Ask HN: Why is there a black bar on HN?

This mourning was noticed all over the town, and there was talk. It appeared to throw some light on M. Madeleine's origins. The conclusion was that he was in some way related to the venerable bishop. 'He's wearing black for the Bishop of Digne,' was the talk of the drawing rooms; it elevated M. Madeleine very much and gave him suddenly marked consideration in the noblest circles of Montreuil-sur-mer. The microscopic Faubourg Saint-Germain of the little place considered lifting the quarantine on M. Madeleine, the probable relative of a bishop. M. Madeleine perceived the advance he had obtained, in increasing nods from old ladies and more frequent smiles of young ladies. One evening, one of the dowagers of that little social world, curious by right of age, ventured to ask him, 'The mayor is undoubtedly a relative of the late Bishop of Digne?'

He said, 'No, madame.'

'But,' the dowager persisted, 'you wear mourning for him?'

He answered, 'In my youth I was a servant in his family.' "

Victor, Hugo, Les Misérables, Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4

I think myself old, until the real grey men of HN answer, and then I'm young, and I have no idea who the people they talk of are. I, too, noticed the black band and had no idea who it was for. It would be good for me, and perhaps the HN community, if the black bands were accompanied by a description of the person who commanded the tribute, or their name at the least.

I use 'bc' at least once a week, I had no idea 'dc' existed.

> Cherry raced rally cars as a hobby.

Respect!

The tradition appears to date from 2009 based on HN archives:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644954#644981

dang on the concept: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26867411