Tuesday

Nov. 11, 1997

Naming the Animals

by Lisel Mueller

TUESDAY 11/11

Today's Reading: "Naming the Animals" by Lisel Mueller from ALIVE TOGETHER, published by Louisiana State University Press (1996).

Today is Veterans Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I.

Today is also St. Martin's Day, which according to strict definition marks the beginning of the period when Indian Summer can occur, November 11 through November 20.

The jeep was unveiled in 1940, 'jeep' for the initials GP, or 'general purpose' vehicle.

The Great Armistice Day Blizzard took place on this day in Minnesota in 1940 with over 16 inches of snow falling in 14 hours; 59 people died in this storm.

Kate Smith sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on this day in 1938---the first time it was performed.

The first of the great dust storms of the 1930s hit North Dakota on this day in 1933.

It's the 69th birthday of novelist Carlos Fuentes, born in Mexico City in 1928.

Comedian Jonathan Winters is 72 today, born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1925.

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, author of SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, was born in Indianapolis in 1922.

Film director Rene Clair, whose film UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS was among the first sound films, was born in Paris in 1898.

General George S. Patton, called 'Old Blood and Guts' by his men, was born in San Gabriel, California, in 1885.

Novelist and political revolutionary Fyodor Dostoyevsky (CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, THE BROTHERS KARAMOZOV, THE IDIOT), was born in Moscow in 1821.

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

 

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