Do just one thing Date Book
TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2024
Succulents have gained popularity as indoor and outdoor plants for their ease of care, beauty and ability to flourish and grow quickly. It’s easy to find succulents thriving in arid environments, and that’s where a problem is starting to occur: poaching. Removing succulents from the wild is easy, since they need little water to thrive, so people are digging out succulents for their own home gardens. The effects are incredibly damaging to natural ecosystems that depend on them, so don’t take even one little plant.
Today is the 205th day of 2024 and the 34th day of summer.
TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1962, the Telstar 1 satellite transmitted the first live, trans-atlantic TV broadcast, featuring CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite.
In 1967, the 12th Street Riots began in Detroit, ending five days later and resulting in 43 people dead, hundreds injured and more than 1,400 buildings burned to the ground.
In 1999, with the launch of Columbia, Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a U.S. space shuttle flight.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: Emil Jannings (1884-1950), actor; Raymond Chandler (1888-1959), author; Anthony M. Kennedy (1936- ), Supreme Court justice; Woody Harrelson (1961- ), actor; Eriq La Salle (1962- ), actor/ director; Slash (1965- ), guitarist; Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014), actor; Alison Krauss (1971- ), singersongwriter; Marlon Wayans (1972- ), actor; Michelle Williams (1979- ), singer/actress; Daniel Radcliffe (1989), actor.
TODAY’S FACT: Comet Hale-bopp, discovered on this day in 1995, was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, from May 1996 to December 1997. The previous record holder, the Great Comet of 1811, was visible for about nine months.
TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1996, injured American gymnast Kerri Strug scored a 9.7 on the vault as the U.S. won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in the women’s team gymnastics competition.
TODAY’S QUOTE: “The faster I write the better my output. If I’m going slow, I’m in trouble. It means I’m pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.” -- Raymond Chandler
TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,400 -- the distance between Earth (in lightyears) and Kepler-452b, a potentially Earthlike exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of a star in the constellation Cygnus. NASA announced its discovery on this day in 2015.
TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (July 21) and last quarter moon (July 27).