TOURBUS: Thursday, November 21, 1996

DRIVER: Patrick Crispin

TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP:
Historic Events and Birthdays


Hi, kids!

I want to thank the folks at Missouri Western State College in Saint Joseph, Missouri, for inviting me to speak
to their students last week.  Y'all have a GREAT campus, and I really had a
great time!  I also want to give special thanks to the folks whose support
is making today's TOURBUS post possible:
+-------- WANT TO PICK FROM 40 FREE MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS? ---------+
 Then get the Fall & Holiday TOURBUS HOT SHEET from Magazine Express.
  The magazine deals are white-hot, with many under $12/year.  Plus,
   Dr. Bob's "Internet Goodies" is still FREE.  Send e-mail now to:
+-------------------- ( tourbus@magazines.com ) ---------------------+

I know that this may sound kind of silly, but I actually enjoy reading the
"This Day in History" articles in my local newspaper.  It's kind of cool
learning that today is the 209th birthday of Sir Samuel Cunard (he founded
the Cunard/White Star Line, the company that owned the RMS Titanic and that
still owns the Queen Elizabeth 2) and that today is also the 258th
anniversary of the first human flight in a balloon.

Unfortunately, I don't get the opportunity to read my local newspaper as
often as I would like. Since I tend to use the Net a lot, however, I
decided to hop online and see what sort of "This Day in History"
information I could find on the Net.  I quickly discovered:

     1. There are a whole bunch of "This Day in History" sites on
        the Net; and

     2. Most of these "This Day in History" sites are, to put it
        bluntly, AWFUL!

I had pretty much given up all hope of ever finding a decent "This Day in
History" site when I accidentally stumbled across the "Historic Events and
Birthdays" page at http://www.scopesys.com/today/

This page is updated daily (obviously) and is absolutely AMAZING!  The
amount of information on this page is immense, and, best of all, the
information on this page really is international in its scope (something
that all of our non-US TOURBUS riders are sure to appreciate).

Each daily "Historic Events and Birthdays" page has eight major sections:


BIRTHDAYS.  This is pretty self-explanatory.  :)

    
DEATHS.  Actually, this is the only part of the page that I
        would improve on.  The information here is kind of sparse.

     
REPORTED: MISSING IN ACTION.  The only "jingoistic" part of
        the "Historic Events and Birthdays" page, this section lists
        the names and hometowns of American soldiers in southeast Asia
        who were reported missing on this day.

     
ON THIS DAY.  This section focuses more on "modern" events,
        but it does include religious events back to the third century
        (i.e., "235  St. Anterus begins his reign as Catholic Pope").

     
HOLIDAYS.  Descriptions of that day's various state holidays
        around the world.

     
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES.  List of the churches (i.e., "Anglican,
        Roman Catholic") and their religious events taking place that
        day.

     
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

     
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

So, if you are interested in seeing today's "Historical Events and
Birthdays" page, just point your Web browser to http://www.scopesys.com/today/

Since this page is updated daily, you'll probably want to add it to your
bookmarks so that you can return often.

But what if you want to find the "Historical Events and Birthdays" for some
day other than today?  Easy!  Just point your Web browser to the "anyday"
page at http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/

This page will ask you to list the month and the day that you are
interested in, and will then display that particular day's "Historical
Events and Birthdays" page automatically.

Neat, huh?  That's it for this week.  Have a safe and happy weekend!
+----------------------------- DIGITIZE IT! -------------------------+
   Send your photos to PixPro for high-quality color scanning, and
 get an image to dress up your Web site or documents. Mention TOURBUS
 for 20% off first order.  Come visit the free Pixel Pop Art Gallery!
+---------------------- http://www.pixpro.com -----------------------+

--------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
--------------------------------

ROONT (adjective) - Spoiled.
Usage: "I don't see how you eat that there cottage cheese.  It's just
       roont milk."

(Special thanks goes to Elizabeth Nichols for today's wurd.)

YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE OLD SOUTHERN WORDS OF THE DAY ON THE SOUTHERN WORD
HOMEPAGE AT http://ua1vm.ua.edu/~crispen/word.html