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Today’s “Geez“
- 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock in 1620
- 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in NY World in 1913
- 1st group hospital insurance plan offered (Dallas TX) in 1929
- Dallas Cowboys hire coach Tom Landry (stays until 1988) in 1959
- Fox signs Shirley Temple, 5, to a studio contract in 1933
- Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991
♪♪ Happy
Birthday To:♪♪
Returns with next blog
Free
Rambling Thoughts
This blog is taking a
break. It will resume when I return from Chicago around Dec. 27th .
I decided I had to take
a checked bag and give the damn airlines another $50. When I looked at all the
gifts, I wish I had mailed them early…live and learn. Since I will be changing
planes, the less I have to carry the better. Weather looks good for all flights
to Chicago and I only hope they are as good coming back. Getting excited to see
family. Not so much for the cold. If the weather channel is right, it will be
mild—high in the 40’s and lows in the 20’s…sounds like Flag except for the wind
and humidity.
NPR Sunday
Puzzle (answers
at the end of post)
Each answer is a
familiar two-word phrase. The first word starts with H-A and the second word
starts with T. For example, given the clue "a brand of tanning
lotion," the answer would be "Hawaiian Tropic."
1.
President
who said ‘the buck stops here’:
2.
Skimpy
article of apparel for women:
3.
It
may hang on a rod over a sink:
4.
Part
of a mountain road where it doubles back on itself:
5.
Olympic
event with a 16lbs attached to a wire:
6.
Difficult
surfing move:
7.
Traditional
luxury wool cloth for sports jacket:
8.
Period
in autumn when crops are brought in:
9.
When
you give constantly razz someone, giving him a _____ :
10. Theme song for Roy Rogers and Dale
Evans:
11. Not a lie, not the whole story:
12. Quickly responding to the situation
with anger:
13. GI Joe, Mr. Potato Head, Lincoln Logs:
14. Female abolitionist :
Wuzzles What concept or
phrase do these suggest?
Rules of
Thumb
Easy shortcuts to make
an ‘educated’ guess
- You can approximate the size of your brain by putting your fists together so that your wrists touch and your thumbnails face you side by side.
Hmmmmm
- Percentage increase since last year in roadside calls to AAA from drivers who have fun out of gas: 14
Somewhat
Useless Information
- Approx. $700 million in pies (approx. 186 million units) are sold in grocery stores every year. This does not include restaurants, only grocery stores. If you lined up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores in one year, they would circle the globe and then some.
- Pie just isn't for after-dinner dessert. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they've had pies for breakfast.
Yeah, It
Really Happened
Geneva - A Swiss museum
has taken the drastic step of replacing the horns of its rhinoceroses with fake
ones to deter thieves fuelling a lucrative global trade, curators said on
Tuesday.
Staff at Bern's Natural
History Museum cut off the horns of its six display animals and put crude
wooden ones in their place amid concerns they would be targeted.
Curators acted after
hearing of horn thefts at museums across Europe, including in Britain, France
and Germany.
Rhinoceros horn is
prized in Asia where many consider it to have aphrodisiac and disease-fighting
properties.
In recent months prices
have soared, and they currently fetch between 30 000 and 250 000 Swiss francs
(€25 000 and €200 000), according to the museum.
"On the black
market, rhinoceros horns are more valuable than gold," it said in a
statement.
Though a relatively new
phenomenon, museum thefts have noticeably increased recently, it added.
A Laff or at
least smile
Never criticize someone
unless you walk a mile in his or her shoes, and then when you criticize them
you'll be a mile away and have their shoes!
Bonus
It was very crowded and
noise in this Restaurant and this blond girl asks the waiter where the restroom
was.
And he says: “I can’t hear you!”
So she gets close to his
ear and asks again: “Can you please tell me where the ladies room is?”
And he replies: “On the
other side! “
So she turns around and
gets close to his other ear, and asks: “Can you please tell me where the ladies
room is, please!”
Found on
YouTube
Daybook
Information
…Happening This Week:
15-29
Halcyon Days
16-24
Posadas
17-23
Saturnalia
18-24
Christmas Bird Count Week
Gluten-free Baking Week:
25-31
It's About Time Week
26-1/1
Kwanzaa
Today Is
- Ann & Samantha Day: honoring Anne Frank [wrote during WWII] and Samantha Smith [wrote letter to Yuri Andropov—killed in plane crash at 13]
- Crossword Puzzle Day
- Forefathers Day: commemoration of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth
- Hamburger Day
- Humbug Day
- Look On The Bright Side Day
- National Flashlight Day
- National French Fried Shrimp Day
- National Haiku Poetry Day
- National Homeless Persons' Remembrance Day
- Phileas Fogg Wins A Wager Day
- World Peace Day/
- Winter Solstice: Longest night in N. Hemisphere
- Yalda: Persian Winter Solstice Celebration; this night is the night of the birth of Mithra, Persian angel of light and truth
Today’s Events
Arts
1st feature-length
silent film comedy, "Tillie's Punctured Romance"
released. (Marie Dressler, Mabel
Normand & Charles Chaplin) in 1914
Athletics
Vince Lombardi coaches
his last football game, losing [overall record 96-34-6] in 1969
Business
1st stone arch Railroad
Bridge in US dedicated, Baltimore in 1829
Education
1st junior high school
established (Berkeley CA) in 1909
Indigenous People
Conference covering
peace and the resumption of trade is held for the next 8 days between
representatives of the British in North Carolina and the Cherokee in 1759
The 2 treaties the Cherokee
signed with Return Meigs are sent to the Senate today for consideration. The Cherokee
will give up over four million acres for almost $20,000 [2010US $286,782] in 1804
Politics [International]
Dutch 1st Chamber accept
sovereignty of Indonesia in 1949
UN General Assembly
passes a resolution declaring 1979-Year of Child in 1976
Politics [US]
J Edgar Hoover deports
anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia in 1919
John Jay becomes 1st US
secretary of state (foreign affairs) in 1784
Supreme Court rules
labor injunctions & picketing unconstitutional in 1921
Religion
--
Science
Scientists Pierre &
Marie Curie discovers radium in 1898
Today’s Birthdays
Artists: [Authors,
Composers]
Werner von Trapp, member
of the Trapp Family Singers in 1915
Athletes
Chris Evert Lloyd Mills,
tennis pro 'Miss Pokerface' is 57
Josh Gibson, pro
baseball player, "Negro Babe Ruth" (hit 800+ HRs) in 1911
Florence Griffith
Joyner, LA Calif, runner (Olympic-3 gold-1988) in 1959
Joe Paterno, football
coach (Penn State, SI Sportsman of 1986) is 85
Entertainers [Actors,
Singers…]
Andy Dick, comedian is 46
Phil Donahue, talk show
host is 76
Jane Fonda, activist,
actress, fitness guru is 74
Samuel L Jackson, actor
(Amos & Andrew, White Sand, Pulp Fiction) is 63
Frank Zappa, rocker
(Mothers of Invention, Catholic Girls) in 1940
Entrepreneurs &
Educators
--
Political Figures
Benjamin Disraeli, (Tory)
British PM in1804
Fred M Vinson, US
Supreme Court Justice (1946-53) in 1890
Kurt Waldheim, Nazi/4th
UN Sec-Gen (1972-81)/Austrian pres (1986-92) in 1918
Roger Williams, English
theologian and colonist in 1603
Scientists &
Theologians
Thomas Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury in 1117
Jean Henri Fabre,
France, entomologist (insects & spiders) in1823
Thomas Graham, British
chemist and father of colloid chemistry in 1805
Today’s Obits
Rod Cameron, actor
(Santa Fe Passage, Stampede), dies at 73 in 1983
‘Doubting’Thomas, dies in 72 the Apostle
speared to death in Madras, India in 72
F Scott Fitzgerald,
author (Zelda), dies of a heart attack at 44 in 1940
Richard Long, actor
(Nanny & Professor), dies of multiple heart attacks at 47 in 1974
George S Patton, US
General (Sicily/Normandy), dies in car crash at 60 in 1945
Margaret E Rey, author
of children's books, dies at 90 in 1996
Dean Rusk, US Sect of
State, dies at 85 in 1994
Dick Schaap, American
sports journalist dies of surgery complications at 67 in 2001
Answers
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.
President
who said ‘the buck stops here’: Harry Truman
2.
Skimpy
article of apparel for women: halter top
3.
It
may hang on a rod over a sink: hand towel
4.
Part
of a mountain road where it doubles back on itself: hairpin turn
5.
Olympic
event with a 16lbs attached to a wire: hammer throw
6.
Difficult
surfing move: Hang 10
7.
Traditional
luxury wool cloth for sports jacket: Harris tweed
8.
Period
in autumn when crops are brought in: harvest time
9.
When
you give constantly razz someone, giving the a : hard time
10. Theme song for Roy Rogers and Dale
Evans: Happy Trails
11. Not a lie, not the whole story: half
truth
12. Quickly responding to the situation
with anger: hair trigger
13. GI Joe, Mr. Potato Head, Lincoln Logs:
Hasbro toys
14. Female abolitionist : Harriett Tubman
Wuzzle
- Stereotyped
- The bottom of the barrel
- Turned upside down
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 §