National Doctor’s Day
March 30
National Doctors’ Day is a time to recognize the contributions of physicians to individual lives and communities. In the United States alone there are nearly 700,000 physicians. The earliest written record that mentions the practice of medicine is Hammurabi’s Code from the 18th century BC in Mesopotamia. Researchers suspect that at about 4000 BC the ancient Greeks had the first designated housings for healing the sick. Instead of a formal hospital with physicians, however, they were most likely temples devoted to gods of healing.
Hippocrates (460–377 BC) is commonly called the “Father of Medicine” or the “Father of Western Medicine.” He is thought to be one of the first physicians to treat disease as being a result of natural rather than supernatural causes.
Pencil Day
March 30
Here’s some interesting tidbits about pencils. The word “pencil” comes from an Old French word “pincel” meaning “a small paintbrush”. Pincel, in turn, comes from Latin “penicillus” meaning a “little tail”. Around 2,500 pencils can be made from one average tree. The longest pencil in the world was 1,060 feet in length. Pencil leads contain no lead – just graphite and clay. The name “graphite” comes from Greek “graphein” which means “to write”. The most expensive pencil is a limited edition of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. It is made of 240-year-old olive wood and 18-carat white gold. Its price is $12,800.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Celine Dion – Singer – born in Charlemagne, Canada
Vincent van Gogh – Composer – born in North Brabant, Netherlands
