Today in History: May 14

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The Dalai Lama recognized six-year-old Tibetan Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama on this date in 1995. Almost immediately Chinese authorities detained the child and his family; he has not been seen since May 17, 1995, and his location has never been divulged. Human rights organizations once considered him one of the youngest political prisoners; now he is considered one of the longest-held. China, although officially atheist, used the tools of religion against Tibet and installed its own choice as the 11th Panchen Lama.
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Century’s …

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“Bacon makes everything better.”—a sign in Susannah Mushatt Jones’s kitchen.

The 19th Century came to a conclusion in the United States on Thursday night with the death of Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York, who was born on July 6, 1899. She held the title of oldest person in the world since June 17 of last year. Every person alive in America right now was born after the dawn of the 20th Century or in this current one.

Every person who is not Emma Morano (pictured above) of Verbania, Italy, was born after January 1, 1900, too. Ms. Morano was born on November 29, 1899, and she is the oldest person alive on the planet now and is also the last human being who was here the century before last.
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Today in History: May 13

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

There were probably many motivations behind Cardinal Richelieu’s decision: sometimes, one does not need one’s dinner guests to always be armed with daggers and knives, especially not at dinner. An angry guest can always retrieve his sword on the way out, the Cardinal may have thought.

It is believed by Henry Petroski, the historian of things, among other writers, that the Cardinal was irritated by the disgusting habit some of his dinner guests displayed of picking their teeth with their daggers and the blades they ate with.

On this date in 1637, Cardinal Richelieu ordered his house staff to grind down and round off the sharp ends of his dinner knives, which led to an instant invention: the table knife, which is used to cut one’s meal but not stab at it and convey the chunks to one’s mouth, and can not be used to settle violent disagreements.
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