Digging down through the strata of history for the final time this week, on December 17th in 497 BC the first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome, in honor of the god Saturn, with traditions that would be incorporated even today into celebrations around Christmas and the new year. Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, heavier-than-air flight today near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Prime Minister Harold Holt went for a bit of a swim at Cheviot Beach on Point Nepean in Victoria, and was never seen or heard from again in one of Australia’s all-time greatest mysteries. Plus, we celebrate birthdays for Pope Francis, Chelsea Manning, and Mike Mills of R.E.M.

Today’s Track:

R.E.M. – Man on the Moon