Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, February 21, 2023 A History Lesson You Never Wanted

Trumpets blare.  The court rises to their feet.  A hush falls through the crowd.  It must be...it has to be...another episode of fractured history!

The following events happened on February 21,  just as they appear here in the almanac.

1173 Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.  We are not really certain whether he used a canon camera or a canon cannon.  

You ever look at someone and think...that head would make a good cannonball

1431 Joan of Arc's first day of interrogation during her trial for heresy.  The lesser known (but equally as exciting) song 12 days of Arc's Testimony starts out like this:  On the first day of testimony for my heresy, I swore allegiance to good King Charlie.

1583 Groningen, Netherlands, begins using Gregorian calendar.  Up until then they had been using the Peter Panthian calendar, but it seemed like nobody was growing older with it.

1764 John Wilkes is thrown out of English House of Commons for his "Essay on Women".  The cancel culture is born on that day.  Perhaps if he had been kept there...in a booth perhaps...then Abraham Lincoln would still be alive today.

1782 US Congress resolves establishment of a US mint.  While not on par with French mint, US mint still does well enough to win 3rd prize at the Canadian mint festival.

Collectors just love those mint marks

1792 US Congress passes Presidential Succession Act.  In short, this means that each President will suck more than the last.  

1853 US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces.  The practice ends quickly as the price of the mints coupled with damage to teeth caused by biting down on the gold pieces was deemed dangerous and overpriced.  

1857 US issues flying eagle cents.  After eating rotten food, a US flying eagle has also been know to release scents.

1862 Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Valverde, Confederate Arizona.  The score was 8-3.  Nolan Ryan picked up the victory in the hard fought battle.  

1918 The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.  The Carolina parakeet is the hottest parakeet on record according to the Scoville Scale.  The lucky person who ate the Carolina parakeet was said to have an iron stomach.  This was later proven false as it was discovered he was just wearing a freshly "ironed" shirt.  

Carolina parakeet, aka as the grim reaper

1922 WHK-AM in Cleveland, Ohio begins radio transmissions.  Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap apply but are disappointed to not make the cut.  They later appeared on a station in Cincinnati.  

1947 1st instant developing camera demonstrated by Edwin Land at the Optical Society of America in NYC.  This would have been a welcome product for Thomas Becket.