Daily Calendar for Friday, December 29, 2023
Question of the Day
What is the best way to get rid of thistles?
The thistle is one of the most difficult perennial weeds to control because its underground stems can travel up to 20 feet a season. After chopping them down, use a plastic mulch to cover the entire area. A straw mulch, laid at least three inches thick, also will smother thistles. (Do not use a leaf mulch.) Your weed-control program must be long-lasting because the roots can lie dormant for several years. In addition to mulching, plowing the garden deeply in the fall will bring the rhizomes (stems) to the surface. But avoid rototilling, because this will cut the rhizomes, and each piece will become a new plant.
Advice of the Day
Don’t forget to fill the bird feeder when winter storms are forecast.
Home Hint of the Day
A lightweight wrecking bar with at least a 2-inch-wide blade is a good tool for removing old plaster and lath (the narrow wooden support strips under plaster).
Word of the Day
Hygrophobia
Fear of dampness/moisture
Puzzle of the Day
There is a word of five syllables; take away the first, and no syllable will remain.
Mo-no-syllable
Born
- Charles Macintosh (chemist & inventor) –
- Charles Goodyear (inventor) –
- Andrew Johnson (17th U.S. president) –
- Ed Flanders (actor) –
- Mary Tyler Moore (actress) –
- Ted Danson (actor) –
- Patricia Clarkson (actress) –
- Kevin Weisman (actor) –
- Jude Law (actor) –
Died
- Earl Hindman (actor) –
Events
- Saint Thomas Becket was murdered by four knights–
- Texas admitted to the Union as the 28th state–
- Gaslights were first used at the White House–
- American Meteorological Society founded at St. Louis, Missouri–
- William Lyon Mackenzie King became 10th Prime Minister of Canada–
- Fred Newton became the first and only person to swim the length of the Mississippi River. It took him about six months to cover the 1,826 miles from Minnesota to New Orleans. He was in the water for 742 hours and was protected from the cold water by a layer of axle grease on his body–
- The discovery of deuterium was publicly announced–
- Lake Washington Floating Bridge construction began, Seattle, Washington–
- Ashrita Furman stood on a Swiss ball for 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 30 seconds–
- Tom Brady of the New England Patriots broke Peyton Mannings’s single-season touchdown pass record when he threw his 50th of the season against the New York Giants–
- Randy Moss of the New England Patriots set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches–
- The New England Patriots set an NFL record by winning 16 out of 16 games in the regular season–
Weather
- “Morning silvered by the icicles everywhere shining,” New London, Connecticut–
- Thirty inches of snow fell on central Illinois–