September 21rst: Today in 1937 the Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien was published. The book was originally a stand alone tale, buts its sucess led to the publisher asking for more so Tolkien decided to link it to the mythology he had been developing seperately. I enjoyed the book tremendously when I discovered it.
September 20th: Today in 1737 the government of Pennslyvania took 70 miles of Indian land in what was called the walking purchase. The government produced a treaty saying the Indians would sell land equal to what a man could walk in a day and a half. There are many doubts about the treaty, but the [...]
September 19th: Today in 1982 Scott Fahlman is credited with the birth of the smiley emoticon in a posting to BBS. I am not a huge emoticon fan, but if they have to be there I always prefer the semi-clever ascii ones to the more common gif ones you see now.
I read it on the internet, it must be true! Finally news you can trust on the Internet as the World Weekly News is now available online. This week we learn that a planet destroying dust cloud is headed right at us!
September 18th: Today in 1978 Isreal and Egypt reach the Camp David Peace Agreement. This agreement was beacon of hope for peace in the Middle East but it was to prove a short lived hope. Two years after the agreement President Anwar al-Sadat was assasinated in Egypt and it was widely believed this was for [...]
This is a pretty wild story about a light airplane with a land gear problem that is fixed for them by guys on the ground driving under the flying plane and fixing the stuck gear with a pole. Pretty incredible.