Missed the weekend, so here's todays Facts of the Day

Skyscraper
The first skyscraper was built in 1884-1885 in Chicago. The 10-story Home Insurance Company building was designed by William Le Baron Jenney. It had a steel frame (steel-girder construction) to carry the weight of the building. The walls provided no support, but hung like curtains on the metal frame. This method of construction revolutionized American architecture and allowed architects to build taller and taller buildings. This first skyscraper was demolished in 1931. From the debris of the 10-story Home Insurance Building rose a 43-story tower framed by four 22-story wings: the LaSalle National Bank Building, which was the last major skyscraper built in Chicago before World War II and the Great Depression. The term skyscraper, which came into use shortly after this first one was built, originally applied to buildings of 10 to 20 stories, but by the late 20th century the term was used to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, usually greater than 40-50 stories.

Mother Goose
Who was Mother Goose? "Mother Goose" was first associated with nursery rhymes in an early collection of songs and lullabies sung by British nurses/caregivers, "Mother Goose's Melody" (or "Sonnets for the Cradle") published in 1781 by John Newbery. The Newbery Company may have derived the name "Mother Goose" from the title of Charles Perrault's French collection of fairy tales "Contes de ma mere l'oye," (or "Tales of Mother Goose" - which means fairytales or old wives' tales) published in 1697.

Orthodox Easter
Why is Easter on different dates for the Orthodox Church? Since the Council of Nicaea in 325, Easter has been the Sunday after the full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. However, there is still a difference between Eastern Orthodox and Western Orthodox churches, mainly because almost all Orthodox Churches, even those who otherwise use the Gregorian calendar, use the Julian date for the equinox. Thus the date of Orthodox Easter sometimes coincides with the western Easter date, but it is usually one or four or five weeks later.

Pitcher's Elbow
Pitcher's elbow or thrower's elbow is a term used for the injuries associated with a baseball pitcher's throwing method or overuse. Professional baseball pitchers produce arm speeds of 7000 degrees per second as the arm rotates inwards. The elbow is subjected to violent forces during all phases of the pitching motion. There can be damage to the triceps muscle, its tendon, and the olecranon process (the tip of the elbow) which may suffer stress fractures. Pitchers are also predisposed to osteoarthritis in the arm. Until about 1870, the pitcher was merely a player assigned to put the ball in play by pitching it to the batter to hit. Now, until a batter hits the ball, the game is a duel between the pitcher (and catcher) and the batter. Of a major league's team roster of 25, usually 11-12 are pitchers.

James Beard
James Beard (1903-1985) was called the "Father of American Cooking." He wrote more than 20 classic cookbooks and appeared on television's first cooking show ("I Love to Cook") in 1946. He championed American cooking throughout the world. Beard's Greenwich Village (New York City) brownstone was the site of his cooking school and is considered America's only culinary historic landmark. It is the headquarters of the James Beard Foundation.