August 19

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

Flagstaff Almanac…  

Week: 34 / Day:    Today: High   80°…Low 58°

Records: High   87°(2002,1992.1948) …Low 36°(1975)

Averages: High   78°…Low 50°

Wind:   10mph;  Gusts: 10mph

Afternoon Rain  Today’s humidity: 78%

Quote of the Day…

Today’s  Historical  Highlights…

2010 - Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, the last US brigade combat crossing 

            the border to Kuwait

1993 - Mattel & Fisher Price toys merge

1984 - Republican convention in Houston nominates Ronald Reagan

1979 - Soviet Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov & Valery Ryumin returned to Earth record 

            175 days 

1960 - Francis Gary Powers convicted of spying by USSR (U-2 incident)

1950 - ABC begins Saturday morning kid shows (Animal Clinic & Acrobat Ranch)

1944 - Last Japanese troops driven out of India

1934 - The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio

1849 - NY Herald reports gold discovery in California

1787 - W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn

1692 - 5 women executed for witchcraft in Salem Mass

♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪.. 

How many can you identify…answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

Free Rambling Thoughts…   

Sunshine, warm weather, a nice afternoon shower…that’s Flagstaff during the monsoon.

I enjoyed the football game last night…good friends, and the Cards looked so much better than they have this pre-season. Guess I better watch more; maybe I’m the one who helped them win. LOL.

Michael Phelps has shown the world he is an exceptional swimmer. He has also showed the world that he is not the brightest candle on the cake with some of his personal actions. I’ve seen several interviews, and he is unique…he is not into showing off his medals, he sometimes isn’t even into swimming. Now he is in trouble for an ad that he might have done during the Olympics…by a non-Olympic sponsor.  The Olympic committee has rules about that, and is discussing having him return some of his medals from London. They have a timeline for athletes to have ads for non-Olympic sponsors. Breaking that rule can lead to loss of the medals. He is shown advertising Louie Vuitton. He claims that he did not authorize the release of the photos. As his agent said, one can’t control when the photos will be released, and the accused company says they didn’t release he photos either. Sounds like a lot of hoopla over nothing.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

What is the answer?

Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)

hirsute (4,5)

Scrambled Proverbs…

Can you unscramble the words to make an English proverb? Each puzzle has an easy version (above the black square), in which each word is scrambled individually and the spaces appear in their proper place, and a more challenging version, where the entire phrase is scrambled and spaces appear at random.

NTRN T CRGNOEU OTFSSHEIEAO ACIT (6 words)

Lifestyle  Substance…     

Do you remember this?

Read Carefully!!

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Do you know what this word means?

What is this not so common name of a common object?

Petrichor

Historic Flagstaff, AZ—…

60’s music…:

• Respect - Aretha Franklin

• Louie Louie - Kingsmen

• I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye

• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones

Harper’s Index…         

Percentage change in the crime rate from 2005-2010 in US states whose prison populations grew by at least 10%: -17

Unusal Fact of the Day…

When he died in 1977, Elvis Presley had $1,055,173.69 in a non-interest-bearing checking account.

Found on You Tube… 

Classic Grand Ole Opry         

Joke-of-the-day…

A famous lawyer, who had been a public defender for years, dies. He finds himself standing at the back of an enormous queue outside the gates of Heaven. The queue before him is enormous. The number of people who die in a single day appalls him. He can barely see St Peter sitting up on a podium outside the gates with a large book. Every now and then St Peter glances down the queue to see how he is going. Suddenly he catches the eye of the lawyer. He looks very surprised. He jumps down from the podium and comes running along the line until slightly out of breath he arrives beside the lawyer. He embraces him. He pulls him out of the queue and motions for him to come to the front of the queue. Another person questions what is happening and another angel speaks to the person. Word is passed along the queue and the lawyer is surprised, as people start nodding and clapping. He becomes embarrassed by all the attention and asks St Peter why he is getting the special attention.St Peter stops suddenly and looks concerned."You are a lawyer aren't you?'"Yes" the lawyer replies. "Does this happen to all lawyers in heaven?""Oh, no, "Said St Peter. "It's just you are the first one to ever get here."

Rules of Thumb…   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

BODY HEAT A resting human gives off as much heat as a 150-watt light bulb. You can use this fact to keep the temperature in a greenhouse constant, even as you come and go. Just turn the light out whenever you go in.

Yeah, It Really Happened…

YOSHKAR-OLA, Russia - Russian authorities said a man caught trying to take gunpowder from a military test site told police he wanted to use it to fuel his stove. The Interior Ministry said Tuesday the man was caught trying to take a package of 98 explosive tubes from a military test site in the Mari El Republic, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. The man told police he wanted to use the gunpowder as "firewood" for his stove, the ministry said. The suspect has been charged with illegal storage of explosives and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

Somewhat Useless Information…   

• Ryman Auditorium was long the home of the Grand Ole Opry, but the structure wasn't originally built for that purpose. When it opened in 1892, it was called the Union Gospel Tabernacle.

• In 1950, a young man took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry and exhibited the banjo prowess that allowed him to win a national competition on the instrument. That 17-year-old was future Hee-Haw star Roy Clark.

• The radio show known as The Grand Ole Opry began life in 1925 as the WSM Barn Dance. A couple years later, when announcer George "Judge" Hay described the show's music as "grand ole opry" in contrast to "grand opera," the name stuck.

• Many of the most popular women ever to perform at the Grand Ole Opry aren't as recognizable by their real names. This list includes Sarah Cannon (Minnie Pearl), Christina Ciminella (Wynonna Judd), Eileen Edwards (Shania Twain), Mary Penick (Skeeter Davis), and Brenda Webb (Crystal Gayle).

• When the show moved to the Opry House at Opryland in 1974, workers cut out a circular, 6-foot section of the original dark oak stage at Ryman Auditorium and installed it in the middle of the new stage floor so that new artists could perform on the same floor as legends from decades past.

• Elvis Presley signed a contract to play a series of shows at the Grand Ole Opry beginning on October 2, 1954. However, management cancelled his booking after his first show because they felt his music wasn't suited for their audiences. The King never returned to the Opry stage.               

Calendar Information…        

Happening This Week:

15-21

National Aviation Week

17-26

Little League Baseball World Series

19-25

Minority Enterprise Development Week

Today Is…                                                                      

Aviation Day

"Black Cow" Root Beer Float Day

Eid-Al Fitr (marks the end of Ramadan)

National Aviation Day

National Men's Grooming Day

Potato Day

UN World Humanitarian Day

Afghanistan: Independence Day (1919 from Britain)  

Today’s Events Through History…  

2000’s

• 2009 - A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others

• 2005 - The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins

• 2003 - A car-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees

1900’s

• 1999 - In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.

• 1993 - George Tiller, abortion doctor, shot in his arms by Rachelle Shannon

• 1987 - Hungerford Massacre: in the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide

• 1979 - "My Sharonna" by the Knack hits #1 (stays for 42 days)

• 1976 - Pres Gerald R Ford won Republican pres nomination at KC convention

• 1965 - Auschwitz trials end with 6 life sentences

• 1960 - Sputnik 5 carries 2 dogs, 3 mice into orbit (later recovered alive)

• 1958 - NAACP Youth Council begin sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters

• 1914 - German army executed 150 Belgians by firing squad

• 1909 - Indianapolis 500 race track opens

1800’s

• 1897 - 1st electric taxi's drive in London

• 1888 - 1st beauty contest (Spa, Belgium), 18 yr old West Indian wins

• 1854 - A Miniconjou Sioux, named High Forehead, kills a sickly cow near Fort Laramie, in southeastern Wyoming. The cow's owner complains to the fort's commander. A brash Brevet Second Lieutenant John L. Grattan, and thirty volunteers leave the fort to find the Sioux involved. Grattan goes to Conquering Bear's Brule Sioux camp near Ash Hollow, and demands the Indian who shot the cow. Grattan makes numerous threats to the Sioux, but they won't hand over High Forehead. During the parlay, a shot rings out, and Grattan's artillery gunners open fire on the camp. Conquering Bear tries to get both sides to stop shooting, but he is hit by an artillery round. Eventually, all but one of Grattan's men are killed in the fighting.

• 1839 - Details of Louis Daguerre's 1st practical photographic process are released in Paris

1700’s

• 1768 - Saint Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia

1600’s

• 1698 - Russian czar Peter the Great begins term

• 1607 - English settlers officially found "the other" English colony on North America. Unlike Jamestown, Popham is settled by just men and boys. Popham, northeast of modern Portland, Maine, is established on the bluffs overlooking the spot where the Kennebec River flows into the ocean. The colony lasts only a little over one year. The colony’s second leader returns to England, taking the settlers with him, when he inherits a sizeable estate in England.

1500’s

• 1561 - Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith Scotland to assume throne after spending 13 years in France

1200’s

• 1263 - King James I of Argon censors Hebrew writing

Before 1000

• 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul

Today’s Birthdays…                                                           

In their 40’s

• Kevin Dillon, NY, actor (Heaven Help Us, Remote Control, Platoon) is 47
• Matthew Perry, actor (Sydney, Chandler-Friends) is 43
• Kyra Sedgwick, actress (The Closer) is 47
• John Stamos, actor (General Hospital, Full House) will be 49
• Lee Ann Womack, country music singer and songwriter is 46

In their 50’s

• Adam Arkin, actor (Busting Loose, Chicago Hope, Northern Exposure) is 56

In their 60’s

• Bill Clinton [William Jefferson], Hope Arkansas, 42nd US President is 66
• Gerald McRaney, Collins Miss, actor (Simon & Simon, Major Dad) is 65

In their 70’s

• Ginger [Peter] Baker, England, drummer (Cream-White Room) is 73
• Diana Muldaur, NYC, actress (McCloud, Star Trek Next Gen, LA Law) is 74
• Renee Richards, [Richard Rankind], trans-sexual tennis player is 78
• Jill St. John, actress (Diamonds are Forever) is 72

Remembered for being born today

• Malcolm Forbes, Brooklyn New York, publisher (Forbes Magazine) b. 1919
• John Kane, Scottish-born US primitivist painter b. 1860
• Ogden Nash, Rye NY, humorous poet (I'm a Stranger Here Myself) b. 1902
• Gene Roddenberry, El Paso Texas, executive producer (Star Trek) b. 1921
• Willie Shoemaker, jockey (won 8,833 of 40,350 starts) b. 1931
• Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia b. 1596
• Seth Thomas, pioneer in mass production of clocks b. 1785
• Orville Wright, Dayton OH, aviator (Wright Brothers) b. 1871

Today’s Historical Obits…                                                           

• Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor dies in 14AD at 75
• Don Hewitt, television news producer & director; creator of 60 Minutes dies in 2009 at 86
• John Wesley Hardin, American frontier murderer and outlaw, killed in 1895 at 41 
• Groucho Marx, NYC, comedian (Marx Bros), dies in 1977 at 86
• Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher, dies after long health problems in 1662 at 39
• Linus Pauling, Nobel prize scientist (Vitamin C advocate), dies in 1994 at 93

Answers…                                                                                                                                            

Do you know what this word means?

The way it smells outside after rain.

What is the answer?

Very hairy

Scrambled Proverbs

There is no accounting for taste

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  ☺