Force Majeure (Those of you with delicate sensibilities may wish to skip this story.) You may have wondered when the phrase Act of God first came into use. You’ve seen it on legal forms and may have unfortunately encountered it while trying to collect on your homeowner’s insurance policy. As with many things, the EnglishContinue reading “A Special Word for the day”
Tag Archives: history
The border between summer and autumn
The festival of Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest, when people go to church to give thanks for the first grain to be cut. This is the long way of saying that it’s August again. How did a single month become so important? Like almost everything else that’s difficult to understand, the history ofContinue reading “The border between summer and autumn”
Some days it isn’t worth it to get up
July 24, 1567 –Mary of Guise, the French wife of Scotland’s King James V, gave birth to a daughter named Mary in 1542. A week later, King James died, and the very young Mary became Queen of Scotland. Prince Edward of England proposed marriage to the Scottish Queen almost immediately, and his proposal is thereforeContinue reading “Some days it isn’t worth it to get up”
My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.
July 23, 1885 – One of the most famous residents of West 122nd Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant – American general, the eighteenth President of the United States, and a famous horseback-riding drunk – purchased a houseContinue reading “My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.”
Courage is grace under pressure
July 21, 1899 –Ernest Hemingway was born on this date. He was young at the time of his birth. It was fine to be young. He drove an ambulance in World War I. It wasn’t called World War I then. It was just called the war. It was one of those times when people shotContinue reading “Courage is grace under pressure”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Moon
July 21, 1969 –Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blast off from the Moon after twenty-one and a half hours on the surface and return to the command module piloted by Michael Collins on this date. The lunar module’s lower section, left behind, has a plaque mounted upon it, reading, “Here menContinue reading “Meanwhile, on the other side of the Moon”
The history of pie fights
July 17, 1913 –On this date, audiences attending the silent film A Noise from the Deep witnessed Mabel Normand striking Fatty Arbuckle in the face with a pie. It was purportedly the first use of the pie-in-the-face routine in film history. It may not seem that remarkable when you consider how much history there hadContinue reading “The history of pie fights”
Right Church — Wrong Pew
July 11, 1533 –The Church of England came into being on this date. The story of its origins is shrouded in sex and therefore historically important. Henry VIII ascended to the English throne in 1509, an energetic young man of seventeen. He immediately decided he needed a male heir. This became the enduring theme ofContinue reading “Right Church — Wrong Pew”
We hold these truths to be self-evident
Unlike in years past, we are staying in an undisclosed location, doing our part bolster a neighboring states local economy (This photo was taken at the behest of a multinational conglomorate.) Please remember – Alcohol and fireworks do not mix! Find some neighbor kid to light them for you. Hope you’re enjoying your holiday –Continue reading “We hold these truths to be self-evident”
When fireflies write love letters in the dark.
According to the Gregorian calendar, July is the seventh month. On the Roman calendar, it was the fifth month and it was called ‘Quintilis‘, meaning ‘fifth‘. Julius Caesar gave the month 31 days in 46 B.C. Being a dictator he could. Luckily for us he didn’t authorize the constant changing of underpants or most ofContinue reading “When fireflies write love letters in the dark.”
The Haus of Dcaligari 