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Today’s Historical Highlights
Pulitzer
Prizes awarded today
1926 - Sinclair Lewis refuses
his Pulitzer Prize (Arrowsmith)
1947 - Pulitzer prize awarded to
Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men)
1952 - Pulitzer prize awarded to
Herman Wouk (Caine Mutiny)
1969 - Pulitzer prize awarded to
Norman Mailer (Armies of the Night)
1975 - Pulitzer prize awarded to
Michael Shaara (Killer Angels)
à
1847: American
Medical Association organized (Philadelphia)
1865: 1st
US train robbery (North Bend Ohio)
1877: Indian
Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by
the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles
1920: US
Pres Wilson makes Communist Labor Party illegal
1925: John
T Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee
1925: Afrikaans
is established as an official language in South Africa
1961: Alan
Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7)
Free Rambling Thoughts
A great day in Flagstaff…sunny
all day. I ran lots of errands this morning. I went to the cable company to get
my necessary box to watch TV after June 12. Turns out I only needed one box for
my old TV…the others are flat screens and will work just fine. Then I found out
I could get a cable box for my office TV which lets me have all my channels for
$5 a month. I wasn’t going to pay more, but alas, they gave me a new rate that
was $15/month cheaper, so I got the box and am saving $10/month. Not bad. And
HDTV in the office sure is nice. Too make it even better, I now have a guide listing
of shows available, so no more looking on the computer to see what’s on.
Strange news from all the
news organizations the last few days. Information from bin Laden raid say that
he had plans to kill a number of US officials. Well, duh…first, we were at war
with him; second, we were out to kill all their leaders. I even remember a deck
of cards with all their pictures. I’m just surprised this is news. War, not
matter who is involved includes plans to kill as many as possible…the US is not
exempt from this..
Game Center
(answers at the end of post)
Brain Game—A close up
picture of what?
.jpg)
NPR Sunday Puzzle
Complete a familiar
three-word phrase that takes the form "blank of blank." You are given
the first word and must guess the last. The answer begins with the letter A.
For example, given "law," the answer is "averages," as in "law
of averages."
1.
Coat: of
2.
Bard: of
3.
Africa: ___ of Africa
4.
Joan: of
5.
Plan: of
6.
Voice: of
7.
Rock: of
8.
Seal: of
9.
Court: of
10.
Power: of
11.
Lawrence: of
12.
Article: of
13.
Age: of
14.
Timon: of
15.
Center: of
16.
Round: of
Riddle of the day
I am taken from a mine, and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost everybody.
Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in
each answer word
Lifestyle Substance
Harper’s Index
Date on which Obama said that donations from lobbyists ‘don’t contribute to the public interest’: 8/4/2007Minimum amount Obama 2012 campaign has so far accepted from bundlers connected to lobbyists: $2,800,000
Found on You Tube
Gandhi Speech
Planet Earth—
Joke-of-the-day
A couple is dressed and
ready to go out for the evening. They phone for a cab, turn on a night light,
cover their pet parakeet and put the cat out in the back yard.
The taxi arrives, and they open the front door
to leave. Suddenly the cat they put out scoots back into the house. They don't
want the cat shut in there because she always tries to eat the bird. The wife
goes out to the taxi while the husband goes back in. The cat runs upstairs,
with the man in hot pursuit.
The wife doesn't want the driver to know the
house will be empty. She explains to the taxi driver that her husband will be
out soon. "He's just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother."
A few minutes later the husband gets into the
cab.
"Sorry I took so long," he says, as
they drive away. "Stupid hag was hiding under the bed. Had to poke her
with a coat hanger to get her to come out! Then I had to wrap her in a blanket
to keep her from scratching me. But it worked. I hauled her fat butt downstairs
and threw her out into the back yard!
The cab driver hit a parked car.
Rules of Thumb
Easy shortcuts to make
an ‘educated’ guess
Returns tomorrow
Yeah, It Really
Happened
NEW YORK: After being pulled over for speeding, a
motorcyclist clocked traveling at speeds up to 170 miles per hour on the New
York State Thruway reportedly was anything but remorseful. When told how fast
he was going, he allegedly told troopers on Wednesday his bike could easily top
190 miles per hour, the troopers said.
Nikkolaus McCarthy, 25,
was first spotted by a state trooper heading south on the Thruway just before
1:00 p.m. on Wednesday in the village of Ravena, N.Y., according to the New
York State Police. The trooper noted his speed at the time -- 166 mph -- as
well as the license plate number of his Suzuki motorcycle as it slowed down in
traffic.
But after McCarthy sped
up again, the trooper didn't follow him, instead giving out a description over
the air. McCarthy was clocked by other troopers at other
locations going between
150 and 170 mph.
Twenty minutes and 50
miles later, in New Paltz, N.Y., troopers were able to stop McCarthy when he
slowed down in traffic. After being pulled over, McCarthy told the troopers he
was low on gas; when he was advised of his speed, he told them his motorcycle
could go over 190 mph, WHEC reported.
McCarthy was arrested and
charged with fleeing police, reckless driving, speeding and operating out of
class because he didn't have a motorcycle license. He's being held on $20,000
bail in the Albany County Correctional Facility.
Somewhat Useless
Information
One of the four areas of
taste on our tongue is salt, which has been used as a food preservative since
pre-refrigeration days. Scientists have also determined that the human body
requires at least three grams of salt per day for things like proper temperature
regulation, so we've developed a certain craving for salt as a matter of
evolution.
Black pepper is
indigenous to India but found its way to Rome in the first century B.C.E. Prior
to that time, much of the available food was on the bland side, so a sprinkle
of pepper gave otherwise plain fare a new zest. A heavier dose of pepper helped
to camouflage the taste of spoiled food, which was a common problem in warm
climates.
Ketchup originated in
Asia as a pickled fish sauce called "ke-tsiap" and was comprised of
anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and kidney beans. When British seamen brought
the stuff home with them, they Anglicized the name first to "catchup"
and then "ketchup." When the recipe made its way across the Atlantic
in the late 1700s, New Englanders added tomatoes to the mix.
Mustard gas doesn't
contain any mustard; the weapon is made up of chemicals that give it a mustardy
smell and a brownish-yellow color, which is how it got its name.
When Best Foods bought
the Hellman's brand in 1932, the latter already had solid name recognition in
the eastern states. As a result, today the company's mayonnaise west of the
Rockies is labeled Best Foods, while east of that area, it's still known as
Hellman's.
Edmund McIlhenny
originally packaged his famous Tabasco Hot Pepper Sauce in old cologne bottles
capped with sprinkler-type fittings. The sauce was so hot (for that time) that
he wanted to make sure folks sprinkled small amounts of it on their food,
rather than pouring it on.
Calendar Information
…Happening This Week:
1-7
Bread
Pudding Recipe Exchange Week
Update
Your References Week
Today Is
Armed
Forces Day Military-Amateur Crossband Communications Day
Bladder
Cancer Awareness Day
Cartoonists
Day
Childhood
Stroke Awareness Day
Cinco
de Mayo
In 1861 the liberal Mexican
Benito Juárez (1806-1872) became president of a country in financial ruin, and
he was forced to default on his debts to European governments. In response,
France, Britain and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand
reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, ruled by Napoleon III (1808-1873), decided to
use the opportunity to carve a dependent empire out of Mexican territory. Late
in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French
force and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat.
Although not a major strategic
win in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza's success at Puebla
represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government and bolstered
the resistance movement. Six years later—thanks in part to military support and
political pressure from the United
States, which was finally in a position to aid its besieged
neighbor after the end of the Civil War—France withdrew. The same year,
Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed as emperor of
Mexico by Napoleon in 1864, was captured and executed by Juárez's forces.
Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid
fever months after his historic triumph there.
Many people outside Mexico
mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence,
which was declared more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla. That event
is commemorated on September 16, the anniversary of the revolutionary priest
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s famous “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), a
call to arms that amounted to a declaration of war against the Spanish colonial
government in 1810.
Free
Comic Book Day
International
Midwives' Day
Join
Hands Day
Kentucky
Derby
National
Hoagie Day
National
Homebrew Day
National
Scrapbooking Day
Totally
Chipotle Day
Liberation
Day (Netherlands: 1945 from Nazi’s by Canada and others)
Patriots Victory Day (Ethiopia: 1941 from Italians)
Patriots Victory Day (Ethiopia: 1941 from Italians)
Today’s Other Events
1200’s
1260: Kublai
Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire
à
1400’s
1430: Jews
are expelled from Speyer Germany
à
1700’s
1763:
Near Fort Detroit, Ottawa Chief Pontiac addresses a group of Huron, Ottawa, and
Potawatomi warriors. He asks them to join him in his fight against the British.
1780: 2nd
oldest learned society in US (American Academy of Arts & Sciences) forms
(Boston)
1800’s
1800:
William Augusta Bowles is an adventurer in the southeastern part of the United
States. With Creek and Cherokee supporters, he proclaims a new nation, Muscogee,
out of lands claimed by Spain along the Gulf coast, with himself as
"Director-General". Bowles declares war on Spain, and begins a
campaign against their outposts in his "nation." Some sources list
this as happening on April 5, 1800.
1809: Mary
Kies is 1st woman issued a US patent (weaving straw)
1816: American
Bible Society organized (NY)
1891: Music
Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in NY, Tchaikovsky as guest conductor
1900’s
1904: Cy
Young of Boston pitches perfect game against Phila A's (3-0)
1922: Construction
begins on Yankee Stadium (Bronx)
1936: Italian
troops occupy Addis Ababa
1944: Gandhi
freed from prison
1958: KNME
TV channel 5 in Albuquerque, NM (PBS) begins broadcasting
1962: West Side Story
soundtrack album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20
weeks longer than any other album
1987: Congress
begins Iran-Contra hearings
2000’s
2000: Conjunction
of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon
2006: The
government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)
Today’s Birthdays
In their 80’s
Pat Carroll, Shrevport
La, comedienne/actress (Make Room for Daddy) is 85
à
In their 60’s
Michael Palin, England,
comedian (Monty Python, Fish Called Wanda) is 69
In their 50’s
John Greg Adams,
Scottsdale AZ, PGA golfer (1982 Hall of Fame-2nd) is 58
à
Under 30 years old
Adele (Laurie Blue
Adkins), English singer is 24
Chris Brown, American singer is 23
Remembered for being born on this day
James Beard, US, culinary
expert/author (Delights & Prejudices) in 1903
Charles Bender (Ojibwa),
only American Indian in baseball's Hall of Fame in 1883
Nellie Bly[Elizabeth
Cochran Seaman], American journalist and writer in 1865
Phil Gordon, Meridian
Miss, singer/actor (Jasper-Bev Hillbillies) in 1916
Søren Kierkegaard, Danish
philosopher in 1813
Karl Marx, Trier,
Prussia, philosopher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital) in 1818
Tyrone Power, Cleve,
actor (Mark of Zorro, Alexander's Ragtime Band)in 1914
Henryk Sienkiewicz,
Poland, author (Quo Vadis, Nobel 1905) in 1846
Today’s Obits
Napoleon I Bonaparte,
emperor France (1799-1815), dies in 1821 of stomach cancer at 81
Samuel Cooper, English miniature
painter in 1672 at 63
Carlos Saavedra Lamas,
Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize dies in 1959 at 81
Answers
Brain Game: Close Up
Picture
.jpg)
Riddle of the day
Pencil lead
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.
Coat: of arms
2.
Bard: of Avon
3.
Africa: horn (Horn of Africa)
4.
Joan: of arc
5.
Plan: of attack
6.
Voice: of America
7.
Rock: of Ages
8.
Seal: of approval
9.
Court: of appeals
10.
Power: of attorney
11.
Lawrence: of Arabia
12.
Article: of apparel
13.
Age: of Aquarius
14.
Timon: of Athens
15.
Center: of attention
16.
Round: of applause
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 ☺
