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Jan 16, 2018 Week: 03\ Day: 16
86004 Today: H 58° \ L 26° \ Average Sky Cover: 35%
Wind ave.: 1mph\Gusts: 6mph Visibility: 10 mi
Record High: 60°[1974] Record Low: -8°[1915]
Jan Averages: 50°\23°
Jan Records: H: 66° (1971) L: -30° (1937)
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Today’s Quote
Harper’s Index
4-Number of private debt-collection firms that the IRS plans to use to obtain overdue payments
1/18/2017-Date on which a US gov’t agency sued one of those firms for deceptive collection practices
$4,460,000-Amount of revenue the IRS lost the previous time it employed private debt collectors
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Observances This Week
11-17
Cuckoo Dancing Week
14-20
Healthy Weight Week
15-19
No Name Calling Week Link
Sugar Awareness Week
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Observances for Today
Civil Service Day
Religious Freedom Day Link
Rid The World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day
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Today’s Significant US Historical Events
Today’s Significant International Historical Events
1400’s
1492 The first grammar of a modern language, Spanish, is presented to Queen Isabella.
1700’s
1777 Vermont declares independence from New York
1800’s
1847 John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory
1868 Refrigerator car patented by William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit
1870 Virginia becomes 8th state readmitted to US after Civil War
1883 Pendleton Act creates basis of US Civil Service system
1897 John Dewey's essay "My Pedagogic Creed" appears in School Journal
1900’s
1917 "Zimmermann Telegram" is sent from Germany to Mexico, stating in the event of the US entering World War I on the allied side, Mexico would be given Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Intercepted by British intelligence and partially deciphered by the next day. It's release in March shifts US public opinion in favor of war against Germany.
1925 Leon Trotsky resigns as chairman of the Russian Revolutionary Military Council as he and Stalin battle for power in the aftermath of Lenin's death.
1938 1st jazz concert held at Carnegie Hall (Benny Goodman)
1939 Daily newspaper comic strip "Superman" debuts
1951 World's largest gas pipeline opens (Brownsville Texas, to 134th St, New York City)
1963 Khrushchev claims to have a 100-megaton nuclear bomb
1964 "Hello, Dolly!" opens at St James Theater NYC for 2,844 performances
1965 "Outer Limits" last airs on ABC-TV
1970 Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects
1974 "Jaws" by Peter Benchley is published by Doubleday
1979 Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran for Egypt during the Iranian Revolution
1985 "Playboy" announces end of stapling centerfolds
1988 Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder fired from CBS for racial remarks
2000’s
2001 US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War
2006 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
2011 French politician Marine Le Pen becomes the leader of the National Front Party
2016 First ever flower grown in space - a zinnia aboard the International Space Station using NASA Veggie system
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My Rambling Thoughts
Beautiful MLK day. Sun comes out, high clouds disappear. Then clouds return and it’s overcast, then the sun comes out and clouds are gone. Crazy. Most of my neighbors seem to be at work…not everyone recognizes this holiday. Sad.
I have loved visiting Africa and seeing the wide variety of wild animals. Last night, CNN had a special about ‘Trophy hunting’ these amazing animals. It appeared to be fairly well balanced between trophy hunters and conservationists. I only watched the first hour, as I was too angry to watch more. African communities are doing what they can to stop poaching, allowing for legal hunts, setting up breeding farms for the most endangered species. Trophy hunting is really nothing but big bucks. Poaching is the same.
In my younger days, I did go deer and elk hunting and had success. I always hunted with Natives so there were different ‘rules’. Always showing respect which includes no celebrating right after a kill. Eating all of what is harvested. Giving some to those in need. Sharing with family members. Traditional prayers said before and after the kill.
Oh boy, headlines are talking about a possible government shutdown on Friday. Of course, if there is a shut-down, Congress will still get paid. And government employees who are sent home will, when the budget passes, get pay for the work days of the shutdown. All that happens is that the government employees stop processing all paperwork and the backlog simply becomes a little longer. Stupidity in action.
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Birthdays Today
@- indicates age at death
90’s
@90- Carl Karcher,
founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain
(d. 2008)
80’s
@87- Frank Zamboni,
American inventor
(d. 1988)
70’s
@78- Andre Michelin,
French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin)
publisher of the Michelin Guide,
born in Paris
(d. 1931)
@76- Ethel Merman,
American stage and screen actress (Anything Goes, Call Me Madam),
born in Queens,
brain cancer (d. 1984)
74- Jim Stafford,
singer (Spiders & Snakes, My Girl Bill)
born in Eloise, Fla
@72- Fulgencio Batista,
Dictator and President of Cuba (1933-44, 1952-59),
born in Banes, Cuba
heart attack (d. 1973)
@71- Susan Sontag,
American author/film director (Benefactor, 1966 Pol Award),
born in NYC
leukemia (d. 2004)
70- John Carpenter,
American film director (Halloween, The Thing),
born in Carthage, NY
60’s
68- Debbie Allen,
dancer/actress (3 Girls 3, Lydia-Fame),
born in Houston, Texas
50’s
59- Sade
R&B Nigerian born English singer
@53- Dian Fossey,
American zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist),
born in San Francisco,
murdered in her camp (d. 1985)
40’s
@44- Edith Frank,
mother of Holocaust diarist Anne Frank, born in Aachen, Germany
starved in concentration camp (d. 1945)
44- Kate Moss,
English model,
born in Croydon, England
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Historical Obits Today
90’s
@94-2013 Pauline Phillips,
American advice columnist
80’s
@89-2014 Russell Johnson,
American television and film actor,
"The Professor" on Gilligan's Island
@89-1957 Arturo Toscanini,
Italian US conductor (NBC)
@82-2017 Eugene Cernan,
American NASA astronaut (12th person on the moon)
70’s
@71-2007 Ron Carey,
American actor (Barney Miller),
stroke
@71-1906 Marshall Field,
American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company,
pneumonia
50’s
@56-1794 Edward Gibbon,
English historian (The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire),
peritonitis
@52-1972 David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian Sr.),
singer (Alvin & Chipmunks),
heart attack
40’s
@47-1752 Francis Blomefield,
English topographer
smallpox
@46-1979 Ted Cassidy,
actor (Lurch-Addams Family),
complications after heart surgery
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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…☼☼☼☼
