12-31-11


FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
  • 1687 - 1st Huguenots depart France to Cape of Good Hope
  • 1600 - British East India Company chartered
  • 1776 - Rhode Island establishes wage & price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors
  • 1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada
  • 1890 - Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot
  • 1921 - Last San Francisco fire horses retired1953 - Willie Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year
  • 1991 - USSR, last day of existence


Happy Birthday To:                      
 
Free Rambling Thoughts   
A record setting warm day…old record was 62 in 1917. Hmmm.
Spent the day running errands, dealing with mail, and doing laundry. Thank goodness I was invited to a dinner tonight.

I’m adding another new thing today…it will be here until Valentine’s Day when our beautiful state turns 100 years old. In my younger days, AZ was the Grand Canyon state with lots of Indians—that’s about all I knew before I moved here. Today’s youth have a much different picture of our state—retirement communities, snow birds, and ultra-conservative whacks in the news. There is still lots of good stuff in AZ, and hopefully our politics will at the very least become centrist again. I hope the readers enjoy leaning a little about AZ.

Had  a great Mexican dinner at my river buddy’s house. May be going on a private river trip sometime. Very cool. Met a great couple who are river people who went to Kenya for the Great Migration a few years ago. I’m even more excited now than I was a few hours ago.

Lifestyle  Substance  (any answers at the end of post)
NEW—AZ Centennial is in days: Did you know?…
State symbols:
  • Amphibian: Arizona tree frog (1986)
  • Bird:     cactus wren (1931)
  • Butterfly:  two-tailed swallowtail (2001)
  • Colors: blue and old gold (1915)
  • Fish:  Arizona trout (1986)
  • Flower: flower of saguaro cactus (1931)
  • Fossil:  petrified wood (1988)
  • Gemstone:  turquoise (1974)
  • Mammal:  ringtail (1986)
  • Neckwear:  bola tie (1971)
  • Nickname: Grand Canyon State
  • Reptile: Arizona ridgenose rattlesnake (1986)
  • Song:   “Arizona” (1919)
  • Tree:    palo verde (1954)
  • Origin of name: Uncertain. Perhaps from the O'odham Indian word for “little spring”


NPR Sunday Puzzle
Each clue ends in a four-letter word with a single vowel. Change this vowel to a different vowel to make a new four-letter word. The new word will start the answer to the clue. Example: For the clue "area where a calf or foal might be BORN," change the O in BORN to an A to get BARN, and you get the start of the answer: BARNYARD.
1.     When you are away from home what you use to make a call:
2.     Commuting option for avoiding a traffic mess:
3.     What a climber might have in his pack:
4.     In book publishing, the opposite of a bust:
5.     Pest on a cotton ball:
6.     It had its own cabinet department in the past:
7.     Ship’s cabin part:
8.     TV show’s cancellation in 1969 that caused quite a stir:
9.     Secret opening in a floor that has a wire someone must trip:
10.  Breakfast item that the cook has to flip:
11.  Employee of an agricultural firm:
12.  Person at a dance who doesn’t socialize well:
13.  Seat from which one might see a dock:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?
   
Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
  • Child-support payments for one child will usually equal 20 percent of the gross income of the parent who doesn't have custody.

Harper’s Index         
  • Amount of lobbying in 2010: $3,500,000,000

Yeah, It Really Happened                 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Police in Florida arrested a pair of 14-year-old boys they say broke into a Chinese restaurant and cooked up some chicken gizzards. Gainesville police Lt. Jorge Campos said the boys allegedly broke into the China House restaurant in Gainesville Saturday night and apparently were unable to find anything worth stealing, The Gainesville Sun reported Monday.
"I guess they couldn't find any money so they decided to cook some food," Campos said. The teenagers were arrested on burglary and petit theft charges. Campos said both suspects had been arrested on burglary and theft charges at least twice in recent months.

Joke-of-the-day
A school teacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all. On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. He had no trouble with discipline that term.

Old-er people in the News
A Concord, New Hampshire man's phone keeps ringing at random hours with people looking for Brad Pitt. But 77-year-old Richard Perkins doesn't know the movie star and has only seen one film with the 43-year-old actor.
Someone posted the retired teachers' home phone number in a Web site chat room and claimed it was contact information for Pitt. For the last six days, Perkins' phone keeps ringing at times as late as 2 a-m.
"I thought it was my daughter calling me," Perkins told the Concord Monitor. "I thought she was saying 'Dad? Dad? Dad?' and I thought there was something wrong with the line. Then I realized she was saying 'Brad.' "
A frustrated Perkins disconnected his phone once, but firefighters - summoned by Perkins's Life Alert system - burst into his home to find him sitting peacefully in the living room.
They "weren't too pleased," Perkins told the newspaper.
Perkins says he doesn't want to change his phone number because he's afraid he'll forget his new one.

Somewhat Useless Information   
Saturday mail delivery in Canada was eliminated by Canada Post on February 1, 1969, as a cost-saving measure.
The roaring lion in the MGM logo was named Volney and lived at the Memphis Zoo.
Tomato juice is the official state beverage of Ohio.
Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
King cobras, the longest venomous snakes in existence, have been known to grow to more than 18 ft in length. Their half-inch fangs administer up to 450 mg of venom - enough to kill 13 adult humans or one elephant.
In 1998, Cairo lawyer Mustafa Raslan filed a $1 billion lawsuit against President Clinton in Damanhur, Egypt alleging that Clinton's sexual antics made it difficult for him to raise his own children with good moral standards.

Found on You Tube          

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
25-31
It's About Time Week 
26-1/1
Kwanzaa
Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Today Is                                                                      
  • Make Up Your Mind Day
  • New Year’s Eve
  • No Interruptions Day
  • National Champagne Day
  • National Dice Day
  • Unlucky Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             
Before 1000CE
870 - Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army

1200’s
1229 - James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca

1400’s
1492 - 100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily

1500’s
1564 - Willem van Orange demands freedom of conscience/religion

1600’s
1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax

1700’s
1744 - James Bradley announces discovery of Earth's nutation motion (wobble)
1781 - Bank of North America, 1st US bank opens
1783 - Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states

1800’s
1831 - Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City
1841 - Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons
1861 - 22,990 mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in 1861, world record
1862 - Pres Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to Union
1862 - Union ironclad ship "Monitor" sank off Cape Hatteras, NC
1897 - Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC

1900’s
1904 - The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York
1907 - For 1st time a ball drops at Times Square to signal new year
1923 - BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID
1924 - Hubble announces existence of distant galaxies
1942 - Potatoes rationed in Holland
1955 - The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year
1961 - 1st performance of Beach Boys
1962 - "Match Game" debuts on NBC with host Gene Rayburn
1968 - 1st supersonic airliner flown (Russian TU-144)
1976 - The Cars played their 1st gig
1981 - CNN Headline News debuts
1984 - NYC subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in NH
1990 - Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting
1994 - 1st snowless December in Baltimore Maryland
1995 - Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip
1997 - Microsoft buys Hotmail E-mail service
1999 - Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President

2000’s
2004 - The official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet)

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Under 30 years old
Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player is 29

In their 50’s
Val Kilmer, actor is 52
Bebe Neuwirth, actor (Cheers) is 53

In their 60’s
Ben Kingsley, actor (Ghandi…) is 68
Tim Matheson, actor is 64
Donna Summer, singer (Love to Love You Baby, On the Radio) is 63

In their 70’s
Anthony Hopkins, actor is 74

Remembered for being born on this day

  • Robert G Aitken, US astronomer (Binary Stars) in 1864
  • Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter in 1920
  • Pat Brady, actor (Roy Rogers Show) in 1914
  • Jacques Cartier, French explorer in 14+1
  • Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist in 1860
  • John Denver, singer (Rocky Mt High), thank God he's a country boy in 1943
  • King Kelly, American baseball player in 1857
  • Henri Matisse, French impressionist painter (Odalisque) in 1869
  • George C Marshall, authored Marshall Plan (Nobel 1953) in 1880
  • Odetta, [Holmes], folk singer (Sanctuary) in 1930
  • Bob Shaw, UK sci-fi author (Orbitsville, Ragged Astronauts, Vertigo) in 1931
  • [Bonnie Prince] Charles Edward Stuart, English pretender to throne in 1720


Today’s Obits                                                           
  • 61 law enforcement officers, killed by felons in US in 1996
  • 76 law enforcement officers, killed by felons in US in 1997
  • George Allen, football coach (Rams, Redskins), dies of ventricular fibrillation at 72 in 1990
  • Roberto Clemente, slugger (Pirates), dies in a plane crash at 38 in 1972
  • Floyd Cramer, pianist (Nashville Sound), dies of cancer at 64
  • José Greco, Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer dies at 82
  • Rick Nelson, singer/actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), dies in plane crash at 45 in 1985
  • Sam Spiegel, Academy Award winning producer (Betrayal), dies at 84 in 1985


Answers                                                                                                                                            
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.     When you are away from home what you use to make a call: cell phone
2.     Commuting option for avoiding a traffic mess: mass transit
3.     What a climber might have in his pack: pick axe
4.     In book publishing, the opposite of a bust: best seller
5.     Pest on a cotton ball: boll weevil
6.     It had its own cabinet department in the past: post office
7.     Ship’s cabin part: porthole
8.     TV show’s cancellation in 1969 that caused quite a stir: Star Trek
9.     Secret opening in a floor that has a wire someone must trip: trap door
10.  Breakfast item that the cook has to flip: flap jacks
11.  Employee of an agricultural firm: farm hand/ farm worker
12.  Person at a dance who doesn’t socialize well: wall flower
13.  Seat from which one might see a dock: deck chair

Wuzzle
  • After all is said and done
  • Twinkles
  • For days on end


Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
    And That Is All for Now 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Total Pageviews

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.