Tag: Magickal Correspondences

May 6 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 6

NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles

Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

Explanation: This cosmic skyscape features glowing gas and dark dust clouds along side the young stars of NGC 3572. A beautiful emission nebula and star cluster it sails far southern skies within the nautical constellation Carina. Stars from NGC 3572 are toward top center in the telescopic frame that would measure about 100 light-years across at the cluster’s estimated distance of 9,000 light-years. The visible interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster’s natal molecular cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young stars. They are likely sites of ongoing star formation with shapes reminiscent of the Tadpoles of IC 410 better known to northern skygazers. In the coming tens to hundreds of millions of years, gas and stars in the cluster will be dispersed though, by gravitational tides and by violent supernova explosions that end the short lives of the massive cluster stars.

May 6 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape

1840 World’s first adhesive postage stamp, the “Penny Black“, is first used in Great Britain

1889 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in Paris opens with the recently completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch

1937 German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and 1 on the ground

1941 Joseph Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union, replacing his foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov

Today’s Historical Events

878 Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great and his West Saxon army defeat Viking army of Guthrum the Old [earliest possible date]

1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna

1432 Renaissance masterpiece The Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyck is consecrated at St Bravo’s Cathedral, Belgium, commissioned by wealthy merchants

1527 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, ending the Renaissance

1529 Battle at Gogra: Mughal Emperor Babur beats Afghans and Bengals

1541 King Henry VIII orders a bible in English be placed in every church in England

1542 Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, then capital of Portuguese India

1598 Archduke Albrecht & Isabella become rulers of the Southern Netherlands

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles California changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC)

1941 At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show

1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting

1957 Last broadcast of “I Love Lucy” on CBS-TV

1977 “Beatles at Hollywood Bowl” released in UK

1990 Tom Cruise is ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle in South Carolina

1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on The Tonight Show

1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1948 Revival of Jerome Kerns and Clifford Grey’s rags-to-riches musical “Sally” opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances

1950 “Great to Be Alive” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 52 performances

1966 The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” in the US

1974 Stolen “Guitar Player” painting by Jan Vermeer found in London

1974 American composer Roger Sessions receives special Pulitzer Prize for his life’s work in music

1981 “Inacent Black” opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 14 performances

1989 34th Eurovision Song Contest: Riva for Yugoslavia wins singing “Rock Me” in Lausanne

1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Bee Gees; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills and Nash; The Jackson Five; Joni Mitchell; Parliament-Funkadelic; The (Young) Rascals; Mahalia Jackson; Bill Monroe; and Syd Nathan

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1733 First international boxing match: Local fighter Bob Whittaker beats “The Venetian Gondolier”, Tito di Carni at James Figg’s academy amphitheatre in Marylebone, London

1895 21st Kentucky Derby: James “Soup” Perkins aboard Halma wins last KD run over a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4km)

1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins first Derby held at the current distance of 1.25 miles (2.0km)

1903 Chicago White Sox commit 11 errors against Detroit Tigers but win 10-9 at South Side Park. Chicago

1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: In muddy conditions and against a reduced field Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in a slow 2:12.6

1915 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth hits his first MLB home run; pitches 12 frames in Boston Red Sox 4-3 extra innings loss to New York Yankees

1917 St Louis Browns pitcher Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis

1921 Teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League merge to form the American Soccer League (ASL); collapses 1933

Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondence Digest for Thursday

 

Thursday (Thor’s day)

Planet: Jupiter

Colors: Purple, Deep Blue

Crystals: Amethyst, Lepidolite, Sugilite, Tin

Aroma: Melissa, Clove, Oakmoss, Jupiter Oil, Cinnamon, Musk, Nutmeg, and Sage

Herb: Cinquefoil Ruled by the planet Jupiter and dedicated to Thor, god of thunder and agricultural work. His parallels in various European Traditions include Zeus, Taranis, Perun, and Perkunas.

Magical aspects: controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being, material success, expansion, money/wealth, prosperity, leadership, and generosity.

Thursday is the day of Jupiter, the largest of the planets and said to be the most powerful. Spellcasters would be wise to use this day for attempting wealth, success and prosperity spells.

Thursday is also associated (in Greek mythology) to Thor – Thor’s day – and some even say that Jupiter and Thor are one in the same. Both are strong and powerful, yet wise and just. Try a small prayer to Jupiter before commencing any ritual on Thursday as a sign of respect. This is the proper day of the week to perform spells and rituals involving luck, happiness, health, legal matters, male fertility, treasure, wealth, honour, riches, clothing, money, desires, business, group pursuits, joy, laughter, and expansion.

 

May 5 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 5

NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble

Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo. Relatively bright in planet Earth’s sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. It’s hard to overlook in this colorful cosmic portrait though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue stars. This deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter, gigantic, bubble-like shells. The shells are likely tidal debris, streams of stars torn from satellite galaxies that have undergone mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.

May 5 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1260 Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1941 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa

1955 West Germany is granted full sovereignty by its three occupying powers

1965 First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam

1980 Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building

1981 After 66 days on hunger strike, 26 year old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in the Maze Prision. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.

Today’s Historical Events

553 Second Council of Constantinople (5th ecumenical council) opens

1260 Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1430 Jews are expelled from Speyer, Germany

1494 On 2nd voyage to New World Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay

1640 English Short Parliament rises

1646 King Charles I surrenders in Scotland

1665 Nicolaas Witsen visits patriarch Nikon in Moscow

1762 Russia & Prussia sign Treaty of Saint Petersburg ending the Seven Years’ War

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1949 KGO TV channel 7 in San Francisco, California (ABC) begins broadcasting

1952 “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (also known as “Vitameatavegamin”) episode of “I Love Lucy” premieres, garnering 68% of US television viewers

1958 KNME TV channel 5 in Albuquerque, NM (PBS) begins broadcasting

1962 “West Side Story” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album

1996 Renette Cruz, Vancouver, wins Miss Canadian Universe

1997 “Married With Children” final episode on Fox TV

1999 34th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw win

2018 Childish Gambino [Donald Glover] releases the music video to new single “This is America” to wide acclaim

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1726 Marie de Camargo (16) premieres at Opera of Paris

1891 Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in New York, Tchaikovsky is guest conductor

1900 “The Billboard” began weekly publication

1927 Dmitri Shostakovich‘s 1st Symphony premieres in Berlin

1951 “Out of This World” closes at New Century Theater NYC after 157 performances

1955 “Damn Yankees” opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 1022 performances

1967 The Kinks release “Waterloo Sunset” as a single; peaks at #2 on the British charts

1971 Courtney, Courtney, and Link’s musical “Earl of Ruston” opens at Billy Rose Theater, NYC, runs for 5 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1863 Irish boxer Joe Coburn KOs American Mike McCoole in the 67th round in his first defence of Heavyweight C’ship of America in Charlestown, Maryland

1904 Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in “modern” baseball as the Boston Americans beat Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0

1908 34th Kentucky Derby: Arthur Pickens aboard 66-1 chance Stone Street wins in muddy track conditions; 2:15.20 slowest Derby in history

1917 St Louis Browns pitcher Ernie Koob no-hits Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Sportsman’s Park III

1922 After sharing the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants for 10 years construction begins on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC

1925 Detroit center fielder Ty Cobb goes 6 for 6 with 4 runs, 5 RBI and 16 TBs in Tigers’ 14-8 win over the Browns at Sportsman’s Park III, St. Louis

1925 Yankee Everett Scott is benched, ending his 1,307-game playing streak

1930 Australian cricket batting prodigy Don Bradman scores an unbeaten 185 in a tour match for Australia v Leicestershire at Aylestone Road, Leicester

May 4 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 4

Planets Over Egyptian Pyramid

Image Credit & Copyright: Osama Fatehi

Explanation: The early morning planet parade continues. Visible the world over, the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn have been lining up in the pre-dawn sky since mid-April. In the featured image taken last month, these planets were captured over the Step Pyramid of Djoser, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the Saqqara necropolis of Egypt, the pyramid was constructed in the 27th century BC and is one of the oldest pyramids known. The two-image composite includes a foreground image taken during evening blue hour, and a background image captured from the same location the following morning. The morning planet line-up is slowly changing. At the end of last month, planets Jupiter and Venus switched places, while at the end of this month, Jupiter and Mars will switch after passing within one-degree of each other. Of course, this picturesque planetary angular alignment is a coincidence, as all of these worlds continue to orbit the Sun as they have for billions of years, well before even the ancient Pyramid of Djoser was built.

 

Notable Submissions to APOD: Morning Planet Parade 2022

May 4 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1471 Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, final battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York: Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster killed and King Edward IV restored to his throne. Re-restores political stability to England until his death in 1483.

1814 King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decree of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism

1904 Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal

1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Today’s Historical Events

1256 Augustinian monastic order constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae

1303 Flemings conquers Middelburg

1415 Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance

1471 Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, final battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York: Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster killed and King Edward IV restored to his throne. Re-restores political stability to England until his death in 1483.

1493 Spanish Pope Alexander VI divides America between Spain and Portugal

1535 Five Carthusian monks from London Charterhouse monastery hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England

1540 Venice and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople

1572 Veere sides with Geuzen

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1944 “Gaslight”, starring an 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her film debut, is released

1959 “The 400 Blows”, French film directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, is released

1964 KIII TV channel 3 in Corpus Christi, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting

1975 Italian film “Seven Beauties” directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, and Shirley Stoler released – first film directed by a women to be nominated for an Academy Award

1991 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Doug Kent

1999 “The Mummy” film directed by Stephen Sommers starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah premieres in the US

2008 Seth MacFarlane reaches an agreement worth $100 million with Fox to keep “Family Guy” and “American Dad” on television until 2012, making MacFarlane the world’s highest paid television writer

2010 Julia Louis-Dreyfus receives the 2,407th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, although on the original star her name is spelled incorrectly

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1728 George Frideric Handel‘s opera “Tolomeo, re di Egitto” premieres in London

1878 Thomas Edison‘s Phonograph shown for 1st time at Grand Opera House

1957 Alan Freed hosts “Rock n’ Roll Show” 1st prime-time network rock show

1959 First Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win

1973 Wings release “Red Rose Speedway” in UK

1976 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner’s musical “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” opens at Mark Hellinger, NYC; runs for 7 performances

1985 30th Eurovision Song Contest: Bobbysocks! for Norway wins singing “La det swinge” in Gothenburg

1990 Angela Bowie reveals that ex-husband David slept with Mick Jagger

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings play their 1st official baseball game, a win against the Great Western Base Ball Club, 45-9

1871 1st baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Ft Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets 1st hit, a double

1893 Cowboy Bill Pickett invents bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground

1897 23rd Kentucky Derby: Buttons Garner aboard Typhoon II wins in 2:12.5

1898 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09

1899 25th Kentucky Derby: Fred Taral aboard Manuel wins in 2:12

1919 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC, 35,000 watch the Phillies beat the NY Giants 4-3

1924 VIII Summer Olympic Games open at Olympic Stadium of Colombes, Paris, France

May 3 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 3

Mercury’s Sodium Tail

Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

Explanation: That’s no comet. Below the Pleiades star cluster is actually a planet: Mercury. Long exposures of our Solar System’s innermost planet may reveal something unexpected: a tail. Mercury‘s thin atmosphere contains small amounts of sodium that glow when excited by light from the Sun. Sunlight also liberates these molecules from Mercury’s surface and pushes them away. The yellow glow from sodium, in particular, is relatively bright. Pictured, Mercury and its sodium tail are visible in a deep image taken last week from La Palma, Spain through a filter that primarily transmits yellow light emitted by sodium. First predicted in the 1980s, Mercury’s tail was first discovered in 2001. Many tail details were revealed in multiple observations by NASA‘s robotic MESSENGER spacecraft that orbited Mercury between 2011 and 2015. Tails, of course, are usually associated with comets.

May 3 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1791 Constitution of May 3 is proclaimed by the Great Sejm (Parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, becoming the 1st modern constitution in Europe

1926 Britain’s Trade Union Congress calls for the country’s first ever general strike, begins at 1 minute to midnight in support striking coal miners, lasts 9 days

1937 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for “Gone With The Wind”

1945 World War II: German ship “Cap Arcona” laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed – one of largest maritime losses of life

1947 Japan’s post-war constitution goes into effect, granting universal suffrage, stripping Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power and outlawing Japan’s right to make war

Today’s Historical Events

1374 BC Solar eclipse (2m 07s) seen at Ugarit by Mesopotamian astronomers “On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance.”

1294 John II becomes Duke of Brabant and Limburg

1342 Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

1382 Battle of Beverhoutsveld near Bruges in modern-day Belgium – the army of Ghent beats a drunken Bruges militia

1491 Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I

1512 Pope Julius II opens 5th Council of Lateran at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome

1558 Ferdinand I officially appointed Holy Roman Emperor after his brother Charles abdicated in 1556

1616 Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1944 “Going My Way”, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby premieres in New York (Academy Award for Best Picture, 1945)

1948 1st broadcast of “CBS Evening News” – longest running network news show in the US

1953 WTVO TV channel 17 in Rockford, IL (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 KTEN TV channel 10 in Ada-Ardmore, Oklahoma(ABC) begins broadcasting

1954 WHA TV channel 21 in Madison, Wisconsin (PBS) begins broadcasting

1965 KTCI TV channel 17 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) 1st broadcast

1966 WDHO (now WNWO) TV channel 24 in Toledo, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting

1982 ABC’s All Talk network begins on radio (2 west coast stations)

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1917 1st performance of Ernest Bloch’s symphony “Israel”

1952 “Call Me Madam” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 644 performances

1956 Frank Loesser’s musical “Most Happy Fella” opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 678 performances

1960 Musical “Fantasticks” by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, premieres in NYC (world’s longest running musical)

1969 “Trumpets of the Lord” closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 7 performances

1981 “Can-Can” closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 5 performances

1986 31st Eurovision Song Contest: Sandra Kim for Belgium wins singing “J’aime la vie” in Bergen

1987 “Mikado” closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 46 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1900 26th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Boland aboard Lieut Gibson wins in 2:06.25

1902 28th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on Alan-a-Dale wins in 2:08.75

1903 AVC Heracles (SC Heracles ’74) soccer team forms in Almelo

1909 35th Kentucky Derby: Vincent Powers on Wintergreen wins in 2:08.2

1910 Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States is renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

1922 Mayor Hylan closes 2 streets for building of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC

1936 NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio makes his major-league debut, gets 3 hits

1941 67th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway, 1st leg of successful Triple Crown

 

May 2 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 2

Partial Solar Eclipse over Argentina

Image Credit & Copyright: Aixa Andrada

Explanation: What’s happened to the Sun? Two days ago, parts of South America were treated to a partial solar eclipse — where the Moon blocked out part of the Sun. The featured image shows an image of the partially eclipsed Sun through clouds as it was setting over Patagonia, Argentina. In the tilted image, Earth is toward the right. During the eclipse, the Moon moved partly between Earth and the Sun. Although a visually impressive sight, the slight dimming of surroundings during this partial eclipse was less noticeable than dimming created by a thick cloud. In about two weeks, all of South America and part of North America will experience a total lunar eclipse — where the Earth moves completely between the Moon and the Sun. In about two years, a total solar eclipse will cross North America.

A Very Happy and Blessed Beltane To All

May 1 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 1

First Horizon-Scale Image of a Black Hole

Image Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

Explanation: What does a black hole look like? To find out, radio telescopes from around the Earth coordinated observations of black holes with the largest known event horizons on the sky. Alone, black holes are just black, but these monster attractors are known to be surrounded by glowing gas. This first image resolves the area around the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 on a scale below that expected for its event horizon. Pictured, the dark central region is not the event horizon, but rather the black hole’s shadow — the central region of emitting gas darkened by the central black hole’s gravity. The size and shape of the shadow is determined by bright gas near the event horizon, by strong gravitational lensing deflections, and by the black hole’s spin. In resolving this black hole’s shadow, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) bolstered evidence that Einstein’s gravity works even in extreme regions, and gave clear evidence that M87 has a central spinning black hole of about 6 billion solar masses. Since releasing this featured image in 2019, the EHT has expanded to include more telescopes, observe more black holes, track polarized light,and is working to observe the immediately vicinity of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.

 

This week is: Black Hole Week
New EHT Results to be Announced: Next Thursday

Some Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondence Digest for Sundy – Printable

Some Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondence Digest for Saturday

From Learning Religions

Named for the god Saturn—is a good time to wrap things up.

Colors: black and dark purple,

Metal: lead

This day is connected to: goddess Hecate.

Gemstones: Apache tear, obsidian, and hematite

Plants: such as thyme, mullein, and the cypress tree.

Magical workings: focus on agriculture and creativity, fortune and hope, protection and banishment of negativity. Put up a barrier to keep the unwelcome out, eliminate the things that make you miserable, and wash your hands of anything other than your hopes, dreams, and goals.

April 30 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 30

M44: The Beehive Cluster

Image Credit & Copyright: Drew Evans

Explanation: A mere 600 light-years away, M44 is one of the closest star clusters to our solar system. Also known as the Praesepe or the Beehive cluster its stars are young though, about 600 million years old compared to our Sun’s 4.5 billion years. Based on similar ages and motion through space, M44 and the even closer Hyades star cluster in Taurus are thought to have been born together in the same large molecular cloud. An open cluster spanning some 15 light-years, M44 holds 1,000 stars or so and covers about 3 full moons (1.5 degrees) on the sky in the constellation Cancer. Visible to the unaided eye, M44 has been recognized since antiquity. Described as a faint cloud or celestial mist long before being included as the 44th entry in Charles Messier’s 18th century catalog, the cluster was not resolved into its individual stars until telescopes were available. A popular target for modern, binocular-equipped sky gazers, the cluster’s few yellowish tinted, cool, red giants are scattered through the field of its brighter hot blue main sequence stars in this telescopic group snapshot. Dramatic diffraction spikes highlighting the brighter cluster members were created with string crossed in front of the telescope’s objective lens.

April 30 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)

1562 1st French colonists in North America: Jean Ribault & colonists arrive in Florida

1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America

1859 Charles Dickens‘ “A Tale Of Two Cities” is first published in literary periodical “All the Year Round” (weekly installments until Nov 26)

2009 Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Today’s Historical Events

311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

313 Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule

711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)

1064 German King Henry IV gives away Utrecht county of West Friesland

1315 French chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon after being convicted of sorcery

1349 Jewish community of Radolfzell, Germany, exterminated

1396 Crusaders & Earl of Nevers depart from Dijon

1483 Orbital calculations suggest that on this day, Pluto moved inside Neptune’s orbit until July 23, 1503

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1598 1st theater performance in America (Spanish comedy-Rio Grande)

1695 William Congreve’s Restoration comedy “Love for Love” premieres in London

1938 The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End

1939 NBC/RCA 1st public TV demo with FDR at opening of NY World’s Fair

1943 Noël Coward‘s play “This Happy Breed” premieres in London

1945 “Arthur Godfrey Time” begins a 27 year run on CBS radio

1952 Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

1969 WEDB TV channel 40 in Berlin, New Hampshire (PBS) begins broadcasting

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1852 Anton Rubinstein’s opera “Dmitri Donskoi” premieres in St Petersburg

1885 Henry Lee Higginson starts the “Popular Music” series with the Boston Symphony, which evolves into the Boston Pops Orchestra 1900

1902 Claude Debussy‘s only completed opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” premieres in Paris

1948 “Inside USA” opens at Century Theater NYC for 339 performances

1954 Darius Milhaud‘s 4th Concert for piano and orchestra premieres in Haifa, Israel

1955 Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado’s mambo version of “Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White” goes #1 for 10 weeks

1961 “Tossin’ and Turnin'” single released by Bobby Lewis (Billboard Song of the Year, 1961)

1973 Paul McCartney releases “Red Rose Speedway” album, including the hit single “My Love”

 

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1722 Game of Billiards is mentioned in New England Courant

1859 Paul Morphy returns from 10-month chess tour of Europe, retires

1887 1st game played at Broad & Huntingdon St Park (Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia; Phillies beat Giants 19-10

1900 Weighing in at 170 lbs British former world heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons KOs 270 lb American Ed Dunkhost in round 2 of a lop-sided bout in Brooklyn, New York

1903 NY Highlanders (Yankees) inaugural home opener at Hilltop Park, Manhattan; beat Washington Senators, 6-2

1905 First official soccer game between neighbouring countries Belgium-Netherlands; Dutch win, 4-1 at Olympic Stadium, Antwerp

1910 Cleveland Naps Addie Joss limits St.Louis Browns to 8 hits in 2-1 victory

1918 Orange Nassau soccer team forms in Groningen

For Your Viewing Pleasure – Beltane

Edinburgh’s Beltane Fire Festival celebrates the rebirth of summer with fire, dance and drumming c. 2017

Celtic festival of Beltane heats up in Scotland c. 2018

Printable Some Beltane Information

April 29 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 29

Portrait of NGC 3628

Image Credit & Copyright: Wilhelm Michael Kasakow, Olaf Guillaume

Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000 light-years, even beyond the upper left edge of the frame. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral’s disk. The tantalizing island universe itself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo.

April 29 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1862 New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War

1864 Battle of Gate Pa (Pukehinahina): 1,700 British troops suffer their worst defeat of the New Zealand Wars at the hands of 230 entrenched Maori warriors in Tauranga

1916 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising

1945 US Army liberates 31,601 people from the Dachau Nazi concentration camp in Germany

1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war

1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate

1991 Cyclone strikes the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, killing 139,000 people and leaving 10 million homeless

1997 Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 comes into force, outlaws production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories

Today’s Historical Events

1091 Battle at Monte Levunium: Byzantium Emperor Alexius I beats Petshegene force invading from the north

1429 Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans

1522 Emperor Charles V names Frans van Holly inquisitor-general of Netherlands

1540 Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended

1550 Emperor Charles V gives inquisiters additional authority

1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England

1587 English naval officer Francis Drake sails into Cadiz, Spain and sinks the Spanish fleet, thereby “Singeing the King of Spain’s Beard” and delaying the Spanish invasion by a year

1623 11 Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1912 Frank Wedekind‘s play “Tod und Teufel” premieres in Berlin

1932 1st broadcast of “One Man’s Family” on NBC radio, longest-running dramatic serial on US radio (ends 1959)

1940 1st radio broadcast of “Young Dr Malone” on CBS

1943 Noël Coward‘s comic play “Present Laughter” premieres in London

1945 Conscientious objector Desmond Doss saves approximately 75 wounded soldiers in the Battle of Okinawa at Hacksaw Ridge. Later depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Hacksaw Ridge”.

1953 The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV

1953 6th Cannes Film Festival: “The Wages of Fear” directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

1956 WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1784 Premiere of Mozart‘s Violin Sonata in B flat, K.454 at Kärntnerthor Theater in Vienna; violinist Regina Strinasacchi, and Wolfgang Mozart on piano

1967 Aretha Franklin releases her single “Respect” (written by Otis Redding); Billboard Song of the Year, 1967

1968 “Hair” opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances

1969 “Trumpets of the Lord” opens at Brooks Atkinson NYC for 7 performances

1984 “Oliver!” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 17 performances

1990 “Change in the Heir” opens at Edison Theater NYC for 16 performances

1991 “Our Country’s Good” opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 48 performances

1991 “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” single released by Alan Jackson (ASCAP Award Country Song of the Year, 1992; Billboard Song of the Year, 1991)

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1751 The New York Gazette and Post Boy carries first public report of a cricket match played in America; New York XI v London XI on the site of what is today the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, NYC

1892 Charlie Reilly is baseball’s 1st pinch hitter

1901 27th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on His Eminence wins in 2:07.75

1918 Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays

1922 1st official International Weightlifting Federation Champ in Tallinn, Estonia

1930 123 runs are scored in 7 major league games

1931 Cleveland Indians pitcher Wes Ferrell no-hits St Louis Browns, 9-0

1934 Pittsburgh is last major league city to play a home game on a Sunday