The check is in the mail...

Just a friendly little reminder…if you haven’t filed your tax return yet, you’re almost late. As I write this, if you’re in the Eastern time zone, you’ve got 22 minutes left. Adjust accordingly for the other US time zones.

Mine was in the mail yesterday…yes, I procrastinated. And my mother’s was mailed this afternoon…yes, I procrastinated even more on hers. But she wouldn’t have had to file at all except that this year, there’s that rebate that Congress voted, and to receive that she had to file. Until I was preparing her form last night, by the way, I did not realize that people over 65 have a higher standard deduction than non-seniors. Go figure.

While I was doing all of this thinking about taxes, I started to wonder exactly when April 15 became Tax Day. It was in 1955, as it turns out. Taxes were originally due on March 1 (starting in 1913) and then the due date become March 15 in 1918. (Hat tip to Ask Yahoo for this bit of trivia.)

But, I’m sure you are all tired of thinking about taxes, so I did a little more research and found out a few things about April 15 in history.

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thus breaking the color barrier in major league baseball.

General Electric was formed (from Thomas Edison’s Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Electric Company) on April 15, 1892. Now, that event has probably generated its share of taxes down the years.

Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.

Infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy was born on April 15, 1866, and much longer ago, Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452.

So, next time (probably next year), when someone says something about April 15 being Tax Day, you can tell them, “Actually, what it is, is Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday.” It’s much less depressing.

Oh, by the way…all of you on the East Coast…you now have 6 minutes to get those tax envelopes postmarked. But keep in mind, in a lot of places, my town included, the post offices have decided that since so many people e-file these days, they are only going to run the special tax-return mail collection until 8 p.m. instead of until the traditional midnight.

Wait…don’t throw things at me…I’m only the messenger.