Cartoonist Al Capp, creator of the Li’l Abner cartoon strip, conceived of a day in fictitious Dogpatch, USA, when all unmarried ladies (including the character Sadie Hawkins) could pursue their men. If the men were caught, marriage was unavoidable. The idea took off in real life—and in November 1938, the first recorded “girls-ask-boys” Sadie Hawkins Day dance was held. Today, this quirky holiday is usually celebrated in November. The Almanac uses the first Saturday in November but the date can vary by state. Learn more about Sadie Hawkins Day.
Daily Calendar for Saturday, November 4, 2023
Will Rogers, a great American humorist, was born on November 4, 1879 in the Cooweescoowee District of the Cherokee Nation—in what would become Oklahoma. Starting life on a large ranch in Indian territory, Rogers was part Cherokee. He was taught by a former slave how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas longhorn cattle. He became a rope-tricking cowboy and all-around entertainer and his rope tricks eventually led to a career on Broadway and in the movies. Rogers later became a popular broadcaster and syndicated newspaper columnist. Rogers died in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15, 1935. Will Rogers had a folksy persona and some of his best quotes are still timeless. Here’s a few that you should enjoy: “I don’t make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts.” “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” “We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.” “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Question of the Day
What’s the best method, without cutting into it, to tell when a turkey is done?
Do the wiggle test. Grab one of the legs and check to see if the leg joint moves freely when you rotate the drumstick. If it does not, your turkey is not done. Also, insert a long fork into the deepest part of the leg joint and check the juices. If they are clear, not pink, the turkey is done.
Advice of the Day
A pretreatment of lemon juice and salt helps remove perspiration stains from clothes.
Home Hint of the Day
Soap is an effective lubricant for screws that are hard to drive. Just scrape the threads of the screw across a dry bar of soap.
Word of the Day
Scuttle
To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
Puzzle of the Day
Name a bird whose name contains the name of another bird.
Meadowlark
Born
- Guido Reni (artist) –
- Benjamin F. Goodrich (manufacturer) –
- Will Rogers (humorist) –
- Walter Cronkite (newscaster) –
- Art Carney (actor) –
- Doris Roberts (actress) –
- Shakuntala Devi (computational genius) –
- Loretta Swit (actress) –
- Laura Bush (U.S. First Lady) –
- Ralph Macchio (actor) –
- Jeff Probst (host of Survivor) –
- Matthew McConaughey (actor) –
- Sean Diddy Combs (singer, record producer) –
Died
- Felix Mendelssohn (composer) –
- Grover Cleveland Alexander (baseball player) –
- Cy Young (baseball player) –
- Albert Franklin Yeager (horticulturist) –
- Dominique Dunne (actress) –
- Michael Crichton (author) –
- Andy Rooney (news commentator) –
Events
- Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married–
- The Royal Montreal Golf Club (oldest golf club in North America) was founded–
- An earthquake rang bells in the Notre Dame basilica in Montreal–
- An earthquake shook New York state, New England, and eastern Canada–
- The first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio–
- Grover Cleveland elected president of the U.S.–
- Sergei Rachmaninoff’s first piano recital in the U.S., Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts–
- T. S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize for literature–
- Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president of the U.S.–
- Ronald Reagan elected president of U.S.–
- The biggest ever solar flare, sunspot 486, saturated X-ray detectors onboard GOES satellites for 11 minutes. It was estimated to be an X40-class solar flare–
- Senator Barack Obama was elected U.S. president. This marked the first time in U.S. history that an African American was elected to the position–
- EPOXI spacecraft flew by comet Hartley 2–
Weather
- Tropical rains flooded the Green Mountain area of Vermont causing the worst flood in the history of the state–