Today is the anniversary of the Mount Washington Cog Railway’s opening — it was the first “rack railroad” in the world that used gears to make it possible to climb such a steep grade. The whole thing was a tourist attraction right from the start; there’s really no reason to be on the top of Continue reading

Humans have existed for tens of thousands of years, and have been able to count, at least to some extent, for (probably) most of that time. So with all that experience, particularly once writing was invented in various places and experiences could be widely shared, it’s natural to expect that people would gradually converge on Continue reading

It’s August 27, the anniversary of the first successful oil well (at least in the US), in Titusville, Pennsylvania. People knew about oil in the 1850s, of course. In some parts of the world you could get the stuff out of freestanding pools (like tar pits), and it had been used for thousands of years Continue reading

Today is the anniversary of the adoption of the nineteenth amendment to the US Constitution. It’s usually described as “granting women the right to vote,” but the language itself is slightly different; it prohibits federal and state governments from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex.  The US Constitution is actually a Continue reading

It was August 25, 1835, that the New York Sun newspaper published one of the greatest stories ever — certainly their biggest scoop in history. The greatest astronomer of the time was Sir William Herschel, and he had made some astonishing observations from his “immense telescope of an entirely new principle,” built in South Africa.  Continue reading

It’s August twenty-fourth, a date that will live in…paperwork. It was the date in 1215 that the Pope declared the Magna Carta invalid. The Pope got involved because, well, in those days the Pope got involved in everything. The “Great Charter of Freedoms” had been written by one of his crew, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Continue reading

August 23 is the birthday of the sculptor Alexander Calder. You’re thinking of the big steel mobiles and abstract constructions on exhibit in airports and concert halls. But no, it’s not that Alexander Calder.  Oh, right, you say, you must mean Alexander Calder who sculpted the Washington Square Arch in New York; the one with Continue reading

Today is the 159th anniversary of the first time a yacht owned by some really rich guy beat a yacht owned by another really rich guy in a race to win the America’s Cup. Except they didn’t really win the America’s Cup, because at the time it was called the “R.Y.S. One Hundred Sovereign Cup.” Continue reading

When you fill out an online form with your postal location information, one of the choices in the “country” dropdown menu is “United States Outlying Islands.” Ever wonder about those? One of them was discovered today, August 21, in 1821.  Jarvis Island is a tiny coral island that’s really, totally, I’m not kidding, in the Continue reading

You’ve probably heard the term “going postal.” When it’s used as dark humor, it means being driven nuts by events and people around you. When it’s used seriously, it means shooting your coworkers.  “Going postal” comes from this very day in 1986. Patrick Sherrill, a “relief carrier” in the Edmond, Oklahoma post office, brought a Continue reading