Daily Calendar for Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Question of the Day
When was DDT banned in the United States, and how long had it been used?
DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, was recognized as a potential pesticide in 1939 by the Swiss chemist Paul Muller. It was first widely used during World War II and thereafter throughout the world to combat yellow fever, typhus, elephantiasis, and other diseases carried by insects. DDT helped reduce the number of malaria cases worldwide and increased crop and livestock yields in developing countries. It came under scrutiny with the 1962 publication of Silent Spring, a book in which American marine biologist Rachel Carson asserted that DDT was destroying other animal life by entering the food chain. The United States banned DDT in 1972 except for in cases of extreme health emergencies. Many other nations also have banned it or placed it under strict control.
Advice of the Day
Neither fear to die nor refuse to live.
Home Hint of the Day
To clean rust from a woodstove, give it a good scrubbing with a dry wire brush.
Word of the Day
Apogee
The point in the Moon’s orbit that is farthest from Earth.
Puzzle of the Day
When is a clock guilty of a misdemeanor?
When it strikes one.
Died
- John Locke (philosopher) –
- Abigail Adams (U.S. First Lady) –
- Red Auerbach (basketball coach) –
- Porter Wagoner (country music singer) –
- Matthew Perry (actor) –
Born
- Francis Bacon (painter) –
- Dr. Jonas Salk (discovered polio vaccine) –
- Cleo Laine (singer) –
- Joan Plowright (actress) –
- Charlie Daniels (musician) –
- Lenny Wilkens (basketball player, coach) –
- Jane Alexander (actress) –
- Dennis Franz (actor) –
- Bill Gates (Microsoft founder) –
- Lauren Holly (actress) –
- Jami Gertz (actress) –
- Julia Roberts (actress) –
- Brad Paisley (country singer) –
- Joaquin Phoenix (actor) –
- Stephen Nedoroscik (Olympic gymnast ) –
Events
- Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba and claimed it for Spain –
- Harvard College founded in Massachusetts –
- The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in the New York Harbor –
- The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was dedicated by President Cleveland –
- St. Louis police became the first in the U.S. to use fingerprinting –
- The Jack Benny Show made its television debut –
- Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature –
- An X17.2 solar flare occurred that, at the time, was the third most powerful ever recorded –
- The Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series –
- Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox was named World Series MVP –
Weather
- Lander, Wyoming, received 27 inches of snow –
- The temperature at Big Piney, Wyoming, plunged to -15 degrees F –
- The Georgia mountains received five inches of snow –
- Cyclone 05B in the Indian Ocean became a Category 5 –
