On This Day in Paracultural History Dec 28

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *1065*, Westminster Abbey is consecrated.

***

On this day in *1612*, *Galileo Galilei* becomes the first astronomer to
observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed
star.

***

On this day in *1895*, the *Lumière* brothers perform for their first
paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the
debut of the cinema.

***

On this day in *1895*, *Wilhelm Röntgen* publishes a paper detailing his
discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.

***

On this day in *1943*, after eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting,
the Battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian
Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of
the Italian town of Ortona.

***

On this day in *1944*, *Maurice "Rocket" Richard* becomes the first player
to score 8 points in one game of NHL ice hockey.

***

On this day in *1973*, the *Endangered Species Act* is passed in the United
States.

***

On this day in *1984*, in the Mojave desert, a creosote bush is discovered
which scientists determine to be 11,700 years old, making it the third
oldest living thing on the face of the Earth after a giant Japanese
mushroom and American Bandstand host *Dick Clark*.

***

On this day in *2010*, popular protests begin in Algeria against the
government in what would soon come to be called the *Arab Spring*.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20141228/d99932fb/attachment.html>