In chronology, dominical letters, properly called Sunday letters, are the seven letters of the alphabet, A B C D E F G, used in almanacs, ephemerides, etc, to mark the first seven days of the year and all consecutive sets of seven days to the end of the year, so that the letter for Sunday will always be the same. If the number of days in the year were divisible by seven without remainder, then the year would constantly begin with the same day of the week; but as it is the year begins and ends on the same day, and therefore the next year will begin on the day following, and on leap years two days following, so that the same series is not repeated until after four times seven or twenty-eight years. Research Dominical Letter
A throstle was a drawing-frame machine used in the manufacture of cotton, succeeding the spinning-jenny in around 1885. The throstle was used for attenuating slivers of fibre by passing them through consecutive pairs of rollers, each pair in the succession revolving at a higher speed than its predecessor. The specific difference between the action of the throstle and the mule was that the throstle had a continuous action, drawing, twisting and winding; while the mule had an alternative action, drawing and twisting and then winding. Research Throstle
The cankerworm are two destructive caterpillars - the spring cankerworm (Paleacrita vernata) and the autumn cankerworm (Also phila pometaria) - found in the USA from Maine to Texas. The eggs are laid on fruit and shade trees, and the larvae frequently destroy the foliage of whole orchards in a few days. The larvae feed on most broad-leaved trees and shrubs, but prefer the American elm, Manitobamaple, basswood, Siberian elm, and apple. The first noticeable sign of an infestation is small ' shot-holes' in the young leaves. At this time the tiny larvae are found on the underside of the leaf. As the larvae continue feeding, the holes grow larger, until almost all of the leaf tissues are eaten. During severe outbreaks, trees and shrubs may be completely defoliated. Healthy trees and shrubs usually produce a new crop of leaves by mid-July and show little permanent injury from a single defoliation. However, after three or more consecutive years of heavy attack tree growth is slowed down and branches in the crown die back. Research Cankerworm
Lou Gehrig (Henry Louis Gehrig) was an American baseball player. He was born in 1903 at New York and died in 1941. He was nicknamed the Iron Horse for his incomparable stamina and strength, he was signed by the New York Yankees in 1923 and voted the American League's most valuable player in 1927, 1931, 1934, and 1936, he achieved a remarkable lifetime 493 home runs, a .340 lifetime batting average, and a record 2,130 consecutivegames played. He stayed with the Yankees' for 17 years as their first baseman and most consistent hitter. Diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disease (now known as Lou Gehrig's disease), he retired from baseball in 1939. A film biography, Pride of the Yankees, appeared in 1942. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. Research Lou Gehrig
Timothy Pitkin was an American politician and historian. He was born in 1766 and died in 1847. He was Speaker of the Connecticut Legislature for five consecutive sessions. He represented Connecticut in the US Congress as a Federalist from 1805 to 1819. He was regarded as an authority on US political history. He wrote Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America and A Political and Civil History of the United States from 1763 to 1797. Research Timothy Pitkin
Tod Sloan (real name John Todhunter Sloan) was an American jockey. He first visited England towards the end of the racing season of 1897 and attracted a great deal of attention for the peculiar seat he adopted, perched in a crouched fashion on the horse's withers. At Newmarket on September 20th 1898, he rode five consecutive winners, and again on April 18th 1899 he won on four successive mounts. Research Tod Sloan
Wilhelm Steinitz was a Bohemian chess-player. He was born in 1836 at Prague and died in 1900. Educated at the institute of technology, Vienna, in 1866 he beat Andressen in a match by eight games to six, and in 1868 he won first prize in the British Chess Association Handicap. In 1872 he won the London grand tournament, the 1873 Viennachessconference and in 1876 he defeated Blackburne in seven consecutivegames. For some time he was chess editor of The Field and in 1884 he settled in the USA where he published The International Chess Magazine from 1885 until 1891. Research Wilhelm Steinitz
Edward Askew Sothern was an English actor and play producer. He was born in 1826 at Liverpool and died in 1881. He remained fairly unknown until he appeared in Tom Taylor's 'Our American Cousin' at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York in 1858 playing the role of 'Lord Dundreary'. He later produced the play at the Haymarket, London in 1861 when it ran for 496 consecutive nights. Research Edward Sotherm
In computing, a byte is eight consecutive binary units (bits) interpreted as a number between 0 and 255, unsigned, or between -128 and 127, signed. Research Byte
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Abbreviations
Research Dominical Letter
