Giovanni Battista Castagna was born on the 4th on 1521. Somehow, he finagled his way into the papacy on September 15, 1590, taking the name Pope Urban VII. He contracted malaria and died twelve days later[i]. Some are of the opinion that becoming pope is more than enough distinction in a career in the theological field. Castagna wanted more though. His papacy is the possibly the shortest one. Boniface VI may have come in first; the records are unclear. Are you annoyed by all the restrictions... Read Full Story

Elisha Graves Otis was born on the 3rd in 1811. His name lives on to this day and is so generally associated with elevators that many believe that he invented the damn things. He did not. What he did invent was the safety device[i] that kept the elevators from falling and sending its passengers to an agonizing and painful death, something that I believe most people probably want to avoid. To plug his work, in 1853, at the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City[ii], he set... Read Full Story

Have you ever abandoned a project before you had completed it? If so, did you regret it? Well, Elisha Grey[i], born on the 2nd in 1835, did and I am pretty sure that, man, he had to have regretted giving it up a whole lot. He was an inventor. He made a bunch of money with a telegraph and then turned his sights on a telephone. On February 14, 1876, he filed a caveat with the US Patent Office. A caveat isn’t a formal patent application but is a sort of heads up to the agency; it didn’t contain... Read Full Story

No, no, no, I got here first, that’s my seat! Get out now!! Maria Mitchell[i] (I know that sounds a lot like Margaret Mitchell but she is not Margaret, trust me) was born on the 1st in 1818. You know how some girls always have their heads in the clouds? Well, of course she became an astronomer. In 1847, she discovered what was then referred to as a telescopic comet, one that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye because comets had to be properly dressed in the 19th century. King Frederick VI... Read Full Story

What the heck is potash? In addition, just why does it need a process? I am not sure that I understand what a process even is. But if people are going around inventing processes, can I get one too? I don’t know if I even need one, but if potash got one, I want one too. Whatever potash is, it apparently does need a process because on the 31st, in 1790, Samuel Hopkins was awarded the first patent[i] in the United States. It was for a potash process[ii]. [i] The patent was signed by both George... Read Full Story

I am fairly certain that most people enjoy going out to dinner, particularly if you are someone’s guest. Having a good dinner at a nice restaurant with someone else picking up the tab is an opportunity that no one would pass up. There are times however where you might want to turn down the invitation. On the 30th in 1975, Anthony Provenzano and Anthony Giacalone invited James Hoffa to have dinner with them at a restaurant in Michigan. Shortly after dinner, Hoffa disappeared and unless he... Read Full Story

John Graves Simcoe was the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. As such, he had a certain amount of power. A man in his position had a lot of leeway in what he could and couldn’t do. I mean, seriously, who would be foolish enough as to object to any of his plans? On the 29th in 1793, he took it into his head to build a fort and a settlement. Ultimately, the damn thing would become one of the most pleasant places on the planet – Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By planet, I mean earth... Read Full Story

On the 28th in 1958, George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe made his maiden speech in Great Britain’s House of Lords concerning the British problems in Iraq. In the speech, he told those in attendance that “…like all your Lordships, I felt, and feel, a deep sense of shock, indeed revulsion, at the brutal butchery…” Jellicoe seems to have had a rather refreshing character for a politician. As a rule, not to say that politicians follow many rules, groups of politicians tend... Read Full Story

Jeanne Baré was born on the 27th in 1740. Disguised as a man, she was a member of of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile, which made a circumnavigation of the planet. This voyage made Baré the most likely candidate for being the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation. Jeanne had begun dressing as a man after losing a lawsuit which left her with very little money. In order to get a job, she dressed as a man. On this voyage, her... Read Full Story

On the 26th in 1882, Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal premiered in Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany. Parsifal would be the last work from Wagner. He would die on February 13, 1883. It is unclear from contemporary sources exactly how many of those in attendance committed suicide. The pianoforte solo in Franz Liszt's La lugubre gondola was written for Wagner and conjures a black-shrouded funerary gondola bearing Richard Wagner's body on the Grand Canal in Venice. Remember to visit http://www.symzonia... Read Full Story