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Dec 21, 2017 Week: 51\ Day: 355
86004 Today: H 48° \ L 21°
Average Sky Cover: 20%
Wind ave.: 11mph\Gusts: 27mph
Visibility: 10 mi
Record High: 61°[1969] Record Low: -6°[1967]
Dec Averages: 50°\23°
Dec Records: H: 68° (1950) L: -23° (1990)
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Quote of the Day
No one has a greater asset for his business
than a man's pride in his work.
Hosea Ballou
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Observances Today
Ann & Samantha Day Link
Celebrate Short Fiction Day
International Dalek Remembrance Day Link
National Homeless Persons' Remembrance Day Link
National Re-gifting Day Link
Phileas Fogg Win A Wager Day
Short Girl Appreciation Day
World Peace Day/Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice 11:28 AM EST
Yalda
Yule
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Observances This Week
14-28: Halcyon Days
16-24: Posadas
17-23: Saturnalia
Gluten-free Baking Week Link
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Today’s Significant US Historical Events
Today’s Significant International Historical Events
1500’s
1598 Battle of Curalaba: the Mapuche people led by Pelentaru revolt and inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile
1600’s
1620 103 Mayflower Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [OS=Dec 11]
1700’s
1784 John Jay becomes 1st US Secretary of State (foreign affairs)
1800’s
1829 1st stone arch railroad bridge in US dedicated, Baltimore
1844 The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1866 Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre
1891 1st game of basketball, based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts
1898 French Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium
1900’s
1906 British Parliament pass two important pieces of social legislation: The Trades Disputes Bill, legalizing peaceful picketing, and The Workingmen's Compensation Act, broadening employers' liability for accidents
1909 1st junior high school established (Berkeley California)
1913 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in NY World
1914 1st feature-length silent film comedy "Tillie's Punctured Romance" released starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin
1919 J. Edgar Hoover deports anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia
1921 Supreme Court rules labor injunctions & picketing unconstitutional
1932 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, 1st joint movie (Flying Down to Rio)
1933 Fox Films signs Shirley Temple, 5, to a studio contract
1937 The first full-length animated feature film and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre
1948 State of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence
1959 Tom Landry accepts coaching job with Dallas Cowboys (stays until 1988)
1970 Oregon v. Mitchell Supreme Court case was decided, lowering the minimum voting age in U.S. federal elections to 18. The voting age for state and local elections was left to states discretion
1976 UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979-Year of Child
1995 The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1996 Taiwanese-American AIDS researcher David Ho is named Time Magazine's Man of the Year
1999 The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
2000’s
2016 Carl Icahn is announced as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform, under President Donald Trump
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My Rambling Thoughts
This is my last post until I return after Christmas. Happy Holidays to all.
The Tax Overhaul bill has passed. I’m not holding my breath to see if my retirement checks get any bigger.
Picked up my last Christmas stuff. Tomorrow is packing and laundry day. Packing is always an issue. I try to keep it to a carry-on but usually don’t make it. I don’t like standing around a very crowded airport waiting for my bag, but it is hard to get presents and clothes and toiletries into a carry-on. Time will tell.
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Birthdays Today
@- indicates age at death
90’s
@91- Werner von Trapp,
member of the Trapp Family Singers
(d. 2007)
80’s
@88- Kurt Waldheim,
Austrian 4th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1972-81) and 9th President of Austria (1986-92), born in Sankt Andrä-Wördern, Austria
(d. 2007)
@85- Joe Paterno,
American college hall of football coach (Penn State) and Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of 1986,
born in Brooklyn,
(d. 2012)
@82- Paul Winchell,
American ventriloquist (Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smith),
born in NYC,
(d. 2005)
82- Phil Donahue,
TV talk show host (The Phil Donahue Show),
born in Cleveland
80- Jane Fonda,
American actress (Barbarella, Klute, 9 to 5),
born in NYC
70’s
@79- Roger Williams,
English theologian and colonist,
born in London
(d. 1684)
@76- Benjamin Disraeli,
1st Earl of Beaconsfield, British Prime Minister (Tory: 1868, 1874-80) and writer,
born in London
(d. 1881)
75- Hu Jintao,
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (2002-12) and President of the People's Republic of China (2003-13),
born in Taizhou, Jiangsu
60’s
69- Samuel L. Jackson,
American actor (Amos & Andrew, White Sand, Pulp Fiction),
born in Washington, D.C.
63- [Christine] Chris Evert,
tennis champion (18 singles Gram Slams, 3 doubles titles),
born in Fort Lauderdale
62- Jane Kaczmarek,
American actress
60- Ray Romano,
American actor (Everybody Loves Raymond, Ice Age),
born in Queens
50’s
@50± Thomas Becket,
English archbishop of Canterbury (1162-1170),
born in London, England
(d. 1170)
@52- Frank Zappa,
rocker (Mothers of Invention, Catholic Girls),
born in Baltimore,
(d. 1993)
52- Andy Dick,
actor (Matthew-Newsradio),
born in Charleston, South Carolina
51- Kiefer Sutherland,
American actor (Lost Boys, 24),
born in London, England
30’s
39- Emmanuel Macron,
President of France (2017-),
born in Amiens, France
@38- Florence Griffith Joyner,
runner
(d. 1998)
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Historical Obits Today
80’s
@82-2000 Alfred J. Gross,
American inventor (invented the walkie-talkie)
@80-1937 Frank Kellogg,
US Secretary of State and Nobel laureate
70’s
@73-1983 Rod Cameron [Nathan Roderick Cox],
Canadian actor (City Detective, State Trooper, Trigger Trail),
cancer
60’s
@66-2001 Dick Schaap,
American sports journalist,
complications after surgery
@60-1945 George S. Patton,
American WWII general (Sicily, Italy and Normandy) known as "Old Blood & Guts",
congestive heart failure
40’s
@47-1974 Richard Long,
American actor (Prof-Nanny and the Professor),
heart attack
@44-1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald,
American author (Great Gatsby, Zelda),
heart attack
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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…☼☼☼☼
