May 19

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Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1571: Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manila in the Philippines

1793: Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795) 1796: Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds

1856: Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery

1865: President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union Cavalry in Georgia

1934: Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle in "Sat Review of Lit" Males who solved puzzle became members of Baker Street Irregulars

1992: 27th Amendment ratified, prohibits Congress from raising its salary

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A very windy day. I was out and about this morning and was amazed by the amount of haze in the air. I’m sure it was the smoke for the various fires south of here. At first I thought it was the eclipse came early. The wind has made things worse, and now about 34,000 acres (53sq miles) are burning. This is such a frustrating time of year, every year.

Our wonderful state has 6,482,505 people living here. With that number, how do we find so many ignorant people to elect to public office? Today I was watching National news and learned that our Secretary of State is joining the group mentioned above. According to him, he has sent a letter to the State of Hawaii and asked if they have a long form birth certificate on file for President Obama. It seems, according to him, ONE of his constituents out of the 6.4+ million wrote him a letter to determine if Obama was born in the US. He said he hasn’t heard back yet; but if he does not get a response, he will seriously consider keeping Obama’ name off the Nov. ballot in AZ.  Really?!?  Couldn’t he just have written a letter to that one constituent and told them the issue was solved long ago?

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Given clues for six-letter words, each containing the consecutive letters M-A. Remove the M-A, and the remaining four letters, in order, will spell a word answering the second clue. For example, given "to stay" and "part of a bridle," the answer would be "remain" and "rein."

1.      French city with an annual auto race; part of a telescope:

2.     A sheriff; something to be mowed:

3.     A frequent hamburger topper; dog in Wizard of Oz:

4.     A city in Washington; a fried Mexican dish:

5.     A steamed Mexican dish; a story:

6.     Illness; a proper woman:

7.     A class for expectant mothers; take it easy:

Riddle of the day

What is that which goes with a carriage, comes with a carriage, is of no use to a carriage, and yet the carriage cannot go without it?

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

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Chances that a US worker is of normal weight and without a chronic health problem: 1 in 7

Found on You Tube

Armed Forces Medley

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

Bubba and Billy were driving down the road while drinking beer when they spotted a roadblock ahead.
"We're gonna get busted," whimpered Billy.
"Don't worry," said Bubba. "We'll just pull over and finish drinkin' these beers, then peel off the label and stick it on our foreheads and then toss the bottles under the seat. Just let me do the talking."
They downed the beer, threw the empties out of sight and put the labels on their foreheads. When they reached the roadblock, the police officer asked, "You boys been drinking?"
"No, sir," said Bubba, pointing at the labels. "Me and Billy are on the patch."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If the painted area of a pencil is smaller than the width of your four fingers, the pencil is too small to use comfortably. Throw it out.

Yeah, It Really Happened

Breasts, penises and humping couples...they're all part of snack time at a middle school in Australia. At least they were.
The Australian school official who handed out chocolates shaped like private parts and copulating couples to children resigned.The parents of students at Woodberry Public School in Woodberry, north of Sydney, said they were shocked when they spotted the provocatively shaped candies at a Mother's Day event at the school.
"I had to do a double-take," said Cassandra Lacey, whose two sons attend the school. "Every single chocolate was to do with sex. This was in the school hall, on the school grounds and in school time."
A Department of Education and Communities spokesman said the chocolates were not provided by school officials. "The school says that the gifts were prepared by parents, for parents, and the school had no knowledge of them until some of the mothers complained," he said.So the parents were shocked because the naughty candy was supposed to be for them, not their children. Makes sense. But it was Mother's Day, after all.               

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Work on St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, began in 1506. Construction took over a century, reaching completion in 1612.

• Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt are the four US presidents whose faces are carved on Mt. Rushmore.

• There are 403 steps from the foundation to the top of the torch in the Statue of Liberty.

• The Taj Mahal was commissioned in 1630 by Shah Jehan to honor his wife Mumtaz, who died in childbirth.

• The official name of the St. Louis Gateway Arch is "The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial." The Gateway Arch looks taller than it is wider, but it is exactly 630 feet by 630 feet.

• The only one of his sculptures that Michelangelo signed was the "The Pieta," completed in 1500.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This 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

National Dog Bite Prevention Week

National Educational Bosses' Week

National New Friends, Old Friends Week

National Police Week

National Transportation Week

World Trade Week

EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week

19-25

National Safe Boating Week

Today Is                                                                       

Artichoke Day

Armed Forces Day

Boys Club Day

Frog Jumping Jubilee Day

May Ray Day to appreciate the warming weather provided courtesy of our sun's rays

Mike, The Headless Chicken Day:  The strange story

National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

O. Henry Pun-off Day

Preakness Stakes

 Youth and Sports Day (Turkey)

Today’s Other Events                                                              

1500’s

1568: English queen Elizabeth I arrests Scottish queen Mary

1600’s

1649: An Act declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years

1700’s

1795: A treaty is signed between the Chippewa and the Canadian government. Second Lieutenant J. Givins represents the crown and several Chippewa Chiefs are present. It is signed at "York, in the Province of Upper Canada" (Penetanguishene, Ontario).

1796: Congress passes "An Act Making Appropriations for Defraying the Expenses Which May Arise in Carrying into Effect a Treaty Made Between the United States and Certain Indian Tribes, Northwest of the River Ohio."

1800’s

1828: U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States

1862: Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West

1884: Ringling Brothers circus premieres

1885: 1st mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Lynn, Massachusetts)

1897: Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol

1898: Post Office authorizes use of postcards

1900’s

1906: Federated Boys' Club (Boys' Club of America) organizes

1928: 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, Cal)

1930: White women win voting rights in South-Africa

1941: Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis

1943: Berlin is declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews)

1958: South Pacific soundtrack album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks

1967: US bombs Hanoi

1988: Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US

1992: VP Dan Quayle attacks Murphy Brown for being a single mother and as a poor example of family values

2000’s

2009: Sri Lanka announces victory in its 27 year war against the terrorist organisation, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

Johns Hopkins, philanthropist, founded Johns Hopkins University in 1795

Malcolm X, [Little], [Detroit Red], Omaha NB, founder (Black Muslims) in 1925

Ho Chi Minh, trail blazer/leader of Vietnam in 1890

Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator in 1925

à

In their 70’s

Nancy Kwan (关家蒨, Guān Jiāqiàn), Hong Kong, actress (Flower Drum Song, World of Suzie Wong) is 73

David Hartman, Pawtucket RI, TV personality (Good Morning America) is 77

In their 60’s

Grace Jones  [Mendoza], Spanishtown, Jamaica, singer/actress (Vamp) is 60

à

Under 30 years old

Jessica Fox, actress is 29

Today’s Obits                                                           

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England/wife of Henry VIII, beheaded in 1536 at 34

James Boswell, Scottish biographer dies in 1795 at 54

Nathaniel Hawthorne, US, writer (Scarlet Letter), dies in 1864 at 59

Thomas E Lawrence (of Arabia), dies in 1935 in a motorcycle crash at 46

Henry Morgan, TV panalist (To Tell the Truth), dies in 1994 of cancer at 79

Ogden Nash, poet/TV panelist (Masquerade Party), dies in 1971 from Crohn's disease at 68

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1st lady (1961-63), dies in 1994 of cancer at 64

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

NOISE

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      French city with an annual auto race; part of a telescope: LeMans; lens
2.     A sheriff; something to be mowed: lawman; lawn
3.     A frequent hamburger topper; dog in Wizard of Oz: tomato; Toto
4.     A city in Washington; a fried Mexican dish: Tacoma: taco
5.     A steamed Mexican dish; a story: tamale; tale
6.     Illness; a proper woman: malady; lady
7.     A class for expectant mothers; take it easy: Lamaze; laze

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  ☺