1...that Cassiobury Park is the principal amenity area of Watford, Hertfordshire, in England? 2...that Nottinghamshire and England cricketer Charles Wright was the first captain to declare an innings closed? 3...that Rickard D. Gwydir, an early settler of Washington state, was born in Kolkata and served in the Confederate army before being named Indian agent of the Colville Indian Reservation? 4...that the English football player Eric Brook is the all-time record goalscorer for Manchester City F.C. with 178 goals? 

How do you take yours? The coffee percolator was patented on this date 140 years ago today. The documented history of coffee begins circa 1000 in Arabia, where roasted beans were first brewed. In 1615 a Venetian merchant brought coffee beans to Europe and a year later a Dutch trader brought a coffee plant. In 1696 the Dutch founded the first European-owned coffee estate, on colonial Java. About 30 years later, Brazilian Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta spirited some seedlings away from French Guiana and within several decades, Brazil was one of the world's greatest coffee empires.

"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce." – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

demitasse: small cup of very strong black coffee; demitasse is often served after a meal.

Winston Churchill: became 1st British PM to address joint session of US Congress, warning against the Axis (1941) Time magazine: Man of the Year was "the computer" (1982) tsunami: huge wave triggered by Indian Ocean earthquake killed over 216,000 (2004)

Mao Zedong: communist leader, founder of the People's Republic of China (1893-1976) Phil Spector: eccentric legendary music producer (65) Eve: a Clonaid project; claimed by Raelians as the first cloned human baby (3) Click for previous days' Highlights.