1609
Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
1835
The New York Sun perpetrates the Great Moon Hoax.
1894
Kitasato ShibasaburÅ discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
1898
700 Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob in Heraklion, Greece.
1914
World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven is deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts are lost.
1944
World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
1945
Ten days after World War II ends with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Communist Party of China kill Baptist missionary John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.
1948
The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: “Confrontation Day” between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
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An MIT research paper found that 95% of companies have not seen a meaningful return on investment from their generative AI projects.
***
Is economics really "common sense?"
***
Chicago reported 498 homicides between July 2024 and June 2025, 120 fewer than during any 12 months back to June 2016, analysis of police data showed. Only 133 arrests were made. Is that good? Is 500 murders a tolerable number in a free society? Is this just a free society baseline? Is that the best a free society can expect?
***
Uber received more than 400,000 complaints of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the US against the ride-hailing app’s drivers between 2017 and 2022.
The attacks amounted to one nearly every eight minutes, the New York Times reported, citing unsealed court records.
Those are huge numbers.
But Uber reported 1.2 billion rides in the U.S. in one year in 2022.
***
Skenes
Skenes has been so spectacular that there’s now a reasonable case to be made that the 23-year-old is having the best start to a major-league career of any pitcher in more than a century.
Since joining the Pirates last May, Skenes has been practically untouchable. He leads MLB over that span with a 2.07 ERA, having allowed 66 earned runs in 287 innings. He ranks second in opponent batting average (.198) behind Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene and second in opponent on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.558) behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.
Since the start of the live-ball era in 1920, when baseball truly began to resemble the modern game, only one other pitcher went this long into his career with an ERA as low as Skenes’s. That was Vida Blue, who posted a 2.01 ERA over his first 50 starts with the Oakland Athletics from 1969 to 1972.
The game has changed in many ways since Blue burst onto the scene, but one of the most dramatic is how starting pitchers are used now. Blue averaged about 7⅔ innings in his first 50 starts. Skenes is averaging closer to 5⅔ and has yet to throw a nine-inning complete game in MLB. In 1971, Blue had two separate outings in the same month where he lasted 11 innings.
But the object for a pitcher is to prevent runs, and in terms of sheer dominance, it’s hard to argue with what Skenes has done. Again dating back to the start of the live-ball era—105 years ago—only four pitchers have put together consecutive seasons with ERAs under 2.00. They are Hal Newhouser, Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw. As soon as Kershaw is eligible, all four will be in the Hall of Fame.
Skenes, whose ERA currently sits at 2.02, has a chance to join that club—in his first two seasons in the major leagues. (Last month, Skenes became the first pitcher ever to begin his career by starting back-to-back All-Star Games.)--from WSJ
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Skenes
Skenes has been so spectacular that there’s now a reasonable case to be made that the 23-year-old is having the best start to a major-league career of any pitcher in more than a century.
Since joining the Pirates last May, Skenes has been practically untouchable. He leads MLB over that span with a 2.07 ERA, having allowed 66 earned runs in 287 innings. He ranks second in opponent batting average (.198) behind Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene and second in opponent on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.558) behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.
Since the start of the live-ball era in 1920, when baseball truly began to resemble the modern game, only one other pitcher went this long into his career with an ERA as low as Skenes’s. That was Vida Blue, who posted a 2.01 ERA over his first 50 starts with the Oakland Athletics from 1969 to 1972.
The game has changed in many ways since Blue burst onto the scene, but one of the most dramatic is how starting pitchers are used now. Blue averaged about 7⅔ innings in his first 50 starts. Skenes is averaging closer to 5⅔ and has yet to throw a nine-inning complete game in MLB. In 1971, Blue had two separate outings in the same month where he lasted 11 innings.
But the object for a pitcher is to prevent runs, and in terms of sheer dominance, it’s hard to argue with what Skenes has done. Again dating back to the start of the live-ball era—105 years ago—only four pitchers have put together consecutive seasons with ERAs under 2.00. They are Hal Newhouser, Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw. As soon as Kershaw is eligible, all four will be in the Hall of Fame.
Skenes, whose ERA currently sits at 2.02, has a chance to join that club—in his first two seasons in the major leagues. (Last month, Skenes became the first pitcher ever to begin his career by starting back-to-back All-Star Games.)--from WSJ
Baseball is a hard game, especially when you don't play it well. The Pirates start three position players who hit under .200, one who hits .206, and one who hits .210. They are 25 games out of first place in their weak division--and deserve to be. But Skenes--who does not have a winning record--is fascinating to watch. And he is part of an increasingly fascinating staff. The Pirates lead the league in shutouts pitched. With Skenes, Burrows, Oliviedo (recently reactivated), and Ashcraft, their number one starter at the beginning of last year, Keller, has been bumped down to number five. And the occasionally spectacular Jarad Jones is returning from surgery next year. More, their highly regarded Chandler made his first appearance in relief and looked strong, throwing 100 mph. This staff, on the front end at least, looks good.
Of course, anything can happen. The Pirates are an organization not motivated by quality. And they can do wonders when accidentally encountering talent. The best hitter in college baseball in several years can't hit for them. Their first round pick, Priester, could not pitch a lick for them, but, after being traded, is doing just fine in Milwaukee. And pitchers don't bat.
Nonetheless, struggle is the core of the first three acts of any play and can be fun regardless of the denouement.
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