One of the books I remember reading long ago was Patricia Lauber’s Famous Mysteries of the Sea. You can still find used copies of it for under ten dollars. It included a description of the disappearance of the Waratah, a steamship lost without a trace of crew or passengers or ship in July 1909 off… Continue reading December 4: The Mary Celeste
December 3: The Shape of the Earth
Anders Celsius shows up on today’s list of events, although it is neither the anniversary of his birth nor death, but of an event where he played a minor but crucial role. You may know the Celsius temperature scale from chemistry or biology, which portioned out 100 degrees between zero at water’s boiling point and… Continue reading December 3: The Shape of the Earth
December 2: Chromatius
December 2 is the feast of Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia in Italy, who died in 406. He is one of those minor early Church Fathers who don’t get a lot of press, and he shows up in only in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Calendars, but he’s definitely worth more than a cursory glance.… Continue reading December 2: Chromatius