May 4

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♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

                    Returns tomorrow

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1814: Bourbon reign restored in France

1858: War of Reform (Mexico); Liberals establish capital at Vera Cruz

1864: Ulysses S. Grant crosses Rapidan & begins his duel with Robert E Lee

1886: Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen

1904: Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal

1917: Arabs sack Tel Aviv

1924: 8th Olympic games open at Paris, France

1953: Pulitzer prize awarded to Ernest Hemingway (Old Man & The Sea)

1970: National Guard kills 4 at Kent State in Ohio

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Lots of errands completed today. A nice day to be out and about. The afternoon brought some clouds, but still nice outside.

Headlines again for AZ…the crazy guy who stood beside State Sen. Pearce regarding SB1070 and formed a border militia to stop illegals proved to most of us that he had real mental problems. He shot and killed 3 adults and one child, including his ex and then himself. Believe it or not he was running for Sheriff against the Sheriff who admitted he was gay and denied that he threatened his ex with deportation. Only in AZ.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each word you're given has the letters C-H within it. Rearrange the letters to come up with an anagram that begins with C-H. For example, "inch" becomes "chin."

1.      Much:

2.     Ocher:

3.     Peach:

4.     Aches:

5.     March:

6.     Echoic:

7.     Ratchet:

8.     Arching:

9.     Snitcher:

10.  Archaism:

Riddle of the day

Returns tomorrow

Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Amount employees of private-equity firm Bain Captial have donated to the campaign of its co-founder Mitt Romney: $69,500

To the Obama campaign: $119, 900

Found on You Tube 

THE HISTORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL       

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

Three men wanted to cross a river. They had no idea how to cross it, so one man knelt down on his knees and prayed "Lord give me the power and strength the cross the river." suddenly the man became very strong and swam across the river.

The next man thought: if it worked for him, it'll work for me. So he knelt down and prayed "Lord give the skills and the strength to cross the river." the man built a canoe and rowed himself across the river.

The last man thought: if it worked for both of them, I know it'll work for me. So he also knelt down and prayed "Lord give me the wisdom and knowledge to cross the river." He turned into a woman and walked across the bridge.

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If the painted area of a pencil is smaller than the width of your four fingers, the pencil is too small to use comfortably. Throw it out.

Yeah, It Really Happened

WAKEFIELD, England - A British man with 11 university degrees, including a doctorate in philosophy, said he took a job as a school crossing guard to give back to the community. Bruce Berry, a member of the high-IQ organization Mensa, said he took a job as a crossing guard five days a week near the Crofton School in Wakefield, England, The Sun reported Monday. "I love working for degrees but wanted to do something for the community. It's nice to get kiddies to and from school safely," said Berry, who speaks five languages fluently. Berry, who makes $325 per month at the job, said his father was a teacher at Crofton. "I feel part of the family there," he said.

                

Somewhat Useless Information   

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between "excuse me" and "pardon me"? According to syndicated etiquette columnist Miss Manners, you should say "excuse me" when you cause inconvenience to someone and "pardon me" to let someone know they've caused inconvenience to you.

When humor columnist Erma Bombeck and her family were based in Centerville, Ohio, her neighbor and good friend was future talk show host Phil Donahue.

Before finding fame as a sports columnist, Mitch Albom worked as an amateur boxer, nightclub singer, pianist, and stand-up comic.

 Hollywood gossip columnist Walter Winchell was the first person to break the news that Lucille Ball was expecting a "blessed event" in 1952. He was acknowledged on an episode of I Love Lucy in the song "We're Having a Baby (My Baby and Me)" with the lyric, "You'll read it in Winchell; we're adding a limb to our family tree."

The late Ann Landers, known as Eppie Lederer to her friends, was married to Jules Lederer, who founded Budget Rent-A-Car in 1958. The couple's only child, Margo Howard, wrote Slate magazine's "Dear Prudence" advice column for eight years.

Hollywood gossip maven Hedda Hopper threatened to "out" several stars she suspected of being gay during her career, despite the fact that her own son, Perry Mason co-star William Hopper, was homosexual.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

1-7

Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Week

Update Your References Week

Today Is                                                                      

Great American Grump Out

Intergalactic Star Wars Day

International Firefighters Day

International Space Day

National Candied Orange Peel Day

National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

No Pants Day

Respect for Chickens Day

Star Wars Day

Tuba Day

Independence Day (Rhode Island-1776 from GB)
Greenery Day (Japan)
Memorial Day (Curacao)
Youth Day (China)

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1400’s

1494: Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica

à

1800’s

1818: Netherlands & England sign treaty against illegal slave handling

1846: US state Michigan ends death penalty

1851: 1st major SF fire

1863: After the Minnesota uprising of the Santee Sioux, and their subsequent defeat, their lands are forfeited. The surviving Indians, including those who opposed the uprising and helped the whites, are ordered to be shipped to a reservation in Dakota Territory. 770 Santee Sioux board a steamboat in St. Paul for the journey west. Eventually 1,300 Santee Sioux are transported to an area which can hardly support life. During the first year, 300 Santee die.

1896: 1st edition of London Daily Mail (halfpenny)

1896: Grease fire ignites half ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek Colorado

1900’s

1910: Tel Aviv founded

1919: 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC (Phillies beat Giants 4-3)

1932: Al Capone, convict of income tax evasion, enters Atlanta Penitentiary

1957: Anne Frank Foundation forms in Amsterdam

1961: 13 Freedom riders began bus trip through South

1964: "Another World" & "As the World Turns" premieres on TV

1972: The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation"

1979: Margaret Thatcher elected prime minister of England

1998: A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty

2000’s

2001: The Milwaukee Art Museum addition, the first Santiago Calatrava-designed structure in the United States, opens to the public.

2002: Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giant, leading his team to a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another

2007: The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time ever.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Hosni Mubarak, Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt, Egyptian president (1981-2011) is 83

Roberta Peters, NYC, operatic soprano (NY Met) is 82

In their 70’s

George F Will, political analyst (Night Line) is 71

à

In their 50’s

Randy Travis, Marshville NC, country singer (Diggin' Up Bones)is 53

Pia Zadora, actress is 56

Remembered for being born on this day

Abd-Allah Ansari, Persian mystic/poet (Monadjat) in 1006

Frederick Church, US romantic landscape painter (Hudson River Sch) in 1826

Audrey Hepburn, Brussels Belgium, (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady) in 1929

Palenque Maya Lord Kan - Xul I is born according to the museum at Palenque in 490

Francis J Spellman, US Cardinal in 1889

Milton "Milt" Thompson, US NASA-test pilot/chief-engineer (X-15) in 1926

Today’s Obits                                                           

Dom Deluise, American comedian, actor dies in 2009 of kidney failure at 75

Josip Broz Tito, leader of Yugoslavia (1943-80), dies in 1980 at 87

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

Returns tomorrow

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Much:

a.     chum

2.     Ocher:

a.     chore

3.     Peach:

a.     cheap

4.     Aches:

a.     chase

5.     March:

a.     charm

6.     Echoic:

a.     choice

7.     Ratchet:

a.     chatter

8.     Arching:

a.     chagrin

9.     Snitcher:

a.     christen

10.  Archaism:

a.     charisma

Anagrams

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  ☺