THE MAGIC OF MIGRATION

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Why isn't the 1966 Leonid meteor storm more famous? Because it was little publicized in advance and not many people just happen to be out at 5 a.m. on a November morning. But it's also true that the storm tends to last only a few hours, and is only seen in its full glory from the range of longitudes on Earth that have Leo above their horizon in the dark at the time of the storm. In 1966 the American Southwest was at the best longitude and was blessed with clear skies (apparently California was cloudy that morning).

So what are the prospects for November 1998 and 1999? Experts believe that both years stand a good chance of producing truly grand displays of Leonids. Unfortunately for Americans, the most likely time for Earth to pass through the swarm is predicted to be on November 17 sometime around 1 to 3 p.m. eastern standard time-broad daylight. Leo sets around that time, but if you are extremely ambitious, you may still want to sit out and scan high in the west around that time (one hour earlier by clocks in the central time zone, etc.) in the hopes of seeing at least a few of the brightest meteors bursting forth in the blue sky. Remember also that Leonid displays have defied predictions before and that, wherever you are, you should keep a watch from late evening to dawn on both the nights of November 16-17 and 17-18. Suppose that your location gets to see only 1% as many Leonids as the best longitude does. if the best place gets 10,000 Leonids in an hour, you will stiff see 100 an hour. Few people have seen that many shooting stars in their entire fife!

Thanksgiving Beginning

It took one lady's decades-long letter writing campaign and perhaps the pressure of war on this nation's 16th president to get the modem celebration of Thanksgiving instituted. As you probably remember learning in grade school, the day commemorates the harvest reaped by the Pilgrims in 1621. But, although there were sporadic celebrations of Thanksgiving during colonial times and in the early days of the nation (indeed, George Washington proclaimed November, 26, 1789, the first national Thanksgiving Day), we owe the modem, annual, official celebration of the holiday to Sarah Josepha Hale and Abraham Lincoln.

Author, magazine editor, and feminist, Hale is perhaps best remembered for her children's verse, "Mary Had a Little Lamb." But throughout the course of her life, this daughter of a Revolutionary War captain wrote letters to congress, five presidents, and other officials requesting that Thanksgiving be recognized as a national, annual holiday. it was not until 1863, however, that Lincoln considered the idea and decided to enact it. Lincoln apparently hoped that even the Confederacy might choose to recognize and honor this holiday on the basis of its own merit. It would thus be a step toward reuniting the nation.

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