3-2-15

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Almanac: Week: 10 \ Day: 061 
March Averages: 50°\23°
86004 Today: H 40°\L 31° Average Sky Cover: 95% 
Wind ave:   2mph\Gusts:  12mph
Ave. High: 48° Record High:  65° (1910) Ave. Low: 21° Record Low:  -1° (1971)
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Observances Today:
Casimir Pulaski Day—‘Father of American Calvary”
Dr. Seuss Day
Fun Facts About Names Day
NEA's Read Across America Day

Observances This Week:
      1-7
 …Celebrate Your Name Week
…National Cheerleading Week
…National Consumer Protection Week
National Pet Sitters Week  
…National Procrastination Week

…National Ghostwriters Week
…National Maple Syrup Days
…National Schools Social Work Week 
National Severe Storm Preparedness Week 
…National Sleep Awareness Week
…National Words Matter Week
…Professional Pet Sitters Week
…Read an E-Book Week 
Return The Borrowed Books Week
…Save Your Vision Week
…Severe Weather Preparedness Week 
Telecommuter Appreciation Week (Always Week that has Alexander Graham Bell's Birthday 3/2)
…Women in Construction Week 
       2-6

…National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
…Universal Human Beings Week
...Will Eisner Week

…Newspaper in Education Week
National School Breakfast Week
…Share A Story - Shape A Future Week  

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Quote of the Day 

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US Historical Highlights for Today
1819 - Territory of Arkansas organized
1819 - US passed its 1st immigration law
1824 - Interstate commerce comes under federal control
1825 - 1st grand opera in US sung in English, NYC
1829 - New England Asylum for the Blind, 1st in US, incorporated, Boston
1836 - Republic of Texas declares independence from Mexico in Columbia
1853 - Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Territory
1861 - Government Printing Office purchases 1st printing plant, Washington
1861 - US creates Dakota & Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska & Utah territory
1867 - 1st Reconstruction act passed by US Congress
1867 - US Congress abolishes peonage in New Mexico
1867 - US Congress created the Department of Education
1868 - University of Illinois opens
1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes (R) declared president despite Samuel J Tilden (D) winning the popular vote, but is 1 electoral vote shy of victory
1893 - 1st federal railroad legislation passed; required safety features
1899 - Pres McKinley signs bill creating Mt Rainier Natl Park (5th in US)
1901 - The United States Congress passes the Platt amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops
1903 - Martha Washington Hotel, catering to women only, opens in NYC
1917 - Jones Act: Puerto Rico territory created, US citizenship granted
1925 - Nationwide road numbering system & US shield marker adopted
1930 - Tucson businessmen staged a milk price war; the public got its milk for 14 cents a quart.
1939 - Massachusetts Legislature votes to ratify the US Bill of Rights - 147 years late
1949 - 1st automatic street light (New Milford, Ct)
1953 - The Academy Awards are first broadcast on television by NBC
1962 - Wilt Chamberlain scores incredible 100 points in an NBA game
1965 - "The Sound Of Music" opens
1966 - 215,000 US soldiers in Vietnam
1970 - Supreme Court ruled draft evaders can not be penalized after 5 years
1977 - Bette Davis-1st woman to receive American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award
1983 - Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced
1989 - The Navajo Code Talker Monument is erected
1994 - Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender if taped statement is broadcasted, it is, but he doesn't
1998 - Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice

Today’s World Events through History
1717 - The Loves of Mars and Venus becomes the first ballet performed in England
1808 - The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, was held in Edinburgh
1937 - Mexico nationalizes oil
1946 - Ho Chi Minh elected president of North Vietnam
1970 - Rhodesia becomes independent republic
1978 - 1st broadcast of "Dallas" on CBS TV
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  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today


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My Rambling Thoughts
Snowy day in our little mountain town. I have at least 8” on the ground. Snows, then stops, then snows again. Very wet and very heavy.
Caught up with my Sunday news shows. Interesting as the FCC makes new rules to protect net neutrality, causing seizures on the right, a new study was released this last week that places the US in 27th place for broadband speed. Bulgaria is 28th. WOW. The US is also paying some of the highest prices for access to the internet. No surprise there.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
I am a queen, beautiful and 
Covered with a sweet fragrance,
Guarded by five guardsmen,
Two of them clean-shaven,
Two of them unshaven,
And the last one half-shaven.

What am I?

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Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
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Book Facts…
Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a 50,000 word book titled 'Gadsby' which did not use the letter "e".
Amazon sells more e-books than printed books.
The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

Color Facts…
There’s a rare breed of chicken called Ayam Cemani that’s completely black. They have black plumage, legs, nails, beak, and even black meat, bones, and a black tongue!
╪ There is a family with a genetic condition that makes their skin blue, who have been isolated in rural Kentucky for generations.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
50 years ago-1965
On Sunday, Southwest Forest Industries honored 150 longtime employees who have had 40 to 45 years work with a “Service Pin” and lunch at the Flagstaff Armory. Don Herring, Senior Employee with 50 years in the plant security department was also honored. Lunch was service by the LDS Relief Society.
50 years ago-1965
A. J. Bayless is offering double stamps on Wednesday. T-bones @89 cents, Ice Cream @69 cents for a half gallon and Arizona Oranges 10 cents a pound.

Harper’s Index…
12
Minimum number of abducted Japanese citizens who have lived in N. Korea for at least 30 years

Prison Facts…
Before escaping prison, Winston Churchill left a letter of apology on his bed. The letter began: "I have the honour to inform you that as I do not consider that your Government have any right to detain me as a military prisoner, I have decided to escape from your custody."
╪ In 2013, a homeless man from Oregon robbed a bank for $1, then casually sat down and waited for police to arrest him so he could receive healthcare in prison.

Unusual Fact of the Day…
John Quincy Adams was elected the 6th President of the United States despite losing both the popular and electoral vote. No one won the majority, so the election went to the House of Representatives, where Adams had more friends than his competition.
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2 jokes for the day
Q: Which spice is the worst at keeping secrets? 
A: Only thyme will tell.

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A priest, a lawyer, and an accountant were all at the bedside of a very ill man. The man said to them, "Gentlemen, I'm dying. Before I go, however, I want to ask you one final favor: My family is rotten and I don't want to give any of them an inheritance. I would like to be buried with the remainder of my money." He then hands the priest, the lawyer, and the accountant three envelopes that contain $100,000 each. 
"While my coffin is being lowered into the earth, please throw each of the envelopes in. Don't tell anyone what's inside the envelopes." 
So the three men leave. Sure enough, one week later, the man dies. During the funeral, the three men toss the envelopes into the grave whilst the coffin was being lowered. After the funeral, the three men go to a cafe to discuss the life of the old man.

The priest says, "I have a confession: I took $10,000 from my envelope. But I used it to fix up the children's home. The old man was always very generous and loved the children. I'm sure he wouldn't mind seeing where his money went." 
The lawyer pipes in, "Well, I also have a confession: I took $30,000 as payment of a personal loan he borrowed from me years ago." 
The accountant, looking rather shocked, says, 
"I cannot believe you two! I wrote a personal check that covered the whole thing!"      

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Yep, It Really Happened
WOOD STREET VILLAGE, England (UPI)
Pranksters in an English town installed a toilet, sink and toilet paper holder at an outdoor bus stop, local officials said. Worplesdon Parish Council Clerk Gaynor White said pranksters have repeatedly targeted Worplesdon bus stops with acts of destructive vandalism, but the latest act, discovered Monday in Wood Street Village, is in its own league. "I received a phone call just before midday and the groundsman said 'you will never guess what I have found,'" she told Get Surrey. "I have been the parish clerk for 15 and a half years, and I have never seen anything like it -- it is hysterical really." "The key question is -- should this be considered a bus shelter improvement or simply money down the drain?" White quipped. "Perhaps we should ask parishioners to share a penny for their thoughts on this one?" White said she does not believe the pranksters behind the toilet installation were responsible for previous incidents that led to costly repairs. "This time is different," White said. "It was creative. The others incidents were actually destructive." White said the toilet and sink were bolted into place, but weren't connected to any water source. However, she said someone apparently put the toilet to use. "Although trialed by someone, the new facility has now been removed by the vice-chairman of the parish council and myself," she told the Guildford Dragon. "I took the bathroom fittings to the dump at lunchtime today." "The fun police have been to take the fun away, you could say," White told Get Surrey.            
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Somewhat Useless Information
In 2001, Dean Kamen, a self-taught physicist and established inventor, developed the Segway, claiming he could make walking "obsolete." Kamen had previously developed a phonebook-sized portable dialysis machine, a non-polluting engine, and more than 150 other patented contraptions. 
Segway PTs (personal transporters) have electric motors that drive the apparatus at speeds up to 12.5 miles per hour.
The Segway is designed with "redundant technology." This means the device features duplicates of its important pieces of hardware. If one function fails, an internal computer uses the duplicate function to keep the machine stable enough for the rider to hop off safely.
Most Segways can travel about 12 miles before they need to be recharged.
On newer Segways, the control shaft sways in sync with the rider if he or she wants to turn.
It is illegal to use a Segway on streets, roads, or highways. They are allowed on sidewalks and bike lanes.

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Birthday’s Today
83 - Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party
60 - Ken Salazar, politician-Sec. of Interior
59 - John Cowsill, rock drummer (Cowsills-We Can Fly)
53 - Jon Bon Jovi, rocker (Bon Jovi-Give Love a Bad Name)
47 - Daniel Craig, English actor (007)
38 - Chris Martin, English musician (Coldplay)
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Remembered for being born today
1793-1863@70 - Sam[uel] Houston, 1st president of Texas
1862-1933@71 - John Jay Chapman, US advocate/poet (Learning & Other Essays)
1876-1958@82 - Pius XII, [Euhenio MGG Pacelli], 260th Pope (1939-58)
1904-1991@87- Dr. Seuss,[Theodor Geisel], author(Horton Hears a Who!)
1917-1986@69 - Desi Arnaz, Santiago Cuba, actor (I Love Lucy)
1950-1983@32 - Karen Carpenter, vocalist/drummer (We Only Just Begun)
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Historical Obits Today
José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish poet and writer, 1967@93
Randolph Scott, actor (Fort Worth, Gung Ho, Jesse James), 1987@89
John Wesley, English co-founder of Methodism, 1791@87
Horace [Horatio] Walpole, British horror writer, 1797@79
Howard Carter, Brit archaeologist/Egyptologist (King Tut), lymphoma, 1939@64
Dusty Springfield, English singer, cancer, 1999@59
David Herbert(DH) Lawrence, writer (Lady Chatterley's Lover), TB, 1930@44
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Brain Teasers Answers
A Rose.

When you look at a rose, the colored petals forming the rose represent the queen.
The five green leaf-like flaps below the petals, called sepals, represent the five guardsmen.
At closer inspection, you will see these five leaves have very distinct characteristics.
Two of them are clean-shaven, meaning smooth edges on both sides.
Two of them are unshaven, meaning on both sides of the leaf there are small little tentacles, sometimes very fine, sometimes larger. 
And the last one is half-shaven, meaning one smooth edge and one 'tentacle' edge.

Another interesting thing is that you'll always find a smooth edge and a 'tentacle' edge next to each other. 

Go and have a look! All true roses have these characteristics!

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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.