The date is May 23th, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today is Red Nose Day for the USA . Red Nose Day is a day of fundraising – all donations make their way to programs that serve children in need. The day was inspired by the BBC event of the same name and is run by the non-profit Comic Relief, Inc. The idea is to leverage the entertainment world to inspire giving, “ making it fun to make a difference .” Today is the birthday of Robert Moog , American enginee...
May 23, 2019•5 min•Ep. 24
The date is May 22nd, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today is the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Scottish writer and former physician, best known for his creation of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle went to school in his native Scotland, to become a doctor. He served as the doctor on exploration voyages traveling to Australia, West & South Africa, and the Arctic Ocean. You could say that Doyle failed at becoming a doctor. He had plenty of experience and more...
May 22, 2019•5 min•Ep. 23
The date is May 21st, Tuesday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today is the birthday of Alexander Pope , English Poet, born in 1688. He gives us such lines as “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” and “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” His greatest works were satirical in nature, commenting on English politics, life, or contemporary public figures. Pope gave us English translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey , and is heavily quoted in The Oxford Dictionary o...
May 21, 2019•5 min•Ep. 22
The date is May 20th, Monday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. On this day in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the patent for the use of copper rivets on jeans . Rivets are those little round metal things on your jeans, usually on a seam, that make the seam stronger. Jacob Davis, a tailor in Nevada, had the idea but didn’t have the money to file the patent. He was frequently buying denim from Levi Strauss and suggested they go in on the patent together. Straus...
May 20, 2019•5 min•Ep. 21
The date is May 17th, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As promised, today we have more on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , the first distinctly American fairy-tale-fantasy novel. On this day in 1900, the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published , the first copy given to L. Frank Baum’s younger sister. Baum was the creator and author of the story and the original illustrations were by W.W. Denslow. The publisher did not think the book would be particu...
May 17, 2019•5 min•Ep. 20
The date is May 16th, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. On this day in 1866, the United States Congress passed a bill to allow the minting of a new 5-cent coin, now known as the nickel. Why is the nickel so thick? The existing “half-dimes” prior to the nickel’s introduction were extremely thin, since they were half the size in weight of a dime, which was a tenth of the size of an American silver dollar. When the idea of using nickel in the 5-cent coin was propos...
May 16, 2019•5 min•Ep. 19
The date is May 15th, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. On this evening in 1793, farmer-turned-inventor Diego Marín Aguilera , in the light of the full moon, dragged a contraption to the top of his castle. His cousin and his blacksmith friend looked on as Diego jumped off the top. The contraption was a flying machine so Diego did not jump to his death. Instead he flew about 19 feet high in the air for a quarter of a mile , crash landing near the next town over ...
May 15, 2019•5 min•Ep. 18
The date is May 14th, Tuesday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today is the birthday of Earle Combs, Baseball Hall of Fame-r. Earle played centerfield for the Yankees and was the leadoff hitter for the New York Yankees legendary “Murderers’ Row” in 1927. Combs hadn’t planned on baseball being his career. He went to college to become a teacher for the one-room schoolhouses in rural Kentucky where he was born and raised. He played baseball, basketball, and ran track while...
May 14, 2019•5 min•Ep. 17
The date is May 13th, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today is the birthday of Daphne du Maurier , English author and playwright. We have Daphne to thank for such novels as Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel as well as short stories like “The Birds,” in which birds begin attacking humans kamikaze style. She wrote primarily in the horror genre, often using psychological and paranormal elements. Her parents were both involved in the theater business, but Daphne was never one to...
May 13, 2019•5 min•Ep. 16
The date is May 10th, Friday, and today is my last day in Lima, Peru. In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the moms, grandmas, aunts, and mom-figures out there doing their best. Today in 1908 was the first celebration of Mother's Day in America in the township of Grafton, West Virginia. ( May 10th was a Sunday that year .) We talked about the founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, on her birthday, May 1st. Jarvis led the charge to get the day recogniz...
May 10, 2019•5 min•Ep. 15
The date is May 9th, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is the birthday of Sir James Matthew Barrie , Scottish writer of stories and plays, better known as J.M. Barrie . When Barrie was just 6 years old, his 13-year-old brother David died in a skating accident. David was thier mother’s favorite and she completely despondent for her favorite child. Little Jimmy would carry on whistling tunes his brother had, but nothing he did seemed to attract the attention of his mothe...
May 09, 2019•5 min•Ep. 14
The date is May 8th, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is the birthday of Harry S. Truman , 33rd President of the United States. Truman assumed the remainder of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency when FDR passed away in April 1945. He then served the next full term after winning the election. Less than a month after assuming the presidency, on Truman’s birthday, German forces unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, marking the end of WWII in Europe. As such, today ...
May 08, 2019•5 min•Ep. 13
The date is May 7th, Tuesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is the birthday of Mary Mahoney , born in 1845 in Boston. Mary Mahoney was the first African-American woman to be a registered nurse. Nursing school hasn’t changed much since Mahoney went to school – she and her classmates had grueling 16-hour work days for little pay with plenty of studying to do in between. Things didn’t get any easier after Mary completed the nursing program. Minority nurses were often lumped tog...
May 07, 2019•5 min•Ep. 12
The date is May 6th, Monday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1994 the Channel Tunnel rail line opened between England and France. The idea of a tunnel under the English Channel connecting France and England was proposed as early as 1802 by a French mining engineer, but it wasn’t until 1988 that a plan was approved of. The Tunnel has the longest underwater section in the world and construction ended up costing nearly twice as much as the original budget, about £9 milli...
May 06, 2019•5 min•Ep. 11
The date is May 3rd, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1978, the USA celebrated Sun Day , led by President Jimmy Carter. Jackson Browne performed in concert on the DC Mall and Robert Redford gave a speech in New York City at the UN Plaza. Redford reminded the audience that the sun “can’t be embargoed by any foreign nation.” Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the lawn of the White House during his presidency, but President Reagan took them out when he moved in. Tod...
May 03, 2019•5 min•Ep. 10
The date is May 2nd, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1866 , the Spanish Armada assaulted the coast Peruvian town of Callao (Cai-yow) in the Battle of Callao. In an attempt to get back its reputation as a force to be reckoned with, Spain antagonized their former colonies Peru and Chile. Cannon fire sounded from sea and from land. But the Spanish Armada was a too far out in the water for their attack to be effective. The city, not being able to move, was simil...
May 02, 2019•5 min•Ep. 9
The date is May 1st, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1930 , the Lowell Observatory released the name for “Planet X.” The Lowell staff voted on three possible names and the vote was unanimous: the new planet would be called “Pluto.” The name came to the team rather by accident. An ocean away from the Arizona observatory, in the United Kingdom was a young girl spoke to her grandfather about Roman mythology. She suggested the new plant should be named “Pluto,”...
May 01, 2019•5 min•Ep. 8
The date is April 30th, Tuesday and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1883 New York State Governor Grover Cleveland passed legislation that would allow for the creation of the first state park in the United States, Niagara Falls State Park . The bill approved the “selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls” and in 1885 the Park was officially opened. The landscape architect Frederick Olmsted had been a big proponent of the bill, b...
Apr 30, 2019•5 min•Ep. 7
The date is April 29th, Monday and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is International Dance Day for all member countries of the United Nations. It’s a day of celebrating dance and recognizing it’s importance as a part of all cultures. The International Theatre Institute, in partnership with UNESCO holds festivals on this day to encourage participation in dance, even if you have two left feet. Today is the birthday of animator Iwao Takamoto . He was born in 1925 in Los Angeles to fir...
Apr 29, 2019•5 min•Ep. 6
The date is April 26th, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is Arbor Day across most of the northern states. Arbor Day is celebrated not on one day nation-wide, but on a day that is best for each state to plant tree saplings. The first Arbor day was celebrated in 1872 in Nebraska, led by J. Sterling Morton and it’s estimated one million trees were planted. In 1907, urged on by Native American conservationist Major Israel McCreight, Theodore Roosevelt gave an “Arbor Day Pro...
Apr 26, 2019•5 min•Ep. 5
The date is April 25th, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1953 , Watson, Crick, Wilkins, and Franklin published their revolutionary paper on the double helix shape of human DNA . As such, today is often celebrated as “DNA Day” in academic circles. Watson and Crick had come up with a shape for DNA in 1951, but after showing it to Rosalind Franklin, had to start over. She had alerted them that their design was impossible because of the way water molecules and am...
Apr 25, 2019•5 min•Ep. 4
The date is April 24th, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1800 President John Adams allocated $5000 for the Library of Congress to accumulate “books as may be necessary for the use of Congress” and for the construction of a building to house those books and documents. The original collection included 740 books and three maps. The Library of Congress was torched during the War of 1812, just over a decade after its establishment. President Thomas Jefferson grac...
Apr 24, 2019•5 min•Ep. 3
The date is April 23, Tuesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. On this day in 1516 the Reinheitsgebot was signed into law in Bavaria in what is present day Germany. The literal translation of Reinheitsgebot is “purity order” and it had to do with a very German thing: beer. It mandated that beer could only be made of barley, hops, and water. The order also made recommendations for punishing those that dared serve or sell impure beer and set guidelines for the price of beer in Bavaria...
Apr 23, 2019•5 min•Ep. 2
The date is April 22nd, Monday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. Today is Earth Day . The first official Earth Day was celebrated across the United States in 1970. The day came out of a desire to raise awareness and respect for the environment following the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill which killed over 10,000 birds and sea fauna. The April date was specifically chosen to fall during the school year in the hopes it would lead to increased education in schools. And on that first Earth...
Apr 22, 2019•5 min•Ep. 1
