ON THIS DAY

On this date in 1582, Pope Gregory the 13th ordered that the very next day should be October 15th, instead of the 5th. That means October 5th through the 14th never happened that year. Imagine, 10 days in October that never existed. The Seattle Mariners call that "The World Series."

In 1648, Peter Stuyvesant established America's first volunteer fire department.

Of course, being a first-time venture, they had to get some of the bugs worked out. For example, some of the volunteers had to be informed their job was to put out fires, not start them.

While they were all willing to fight fires, the tough part was rounding up 12 guys who would look good on a calendar.

It was on this date in 1777 during the Revolutionary War that General George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, PA. I don't think you have to be a general to realize Octoberfest in Germantown would be a good time to attack.

On this date in 1895, the very first U.S. Open Golf Tournament was held. Before that, it was known as the "U.S. Closed Golf Tournament."

Our country's 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, was born on this date back in 1822. It's a shame he wasn't a great president, so we could have had another 3-day weekend around now.

On this date in 1931, the Dick Tracy comic strip debuted.
It was about a detective that had a phone he could wear on his wrist, like that would ever happen.

Of course, that paved the way for the day that someone with an electronic device on their wrist could take calls in a movie theater.

Eventually, he had a very cool wrist texter.


In 1957 "Leave It to Beaver" debuts on CBS-TV. Something was always wrong with the Beaver, at least 234 episodes' worth. For the record, Beaver never did get around to doing it.

On this date in 1957, the space age began when the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, which not many people realize is Kintups spelled backwards. Either way, it doesn't make sense.

In 1983, the Thrust Jet Car set a land record of 633-miles-per-hour... and they were STILL late for the opening kickoff. Or, they were still late for the school recital and missed little Tommy's dance number.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fall Book Discussion and Movie Series

Book discussion group to meet

City Page Survey