Saturday

Dec. 14, 1996

Winter

by Thomas Campion

SATURDAY 12/14

Today's Reading:"Winter" by Thomas Campion (1567-1619).

Today is the start of Halcyon Days, days of peace, traditionally the seven days before and seven days after the winter solstice.

It's the birthday of writer Shirley Jackson whose short stories, including "Lottery," often appeared in THE NEW YORKER. She was born in San Francisco in 1916.

Roald Amundsen and his troupe of four explorers discovered the South Pole on this day in 1911.

Geneticist Edward L. Tatum, who helped show that individual genes are coded messages that specify the make-up of proteins, was born on this day in Boulder, Colorado, 1909.

Roger Fry, who directed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and discovered the work of French painter Paul Cezanne, was born on this day in London in 1866.

Lawyer Louis Marshall, who argued important cases on religious freedom during the 1920s, was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1856.

President George Washington died on this day in 1799 at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

John Bloomfield Jervis, who helped forge new construction techniques in canals, railroads and water-supply system, was born in Huntington, New York, 1795.

Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was born today in Knudstrup, Denmark, 1546. He accurately positioned more than 777 fixed stars at a time before the invention of the telescope.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®

 

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