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Almanac for Aug. 24, 2026

Today is Monday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2026. There are 129 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida; the storm resulted in 65 deaths and caused more than $26 billion in damage across Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas. Also on this date: In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the still-under-construction Capitol and the White House, as well as other public buildings. In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a ...

Almanac for Aug. 22, 2026

Today is Saturday, Aug. 22, the 234th day of 2026. There are 131 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 22, 1851, the schooner America outraced more than a dozen British vessels off the English coast to win a trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup. Also on this date: In 1791, the Haitian Revolution began as enslaved people of Saint-Domingue rose up against French colonizers. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, which remained under Japanese control until the end of World War II. In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins was shot to death, apparently by Irish ...

The deadly pursuit of fame

The tragic deaths of Hayden Panettiere and Jason Arday can be tied to the same phenomenon. It's not new but has accelerated in today's influencer culture: youth's hunger for fame. Panettiere was an accomplished actress who, buried in depression and addiction, died from an apparent drug ...

Almanac for Aug. 21, 2026

Today is Friday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2026. There are 132 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 21, 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people; scores of Black people were killed in retribution after the rebellion, and Turner was later executed. Also on this date: In 1858, the first of seven debates took place between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (It was recovered two ...

Nighthawk summer

ESCANABA — Upper Michigan has an invisible air force patrolling the summer sky. They zoom, dive bomb, and attack at dusk and in the twilight hours. Hardly anyone notices them. Hardly anyone hears their peent-peent cries as they zero in on their prey. But everyone benefits greatly from their diligent work. Nighthawks are aerodynamic soldiers of the night sky. They eliminate tons of insects from the air. Most of the day this brave bird rests roosting on a limb or in fields, roadsides, gravelly roof tops or on Stoney ledges. As the sun starts to sink into the western sky, this ...

Racist Tests

Did you know that the SAT is racist? During Woke I, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now calls it, "antiracists" said the SAT's creators "were avowed eugenicists." No wonder Black people get lower scores. Even if the test isn't racist today, it still gives unfair advantages to white kids ...