On This Day:
Sunday January 18, 2015 This is the 18th day of the year, with 347 days remaining in 2015. Fact of the Day: sounds Over the course of the millions of years that hominids evolved into homo sapiens, the human brain's ability to process sounds was critical to survival. Creatures that responded appropriately enjoyed greater probability for survival of themselves and their progeny. Sounds are a mixture of audible frequencies. Some sounds are intrinsically soothing and rest-inducing: gurgling water, the soft cooing/humming of human voices, the low cackle of friendly fire. Other sounds cause the brain to release chemicals that induce stress response: the prolonged screech of a child or animal in pain or discomfort, or the screech of claws (bear, big cat, dire wolf) against a hard surface. These sounds of distress cause the individual to make addressing the stimulus a primary consideration, dropping everything else to flee or change the situation. On the level of human physiology, the human ear is designed to accommodate a broad range of frequencies and volumes. When certain sounds represent osci llations beyond the normal range of daily hearing, the result is physical pain in the inner ear. Blackboard screeching involves oscillations beyond the normal range of human hearing, just as jackhammers are beyond the normal range of comfortable volume. The result is that an individual orients to the sounds with an appropriate physical response.
Holidays Feast day of St. Prisca, St. Peter's Chair, Rome, St. Desle or Deicolus, and St. Volusian.
Winnie The Pooh Day (in observance of the birthday of Alan Alexander Milne, 1882).
Events 1778 - English explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, naming them the Sandwich Islands.
1788 - The first English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony.
1871 - Wilhelm, King of Prussia from 1861, was proclaimed the first German Emperor.
1896 - The first college basketball game was played, between the University of Iowa and University of Chicago.
1911 - The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.
1912 - English explorer Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole, only to find out that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had gotten there a month earlier. Scott and his party perished during the return trip.
1919 - The World War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles, France.
1943 - A wartime ban on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the U.S. went into effect. It was aimed at reducing the bakeries' demand for metal replacement parts.
1967 - Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Massachusetts of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was sentenced to life and killed by a fellow inmate in 1973.
1978 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isolated the cause of Legionnaire's disease.
1991 - After 62 years in service, Eastern Air Lines shuts down, citing financial problems.
1993 - The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time.
2001 - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson revealed an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of his daughter, Ashley.
2003 - A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
Births 1779 - Peter Mark Roget, English lexicographer and thesaurus compiler.
1782 - Daniel Webster, U.S. statesman.
1854 - Thomas A. Watson, American telephone pioneer and shipbuilder.
1882 - A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, British author, creator of Winnie the Pooh.
1892 - Oliver Hardy, American comedian, vaudeville team with Stan Laurel.
1904 - Cary Grant (Archibald Leach), British-born American actor.
1913 - Danny Kaye (David Kominski), American comedian, dancer, singer, actor.
1944 - Paul Keating, Australian statesman and Prime Minister.
1955 - Kevin Costner, film actor and director.
1969 - Jesse Lamont Martin (born Jesse Lamont Watkins), an American theater, film, and television actor.
1971 - Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver.
1971 - Jonathan Davis, American vocalist and drummer for the nu metal band KoRn.
Deaths 1936 - Rudyard Kipling, English author.
1952 - Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz), American comedian and actor, probably best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.
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