According to my west coast brother today is the "International Day of Light."  When I read this in his text, I assumed it had something to do with this time of year when days in the northern hemisphere contain more hours of light than darkness.  But when I checked my assumption by doing some Google research, I discovered that the day commemorates a very different kind of light.  This date commemorates the anniversary of physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman's first successful laser operation in1960.  It didn't say but I'm guessing it was a surgery involving an eye.  More broadly, this holiday celebrates innovative solutions to international problems.  My only personal involvement with lasers includes using a laser pointer when making a power point presentation and teasing my cat with the moving red dot.  Neither use was remotely as important as laser surgery but giving the cat something to chase was a lot of fun.  However, I was told recently that I shouldn't have teased my cats that way because it frustrates them when they can't catch the dot.  I will never do it again - an easy promise since I don't have a cat.