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Dec. , 2019 Week: 51 Day:
86004: H 41° \ L 28° \ Average Sky Cover: 99%
snow flurries
Nearest lightning:
1920mi
Nearest active fire:
468mi.
Wind: 4mph\Gusts: 9mph Visibility:
10 mi
Record High: 63°[1958] Record Low: -18°[1971]
Dec. Averages: 44°\17° (5 days with moisture)
Today’s Quote
“Old age is not as honorable as death,
but most people want it.”
Crow
~ Native American Proverb
Random Tidbits
An archaeologist
discovered a 5,000-year-old brewery in China
Kicking back with a
pint isn't as modern as you might think. In 2016, archaeologists in the Central
Plain of China discovered "beer-making tool kits" in underground
rooms that were built between 3400 and 2900 B.C. The equipment included
funnels, pots, jugs, and a pottery stove. Scientists used the residue they
found inside of the tools to deduce the 5,000-year-old beer recipe, which they
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.
Observances This Week
3-24
10-17
Human
Rights Week
14-1/5
14-28
Halcyon
Days
(Always
7 days before and 7 days after the Winter Solstice)
15-21
Observances for Today
My Rambling Thoughts
Woke up to some
clouds, now it is overcast and there are snow flurries. Looks pretty winter-y
out there. Makes it a good day to organize Christmas presents for Mexico and
get cards ready to mail to Chicago In-Laws. Forgot to pick up cash for the niece
and nephew, but will do that tomorrow morning before mailing the cards.
My wish for the new
year: Everybody, especially politicians, learn to get along. I am so tired of
this bipolar world of politics. If we don’t unite soon, our country is destined
to remain in turmoil until the election in November at the earliest. I really
don’t want another year of this political chaos. Last night I watched a
documentary on the Clinton impeachment. I was working 8-10 hours a day and only
followed it with the Evening news. Lots more controversy than I remember. Now
that I’m retired, I have way too much time at home when I listen to CNN. I’m
going to break that habit when I get back from Mexico.
I finally got my mail hold
in place with USPS. I couldn’t do squat on the site using IE, but when I
switched to Chrome, everything worked fine. Crazy technology. All that is left
now is notifying my bank so my cards will work, and hopefully getting some
Pesos from the bank before I leave.
The Broncos game is
only on my internet, it never looked so good for them. I can watch the Cards
game, but don’t expect anything spectacular from them either.
Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of this page
What do you get if you
divide 14 by 1/2 ?
Historical Events
1653 Parliamentarian
General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and
Ireland
1707 (Eruption) The
last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
1777 - Virginia
becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1811 (Earthquake) An
8.6 magnitude earthquake hit the United States, the largest in our history. The
area affected included: Missouri, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Arkansas. Amazingly, no people were killed.
1835 - Great Fire of
New York City. Over 600 buildings were destroyed.
1884 - The first US
patent (#309,219) was issued for an automatic liquid vending machine to William
H. Fruen of Minneapolis, MN. People could get a measured amount of a liquid for
coin payment.
1893 - Czech composer
Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor From the New World was performed at
Carnegie Hall. The music had African roots, and the piece greatly influenced
the American musical landscape for the next century.
1907 As a gesture of
the US's new presence as a world power, President Theodore Roosevelt sends the
'Great White Fleet' on a round-the-world cruise, visiting ports internationally
1912 -The world's
first stamp to depict an airplane was issued in the US, available at Post
Offices on January 1, 1912.
1920 (Earthquake)
Haiyuan County, Ningxia, China
1921 The Anglo-Irish
Treaty, agreed to by the British Parliament and Sinn Fein, is ratified 1944 -
Attacking the Allies in northern France through northwestern Belgium, Hitler's
army started the Operation Mist (aka Ardennes Offensive or the Battle of the
Bulge).
1946 French fashion
designer Christian Dior and his backer Marcel Boussac found fashion house
Christian Dior
1953 1st White House
Press Conference (President Eisenhower & 161 reporters)
1968 -Second Vatican Council: Officially
revoked of the 1492 Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.
1972 - #1 Hit: Billy Paul - Me and Mrs.
Jones
1983 - Silkwood and
Uncommon Valor debuted in theaters.
1988 - Rain Man, Dirty
Rotten Scoundrels and Torch Song Trilogy were released in theaters.
2006 - #1 Hit: Beyonce - Irreplaceable
2009 Ben Bernanke,
Chair of the US Federal Reserve is named Time's Person of the Year for rescuing
the global economy from the Great Recession
2016 US State
Department increases reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi to $25 million
Birthdays Today
@91 - Arthur C.
Clarke, British science fiction writer (2001: Space Odyssey) (died in
2008)
78 - Lesley Stahl,
American journalist
@76 - Margaret Mead,
American anthropologist and author
(died in 1978; pancreatic cancer)
@73 - Noël Coward, UK
actor, playwright, and composer (died in 1973; heart failure)
73 - Benny Andersson,
Swedish singer-songwriter, ABBA
@56 - Ludwig van
Beethoven, composer
(died in 1827; damaged liver)
@50 - Catherine of
Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife
(died
in 1536)
58 - Shane Black,
American actor, director, and
Screenwriter
56 - Benjamin Bratt,
American actor
@41 - Jane Austen, Novelist
(died in 1817; Addison’s Disease)
38 - Krysten Ritter,
American actress
Puzzle answer:
14/1 x 2/1 = 28/1 or
28.
