Friday
Jul. 11, 1997
Natural History
Today's Reading:"Natural History" by E.B. White from POEMS AND SKETCHES OF E.B.WHITE, published by Harper and Row (1981).
The Way with Words Literature Festival begins today in Devon, England, featuring 200 authors and 100 different literary events.
In Nice, France, the Nice Jazz Festival begins today.
A Bastille Day Celebration begins today in Boston, one of the largest of its type in the country.
In 1975 archaeologists in China unearthed a terra-cotta army, 8,000 clay figures sculpted and fired in the shapes of warriors and chariots in battle formation, created more than 2,000 years ago for Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.
It's the birthday of physicist Theodore H. Maiman, whose work improving the maser device paved the way for practical applications of the microwave. He was born in Los Angeles in 1927.
It's the birthday of E(lwyn) B(rooks) White, born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1899. He started out writing for THE NEW YORKER in 1927 and stayed there for his entire career, also turning out such classics as the children's book CHARLOTTE'S WEB, and ELEMENTS OF STYLE (co- written with William Strunk).
It was on this day in 1804 that U.S Vice President Arron Burr fought a duel with former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton died of his wounds the following day.
It's the birthday of the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767.
It's the birthday of Robert the Bruce in 1274, the Scottish King who defeated the army of Edward II at Bannockburn and forced English recognition of Scottish independence.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®