2-25-15

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Week: 09 \ Day: 056 
February Averages: 45°\19°
86004 Today: H 37°\L 24°
Average Sky Cover: 65% 
Wind ave:   4mph\Gusts:  10mph
Ave. High: 47° Record High:  70° (1986)
Ave. Low: 20° Record Low:  -10° (1919)

Observances Today:
Inconvenience Yourself Day
Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)-1836

Observances This Week:
      Feb 21-28
National Entrepreneurship Week
National Engineers Week
National FFA Week
Bird Health Awareness Week
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
National Invasive Species Awareness Week

« »  « »
Quote of the Day 

« »
US Historical Highlights for Today
1751 - 1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1 cent)
1791 - 1st Bank of US chartered
1793 - 1st cabinet meeting (At George Washington's home)
1799 - Congress passes 1st federal quarantine legislation
1836 - US Showman Phineas T Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth
1837 - 1st US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport
1859 - 1st use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence
1862 - Congress forms US Bureau of Engraving & Printing
1862 - Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by Pres  Lincoln
1875 - Kiowa Indians under Lone Wolf (Guipago) surrender at Ft Sill
1879 - Congress passed 1st Timberland Protection Act
1881 - Phoenix was incorporated; Census of 1880 population of 1,780 for the area
1885 - US Congress condemns barbed wire around government grounds
1901 - US Steel Corp organized under J P Morgan
1908 - 1st tunnel under Hudson River (railway tunnel) opens
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the Constitution becomes law, providing the legal basis for the institution of a graduated income tax
1919 - Oregon is 1st state to tax gasoline (1 cent per gallon)
1950 - "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon & Woody Allen
1964 - Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) TKOs Sonny Liston in 7 for his 1st world heavyweight championship title
1987 - US Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action
1992 - Muddy Waters wins Lifetime Achievement Award at Grammy Awards
Today’s World Events through History
138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor
529 - Palenque Maya Lord Kan - Xul I ascends the throne according to the museum at Palenque, Mexico
1570 - Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth I, absolves her subjects from allegiance
1803 - 1,800 sovereign German states unite into 60 states
1932 - Immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship
1951 - 1st Pan American Games opens (Buenos Aires Argentina)
1952 - 6th Winter Olympic games close at Oslo, Norway
1963 - Beatles release their 1st single in US "Please Please Me"
1986 - Corazon Aquino becomes President of the Philippines, Marcos flees
2011 - In the Irish general election, the Fianna Fáil-led government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state in 1921
2013 - Cuban President Raul Castro announces he will not seek term in 2018
2014 - 50 students are killed in a Boko Harem attack on a college in Buni, Nigeria
« » « »
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today


My Rambling Thoughts
Overcast, a little more snow, wind, a little more snow, and then blue sky. It sure felt like February today. Not much snow on the ground as it has melted quite quickly.
Headed out and did some grocery shopping today, so I am set with the stuff needed for some great meals the rest of the week and much of next week.
My brother and his wife and their dog returned to NYC this afternoon after about 3 weeks in Mexico. Glad they had such a great time.
I got a call from a friend I haven’t seen for about 12 years. Nice to catch up. They are in Sedona and said they would stop by now that they know where I am. Guess they just found out I wasn’t in Tuba anymore.
« » « »
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
In this teaser you are required to find a word relating to mathematics hiding in consecutive letters within each sentence. Have fun!

Example:
"They knew that they had done the wrong thing."
Answer: ADD located in: "...hAD Done..."

1. The governor gave the budget a cut everywhere possible.
2. It is rumoured that Capri men often marry Naples women.
3. He drove his new Mustang entirely too recklessly.
4. Groucho and Harpo were two of the Marx brothers.           


Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
« » « »
Agriculture Facts…
-- It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
--Sheep can survive for up to two weeks buried in snow drifts.

Book Facts…
-- Author Ian McEwan helped his son write his A-level English exam about one of his own novels, Enduring Love. The teacher disagreed with his interpretation.
--Critic Michael Crowley gave such a poor review of one of author Michael Crichton's books that, in his next book, Crichton made a character 'Mick Crowley' who was a child molester with a small penis.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
75 YEARS AGO-1940
The big 1 ¼-yard steam shovel used by Lewis Brothers Co. in building the new bridge at Canyon Diablo crashed to the floor of the canyon over 200 feet below the rim on Monday. It was demolished into hundreds of pieces. The operator jumped free to safety as it fell. Work will stop until a new shovel is obtained.

Harper’s Index…
117
Number of US universities that have received military equipment for DOD since 1998
6
That have received mine-resistant vehicles
2
Grenade launchers
Kindness Facts…
-- The United Arab Emirates donated a laptop to every high school student in Joplin, Missouri, after the city had been devastated by a tornado.
--Carlos Vasquez, a dry cleaner in New York, has a sign outside his shop that reads: If you are unemployed and need an outfit clean for an interview, we will clean it for free.

Rules of Thumb…
HUMAN HORSEPOWER
Working hard, the average person can generate about one-quarter horse power.

Unusual Fact of the Day…
Whether you call it “pop” or “soda,” the first diet version commercially available was No-Cal, a sugar-free ginger ale introduced in 1952 by the Kirsch Beverage Company.
« » « »
Joke-of-the-day
I've just started a band called 999 Megabytes. 
We haven't done a gig yet.

« »
A pilot is flying a small single engine plane with a lot of really important execs on board into Seattle airport. There is fog so thick that visibility is 10m, and his instruments are out. He circles looking for a landmark and after an hour, he is low on fuel and his passengers are very nervous. 
At last, through a small opening in the fog he sees a tall building with one guy working alone on the fifth floor. 
Circling, the pilot banks and shouts through his open window: "Hi, where am I?" 
The solitary office worker replies: "You're in an airplane." 
The pilot executes a swift 275 degree turn and executes a perfect blind landing on the runway five miles away. Just as the plane stops, the engines cough and die from lack of fuel. The stunned passengers asked the pilot how he did it. 
"Simple," replies the pilot, "I asked the guy in that building a simple question. The answer he gave me was 100 percent correct but absolutely useless; therefore, that must be Microsoft's support office, and from there, the airport is just 5 miles away on a bearing of 87 degrees!"

           
Yep, It Really Happened
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (UPI)
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a chair that uses magnets to assemble itself from six pieces underwater. 
The MIT Self-Assembly Lab team, led by Skylar Tibbits, released a video showing how the six pieces move around in the current of the water and assemble themselves using unique connection points that only allow the pieces to connect in the correct places. 
The pieces end up in the shape of a chair, but consumers shouldn't get too excited to test out the underwater seat -- it measures only 6 inches by 6 inches. 
The team said the "Fluid Assembly Furniture" needs moving water to help assemble itself using trial and error. The time-lapse video was actually shot over the course of seven hours, they said. 
"Finding a way to make the pieces more interchangeable would increase the probability of the pieces finding their matches," researcher Baily Zuniga told Wired. "Thus resulting in a faster assembly." 
The researchers said the technology could one day have applications in underwater infrastructure repair. 
           

Somewhat Useless Information
It is said that everything happens for a reason or you can never win destiny. These sayings confirmed what happened to a woman in New York when he tried to commit suicide.
A woman tried to commit suicide by jumping off the Empire State Building, one of the tallest buildings in America, but the wind blew her back onto the building, saving her life.
However, over the years, more than thirty people have attempted suicide, most successfully, by jumping from the upper parts of the building, which is quite sad.
+++
The first to drive a motor vehicle to the North Pole
Did you know that the first people to drive a motor vehicle to the North Pole were presenters of BBC’s Top Gear back in 2007?
The presenters were Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
The vehicle used was a modified Toyota Hilux and the project was coordinated by the car manufacturer Toyota and Top Gear, with the help of Arctic Trucks, an Icelandic vehicle modification company.
« »« »
Birthday’s Today
Sally Jessy Raphael, TV talk show host (Sally) is 80
Karen Grassle, actress (Caroline-Little House on Prairie) is 73
Carrot Top, [Scott Thompson], comedian is 50
Tea Leoni, actress (Flying Blind, Naked Truth) is 49
Sean Astin, actor (Goonies, Toy Soldiers) is 44
Chelsea Handler, American comedian\actress is 40
« »
Remembered for being born today
Jose de San Martin, liberated Argentina, Chile, Peru 1778-1850@72
Pierre Auguste Renoir, Impressionist painter/sculptor 1841-1919@78
John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State 1888-1959@71
[Herbert] Zeppo Marx, comedian/actor (Marx Brothers) 1901-1979@78
Jim Backus, actor (Mr Magoo, Thurston Howell III-Gilligan Is) 1913-1989@76
Anthony Burgess, essayist/novelist (Clockwork Orange) 1917-1993@76
Robert L. "Bobby" Riggs, tennis star (US Open 1939, 41) 1918-1995@77
Faron Young, country singer/actor (Hidden Guns, Daniel Boone) 1932-1996@64
George Harrison, rocker (Beatle; My Sweet Lord) 1943-2001@58
« » « »
Historical Obits Today
C Everett Koop, pediatric surgeon and health administrator, 2013, @96
Christopher Wren, England, astronomer/architect, 1723, @90
Darren McGavin, actor (Night Stalker), 2006, @83
Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam, heart failure, 1975, @77
Tennessee Williams, US playwright (Streetcar Named Desire), OD, 1983, @71
George ‘Bugs’ Moran, gangster, lung cancer in prison, 1957, @65
James Coco, actor (Joe-Dumplings), heart attack, 1987, @56
« » « »

Brain Teasers Answers
1. ACUTE (A CUT Everywhere)
2. PRIME (CaPRI MEn)
3. TANGENT (MusTANG ENTirely)
4. POWER (HarPO WERe)

« » « »

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…§

Followers

Total Pageviews

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
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.