Feb 14, 2013

FYI: Any blue text is a . Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 07/ Day: 44    

Today: H   40°…L 1° Averages: H  44° L 19° Records: H   68°(1977)…L -18°(1905)

Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  18mph  Ave. humidity:  63%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"Stars & Stripes" arrives in foreign port for 1st time (France)—1778

1,000,000th vehicle traverses the NY Midtown Tunnel—1941

13th Winter Olympic games open in Lake Placid, NY—1980

1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV—1962

1st session of Knesset (Jerusalem Israel) —1949

1st Spanish arrive at what eventually becomes Needles, California—1776

1st state labor union legislation; NJ legalizes unions—1883

1st train load of fruit (oranges) leaves LA for east—1889

6th Olympic winter games open at Oslo, Norway—1952

Aretha Franklin records "Respect"—1967

First of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit—1989

IBM Corporation founded by Thomas Watson—1924

James Knox Polk becomes first serving US President to have his 

      photograph taken (by Matthew Brady) —1849

Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in White House—1971

St Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, 7 gangsters killed—1929

United Parcel Service forms—1919

US Dept of Commerce & Labor forms—1903

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

 

Another sunny day and actually warmed up a little to a balmy 40 by afternoon. Now I’m dealing with ice on the sidewalk. As the snow melts and drips onto the sidewalk from the roof, it forms a nice skating rink. Thank goodness for ice melt.

 

As expected, while the President poured out a litany of suggestions to improve our country, the ‘other side’ of the aisle is saying he is wrong. I do hope they accept his challenge to ‘let them vote’ on many of his ideas. While many can be cantankerous in the media, few have the intestinal fortitude to actually place their vote where their mouth is. So many seem to use scare tactics to avoid having to actually vote on a bill. Too many appointments and bills are stalled with the threat of a filibuster while others die in committee because the chair won’t let them out of committee. It’s time for some real states people to stand up and vote.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Word

Hidden in each of the sentences below are the numbers 1 to 10 in words.

The attendance at the local football match exceeded last weeks by many thousands.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• Dory Previn - Mythical Kings and Iguanas

• Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - Gun Control

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

Total Lunar Eclipse to be Broadcast on Local Public Radio

Picture of the Day: Uganda

   Late afternoon on the NIle in Uganda

Harper’s Index:         

Percentage of murders of Pakistani women in 2011 committed by the victim’s husband or brother: 38

Unusual Fact of the Day:

Fish can taste with their fins and tail as well as their mouth.

Joke-of-the-day:

“How are you getting on with your exams?” “Not bad. The questions are easy enough – it’s the answers I have trouble with!”

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

FINDING WHERE TO PUT YOUR MOUTH ON A CLARINET

To find the correct place to put your mouth on a clarinet reed, put a piece of paper between the reed and the mouthpiece. Where the paper stops is the correct place for your mouth.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Zoo officials in Taiwan are turning to an odd point of interest to draw visitors during the winter season: animal poop. The Taipei Zoo, seeking to capitalize on renewed interest in animals after the release of the 3-D movie "Life of Pi," directed by Taiwanese-born filmmaker Ang Lee, said it will dissect and explain the contents of animal poop three times per week for any zoo visitors interested in the smelly demonstration. The movie depicts a young Hindu boy who survives a shipwreck and is stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days. Several animals join him on the surrealist journey. As for how that translates into dissecting poop, zoo officials explained the display has a pointed demographic similar to the movie, Central News Agency said Sunday. "Somehow the poo topic is very stimulating for boys from 5 to 9 years old. They could be our target audience during winter vacation," project manager Lin Jun-lan said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Valentine's Day was named for two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine who were associated with romantic love in the middle ages.

• St. Valentine's Day was declared an official holiday in 1537 when England's King Henry VIII declared it for the first time.

• Elaborate handmade love messages, cards and gifts for Valentine's Day became popular during the 17th century.

• The name Valentine comes from the Latin word valor, meaning worthy.

• The greeting card association estimates that approximately one billion valentine's are sent annually world-wide, making it the second highest card sending holiday, behind Christmas.

• February 14th was long associated with fertility and love even before St. Valentine lived. It was the day that birds traditionally chose their mates. 

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

7-14
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week
Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week
Risk Awareness Week
Love Makes the World Go Round; But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week

10-16
Celebration of Love Week
Children of Alcoholics Week
Jell-O Week
Love a Mench Week
National Pancake Week
Random Acts of Kindness Week
International Flirting Week
National Green Week

12-14
World AG Expo: 12-14

13-19
World Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Week

14-21
National Condom Week
National Nestbox Week
NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week

Today Is                                                                      

Ferris Wheel Day

Frederick Douglass Day

Library Lovers Day

National Condom Day

National Donor Day

National Have A Heart Day

National Heart to Heart Day

League of Women Voters Day

National Women's Heart Day

National Call In Single Day

Pet Theft Awareness Day

Race Relations Day

Quirky Alone Day

Valentine’s Day

World Marriage Day

(World) Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

~Arizona Admission Day (1912-48^th state)

~Oregon Admission Day (1859-33^rd state)

Today’s Events through History  

"Ben Hur" 1st shown on television—1971

$3.6 million heroin seizure in NYC—1959

1st state bird refuge authorized (Lake Merritt CA) —1872

1st US textile machinery patent granted—1794

Apple parer patented by Moses Coats—1803

Arab Federation of Iraq & Jordan forms—1958

Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress that 

     conflicts with the Constitution is void—1803

Congress creates the office of Indian Inspector—1873

Hostage CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is released in Beirut—1985

League of Women Voters forms in Chicago—1920

Northern Illinois University shooting: a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall 

     of the DeKalb County, Illinois university resulting in 24 casualties; 

     6 fatalities (including gunman) and 18 injured—2008

Spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first 

     spacecraft to orbit an asteroid—2000

US Congress begins using voting machines—1899

Wilt Chamberlain breaks NBA career scoring record at 20,884 points—1966

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 90’s

Hugh Downs, TV journalist (20/20, Concentration) is 92

In their 70’s

Florence Henderson, actress/singer (Carol-Brady Bunch) is 79

In their 60’s

Carl Bernstein, Washington Post investigative reporter (Watergate) is 69

Raymond Joseph Teller, magician (Penn & Teller) is 65

JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater , actress (Big Chill, Impulse) is 62

In their 50’s

Meg Tilly, actress, novelist is 53

In their 40’s

Drew Bledsoe, NFL quarterback (NE Patriots) is 41

Remembered for being born today

Jack Benny, [Benjamin Kubelski], Waukegan Ill, "Oh! Rochester!" (1894-1974)

Frederick Douglass, African-American abolitionist/lecturer/editor (1818-1895)

George Washington Gale Ferris, engineer/inventor (Ferris Wheel) (1859-1896)

Woody Hayes, [Wayne], college football coach (1968 coach of the year) (1913-1987)

Margaret Knight, inventor, "the female Thomas Edison" (1838-1914)

Thomas Malthus, England, population expert (Law of Malthus) (1766-1834)

Thelma Ritter, American actress (1902-1969)

Vic Morrow, American actor (1929-1982)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

James Cook, British explorer killed by Native Hawaiians—1779—at 50

Dolly the sheep, first mammal to be cloned—2003—at 6

St. Valentine marking Valentine’s Day—270 

William Tecumseh Sherman, Union Civil War General—1891—at 71

Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter—2012—at 86

Pelham G Wodehouse, English/US writer (Piccadilly Jim)—1975—at 93

Answer: Hidden Word

The atTENdance at the local football match exceeded last weeks by many thousands.

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  §