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Daily Calendar for Friday, December 27, 2024

Question of the Day

We’ve just moved into a new home, and the yard is overrun with bamboo. Is there anything we can do (besides just yanking the plants out) to get rid of it?
If you have a patch of bamboo that you want to get rid of, cut the stalks about a foot above the ground and clear away the cuttings. Fill a plastic pail roughly one-quarter full of rock salt. Fill the rest of the pail with boiling water and stir well. Pour the hot mixture into the hollow stalks. Wait a week, then dig out the bamboo stalks and roots. You may need to repeat the process. It’s tough to dig out a complete bamboo root, but this way you know you’ve killed the plant.

Advice of the Day

Use clean, empty milk jugs to store sand or commercial ice-melting products.

Home Hint of the Day

Keep a bucket of sand or kitty litter outside the door (and another in the trunk of the car) to spread for traction.

Word of the Day

Cryophobia
Fear of extreme cold, frost, or ice

Puzzle of the Day

Can a leopard change his spots?
Yes, when he is tired of one place, he can go to another.

Born

  • Johannes Kepler (astronomer) –
  • Sir George Cayley (Father of Aviation) –
  • Louis Pasteur (chemist) –
  • Louis Bromfield (writer) –
  • Charles Olson (poet) –
  • Cokie Roberts (journalist) –
  • Tovah Feldshuh (actress) –
  • Heather O'Rourke (actress) –
  • Carson Palmer (football player) –
  • Emilie de Ravin (actress) –
  • Timothée Chalamet (actor) –

Died

  • Gustave Eiffel (architect) –
  • Lester Pearson (Canadian prime minister) –
  • Hoagy Carmichael (composer) –
  • George Roy Hill (director) –
  • Sir Alan Bates (actor) –
  • Norman Schwarzkopf (Army general) –
  • Carrie Fisher (actress) –

Events

  • An ill youth in Rochester, New York, wrote in his diary: I don’t see no need of being sick now that school is out. Darn it!–
  • Prohibitionist Carry Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas–
  • J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan premiered in London–
  • Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City–
  • Rubber rationing began in the U.S. with restrictions placed on rubber tires–
  • The first episode of The Howdy Doody Show aired–
  • ALH 84001 Mars meteorite found in Antarctica–
  • Steve Largent’s 752nd career catch set NFL record–

Weather

  • Parts of Tennessee had the heaviest snowfall seen in that state in 25 years–
  • 12.5 inches of snow fell in Dumas, Texas–