Monthly Archives: December 2019

December 11, 1972

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 11, 1972 Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 lunar mission became the last two people to walk on the Moon. Their footprints and the initials of Gene Cernan’s daughter are still there. Yes, the initials of Cernan’s daughter. He wrote them in the lunar dust before leaving. Contrary to … Continue reading →

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December 10, 1932

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 10, 1932, Australia conceded defeat in the Great Emu War. The giant, six-foot tall flightless birds were damaging the crops of the farmers of the Campion district in Western Australia and the government sent the army in to take care of the menace. Well, not the whole Australian army, just one major with … Continue reading →

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December 9, 1640

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 9, 1640, settler and local smart-ass, Hugh Bewitt, was banished from the Puritan Massachusetts Colony when he declared himself free of original sin. He claimed that all the sins he committed were copies of other people’s sins. The leaders of the colony, who were Puritans, couldn’t deal with that level of creativity and … Continue reading →

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December 8, 877

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 8, 877, Louis the Stammerer, the son of Charles the Bald, was crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom. As is evident from their le sobriquet, the rulers and leaders of countries in the Dark Ages didn’t get to pick their official nicknames.  Donald “Baby Hands” Trump should be glad he didn’t live … Continue reading →

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December 7, 1968

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 7, 1968, Richard Dodd of Winamac, Indiana returned an overdue book to the University of Cincinnati’s medical library. Nothing strange there. Oh, his great-grandfather had checked it out in 1823 when he was a medical student at the University of Cincinnati. The book was 145 years overdue and a late fee of $22,646 … Continue reading →

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December 6, 1877

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 6, 1877, inventor Thomas Edison demonstrated the first gramophone for the public, with a recording of himself reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb. It was later shown that if you played it backwards, it said, “Won og ot rus saw bmal elttil taht, tnew dlihc eht rehwyreve dna, heay – ALL HAIL THE … Continue reading →

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December 5, 1933

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment and ending Prohibition. Thus ending the 13 year experiment of trying to legally force everyone to be sober and not drink alcohol. All Prohibition did was prove that forcing religious laws and biases on people didn’t work, … Continue reading →

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December 4, 1961

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 4, 1961, the Museum of Modern Art installed Henri Matisse’s ‘Le Bateau’. It wasn’t until 47 days later that Genevieve Habert, a visitor, noticed the mistake and notified a guard. Nothing was done, so Habert called the New York Times, who in turn notified Monroe Wheeler, the Museum’s art director. Turns out, Mrs. … Continue reading →

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December 3, 1736

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 3, 1736, Anders Celsius, the Swedish astronomer, physicist, mathematician and inventor of the Celsius thermometer, took measurements that confirmed Newton’s theory that the Earth was an ellipsoid instead of the previously accepted sphere and the previously, previously never accepted by any intelligent person or scientist, flat earth theory. Back then the scientists and … Continue reading →

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December 2, 1823

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Joel Byers

On December 2, 1823, the President of the United States, James Monroe, outlined his doctrine that opposed European expansion in the Western Hemisphere. This became known as the Monroe Doctrine. The leaders of the indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere said Monroe’s doctrine had some really good points, but it was late by about three … Continue reading →

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