Feb. 7
Today the first eclipse of 2008 will occur, for folks in New Zealand and part of Australia there'll be a partial solar eclipse starting this afternoon, their time. Today is also Lunar New Year, specifically the new year generally called (in the U.S., at least) Chinese New Year. (Your mileage may vary.)
This day in 1964, the Beatles were arriving at JFK International Airport.
In 1979, Pluto passed inside the orbit of Neptune for the first time since both were known, and for the last time while they were both known as planets. (Pluto's orbit is eccentric, so that most of its orbit is spent not just outside, but far outside Neptune's orbit. Its eccentricity - deviation from circle-ness - means that is a Trans-Neptunian Object, as well as whatever else it is.) As an aside, Pluto once again "became the ninth most distant planet from the Sun" on 17 Feb 1999... for only a few short years.
Also in 1979, Dr. Joseph Mengele, Nazi war criminal and fugitive from prosecution, drowned in Brazil after suffering a stroke.
A few of the famous dead people born on Feb. 7:
Sir Thomas More (Utopia)
Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie)
Sinclair Lewis (Elmer Gantry, Main Street)
Eubie Blake
Some non-dead persons born today include:
Gay Talese
Pete Postlethwaite
Emo Philips
James Spader
Garth Brooks
Chris Rock
Steve Nash
Today is also the second day of Lent; two days ago was a day of the week of significance, Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday. The first Thursday of Lent does not have any special name of its own, and feels a bit sorry for itself as a result.
In other news, today, being a Thursday, will not be a Heinlein Friday. Tomorrow... because I don't feel like it right now... won't either. But, I will see about resuming that feature, perhaps not every week, soon.
This day in 1964, the Beatles were arriving at JFK International Airport.
In 1979, Pluto passed inside the orbit of Neptune for the first time since both were known, and for the last time while they were both known as planets. (Pluto's orbit is eccentric, so that most of its orbit is spent not just outside, but far outside Neptune's orbit. Its eccentricity - deviation from circle-ness - means that is a Trans-Neptunian Object, as well as whatever else it is.) As an aside, Pluto once again "became the ninth most distant planet from the Sun" on 17 Feb 1999... for only a few short years.
Also in 1979, Dr. Joseph Mengele, Nazi war criminal and fugitive from prosecution, drowned in Brazil after suffering a stroke.
A few of the famous dead people born on Feb. 7:
Sir Thomas More (Utopia)
Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie)
Sinclair Lewis (Elmer Gantry, Main Street)
Eubie Blake
Some non-dead persons born today include:
Gay Talese
Pete Postlethwaite
Emo Philips
James Spader
Garth Brooks
Chris Rock
Steve Nash
Today is also the second day of Lent; two days ago was a day of the week of significance, Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday. The first Thursday of Lent does not have any special name of its own, and feels a bit sorry for itself as a result.
In other news, today, being a Thursday, will not be a Heinlein Friday. Tomorrow... because I don't feel like it right now... won't either. But, I will see about resuming that feature, perhaps not every week, soon.
Posted by Eh Nonymous on
Thursday February 7, 2008 at 7:40am
*Not all comments welcome. Flippant, facetious, fierce, or fatuous, fine. Fraudulent, felonious, fabricated, facially insufficient, and farkin' futile, fuggeddaboutit.