FYI December 28, 2018

On This Day

 
 
169 BC – The menorah is lit to rededicate the Holy Temple of Jerusalem after two centuries of foreign rule and religious oppression and a seven-year revolt. The menorah burns for eight days without the sufficient fuel needed to do so, birthing the holiday Hanukkah.
anukkah (/ˈhɑːnəkə/ HAH-nə-kə; Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה‬ ḥanuká, Tiberian: ḥanuká, usually spelled חֲנוּכָּה‎, pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, [ˈχanukə] or [ˈχanikə] in Yiddish; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah or Ḥanukah) is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.It is also known as the Festival of Lights (Hebrew: חַג הַאוּרִים‬, ḥag ha’urim).

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, called a menorah (or hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the shamash (Hebrew: שַׁמָּשׁ‎, “attendant”). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shamash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival.[2] Other Hanukkah festivities include playing the game of dreidel and eating oil-based foods, such as latkes and sufganiyot, and dairy foods. Since the 1970s, the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah lightings in open public places in many countries.[3]

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Born On This Day

 
 
1789 – Catharine Maria Sedgwick, American novelist of “domestic fiction” (d. 1867)[1]
Catharine Maria Sedgwick (December 28, 1789 – July 31, 1867) was an American novelist of what is sometimes referred to as “domestic fiction”. With her work much in demand, from the 1820s to the 1850s, Sedgwick made a good living writing short stories for a variety of periodicals. She became one of the most notable female novelists of her time. She wrote work in American settings, and combined patriotism with protests against historic Puritan oppressiveness. Her topics contributed to the creation of a national literature, enhanced by her detailed descriptions of nature. Sedgwick created spirited heroines who did not conform to the stereotypical conduct of women at the time. She promoted Republican motherhood.

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FYI

 
 
By David Tracy: The Most Fascinating Things Jalopnik Explained in 2018
 
 
 
 
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By George Dvorsky: Enormous 18th-Century Ice House Re-Discovered Under London Street
 
 
 
 

By Victoria Song: Widespread 911 Outage Sparks FCC Investigation Into CenturyLink
 
 
 
 
By Gary Price: Report/Video from UK: The 250-Year-Old Subscription Library Thriving in a Digital World (The Leeds Library), A New Issue of the “International Journal of Digital Curation” (Vol 13, No 1) is Now Available Online and more ->
 
 
 
 
The Spaces The best of 2018: A woodland cabin in the heart of New York’s Catskills, 2018’s top music videos for architecture lovers Casting buildings in a starring role and more ->
 
 
 
 
Michael Connelly: Coming Next – the Murder Book Podcast
 
 
 
 
Atlas Obscura: All the places we added to Atlas Obscura in 2018, on one map CORNWALL, ENGLAND Holy Well and more ->
 
 
 
 
Atlas Obscura: 4 vaguely historic anniversaries we forgot this year and more->
 
 
 
 
The Passive Voice: Amazon Digital Day The hours From the Case Files of She-lock Holmes, Female Private Detective and more->
 
 
 
 
Today’s email was written by Jackie Bischof, edited by Jessanne Collins, and produced by Luiz Romero. Quartz Obsession: Exclamation points
 
 
 
 
Open Culture Josh Jones: Where Did the Monk’s Haircut Come From? A New Vox Video Explains the Rich and Contentious History of the Tonsure
 
 


 
 

 
 

Recipes

 
 
By Laura Adamcyzk: Here’s to staying in: A decadent yet simple New Year’s Eve menu

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