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October 30 Saints of the Day – Zenobius & Zenobia and Alphonsus Rodriguez
On this day in 1944, Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” premiered in Washington, DC. Its working title was “Appalachian Autumn,” but it took longer to write than he expected. Zenobius & Zenobia...
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November 2 Saints of the Day – Acindynus of Persia and All Souls
On this day in 1948, President Harry Truman was re-elected in an upset over opponent Thomas Dewey, despite the next day’s Chicago Tribune headline proclaiming the opposite. Fortunately the Press...
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November 5 Saints of the Day – Galacteon & Episteme
On this day in 1935, Parker Brothers launched the game Monopoly. Soon they had cornered the market. To learn the story of Galacteon & Episteme (d. 251) we must go back to Kletophon and Leukippe,...
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November 11 Saints of the Day – Menas of Egypt and Martin of Tours
On this day in 1675, Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated the integral calculus for the first time, throwing a curve to area mathematicians. Menas of Egypt (285 – ca. 304 or 309)’s mother Euphemia (“good...
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November 24 Saint of the Day – Catherine of Alexandria
On this day in 1971, Dan “D.B.” Cooper parachuted over southwestern Washington State from a Northwest Airlines 727 with $200,000 in cash, and has never been found. Nobody believes the Ariel,...
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December 4 Saints of the Day – Barbara, and Clement of Alexandria
On this day in 1680, a hen in Rome laid an egg imprinted with a comet not seen in that city until December 16, when it flew over easy. Barbara (IV cent.) of Heliopolis (Syria) was the daughter of a...
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December 14 Saints of the Day – Philemon, Apollonius, & Arianus of...
On this day in 1901, the first table tennis tournament was held, at the London Royal Aquarium. The rules were changed to disallow multiple paddles per player after the squid won in straight sets. The...
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December 22 Saints of the Day – Anastasia, Deliverer from Potions, and Hunger...
On this day in 1958, “The Chipmunk Song” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Two years later, nobody admitted to having purchased it, even among people with Hula Hoops. The Greatmartyr Anastasia,...
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December 25 Feast of the Day – The Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Savior...
On this day in 1651, the Massachusetts General Court instituted a five-shilling fine for “observing any such day as Christmas.” They also outlawed gambling, food with flavor, and non-scratchy clothes....
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December 31 Saint of the Day – Melania the Younger
On this day in 1695, a window tax was imposed in England. Many shopkeepers bricked up their windows to avoid it. Fortunately, Parliament did not impose a brick tax. Melania the Younger (ca. 383 – 439)...
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