(Roughly) Daily

…the elegant science writer Ivar Peterson explains “How to Drill a Square Hole.”

As we relax into the unaccustomed feeling of fitting in, we might recall that on this date in 1639, the New World’s first– but of course by no means its last– alcohol prohibition law, outlawing the drinking of toasts, was passed in Massachusetts.  Boston’s first Brew Pub opened earlier that year; the Colony’s Fathers were apparently acting to preempt any inappropriate merriment, there or elsewhere in the area.

William’s Tavern, where toasting was not allowed