Author Archives: dcaligari

March 18, 1913 –Itinerant sailor and general layabout Philip Mountbatten’s (nee Philip Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg) grandfather, Christian Wilhelm Ferdinand Adolf Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (sibling to a king and two queens) was out on an afternoon stroll. This, in and of itself, is not remarkable, except for the fact that this minor Danish/ German prince had changed hisContinue reading “(Once again kids follow along, it’s complex.)”

March 17, 1960 –My good friend John (a fraternity brother) was born on this day. Not to be confused with his cousin, John, who was also born but not on this day. March 17, 1970 –My actual fraternal brother Keith, was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital in Upper Manhattan on this date. As was notedContinue reading “And on a personal note:”

The Feast Day of St. Patrick is celebrated on March 17. St. Patrick is considered the father of Celtic Christianity. He founded more than three hundred churches, drove the snakes out of Ireland, invented green beer, and coined the popular slogan, Kiss me, I’m Irish (although, he himself was not.) This year, the Citizenry ofContinue reading “Speaking Fluent Blarney”

March 16 1792 –At a masquerade ball, a disgruntled Captain Jacob Johan Ankarstroem shot Swedish King Gustav III near the heart with a bullet composed of lead and carpet tacks, on this date. It took the King almost two weeks to die. Shakespeare never wrote about Gustavus, probably because Gustavus was born well after Shakespeare’sContinue reading “Ouch!!!”

March 15, 44 BC –Julius Caesar, already warned to be wary on this the Ides of March by the astrologer Spurinna, was assassinated with pointy knives by a group of Senators, including Brutus and Cassius, at the Pompey theater. They were angry at him because he had crossed the Rubicon. Later Marc Antony borrowed everyone’sContinue reading “The middle of the month doesn’t look so good”

March 14, 1883 – Karl Marx died of pleurisy in London on this date. While his original grave had only a nondescript stone, the Communist Party of Great Britain erected a large tombstone, including a bust of Marx, in 1954. His premature death prevented him from seeing the global impact of his progeny: Groucho, Harpo,Continue reading “The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”

Pi Day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw in 1988. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts ( read – lonely shut-ins) around the world on March 14th. π was first used as a mathematical symbol in 1706 by William Jones. Albert Einstein’s parents conveniently arranged for him to be born on Pi Day inContinue reading “Today is Pi Day!”

Did you forgot to set the clock ahead – I’ll wait (while I madly dash around the house myself.) Here’s a short film explaining Daylight Saving Time – Do you need some more time (did you get the clock on the microwave? None of you still have a VCR?) Here’s another short film – Alright,Continue reading “You’ll have one less hour for drinking today –”

Daylight Saving Time (leave the last S off for saving) starts at 2 AM tomorrow morning, so don’t forget to turn all those clocks, microwaves, DVD players, etc. ahead. Please do this work yourself: the time you save may be your own. Demand Euphoria!

March 12, 1922 –At the end of the Second World War, America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Each bomb killed so many people so quickly and made the world so safe for peace-loving democracies that America began feeling pretty good about things and forgot all about being Depressed, etc. This caused the hula-hoop, theContinue reading “They all spoke through you.”