Mar 9

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1776 - Publication of the economics book The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

1959 - Barbie, the popular girls' doll, debuted, over 800 million sold

1976 - 1st female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy

Bobby Sands, IRA member born today in 1954

Mickey Spillane, [Frank], Brooklyn NY, mystery writer (I the Jury)  born today in 1918

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

  Returns tomorrow

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Semi-annual checkup went well with my PCP.  While I have no major health issues, he got all Zen during the exam…as he often does…and said that his job is not to cure, but to make the path to the inevitable as pleasant as possible. Hmmm, sure glad I’m healthy. Had a nice lunch with Cheryl as Mary is busy watching her grandkids in Phoenix. Cheryl is getting excited about her Hawaiian getaway with her son and his family next Friday. It’s the first plane flight for the little ones so should get some great stories when she gets back.
 Big news today was the launching of my brother’s website .   Some amazing designs. Of course, no prices and I know what that means…if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. So proud of his accomplishments.  And yes, the Sumner table is named after me. The solar flare was only a slow ball, not the hard ball expected…just to keep us all on our technology toes, more are expected as the Sun is in a solar flare 11 year cycle. Great….more to come.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

For each word given, add the letter "a" and rearrange all the letters to name a well-known island. For example, if the clue is "trees," add an "a" to get the answer: Easter.

1.      Mug +a :

2.      Kew +a:

3.      Amos +a:

4.      Crip +a:

5.      Gobot +a:

6.      Crisco +a:

7.      Danger +a:

8.      Stamina +a:

9.      Reposing +a:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Mayan

 returns tomorrow

Found on You Tube         

Returns tomorrow

Harper’s Index         

Number of chopsticks made each day by Georgia Chopsticks in Americus Georgia, for use in China: 2,100,000

Joke-of-the-day

A skydiver is enjoying his free-fall, when he realizes that he has reached the altitude where he must open his parachute, he pulls the ripcord, but nothing happens. “No problem,” he says to himself, “I still have my emergency chute.” So he pulls the ripcord on his emergency parachute, and once again, nothing happens. Now the man begins to panic. “What am I going to do?” He thinks. “I’m a goner.”Just then, he sees a man flying up from the earth toward him. He can’t figure out where this man is coming from or what he’s doing, but he says to himself, “I hope he can help me. If he can’t, then I’m in real trouble.”
When the man gets close enough to him, the skydiver cups his hands and shouts, “Hey, do you know anything about parachutes?” The man coming up cups his hands and yells back, “No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

To move hot air out of an overheated sun room, you need a thermostatically controlled fan with a flow rate of four to six cubic feet per minute per square foot of glass in the sun room.

Somewhat Useless Information    

A 2009 study by a leading fossil expert suggests that modern humans hunted and ate Neanderthals, a sturdy species that mysteriously disappeared 30,000 years ago as modern humans began to migrate to Europe.

Capuchin monkeys often greet each other by showing off their erections.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

LE VALLEY, Minn. - Police in Minnesota said a man seen erratically driving a Zamboni at an ice rink had a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent. The Apple Valley city attorney's office said police were called to the Hayes Ice Arena shortly after 8 p.m. Jan. 30 on a report of a man erratically driving the ice-smoothing machine and hitting the boards while resurfacing the ice between youth games, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday.
The driver, Joel Bruss, 34, told officers he had been drinking at his home earlier in the evening and had driven himself to the ice rink. He agreed to a urine test around 10 p.m. and was found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit for driving, police said.
Bruss has now been charged with four counts of drunken driving and is due to appear in court April 19. He has prior drunken driving convictions from 2002 and 1999, court records show.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

3-18

Iditarod Race

4-10

 Celebrate Your Name Week

National Consumer Protection Week

National Procrastination Week

National Schools Social Work Week

National Words Matter Week

Professional Pet Sitters Week

Save Your Vision Week

Read an E-Book Week

Return The Borrowed Books Week

Teen Tech Week

Women in Construction Week

5-9

Newspaper in Education Week

National School Breakfast Week

Share A Story - Shape A Future Week

5-11

National Sleep Awareness Week

8-11

World Rattlesnake Round-up

8-14

Universal Women's Week

Today Is                                                                      

Barbie Day

Get Over It Day

Joe Franklin Day: The Joe Franklin Show was one of the longest-running TV talk shows in history

Middle Name Pride Day

Panic Day: the one day a year when it’s OK to panic

Registered Dietitian Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

141 BC - Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China

1400’s

1496 - Jews are expelled from Carintha Austria

1497 - Nicolaus Copernicus 1st recorded astronomical observation

1500’s

1562 - Kissing in public banned in Naples (punishable by death)

1700’s

1728 - The Yamassee have left their old lands in South Carolina, and moved to Florida. Many are now living near the Spanish Mission of Nombre de Dios near St. Augustine. Their anger at the Carolinians has not abated; and, they continue raiding the British settlements. Today, a force of 250 volunteers from Carolina, under Colonel John Parker, attack the mission. Thirty warriors will be killed, and many Yamassee will be taken as slaves.

1796 - Napoléon Bonaparte marries Joséphine de Beauharnais

1800’s

1839 - Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours

1862 - "Monitor" (Union) & "Merrimack" (Rebel) battle in Hampton Roads

1900’s

1907 - 1st involuntary sterilization law enacted, Indiana

1942 - Construction of the Alaska Highway began

1953 - Josef Stalin buried in Moscow

1954 - Edward R Murrow criticizes Sen Joseph McCarthy (See it Now)

1961 - 1st animal returned from space, dog named Blackie aboard Sputnik 9

1964 - 1st Ford Mustang produced

1979 - Bowie Kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters

1983 - Zimbabwe opposition leader Joshua Nkomo flees to Botswana

2000’s

2006 - Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn.

2007 - The US Justice Department releases an internal audit that found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had acted illegally in its use of the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about US citizens

2011 - Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Mickey Gilley,  country singer (Urban Cowboy) is 76

Marty Ingels, comedian (I'm Dickens He's Fenster) is 76

Joyce Van Patten, actress (Good Guys, Don Rickles Show) is 78

In their 60’s

Charles Gibson, American television journalist is 69

In their 50’s

Camryn Manheim, American actress is 51

Under 30 years old

Bow Wow, rapper is 25

Remembered for being born on this day

Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer in 1900

Carl Betz, Pitts, actor (Alex Stone-Donna Reed Show) in 1920

William Cobbett, English journalist and author in 1763

David Davis, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1815

Bobby Fischer,  world chess champion (1972-75) in 1943

Will Geer, Frankfort Indiana, American actor (Grandpa Walton-The Waltons) in 1902

Pete Gray, one-armed outfielder (St Louis Browns) in 1915

George Hayward, US, surgeon, 1st to use ether in 1791

Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs in 1904

Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer in 1839

Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (America) in 1454

Today’s Obits                                                           

Jack Beattie, Northern Irish politician dies at 74 in 1960

George Burns, American actor and singer dies at 100 in 1996

Richard Crane, actor (Surfside 6), dies of heart attack at 50 in 1969

St Frances of Rome, Italian nun dies at 56  in 1140

Chris LeDoux, American country singer dies of liver disease at 57 in 2005

Lawrence E Spivak, journalist (Meet the Press), dies at 93 in 1994

Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (French Connection), dies of cancer at 76 in 1994

Notorius B I G, [Biggie Small, Chris Walkin], rapper, shot dead at 24 in 1997

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

 Dr. No, The Dark Knight, The Da Vinci Code

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Mug +a :

a.      Guam

2.      Kew +a:

a.      Wake

3.      Amos +a:

a.      Samoa

4.      Crip +a:

a.      Capri

5.      Gobot +a:

a.      Tobago

6.      Crisco +a:

a.      Corsica

7.      Danger +a:         

a.      Grenada

8.      Stamina +a:

a.      Tasmania

9.      Reposing +a:

a.      Singapore

Wuzzle

1. Downright ornery
2. Lightning
3. Burning incense

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  ☺