Daily Calendar for Friday, May 16, 2025
Question of the Day
When my daughter and I wish on the “first star I see tonight,” are we really wishing on a planet? How can we tell one from the other?
Most likely that first bright star is a planet, but binoculars can probably help you tell for sure. Even a cheap pair will usually add enough magnification so that you can make out a planet. You can also try looking for the bright star night after night and notice if it seems to move across the sky against the backdrop of the other stars. If so, it’s a planet, living up to its Greek name, which means “wanderer.”
Advice of the Day
Crow on the fence, rain will go hence. Crow on the ground, rain will come down.
Home Hint of the Day
Consider planting thyme between the stones of a walkway. It will yield a pleasing fragrance whenever you pass over it.
Word of the Day
Mammatus Cloud
Sinking air in thunderstorms can form sack-like clouds known as mammatus, or mammo, clouds. They look ominous but are actually a sign that a thunderstorm is weakening. These clouds look like upside down pans of biscuits or a cow’s udder.
Puzzle of the Day
What did the owl do when he lost his voice?
He didn’t give a hoot!
Born
- William Henry Seward (politician) –
- Henry Fonda (actor) –
- Studs Terkel (writer) –
- Theodore Holmes Bullock (neuroscientist) –
- Liberace (entertainer) –
- Pierce Brosnan (actor) –
- Olga Korbut (Olympic gold medalist/gymnast) –
- Debra Winger (actress) –
- Joan Benoit Samuelson (runner, Olympic gold medalist) –
- Janet Jackson (singer) –
- Tracey Gold (actress) –
- Tucker Carlson (television commentator) –
- David Boreanaz (actor) –
- Jim Sturgess (actor) –
- Thomas Sangster (actor) –
Died
- Andy Kaufman (comedian & actor) –
- Sammy Davis Jr. (entertainer) –
- Jim Henson (creator of The Muppets) –
Events
- Marie Antoinette (age 14) married future King Louis XVI of France (age 15) –
- U.S. Congress gave authorization to mint the nickel –
- Charles Elmer Hires invented root beer –
- Grand League of the American Horseshoe Pitchers Association was organized in Kansas City, Kansas –
- Joan of Arc was canonized –
- President John F. Kennedy began a 3-day visit to Canada –
- Fire broke out at tire dump, St-Amable, Quebec –
- In downtown Houston, Texas, large, black grackles, in an effort to protect their fallen offspring, attacked the heads, hair, and backs of pedestrians. –
- Canadian Victoria Cross unveiled –
- Discovery of 2.6-billion-year-old water in Ontario mine announced –
Weather
- Due to a dam break on the Mill River, a flash flood caused 143 deaths near Northampton, Massachusetts –
- Portland, Maine, received 4.88 inches of rain in 24 hours –
- The temperature in Blitzen, Oregon, was 108 degrees F, a record high for this date –
- Tornado in Portland, Maine –
- Sioux City, Iowa, set daily minimum and maximum temperature records within the same day—the low was 33 degrees F; the high was 91 degrees F –