Passover begins at sundown on this day. Passover, or Pesach, is an annual weeklong festival commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and slavery. The holiday, which begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, derives its name from the passing over of the homes of the Israelite slaves during the tenth plague. Family and friends gather together on the first and second nights of the holiday for the high point of the festival observance, the Seder. During the Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, the experience of the Exodus is told in story, song, prayer, and the tasting of symbolic foods. Perhaps the most well-known of these foods is the matzoh (flat, crackerlike unleavened bread), which is a reminder of the haste with which the slaves—who had no time to wait for the bread to rise—left Egypt. Read more about Passover here.
Daily Calendar for Monday, April 22, 2024
Question of the Day
In a math book talking about the Fibonacci sequence, it said that often the sequence works with certain things in nature. There was a picture of a pinecone in the book. Do pinecones have anything to do with the Fibonacci sequence?
Fibonacci numbers are a series of numbers where each, after the second term, is the sum of the preceding two numbers (e.g., 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.). In the study of botany, these numbers have proved useful in describing the positioning of leaves around plant stems, the spiral patterns in sunflower heads, and the scales of pinecones, to name but a few.
Advice of the Day
Frequent mistings under the leaves of houseplants will discourage spider mites.
Home Hint of the Day
In praise of the drywall screw: It taps its own holes, neatly countersinks its own head, is made for power driving with a Phillips head in a drill, and its needle-sharp point even drills and taps right through thin metal.
Word of the Day
Shanty
A small crude shelter used as a dwelling. A rhythmical work song originally sung by sailors.
Puzzle of the Day
Where do cows go on Saturday night?
To the moo-vies!
Born
- Queen Isabella I of Spain –
- Reverend Eleazar Wheelock (founded Dartmouth College) –
- Julius Sterling Morton (Arbor Day founder) –
- J. Robert Oppenheimer (physicist) –
- Aaron Spelling (American television producer ) –
- Charlotte Rae (actress) –
- Glen Campbell (country musician) –
- Jack Nicholson (actor) –
- Peter Frampton (musician) –
- Ryan Stiles (comedian & actor) –
Died
- Ansel Adams (photographer) –
- Richard M. Nixon (37th U.S. president) –
- Erma Bombeck (humorist) –
- Pat Tillman (Former NFL player, was killed while serving as an Army Rangers soldier in Afghanistan. Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the military after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.) –
Events
- U.S. Proclamation of Neutrality issued–
- Sirius became first ship to complete trek across Atlantic solely by steam–
- First White House Easter Egg Roll–
- Every student in Nebraska City, Nebraska planted at least one tree in honor of the first official Arbor Day, which was founded by Julius Sterling Morton–
- Oklahoma land rush began–
- Symphony Society of N.Y. began first European tour by U.S. orchestra–
- Ray Keech drove 207,552 mph in the White Triplex car–
- Jacques Cousteau granted patent for diving apparatus–
- Lester Pearson inaugurated as prime minister of Canada–
- Doctors in Houston, Texas, performed the first substantial human eye transplant–
- The first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States–
- The Blues Brothers made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live–
- In Washington, D.C., the Albert Einstein memorial was unveiled on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences–
- The Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.–
- Red Sox players Manny Ramirez, J. D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek hit 4 consecutive home runs. This was a first in Red Sox history–
Weather
- It rained geese in Elgin, Manitoba, after 52 flying geese were struck by lightning.–
- Sixteen inches of snow fell in Sheridan, Wyoming–
- The Red River crested at 54.35 feet in Grand Forks, North Dakota–