Feb 15

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Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1768 - 1st mustard manufactured in America advertised, Philadelphia

1879 - Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before Supreme Ct

1933 - Pres-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt

1936 - Sonja Henie, Norway, wins 3rd consecutive Olympic figure skating gold

1961 - Entire US figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash

1972 - Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time

2001 - First draft of the complete Human Genome is published in Nature

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A day with light snow and some pretty strong winds. Still able to be out and about. Our retirement group had lunch at Red Lobster…great clam chowder there. Mary is getting excited about the arrival of her fourth grandchild…still a little over a month away. Cheryl is very happy that everything went well with grandson’s surgery. Cheryl found a great buy on a snow blower—reg price was $500, her price $150. Gotta love Home Depot. A good Valentine’s Day for sure.

The Motley Fool put out a very interesting article. It states that there are 3 big misconceptions about our economy. If these facts are correct, seems like the news organizations owe us an apology. I’ll have to do some more checking on this…it sure doesn’t fit into my brain quite yet. 

#1: Most of what Americans spend their money on is made in China. Fact: the average American spent 34% of their income on housing, 13% on food, 11% on insurance and pensions, 7% on health care, and 2% on education. Those categories alone make up nearly 70% of total spending, and are comprised almost entirely of American-made goods and services (only 7% of food is imported, according to the USDA). The average American spent 34% of their income on housing, 13% on food, 11% on insurance and pensions, 7% on health care, and 2% on education. Those categories alone make up nearly 70% of total spending, and are comprised almost entirely of American-made goods and services (only 7% of food is imported, according to the USDA). Just 2.7% of personal consumption expenditures go to Chinese-made goods and services. 88.5% of U.S. consumer spending is on American-made goods and services.

#2: We owe most of our debt to China. Fact: China owns 7.6% of U.S. government debt outstanding.

#3: We get most of our oil from the Middle East. Fact: Just 9.8% of oil consumed in the U.S. comes from the Middle East. The U.S. imports more than twice as much petroleum from Canada and Mexico than it does from the Middle East. Add in the share produced domestically, and the majority of petroleum consumed in the U.S. comes from North America.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

A game of categories. For each one, name something in it starting with each of the letters "L-I-G-H-T" in any order. For example, if the category is two-syllable girls' names, the answer might be "Lila," "Irene," "Georgette," "Holly" and "Tina." There are many answers, here are a few. Note: sometimes the answer is two words with the first word begins with one of the letters

1.     Olympic Sports: 

2.     Parts of a car:

3.     Islands:

4.     Thing is a hotel room:

5.     Synonyms for big:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Daffynitions: :-)

INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper

SHIN — What you use to find furniture in the dark

Found on You Tube         

Profile of a Giant - Susan B. Anthony

Harper’s Index         

Chance that a child born to a mother with a college degree will be born out of wedlock: 1 in 17

Joke-of-the-day

When the mother returned from the grocery store, her small son pulled out the box of animal crackers he had begged for. Then he spread the animal-shaped crackers all over the kitchen counter."What are you doing?" his mom asked.
"The box says you can't eat them if the seal is broken," the boy explained."I'm looking for the seal."

Planet Earth

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

When driving in freezing rain crack your window slightly to listen for the sound of water splashing from the tires. When the splashing ceases the road conditions have changed to ice.

Somewhat Useless Information    

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that people were twice as likely to find a date through friends and family than through the bar scene.

Couples usually wait until six to eight dates before they are willing to enter into an exclusive relationship. On average, it takes between 12 to 14 dates before couples will trade house keys.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

Miami, FL - Dorrie Aber Noyek briskly maneuvers the halls of Memorial Regional Hospital picking up and delivering mail. There are no signs of slowing down — not even on this, her 105th birthday.“Volunteering has been important to me as long as I can remember. I feel I want to give back," she said. "I think I’m very fortunate, very lucky, very blessed."She has never driven. Walking is her preferred mode of transportation.“From when I was quite young, all my life in England, anyway, we never had a car, not at all. And I’ve always walked. I’ve always walked miles.”The hospital, where Aber Noyek been volunteering for 38 years, celebrated this latest milestone. Her 77-year-old daughter Audrey Steinhauer came from Toronto and marvels at her mother.Aber Noyek only uses glasses to read, reads the entire newspaper every day, and does the crossword puzzle.A colon cancer survivor, she has outlived two husbands and seven siblings.“And all my friends are younger. I’ve never had older friends,” she said, admitting that it would be hard to find an older friend at her age.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

12-18 

Celebration of Love Week

Children of Alcoholics Week

Jell-O Week

Love a Mench Week

Random Acts of Kindness Week

International Flirting Week

14-16

World AG Expo

14-21

 National Condom Week

National Nestbox Week

NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week

Today Is                                                                      

National Gum Drop Day

Lupercalia: was a very ancient, possibly pre-Roman pastoral festival, observed on February 13 through 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.   

Remember The Maine Day

Susan B. Anthony Day

***

Serbia: National Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

399 - Philosopher Socrates sentenced to death

1600’s

1689 - German Parliament declares war on France

1700’s

1764 - St Louis founded as a French trading post by Pierre Laclade Ligue

1799 - 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania

1800’s

1842 - 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), NYC

1852 - Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient

1895 - 23 cm (9") of snow falls on New Orleans

1900’s

1903 - 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom

1922 - Marconi begins regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex

1926 - Contract air mail service begins in US

1931 - 1st Dracula movie released

1932 - 3rd Winter Olympic games close at Lake Placid, NY

1932 - George Burns & Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on "Guy Lombardo Show"

1936 - -60°F (-51°C), Parshall, North Dakota (state record)

1946 - Bank of England nationalized

1950 - Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released

1955 - 1st pilot plant to produce man-made diamonds announced

1965 - Canada replaces Union Jack flag with Maple Leaf

1976 - 12th Winter Olympic games close at Innsbruck, Austria

1978 - Leon Spinks beats Muhammad Ali in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1993 - Bombings by mafia drug lords kill 14 in Bogota Colombia

1995 - Population of People's Republic of China hits 1.2 billion

2000’s

2003 - An estimated eleven million people around the world take to the streets to protest against the looming war with Iraq

 2005 - YouTube, the popular Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States

2011 - Libyan protests begin opposing Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's rule

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 60’s

Jane Seymour, actor is 61

In their 40’s

Brian Williams, pitcher (Detroit Tigers, Astros) is 43

Bryan Williams, American record executive and rapper is 43

Remembered for being born on this day

Susan Brownell Anthony, Adams Mass, woman's suffragette in 1820

Frederik W Conrad, Dutch hydraulic engineer/railway pioneer in 1800

André Dumont, Belgian geologist in 1809

Chris Farley, actor (SNL, Wayne's World, Coneheads) in 1964

Galileo Galilei, Pisa Italy, astronomer/physicist in 1564

Rusty Hamer, actor (Rusty-Make Room for Daddy) in 1947

Harvey Korman, actor (Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles) in 1927

William Pickering, Boston, astronomer (9th & 10th moons of Saturn) in 1858

Cesar Romero, NYC, actor (Joker-Batman, Ocean's 11, Thin Man) in 1907

Charles Lewis Tiffany, Killingly Ct, jeweler (Tiffany) in 1812

Today’s Obits                                                           

Nat King Cole, singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa), dies of lung cancer at 49 in 1965

Wally Cox, actor (Mr Peepers, Hollywood Squares), dies of heart attack at 48 in 1973

Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain dies at 88 in 1970

Ethel Merman, singer/actress (There's No Business Like Show Business), dies in her sleep at 76 in 1984

McLean Stevenson, actor (M*A*S*H, Hello Larry), dies of cardiac arrest following cancer surgery at 66 in 1996

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Olympic Sports: luge, ice skating, giant slalom, hockey, tennis,

2.     Parts of a car; license plate, ignition, gas tank, headlights, tachometer,

3.     Islands: Long Island; Guam, Tahiti, Iceland, Hawaii

4.     Thing is a hotel room lamp, tub, iron, heater, Gideon Bible

5.     Synonyms for big: large, immense, giant, huge, tremendous

Wuzzle

• Turn in early
• Yield right of way
• Outlaws

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  ☺