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Almanac - Wednesday 12/16/20

Hostess Chocodile, by flickr user Willis Lam

December 16th is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day!

Today is Wednesday, the 16th of December of 2020...

It is the 351st day of the year

15 days remain until the end of the year.

5 days until winter begins

The sun rises at 7:19 am 

and the sun sets at 4:52 pm.

We will have 9 hours and 33 minutes of daylight today.

Solar noon will be at 12:06 pm.

The first high tide was at 1:28 am 

The first low tide was at 5:58 am 

The next high tide at 12:03 pm.

and the final low tide at Aquatic Park will be at 6:49 pm.

The moon is 4.8 % visible

A waxing crescent

First Quarter Moon in 5 days on Monday the 21st of December of 2020 at 3:41 pm

Today is…

Barbie and Barney Backlash Day

Boston Tea Party Day

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Stupid Toy Day

Today is also…

Day of Reconciliation, formerly celebrated as Day of the Vow by the Afrikaners in South Africa

National Day, celebrates the withdrawal of United Kingdom from Bahrain, making Bahrain an independent emirate in 1971.

National Sports Day in Thailand

The beginning of the nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24, celebrating the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born in Latin American culture

The first day of Las Posadas in Mexico, Latin America

The first day of the Simbang Gabi novena of masses in Philippines

Victory Day in Bangladesh

Victory Day in India

On this day in history…

1653 –  Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1773 – American RevolutionBoston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

1903 – Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in Bombay first opens its doors to guests.

1937 – Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

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

1485 – Catherine of Aragon, Spanish princess, later queen consort of England (d. 1536)

1630 – Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, British botanist (d. 1715)

1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (d. 1827)

1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (d. 1817)

1866 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French painter and theorist (d. 1944)

1882 – Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, conductor, and musicologist (d. 1967)

1896 – Anna Anderson, an imposter who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (d. 1984)

1899 – Noël Coward, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)

1900 – V. S. Pritchett, British writer and literary critic (d. 1997)

1901 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and author (d. 1978)

1917 – Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction writer (d. 2008)

1928 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (d. 1982)

1936 – Morris Dees, American lawyer and activist, co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center

1938 – Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter

1941 – Lesley Stahl, American journalist and actress

1946 – Benny Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

1951 – Robben Ford, American guitarist and songwriter