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Cheshire Cat
One of the oddball characters in Alice in Wonderland is the Cheshire Cat. He doesn’t really do much in the story besides grin, and then gradually disappear (except for his grin). Have you ever wondered why a grinning feline would be called a Cheshire Cat? Lewis Carroll could have just invented it — he certainly Continue reading
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R.H.W. Dillard
In the sometimes mysterious and remote Blue Ridge mountains in the US state of Virginia, there are countless obscure valleys and hidden keeps. The only habitation of note is Roanoke, where, on October 11, 1937, a baby was born. It’s not recorded whether any omens predicted the birth, whether any supernatural events accompanied it, or Continue reading
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October 11
An odd thing happened on October 11, 1976. A promotion was awarded to an officer in the US Army. On the face of it, that seems like something that happens all the time, but this time the promotion was posthumous. Which is not something that happens all the time, but it’s certainly not unprecedented or Continue reading
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October 10
In one of those odd coincidences that we manufacture all the time (because it’s not a coincidence until somebody says “gee, that’s an odd coincidence”), October 10 in 1914, 1915, and 1917 is the birthday of three famous jazz/R&B musicians: Ivory Joe Hunter, Harry Edison, and Thelonious Monk, in that order. Ivory Joe Hunter — Continue reading
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Alice Dalgliesh
If you have children, or if you were, yourself, once a child, and if you can read (which, since you’ve made it this far in a much-too-lengthy sentence, we will assume), you’re probably aware that children’s literature that’s also historically accurate is easy to find. That was not always true, and that it now is Continue reading
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Abigails and Andrews
If you know someone named Abigail or Andrew, you might want to think twice about whether to share this with them. Those names, you see, have in the past been used to mean different things. Starting in the 1600s – or possibly earlier – an “abigail” was a maidservant. Nobody is quite sure how this Continue reading
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John Cummings and Christopher Ward
John Cummings and Christopher Ward share a birthday: October 8. They were both born in New York CIty; Cummings in 1948 and Ward in 1965. And they have something else in common: their name. That’s because John Cummings and Christopher Ward are better known as Johnny and C.J. Ramone, of the punk band the Ramones. Continue reading
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Nicolaes Tulp
On October 9, 1593, Claes Pieterszoon was born in Amsterdam. He came from a prosperous family, and grew up to become a doctor. He built himself a house in 1616, and named it De Tulp, after tulips. He evidently liked tulips quite a lot, because the next year he also changed his own name to Continue reading
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October 9
October 9, 1701, the Collegiate School was chartered in the colony of Connecticut. The thinking was that Harvard College, which had been around for over 60 years by that time, was getting much too liberal and a new school was needed that would “maintain the Puritan religious orthodoxy.” The school didn’t have a permanent location, Continue reading
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Don’t be lazy
I’m a young dog at the start of the daybut the things I have learned are not new.Like “humans can sleep altogether too lateand neglect all the stuff they should do.” They can sleep pretty hardbut a lick in their earwill wake them right up;Yes, it works! Never fear! Then they’re handy with doorsand to 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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peterharbeson@me.com