Dear Family, Friends, Philadelphians, Temple University Grads, Astronomers, Milk-Lovers & Veterans
Today is PLUTO (THE PLANET) DAY FN1, NATIONAL BATTERY DAY FN2, and TEMPLE UNIVERSITY POLICE SGT. FITZGERALD MEMORIAL DAY FN3, and believe it or not today is COW MILKED WHILE FLYING IN AN AIRPALNE DAY FN4; my Cuz Dom says it’s also NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY or GIORNATA NAZIONALE di BERE VINO. My Cuz Rose from Brooklyn says today’s flower is: THE BUTTERCUP 미나리아재비 – symbolizing Innocence.
*1791: République du Vermont: Congress passed law admitting state of Vermont into the Union after that state had existed for 14 years as a de facto independent largely unrecognized state called the Vermont Republic or État du Vermont;
*1804: 1st Land-Grant College: Ohio University was founded in Athens, Ohio, becoming the 1st US land-grant college;
*1856: 1st Know-Nothing: The Know-Nothings convene in Philadelphia to nominate their 1st Presidential candidate, former POTUS Millard Fillmore;
*1865: Carolina Burning: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union troops set South Carolina State House on fire during “The Burning of Columbia;
*1915: U-Boats: The Imperial German Navy instituted unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Great Britain & Ireland (See below);
*1938: Toscanini’s Protest: Italian conductor, acclaimed, influential musician Maestro Arturo Toscanini withdrew from participating in the Nazi-dominated Salzburg Music Festival &announced his intention to conduct his Orchestra in Palestine;
*1942: Singapore Slaughter: Imperial Japanese Army began systematic extermination of perceived “hostile elements” among Chinese in Singapore;
*1945: Last Deports: last of 6 convoys of “deportees” arrived @The Langenstein-Zwieberge under-camp of Buchenwald in Saxony-Anhalt, in central Germany where over 70,000 innocents died;
*1969: El-Al Attacked: the PLO attacked an El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland – as a result, the Israelis were the 1st to put “Sky Marshals” on their flights;
*1990: “Big E” Upset: Dale “Big E” Earnhardt blew a tire with only 1 mile remaining in Daytona 500, giving Derrike Cope THE BIGGEST UPSET in stock car history…and 10 years later…
*2001: Ironhead’s Last Turn: 7-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ Dale Earnhardt (49) died in a crash during Daytona 500, on the last turn of the last lap;
2006: Laurel Anne’s Last Words: Ocean County Police Lt. Laurel Anne Hester (49) made her famous deathbed appeal for the extension of pension benefits to her domestic partner (See Academy Award Best Short Documentary & feature film Freeheld (2007) starring Julianne Moore.
FN1:1930 or 1840? Pluto Day is celebrated annually to commemorate the anniversary of the discovery of planet Pluto in 1930. Although Pluto was discovered in 1930, the story of its discovery actually started in 1840 after French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier sensed there was a planet outside of Uranus due to irregularities in its orbit.
FN2; VIVA VOLTA! National Battery Day commemorates the anniversary of Alessandro Volta's birth on February 18, 1745. Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745 – 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist who was a pioneer of electricity & power, who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery & discoverer of methane. He invented the “voltaic pile” in 1799 & reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a 2-part letter to the Royal Society: with this invention Volta proved electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent scientific theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings.
FN3: PHILLY’S SGT. FITZ: Do Temple University Police Officer Christoipher Fitzgerald was 31 years old when he was shot and killed in the line of duty on Saturday Feb. 18, 2023, at 7PM in North Philadelphia, on the 1700 block of Montgomery Ave. Officer Fitzgerald was in a single-officer patrol car when he saw 3 young people dressed in dark clothes wearing masks; he attempted to investigate due to recent crimes in the area. He was shot multiple times in his face and chest. Temple U. held a plaque dedication for the fallen officer at which time he was posthumously promoted to Sergeant. His memorial plaque is located at 1330 Polett Walk, off Broad Street, in the Feinstein Lounge in Sullivan Hall, in North Philadelphia.
FN4: NELLIE JAY aka ELM FARM OLLIE: Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day celebrates Elsworth W. Bunce’s cow, Elm Farm Ollie, the 1st cow to be flown & milked in an airplane. On February 18, 1930, a Guernsey cow named Nellie Jay, aka Elm Farm Ollie, was flown from Bismarck, Missouri, on a Ford Trimotor airplane to International Aviation Exhibition in St. Louis as part of a scientific effort to study whether heights affect cows’ ability to produce milk.