Daily Calendar for Thursday, May 15, 2025
Question of the Day
Can you tell me why the ring finger is sometimes called the medical finger?
We can tell you why, but the theory no longer holds water. For centuries, it was believed that the ring finger had a nerve running through it that was connected to the heart. The Romans and Greeks used the medical finger for stirring mixtures, especially in alchemy, with the belief that anything noxious would be immediately detected by way of some warning sign at the heart. This direct connection — which years later was proved to be false — was why it was chosen as the ring finger, marking the heart’s sentiment. English superstition still holds that the ring finger should be used for applying ointments or salves or for scratching the skin.
Advice of the Day
Better a good cow than a cow of good kind.
Home Hint of the Day
If a board is twisted, you might get some use out of it by cutting it into two or more lengths — or, better yet, avoid using it altogether.
Word of the Day
Rainbow
Rainbows are formed opposite to the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays in drops of falling rain. The raindrops are responsible for the colors of rainbows. They break the sunlight up into the full spectrum of colors, each drop acting as a sort of miniature prism. Each color emerges at a slightly different angle on each raindrop. When millions of raindrops gather, the spectrum shows up as distinct bands of color — each with a different length. Red is the longest and violet the shortest band. The arc is most pronounced when the Sun is close to the horizon.
Puzzle of the Day
Why did the cow cross the road?
To get to the udder side.
Born
- L. Frank Baum (author) –
- Williamina Fleming (astronomer) –
- Pierre Curie (chemist) –
- Katherine Anne Porter (novelist) –
- Emmitt Smith (football player) –
- Rod Smith (football player) –
- Josh Beckett (baseball player) –
- Andy Murray (tennis player) –
Died
- Emily Dickinson (poet) –
- June Carter Cash (singer) –
- Jerry Falwell –
- Barbara Stuart (actress) –
Events
- English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived at Shoal Hope in what is now Massachusetts. They caught so many cod there they renamed it Cape Cod –
- Johannes Kepler verified his Third Law of Planetary Motion –
- James Puckle was granted a patent for his Defence Gun, the world’s first rapid-fire gun –
- The Baily’s Beads solar eclipse phenomenon was first described –
- Rain and fish fell from the sky in Olneyville, Rhode Island. Most of the fish measured 2- to 4-inches long. –
- Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess, at Boeing Air Transport –
- First live TV pictures received from a U.S. spacecraft, (Faith 7) –
- Governor George Wallace of Alabama was shot –
- Boston Red Sox player Manny Ramirez hit his 400th home run –
- Four bear cubs playing on a backyard trampoline was caught on video in Avon, Connecticut –
Weather
- Thirty-six inches of snow, Haverhill, New Hampshire –
- Ninety-two degrees F at Portland, Oregon –
- 85 degrees F, Olympia and Seattle, Washington –
- 94 degrees F in Theilman, Minnesota –