Jan 17, 2012

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1746 - Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Jacobites under Charles Stuart defeat Hanoverian forces
1882 - 1st Dutch female physician Aletta Jacobs opens office
1926 - George Burns marries Gracie Allen
1945 - Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation
1989 - Phoenix Suns cancel game at Miami Heat, due to racial unrest in Miami

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A cold and windy MLK day made it miserable to be outside…so I stayed inside most of the day.

Still tired of the Republican political news…TMI

I did spend some time playing with a free photo program…Gimp. It has a steep learning curve and I was hoping to use it on the T-shirt…but not this time around. Maybe after I get the new drawing I will be able to play around a little.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase, in which the first word starts with P-I and the second word starts with T. For example, given "path taken by early settlers in the West," the answer would be "pioneer trail."

1.     Vehicle from Chevy or Ford used to haul things:

2.     A place to have a lunch on the roadside:

3.     Chit-chat in bed:

4.     Producer of needles and cones:

5.     Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms:

6.     Baking accessory used that can be a Frisbee:

7.     Prince Albert product:

8.     Very old TV part:

9.     Girl’s hair style with ribbons and bows:

10.  Feet pointing inward:

11.  Baked desert using a Dole product:

12.  It may be in a chest at the bottom of the sea:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

AZ Centennial is in 30 days: Did you know?…

 The original London Bridge was shipped stone-by-stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. When the bridge, built in the 1830s began to sink into the Thames River in the 1960s, it was replaced by a more modern concrete bridge. Then, England put the stones up for sale in 1967. A  man named Robert P. McCulloch Sr., purchased the bridge on April 17, 1968, at a cost of $2,460,000.   The 10,246 blocks were shipped to Arizona and reassembled over a lagoon at the edge Lake Havasu at a cost of $3 Million. The Bridge opened in 1971.

Found on You Tube         

Popeye 1st episode

Harper’s Index         

• Percentage of the world’s population that could fit in Texas by living with the population density of New York City: 100

Joke-of-the-day

Before going to Europe on business, a man drives his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and asks for an immediate loan of $5,000.

The loan officer, taken aback, requests collateral. "Well then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce," the man says.

The loan officer promptly has the car driven into the bank's underground parking for safe keeping and gives the man the $5,000.

Two weeks later, the man walks through the bank's doors and asks to settle up his loan and get his car back. "That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest," the loan officer says.

The man writes out a check and starts to walk away.

"Wait, sir," the loan officer says. "You are a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5,000?"

The man smiles, "Where else could I find a safer place to park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?"

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• If your data include fewer than 20 pieces of information, a graphic presentation is unnecessary.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Acoustic guitars date back to the 16th century. Over the course of 100 years, they became the predominant instrument in Europe.
• The acoustic guitar is the world's most played instrument. It is also one of the most versatile, heard in classical, jazz, rock, pop, country, metal, and punk music from around the world.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

ARONA, Italy - Italian authorities said a man is facing fraud charges after he was found to have been driving a car and riding a bike while collecting benefits for blindness. Police in Arona said they cross-checked pension data with driving license records and found the 69-year-old man, whose name was not released, had been driving while collecting disability checks for being "totally blind,"

ANSA reported Thursday. Investigators said the man collected more than $204,000 in benefits over the course of 18 years.

NEW!!! Planet Earth

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

11-17

• Cuckoo Dancing Week
• National No-Tillage Week Conference
• National Soccer Coaches of America Week
• International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week

15-21

• Healthy Weight Week
• International Printing Week
• National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week
• Week of Christian Unity

Today Is                                                                      

• Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral Day
• Cable Car Day [patented in 1871]
• Hot Heads Chili Day
• Kid Inventors' Day
• Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1300’s

1377 - Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon

1600’s

1605 - First publication of Don Quixote

1700’s

1718 - Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switz; kills 53

1773 - Capt James Cook becomes 1st to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S)

1775 - 9 old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests, Kalisk, Poland

1800’s

1813 - As a part of the Detroit campaign, General James Winchester's forces of 700 Kentucky soldiers attack British and Indian forces at Monroe, Michigan, then called Frenchtown, on the Raisin River. They liberate the village. A counter attack will be waged on January 22, 1813.

1873 - A group of Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War.

1899 - US takes possession of Wake Island in Pacific

1900’s

1905 - Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago

1915 - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek's Hospital in Amsterdam opens

1916 - 1st PGA Championship: Jim Barnes at Siwanoy CC Bronxville NY

1928 - 1st fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented

1929 - Popeye makes 1st appearance, in comic strip "Thimble Theater"

1946 - United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting

1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs

1961 - Eisenhower allegedly orders assassination of Congo's Lumumba delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex"

1963 - Wilt Chamberlain of NBA SF Warriors scores 67 points vs LA

1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States would see temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities

1984 - Supreme Court rules (5-4) oks private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws

1987 - Pres Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran

1991 - Operation Desert Storm begins-US led allies vs Iraq : 1st US pilot shot down (Jeffrey Zahn)

1997 - NBA suspends Dennis Rodman indefinitely/$25,000 for kicking cameraman

2000’s

2007 - The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 30’s

Zooey Deschanel, actor is 32

Freddy Rodriguez, actor, comedian is 37

In their 40’s

Kid Rock, musician is 41

In their 50’s

Jim Carrey, actor is 50

David Caruso, actor (NYPD Blue, Michael Hayes) is 56

Chili Davis, Kingston Jamaica, outfielder (California Angels) is 52

Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian and radio personality is 55

Robert F Kennedy Jr, attorney (Natural Resources Defense Council) is 58

In their 70’s

Maury Povich, TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Mr Connie Chung is 73

H Kipchoge "Kip" Keino, Kenyan 1500m runner (Olympic-gold-1968, 72) is 72

Muhammad Ali, [Cassius Clay], heavyweight champ boxer (1964-7 74-8) is 70

In their 80’s

Vidal Sassoon, London hair stylist/CEO (Vidal Sasson) is 84

James Earl Jones, actor is 81

In their 90’s

Betty White, actor (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls)  is 90

Remembered for being born on this day

Alva Vanderbilt Beaumont, women's rights advocate & activist in 1853

Noah Beery, US actor (Mark of Zorro, Sea Wolf) in 1884

Anne Bronte, English novelist/poet (Tenant of Wildfell Hall) in 1820

Charles Brockden Brown, father of American novel (Wieland) in 1771

Al Capone, Italian gangster (Chicago bootlegging) in 1899

Dr Tom Dooley, American humanitarian in 1927

Benjamin Franklin, kite flyer/statesman/wit/inventor in 1706

A. B. Frost, American illustrator in 1851

Leonhart Fuchs, Germany, botanist (History of Plants) in 1501

May Gibbs, Australian children's author in 1877

Rock Hudson, actor (McMillian & Wife) in 1925

Eartha Kitt, singer/actress (Catwoman-Batman) in 1927

Sheree North, [Dawn Bethel], LA, actress (Mary Tyler Moore Show) in 1933

Today’s Obits                                                           

Art Buchwald, American humorist dies at 82 in 2007

Chang & Eng Bunker, Chinese/Thai Siamese twins, dies [Chang of pneumonia and Eng 3 hrs later after refusing emergency separation] at 62 in 1874

Richard Crenna, American actor dies at 77 in 2003

Bobby Fischer, American chess player dies of renal failure at 65 in 2008

Gary Gilmore, executed in Utah, 1st US execution since 1967in 1977

Rutherford B Hayes, 19th US Pres (1877-81), dies of heart attack at 70 in 1893

Patrice Lumumba, African revolutionary, murdered at 36 in 1961

Virginia Mayo, American actress dies at 85 in 2005

Allan G Odell, Ad exec (Burma Shave), dies at 90 in 1994

Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China dies at 86 in 2005

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

 LAD: NAVY VANDAL

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Vehicle from Chevy or Ford used to haul things: pickup truck

2.     A place to have a lunch on the roadside: picnic table

3.     Chit-chat in bed: pillow talk

4.     Producer of needles and cones: pine tree

5.     Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms: Pizza toppings

6.     Baking accessory used that can be a Frisbee: pie tin

7.     Prince Albert product: pipe tobacco

8.     Very old TV part: Picture tube

9.     Girl’s hair style with ribbons and bows: Pig tails

10.  Feet pointing inward: Pigeon toed

11.  Baked desert using a Dole product: pineapple tart

12.  It may be in a chest at the bottom of the sea: pirate treasure

Wuzzle

• Caught in the middle
• Pile of laundry
• Let bygones be bygones

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  ☺