January 2010
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Born today
Today is the birthday of 25th President William McKinley and actor W.C. Fields. Some say McKinley was the inspiration behind the Wizard of Oz. Fields was orginally offered the part, but he turned it down.
Russian writer and physician Anton Chekov, was born today in 1860. Random quote from Chekov : Only entropy comes easy.
Entropy is a state function in thermodynamics, a measure of energy...
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Astronomy and Scientific Celebrity
The founder of lunar topography, Johannes Hevelius was born today in 1611. He died on his birthday in 1687, but before he discovered 10 new constellations and 4 comets. Czech opera singer Ema Destinn died today, as well as Henry the 8th, writer Joseph Brodsky. German racecar driver Bernd Rosemeyer, in 1938, and poet William Butler Yeats, in 1939.
“What should I say about life? That...
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how to eat fried worms
The Diet of Worms began today in Germany in 1521. It didn’t have anything to do with eating worms. It was an assembly in Worms about the Protestant Reformation.
The first ski tow began operation in Vermont today in 1934. Where can you get to today using unconventional means?
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http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/allsign... →
He writes my favorite horoscopes.
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Born today
Inventer, physicist, and explorer Auguste Piccard was born today, in 1932. French writer Colette was born in 1873.
Also William Seward Burroughs the first, inventor, grandfather of the writer, was born in 1857. He invented an adding machine, and founded the American Arithmometer Company, which became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, which became the Burroughs Corp, which became Unisys...
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Numerology and Scientific Celebrity
27 is the atomic number of cobalt. In the 1960’s they used cobalt compounds to stabilize beer foam, until it was linked to heart disease, known formerly as beer drinker’s cardiomyopathy.
Mathematician Richard Courant died today in 1972. He cowrote a textbook called Methods of Mathematical Physics, which is still used eighty years later. JJ Audubon died today in 1851. Lets go...
burning down the house
Giordano Bruno’s trial started today at the Vatican in 1593. His studies, influenced by Arabian and Persian astrology and Copernicus, lead him to theorize that the earth moved around the sun, and the sun was one of an infinite number of independent spinning bodies. His trial lasted 7 years and ended in him being burned at the stake for heresy.
Apollo 1 caught fire on its launchpad during a...
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Anybody want a peanut?
Andre the giant died today in 1993. He suffered from acromegaly, where the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone. Thomas P Crapper died in 1910. He didn’t invent the toilet, contrary to popular belief, but he did have several patents on such wondrous items as the ballcock and a valveless water waste preventer patent #4,990.
The National Geographic Society was founded today...
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Born Today
Mozart shares the spotlight with Donna Reed, Lewis Carroll, and Ross Bagdasarian. His stage name was David Seville and his cohorts were Alvin, Simon and Theodore (who are named after record executives).
Thomas Willis 1621 English doctor, coined tern mellitus as in diabetes mellitus, noting that the urine of such patients is sweet. No notes on how he observed this.
The moon is in Taurus today. And scratch that — I’ve decided that the moral of the story below is don’t mix business with pleasure.
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Alaska is Okay
German inventor Nicolaus Otto died today in 1891. So did chewing gum extraordinaire William Wrigley and Abner Doubleday. Opera singer Grace Moore died in a plane crash today 1947 in Copanhagen at the age of 48. She’s buried in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’ve been there. My friend Anna and I stayed in a $34 a night hotel connected to a convenience store. We bought a jar of dusty...
Portrait of a Kleptomaniac
Painter Théodore Géricault died today in 1824. He painted a series of portraits of the insane, including the Portrait of a Kleptomaniac. French poet Gérard de Nerval died in 1855. He had a pet lobster that he took for walks, using a blue silk ribbon. Its name was Thibault.
Born Today
Luxemborg cyclist François Faber; Alice Babs, who can sing three octaves; Zara Cully Brown from the Jeffersons,Bob Uecker; Andrew Ridgely of Wham!; and Sal Buscema, Marvel comic book illustrator for Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, among others.
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Numerology and Scientific Celebrity
Romanian actor Edward G. Robinson died today 1973. Hank Azaria based his voice of the Simpson’s Cheif Wiggum on him. So did German inventor Nicolaus Otto. It is the birthdate of physicist Polykarp Kusch.
It’s the 26th. Michigan became the 26th state in 1837. A whale exploded in 2004. If that forecasted anything, it is that half of 26 is 13, which is bad luck, so you should...
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Numerology and Scientific Celebrity
Guiding Light debuted on the radio today in 1937. François-Vincent Raspail, founder of cell theory, was born today. Today is the 25th. Two in Chinese 易 or yi is a homophone for easy. Five is either wu, which means self or 唔 or ng, meaning never. So suppose we interpret that as nothing is easy, or you’ll have an easy go if it. Or perhaps too easy. Also, if you add 2 and 5, you get 7,...
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the anatomy of melancholy
Robert Burton, author of The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically, Opened and Cut Up, died today in 1640. Al Capone died on today’s date. So did Eiji Tsuburaya, special effects director of...
Fire Starter
Tonight maybe you should have a Burns supper, in celebration of the life of Scottish poet Robert Burns, born today in 1796. Usually haggis is served. And Scotch. You end the meal with the singing of Auld Lang Syne, which he wrote, the song we typically sing on New Years. In Chile and Zimbabwe, they sing it at funerals. In the Sudan, they sing it at graduations. In Arabic. In Thailand, it...
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It’s a waxing gibbous moon today, and it entered Gemini at 11:11 am. The sun is in Aquarius, one of the oldest recognized constellations.
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Born Today
Mikimoto Kōkichi, the official jeweler of Miss USA 03-08, Miss Universe 02-07, and Miss Teen USA 01-08; Juraj Jánošík, the Slavic Robin Hood; Shirley Mason aka Sybil, and Virginia Woolf.
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Numerology and Scientific Celebrity
24 is the retired number of Giants outfielder Willie Mays; the number of cycles in a Chinese solar year; and today is the day of the bull in the French Republican Calendar, the 5th day of the month of Pluviôse, which is from the Latin word for rainy.
Mary Phelps Jacob also known as Caresse Crosby died today in 1970. She patented the bra in 1913. As an acronym, BRA can be the Bougainville...
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Born today
born today: Jack Brickhouse, 1916, Cubs radio announcer; Maria Tallchief, 1925, ballerina; Neil Diamond, 1941.