Word of the day
- chastise November 25, 2024Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2024 is: chastise • \chass-TYZE\ • verb To chastise someone is to criticize them harshly for doing something wrong. // The waiter was chastised for forgetting the customer’s order. See the entry > Examples: “… what I’m saying is that we must acknowledge that hypocrisy exists all […]Merriam-Webster
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On This Day
1907 – Bubonic plague breaks out in San Francisco.
The San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 was an epidemic of bubonic plague centered on San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.[1] The epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, but its existence was denied for more than two years by Henry Gage, the Governor of California. His denial was based on business reasons: the wish to keep the reputations of San Francisco and California clean and to prevent the loss of revenue from trade stopped by quarantine. The failure to act quickly may have allowed the disease to establish itself among local animal populations.[2] Federal authorities worked to build a case to prove that there was a major medical health problem, and they isolated the affected area. Proof that an epidemic was occurring served to undermine the credibility of Gage, and he lost the governorship in the 1902 elections. The new governor, George Pardee, quietly implemented a medical solution and the epidemic was stopped in 1904. There were 121 cases identified, including 119 deaths.[3][4]
After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, much of urban San Francisco was destroyed by fire, including all of the Chinatown district. The process of rebuilding began immediately but took several years. While reconstruction was in full swing, a second plague epidemic hit San Francisco in May and August 1907 but it was not centered in Chinatown. Rather, cases occurred randomly throughout the city, including cases identified across the bay in Oakland. San Francisco’s politicians and press reacted very differently this time, wanting the problem solved speedily.[5] Health authorities worked quickly to assess and eradicate the disease.[6] To control one of the disease’s vectors, some $2 million was spent between 1907 and 1911 to kill as many rats as possible in the city.[7]
By the end of the second plague outbreak, in June 1908, 160 more cases had been identified, including 78 deaths, a much lower mortality rate than 1900–1904.[8] This time, all of the infected people were Caucasian.[7] Shortly thereafter, the California ground squirrel was identified as another vector of the disease.[6] The initial denial and obstructionist response to the 1900 infection may have allowed the pathogen to gain its first toehold in North America, from which it spread sporadically to other states in the form of sylvatic plague (rural plague). However, it is possible the squirrel population infection predated 1900.[2][9][10][11][12]
Born On This Day
1898 – David Crosthwait, African-American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
David Crosthwait (May 27, 1898 – February 25, 1976) was an African-American mechanical and electrical engineer, inventor, and writer. He was born in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Once he completed high school he received a Bachelor of Science (1913) and a Masters of Engineering (1920) from Purdue University. He was granted an honorary doctoral degree in 1975[2] but died one year later.[1]
FYI
By AJ Dellinger: Astronaut Alan Bean, the Fourth Man to Walk on the Moon, Has Died at 86
Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut; he was the fourth person to walk on the Moon. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3.
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Ideas
Julien K., Hometalk Team Hometalker Fairfield, CT: Erupting Ice Chalk for Playtime
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By DWSciSouth: Iridescent Art
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wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 25 November 25, 2024Picture of the day Papaya fruits in a grocery store. Colatina, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for November 24 November 24, 2024Picture of the day The Scroll of Eighty-Seven Immortals, drawn by an unknown painter, measuring 30cm high and 292cm wide, is a line-drawing Chinese figure painting. Drawn on a long silk scroll with lines, the painting depicts 87 taoist immortals, including three supreme gods with halo, ten divine generals, seven deities and 67 celestial maidens […]
Recipes
By jprussak: Citric Acid Gets a Shaker
By Claire Lower: You Can Make These Smoky, Sous-Vide Ribs Without a Grill or Smoker
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