Daily Calendar for Thursday, December 18, 2025
Question of the Day
How long have people been sending out Christmas cards?
The first Christmas card is thought to have been printed in England in 1843. Wood engravers of the time often produced prints with religious themes, but this was the first time anyone produced these prints in quantity and sold them (1,000 copies in London). The design was of a family party, beneath which were the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” In the mid-19th century in the United States, the owner of a variety store in Albany, New York, produced a card carrying Christmas greetings from “Pease’s Great Variety Store in the Temple of Fancy.”
Advice of the Day
Kindnesses, like grain, increase by sowing.
Home Hint of the Day
To remove the film from inside a wine glass, fill the glass with a strong solution of ammonia and water. Wait a couple of hours, then wash and rinse.
Word of the Day
Wisconsin
Wisconsin was probably named from a Chippewa word that means “river of red stone” or “river of the great rock.”
Puzzle of the Day
Why are dudes no longer imported into this country from England?
Because a Yankee dude’ll do (Yankee doodle doo).
Born
- Edward MacDowell (composer) –
- Ty Cobb (baseball player) –
- Betty Grable (actress) –
- Steven Spielberg (director) –
- Ray Liotta (actor ) –
- Brad Pitt (actor) –
- Sia (singer) –
- Katie Holmes (actress) –
- Christina Aguilera (singer) –
- Billie Eilish (singer) –
Died
- Chris Farley (actor) –
- Joe Barbera (half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that made cartoon characters such as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, and the Flintstones) –
- Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (actress and producer) –
- Connie Hines (actress) –
- Zsa Zsa Gabor (actress and socialite) –
Events
- The Great Comet reached perihelion –
- New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution –
- John William Draper took the first photo of the Moon –
- The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting slavery, went into effect –
- National Anti-Saloon League was founded –
- U.S. President Woodrow Wilson married Edith B. Galt, a descendent of Pocahontas –
- Civil rights activist Rosa McCauley married Raymond Parks –
- Giant panda, Basi, celebrated her 25th birthday at China’s Fuzhou Zoo. (She far surpassed the normal panda life expectancy of 12 years!) –
Weather
- Central Park in New York City experienced a record low temperature of 10 degrees below zero F –
- A sudden gale of wind of almost cyclonic force blew through Howe, Indiana, and caused snowballs to form spontaneously and roll along the ground like tumbleweeds –
- Freezing rain in the Memphis, Tennessee, area caused 170 evening auto accidents –
