Another History-Filled Day

It rained steadily all night, leaving almost three inches of liquid sunshine in my rain gauge.   That's much preferable to what some of my neighbors to the west and north are experiencing.  My prayers are with them as they face the worst storm of the winter.

I've stuck close to home and inside most of the day. I made a late morning run to Gardening Daughter's house to let the dogs out, and to return two books to the library and drop some mail at the postoffice. Otherwise, I've been on another 'explore the Internet' trip.

 Everytime I learn something new (which I try to do every day), I find out how much I do not know, have never before heard or read of, or of which I am just plain ignorant.

Following are some interesting (to me, and I hope to you) notes about events that happened on February 1:

1709 - The anniversary of the rescue of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who had been put ashore (in September 1704) on the uninhabited island Juan Fernández, at his own request, after a quarrel with his captain. His adventures formed the basis for Daniel Defoe's book Robinson Crusoe.
1790 - The Supreme Court of the United States met for the first time in New York City, with Chief Justice John Jay presiding.
1859 – Victor Herbert was born in Dublin, Ireland. [I also found interesting information on Herbert at a Library of Congress site here.]
1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.
1898 – Travelers Insurance Company issued the first car insurance -- against accidents with horses.
1901 – William Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, OH
1902 – Langston Hughes is born in Joplin, MO
1909 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian singer was born.  [ Note: I heard him sing at the Billy Graham Crusade I attended in Little Rock in 1951. He is now 102 years old, and will receive a Grammy Award later this month. ]
1920 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began operations.
1937 – Don Everly, of The Everly Brothers, is born in Brownie, KY
1946 – Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
1968 – Lisa Marie Presley is born in Memphis, TN
2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

February 1 also marks the observance of Imbolc (Celtic Calendar)  -- For an interesting, first-hand report on this event,  I invite you to pay a visit to Hillside Cottage, an English blog I read regularly

Also, today is the first day of:

American Heart Month;  International Boost Self-Esteem Month; Library Lovers’ Month; National African-American History Month; National Bird-Feeding Month; National Care About Your Indoor Air Month; National Cherry Month; National Mend a Broken Heart Month; and last, but not least, Spunky Old Broads Month.
I hope you enjoyed exploring some of these sites.

You know what tomorrow is, of course: Groundhog Day and Candlemas but, unless providentially spurred, I'm not going to post about them, since I've already done it -- here.

Tomorrow is also a day.