6-16-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

1871 - Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of Mystic Shrine [Shriners] founded, NYC

1961 - Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to West in Paris

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

Our hottest day so far this year. I ran some errands and it was nice outside. Not too much wind. The fireS continue in our scorched state. The investigators have ‘two persons of interest’ in the biggest fire. That was good news. They seem pretty sure it started burning over half a million acres from an unattended campfire. I read a suggestion today that one should have to have a permit to build a campfire during our dry season. Sounds like a good idea to me. As a kid, our Boy Scouts would go camping and we always had to have a permit. I remember being surprised when I got to AZ and no permit was required. With a drought that has lasted almost two decades, with an increased population wanting to be in the forest, with more and more people heading into the forest with no idea what they are doing, it is time for change. I want these forests to be around for coming generations.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

1. Who was Thomas Jefferson and why was he important?

Refer to the passage below for questions 2 and 3:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government. —1776

2. The quotation is from the:

A) Articles of Confederation B) Constitution C) Declaration of Independence D) Missouri Compromise

3. The primary author of the document was:

A) George Washington B) John Marshall C) Robert E. Lee D) Thomas Jefferson

4. What were the three main countries that made up the Axis powers in World War II?

A) Germany, Russia and Japan B) Italy, Japan and Russia C) Germany, Japan and Italy D) Germany, Japan and Great Britain

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Percentage of all global IOP money last year that was raised in the US: 17

·        Years since recordkeeping began in which the figure was lower: 0

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        Albert Einstein did not speak his first words until late into age three. His parents thought he was retarded.

·        While he was at Cambridge University, Charles Darwin joined the "Gourmet Club," which met once a week to eat animals not often found in menus, like hawk. His zeal for weird food, however, broke down when he tried an old brown owl, which he found "indescribable."

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

BARNSTABLE, Mass. - Police in Massachusetts said they arrested a trio of men who robbed a Dunkin' Donuts of a bag of pastries while armed with knives and a hatchet.

Barnstable police said the men, two of whom were carrying knives while the third was armed with a hatchet, entered the Dunkin' Donuts on West Main Street in Hyannis Wednesday night and demanded an employee hand over a paper bag they apparently believed to contain money, the Cape Cod Times reported Monday. However, Sgt. Thomas Twomey said the bag, which the men did not open before leaving, contained doughnuts. Police said they identified the men from security camera footage of the incident. Nicholas Mercurio, 19, Lukas Peterson, 21, and Charles Iliffe, 20, were arrested and charged with armed robbery while masked.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Pettry amzanig huh?

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

2010 National Hollerin' Contest Champion

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

10-17

·        Superman Week

·        Nursing Assistants Week

12-18

·        National Flag Week

·        Men's Health Week

14-20

·        Universal Father's Week

·        US Open Golf Championship

Ø  TODAY IS

National Hollerin' Contest Day

Baseball: Ladies' Day  

Bloomsday: a commemoration observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904  

Fudge Day

National Nursing Assistants Day 

Recess At Work Day

South Africa: Youth Day

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1879 - Gilbert & Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" debuts at Bowery Theater NYC

1937 - Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in LA

…  IN ATHLETICS

1909 - Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic medals

1929 - Otto E Funk, 62, ends marathon walk (NY to SF, 4165 miles in 183 days)

1968 - Lee Trevino is 1st to play all 4 rounds of golf's US open under par

…  IN BUSINESS

1784 - Holland forbids orange clothes

1884 - 1st roller coaster used (Coney Island NY)

1903 - Ford Motors incorporates

1903 - Pepsi Cola company forms

1909 - 1st US airplane sold commercially, by Glenn Curtiss for $5,000

… IN EDUCATION

▬

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1873 - Pres Grant decrees Wallowa Valley for Nez-Perce

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in Lochleven Castle prison Scotland

1913 - South-African parliament forbids blacks owning land

… IN RELIGION

1880 - Salvation Army forms in London

…  IN SCIENCE

1963 - Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) is 1st woman in space, aboard Vostok 6

…  IN US POLITICS

1755 - British capture Fort Beauséjour [Fort Cumberland], expel Acadians

1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it is Breed's Hill)

1933 - US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created

1935 - US Congress accepts FDR's "New Deal"

1941 - 1st US federally owned airport opened Wash DC

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS…

1937 - Erich Segal, author (Love Story, Oliver's Story)

…ATHLETES

▬

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

1907 - Jack Albertson, actor (Thin Man, Chico & the Man)

John Cho, actor  turns 39

1888 - Bobby Clark, vaudevillan (World's funniest circus clown)

1890 - Stan Laurel, [Arthur S Jefferson], England, comedian (Laurel & Hardy)

1910 - E G Marshall, actor (Lawrence-Defenders, Caine Mutiny)

Laurie Metcalf, actor turns 56

1971 - Tupac Shakur, rap star/actor (Juice, Bullet)

Joan Van Ark, American actress turns 68

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

1899 - Nelson Doubleday, US, publisher (Doubleday)

1917 - Katharine Graham, newspaper publisher (Wash Post)

…POLITICIANS

1606 - Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier

1829 - Geronimo, Apache leader 

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1801 - Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist 

Ø  Today’s Obits:

1970 - Brian Piccolo, American football player [Brian’s Story] dies of testicular cancer at 27

1959 - George Reeves, actor (Superman, Gone with the Wind), shoots self at 45

1977 - Wernher von Braun, rocket scientist (V1/V2), dies at 65 of smoking 1984 - Lew Andreas, American basketball coach dies at 82

Ø  ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

Eighth Grade Sample Questions

 1.      Who was Thomas Jefferson and why was he important?

Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. president and was the main author of the Declaration of Independence.

Refer to the passage below for questions 2 and 3:

 "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government. —1776

2. The quotation is from the:

C) Declaration of Independence  

3. The primary author of the document was:

D) Thomas Jefferson

4. What were the three main countries that made up the Axis powers in World War II?

C) Germany, Japan and Italy

Close Up Picture

Chewing Gum

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW