One of the original 12 Apostles, St. Bartholomew is commemorated on August 24. In England, many fairs were held on this day, including the famous St. Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield. Eventually, the saint’s feast day appeared in weather lore, such as “At St. Bartholomew, there comes cold dew,” or “As Bartholomew’s Day, so the whole autumn.” After this date, thunderstorms were said to be more violent.
Question of the Day
How fast does a space shuttle travel when it’s orbiting?
To remain in orbit, the space shuttle travels at about 17,500 mph.
Advice of the Day
The faster a cricket chirps, the warmer the temperature.
Home Hint of the Day
Next time you start to wonder what you can do to rid your property of bats, remember this: A single bat can catch and kill 900 insects an hour — as many as 3,000 in a night.
Word of the Day
Pareidolia
The erroneous or fanciful perception of a pattern or meaning in something that is actually ambiguous or random — like the Man in the Moon or animals in cloud formations or religious images in tortillas.
Puzzle of the Day
The Show Me State.(Name the U.S. state!)
Missouri
Born
Geoffrey Plantagenet(Count of Anjou)–
Alexander II of Scotland–
René Lévesque(Quebec premier)–
Louis Teicher(pianist)–
A. S. Byatt(novelist)–
Steve Guttenberg(actor)–
Cal Ripken Jr.(baseball player)–
Marlee Matlin(actress)–
Reggie Miller(basketball player)–
Chad Michael Murray(actor)–
Rupert Grint(actor)–
Died
E. G. Marshall(actor)–
Jerry Clower(Grand Ole Opry humorist)–
Richard Attenborough(actor)–
Events
British troops set the White House on fire during the War of 1812–
Treaty of Cordoba signed, granting Mexico independence from Spain–
Cornelius Swartwout patented the waffle iron
–
Mark David Chapman sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of John Lennon–
For the final episode of CBS’s first Survivor program, approximately 51 million people (41% of America’s viewing public) watched Richard Hatch win the $1 million prize–
Julie Krone became the first female jockey to win a million-dollar race in the U.S. when she finished first in the Pacific Classic in Del Mar, CA, mounted atop her horse Candy Ride–
GPS navigation signals off by up to 3 feet for 3 hours due to rocket-made ionospheric hole–
Weather
The temperature at Saint Cloud, Minnesota, was 37 degrees F–
Thunderstorms dropped five to seven inches of rain on Long Island, New York, closing major highways–
Hurricane Andrew came ashore damaging South Florida–
Twisters, heavy rain, and hail as big as grapefruit struck the Dakotas–
