May 24

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Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1513: While exploring the Gulf Coast of Florida. Ponce de Leon encounters Calusa Indians near Charlotte harbor. In a fight with the Calusa, de Leon captures four warriors.

1798: Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins

1830: "Mary Had A Little Lamb," is published

1844: Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (1st telegraph message)

1899: 1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)

1930: 1st woman to fly from England to Australia solo, lands (Amy Johnson)

1941: Bismarck sinks British battle cruiser HMS Hood, 1,416 die 3 survive

1951: Racial segregation in Wash DC restaurants ruled illegal

1957: Anti American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan

1985::25) cyclone hits Bangladesh; about 10,000 die

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A windy, windy day…drying out everything. Not a good sign. A small wildfire just north of Flag, on the road to the Grand Canyon. Hopefully it will be quickly contained. There are currently 9 wildfires, destroying almost 76,000 acres (118 sq. miles). Such a disturbing time in AZ.

Our less than brilliant Sec of State has heard from Hawaii and says that Obama is a natural born citizen and eligible to be President. Interesting that the AZ Secretary of State is also the Chairman of the ‘Elect Romney’ team in AZ…even though he said, while running for the office, that he would not get involved in politics outside his stated constitutional duties. Of course, Sheriff Joe is still conducting his ‘investigation’ and has sent a Deputy to Hawaii to protect his volunteers…claims it is not on the state dollar. Wanna buy a bridge?

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase, where the first word starts with V and the second word starts with A. For example, given "subject of a tax in Britain" the answer would be "value added."1.      The second in command in the Navy:
2.     Residue around Mauna Loa for example:
3.     Law that ushered in prohibition:
4.     Painting, sculpture, etc:
5.     Period in England known for formality:
6.     Kind of belt in astronomy:
7.     18 in the US:
8.     Effort that isn’t successful:
9.     Form that is filled out to travel to another country:
10.  The last cabinet level position before Homeland Security:
11.    Military force that doesn’t rely on the draft:
12.   Contract or understanding that is not written down:
13.   Ancient poem:
14.   British Airline with lots of routes between US and England:
15.   A person’s sudden disappearance:

Riddle of the day

What is is that you will break even when you name it?

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

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Minimum number of weapons confiscated from visitors to the Statue of Liberty last year: 11,488

Found on You Tube 

Ann Coulter Debates Cheech & Chong About Legalizing Marijuana        

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

Two guys were riding in a car, arguing about how to say the name of the city that they were in. One said "Louieville" and the other "Louiseville." They went on arguing and arguing, until they came upon a fast-food restaurant. The one guy goes inside and says to the waitress,

"Tell me the name of the place where I am right now really, really, really slowly."

The waitress goes, "Bur-ger-King."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

To determine where subway doors will open, look at the yellow stripe painted along the edge of the platform. The doors are most likely to open adjacent to the areas where the paint is most worn.

Yeah, It Really Happened

A story, where the teacher, or track coach in this case, befriended the lonely, awkward kid and then went to prom with him.

The coach is Melissa Bowerman, 41, who had been coaching the Condon/Wheeler track and field team in Oregon.

Bowerman said attending the Condon High School prom with a boy from the track team was an error in judgment, but she said the pair did not have an inappropriate relationship. She said they danced to a few slow songs but mostly played ping pong and foosball.

The coach -- or former coach, rather -- who has a son on the track team, said she went to the prom because the boy felt bad that he lacked a date and had been struggling in English class.

"If they go on (academic) probation and suspension, then they can't go to the track meets," Bowerman said. "I said, 'OK, I will go with you, but we've got to talk about English first. You're going to do better in English."

 So apparently the prom date was a success. It was only afterward that a problem arose.

"There was an investigation done and through that there were some potential details that arose," Condon superintendent Jan Zarate said. "We started an investigation that led to us asking her to un-volunteer."

             

Somewhat Useless Information   

Your eyes are composed of more than 2 million working parts, and they focus on about 50 things per second.

The eye of a human can distinguish 500 shades of gray.

For AZ centennial celebration: town names

• Eagar, AZ: a town in Apache County, Arizona, the population of the town is 4,126, first settled in 1871 and founded by John Thomas Eager, The largest ski resort in Arizona is only a 30 minute drive from Eagar. The racial makeup of the town was 87.08% White, 3.35% Native American, 0.42% Black or African American, 0.12% Asian, 0.35% Pacific Islander, 4.91% from other races, and 3.77% from two or more races. 13.98% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race. 

• Eden, AZ: unincorporated community in Graham County, he population is 150, The area hosted the Eden Mansion until February 2008, when it burned down. The mansion was rumored to host the likes of the Rolling Stones on more than one occasion. The mansion had a 70' × 270' pool, the largest ever in Graham County.

• El Mirage, AZ: a city in Maricopa County, the population is 31,767, total area of 9.7 square miles (25 km²), El Mirage is near Luke U.S. Air Force Base, the largest Fighter Pilot Training Base in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, The racial makeup of the city was 66.26% White, 3.29%Black or African American, 0.85% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 26.18% from other races, and 2.98% from two or more races. 66.82% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.

• Elfrida, AZ: a small unincorporated community in Cochise County, the population is 1,366, Elfrida gained a library circa March 2000

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

19-25

National Safe Boating Week

21-27

Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week

National Medical Transcription Week

National Backyard Games Week

Week of Solidarity With The People of Non-Self-Governing Territories Old-Time Player Piano Week

Today Is                                                                      

Brother's Day

Hug Your Cat Day

International Tiara Day

Morse Code Day

National Escargot Day

Bulgaria: Culture Day
Eritrea: Independence Day (1993 from Ethiopia)

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1100’s

1153: Malcolm IV becomes king of Scotland

à

1500’s

1539: Mexican Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza has decided to send an expedition to search for wealthy cities north of Mexico. On March 7, 1539, Friar Marcos de Niza started the expedition from Culiacan. Accordiong to Niza’s journal, he finally sees Cibola, although he never sets foot in the pueblo. His report will lead to future expeditions looking for the "Seven Cities of Gold."

à

1700’s

1738: John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day

1800’s

1818: Gen Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola Florida

1856: Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas

1866: Berkeley, California named (for George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne)

1884: Anti-Monopoly party & Greenback Party forms People's Party in US

1900’s

1915: Thomas Edison invents ‘telescribe’ to record telephone conversations 1921: 1st parliament for Northern Ireland elected

1931: 1st air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad

1958: UP & International News Service merges into United Press International

1959: 1st house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills Pa)

1971: A commuter bus plunges into Panama Canal, killing 38 of 43 aboard

1981: Bobby Unser wins, loses, & wins a controversial Indy 500

1983: Supreme Court rules government can deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminated against students

1986: Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British PM to visit Israel

1989: "Indiana Jones & Last Crusade" premieres

2000’s

2001: Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest

2004: Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy in 1854

William Gilbert, Essex England, physicist (researcher into magnetism) in 1544

Coleman A Young, civil rights leader (Mayor-D-Detroit) in 1918

à

In their 70’s

Tommy Chong, Edmonton, Alberta, comedian/actor (Cheech & Chong)is 74

Bob Dylan  [Zimmerman], Minn, singer/songwriter ( Blowin' in Wind) is 71

In their 60’s

Gary Burghoff, Bristol CT, actor (Radar-M*A*S*H) is 69

Patti LaBelle, [Holt], Phila Pa, singer (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade) is 68

Priscilla Presley, Bkln NY, actress (Jenna-Dallas, Naked Gun) is 67

à

In their 40’s

John C. Reilly, Chicago, Illinois, American actor (Chicago, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story)is 47

Today’s Obits                                                           

Gene Clark, folk-rocker (Byrds-Tambourine Man), dies of heart attack in 1991 at 49

John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies of bone cancer in 1959 at 71

Duke Ellington, blues singer, dies of cancer in 1974 at 75

Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold, actress (Gigi, Music Man), dies in 1987 at 89

George Jessel, actor (Diary of a Young Comic), dies in 1981 at 83

Dick Martin American comedian (Laugh-In) does in 2008 at 89

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

Silence

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      The second in command in the Navy: Vice Admiral

2.     Residue around Mauna Loa for example: volcanic ash

3.     Law that ushered in prohibition: Volstead Act

4.     Painting, sculpture, etc: visual arts

5.     Period in England known for formality: Victorian Age

6.     Kind of belt in astronomy: Van Allen

7.     18 in the US: voting age

8.     Effort that isn’t successful: vain attempt

9.     Form that is filled out to travel to another country: Visa application

10.  The last cabinet level position before Homeland Security: Veteran’s Affairs

11.    Military force that doesn’t rely on the draft: volunteer army

12.   Contract or understanding that is not written down: verbal agreement

13.   Ancient poem: Virgil’s Aeneid

14.   British Airline with lots of routes between US and England: Virgin Atlantic

15.   A person’s sudden disappearance: vanishing act

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  ☺