Daily Calendar for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Question of the Day
In regard to wind velocity, how long must it be sustained until it is no longer called a gust?
Gust is rather vague; winds can “gust” up to 40 miles an hour. However, according to the Beaufort scale of wind speeds, a “strong breeze” is 25 to 31 statute mph, a “moderate gale” 32 to 38 mph, a “fresh gale” 39 to 46 mph, a “whole gale” 55 to 63 mph, a “storm” 64 to 72 mph, and a “hurricane” greater than 72 mph.
Advice of the Day
Never put your hand out farther than you can draw it back again. —Irish proverb
Home Hint of the Day
Plywood is graded A, B, C, or D based on the defects in the wood surface. Grades C and D have knotholes, but the knots are larger in D. In A and B, knotholes are patched and the surface of the sheet is sanded. Only an occasional patch will appear in grade A.
Word of the Day
Roman indiction
A number in a 15-year cycle, established January 1, a.d. 313, as a fiscal term. Add 3 to any given year in the Christian era and divide by 15; the remainder is the Roman Indiction. If there is no remainder, it is 15.
Puzzle of the Day
When does a caterpillar improve in morals?
When it turns over a new leaf.
Born
- Anders Dahl (botanist; dahlia named for him) –
- Robert B. Taney (Supreme Court justice) –
- Ella Winter (Australian-born journalist) –
- Bobby Jones (American golfer) –
- Nat "King" Cole (entertainer) –
- James Irwin (astronaut) –
- Rudolfh Nureyev (ballet dancer) –
- John Sebastian (singer) –
- Patrick Duffy (actor) –
- Kurt Russell (actor) –
- Gary Sinise (actor) –
- Rob Lowe (actor) –
- Bill Mueller (baseball player) –
- Mia Hamm (soccer player, Olympic gold medalist) –
Died
- Helen Hayes (actress) –
- J. J. Jackson (one of the five original MTV video jockeys) –
- Andre Norton (science fiction/fantasy writer) –
- Oleg Cassini (fashion designer who created the Jackie look, the signature wardrobe created for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the early 1960s) –
Events
- On this day, St. Patrick died. As a boy, Patrick was captured and carried off from Britain to Ireland tend sheep. After six years, he escaped. Later, he to Ireland and spread the word of Christianity.–
- The Transylvania Land Company bought what became the state of Kentucky for $50,000, from a Cherokee Indian chief–
- British Army evacuated Boston–
- The rubber band was patented by Stephen Perry–
- John Phillip Holland launched first modern submarine off Staten Island, NY–
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt were married–
- Camp Fire Girls established–
- The National Gallery of Art was dedicated in Washington, D.C.–
- Gen. MacArthur arrived in Australia to assume supreme command of the Allied forces (WW II)–
- Battle of Iwo Jima ended with U.S. victory (WW II)–
- The University of California (Berkeley) announced the development of californium, a new element with the atomic number 98–
- Vanguard I spacecraft launched by U.S. at Cape Canaveral–
- USS Skate first submarine to surface at North Pole–
- UN conference of the Law of the Sea opened at Geneva, Switzerland–
- Paroxysmal eruption of Mt. Agung in Bali–
- A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, high school teacher, Golda Meir, took office as Israel’s 4th Prime Minister–
- One of the worst oil spills in history occured when supertanker Amoco Cadiz broke in two off the Brittany coast in France, dumping more than 223,000 tons of crude oil into the sea–
- Julie Croteau first woman to play NCAA baseball–
- 1,263 people dressed as leprechauns (in Bandon, Ireland), setting a world record–
Weather
- Snowstorm central and SW Tennessee; Memphis got 18.5 inches–
- Fifty degrees below zero F, Snake River, Wyoming–