According to Wikipedia (and, in spite of their endless pleas for contributions, I remain a freeloader), “a solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere.” So, let’s explore the scientific research surrounding these events, and engage in a lively discussion regarding implications upon our planet, and its future.
Ha ha! Yeah. . .I think you know Rule of Three better than that - our interest is in grabbing onto this tiny little thread, and using it to lead a march down some random rabbit hole, which ultimately has nothing whatsoever to do with the original topic presented.
But, before we do that, perhaps you’d like to better understand the difference between a solstice and an equinox. Turning our attention back to Wikipedia (which, alas, remains bereft of contributions from Rule of Three), we learn that “a solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator.”
So, as you can plainly see, a solstice and an equinox are two very different events, but both involve the Sun, and its relative position with respect to the Earth. We here at Rule of Three are happy to have played a role, however minor, in your continuing education regarding the world around us, and, perhaps more importantly, eliminating the need for you to visit Wikipedia yourself, thereby avoiding the endless barrage of contribution demands (admit it, you’d probably cave, and provide them with your credit card information).
No, the most important detail to be gleaned from this exhaustive study of solstices (or, is the plural of solstice, solsti, you know, like: alumnus/alumni; stimulus/stimuli; and oculus/oculi?), is that the summer solstice, which occurs on June 21st, includes 15 hours, 22 minutes of daylight, as computed for a recent year, in the Northern Hemisphere, versus only 8 hours, 46 minutes of daylight on December 21st (the date of the winter solstice). My quick math reveals a net difference of 6 hours, 36 minutes - much more time for chasing lightning bugs, and playing kick the can, and roasting marshmallows for s’mores - setting aside for a moment the reality that attempting those activities on December 21st would be simply ludicrous, given the cold, and the snow, and the time commitment required to purchase a new sweater for the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” party.
The question on my mind, therefore, is: Given the extra 6-1/2 hours plus of daylight which accrues to June 21st, has that proven to be a more consequential date on the calendar than December 21st?
Confining our research to events recorded since July 4, 1776 (you know, the Declaration of Independence), since you and I can’t readily recall things that happened before that date, the archives reveal the following significant events which occurred on June 21st:
1788 - Speaking of significant U.S. documents, the U.S. Constitution came into effect, upon New Hampshire’s ratification - the ninth state to do so.
1834 - Cyrus McCormick patented the reaping machine, which was noteworthy because, prior to McCormick’s invention, if you wanted to reap things, you had to do it by hand. Now, I, personally, have never desired to reap anything, but I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who are gratified that they are able to reap things mechanically, rather than by hand - it’s likely that it’s quite a time-saver, if reaping is your thing.
1879 - Frank Woolworth opened his first “F.W. Woolworth Great Five Cent Store” in Lancaster, PA - I don’t know if Woolworth stores exist any more, but I remember being inside those stores on occasion, and the one thing that sticks in my mind about them is that each one came fully-equipped with an overwhelming smell of burned pizza. I’m pretty sure that I never stepped up to the food counter in one of those stores and ordered something to eat, but that burned pizza smell is permanently etched in my mind.
1893 - The first Ferris wheel opened at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL - I believe the Columbian Exposition was also well-known for its proliferation of pickpockets. If I were a pickpocket at the Columbian Exposition in 1893, I would have planted myself beneath the Ferris wheel, and as it spun around, and emptied the pockets of its riders, their wallets and purses would have thudded to the ground, where I could eagerly retrieve them - avoiding all that unnecessary jostling amongst the great unwashed crowd.
1939 - The New York Yankees announced the retirement of Lou Gehrig, upon revealing his diagnosis of the disease now named after him. I don’t believe that he offered his iconic “. . .today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. . .” speech on this date, but still, a significant event.
1946 - Bill Veeck bought the major league baseball team, the Cleveland Indians, for $2.2 million. A few years later, Veeck sent a midget up to bat in a game, as a promotional stunt. There, in two short sentences, I’ve committed crimes against humanity by reporting facts widely-accepted at the time. But, allow me to cleanse my reportage, by indicating that Veeck had purchased the major league team in Cleveland, which at the time was known by a a name since acknowledged to be offensive to native Americans, and, further, that he sent a “little person” up to bat in a game.
1948 - Columbia Records introduced the 33-1/3 rpm LP vinyl phonograph record, allowing for up to twenty minutes of music to be recorded per side. This creation would lead, some 31 years later to “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park, the home of Chicago’s White Sox, an event at which team owner Bill Veeck (yes, the same guy) allowed a local disk jockey, Steve Dahl, to blow up a pile of disco records between games of a doubleheader, resulting in a riot.
1977 - Former White House chief of staff (in Nixon’s administration) H.R. Haldeman entered prison - in case you’re confused, Haldeman was the one with the crew cut - I’m sure that made him quite popular in prison.
So, that’s June 21st. What about December 21st? Even handicapped by its smaller window of daylight many things of consequence have happened on that date, including:
1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium. This husband-and-wife team discovered one of only 118 elements currently contained on the periodic table. My wife and I can’t even easily agree upon where to have dinner, so, my hat is off to the Curies and their scientific collaboration.
1913 - The first crossword puzzle (including 32 clues) was published, in the New York World. It took another 29 years before the New York Times picked up the gauntlet, and developed the insurmountable daily task that is the Times Crossword Puzzle. It’s much more satisfying to attack the daily Wordle challenge, which was recently purchased by the New York Times, if you’re searching for a game you can win.
1929 - The first group hospital insurance plan was offered, in Dallas, TX. Almost immediately, I can imagine, insurers crafted premium cost increases, co-pays, and deductibles, designed to soak consumers.
1978 - Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was arrested by Des Plaines, IL police. His arrest was a positive thing, of course, but the horrific nature of his crimes were really, really dark - perhaps fitting that his case intersected with the darkest day of the year.
1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a terrorist’s bomb, over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people - another dark, December 21st event.
1989 - Vice President Dan Quayle sent out 30,000 Christmas cards, featuring the word, “beacon” misspelled as “beakon.” Alright, first, 30,000 cards? To whom was he sending these cards? I don’t think he ever received that many votes in any of the elections in which he ran, so some of these cards were likely entering hostile territory. Next, he’s sending these cards out on December 21st? Given issues that the U.S. Postal Service has had with delivering mail (the narrative in Miracle on 34th Street notwithstanding), that seems to be cutting it kinda’ close, if the goal was to land the cards at their destination prior to December 25th (itself a non-delivery day). And, finally, did Quayle’s holiday missive contained in this card not include the word potato? Quayle famously appended an “e” to the word potato in a classroom spelling incident; that might have diverted attention away from beakon (er, beacon).
Another popular metric utilized, when assessing the importance of a given date on the calendar, is to recognize famous people born on that date. Key results are as follows:
June 21st - Prince William; Chris Pratt; Jean-Paul Sartre; Jussie Smollet; Edward Snowden; Jane Russell; and Meredith Baxter.
December 21st - Samuel L. Jackson; Jane Fonda; Frank Zappa; Kiefer Sutherland; Paul Revere; Ray Romano; Thomas Becket; Chris Evert; Josh Gibson; Paul Winchell; Florence Griffith-Joyner; and Emanuel Macron.
Armed with the results of Rule of Three’s exhaustive research, we are now equipped to provide a ruling regarding which solstice, summer or winter, is the most consequential. Based upon the evidence presented, we believe that the summer solstice is the clear winner, in terms of impact - those extra 6-1/2 plus hours of daylight certainly played a role in earning this title. Although, to be honest, we were almost swayed to the “dark side” by Quayle and Frank Zappa.
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