12-1-14

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Almanac: Week: 49 \ Day: 335 
December Averages: 44°\17°
December Records: High: 68° (1950) Low: -23 (1990)
86004 Today: H 52°\L 36°
Ave. humidity: 37%     Average Sky Cover: 10%
Wind ave:   11mph\Gusts:  27mph
Ave. High: 46° Record High:  63° (1926)
Ave. Low: 18° Record Low:  -7° (1905)

Holiday Observances Today:
Independence Day (Dominican Republic-1821- from Spain)
Independence Day (Iceland-1918-from Denmark)
Independence Day (Portugal-1640-from Iberian Union with Spain)
National Day (Romania)
¤ ¤
Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day-for all Bifocals at the computer monitor
Civil Air Patrol Day
Cyber Monday
Day With(out) Art-since 1989-mourning all lost to AIDS
Eat a Red Apple Day
Rosa Parks Day
UN World Aids Day
World Aids Day

Observances This Week:
1-7
Cookie Cutter Week 
International Coelenterate Biology Week 
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week 


Observations This Month:
World Aids Month 
Bingo's Birthday Month-invented in 1929
Buckwheat Month 
National Drunk & Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month
National Write A Business Plan Month
National Tie Month 
Operation Santa Paws (1-19)
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Spiritual Literacy Month
Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking (TANYRSS)  
Tomato and Winter Squash Month 
Universal Human Rights Month 
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month

Write a Friend Month
• • • • • • •
Quote of the Day

  
Historical Highlights for Today
1641 - Mass becomes 1st colony to give statutory recognition to slavery
1750 - First school in America to offer manual training courses opens in Maryland
1831 - Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather
1835 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes his 1st book of fairy tales
1878 - 1st White House telephone installed
1896 - 1st certified public accountants receive certificates (NY)
1903 - "The Great Train Robbery", the 1st Western film, released
1909 - 1st Christmas Club payment made, to Carlisle Trust Co, Pa
1913 - 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pitts)
1917 - Boys Town founded by Father Edward Flanagan west of Omaha Neb
1941 - US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
1942 - Gasoline rationed in US
1943 - FDR, Churchill & Stalin agree to Operation Overlord (D-Day)
1955 - Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to move to the back of bus and give her seat to a white passenger
1957 - Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly and Crickets debut on Ed Sullivan Show
1958 - Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students & 3 nuns (Chic)
1959 - 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
1959 - The 1st color photograph of Earth received from outer space
1969 - US government holds its 1st draft lottery since WW II
1978 - Pres Carter more than doubles national park system size
1988 - Benazir Bhutto named 1st female PM of a Muslim country (Pakistan)
• • • • • • •
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today


My Rambling Thoughts
Finally, the house interior is ready for Christmas. My new tree is just the right size. My dad’s father passed away on Christmas Eve while out shopping when my dad was 5. So his family didn’t really celebrate much. My mom’s family didn’t have a lot of money, so Christmas was usually sparse. When they got kids they wanted more for their kids. So Christmas was always nice. Mom decorated the inside, Dad the outside. New decorations were purchased the day after Christmas and saved for the next year. I have inherited most of the family decorations, some early plastic ones dating back to the early 1950’s. I also have many handmade decorations made by friends and neighbors that have been in the family for decades. Then I have decorations I have received over the years. Amazing, when I bring them out to put on the tree, the memories that come flooding back. My mom bought a Nativity set up when I was about 8 years old…it has a ‘real manger’ made of wood and numerous paper Mache painted figures. They are still kept, wrapped in paper towels, in the same shoe box from the first year to be put out every Christmas. I also have Santa’s Bells, tied onto a piece of thick leather that was always on the front door…and it’s on my front door. I also found a red feather angel with a porcelain head that I got my mom when I was about 10 years old…I saved up the $1.29 it cost by doing chores.
I feels like Christmas and as soon as the wind dies down, I’ll to the outside.
Cards are playing, sort of and later tonight it’s the Broncos. Good Sunday.
• • • • • • •
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
For each of the following word pairs, you are looking for a two word answer. The first is a rhyme of the first word and gives the category. The second word is a rhyme and is a specific word in that category. For example, "Kitty, Tennis" translates to "City, Venice". 

1. Fainter, Jolly
2. Slumber, Heaven
3. Reason, Printer
4. Quiver, Bongo
5. Power, Crazy
6. Handy, Muffle
7. Sticker, Frisky     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today



           
OK Then…

• • • • • • •
Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     
Actor Facts…
¤ Leonardo DiCaprio was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked.
¤ Jason Earles played as a teenager in Hannah Montana, but he was actually born in 1977.

December Holiday Facts
*Christmas-Christian
¤ Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.
¤ All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.

*Hanukkah-Jewish
Spelling of Hanukkah
The guttural sound of the Hebrew letters cannot be duplicated by the English alphabet. For this reason, there are many spellings of this holiday in English and all are correct.

*Kwanza-African-American
¤ Kwanza will celebrate its 50th Birthday in 2016!
¤ The holiday was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 to celebrate family, culture and heritage, and is modeled after the first harvest celebrations in Africa.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
From 1889
On Friday, a four-horse wagon load of fine quail and fish caught on the Verde was brought into town.
           
Flagstaff’s Iconic 50…
The Skydome--
N 35° 10.831 W 111° 39.109
The J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome was named for the former NAU President. It is the 2nd largest clear-span timber dome in the world. The framework was designed by computer in 1977 and built entirely of glue laminated all wood beams. Note: The largest is the Tacoma Dome in WA.

Harper’s Index…
Average per capita income within 3 miles of a major US coal plant: $18,400
           
Rules of Thumb…
AVOIDING OTHER AIRPLANES
If you spot another airplane and it is above the horizon, it is above you. If it is below the horizon, it is below you. If the other airplane is at the same level as the horizon, it is at your altitude. If an approaching airplane appears motionless, it is on a collision course with you.   

Unusual Fact of the Day…
Before finishing his education, earning a doctorate, and inventing the sport basketball, Dr. James Naismith was a high school dropout.
• • • • • • •
Joke-of-the-day
Cal was out driving in the country, seeing how his new car handled the curvy roads at high speeds. As he rounded a corner, one of his tires blew. 
When he got out of the car to change the tire, he noticed that he had stopped in front of the state mental asylum. There was also a man sitting on the brick wall in front of the facility. 
The driver went about his business, not paying any attention to the guy on the fence. He first took his tire iron and jack out of the car, and got the car jacked up. Then, he removed the hubcap. Next, he removed the six lug nuts, and placed them in the hubcap for safekeeping. 
About this time, the guy on the fence decided to start a conversation. This startled the driver, and he reeled around quickly, knocking over the hubcap, and the lug nuts fell into the sewer drain.
The driver gets angry with the guy on the fence, shouting, "Now look what you made me do. Now I'm going to have to walk to town to buy some new lug nuts. Just go back inside and leave me be."
The guy on the fence says, "Why don't you just take one lug nut from each of your other three wheels, and use them on this one. That should hold it steady enough for you to drive the car to the auto parts store."
The driver asks, "That's a brilliant idea...then why are you here?"
The guy on the fence replies, "I'm just crazy, not stupid."     


Yep, It Really Happened
CINCINNATI
 Officials at the Cincinnati Zoo said a pack of Grinchy squirrels are countering their holiday cheer by taking down their festive lights. Chad Yelton of the Cincinnati Zoo said squirrels gnaw on the LED light strands workers put up for the holiday season and the animals seem intent on keeping the facility's Bear Hill from being bathed in festive illumination.
"This is by far the number one spot for squirrels," Yelton said of Bear Hill. "We've had many a night where it's completely dark." Yelton said the zoo lost 300 strands of lights in one recent year, "and most of that was on Bear Hill."
Officials said the squirrel problem has been going on for several years. Before the switch to LED lights, the squirrels would unscrew the incandescent bulbs, apparently mistaking them for nuts. Yelton said the zoo tried using hot sauce to deter the squirrels, but "they kind of laughed at it."
"You know, it didn't really do much. I think we felt good about it, but it didn't do much," he said. Steve Foltz, director of horticulture at the zoo, said the yearly attempt to safeguard the holiday lights is "a challenge who’s smarter, the squirrel or the horticulturists."
Foltz admitted that for the moment, "the squirrels win."      

Somewhat Useless Information
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, by population and the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa.
Johannesburg is also the world’s largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline.
However, its streams contribute to two of southern Africa’s mightiest rivers, the Limpopo and the Orange.
¤ ¤
Comparing to amateurs, top soccer players such as Neymar, Ronaldo or Messi demonstrate 10% less brain activity during competitive matches.
Scientists have called this situation as ‘autopilot’.
After motor skill tests conducted on Neymar and several other athletes in Barcelona, results showed that Neymar displayed limited cerebral function when he rotated his ankle, which explains why the striker’s brilliance is uncannily natural.
• • • • • • •
Today’s Events through History
  800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican
1843 - 1st chartered mutual life insurance company opens
1913 - Continuous moving assembly line introduced by Ford (car every 2:38)
1921 - US Post Office establishes philatelic agency
1922 - 1st skywriting over US-"Hello USA"-by Capt Turner, RAF
1973 - Jack Nicklaus becomes 1st golfer to earn $2M in a year
1982 - Michael Jackson releases his album "Thriller"
• • • • • • •
Birthday’s Today
Woody Allen, [Allen Konigsberg], Bkln, actor (Annie Hall) is 79
Lee Buck Trevino, PGA golfer is 75
Bette Midler, Honolulu, actress and singer is 69
Treat Williams, actor (Hair) is 63
Bob Goen, TV host (Entertainment Tonight) is 60
Charlene Tilton, actress (Lucy Ewing-Dallas) is 56
Sarah Silverman, stand-up comedian, is 44

Remembered for being born today
Anna Comnena, Byzantine historian [1083-1153]
Rex Stout, mystery writer (Nero Wolf novels) [1886-1975]
W A "Tony" Boyle, United Mine Workers president [1904-1985]
Louis Slotin, Canadian Physicist\Chemist (Manhattan Project) [1910-1946]
Mary Martin, actress (Peter Pan) Larry Hagman's mom [1913-1990]
David Doyle, actor (Charlie's Angels) [1929-1997]
Dick Shawn, actor (Producers) [1923-1987]
Lou Rawls, Chicago vocalist (Golddigers), [1933-2006]
Pablo Escobar Gaviria, Colombian drug baron [1949-1993]
Matthew Shepard, American Hate Crime victim [1976-1998]
• • • • • • •
Historical Obits Today
David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel, 1973, @87
Sam Levene, actor (Purple Heart), heart attack, 1980, @75
Fred Rose, songwriter (Blue Eyes Cryin in the Rain), heart attack, 1954, @57
José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian writer, seizures, 1928, @40
• • • • • • •

Brain Teasers Answers
1. Painter, Dali
2. Number, Seven
3. Season, Winter
4. River, Congo
5. Flower, Daisy
6. Candy, Truffle
7. Liquor, Whiskey

• • • • • • •
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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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…§


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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.