December comes from the Latin word decem, meaning “ten,” because it was the tenth month of the early Roman calendar. Read more about everything happening in December.
Daily Calendar for Friday, December 1, 2023
Question of the Day
Does it snow a lot in the Antarctic?
Oddly enough, the Antarctic is considered one of the driest places on Earth. It gets only an inch or two of snow each year, making it more or less a desert. Those two inches a year, however, have been piling up for centuries, and the snow cover there is thought to be about two miles deep, making it a glacier.
Advice of the Day
Where the sun enters, the doctor does not.
Home Hint of the Day
To help prevent a ring in the tub, add a few drops of baby oil to your bathwater.
Word of the Day
Ceilometer
A cloud yardstick. A ceilometer measures the height of clouds.
Puzzle of the Day
What vegetables may be reduced to ashes merely by removing a part of them?
Squashes
Born
- William Henry Holmes (archaeologist) –
- Rex Stout (novelist) –
- David Fitzgerald Doyle (actor) –
- Woody Allen (actor & producer) –
- Lee Trevino (golfer) –
- Richard Pryor (comedian & actor) –
- Stephen Benton (American scientist) –
- Bette Midler (singer & actress) –
- Brad Delson (guitarist of Linkin Park) –
- Princess Aiko (first child of Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako) –
Died
- David Ben-Gurion (1st Prime Minister of Israel) –
- James Baldwin (author) –
- Capt. Edward L. Beach (author of Run Silent, Run Deep ) –
- Eugene Bob Gregoire (first design chief of Ford, creator of the Lincoln Continental) –
Events
- New York’s Erie Canal closed due to weather.–
- The Christmas Club savings account began–
- First drive-in gasoline service station opened, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–
- Lt. Harry Colebourn officially donated Winnie (the bear Christopher Robin Milne named his bear after) to the London Zoo–
- First flight of helium-filled blimp (C-7), between Virginia and D.C.–
- Dupree Gardens opened, Land O’ Lakes, Florida–
- Nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect in the United States–
- Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger–
- First 12 nations signed the Antarctic Treaty–
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., guaranteeing peaceful international use of the continent–
- News anchor, Tom Brokaw, signed off after 23 years of bringing news to viewers–
- Astronaut Bob Thirsk returned to Earth after 6 months on the International Space Station–
Weather
- The Erie Canal was closed due to weather–
- The temperature at Kipp, Montana, rose 80 degrees over the course of the day–
- -25.6 degrees F, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta–