May 11

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May 11, 2019 Week: 19 \ Day: 131

86004:   H 63° \ L 37° \ Average Sky Cover: 85% 

Nearest wildfire:  79mi. Nearest lightning:  106mi

Wind:   2mph\Gusts:  6mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 86°[1996]   Record Low: 16°[1933]

Mar Averages: 68°\34° (3 days with rain)

Today’s Quote

He who angers you conquers you.

Elizabeth Kenny

Random Tidbits

Its purpose was to rid coalmines of floodwater, allowing miners to reach new depths. It was considered so efficient for its time the design wasn't altered for six decades

The next advance in steam engine technology involved the realization that steam itself, rather than the condensing of steam to create a vacuum, could power an engine. In 1804, American inventor Oliver Evans (1755-1819) designed the first high-pressure, non-condensing engine.

Observances This Week

Ramadan 5/5-6/4

Children's Book Week: 6-11 
National Pet Week: 6-12 Link  
National Nurses Day and Week: 6-12 Link  Link
National Safety Stand Down Week (Construction Falls): 6-10 Link 
National Wildflower Week: 6-11

Universal Family Week: 10-16 

Observances for Today

American Indian Day Link
Astronomy Day

Baby Sitters Day
Bereaved Mother's Day
Birthmother's Day  Link
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day Link 
Eat What You Want Day
Hostess Cupcake Day Link
International Migratory Bird Day 
Jamestown Day
Letter Carrier's  Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day Link  
Martin Z. Mollusk Day Link 
Mother Ocean Day
National Archery Day  Link 
National Babysitters Day  
National Dog Mom's Day 
National Foam Rolling Day Link (Massage)
National Miniature Golf Day 
National Windmill Day
Root Canal Appreciation Day 
Spring Astonomy Day Link
Stay Up All Night
Twilight Zone Day

World Belly Dance Day
World Fair Trade Day 

My Rambling Thoughts

Things are coming together nicely. Yesterday afternoon my passport with Russia and China visas attached arrived from FedEx. It took a little longer than I wanted, but it is now here, so time to get serious about the trip.

Dr. says my potassium is a little high, so gave me a list of foods to eat that are low in potassium. Easy to fix is my plan.

This weekend is our local university’s graduation, so I’m staying away from that side of town. Lots of traffic, lots of visitors who have no idea where they are, where they are going, or where they have been. One of my neighbors finished her classes loaded up her vehicle and headed home.

I am still getting rain from all the clouds. Last night was more rain and more thunder. Today is just on and off rain. So nice! It should continue through much of the weekend. Thankfully, no flooding.

Our discussion group meets tomorrow to discuss one of my least favorite topics, the Middle East. I’ve got a boat load of reading to be ready to discuss the changes over there in the last year.

PUZZLE OF THE DAY

Answer at the bottom of this page

A man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat.

How did the dog do it?

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1700’s

1751 Pennsylvania Hospital founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin

1752 1st US fire insurance policy issued in Philadelphia

1792 Columbia River discovered & named by US Captain Robert Gray

1800’s

1850 Work starts on 1st brick building in San Francisco

1858 Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state

1900’s

1904 Andrew Carnegie donates $1.5M to build a peace palace

1910 Montana's Glacier National Park forms

1924 Pulitzer Prize awarded to Robert Frost (New Hampshire)

1924 Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie begin their first joint venture (later merge into Mercedes-Benz)

1940 NY World's Fair reopens

1942 William Faulkner's collections of short stories, "Go Down, Moses", is published

1949 Siam renames itself Thailand

1953 Winston Churchill criticizes US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' domino theory

1960 Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires

1965 Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument

1967 100,000,000th US phone connected

1973 Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed

1978 Margaret A Brewer is 1st female general in the US Marine Corps

1989 Kenya announces worldwide ban on ivory to preserve its elephant herds

1989 US President George H. W. Bush orders nearly 2,000 troops to Panama

2000’s

2000 India's population officially reaches 1 billion - Astha Arora named India's billionth baby

2010 David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after forming a coalition government between the Liberal Democrats and his own Conservative Party

2015 Record price for a work of art at auction: Picasso's The Women of Algiers (Version ‘O’) sells for US$179.3 million at Christies in New York

2018 Most popular names in the US for 2017 revealed as Emma for girls, Liam for boys

Birthdays Today

0’s

1811 Chang & Eng Bunker,

(d. 1874: @62)

Chinese-Thai Siamese twins, born in Samutsongkram, Thailand

1888 Irving Berlin

[Israel Isidore Baline]

(d. 1989: @101)

American composer and lyricist considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history (God Bless America, White Xmas), born in Tyumen, Russian Empire

1894 Martha Graham,

(d. 1991: @96)

American choreographer (Appalachian Spring)

1904 Salvador Dali,

(d. 1989: @84)

Spanish surrealist artist (Crucifixion),

born in Figueres, Spain

1920 Denver Pyle,

(d. 1997: @77: lung cancer)

American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, The Andy Griffith Show),

born in Cincinnati, Ohio

1935 Doug McClure,

(d. 19995: @59: lung cancer)

actor (Checkmate, Virginian, Roots),

born in Glendale, California

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90’s

92- Mort Sahl,

comedian/political satirist/beatnik (Big Party),

born in Montreal, Quebec

80’s

86- Louis Farrakhan

[Louis Eugene Wolcott],

American religious leader (Nation of Islam, Million Man March),

born in New York City

70’s

73- Robert Jarvik,

American scientist and researcher

(developed the Jarvik-7 artificial heart),

born in Midland, Michigan

40’s

46- Natasha Richardson,

English actress (Gothic, Handmaid's Tale),

born in London, England

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@86-1960 John D. Rockefeller Jr,

American financier and philanthropist, d

ies of pneumonia

@84-1996 Malcolm MacEwen,

writer

70’s

@79-1871 John Herschel,

cataloguer of southern hemisphere stars

@71-2006 Floyd Patterson,

American boxer

(world heavyweight champion 1956-59, 1960-62, Olympic gold 1952),

dies of prostate cancer

60’s

@64-1979 Lester Raymond Flatt,

musician (Ballad of Jed Clampett),

dies of heart failure

50’s

@54-1973 Lex Barker,

American actor (Tarzan and the Apes)

40’s

@49-2001 Douglas Adams,

English author (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy),

dies of myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia

30’s

@36-1981 Bob Marley,

Jamaican reggae musician (One Love),

dies of brain and lung cancer

Puzzle answer:

The river was frozen.