On This Day:
Wednesday February 1, 2012
This is the 32nd day of the year, with 334 days remaining
in 2012.
Fact of the Day: ionizer
Ionizers work by arcing a small current of electricity off a
thin needle and into the air. The electrons bind to nearby
air molecules and give them a negative charge. These
negatively charged molecules are propelled or drift
throughout the room and attract tiny pollutants such as
smoke, dust, pollen, and aerosols. Evenutally, these bundles
of pollutants become too heavy to remain airborne and settle
onto the surfaces of the room. The benefits of using an
ionizer include the removal of microscopic contaminants,
smoke, viruses, odors, pollen, aerosols, and other
pollutants. The effect is likened to the clean air near
waterfalls or after lightning, other good sources fo
negative ions. They may also be effective as
anti-depressants according to a much quoted article in
Allure Magazine (June 95, "Pumping Ions") regarding a study
by two research psychologists at the New York State
Psychiatric Institute Columbia University. Unfortunately,
there can be drawbacks to using an ionizer. The charged
pollutant clusters cling to walls and create a sooty buildup
that may need periodic cleaning. Similar to lightning, the
arc from poorly designed ionizers can create ozone and
nitrous oxide.
Holidays
Feast day of St. John of the Grating, St. Henry Morse, St.
Pionius, St. Bride or Brigid of Kildare, St. Seiriol, and
St. Sigebert III of Austria.
Ireland:
St. Brigid's Day.
United
States: National Freedom Day (commemorating Abraham
Lincoln's signing of 13th
Amendment).
Events
1587
- Elizabeth
I, Queen of England,
signed the Warrant of Execution for Mary
Queen of Scots.
1788
- Isaac
Briggs and William
Longstreet patented the steamboat.
1790
- The Supreme
Court of the United
States met for the first time, with Chief Justice John
Jay of New
York presiding.
1793
- France
declared war on Britain
and Holland.
1862
- "The
Battle Hymn of the Republic," by Julia
Ward Howe, was first published in "Atlantic
Monthly."
1884
- The first volume (A-Ant) of the Oxford
English Dictionary was published.
1893
- Thomas
Edison opened the first film studio, in New
Jersey.
1908
- King
Carlos I of Portugal
and his eldest son, Luís
Filipe, were assassinated by revolutionaries while
riding in an open carriage through the streets of Lisbon.
1919
- The first Miss
America was crowned, in New
York City.
1946
- Norwegian statesman Trygve
Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of
the United
Nations.
1953
- "General
Electric Theater" premiered on TV.
1958
- The United
Arab Republic was formed by a union of Egypt
and Syria
(only until 1961).
1960
- Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a
lunch counter in Greensboro,
North
Carolina, where they'd been refused service.
1979
- Ayatollah
Khomeini returned to Iran
in triumph after 15 years of exile.
1982
- "Late
Night with David Letterman" premiered on television.
2003
- Human remains found in a field in Texas
were believed to be those of at least one of the seven
astronauts who perished about the space shuttle Columbia
when it disintegrated nearly 40 miles above the Earth.
2004
- Janet
Jackson exposes her breast on American television
during the half-time show of the Super
Bowl.
Births
1901
- Clark
Gable, American film actor.
1902
- Langston
Hughes, American author, poet.
1931
- Boris
Yeltsin (President of Russia,
1990-1999).
1942
- Terry
Jones, British comedian, screenwriter and actor,
probably best known as a member of the Monty
Python comedy team.
Deaths
1966
- Buster
Keaton, American silent-film comedian.
1981
- Donald
Wills Douglas, Sr., American aircraft manufacturer.
1999
- Paul
Mellon, American philanthropist and art collector.
2003
- Mongo
Santamaría, Afro-Cuban percussionist.
2003
- The crew of the STS-107
Mission (Space
Shuttle Columbia disaster), astronauts: Michael
P. Anderson; David
Brown; Kalpana
Chawla; Laurel
Clark; Rick
D. Husband; Willie
McCool; Ilan
Ramon.
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