FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any
blue text for more information!
Today’s “Geez“
- 1798 - 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (Wm Blount, TN) begins
- 1821 - Kentucky abolishes debtor’s prisons
- 1852 - 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized
- 1862 - Gen US Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
- 1914 - Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate
- 1954 - 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana)
- 1957 - US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
- 1965 - Astrodome opens, 1st event is Judy Garland & Supremes concert
- 1969 - 50m TV viewers saw singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky, on Tonight Show
♪♪ Happy Birthday
To:♪♪
Free Rambling
Thoughts
Twas a nice sunny day,
but the ice cold wind made it miserable to be outside. The wind chill dropped
our temp by at least 10° throughout the day. Our retirement group had our
Christmas lunch at the best Chinese place in town. It’s on the east side of
town, as we were all avoiding the NAU side…it’s graduation day. Cheryl gave me
coolest wall map of the world. It is a ‘scratch and see’ map…so when you visit
a country, you scratch it and there is a colorful map behind. While I now see
myself as a world traveler, there are so many places I haven’t visited yet the
map looks kinda strange. It will be a treasure for years to come. We both got
Mary’s present early, her brother’s poetry book. But she surprised us with some
great homemade candy. A good meal, good conversation, and a nice gift exchange.
Mary liked the diffuser and the peach-mango soap; Cheryl liked the tea, tea mug
and English biscuits. Cheryl is heading for CA next week, I’m headed for
Chicago, and Mary has her Chicago family coming in. Next week will be busy for
all of us.
I also almost finished
my Christmas e-mail letter today. Should get it finished and off tomorrow. I’m
using a Word Template that is really cute, but having problems saving it. Every
time I try to save it, it tries to change my Normal file…which I don’t want it
to do. Every time I have to save it with a different name and hope it works. I’m
one of the people who is hurting the PO business as I only do e-cards and
e-mail Christmas letters. So much easier. Even so, I continue to get some
really nice snail mail cards and letters. That is nice too.
NPR Sunday
Puzzle (answers
at the end of post)
Every answer is a
pair of homophones, like "wait" and "weight." You are given
a word that can precede one homophone and follow the other, in each case, to
complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, given "chess" and "pipe,"
the answer would be "piece" and "peace."
1.
Anthracite
_____ slaw:
2.
Bus
_____ shake:
3.
Honeymoon
_____ sixteen:
4.
False
_____ sharing:
5.
Anchors
_____ game:
Wuzzles What concept or
phrase do these suggest?
Rules of Thumb
Easy shortcuts to make
an ‘educated’ guess
- The third restaurant to go into a space is generally the one that succeeds.
Hmmmmm
- Chances that an American who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2008 will be paying off student loans in 2028: 1 in 3
Somewhat Useless Information
- The original candy cane had a shape different then the modern day design. It was straight, all white, and hard.
- The first historical reference in America to the candy cane dates back to 1847. A German immigrant from Wooster, Ohio decorated his Christmas tree with candy canes.
- Around the year 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral began passing out sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd's crook to children who attended the Christmas pageants there. This became a popular tradition, that eventually spread throughout Europe.
- The flavor of peppermint is similar to another member of the mint family, hyssop. In the Old Testament hyssop was used for purification and sacrifice, and this is said to symbolize the purity of Jesus and the sacrifice he made.
- The red and white striped candy canes were first made around 1900.
- A candy cane turned upside down reveals the letter J, which many believe represents Jesus.
Yeah, It Really
Happened
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. —
The truth is sometimes stranger than the fiction you see at the movies.
Deputies in Florida say
a man stole a woman's car while they were on a date at a Tampa area movie
theater.
The St. Petersburg Times
reports that 27-year-old Michael Pratt told the woman he needed to get
something from the car while they were watching the movie.
She gave him her keys.
When he didn't return, she called him. Authorities say Pratt laughed then told
the woman he had stolen her car.
Pasco County Sheriff's
deputies say he now faces grand theft charges.
The car, a silver 2012 Ford Focus, was a rental.
The victim, who is 35,
tried contacting Pratt for two days before calling the sheriff's office,
according to the paper. Pratt called her four days after the movie outing and
said he dumped the car in a Walmart parking lot in New Port Richey, authorities
said. Deputies found it and arrested Pratt on Wednesday.
According to the Times,
Pratt previously served more than a year in prison for the same charge, as well
as fraud, uttering forged bills and failing to return rental property.
He is in the Pasco
County Jail. No attorney was listed on Pratt's jail records.
A Laff or at
least smile
A man went to the Police
Station wishing to speak with the burglar who had broken into his house the
night before.
"You'll get your chance in court,"
said the Desk Sergeant.
"No, no, no!" said the man. "I
want to know how he got into the house without waking my wife. I've been trying
to do that for years!"
Found on YouTube
Daybook
Information
…Happening This Week:
10-17
Human Rights Week
15-29
Halcyon Days
16-24
Posadas
17-23
Saturnalia: an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity
Saturn
Today Is
- National Maple Syrup Day
- Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking (TANYRSS)
- Underdog Day
- Wright Brothers Day: codified in the US Code, and commemorates the first successful flights in a heavier than air, mechanically propelled airplane
Today’s Events
Arts
1936 - Ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy , appear on TV
1953 - FCC approves
RCA's black & white-compatible color TV specifications
1959 - "On The Beach" is 1st film to premiere on both sides
of Iron Curtain
1989 - The
longest-running American sitcom The Simpsons had its debut
1991 - Soap opera
"One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
Athletes
--
Business
1924 - 1st US
diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY
1965 - Largest
newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents)
Education
--
Indigenous People
1754: According to some
reports a land cession agreement is reached today by representatives of the
British and the "SIX NATIONS."
1890: Sitting Bull and
the police killed during his arrest are buried with honor. Today, members of
the Hunkapapa Sioux arrive at Big Foot's camp of Minneconjou Sioux seeking
refuge. However, today will also see the issuing of an arrest warrant for Big
Foot, himself, for his part as a "trouble maker" in the ghost dance
religion.
Politics [International]
1718 - England
declares war on Spain
1885 - France
declares Madagascar a protectorate
1941 - German troops
led by Rommel [Desert Fox] begin retreating in North Africa
1978 - OPEC
raises oil prices 18%
1983 - The IRA bombs
Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people
Politics [US]
1777 - George
Washington’s army returns to Valley Forge Pa
1900 - New Ellis
Island Immigration station completed costing $1.5 million [US2010
$38,780,914]
1944 - US Army
announces end of excluding Jap-Americans from West Coast
1975 - John Paul
Stevens appointed to Supreme Court
1975 - Lynette
Fromme sentenced to life for attempt on Pres Ford's life
Religion
1526 - Pope Clemens
VII publishes degree Cum ad zero - forms Inquisition
1531 - Pope
Clement VII establishes a parallel body to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal
1728 - Congregation
Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan, to
build NY's 1st synagogue
1914 - Jews are
expelled from Tel Aviv by Turkish authorities
Science
1790 - Aztec
calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
1895 - George
Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine (Mass)
1903 - At
10:35 AM, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright)
1935 - First
flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane
Today’s Birthdays
Artists: [Authors,
Composers]
1807 - John
Greenleaf Whittier, US, poet (Snow-bound)
Athletes
1892 - Sam
Barry, American basketball coach
Tyrone Braxton, NFL
safety (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32) is 47
Tammie Green, LPGA
golfer (1989 du Maurier Ltd Classic) is 52
Jeff[rey] Klepacki, rower
(Olympics-1992, 96) is 43
Chuck Liddell, American
mixed martial artist is 42
1930 - Bob Mathias,
American decathlete and congressman
Manny Pacquiao, Filipino
boxer, the first eight-division world champion; six world titles, first
to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes is 33
Entertainers [Actors,
Singers…]
1942 - Paul
Butterfield, blues musician (Better Days)
Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian
actress (Return to Blue Lagoon, Chaplin) is 36
1939 - Eddie
Kendricks, rocker (Temptations-My Girl, Boogie Down)
1927 - Richard
Long, actor (Prof-Nanny & the Professor, Nick-Big Valley)
Bill Pullman, actor is 58
Entrepreneurs &
Educators
1930 - Bob
Guccione, [Robert C J Edwa], US publisher (Penthouse, Omni)
Political Figures
1929 - William
Safire, political columnist (NY Times)/speech writer (Nixon)
Scientists &
Theologians
1778 - Hunphry
Davy, English chemist (discovered potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron and
barium)
1797 - Joseph
Henry, US, scientist/inventor/pioneer of electromagnetism
1908 - Willard
Frank Libby, inventor (carbon-14 "atomic clock" (Nobel 1960))
Today’s Obits
1999 - Rex Allen, Wilcox
Arizona actor, singer and songwriter (Tying Knot's In The Devil's Tail) dies at 79
2005 - Jack
Anderson, American journalist dies at 83
1992 - Dana
Andrews, US actor (Laura), dies of pneumonia at 83
2010 - Captain
Beefheart [Don Glen Vliet], American musician dies of MS at 69
1830 - Simón
BolÃvar, South American revolutionary and president (Colombia), dies of TB at
47
1967 - [Francis]
Barry Byrne, Chicago Ill, architect, dies at 83
1964 - Victor
Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel laureate dies at 81
1961 - Marion
Perkins, sculptor (Man of Sorrow), dies of cancer at 53
Answers
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.
Anthracite
_____ slaw: coal, cole
2.
Bus
_____ shake: fare, fair
3.
Honeymoon
_____ sixteen: suite, sweet
4.
False
_____ sharing: prophet, profit
5.
Anchors
_____ game: aweigh, away
Wuzzle
- A splitting headache
- inadequate
- parts of speech
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] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§ And
That Is All For Now §
