Aug 16

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Aug 16, 2018 Week: 33\ Day: 228

86004 Today: H 75° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 70% 

Nearest Lightning: 97 miles away

Wind ave.:   2mph\Gusts:  8mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 89°[1939]   Record Low: 37°[1968]

Aug Averages: 80°\49°

Today’s Quote

   Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.

   Eleanor Roosevelt

Harper’s Index

 0

  Number of the 20 largest German companies that are

  headquartered in the former East German

  2

  Rank of Germany in consumption of nonalcoholic beer

  1

  Of Iran

Observances This Week

9-16

Elvis Week Link
National Hobo Week Link
National Scrabble Week  Link  

12-18

National Motorcycle Week Link 
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week  Link  Link 
National Resurrect Romance Week
Weird Contest Week 

15-21

National Aviation Week  

16-26

Little League World Series

Observances for Today

Joe Miller's Joke Day
National Airborne Day
National Rollercoaster Day Day
National Tell a Joke Day

Surveilance Day Link  Link

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1800’s                                         

1812 British forces under the command of Major General Sir Isaac Brock capture Fort Detroit with the help of Indigenous warriors led by Tecumseh

1861 US President Abraham Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with Confederacy

1880 The French state commissions sculptor Auguste Rodin for a large sculpted doorway 'The Gates of Hell' for the proposed Musée des Arts Décoratifs

1894 Indian chiefs from the Sioux & Onondaga tribes met to urge their people to renounce Christianity & return to their old Indian faith

1896 Gold first discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek, Alaska by George Carmack

1900’s                                         

1930 The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.

1934 US ends occupation of Haiti (been there since 1915)

1936 11th Olympic games closes in Berlin

1936 The Berlin Olympic equestrian competition concludes with Germany winning all 6 gold medals in an unprecedented team achievement

1954 "Sports Illustrated" magazine begins publishing

1969 Second day of the Woodstock rock festival in NY

1972 Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot during failed coup attempt by General Mohamed Oufkir. Reportedly, King Hassan grabbed the radio and told the rebel pilots "Stop firing! The tyrant is dead!", fooling pilots to break off attack

1988 Mayor Koch says he plans to wipe out street-corner windshield washers

1989 A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.

2000’s                                         

2003 U.S. Representative from South Dakota Bill Janklow hits and kills a motorcyclist with his car at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota; he will eventually be convicted of manslaughter and will resign from Congress.

2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

2012 Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador

2016 Wildfire breaks out in San Bernardino County, California, engulfing 15,000 acres, prompting evacuation of 82,000 people

2017 Over 100 Maasai houses destroyed in Tanzania by game park authorities as part of a border dispute near Serengeti National Park

My Rambling Thoughts

The monsoon continues. Last night was another hard-male rain with some lightning. Over an inch of rain in about 45 minutes. More expected today.

More deflection today. Put out a new shiny object for the press and the American people to ponder. Have to say, there is a procedure to remove someone’s security clearance. That procedure has worked for decades. Now 45 ‘don’t give no nevermind’ to the way things have worked, so he just does it himself…much like a dictator. This is not the first time 45 has discounted procedures and it won’t be the last. Starting to look like anyone in government who criticizes 45 will pay a big price and so does our country. Former senior officials can offer a lot to any administration. There have always been formers who have criticized a new administration, but this is far past that.

The whole distraction policy is getting very boring. The name calling and ridicule are not Presidential. I really need to change the channel from this reality TV show to something of substance.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@85- George Meany, labor leader (headed AFL-CIO), born in NYC, New York (d. 1980)

85- Julie Newmar, actress (Catwoman-Batman, Living Doll), born in Hollywood, California

@85- Fess Parker, actor (Davy Crockett, Old Yeller), born in Fort Worth Texas (d. 2010)

@84- Frank Gifford, American NFL halfback (NY Giants)/ABC sportscaster, born in Santa Monica, California (d. 2015)

@84- Eydie Gorme [Edithe Gormezano], American singer (Bossa Nova), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2013)

70’s

@79- Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), born in Oakland, California (d. 2010) heart attack

@78- Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister (1977-83, Nobel 1978), born in Brest, Belarus (d. 1992) heart attack

71- James Taylor, SC, rocker (Kool & The Gang-Joanna)

60’s

65- Kathie Lee Gifford, Paris Fla, hostess (Live with Regis & Kathie Lee)

64- James Cameron, Canadian film director and writer (Titanic, Avatar), born in Kapuskasing, Ontario

60- Madonna [Ciccone], American singer and actress (Like a Virgin), born in Bay City, Michigan

60- Angela Bassett, actress

50’s

56- Steve Carell, American actor and comedian (The Office), born in Concord, Massachusetts

40’s

@46- T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia], British author, soldier and diplomat famous for his liaison role in Arabia during WWI, born in Tremadog, Caernarfonshire, Wales (d. 1935) motorcycle accident

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@89-2016 John McLaughlin, American TV commentator (McLaughlin Group) and Nixon aide

@88-2012 William Windom, American actor, (Murder She Wrote)

@88-1899 Robert Bunsen, German chemist who invented the Bunsen Burner

@85-1854 Duncan Phyfe, furniture maker, dies

@83-2004 Acquanetta [Mildred Davenport], American actress nicknamed "The Venezuelan Volcano" (Tarzan & Leopard Woman)

70’s

@75-80-2003 Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator (1971-79) who killed an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 people, kidney failure

@73-1956 Bela Lugosi, actor (Dracula), heart attack

60’s

@60-1989 Amanda Blake [Beverly Louise Neill], American actress (Gunsmoke), AIDS

50’s

@57-1888 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), stomach cancer

@53-1948 George Herman (Babe) Ruth, American Baseball Hall of Fame slugger, Esophageal cancer

40’s

@48-1949 Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With the Wind), hit by car

@42-1977 Elvis Presley, American musician, the official cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia

Teens

@16-1991 Shamu the Whale, respiratory failure Orcas in the wild live to be 50-80 years old

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…☼☼☼☼