merle Travis (musician) –
- Dilhan Eryurt (Turkish astrophysicist) –
- John Mayall (musician) –
- Chuck Mangione (musician) –
- Suzy Chaffee (Olympic skier) –
- Garry Shandling (comedian) –
- Joel Coen (director, producer, & writer) –
- Howie Mandel (comedian, actor, & television host) –
- Andrew McCarthy (actor) –
- Don Cheadle (actor) –
- Anna Faris (actress) –
- Chadwick Boseman (actor) –
Died
- Sir Charles Stanley (4th Viscount Monck; first governor-general of Canada) –
- Natalie Wood (actress) –
- Cary Grant (actor) –
- George Harrison (musician; member of The Beatles) –
- John D. Barrymore (actor) –
- Wendie Jo Sperber (actress) –
Events
- Committee of Secret Correspondence organized by 2nd Continental Congress –
- Fire destroyed much of Maryland Agricultural College, in College Park, Maryland –
- Richard E. Byrd and pilot Bernt Balchen, in the Floyd Bennett, were first to fly over the South Pole –
- Doctors Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas performed the first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome –
- The first helicopter hoist rescue took place, at Penfield Reef, Connecticut –
- Kukla, Fran and Ollie debuted on television –
- Enos became the first chimp to orbit Earth –
- President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy –
- English was used for the first time during a U.S. Catholic Mass. –
- Pong, a coin-operated video game, debuted –
- Megamouth shark caught off Catalina Island, California –
- Ensemble of 1,013 cellists played in Kobe, Japan, setting world record –
Weather
- Major Henry Hitchcock, during Sherman’s March, Georgia, wrote: “Weather so warm that I could not wear any cape after 10 a.m. Afternoon perfectly lovely and tonight beautiful starlight: Atmosphere dense and smoke from campfires hangs low.” –
- Nine inches of snow fell on New York City –