Author Archives: dcaligari

It is Bathtub Day, Toothache Day and Bagels and Lox Day today. And I’m not quite sure why?

February 8, 1587 –After some 19 years in prison, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded on this date. She had spent the last hours of her life in prayer and also writing letters and her will. She expressed a request that her servants should be released. She also requested that she should be buried inContinue reading “Yes you are dead now”

Some of you may actually be watching the Super Bowl later today. According to the Hass Avocado Board, more than 61 million pounds of avocados were shipped into the U.S. last week. Out of this amount of avocados, 93 percent were sourced from Mexico, 3.6 percent originated from California, 2.7 percent came from the DominicanContinue reading “Game time is 6:30 pm”

February 6, 1952 –Elizabeth II became Queen upon the death of her father George VI (who had been ill for some time and died in his sleep from a coronary thrombosis), on this date (she has been on the job for 69 years.) At the exact moment of succession, she was in an observation postContinue reading “It’s been a long time on the job”

Today is Liberation Day in San Marino. Americans remain woefully misinformed about San Marino. (American remain woefully misinformed about most countries that aren’t located between Canada and Mexico.) It’s not only Liberation Day in San Marino, but, it’s also the feast day of St. Agatha – (patron saint of breast cancer survivors, but again, IContinue reading “A great day in San Marino”

Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. I love Steely Dan. I believe long time bunkies know that. Black Cow isn’t my favorite song, if pressed, I would have to go with Gaucho. But the song has a fond memory in my heart. IContinue reading “Down on Greene Street”

February 3, 1959 – The Day the Music Died: A small plane carrying The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Buddy Holly and Richie Valens crashed near Mason City, Iowa, while en route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Richardson had developed a case of the flu during the tour (erroneously thought to have been causedContinue reading “February made me shiver”

Happy Groundhog Day. In honor of the occasion, here’s a little history – Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tieContinue reading “In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move”

That’s a lot of snow out there, and it’s supposed to continue until tomorrow. February: Even though it is the shortest month of the year, sometimes it seemed like the longest. According to the Gregorian calendar, February is the second month of the year, and also the shortest month. February has 28 days until JuliusContinue reading “Is this anyway to start a month?”

January 31, 1958 –Explorer-I, officially Satellite 1958 Alpha (and sometimes referred to as Explorer 1), was the first Earth satellite of the United States, having been launched at 10:48 pm EST on this date, as part of the United States program for the International Geophysical Year. The satellite was launched from LC-26 at Cape CanaveralContinue reading “A Red Letter Day In Space Travel History”