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Happy National Bourbon Day!

From First Thoughts

Legend (or marketing) has it that on this day in 1789, Baptist minister Elijah Craig “invented” bourbon when he aged whiskey inside charred oak barrels. In June of 1929, however, when Kansas was still very much a dry state, the American Dialect Society’s journal  American . . . . Continue Reading »

Radonitsa: Eat, Pray, Drink

From First Thoughts

What holiday is this: Before lunch, reap, After lunch, weep, And in the evening, leap? - Belarusian riddle  about Radonitsa Today Slavic Orthodox throughout the world observe (in Russian)  Radonitsa , the Day of Rejoicing. A sort of eastern “All Souls Day,” it is devoted to . . . . Continue Reading »