May 17

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1536: Anne Boleyn’s 4 "lovers" executed

1620: 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)

1629: According to a deed, Sagamore Indians, including Passaconaway, sell a piece of land in what becomes Middlesex County, Massachusetts

1845: Rubber band patents

1875: 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75

1883: Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st Wild West show premieres in Omaha

1926: Chiang Kai-shek is made supreme war lord in Canton

1944: General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th

1932: Congress changes name "Porto Rico" (Italian) to "Puerto Rico" (Spanish)

1971: Washington State bans sex discrimination

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

We had a great lunch at my favorite Mexican place in Flagstaff. Mary and Cheryl both have doctor’s appointments tomorrow. We are all enjoying the really great weather we’ve been having.

Central AZ mountains are ablaze from 4 huge lightning caused fires. Our humidity has been below 10% for the past week. The winds are not helping at all. A big weather change—more wind with no rise in humidity—is expected tomorrow thru most of the weekend. It is wonderful to live in a forest, except during fire season. So difficult for those who are evacuated and may return to their areas to find nothing but ashes.

The low humidity has been playing havoc with me too. I have to slather up twice a day with a special cream to avoid dry itchy skin. I have also had to turn on my bedroom humidifier every night for the past week. To all those from outside AZ who believe that AZ is a dry heat…let me tell you, that is correct but dry heat is not that pleasant either. We are not hot here in Flag, but we have been dry and everyone is complaining of dry skin…especially arms and legs. Luckily the cream I use is better than the tons of creams and lotions out on the market, and it doesn’t take that much. Until the humidity rises some, I considering giving up my daily hot shower…but things are that bad yet.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase in which the first part has a long I vowel sound and the second part has a long O sound. Both parts have just one syllable. For example, given "a small pink flower growing in a field," the answer would be "wild rose."

1.      The fruit of an evergreen tree:

2.     Sign on a semi-trailer carrying a house down a highway:

3.     Sound you hear when picking up a telephone receiver:

4.     Set of safety specifications for a building:

5.     Half a round of golf:

6.     Something a circus performer walks on:

7.     Browned bread that is not wheat, rye or pumpernickel:

8.     A small emergency vessel at sea:

9.     A swimming style where the feet do a scissors kick:

10.  Like some of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tales:

11.    What the pyramids of Egypt are made of:

12.   Area a pitcher aims for:

13.   Complete this: There is no place ___ ___ :

Riddle of the day

A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man.

Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Factor by which a person experiencing long-term unemployment is more likely to report first instance of mental illness: 3

Found on You Tube 

European time lapse map [AC.1000-2003]        

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

A widower who never paid any attention to his wife while she was alive now found himself missing her desperately. He went to a psychic to see if he could contact his late wife. The psychic went into a trance. A strange breeze wafted through the darkened room, and suddenly, the man heard the unmistakable voice of his dearly departed wife. "Honey!" he cried. "Is that you?" "Yes, my husband." "Are you happy?" "Yes, my husband." "Happier than you were with me?" "Yes, my husband." "Then Heaven must be an amazing place!" "I'm not in Heaven, dear."

Yeah, It Really Happened

SEOUL -- Lego officials in South Korea announced the crown prince of Denmark placed the final brick on the world's largest Lego tower, measuring 104 feet, 8 inches tall. Lego Korea said the tower, which was built in Seoul during the weekend by 4,000 young contest winners (with lots of time on their hands), was planned to mark the 80th anniversary of the Lego group. The final brick defeated the previous world record of 103 feet, 8 inches, which was set in France.            

Somewhat Useless Information   

Clouds are made up of many millions of miniscule water droplets which are formed when moist warm air rises up into the sky and is then cooled down. If the cloud is very cold it means that it is made up of ice crystals. It takes somewhere between a few minutes and 1 hour for a cloud to be created.
In 1803 a classification of clouds was made up by Luke Howard (born 1772, died 1864) who used Latin words to describe their characteristics: Cirrus - tufts or whisps, Stratus - a layer, Nimbus - rain bearing, Cumulus - a heap or pile.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

10-16

Universal Family Week

12-19 

National Tourism Week

National Nursing Home Week

Reading is Fun Week

Salute to Moms 35+ Week

National Return To Work Week

National Women's Health Week

American Craft Beer Week

National Bike to Work Week

National Etiquette Week

National Hospital Week

15-21

EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week

National Dog Bite Prevention Week

National Educational Bosses' Week

National New Friends, Old Friends Week

National Police Week

National Transportation Week

World Trade Week

Today Is                                                                      

Pack Rat Day

World Hypertension Day

World Information Society Day

World Telecommunications Day

Norway: Syttende Mai (Constitution Day—1814) translation: May 17

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

218: 7th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

à

1500’s

1590: Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland

1600’s

1673: Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joilet begin their expedition from the "Straights of Michilimackinac." Eventually, they explore much of the Mississippi River

1700’s

1733: England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions

1800’s

1804: Lewis & Clark begin exploration of Louisiana Purchase

1814: Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian

1881: Revised version of New Testament

1884: Alaska becomes a US territory

1900’s

1904: Maurice Ravel's  "Shéhérazade," premieres in Paris

1909: White firemen on Georgia RR strike to protest hiring blacks

1915: National Baptist Convention chartered

1916: British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), 1st introduced

1928: 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam

1946: Pres Harry Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike

1949: British government recognizes Republic of Ireland

1954: Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reversed 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy Vs Ferguson decision

1959: Sam Snead sets PGA record for 36 holes at 122

1961: Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers

1970: Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on reed raft Ra

1973: Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of My Love"

1973: US performs 3 nuclear tests at Rifle Colorado

1979: 12°F (-11°C), on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (state record)

1980: Major race riot in Miami Florida: 16 killed, 300 injured

1984: Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.

1989: Nelson Mandela receives a BA from University of South Africa

2000’s

2004: Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage

2006: The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to be an artificial reef

2007: Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

Archibald Cox, special prosecutor (Watergate) in 1912

Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer in 1868

Dennis Hopper, actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider) in 1936

Edward Jenner, England, physician, discovered vaccination in 1749

Maureen O'Sullivan, Boyle Ireland, actress (Tarzan, Pride & Prejudice) in 1911

Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate in 1682

à

In their 70’s

Taj Mahal (Henry Saint Clair Fredericks,) Blues singer/songwriter (Real Thing) is 70

à

In their 50’s

Craig Ferguson, Glasgow, Scottish actor, writer and comedian is 50

Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, Rocky Mount North Carolina, boxer (Olympics-gold-76) is 56

Jim Nantz, American broadcaster (CBS)is  53

Bill Paxton,  actor (Brain Dead, True Lies; TV: Big Love) is 57

Bob Saget, comedian (Full House, America's Funniest Home Video)is 56

à

In their 30’s

Tony Parker, French-American basketball player (Spurs)is 30

Under 30 years old

Derek Hough, American dancer and singer (DWTS)is 27

Today’s Obits                                                           

Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi), painter (Birth of Venus), dies in 1510 at about 65

John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States dies in 1875 of cirrhosis at 54

Frank Gorshin, American actor dies in 2005 of emphysema at 72

John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States in 1829 at 83

Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player dies of cancer in 2011 at 74

Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, 1st US woman free balloon pilot, dies in 1981 at 86

Lawrence Welk, conductor/accordionist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies of pneumonia in 1992 at 89

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

RAIN

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      The fruit of an evergreen tree: pine cone

2.     Sign on a semi-trailer carrying a house down a highway: wide load

3.     Sound you hear when picking up a telephone receiver: dial tone

4.     Set of safety specifications for a building: fire code

5.     Half a round of golf: nine hole

6.     Something a circus performer walks on: tight rope

7.     Browned bread that is not wheat, rye or pumpernickel: white toast

8.     A small emergency vessel at sea: life boat

9.     A swimming style where the feet do a scissors kick: side stoke

10.  Like some of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tales: twice told

11.    What the pyramids of Egypt are made of: limestone

12.   Area a pitcher aims for: strike zone

13.   Complete this: There is no place ___ ___ : like home

Anagrams

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  ☺