April 26, 2022 - National South Dakota Day | National Richter Scale Day

Welcome to April 26, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate big discoveries and shaking things up. There are many one-named celebrities out there, but none as big as Sue. She’s a big deal. Literally. Sue the T. Rex is the largest and most intact fossil of the dinosaur species ever found. The discovery was made in the South Dakota Badlands in 1990 by Susan Hendrickson, who lent the T Rex her name. Sue (the dinosaur, not the person) is over 40 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hip. The fossil was in such good shape that museums got into a bidding war over it. When all was said and done, Sue the T Rex sold for over $2.5 million. On National South Dakota Day, celebrate the Mount Rushmore State from the Badlands to the Black Hills and everything in between. The West Coast of the United States is a beautiful place that has seen its fair share of earthquakes. In fact, the earthquake that rocked San Francisco in 1906 is one of the biggest on record. The state’s frequent seismic activity inspired Charles Richter to develop a way to measure them. This formula, which we know as the Richter Scale, records the magnitude of earthquakes and earth tremors. It’s roughly based on a factor of 10. In other words, a Category 4 earthquake isn’t a small increase from Category 3, it’s ten times the size. Thanks to his work, scientists are able to categorize and study the phenomenon that literally shakes things up. On National Richter Scale Day, we celebrate the guy who helps us get a grip on an otherwise rocky world. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices