It’s July 31; do you have a pot full of plant ash soaking in water? You know, to make that really great fertilizer for your garden? The stuff called pot-ash? Okay, you almost certainly don’t, but even so, today’s the day in 1790, that the first US patent was issued, and it was for a… Continue reading

After WWII, there was something of a recognition in western culture that the world had gotten a great deal more organized — administratively organized — than it had been before. Time Magazine called it “the widespread 20th century malady — galloping orgsmanship.”  The same tendency was described in a book as “the tendency of all… Continue reading

With so many people working at home and meeting over videoconferences, kids have taken a more prominent role. Maybe not as prominent as some kids in the history of July 29, though. Take the year 238 in Rome. It was July 29 when the Praetorian Guard — the secret police of the Roman Emperors (think… Continue reading

The Guinness World Record for surviving the longest fall in a plunging elevator was set on July 28, 1945, when Betty Lou Oliver’s elevator dropped 75 stories in the Empire State Building in New York. Oliver broker her pelvis, back, and neck, but she recovered.  She also recovered from severe burns — but she’d been… Continue reading

Today, July 27, is Bugs Bunny’s birthday! Well, sort of. This is the day that he first appeared on screen when A Wild Hare was released in 1940. He sprang to life fully formed; his first adventure was pestering Elmer Fudd, and he already had his signature line, What’s Up, Doc?  Bugs usually delivers his… Continue reading

In 1921, the Laugh-O-Gram Studio opened in Kansas City, Missouri. It produced animated films from the second floor of a nondescript brick building on East 31st Street — the building is still standing, and you’d never give it a second look, unless you already knew about its history. The studio had a contract for making… Continue reading

One of the things you learn in school in the US is that the Revolutionary War took place in North America, mostly involved colonial troops versus the British (or their mercenaries), and ended when George Washington defeated General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Not a single one of those things are true.  The final battle… Continue reading

Twenty-five dollars per month. That was all. It wasn’t an inconsequential sum; that provided a measure of reassurance. But now it was 1895, which made him 33 years old, and he was sure his friends would say to him “Bill! Bill Porter! You’re a family man now, and you’ve just moved to Houston. Will $25… Continue reading

The New Jersey Turnpike isn’t just a single road; it’s a combination of toll highways running throughout the state. It took two years to build the 117-mile-long main part of the road, including rest areas. Each area is named after someone with some identifiable connection with New Jersey.  The names on the rest areas are… Continue reading

As everybody knows, March 14 is Pi Day, because in month/day format the third month and fourteenth day make 3.14, the first three digits of pi. What not everybody knows is that today, July 22, is Pi Approximation Day, because in day/month format (which is used everywhere but the US) it’s 22/7, and that’s the… Continue reading