Holy Cross Day is also known as the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Triumph of the Cross, or Holyrood Day (“rood” meaning “cross”. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified. (It had been taken from Jerusalem by the Persians in a war in A.D. 614. In A.D. 629, Byzantine Emperor Heraclius recovered and returned the Cross to Jerusalem.)
Holy Cross Day is one of four annual markers for the “Ember Days,” which occur on the first Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following Holy Cross Day, Whit Sunday (Pentecost), the first Sunday in Lent, and St. Lucy Day. The Ember Days are special times for prayer, fasting, and the ordination of clergy in certain Christian denominations. The weather on each of the three Ember Days is supposed to foretell the weather for each of the three succeeding months. A Spanish proverb notes, “On Holy Cross Day / Vineyards are gay.”
Question of the Day
When was the planet Uranus discovered and by whom?
The seventh planet from the sun was discovered by William Herschel in 1781.
Advice of the Day
Chickens feeding outside in the rain foretell rain for several days.
Home Hint of the Day
Yellow carpenter’s glue is best for regluing a chair. Available at hardware stores, it sets up hard and fast. Assemble the pieces immediately after applying the glue.
Word of the Day
Vanishing Tide
A mixed tide of considerable inequality in the two highs and two lows, so that the lower high (or higher low) may become indistinct or appear to vanish.
Puzzle of the Day
Read from the left, I shall be found a portion of all things that are; but change your hand and turn me ‘round, I then am nothing but a snare.(What word fits the first clue, but when read backwards, fits the second?)
Part - trap
Born
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov(physiologist)–
Margaret Higgins Sanger(founder of the birth control movement)–
Douglas Kennedy(Lone Ranger” actor”)–
Kate Millett(feminist writer)–
Sam Neill(actor)–
Michelle Stafford(actress)–
Kimberly Williams-Paisley(actress)–
Katie Lee Biegel(chef)–
Died
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin(architect)–
Arthur Wellesley(1st Duke of Wellington)–
Henry Bliss(first American automobile fatality)–
William McKinley(25th U.S. president)–
Princess Grace of Monaco(former actress Grace Kelly)–
Mickey Hargitay(actor & world champion bodybuilder)–
Patrick Swayze(actor)–
Norm Macdonald(comedian)–
Events
The first lighthouse in North America, Boston Light, was lit–
Composer George Handel completed The Messiah–
Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner”“–
Typewriter ribbon patented–
Sound-absorbing material patented–
The world’s largest airship, Graf Zeppelin II, made its first flight–
The first helicopter flight was made by Igor Sikorsky–
Zond 5 was launched; 4 days later it became the first spacecraft to circle the Moon and return to Earth–
The Waltons premiered on CBS–
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, the first U.S. born saint, was canonized by Pope Paul VI–
World Series was cancelled due to strike–
Roger Craig, a University of Delaware graduate student, won $77,000 on Jeopardy!. It was the show’s highest one-day total ever.–
Crayola announced crayon name Bluetiful”“–
Weather
Seattle, Washington, had a high temperature of 92 degrees F–
