Winter Solstice 2008
December 21, 2008 8:23 am > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays |
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World Underdog Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Leka: Letter, missive PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY —Pas: Letter HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “The silent messenger.” (A letter) HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “The most important thing to do in your life, is to not interfere with somebody else’s life.” - Frank Zappa
WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — Think Green Hawaii WEB GAME OF THE WEEK — Sock & Awed – TRY IT! NETCAST OF THE WEEK — Slate’s Podcasts GOOD DEED SITE OF THE WEEK — Recycle HawaiiWINTER SOLSTICE: 2:04am
Shortest day of the year. First day of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Today thru December 30th: Maui Film Festival’s First Light Screenings 
December 21st, 1850: By Royal decree, the Hawaiian Post Office opens its doors, and it costs 42 cents to mail a letter to the mainland – one more penny than it does today.
Until the decree, postal delivery was handled by business or private people — and it wasn’t that private. Nothing really stopped people from reading your mail – not unlike the current administration’s war against privacy. For your money, you got the postmaster’s word that he’d give it to the first reliable sea captain he could, a captain who promised to deliver the letter to the San Francisco Post Office as soon as possible. Only one letter with the opening day postmark is known to exist today.
If you wanted to mail a letter within the Kingdom, it cost you ten cents.Truthfully, both amounts sound low, but for the times, they weren’t. For example, using the consumer price index, 42 cents in 1850 would be worth $11.19 cents, and 10 cents is $2.66.
HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY
- 1620: 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock
- 1891: Eight students play the first basketball game
- 1898: Scientists Pierre & Marie Curie discover radium
- 1937: “Snow White”, 1st feature-length color & sound cartoon premieres
- 1948: The state of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence
- 1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders launch aboard Apollo 8
- 1988: A New York-bound Pan Am 747 jumbo jet explodes over Lockerbie Scotland
- 1995: The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control
- 1996: After two years of denials, House Speaker Newt Gingrich admits to violating House ethics rule
- Four Marines were charged with murder in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, and four Marine officers were accused of failures in investigating and reporting the deaths. (Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has pleaded not guilty to voluntary manslaughter; one of the officers was acquitted and charges against the rest were dropped.)
BORN ON THIS DAY
- 1804: Benjamin Disraeli, ritish PM
- 1879: Joseph Stalin, Russian dictator
- 1892: Rebecca West, journalist/novelist/feminist
- 1892: Walter Hagen, PGA golfer
- 1917: Heinrich Boll, writer
- 1918: Donald Regan, U.S. Secretary of Treasury
- 1924: Joe Paterno, football coach
- 1935: Phil Donahue, talk show host
- 1937: Jane Fonda, actress
- 1940: Frank Zappa, rock musician
- 1944: Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
- 1946: Carl Wilson, rock musician
- 1950: Jeffrey Katzenberg
- 1954: Chris Evert tennis pro
- 1955: Jane Kaczmarek, actress
- 1966: Kiefer Sutherland, actor
- 1966: Karri Turner, actress
- 1968: Khrystyne Haje, actress
- 1968: Brad Warren, country singer
- 1969: Julie Delpy, actress/director
- 1970: Rhean Boyer, cmusician
- 1971: Brett Scallions, rock musician
DIED ON THIS DAY
- 1933: Knud J V Rasmussen Danish Pole explorer (Thule), dies at 54
- 1940: F[rancis] Scott [Key] Fitzgerald author (Great Gatsby, Zelda), dies of a heart attack in Hollywood at 44
- 1942: Leendert Round sculptor (Giraffen, Blijdorp), dies at 63
- 1945: George S Patton US general (Sicily/Normandy), dies in car accident in Heidelberg at 60
- 1948: Seishiro Itagaki Japanese general/Minister of War, hanged
- 1958 H[arry] B[yron] Warner actor (10 Commandments, New Moon), dies at 83
- 1975: William Lundigan announcer (CBS Mystery Theater), dies at 61
- 1980: Marc Connelly playwright (One Minute Please), dies at 90
- 1983: Rod Cameron actor (Santa Fe Passage, Stampede), dies at 73
- 1988: Nicholas Tinbergen Dutch/British biologist, dies at 81
- 1992: Albert King US blues singer/guitarist (Crosscut Saw), dies at 71
- 1994: Dean Rusk US Secretary of State, dies at 85
- 1995: Trenchard Cox museum director, dies at 90
- 1996: Margaret E Rey author of children’s books, dies at 90
- 1997: Juzo Itami film director/actor (Lord Jim, Yuuguremade), dies at 64
