April 2023
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 16 Day 112 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 25 miles Flagstaff Today 69° \26° Wind
4mph \ Gusts 11mph
Air Quality: Fair \Very
Low Moderate High Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 30mi \ Nearest
Lightning 879mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3
Days of moisture
Today’s
Quote
Weekly
Observations
15-22 International Dark Sky Week
16-22 Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness
Week
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week
National Paperboard Packaging Week
National
Pet ID Week
Numismatic Week (National Coin Week)
16-23 Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week
18-24 Cleaning For A Reason Week
Consumer Awareness Week
Police Officers Gave Their Lives In The
Line of Duty
19-23 International Mariachi Week
20-23 Fiddler's Frolic
21-5/2 Festival of Ridvan (Baha'i)
22-27 International Wildlife Film Week
22-29 National Dance Week
22-30 National
Park Week
Administrative Professionals Week
Daily Observations
Beagle Day Link Link
Celebrate Trails Day Link
Chemists Celebrate The Earth Day
Earth Day
Girl Scout Leaders Day
Global Selfie Earth Day (NASA)
Chemists Celebrate The Earth Day
Earth Day
Girl Scout Leaders Day
Global Selfie Earth Day (NASA) Link
"In God We Trust Day" Day (coins)
International Marconi Day Link
International Mother Earth Day
International Mother Earth Day
Jelly Bean Day
National Baseball Day Link
National Dance Day
National Jelly Bean Day Link
National Drug Take Back Day Link
National Teach Children To Save Day
Pet Tech Pet CPR Day
My
Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts
I
am so enjoying this great spring weather. I took a nice walk in the forest
today.
Russia
accidently dropped a bomb on of Belgorod, a city of 400,000 people. Oops.
I’m
looking forward to a great weekend.
Enjoy…
Toys
Remembered…
Magic 8 Ball
Since the
1950s, the Magic 8 Ball has been a consistent source of advice for all of
life’s problems. The toy’s inventor, Albert C. Carter, was the son of a
Cincinnati clairvoyant, and completely fascinated by her work. Carter’s mother,
Mary, would often use the fortune-telling invention the Psycho-Slate — a small
chalkboard sealed inside a container — with her clients. When someone asked a
question of the “other world,” Mary would reveal the answer on the
Psycho-Slate, as if the spirits scribbled it down themselves.
Thus
inspired, in 1944, a grown-up Carter completed his version of a fortune-telling
tool called the Syco-Seer, a liquid-filled tube with a window allowing a view
of two floating worded dice. The Syco-Seer attracted the attention of
Cincinnati store owner Max Levinson, who turned to his brother-in-law Abe
Bookman to help with production. Under the company name Alabe Crafts, the
Syco-Seer’s design was further tweaked to a smaller tube with only one floating
die inside a crystal ball.
In 1950,
Chicago company Brunswick Billiards was looking for a promotional item to give
to their customers and came across the Syco-Seer. Brunswick Billiards tweaked
the design once more and replaced the crystal ball with a black eight billiards
ball.
After ending
its contract with Brunswick, Alabe Crafts went on to market the now-named Magic
8 Ball as a paperweight before repositioning it as a children’s toy, which
launched its international popularity. Today, the Magic 8 Ball continues to
respond with its 20-sided die that includes 10 positive, five negative, and
five vague responses. Now owned by Mattel, over a million Magic 8 Balls are
sold every year.
Moon Facts…
The Moon has other names
While the other 170 natural satellites in
our solar system are named after mythical figures, like Phobos, Callisto and
Ganymede, our simply named Moon seems boring by comparison. But our Moon
actually has many known names, including Selene, as it was called by the
ancient Greeks, the Roman name Luna, and Man or Mani in ancient German. In
Arabic, the Moon is named Merenda, and in Malay it’s called Bulan.
State
Names Origins…California
Given its marvelous oceanside location, it’s
fitting that California would owe its name to a mythical island from a work of
fiction, specifically a romance
novel. Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 1950
book Las Sergas de Esplandián (“The Adventures of Esplandián”)
described an island named California that was filled with gold and ruled by
Queen Calafia and other powerful women. Upon arriving on what is now Baja
California in 1539, Spanish explorers believed they had stumbled upon this opulent,
albeit fictitious land. Though there’s some dispute over this theory, it
remains widely accepted. It’s also quite an appropriate hypothesis considering
that California’s gorgeous and varied scenery is storybook in nature.
Historical
Events
v 1864 – The US Congress passed the Coinage
Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all
coins minted as United States currency.
v
1906 – The
1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games,
opened in Athens.
v 1970 – The first Earth Day was
celebrated.
Birthdays
Today
