A thought for the day: Lao-Tzu said, A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step.

In 1701, Capt. William Kidd was hanged in London for piracy and murder.

In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1829, Cyrill Demian was granted a patent for his musical instrument called the ...

Those born on this date include:

- Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern systematic botany, in 1707
- Austrian physician and hypnotist Franz Mesmer in 1734
- Social reformer Sarah Margaret Fuller in 1810
-...

This is Thursday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2013 with 222 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter and Saturn.

On May 23rd, 1618, the Second Defenestration of Prague helped to instiage the Thirty Years' War.

A thought for the day: William Lyon Phelps wrote, You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.