Daily Calendar for Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Question of the Day
How are marshmallows made, and where did they come from?
Marshmallows apparently came from France, where cooks made a confection called pate de Guimauve from the juice of a plant called the marshmallow. The sticky juice of the plant was mixed with eggs and sugar, then beaten to a foam. The marshmallows we buy today no longer make use of the marshmallow plant. Instead, they are made of beaten egg whites, gelatin, and sugar syrup.
Advice of the Day
A clean tie attracts the soup.
Home Hint of the Day
A bath of tomato juice is the traditional cure for a dog that’s had a run-in with a skunk, but that’s messy and expensive. Instead, give the dog a bath with a solution of equal parts of vinegar and water.
Word of the Day
Dog Days
These are the hottest and most unhealthy days of the year. Also known as Canicular Days, the name derives from the Dog Star, Sirius. The traditional timing of Dog Days is the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of Sirius.
Puzzle of the Day
A somber color I am found, And as to dirt I little show it; But if you fairly turn me round, Behold I am a poet. (What word fits the first clue, but when read backwards, fits the second?)
Drab - Bard
Born
- John Marshall (justice) –
- Marcus Alonzo Hanna (politician) –
- George Claude (inventor of neon light) –
- F. Scott Fitzgerald (American writer) –
- Severo Ochoa (biochemist) –
- Konstantin Chernenko (Russian politician) –
- Audra Lindley (actress) –
- Jim McKay (sportscaster) –
- John Young (astronaut) –
- Jim Henson (TV producer, creator of Muppets) –
- Linda McCartney (photographer, singer, activist, & wife of Beatle Paul McCartney) –
- Joe Greene (American football player) –
- Phil Hartman (actor) –
- Joseph Patrick Kennedy (politician) –
- Nia Vardalos (actress) –
- Kristin Talbot (Olympic speed skater) –
- Paul Spoljaric (baseball player) –
- Kevin Millar (baseball player) –
- Matt McKeon (Olympic soccer player) –
Died
- Theodor Geisel (author known as Dr. Seuss) –
- Jeffrey Moss (television writer, created Cookie Monster on Sesame Street) –
- Mike Webster (football player) –
Events
- Black Friday financial crisis –
- Fire breaks out at the U.S. Patent Office, Wash., D.C. –
- James Henry Fleming was the first to band a bird in Canada –
- Ernst A. Couturier patented a trumpet design –
- The world’s first transatlantic telephone cable, from Clarenville, Newfoundland, to Oban, Scotland, began operation –
- The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field –
- The USS Enterprise, the first U.S. atomic-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia –
- First TV newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, debuted –
- Tennis player Vicki Nelson-Dunbar played Jean Hepner in a 29-minute, 643-shot rally in Richmond, Virginia. The rally remains the longest point played in a professional tennis match. Nelson-Dunbar says the two-set match lasted 61/2 hours. It was the longest rally in the history of professional tennis and probably in the history of any kind of competitive tennis. –
- The first female Episcopal assistant bishop was elected –
Weather
- Yellowstone Park recorded a temperature of -9 degrees F –
- The Sun and Moon appeared blue/pink/purple over the northeastern U.S. due to smoke from forest fires in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada –
