Dec 2. 2012

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 49/ Day: 337   

Today: H   58°…L 30° Averages: H  45° L 19°

Records: H   66°(2008)…L -7°(1905)

Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  30mph Today’s ave. humidity:  69%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

1st Model A Fords sold, for $385—1927

1st skull of Peking man found, 50 km out of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien—1929

Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli Libya—1979

Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy—2001

Environmental Protection Agency begins—1970 

Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers) wins NL Rookie of the Year—1981 

Gillette patents 1st disposable razor—1901

Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned emperor of France in Paris—1804

No land grants for Indian lands in British territories now be made without 

     he Crown's approval—1761

William H Harrison elected 9th President—1840

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

A cloudy afternoon but not a drop of moisture. Starting to think about putting up the Holiday decorations.

 

Just a lazy Saturday…only a little cleaning…no calls…no visitors…nice for a change of pace.

 

I listen to NPR daily and on the weekends for their great stories. I realized I have no idea what these people look like…so this week I will be posting pics of some of my favorites.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Duplicate Letter Puzzles

Find common words with certain letters duplicated in the given positions. V stands for a duplicated vowel, C stands for a duplicated consonant 

 C V V C V C

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Old Saying Explained:

GOLLY, GOSH…In the past it wasn't polite to use the exclamation 'God!' Instead people said Golly! or Gosh! Sometimes they said 'heck' instead of Hell.

Ok, then?

TV Theme Songs you may remember:

The Jeffersons - "Movin' On Up" by Ja'net Du Boise

Read This Headline Carefully!!

War Dims Hope for Peace

NPR Hosts:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

Between 1787 and 1868, the British government sent more than 166,000 men, women and children to penal colonies in Australia. The months-long journey could be deadly, and captains reported prisoner fatality rates of 30 percent or more.

Harper’s Index:         

• Chances that a ‘strand your ground’ defense in Florida is successful when a black is killed: 3 in 4
• Chances when a white person is killed: 2 in 3

Ruminations:

Sometimes it seems that the only things ‘Made in America’ these days are babies

Unusual Fact of the Day:

The name "The Birdman of Alcatraz" is a bit of misnomer: Robert Stroud was allowed to keep birds when he was incarcerated at Leavenworth, but not when he was transferred to Alcatraz.

Found on You Tube: 

Odetta Live in concert 2005, "House of the Rising Sun"  

Joke-of-the-day:

A few days before her birthday a husband asked his wife, “Dear,      what would you like for your present?” Wife: I really don’t think I should say. Husband: How about a diamond ring? Wife: I don’t care much for diamonds. Husband: well, then, a mink coat? Wife: You know I do not like furs. Husband: A golden necklace? Wife: I already have three of them. Husband: Well, gosh, what do you want? Wife: What I’d really like is a divorce Husband: Hmmm, I wasn’t planning on spending that much

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

SURVIVING A PARACHUTE MALFUNCTION…If your main parachute malfunctions and you're trying to decide whether to use your emergency chute, spit. If your spit goes up, use your emergency chute. If your spit goes down, your rate of descent is survivable.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

HUGO, Minn. - A Minnesota woman said the funeral for her late boyfriend will involve pizza and watching the Minnesota Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers. Terri Moffitt of Hugo said Don Brommerich, who died of brain cancer Nov. 11 at the age of 53, was "a no-fuss kind of guy" as well as a diehard Vikings fan, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Thursday. "I didn't want a priest or minister that Don didn't know up there blabbing for an hour about a guy he never knew," Moffitt said. "We were looking at the football stuff and I said, 'Oh, there's a Packer-Viking game on Sunday. That's it.'" Tim Tarmann of Roberts Family Funeral Home in Forest Lake helped Moffitt plan the celebration of Brommerich's life. "We are seeing a shift in funeral services where more and more families are wanting a unique celebration to honor their loved ones," Tarmann said. "The Viking-Packer rivalry was significant to Don, so what a perfect way for family and friends to honor his life. Just the way Don would have wanted it."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

LAST WOMAN HANGED IN ENGLAND
Ruth Ellis was executed by hanging in 1955; the suspension of capital punishment throughout England made her the last woman to be executed by this method.

LAST WITCHCRAFT HANGING
The last person hanged for witchcraft in the American colonies was executed on September 22, 1692.

LAST VIET NAM WAR DEATH
The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident.

LAST US SOLDIER EXECUTED FOR DESERTION
Private Eddie Slovik was tried by court-martial and sentenced to death for desertion during WWII. He was shot by his own unit, the 28th Infantry Division, in a small town in northeast France. There were 70 executions by firing squad during WWII, but Slovik's was the only one for desertion. The rest were for rape or murder.

LAST US PUBLIC EXECUTION 
The last public execution in America was the hanging of a 22-year-old black man named Rainey Bethea at Owensboro, KY, in 1936. Bethea had been convicted of the slaying of a 70-year-old white woman. By five o'clock the morning of the execution, 20,000 people were in the field, including over 200 sheriffs and deputies from various parts of the U.S. For complete details, 

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7> Cookie Cutter Week; Tolerance Week

2-8> Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week; Clerc-Gallaudet Week; National Hand washing Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery Day

National Fritters Day

National Mutt Day

Special Education Day

United Arab Emirates: National Day (from the UK; the eventual unification of the seven emirates 1971: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah & Umm ak Qiwain)
Laos: National Day (1975 over monarchy)

Today’s Events through History  

British Imperial Airways & British Airways merge to form BOAC—1939

Charles Dickens British author gives his first public reading in the US in NYC—1840

English language newspaper "Namloos" begins publishing in Amsterdam—1620

Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, & will lead Cuba to Communism—1961

Fred Astaire's 1st film, "Dancing Lady," released—1933

James Madison re-elected president of US, E Gerry vice-pres—1812

Muslim Shites release American held in Lebanon—1991

University of Leipzig [Germany] opens—1409

US Senate censures Joe McCarthy (Sen-R-Wisc) for "conduct that tends to 

     bring Senate into dishonor & disrepute"—1954

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Edwin Meese III,  US attorney General (1985-88) is 81

In their 70’s

Harry Reid, Senator from NV; Senate Majority Leader is 73

In their 50’s

Steven Bauer [Esteban Ernesto Echevar], Cuban-American actor is 56

Stone Phillips, news host (NBC Dateline) is 58

In their 40’s

Lucy Liu, actress, artist is 44

In their 30’s

Britney Spears, singer and pop star is 31

Remembered for being born today

John Breckinridge, US Attorney General (1760-1806)

Maria M Callas, NYC, soprano (Carmen) (1923-1977)

Alexander Haig Jr, Bala-Cynwyd Pa, US Sec of State (1981-82)/General (1924-2010)

Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher (1915-2010)

Russell Lynes, art historian, photographer, author and managing editor 

     of Harper's Magazine (1910-1991)

George Minot, US, physician, worked on anemia (Nobel 1934) (1885-1950)

Charles Ringling, American circus owner (1863-1926)

Gianni Versace, Reggio Calabria, Italy, fashion designer (Versace), (1946-shot-1997)

Ray Walston, New Orleans LA, actor (My Favorite Martian, Damn Yankees) (1914-2001)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Desi Arnaz, actor (Ricky Ricardo-I Love Lucy)— cancer—1986—at 69  

John Brown, US abolitionist (Harpers Ferry)—hanged—1859—at 59

Marty Feldman, comedian (Young Frankenstein)—heart attack—1982—at 48

Odetta [Holmes], American singer— heart disease—2008—at 77

Sabu Sabu[Sabu Dastagir], actor (Jungle Book, Drums)—heart attack—1963—at 39

John Ringling, American circus owner—1936—at 70

Marquis de Sade, writer—1814—at 74

Answer: Duplicate Letter Puzzles

DEEDED

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  §