This Day In History: March 11, 1888 On March 10, 1888, temperatures in the Northeast rose into the 50s after an exceptionally mild winter. Farmers were beginning to ready their fields, crocuses were sprouting in some areas, and people were looking forward to an early spring. By March 11, the region was caught in the grip of what became known […]

This Day In History: March 10, 1969 Escaped convict James Earl Ray pled guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on March 10, 1969. King was shot and killed while standing on the balcony outside his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. (This also lead to the death of a hotel worker. […]

This Day In History: March 9, 1959 “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” – Ruth Handler, creator of Barbie On March 9, 1959, the American Toy Fair in New York City had the distinction of being […]

This Day In History: March 6, 1899 On March 6, 1899, the mainstay of medicine cabinets around the globe, acetylsalicylic acid, was patented by The Friedrich Bayer & Co. under the trade name Aspirin at the Imperial patent office in Berlin. After well over a century, it’s still one of the most effective, versatile, and commonly used medications world-wide. Although […]

This Day In History: March 5, 1969 On March 5, 1969 an arrest warrant was issued for Jim Morrison for one felony count of lewd and lascivious behavior, along with three additional misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open profanity, and drunkenness. These charges stemmed from a Doors performance on March 1st at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove Miami, […]

This Day In History: March 3, 1887 On March 3, 1887, the lives of two extraordinary women were changed forever when Anne Sullivan, an impoverished graduate of the Perkins Institute for the Blind, arrived at the home of the well-heeled Kellers to work with their daughter Helen. Obviously bright but over-indulged by her parents, Helen was unable to see, hear […]

This Day In History: March 2, 1978 On the rainy, moonless night of March 2, 1978, two men entered a small village cemetery on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, to commit a macabre crime. After a bit of stumbling around in the dark, they located the grave of the world’s most renowned comedian, Sir Charles Chaplin, who had recently […]

This Day In History: February 27, 1907 On February 27, 1907, the two leading theorists in the field of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, met in person for the first time after corresponding for almost a year. Their first conversation reportedly lasted for over 13 hours, so it’s safe to say the two men hit it off. At first. […]

This Day In History: February 26, 1932 “He is what the land and country is all about, the heart and soul of it personified and what it means to be here; and he said it all in plain English. Listen to him, and he will always bring you to your senses.” – Bob Dylan Born on February 26, 1932, John […]

This Day In History: February 25, 1601 On February 25, 1601, the last great favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, the 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, was beheaded at the Tower of London on Tower Green for high treason. His inevitable trip to the block had been brewing for quite some time. Queen Elizabeth first met the tall, handsome and […]

This Day In History: February 24, 1807 Just a few days before Christmas 1806, a 34 year-old woman named Elizabeth Godfrey rented a room in a house of ill-repute (tsk-tsk) in the Marylebone section of London. Living next door was a coachman named Richard Price, who resided with a woman named Emily Bisset. Elizabeth was very angry at Richard, apparently […]

This Day In History: February 23, 1954 On February 23, 1954, a group of children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania helped make history by being the first inoculated with the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. The children were first, second, and third grade students attending local public and parochial schools. In the 1950s, Poliomyelitis was still an extremely contagious disease. […]

This Day In History: February 20, 1985 Amid a storm of controversy, the Irish government won initial approval for the sale of contraceptives on February 20, 1985. The bill, which narrowly passed by a vote of 83-80, was actively opposed by the Roman Catholic Church, a powerful conservative force in Ireland. The decision was described as the first defeat ever […]

This Day In History: February 19, 1910 On February 19, 1910 “Typhoid Mary” regained her freedom, albeit briefly. After years of being forced to live in isolation, Mary gladly agreed to never work as a cook again if she was allowed to live among the public. Mary signed an affidavit stating that she “is prepared to change her occupation (that […]

This Day In History: February 18, 1885 “Sequels aren’t inherently bad-remember that Huckleberry Finn was a sequel to Tom Sawyer. But Twain understood what modern storytellers seem to have forgotten-a compelling sequel offers consumers a new perspective on the characters, rather than just more of the same.” -Henry Jenkins On February 18, 1885, Mark Twain’s celebrated yet controversial book The […]

This Day In History: February 17, 1986 “When one loses the deep intimate relationship with nature, then temples, mosques and churches become important.” – Krishnamurti Death came peacefully to the 90 year-old Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who passed away on February 17, 1986 at his home in Ojai, California. Always a reluctant guru, his final wish was that the several […]

This Day In History: February 16, 600 C.E. “Bless You!” is the knee-jerk response of most of us in the Western world when someone sneezes. We say it without thought or hesitation, and sometimes dozens of times a day during flu or allergy season. And every time we do, we’re obeying the edict a pope made on February 16, 600 […]

This Day In History: February 13, 1961 On February 13, 1961, legendary singer Frank Sinatra unveiled his recording label, Reprise. Unhappy with the limitations he felt Capital Records had placed on his creativity, “Ol’ Blue Eyes” had the means and the clout in the business to strike out on his own, and the result was some of the best music […]