On This Day
497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome.[1]
Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike.[1] A common custom was the election of a “King of the Saturnalia”, who would give orders to people, which were to be followed and preside over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria. The poet Catullus called it “the best of days”.[2]
Saturnalia was the Roman equivalent to the earlier Greek holiday of Kronia, which was celebrated during the Attic month of Hekatombaion in late midsummer. It held theological importance for some Romans, who saw it as a restoration of the ancient Golden Age, when the world was ruled by Saturn. The Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry interpreted the freedom associated with Saturnalia as symbolizing the “freeing of souls into immortality”. Saturnalia may have influenced some of the customs associated with later celebrations in western Europe occurring in midwinter, particularly traditions associated with Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and Epiphany. In particular, the historical western European Christmas custom of electing a “Lord of Misrule” may have its roots in Saturnalia celebrations.
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Born On This Day
1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic, one of the first people to analyze a dynamical system with chaos (d. 1998)
Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright, DBE, FRS, FRSE (17 December 1900 – 3 April 1998)[1] was a British mathematician. She was one of the pioneers of what would later become known as chaos theory.[2] Along with J. E. Littlewood, Cartwright saw many solutions to a problem which would later be seen as an example of the butterfly effect.
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FYI
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Continuing Cool with Snow
By Matt Goff, Sitka Nature: Waterfront on a Gray Day
By John Charlton, 11Alive: How a prefab storm shelter saved a Kentucky family’s life Their house didn’t have a basement and there was no way to get below ground, except for one unique place just next door – a storm shelter
Recipes
Recognize the Correlle Ware dishes?
By cherrieos: Soft Chewy Ginger Ginger Molasses Cookies
By maya tsvetanova: Tangerine Butter Cookies Without Eggs
By Momos75: Coffee and Vanilla Cookies With Gingerbread Filling and Caramelized Chestnut
By Lavi Bake House: Checkerboard Cookies
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Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
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