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December 3
December 3, 1800, was the day that Aaron Burr nearly became the third president of the US. The 1800 election resulted in a tie between Burr and Thomas Jefferson, so it was up to the House of Representatives to hold a contingent election. After the first ballot, that was tied too, and it stayed that Continue reading
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Archiloquy of the Day
Here’s a sentence you’d be unlikely to encounter nowadays. “It was noscible in the village that the oporopolist’s stall was often closed because of his fondness for riviation.” You’d be unlikely to encounter it because “noscible,” “oporopolist,” and “riviation” are all words that were once in general use in English, but haven’t been heard from Continue reading
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December 2
It was December 2, 1823 that US President James Monroe delivered the State of the Union address where he announced what’s now called the “Monroe Doctrine” — the US was going to be neutral in all future European conflicts. The Monroe Doctrine lasted quite a while, although of course the US eventually got involved in Continue reading
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Nepenthes
The original Odyssey, by the ancient Greek writer Homer, is largely about the Trojan War, which went on for years. According to the myth, the whole thing was kicked off when this guy Paris (who was from Troy) kidnapped Helen, who was married to Medelaus, the king of Sparta. One might wonder how exactly you Continue reading
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Skate
It’s getting to be the time of year when ice skating jumps quite a bit in popularity (that jump, obviously, would be an axel). To go ice skating you need skates. Unless, of course, you’re Snoopy the beagle in A Charlie Brown Christmas, where he manages to skate better than any of the kids just Continue reading
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December 1
Everybody in the US has heard about Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, just so a white person could sit in it. It was a seminal moment in the civil rights movement, and it happened on this date, December 1, in 1955. Parks probably didn’t choose the date, Continue reading
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Custom
A typical behavior or habit that’s been in place for quite a while, is — or at least can be — called a “custom.” It can apply to one person: “He never gave up his custom of going to business in a silk hat and a Prince Albert coat” (1938) or practically the whole human Continue reading
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Haggard
If you see someone who’s been through such a physically exhausting or draining experience that they look gaunt, tired, spent, anxious, and fatigued, that person looks “haggard.” At least that’s how they’d be described nowadays. “Haggard” has been around for quite a few centuries, and it’s one of those words that’s shifted in meaning pretty Continue reading
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Born today: Bronson Alcott
Our birthday celebrant today is an odd character; he entered into countless projects without the resources or abilities to see them through, and endured equally countless failures. He was a prolific writer, but his work (even at the time) has been criticized as mostly incoherent. He didn’t have any single accomplishment of particular note, but Continue reading
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Born today (Nov 28): Luke Howard
Clouds, technically speaking, are aerosols consisting of a visible mass of liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in an atmosphere. There is a whole science of clouds, called “nephology.” And in addition to the “stratus,” cumulus,” and other common types of clouds, there’s an extensive nomenclature system identifying types of clouds based on Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.
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