Tag: The Thing About Today

The Thing About Today – October 22

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October 22, 2020
Day 296 of 366

October 22nd is the 296th day of the year. It is Wombat Day in Australia, despite the fact that they are considered to be nuisances by farmers.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Make a Dog’s Day, National Nut Day, and National Color Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1746, the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) received its charter.
  • In 1811, Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt was born.
  • In 1938, English actor Derek Jacobi was born.
  • Also in 1938, actor, comedian and producer Christopher Lloyd was born.
  • In 1844, followers of Baptist preacher William Miller, known as Millerites, anticipated the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment. After his proclamation of the Second Coming did not occur as expected, new heirs of his message emerged, including the Advent Christians (1860), the Seventh-day Adventists (1863), and other Adventist movements.
  • In 1879, Thomas Edison tested the first practical electric incandescent light bulb using a filament of carbonized thread. It lasted 13​1⁄2 hours before burning out.
  • In 1883, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opened with a performance of Gounod’s Faust.
  • In 1910, Hawley Harvey Crippen was convicted of poisoning his wife. He was the first felon to be arrested with the help of radio.
  • In 1942, actress and singer Annette Funicello was born. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club.
  • In 1943, actress Catherine Deneuve was born.
  • In 1952, actor and producer Jeff Goldblum was born.
  • In 1959, film and Broadway composer Marc Shaiman was born.
  • In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, but turned down the honor.
  • Also in 1964, an all-party Parliamentary Committee selected the design which would become the new official flag of Canada.
  • In 1966, The Supremes became the first all-female music group to attain a #1 selling album with The Supremes A’ Go-Go.
  • Also in 1966, the Soviet Union launched Luna 12.
  • In 1968, Apollo 7 safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.
  • In 1975, the Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 landed on Venus.
  • In 1976, Red Dye No. 4 was banned by the US Food and Drug Administration after it was discovered to causes tumors in the bladders of dogs.
  • In 1983, two correctional officers were killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, thus inspiring the Supermax model of prisons.
  • In 2008, India launched its first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1.
  • In 2013, the Australian Capital Territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage with the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013.
  • Also in 2013, Thor: The Dark World premiered.
  • In 2019, Same-sex marriage was legalized and abortion was decriminalized in Northern Ireland. This was as a result of the Northern Ireland Assembly not being restored.

October 22nd is International Stuttering Awareness Day.

Also known as International Stammering Awareness Day in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the day is intended to raise public awareness of the issues faced by millions of people – one percent of the world’s population – who stutter, or stammer.

Every year, stuttering communities and associations worldwide host events and campaign to highlight how certain aspects of society can be difficult for people who stammer. They challenge negative attitudes and discrimination, and they debunk myths that people who stammer are nervous or less intelligent.

The event also celebrates the many notable figures who stammer who have made a mark on the world now and throughout history in the fields of science, politics, philosophy, art, cinema and music.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 21

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 21, 2020
Day 295 of 366

October 21st is the 295th day of the year. It is National Nurses’ Day in Thailand.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, National Reptile Awareness Day, BRA (Breast Reconstruction Awareness) Day, Hagfish Day, and Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce. The last three are typically observed on the third Wednesday in October.

It is also Medical Assistants Recognition Day, which is typically observed on the Wednesday of the third business week in October.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the strait now known as the Strait of Magellan.
  • In 1797, in Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution was launched.
  • In 1833, Alfred Nobel was born. The Swedish chemist and engineer invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize.
  • In 1867, the Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders, which required Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in western Oklahoma.
  • In 1879, Thomas Edison applied for a patent for his design for an incandescent light bulb.
  • In 1911, actor Peter Graves was born.
  • In 1921, President Warren G. Harding delivered the first speech by a sitting United States President against lynching in the deep South.
  • In 1929, author and critic Ursula K. Le Guin was born.
  • In 1940, the first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was published.
  • In 1941, Wonder Woman made her premiere in All Star Comics #8.
  • In 1950, astronaut Ronald McNair was born.
  • In 1956, actress and screenwriter Carrie Fisher was born.

I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.

—Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking
  • In 1959, in New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened to the public.
  • Also in 1959, Japanese actor and producer Ken Watanabe was born.
  • Also in 1959, President Eisenhower approved the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA, including most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.
  • In 1964, My Fair Lady premiered.
  • In 1983, the meter was defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
  • In 2005, images of the dwarf planet Eris were taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery.

October 21st is Apple Day in the United Kingdom.

Apple Day is an annual celebration of apples and orchards. It traditionally falls on October 21st, the date of the first event in 1990, but events are also held throughout the month.

Common Ground, the organization responsible for the first Apple Day, describes the day as a way of celebrating and demonstrating that variety and richness matter to a locality and that it is possible to effect change in your place. They use the apple as a symbol of physical, cultural, and genetic diversity, and they hope that linking particular apples with their place of origin will allow orchards to be recognized and conserved for their contribution to local distinctiveness, including the rich diversity of wildlife they support.

Apple Day events can be large or small, from apple games in a garden to large village fairs with cookery demonstrations, games, apple identification, juice and cider, gardening advice, and the sale of many hundreds of apple varieties.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 20

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 20, 2020
Day 294 of 366

October 20th is the 294th day of the year. It is World Osteoporosis Day, a day that launches a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Youth Confidence Day, National Brandied Fruit Day, and National Pharmacy Technician Day (which is observed on the third Tuesday in October).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1803, the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
  • In 1818, the Convention of 1818 was signed between the United States and the United Kingdom. This settled the Canada-United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
  • In 1882, Hungarian-American actor Bela Lugosi was born.
  • In 1932, actor and singer William Christopher was born. I know him best as Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H.
  • In 1935, actor Jerry Orbach was born.
  • In 1941, English actress Anneke Wills was born. She was companion Polly on Doctor Who.
  • In 1955, composer and conductor Thomas Newman was born.
  • In 1958, American-Danish actor and producer Viggo Mortensen was born.
  • In 1965, actor and producer William Zabka was born. He played Johnny Lawrence in the Karate Kid films and the current spinoff, Cobra Kai.
  • In 1973, the Saturday Night Massacre occurred. United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refused to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Cox was finally fired by Robert Bork.
  • Also in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is opened by Queen Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
  • In 1977, actor and musician Sam Witwer was born.
  • In 1998, comedian Richard Pryor was awarded the first ever Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

October 20th is World Statistics Day, an international day to celebrate the science of statistics. It was created by the United Nations Statistical Commission and was first celebrated on October 20, 2010. The day is unique because it is celebrated every five years.

In 2010, 103 countries celebrated a national Statistics Day, including 51 African countries that jointly celebrate African Statistics Day annually on November 18th. India celebrates a similar day on June 29th, which is also the birthday of statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. The Royal Statistical Society in the United Kingdom also launched its getstats statistical literacy campaign on the same day at 20:10 on 20.10.2010.

Because of the quinquennial nature of the celebration, the next World Statistics Day was supposed to be celebrated today.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 19

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 19, 2020
Day 293 of 366

October 19th is the 293rd day of the year. It is Constitution Day in Niue, observed in honor of the country’s independence in the form of self-governing in free association with New Zealand starting in 1974.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Kentucky Day, National Seafood Bisque Day, National LGBT Center Awareness Day, and National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day (typically observed on the third Monday in October).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1386, the Universität Heidelberg held its first lecture, making it the oldest German university.
  • In 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile. The marriage paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country that became Spain.
  • In 1789, John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.
  • In 1900, Max Planck discovered Planck’s Law of black-body radiation. Planck’s Law describes the spectral density of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body – an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence – in thermal equilibrium at a given temperature T, when there is no net flow of matter or energy between the body and its environment. I know, that’s a lot to handle. At its core, this discovery was a pioneering insight of modern physics and is of fundamental importance to quantum theory.
  • In 1940, Irish-British actor Michael Gambon was born.
  • In 1943, Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, was isolated by researchers at Rutgers University.
  • In 1945, actor John Lithgow was born.
  • In 1966, actor, director, and screenwriter Jon Favreau was born.
  • In 1973, President Nixon rejects an Appeals Court decision that he turn over the Watergate tapes.
  • In 1983, Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson was born.
  • In 1990, Dances with Wolves premiered.

As mentioned at the top of the post, today is Constitution Day in Niue. But, I asked myself, what is Niue?

Niue is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,500 miles (or 2,400 kilometers) from New Zealand. The island is about 100 square miles (260 km2) in land area and has a predominantly Polynesian population of 1,600 people.

The island is commonly referred to as “The Rock”, which comes from the traditional name “Rock of Polynesia”, and is is one of the world’s largest coral islands. The two-level terrain is made of limestone on the upper portion and a lower coastal terrace that slopes down to the sea in small cliffs. The coral reef has one major close to the capital of Alofi on the central western coast.

As mentioned before, the state is self-governing in free association with New Zealand, giving New Zealand the power to conduct most diplomatic relations on its behalf. Since it is part of the Realm of New Zealand, Niueans are citizens of New Zealand and Queen Elizabeth II is Niue’s head of state in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand.

Between 90% and 95% of the island’s people live in New Zealand, including about 70% of the speakers of the Niuean language. Niue is a bilingual country, and 30% of the population speak both Niuean and English.

Niue is subdivided into 14 municipalities called villages. Each village has a village council that elects its chairperson, and those villages are electoral districts which send an assemblyperson to the Parliament of Niue. The state holds democratic legislative elections every three years.

The island has a tropical climate and focuses on solar power, but also has one of the highest rates of greenhouse gas production per capita in the world. Consider, of course, that their per capita is based on 1,600 people, so it’s a bit skewed.

Niue is also the world’s first dark sky country as of March 2020. The entire island maintains standards of light development and keeps light pollution limited, so visitors can enjoy guided “Astro-tours” led by trained Niuean community members.

It sounds like quite the place.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 18

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 18, 2020
Day 292 of 366

October 18th is the 292nd day of the year. It is the Independence Day in Azerbaijan as they celebrate their separation from the Soviet Union in 1991.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Exascale Day, International Legging Day, National Chocolate Cupcake Day, and National No Beard Day.

National Exascale Day celebrates the scientists and researchers who make breakthrough discoveries in medicine, materials sciences, energy, and beyond with the help of some of the fastest supercomputers in the world. Exascale means one quintillion computations per second, written as 1018. Hence, October 18th as the day for the celebration.

Historical items of note:

  • In 320, Greek philosopher Pappus of Alexandria observed an eclipse of the Sun and wrote a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).
  • In 1648, Boston Shoemakers formed the first American labor organization.
  • In 1851, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
  • In 1867, the United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. The day is celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
  • In 1922, The British Broadcasting Company (later the British Broadcasting Corporation) was founded by a consortium in an effort to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
  • In 1926, singer-songwriter and guitarist Chuck Berry was born.
  • In 1929, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overruled the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declared that women are considered “Persons” under Canadian law. The anniversary is known as Persons Day.
  • In 1938, actress Dawn Wells was born.
  • In 1946, Canadian composer, conductor, and producer Howard Shore was born.
  • In 1947, actor Joe Morton was born.
  • In 1951, actress and producer Pam Dawber was born.
  • In 1952, director, producer, and screenwriter Chuck Lorre was born.
  • In 1954, Texas Instruments announced the first transistor radio.
  • In 1960, Belgian martial artist, actor, and producer, and screenwriter Jean-Claude Van Damme was born.
  • In 1961, the film adaptation of West Side Story premiered.
  • In 1963, Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat became the first cat launched into space. Félicette survived the flight.
  • In 1967, the Soviet probe Venera 4 reached Venus and became the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
  • Also in 1967, Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book premiered.
  • In 1979, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.
  • In 1987, actor and singer Zac Efron was born. His first role was as young Simon Tam on Firefly.
  • In 2019, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch took part in the first all-women spacewalk when they ventured out of the International Space Station to replace a power controller.

October 18th is Necktie Day in Croatia.

The version of the necktie that spread from Europe traces its roots to Croatian mercenaries serving in France during the Thirty Years’ War which happened between 1618 and 1648. These mercenaries wore their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs which interested Parisians. Because of the difference between the Croatian word for Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment became known as the cravat (or cravate in French).

The boy-king Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat around 1646, when he was seven, and set the fashion for French nobility. This sparked a fashion craze in Europe, inspiring both men and women to wear pieces of fabric around their necks, and the lace cravat became known as the jabot. They took a large amount of time and effort to arrange and were tied in place by cravat strings, arranged neatly and tied in a bow.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 17

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 17, 2020
Day 291 of 366

October 17th is the 291st day of the year. It is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, an international observance to recognize the struggles of the impoverished and to make their voices heard by governments and citizens.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Edge Day, National Mulligan Day, National Pasta Day, Black Poetry Day, and National Sweetest Day (which is typically observed on the third Saturday in October).

Looking into National Edge Day, it is apparently a day about abstention from drugs, alcohol, and recreational drugs. It is linked to the Straight Edge movement, which is a subculture of the hardcore punk community. The movement started in the 1980s, but petered out around the turn of the century. When I was in high school, they had a negative reputation and were regarded as militant and violent. I don’t have a lot of information about the community as we enter the 2020s.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1604, Kepler’s Supernova was observed in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the most recent supernova in our galaxy to have been unquestionably observed by the naked eye, occurring no farther than 20,000 light-years (or 6 kiloparsecs) from Earth.
  • In 1771, the opera Ascanio in Alba premiered in Milan. It was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 15. It is a pastoral opera in two parts to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini, commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa for the wedding of her son, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, to Maria Beatrice d’Este.
  • In 1827, Vincenzo Bellini’s third opera, Il pirata, premiered at Milan.
  • In 1888, Thomas Edison filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph.
  • In 1907, the Marconi Company began the first commercial transatlantic wireless service.
  • In 1914, author and illustrator Jerry Siegel was born. He was the co-creator of Superman.
  • In 1915, playwright and screenwriter Arthur Miller was born.
  • In 1918, actress, singer and dancer Rita Hayworth was born.
  • In 1919, RCA was incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America.
  • In 1931, Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion.
  • In 1933, Albert Einstein fled Nazi Germany and moved to the United States.
  • In 1939, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was released.
  • In 1947, singer-songwriter, actor, and director Michael McKean was born.
  • In 1948, American soldier and author Robert Jordan was born. He was the creator of The Wheel of Time fantasy series.
  • Also in 1948, Canadian-American actress Margot Kidder was born.
  • Also in 1948, actor and comedian George Wendt was born.
  • In 1956, the first commercial nuclear power station was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.
  • Also in 1956, physician, academic, and astronaut Mae Jemison was born. She was the first black woman to travel into space, doing so as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during mission STS-47, which was the fiftieth mission of the Space Shuttle program.
  • In 1959, actor Dolph Lundgren was born.
  • In 1960, puppeteer Kevin Clash was born.
  • In 1966, English actor, screenwriter and novelist Mark Gatiss was born.
  • In 1968, the film Bullitt was released.
  • In 1969, the Caravaggio painting Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence was stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo.
  • In 1979, Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. History having 20/20 hindsight, she really did not deserve it.
  • Also in 1979, the Department of Education Organization Act created the United States Department of Education.
  • In 1983, actress Felicity Jones was born.
  • In 2005, The Colbert Report, an American satirical news television program and talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, premiered on Comedy Central.
  • In 2018, the recreational use of cannabis was legalized in Canada.
  • Also in 2018, Caroll Spinney retired from Sesame Street after 50 years of portraying characters like Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

October 17th is Digital Society Day in India.

On October 17, 2000, the Information Technology Act 2000 was notified. It was the first law of the digital society in India and gave, for the first time in the country, legal recognition for electronic documents. It also provided a legally recognized method of authentication of electronic documents by means of digital signatures.

Additionally, the act recognized cyber crimes and prescribed a fast track grievance redressal mechanism for them.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 16

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 16, 2020
Day 290 of 366

October 16th is the 290th day of the year. It is World Food Day, an international day honoring the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Sports Day, National Liqueur Day, National Dictionary Day, Global Cat Day, Department Store Day, and Boss’s Day (or National Boss’s Day, held annually on October 16th unless the date falls on a weekend. If so, it’s the closest workday.).

Historical items of note:

  • In 1793, Queen Marie Antoinette was executed.
  • In 1841, Queen’s University was founded in the Province of Canada.
  • In 1843, William Rowan Hamilton invented quaternions, a three-dimensional system of complex numbers.
  • In 1847, Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre was published in London.
  • In 1854, Irish playwright, novelist, and poet Oscar Wilde was born.
  • In 1869, Girton College, Cambridge was founded, becoming England’s first residential college for women.
  • In 1909, William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz held the first summit between presidents of the United States and Mexico. They narrowly escaped assassination.
  • In 1923, The Walt Disney Company was founded.
  • In 1925, English-American actress, singer, and producer Angela Lansbury was born. She is well-known for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher, mystery writer (and, perhaps, the most successful fictional serial killer ever) on Murder, She Wrote.
  • In 1936, English actor and screenwriter Peter Bowles was born.
  • In 1940, actor and producer Barry Corbin was born.
  • In 1950, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis was published.
  • In 1962, President Kennedy was informed of photos taken on October 14 by a U-2 spy plane showing nuclear missiles. The crisis would last for the infamous thirteen days starting from this point.
  • In 1964, China detonated its first nuclear weapon.
  • In 1975, actress, director, and producer Kellie Martin was born.
  • In 1981, actress and writer Brea Grant was born.
  • In 2002, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened in Egypt, commemorating the ancient library of Alexandria.

October 16th is World Anesthesia Day (or World Anaesthesia Day or Ether Day), an annual event commemorating the first successful demonstration of diethyl ether anesthesia on October 16, 1846.

This event ranks as one of the most significant in the history of medicine. It took place in an operating theater (now known as the Ether Dome) at the Massachusetts General Hospital, home of the Harvard School of Medicine. The discovery made it possible for patients to obtain the benefits of surgical treatment without the pain associated with an operation.

Special events have been held to commemorate the date since at least 1903. Celebrations are driven by the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists with over 134 societies representing anesthesiologists from over 150 countries.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 15

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 15, 2020
Day 289 of 366

October 15th is the 289th day of the year. It is Breast Health Day in Europe, a day of awareness of breast cancer and improvement of breast cancer services by promoting early detection, optimal treatment and research.

It is also White Cane Safety Day in the United States, a day to celebrate the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired and the important symbol of blindness and tool of independence, the white cane. In 2011, White Cane Safety Day was also named Blind Americans Equality Day by President Barack Obama.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Shawarma Day, National Aesthetician Day, National Cheese Curd Day, National I Love Lucy Day, National Grouch Day, National Get Smart About Credit Day (typically observed on the third Thursday in October), and Get to Know Your Customers Day (typically observed on the third Thursday of Each Quarter).

It is also National Latino AIDS Awareness Day and National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1582, adoption of the Gregorian calendar began, eventually leading to near-universal adoption.
  • In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon made the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
  • In 1863, the H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sunk, killing its inventor.
  • In 1888, the “From Hell” letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper was received by investigators.
  • In 1917, Dutch dancer Mata Hari was executed by France for espionage.
  • In 1924, actor Mark Lenard was born.
  • In 1939, the New York Municipal Airport (later renamed LaGuardia Airport) was dedicated.
  • In 1940, The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, was released.
  • In 1943, actress, director, and producer Penny Marshall was born.
  • In 1951, I Love Lucy premiered.
  • In 1955, actress Tanya Roberts was born.
  • In 1956, FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, was first shared with the coding community.
  • In 1991, The “Oh-My-God particle”, an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray measured at 40,000,000 times that of the highest energy protons produced in a particle accelerator was observed at the University of Utah HiRes observatory in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
  • In 1997, the Cassini probe launched from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
  • In 2001, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft passed within 112 miles of Jupiter’s moon Io.

October 15th is Global Handwashing Day.

Global Handwashing Day is an international handwashing promotion campaign to motivate and mobilize people around the world to improve their handwashing habits. Washing hands at critical points during the day and washing with soap are both important.

The global campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key factor in disease prevention. Respiratory and intestinal diseases can be reduced by 25-50% through efficient and effective handwashing habits.

It’s vitally important, especially in the current pandemic, to prevent the spread of disease. The most I have been disgusted by handwashing habits was at Disney World when watching people from across the world walk right past the sinks after using the restroom.

At a minimum, twenty seconds with warm water and soap is the key.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 14

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

October 14, 2020
Day 288 of 366

October 14th is the 288th day of the year. It is National Education Day in Poland, formerly known as Teachers’ Day.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Dessert Day, Be Bald and Be Free Day, and National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day. It’s also host to four observances centered on the second Wednesday in October: National Curves Day, National Emergency Nurse’s Day, National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work/School Day, and National Stop Bullying Day. Finally, today is National Fossil Day, typically observed on the Wednesday of the second full week in October.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1322, Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland’s independence.
  • In 1582, because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day didn’t exist in in Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
  • In 1884, George Eastman received a United States Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.
  • In 1888, Louis Le Prince filmed the first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene.
  • In 1894, poet and playwright e e cummings was born.
  • Also in 1894, British marine engineer Victoria Drummond was born. She was the first woman marine engineer in the UK and the first woman member of Institute of Marine Engineers. In World War II, she served at sea as an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy and received awards for bravery under enemy fire.
  • In 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt was shot and mildly wounded by John Flammang Schrank. Even with the fresh wound in his chest, and the bullet still lodged within it, Roosevelt delivered his scheduled speech.
  • In 1914, chemist and physicist Raymond Davis Jr. was born. He is best known as the leader of the Homestake experiment from the 1960s to the 1980s, which was the first experiment to detect neutrinos emitted from the Sun. For this, he shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics.
  • In 1926, children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, was first published.
  • In 1927, actor and producer Roger Moore was born.
  • In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to exceed the speed of sound.
  • In 1949, actress Katy Manning was born. She played companion Jo Grant on Doctor Who.
  • In 1952, actor Harry Anderson was born.
  • In 1961, actress Melanie Wilson was born.
  • In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis began when an American reconnaissance aircraft took photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba.
  • In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.
  • In 1966, the city of Montreal began operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system.
  • In 1968, the first live TV broadcast by American astronauts in orbit was performed by the Apollo 7 crew.
  • In 1974, singer-songwriter Natalie Maines was born.
  • In 1977, Anita Bryant had a pie thrown in her face at a news conference in Des Moines by gay rights activist Tom Higgins for her anti-LGBT commentary.
  • In 1978, Rescue from Gilligan’s Island premiered. It was the first TV movie based on a television series.
  • In 1979, the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights drew approximately 100,000 people.
  • In 1980, actor Ben Wishaw was born.
  • In 1982, United States President Ronald Reagan proclaimed a War on Drugs.
  • In 1998, Eric Rudolph was charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • In 2012, Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere.
  • In 2014, Utah State University received a bomb threat against feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian, who was to give a lecture the next day.

October 14th is World Standards Day.

Also known as International Standards Day, this international celebration honors the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry professionals, and consumers about the importance of standardization to the global economy.

October 14th was specifically chosen to mark the date in 1946. On that day, delegates from 25 countries first gathered in London and decided to create an international organization focused on facilitating standardization. Even though the ISO was formed one year later, it wasn’t until 1970 that the first World Standards Day was celebrated.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

The Thing About Today – October 13

Michael Falkner1 Comment

October 13, 2020
Day 287 of 366

October 13th is the 287th day of the year. On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy, which was the predecessor of the United States Navy. As a submarine veteran, I would like to wish sailors past and present a happy 245th birthday.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Train Your Brain Day, National Yorkshire Pudding Day, National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and National No Bra Day.

Historical items of note:

  • In 1269, the present church building at Westminster Abbey was consecrated.
  • In 1792, the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) was laid in Washington, D.C.
  • In 1843, B’nai B’rith was founded in New York City. It is the oldest Jewish service organization in the world.
  • In 1881, the first known conversation in modern Hebrew took place between Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and friends.
  • In 1884, the International Meridian Conference established the meridian of the Greenwich Observatory as the prime meridian.
  • In 1885, the Georgia Institute of Technology was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. Unfortunately, Georgia Tech selected the asshole of the insect world, the yellow jacket, as their mascot.
  • In 1892, Edward Emerson Barnard found the first comet discovered by photographic means.
  • In 1908, Margaret Travers Symons burst into the UK parliament and became the first woman to speak there.
  • In 1939, actress Melinda Dillon was born.
  • In 1941, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Paul Simon was born.
  • In 1956, television producer Chris Carter was born.
  • In 1962, actress Kelly Preston was born.
  • In 1964, actor and producer Christopher Judge was born.
  • In 1976, the first electron micrograph of an Ebola virus was taken at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Dr. F. A. Murphy.
  • In 1983, Ameritech Mobile Communications launched the first United States cellular network in Chicago.

October 13th is the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

This international day encourages every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster-resilient communities and nations. In 1989, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 13th as the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction as part of its proclamation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

In 2002, the General Assembly decided to maintain the annual observance as a vehicle to promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including prevention, mitigation, and preparedness. The name and date became official in 2009.

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.