Daily Calendar for Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Question of the Day
What does “philom.” stand for, as seen in old books?
It’s an abbreviation of philomath, a student of mathematics and philosophy. The word was popularly applied to astronomers and astrologers and was used by old almanac makers. It is rarely used today, and not by The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Advice of the Day
Never spend your money before you have it. —Thomas Jefferson
Home Hint of the Day
Don’t apply any manure or compost that’s not thoroughly decomposed to the early garden. Such treatments can burn seedlings and attract flies that introduce root maggots.
Word of the Day
Bollix
Make a mess of, destroy or ruin.
Puzzle of the Day
Where do sheep go to get their hair cut?
To the baa-baa shop!
Born
- Robert Browning (poet) –
- Johannes Brahms (composer) –
- Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (composer) –
- Eva Peron (wife of Argentine President Juan Peron) –
- Darren McGavin (actor) –
- Anne Baxter (actress) –
- Alex Smith (football player) –
Died
- Salmon P. Chase (Chief Justice of the United States) –
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (actor) –
Events
- First inaugural ball in U.S.–
- Haworth Parsonage was the recipient of the first copies of the Brontë sisters’ Poems–
- American Medical Association founded–
- The first Naval Academy Band arrived at the United States Naval Academy–
- Wagon-mounted fire escape ladder patented–
- The R.M.S. Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland and sank with a loss of 1,198 lives, including 139 Americans, bringing the U.S. and Germany to the brink of war (WW I)–
- First exhibit by “Group of Seven” artists–
- The world’s first projection planetarium installed, Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany–
- 9.4-inch-long, 14-pound pearl reportedly collected on this day from giant clam at Palawan Island, Philippines–
- Glenn Miller recorded “Chattanooga Choo Choo” –
- President Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War–
- Bigfoot reported seen in Hollis, NH–
- Canadian-bred Sunny’s Halo won the Kentucky Derby–
- 27th U.S. Amendment ratified–
- Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns was named MVP for the 2005-06 basketball season. He became the 9th player in NBA history to receive the honor in back-to-back seasons–
- 282 people carried water jugs on their heads (in Toronto), setting a world record–
Weather
- A tornado in Natchez, Mississippi, was the most deadly and destructive in early U.S. history, killing 317 people.–
- 54 degrees F, Sacramento, California–
- Sacramento, California, had a temperature of 105 degrees F–
- Rochester, New York, received ten inches of snow–