On This Day:
Wednesday January 18, 2012
This is the 18th day of the year, with 348 days remaining
in 2012.
Fact of the Day: sounds
Over the course of the millions of years that hominids
evolved into homo sapiens, the human brain's ability to
process sounds was critical to survival. Creatures that
responded appropriately enjoyed greater probability for
survival of themselves and their progeny. Sounds are a
mixture of audible frequencies. Some sounds are
intrinsically soothing and rest-inducing: gurgling water,
the soft cooing/humming of human voices, the low cackle of
friendly fire. Other sounds cause the brain to release
chemicals that induce stress response: the prolonged screech
of a child or animal in pain or discomfort, or the screech
of claws (bear, big cat, dire wolf) against a hard surface.
These sounds of distress cause the individual to make
addressing the stimulus a primary consideration, dropping
everything else to flee or change the situation. On the
level of human physiology, the human ear is designed to
accommodate a broad range of frequencies and volumes. When
certain sounds represent osci
llations beyond the normal range of daily hearing, the
result is physical pain in the inner ear. Blackboard
screeching involves oscillations beyond the normal range of
human hearing, just as jackhammers are beyond the normal
range of comfortable volume. The result is that an
individual orients to the sounds with an appropriate
physical response.
Holidays
Feast day of St. Prisca, St. Peter's Chair, Rome, St. Desle
or Deicolus, and St. Volusian.
Winnie
The Pooh Day (in observance of the birthday of Alan
Alexander Milne, 1882).
Events
1778
- English explorer Captain James
Cook discovered the Hawaiian
Islands, naming them the Sandwich
Islands.
1788
- The first English settlers arrived in Australia's
Botany
Bay to establish a penal colony.
1871
- Wilhelm,
King of Prussia from 1861, was proclaimed the first
German Emperor.
1896
- The first college basketball game was played, between the
University
of Iowa and University
of Chicago.
1911
- The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as
pilot Eugene
B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS
Pennsylvania in San
Francisco harbor.
1912
- English explorer Robert
Falcon Scott reached the South
Pole, only to find out that Norwegian Roald
Amundsen had gotten there a month earlier. Scott and
his party perished during the return trip.
1919
- The World
War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles,
France.
1943
- A wartime ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S.
went into effect. It was aimed at reducing the bakeries'
demand for metal replacement parts.
1967
- Albert
DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston
Strangler," was convicted in Massachusetts
of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was sentenced
to life and killed by a fellow inmate in 1973.
1978
- The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
isolated the cause of Legionnaire's
disease.
1991
- After 62 years in service, Eastern
Air Lines shuts down, citing financial problems.
1993
- The Martin
Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states
for the first time.
2001
- Civil rights leader Jesse
Jackson revealed an extramarital affair that resulted
in the birth of his daughter, Ashley.
2003
- A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500
homes in Canberra,
Australia.
Births
1779
- Peter
Mark Roget, English lexicographer and thesaurus
compiler.
1782
- Daniel
Webster, U.S. statesman.
1854
- Thomas
A. Watson, American telephone pioneer and shipbuilder.
1882
- A.A.
(Alan Alexander) Milne, British author, creator of Winnie
the Pooh.
1892
- Oliver
Hardy, American comedian, vaudeville team with Stan
Laurel.
1904
- Cary
Grant (Archibald
Leach), British-born American actor.
1913
- Danny
Kaye (David
Kominski), American comedian, dancer, singer, actor.
1944
- Paul
Keating, Australian statesman and Prime Minister.
1955
- Kevin
Costner, film actor and director.
1969
- Jesse
Lamont Martin (born Jesse Lamont Watkins), an American
theater, film, and television actor.
1971
- Christian
Fittipaldi, Brazilian
race car driver.
1971
- Jonathan
Davis, American vocalist and drummer for the nu
metal band KoRn.
Deaths
1936
- Rudyard
Kipling, English author.
1952
- Curly
Howard (born Jerome
Lester Horwitz), American comedian and actor, probably
best known as a member of the comedy act The
Three Stooges.
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