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Almanac - Thursday 12/10/20

Encyclopedia Britannica volumes Photo © 2008 by flickr user Todd Mecklem."

on this day in history in 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

Today is Thursday December 10, 2020

It is the 345th day of the year

21 days remain until the end of the year.

11 days until Winter Solstice

The Sun rises this morning at 7:15

The sun sets sets tonight at 4:51

We will have 9 hours and 36 minutes of daylight

The first low tide was at 12:45 early this morning

The next low tide at 2:04 this afternoon

And the final high tide at Aquatic Park will be at 8:29 tonight

The moon is about a quarter visible

The moon is a waning crescent

We will have a new moon on Monday

Today is...

Dewey Decimal System Day
Born on this day in 1851 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian, created the Dewey Decimal System (d. 1931)

Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales

Human Rights Day

National Lager Day

Nobel Prize Day

Today is also...
   
Constitution Day in Thailand

Victory Day in Iraq

On this day in history....

1684 – Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.

1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

1817 – Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.

1884 – Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published.

1896 – Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance.

1901 – The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

1902 – The opening of the reservoir of the Aswan Dam in Egypt.

1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.
   
1909 – Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1948 – The Human Rights Convention is signed by the United Nations

1978 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1983 – Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín

1996 – The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.

1999 – Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first following an election.

And if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You!  You share this special day with...

1787 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator, founded the American School for the Deaf (d. 1851)

1815 – Ada Lovelace, English mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1852)

1822 – César Franck, Belgian organist and composer (d. 1890)

1830 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)

1908 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d. 1992)

1911 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974)

1913 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)

1914 – Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer (d. 1996)

1924 – Michael Manley, Jamaican pilot and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 1997)

1925 – Carolyn Kizer, American poet and academic (d. 2014)

1926 – Guitar Slim, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1959)

1952 – Susan Dey, American actress

1956 – Rod Blagojevich, American lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Illinois

1985 – Raven-Symoné, American actress, singer, and dancer