Google's doodle today celebrates Moliere as being widely considered the world's foremost comic dramatist and perhaps the greatest artist in the history of French theatre. I would guess that William Shakespeare is the world's greatest dramatist of all genres. Which guide book will we look to as the authority on things like this? There are so many online guide books to everything now. Bestlifeonline.com says this:
"One of the downsides of living in the Information Age? It feels impossible to keep up! We’re awash in information all day, every day. The good news, of course, is that some things are worth knowing a lot more than others. The name of the second baseman for the ’92 Mets? Probably not important. But tips for living a better life? Well worth committing to memory. (Note: Apologies to baseball buffs.)" You can read their tips HERE.
Despite this wonderful introduction promising us the 'guide-book of all time' most of these articles - whether sharing 10, 50, or 88 must-know things - turn out to be frivolous, trivia-ridden articles. And they are entertaining and fun. The entry on mail delivery is my favourite:
"Over the years, humans have used many types of animals to deliver mail. Delivery by dogsled was once a thing in Alaska and Canada; Alaska also gave reindeer a try. Horses powered the Pony Express, of course, and pigeons have been used to deliver messages since ancient Greece.
In the 1870s, a Belgian village attempted to train a fleet of 37 official mail cats to deliver letters. Safety? Maybe. Rapidity? Definitely not. Though one enterprising cat made it to his destination in less than five hours, the others took up to a day to deliver the mail to their own homes—it would seem the cats were not terribly interested in relaying messages in a timely fashion. It should come as no surprise that the service was extremely short-lived."
As proof there looks to be a 1876/03/04 article from the New York Times extracted HERE. Would Baxter our cat, come hurling out of the bushes to deliver me letters? More likely, Dezi our dog, will bring us some mail.
