© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Almanac - Thursday 12/21/17

Solstice. taken by flickr user Kit

Today Thursday, 21th of December of 2017, is the 355th day of the year .

There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year. ..

320 days until mid-term elections Tuesday November 6, 2018

(10 months and 16 days from today)

1048 days until presidential elections Tuesday November 3, 2020

(2 years 10 months and 13 days from today)

Winter Solstice occurs at 8:28 this morning

In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the shortest day of the year and is sometimes regarded as the first day of winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the longest day of the year and occurs during the southern summer

the sun will rise in San Francisco at 7:22 am 

and sunset will be at 4:55 pm.

Today we will have 9 hours and 33 minutes of daylight.

Solar noon will be at 12:08 pm.

the first high tide was at 2:07 am

and the next high tide will be at 12:33 pm.

The first low tide will be at 6:45 am 

and the next low tide at 7:19 pm.

Moon: 9.3%

Waxing Crescent

Moon Direction:↑ 70.82° ENE

Moon Altitude:-51.27°

Moon Distance: 251301 mi

Next Full Moon: Monday January 1, 2018 at 6:24 pm

Next New Moon: Tuesday January 16, 2018 at 6:17 pm

Next Moonrise: Today at 9:44 am

Today is...

Anne and Samantha Day

Crossword Puzzle Day

Don't Make Your Bed Day

Forefathers' Day

Humbug Day

International Dalek Remembrance Day

National Flashlight Day

National French Fried Shrimp Day

National Hamburger Day

National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day

National Kiwi Fruit Day

National Look at the Bright Side Day

National Regifting Day

National Short Story Day

Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day

Short Girl Appreciation Day

It’s also…

Armed Forces Day (Philippines)

winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and its related observances:

Blue Christmas (Western Christianity)

Dongzhi Festival (Asia)

Sanghamitta Day (Theravada Buddhism)

Yule in the Northern Hemisphere (Neopagan Wheel of the Year)

Ziemassvētki (ancient Latvia)

Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, Massachusetts)

São Tomé Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)

The first day of Pancha Ganapati, celebrated until December 25 (Saiva Siddhanta Church)

If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday to you!  You share this day with…

968 – Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1048)

1615 – Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (d. 1678)

1795 – Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (d. 1883)

1892 – Rebecca West, English journalist and author (d. 1983)

1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)

1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 2007)

1917 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)

1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)

1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel, war criminal, and politician; 9th President of Austria (d. 2007)

1922 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (d. 2005)

1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer

1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress, producer, and activist

1940 – Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1993)

1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 6th President of China

1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor

1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2014)

1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer

1950 – Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation

1953 – Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter

1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach

1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, British-Canadian actor, director, and producer

And on this day in history…

AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.

1620 – Plymouth ColonyWilliam Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1826 – American settlers in NacogdochesMexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.

1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

1879 – World premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1913 – ArthurWynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

1919 – American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.

1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.

1965 – International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.

1968 – Apollo programApollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.

1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.