Daily Calendar for Saturday, December 16, 2023
Question of the Day
How long have people been sending out Christmas cards?
The first Christmas card is thought to have been printed in England in 1843. Wood engravers of the time often produced prints with religious themes, but this was the first time anyone produced these prints in quantity and sold them (1,000 copies in London). The design was of a family party, beneath which were the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” In the mid-19th century in the United States, the owner of a variety store in Albany, New York, produced a card carrying Christmas greetings from “Pease’s Great Variety Store in the Temple of Fancy.”
Advice of the Day
The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Home Hint of the Day
To remove the film from inside a wine glass, fill the glass with a strong solution of ammonia and water. Wait a couple of hours, then wash and rinse.
Word of the Day
Wisconsin
Wisconsin was probably named from a Chippewa word that means “river of red stone” or “river of the great rock.”
Puzzle of the Day
Why are dudes no longer imported into this country from England?
Because a Yankee dude’ll do (Yankee doodle doo).
Born
- Jane Austen (author) –
- Philip K. Dick (author) –
- Steven Bochco (producer) –
- William "Refrigerator" Perry (football player) –
- Benjamin Bratt (actor) –
- Hallee Hirsh (actress) –
- Anna Popplewell (actress) –
Died
- Lillian Disney (wife of Walt Disney; came up with the name Mickey Mouse) –
- John Spencer (actor) –
- Michiaki Takahashi (virologist best know for inventing first chickenpox vaccine ) –
Events
- On December 16, 1620, the British ship Mayflower arrived at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. Soon after, the Pilgrims began building their settlement, Plymouth Colony. –
- A group of American patriots dressed as Indians dumped British tea overboard in Boston Harbor, protesting taxes by the British government; the event is referred to as the Boston Tea Party–
- Earthquake in Mississippi River Valley near Madrid, Missouri–
- Magnitude-8.1 earthquake in northeast Arkansas–
- Hiram W. Hayden patented a machine to make brass kettles–
- Second (and current) Cape Hatteras, N.C., lighthouse likely first lit–
- Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published–
- 7.1 earthquake, Fairview Peak, Nevada–
- The film Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta, premiered. This film is credited with accelerating the disco craze–
- Students’ satellite STARSHINE-2 deployed–
- 9,000th episode of All My Children aired–
Weather
- The temperature in Hanover, New Hampshire, was -17 degrees F in a bitter cold snap that hit New England–
- Ice jam closed Ohio River from Warsaw, Kentucky, to Rising Sun, Indiana–