Archive for October 2025
History of Daylight Saving Time – Fall Back
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME – ENDING Daylight Saving Time, or DST, is a clever campaign to convince us that we’re getting more daylight each day when, in reality, we’ve simply changed our clocks and then forgotten about it within two weeks. DST begins each year at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March…
Read MoreHistory of October 31: What’s Martin Luther got to do with it?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF OCTOBER 31: MARTIN LUTHER See my miniseries on the life of Martin Luther. On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 propositions or theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the beginning of the Reformation. Of course, the Reformation began long before that, but this date…
Read MoreHistory of All Saints Day – Its Connection to Halloween
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF ALL SAINTS DAY November 1 is All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day. The night before is known as “All Hallows’ Eve,” or Halloween. This day is also known as the: Feast of All Saints Feast of All Hallows Solemnity of all Saints Hallowmas, in the strictly religious sense When was…
Read MoreHistory of Halloween: The Sacred and the Secular
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) is the evening of October 31. In its strictly religious aspect, this occasion is known as the vigil of Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day, November 1, observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. In the fourth decade of the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved this holiday…
Read MoreHistory of Chocolate: The Food of the Gods?
Reading Time: 10 minutesHistory of Chocolate: Why Is It The Food of the Gods? Chocolate comes from the cacao seed, which is roasted and ground from the kernel. While its taste might be considered heavenly… Why is chocolate called the “food of the gods”? Is it the celestial texture, the velvety tongue feel, the beatific brilliance of…
Read MoreHistory of the Internet: Over 50 Years Ago
Reading Time: 7 minutesHISTORY OF THE INTERNET: OVER 50 YEARS AGO On October 29, 1969, at 10:30 PM, a computer grad student at UCLA named Charley Kline sent a message to SRI. (Stanford Research Institute.) It was the first connection between computer networks. The Internet began! We set up a telephone connection between us and the guys…
Read MoreHistory of the Kirking of the Tartans: Is it really Scottish?
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF THE KIRKING OF THE TARTANS This Sunday, all over the world, many churches will observe the Kirkin’ o’ th’ Tartans, a celebration of Scottish heritage and culture. What is The Kirking of the Tartans? Kirking Etymologically Kirking is from the Scots word kirk, which means church. In this usage, it means “blessing.” Tartans are…
Read MoreHistory of the World Series: For People Who Don’t Watch
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF THE WORLD SERIES The World Series is over a hundred years old, starting in 1903 as a contest between the National League and the American League. This sporting event, usually held in October and sometimes called the Fall Classic, has already infringed upon the territory of the subsequent athletic contest run-up with the…
Read MoreHistory of Mole Day: Avogadro’s Number
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF MOLE DAY: AVOGADRO’S NUMBER Today, October 23, at 6:02 a.m., Mole Day begins. As a Geek Holiday, which is part of National Chemistry Week, it is based on something you may remember from high school chemistry: Avogadro’s Number: 6.02 x 1023 Or fully, it’s 602,214,076,000,000,000,000,000. What better reason than at 06:02 (6.02) on October…
Read MoreHistory of Mach 1: Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier – as told by him
Reading Time: 6 minutesTHE HISTORY OF MACH 1 On June 10, 1948, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that Capt. Chuck Yeager had repeatedly attained supersonic speeds in the Bell X-1. But it was on October 14, 1947, that Chuck Yeager, who died in 2020, actually broke the sound barrier, Mach 1, for the first time. It may…
Read MoreConcert Review: Paul McCartney at Coors Field, Denver
Reading Time: 11 minutesConcert Review: Paul McCartney at Coors Field, Denver Paul McCartney made his fourth stop in his 17-city US/Canada tour “Got Back” last Saturday night, October 11, in Denver. Between Albuquerque and De Moines, this visit to the Mile High City was a “stretch.” Coors Field holds over 50,000 during a Rockies baseball game, but for…
Read MoreHistory of Christopher Columbus: Hero or Heel?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS The man who sailed from Spain to discover America was neither Spanish nor did he actually discover America, at least not the mainland. But it was true that: In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue Where was he from, where did he go, who paid for…
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