The sugar rush is over and done for the moment.

Daylight Savings Time (which has never been sufficiently explained to anyone, but seems to have simply become a national habit we don't know how to break) is ended, so we are back on Standard Time.

Today, among other special day celebrations, is National Author Day. I salute those who write. If what you write is excellent, I am grateful that you choose to share it with us, so we can learn from or be entertained by you. Even if what you write is awful, at least you have the courage to do it.

Writing used to be on my someday list.

Remember, writing more can help you get better at writing, but editing what you write will help you get better faster. The desire to see fewer of those red marks from the editing pencil on your work will inspire you to improve much faster than just plain writing more. At least, that is what they used to tell me in school.


Today is:

All Hallow's Day a/k/a All Saint's Day

CrossQuarter Day

Gooseberry Humble's Tummy-Rumbling Contest -- Fairy Calendar

Graveyards Day

Independence Day, Antigua&Barbuda, Yemen

Liberty Day, US Virgin Islands

National Author's Day

National Day of Hope and Mourning, Lithuania

National Doubletalk Day

National Family Literacy Day

National French Fried Clam Day

Old Celtic New Year

Padre Cicero Day

Recreation Day, Tasmania

Samhain -- Celtic, 3rd Station, and Wicca, Northern Hemisphere (Beltane

in the Southern Hemisphere)

Zero Tasking Day


Birthdays Today:

Fernando Valenzuela, 1960
Lyle Lovett, 1957
Dan Peek, 1951
Larry Flynt, 1942
Gary Player, 1935
Stephen Crane, 1871


Today in History:

Pompei is buried by Mt. Vesuvius, 79
The name "Austria" is first used for Ostarrichin
King John of England begins imprisoning Jews, 1210
The Duke of Brabant orders the execution of all Jews in Brussels, claiming they were poisoning wells, 1349
First exhibit of the works of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1512
The Netherlands is hit by a flood disaster, resulting in the deaths of thousands, 1570
Shakespeare's "Othello" first presented, 1604
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" first presented, 1611
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves over 50,000 dead, 1755
The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies, 1765
Founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano, 1776
George Washington gives his "Farewell Address" and the Continental Army is dissolved, 1783
The African Free Schook, the first free school in NYC, opens, 1787
John Adams becomes the first Us president to move into the (still not quite finished) White House, 1800*
*Note: It was still called the Executive Mansion at this time
The first published reference to poker, as a Mississippi riverboat game, 1834
The Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse, which is still in use, is lit for the first time; its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles in good conditions, 1859
Passage of the first US Civil Rights Bill, 1866
First publication of "Harpers Bazaar", 1867
The US Weather Bureau begins operations, with 24 locations, 1870
Edward Scripps and John Sweeney found Penny Press (now the Cleveland Press), 1878
The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at the Hayes' Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, 1884
Dr. Roux of Paris introduces a vaccine for diphtheria, 1894
Nicholas II becomes czar of Russia, 1894
The National Geographic Magazine publishes its first picture of bare breasted women (from a Zulu tribe), 1896
Sigma Phi Epsilon, the largest national male college fraternity in the US, is established at Richmond College, 1901
Parris Island becomes the officially designated Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 1915
The Ottoman Empire is officially abolished, 1922
The first animal conceived by artificial insemination, a rabbit, is displayed, 1939
The first issue of Ebony Magazine is published, by John H. Johnson, 1945
Charles Cooper of the Celtics becomes the first black NBA player, 1950
The first hydrogen nuclear device is exploded, at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952