On This Day
1784 – Russia founds a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Kodiak is the ancestral land of the Sugpiaq, an Alutiiq nation of Alaska Natives. The original inhabitants subsisted by hunting marine mammals, fishing, and gathering. Kodiak Island was explored in 1763 by Russian fur trader Stepan Glotov.
The first outsiders to settle on the island were Russian explorers under Grigory Shelikhov, a fur trader, who founded a Russian settlement on Kodiak Island at Three Saints Bay in 1784; the present-day village of Old Harbor developed near there.[3]:162–163 In 1792 the settlement was moved to the site of present-day Kodiak and became the center of Russian fur trading with the Alaska Natives.
In 1793, Shelikhov, with the help of the governor-general of Irkutsk, was given twenty craftsmen and ten families of farmers with the obligation of paying government taxes for them, for promoting successful development of Russia-America settlements and the establishment of shipyards and factories.[4] The settlers provided to Shelikhov were not serfs in the full sense of the word. It was not possible to sell, mortgage, or give away the settlers; they were owned by the company for as long as the Shelikhov-Golikov Company existed.[4]
In 1784, Shelekhov, along with 130 Russian fur traders massacred (see Awa’uq Massacre) several hundred Qik’rtarmiut Sugpiat (“Sugpiaq people of Qik’rtaq/Kodiak”) tribe of Alutiiq men, women and children at Refuge Rock, a tiny stack island off the eastern coast of Sitkalidak Island. In Alutiiq, this sacred place is now known as Awa’uq, “to become numb”.[5]
4004 BC – James Ussher’s proposed creation date of the world according to the Bible.
James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius of Antioch, and for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation as “the entrance of the night preceding the 23rd day of October… the year before Christ 4004”; that is, around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, per the proleptic Julian calendar.
Born On This Day
1897 – Marjorie Flack, American author and illustrator (d. 1958)[14]
Marjorie Flack (22 October 1897 – August 29, 1958)[1][2] was an American artist and writer of children’s picture books. Flack was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York in 1897.[3] She was best known for The Story about Ping (1933), illustrated by Kurt Wiese, popularized by Captain Kangaroo,[1] and for her stories of an insatiably curious Scottish terrier named Angus, who was actually her dog. Her first marriage was to artist Karl Larsson; she later married poet William Rose Benét.
Her book Angus Lost was featured prominently in the movie Ask the Dust (2006), starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek, in which Farrell’s character teaches Hayek’s character, a Mexican, to read English using Flack’s book.
Marjorie Flack’s grandson, Tim Barnum, and his wife, Darlene Enix-Barnum, currently sponsor an annual creative writing award at Anne Arundel Community College. The award, called The Marjorie Flack Award for Fiction, consists of a $250 prize for the best short story or children’s storybook written by a current AACC student.
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1865 – Neltje Blanchan, American historian and author (d. 1918)
Neltje Blanchan De Graff Doubleday (October 23, 1865 – February 21, 1918) was a United States scientific historian and nature writer who published several books on wildflowers and birds under the pen name Neltje Blanchan.[1] Her work is known for its synthesis of scientific interest with poetic phrasing.
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FYI
If these walls could talk! What kind of a starter home is a former brothel/massage parlor?
Zillow: 4307 Minnesota Dr, Anchorage, AK 99503. $225,000
Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings: Essential Life-Learnings from 14 Years of Brain Pickings
By Colin Marshall, Open Culture: “The Dark Side of the Moon” and Other Pink Floyd Songs Gloriously Performed by Irish & German Orchestras
Atlas Obscura: What ancient sourdough has to do with the Xbox; Whale Shark Sounds; Monster of the Month and more ->
Recipes
By Yum_Seema: Easy Potato Pasta (naturally Purple & Healthy)
By ChewChoo: Pumpkin Buns With Honey Thyme Glaze
By Carolie Stanko, Taste of Home: 75 Cute Halloween Treats You Need to Make This Year
DamnDelicious
- Chicken Fajita Quesadillas June 13, 2026This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. 30 minute chicken quesadillas with onions and bell peppers using leftover rotisserie chicken (huge time-saver!). So quick, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love chicken fajita quesadillas what is the best cheese to use for quesadillas? Always opt for a cheese with […]Chungah
- Lemon Butter Fish May 29, 2026This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. Tender, juicy, flaky fish with a lemon-garlic sauce that will knock your socks off. A 20 minute dinner recipe – so fast, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love this lemon butter fish recipe key ingredients in lemon butter fish Butter Use […]Chungah
RecipeTinEats
- Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef June 16, 2026Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef is what you make when you want a big batch of crowd-pleasing food with relatively little effort. The succulent pulled beef is smothered in an incredible homemade barbecue sauce, and there’s so many ways to serve it – pile into sliders, heap onto plates or stuff into baked potatoes! Easy... […]Nagi
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 17 June 17, 2026Picture of the day Lt. Col. Nick Rutgers preparing his F-15 Eagle for flight
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 16 June 16, 2026Picture of the day View of Kirchberg an der Jagst, Germany, from the river Jagst. At the right the listed bridge, build in 1779; behind it the hill which supports Kirchberg Castle (top) and the old town of Kirchberg.
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Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
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.
Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?