8-26-11

All Blue text is a link…be sure and click on it for more information!

‡     TODAY’s “Geez”:

¬   580 - Chinese invents toilet paper

¬ 1498 - Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà

¬ 1858 - First news dispatch by telegraph

¬ 1883 - -27] Krakatoa erupts with increasingly large explosions kills 36,000

¬ 1929 - 1st US roller coaster built

¬ 1973 - U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing

‡     Free Rambling Thoughts…

Still no moisture in Flag…but some late afternoon clouds look like it might happen.

My brother and sister-in-law are headed out of the City for the weekend. More a trip than an evacuation. My brother said they are not worried about their apt. or the businesses. Sure hope they are right. Their weekend may turn into a long weekend, if they can’t get back into the NYC on Sunday. I also talked to Camille who lives in the mountains of NC. No problems for her but said the coast is preparing for a worst case scenario. I’m sure I’ll hear from my Florida friends tomorrow.

I ran some errands today, but still need to pick up some stuff tomorrow. I can only stand hitting a couple of stores each day. More than that and I start going crazy. Tomorrow I’ll do some grocery shopping.

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

1.      Which state is called the Golden state?

2.      What color is the M in McDonald's?

3.      What was President Yeltsin's first name?

4.      In fiction, what is the last name of Dr. Hannibal--the Cannibal?

5.      In which month does the Kentucky Derby take place?

6.      Rugby's man mountain Jonah Lomu plays for which country?

7.      Magician David Kotkin managed to change his name to what?

8.      What is the postal abbreviation for Idaho?

9.      San Antonio international airport is in which state?

10.   What is the Aloha State?

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

‡     Hmmmmm…

¬ Ratio of the amount of energy generated by the Japanese quake to the amount of energy consumed by the US each year: 1 to 1

‡     Somewhat Useless Information…

¬ The chalkboards American schoolchildren are familiar with were introduced to America in 1714 by a German immigrant named Christopher Dock.

¬ While in the field, Union soldiers during the Civil War dined on Van Camp's Pork and Beans and Borden's condensed milk.

¬ The oldest of American college fraternities is Sigma Pi, founded at William and Mary in 1752. Phi Mu, established at Wesleyan College in 1852, is the oldest sorority.

¬ The last passenger pigeon died at 1 p.m. on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoological Park.

¬ Myra Belle Shirley became famous as Belle Starr, "the bandit queen." During her lifetime, she went through half a dozen husbands and as many lovers.

¬ Traditionally, the "von" in front of a German last name indicated noble degree. In the 19th century it became fashionable to use the longer "von and zu".

‡     Yeah, It Really Happened…

SAO CAETANO DO SUL, Brazil - A designer for Brazilian company Zoom Education for Life has created a 3D printer, which carves shapes from foam, made almost entirely from Lego components.

Arthur Sacek said his milling machine utilizes parts from the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotic toolkit and includes only a single non-Lego part, the drill to carve the foam into 3D shapes, Tecca reported Tuesday. Sacek, who created the machine for  Zoom Education for Life, which partners with Lego Education to create learning solutions, said he the NXT kits, will start at about $250. The designer said he is working on hooking the printer up to computers and altering it to handle materials other than floral foam.

‡     Guffaw…or at least smile…

Two molecules are walking down the street; one bumps into the other and says:

"Oh, my fault, you okay?”

The Second Molecule says: "No, I'm not ok, I've lost an electron!"

So the first molecule says: "Are you sure" the second molecule answers, "I'm positive!"

‡     Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

"Daffodils" by William Wordsworth read by Jeremy Irons

‡     Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

19-28: Little League Baseball World Series

22-26: National Safe at Home Week

25-31: Be Kind To Humankind Week

‡     TODAY IS

¬ Daffodil Day

¬ National Cherry Popsicle Day

¬ National Dog Day

¬ Women's Equality Day

~*~

Namibia: Heroes' Day

‡     Today’s Events:

·        IN ARTS

1946 - George Orwell published "Animal Farm"

·        IN ATHLETICS

1933 - Jan van Houten bicycles world in record time (44,588 km)

1939 - 1st major league baseball telecast-Reds beat Bkln Dodgers (W2XBS NY)

1947 - 1st black baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on 1st at bat)

1955 - 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)

1972 - 20th Olympic games open at Munich German FR

1990 - Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs

·        IN BUSINESS

1629 - Cambridge Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate

1641 - West India Company conquerors Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola

·        IN EDUCATION

1873 - 1st free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri

·        FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1842 - The Caddoes sign a treaty in Texas. They agree to visit other tribes and try to convince them to also sign treaties with Texas

1858 - In what is called "The Battle of Four Lakes," force under Colonel George Wright fight for about three hours with Coeur d’Alene, Columbia River, Colville, Kalispel, and Spokane Indians. The army defeats the Indians

·        IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

2002 - Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa

·        IN RELIGION

1748 - The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

·        IN SCIENCE

1778 - The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia

1791 - John Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat

1843 - Charles Thurber patents a typewriter

1951 - Jongbloed in Paris demonstrates artificial heart

1985 - French government claims no knowledge of assault on Rainbow Warrior

·        IN US POLITICS

1839 - The ship Amistad is captured off Long Island

1920 - 19th amendment passes-women's suffrage granted 

1964 - LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ

1996 - Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy

·        ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

1884 - Earl Biggers, author ("Charlie Chan" detective series)

·        ATHLETES

--

·        ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Macaulay Culkin , actor (Home Alone) turns 31

·        ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

1922 - Irving R. Levine, American journalist

·        POLITICIANS

            1935 - Geraldine Ferraro, (Rep-D-NY) 1st female VP candidate 

Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security turns 66

·        SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1873 - Lee De Forest, inventor (Audion vacuum (radio) tube)

1728 - Johann Heinrich Lambert, German scientist

1743 - Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, father of modern chemistry (Oxygen)

‡     Today’s Obits:

1981 - Roger Nash Baldwin, founder (ACLU), dies at 97

1978 - Charles Boyer, actor (Gaslight, Rogues), dies of OD at 78

1930 - Lon Chaney, actor (Thunder, Big City, Unholy 3), dies of lung cancer at 47

2009 - Dominick Dunne, American writer, Vanity Fair correspondent dies at 84

1986 - Ted Knight, [Tadeus Konopka], actor (Mary Tyler Moore), dies of numerous cancers at 62

1723 - Thonis van Leeuwenhoek, biologist/inventor (microscope), dies at 90

1974 - Charles Lindbergh, aviator, dies of lymphoma at 72

1995 - Evelyn Wood, speed reading guru, dies at 86

‡     ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

1.      Which state is called the Golden state?

a.      California

2.      What color is the M in McDonald's?

a.      Yellow

3.      What was President Yeltsin's first name?

a.      Boris

4.      In fiction, what is the last name of Dr. Hannibal--the Cannibal?

a.      Lecter

5.      In which month does the Kentucky Derby take place?

a.      May

6.      Rugby's man mountain Jonah Lomu plays for which country?

a.      New Zealand

7.      Magician David Kotkin managed to change his name to what?

a.      David Copperfield

8.      What is the postal abbreviation for Idaho?

a.      ID

9.      San Antonio international airport is in which state?

a.      Texas

10.   What is the Aloha State?

a.      Hawaii

Close Up Picture

Very old blow torch

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 has mistakes and sadly once out 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] may not be totally accurate.

‡     AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW     ‡