Daily Calendar for Sunday, August 18, 2024
Question of the Day
How can I pick the perfect peaches at the supermarket?
Peaches should be only the slightest bit soft when you buy them. Too soft means they are too ripe. The skin should have no green, only yellow-orange with red smudges. Green peaches will not ripen properly. Any bruises on the surface are hiding larger bruises inside.
Advice of the Day
August’s birthstone is the peridot, sometimes called the evening emerald for its light green color.
Home Hint of the Day
To eliminate the itch of insect bites, rub on meat tenderizer or lemon juice.
Word of the Day
Climate
The long-term atmospheric conditions of an area; the βaverageβ weather conditions, along with normal variations and extremes.
Puzzle of the Day
The Sunflower State.(Name the U.S. state!)
Kansas
Died
- Genghis Kahn (Mongol leader) β
- Elmer Bernstein (composer) β
- Phil Donahue ( talk show host) β
Born
- Virginia Dare (first baby of English parents born on American soil) β
- Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark expedition) β
- Rosalynn Smith Carter (U.S. First Lady) β
- Roberto Clemente (baseball player) β
- Robert Redford (actor) β
- Martin Mull (actor) β
- Patrick Swayze (actor) β
- Denis Leary (actor) β
- Edward Norton (actor) β
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner (actor) β
- Andy Samberg (actor) β
Events
- Virginia Dare, daughter of Ananias and Eleanor Dare, was born in Roanoke, becoming the first child to be born in America of English parentsβ
- John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returned from a trip to England for supplies and found his settlement desertedβ
- Charles Wilkes began expedition to South Poleβ
- Begole, Johnson, and Lucas summited Mt. Whitney, Sierra Nevada, Californiaβ
- Sir H. C. K. Petty-Fitzmaurice, Lord Lansdowne, named governor-general of Canadaβ
- Plant patent #1 granted for climbing roseβ
- Ringo Starr joined The Beatlesβ
- Woodstock Festival ended, Bethel, New Yorkβ
- 12-year old Samantha Druce swam the English Channelβ
- Boston Celtics player Larry Bird announced his retirementβ
- Lucy, a 4-year old dog from Peterborough, New Hampshire, became the first paralyzed dog to walk the entire 7.6-mile Auto Road up Mount Washington. (She was also the first handicapped canine to attempt the trek.) It took her six hours and two minutes.β
- Lisette and Walter Kimmel, both 100, celebrated their 75th wedding anniversaryβ
- Starman Tesla completed its first orbit around the Sunβ
Weather
- Hailstorms destroyed corn crops in southeastern Iowaβ
- Hurricane Alicia hit the Texas coastβ
- Between approximately 9:55 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., a strong thunderstorm in New York City brought wind gusts of up to an estimated 80 miles per hour and up to 3/4β of rain. Straight-line winds knocked over more than 100 trees in Central Park and damaged hundreds more. According to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Central Park Conservancy, it was the worst destruction of the park’s trees in at least 30 years. Manhattan, the Bronx, and the northern part of Queens were especially hard hit. Penny-size hail was reported in the Bronx and in Hoboken, New Jersey.β