Ephemeris of Miscellany

On leap day in 1504, Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies. ... On Leap Year, we should scrap February 29th and create October 32nd, or Second Halloween. It would be more fun and still keep the cosmos equally balanced. February 29, 2024 ... Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award on leap day in 1940, for her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. ... Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary election on leap day in 2020, giving him the momentum he needed to go on to secure the nomination. ... Baseball player and manager, Dickey Pearce, was born on leap day in 1836. Dickey Pearce. ... Other notable birthdays- William Wellman (1896), Dee Brown (1908) ... Quite a day for serial killer birthdays. Aileen Wuornos was born on Leap Day in 1956, and then Richard Ramirez in 1960. ... Notable deathdays-  Pat Garrett (1908), Melvin Purvis (1960), Davy Jones (2012) ......

On this day in 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick announced to friends that they determined the chemical structure of DNA. Somehow Watson is still alive at 94 years old. ... Every year I get a flu shot, because every year I consider that only 100 years ago millions upon millions of people died from the flu. Sure, sometimes the flu shot doesn't work, but it's science's best attempt. Even if it doesn't work, at least science did its best. And if it helps, and there's a really bad strain, maybe millions of lives are saved. Hopefully the coronavirus peters out, but it's worth considering that contagiousness and lethality are just a roll of the dice. It feels like we're insulated from catastrophic pandemics but if we're hit with another 100-year disease similar to the 1918 flu where 1/3 of the earth contracted it and the lethality was 2.5%, we're talking about 200 million dead. There's no need to run around screaming in the streets, but it's wor...

Hey all, thanks for the birthday wishes. I wrote this last year when I turned 50, and it still applies. On Turning 50 Apparently, I will only ever eat Fruity Pebbles ravenously. I won't eat them often, but it'll always be ravenously when I do, and I will always need another partial bowl to "use up the milk," which will always be just a pretense to eat more. A 50-year-old man, imagine. The arthritis in my wrists causes me to shriek occasionally. Teaching Zuzu how to ride a bike wrecks me- bending over, running, holding her up. That's what happens when you raise small kids when you're grandpa-age. I will always stick my finger in the mouth of any cat or dog that yawns, and I will just barely be able to resist if the creature is a human. I will always grate vegetables down to the nub, and beyond, never stopping until I nick my finger. I will forever feel the need to carve out more time to read non-fiction. I'm at peace with the fact that I'm Wally from My...

Bill Hicks died on this day in 1994. This is my favorite joke of his. "I just have one of those faces. People come up to me and say, "What's wrong?" Nothing. "Well, it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile." Yeah, you know it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?" ... Other notable deathdays- Karl Jaspers (1969), Lawrence Tierney (2002) ... Today we visited the memorial to Hans Herr (1639-1725) and his wife Elizabeth Mylin Kendig Herr (1639-1730) at the Willow Street Mennonite Cemetery. They are Gretel and Zuzu's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents, and two of the first Mennonite immigrants to Lancaster County, fleeing religious persecution in Switzerland.  How about this physical description of Hans: "In person, he was of medium height, with long gray hair curled under at ends and parted in the middle; had heavy brows, dark hazel eyes, aquiline nose, mouth rather sm...

Is it a coincidence that many of those who think Biden should be tougher on Russia were totally stoked when the last president was threatening to withhold congressionally-mandated aid from Ukraine to help protect themselves from Russia?  Maybe Biden should be tough on Russia by standing before the world with Putin, after a closed door meeting, telling us all he trusts Putin over our own intelligence.  Do you get more pro-Russia than that? Sure! You just keep praising Putin right up through the present. Some have this imaginary idea that this wouldn't be happening under the last president, as he applauds Putin's genius in real time. But forget the past; now's our chance to all be on the right side of history. The authoritarians can't win. The fight for democracy is a win in itself. Much respect to the Russian protesters in St. Petersburg, doing the hard work. February 25, 2022 ... A brilliant moment. Larry David as utilitarian. This type of thing constantly runs through ...