Jan 3

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 01/ Day: 3    

Today: H   31°…L 12° Averages: H  42° L 17° Records: H   60°(1902)…L -21°(1919)

Wind: ave:   10mph; Gusts:  21mph  ave. humidity:  73%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

1st Chinese arrive in Hawaii—1852
1st patent list issued by US Patent Office—1872
Apple Computers incorporate—1977
Bonnie Prince Charlies army leaves Glasgow—1746
Construction begins on Brooklyn Bridge in New York—1870
Fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower—1956
Israeli ground forces invade Gaza—2009Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine—1496
Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X—1521
Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro—1962
Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for      New Harmony utopian community—1825
US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba—1961

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

I am not a big fan of our fairly cold weather, but when I look at past years and records…I don’t feel so bad. I don’t feel very much warmer, just not quite so cold.

 

This is the last day of the 112^th Congress. I can only hope that the 113^th is a lot more states-person like and a whole lot less mean and unbending. Really, this great congress did not approve funding to help the people who lost so much in Hurricane Sandy. It isn’t that they voted against it, they didn’t even vote. This has to be some kind of first, when Americans, through no fault of their own, need help after a natural disaster on our American soil. Maybe there will be some leading Republicans leave the sinking ship.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

Rash decisions may lead to trouble so thorough analysis is required. 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• Tutankhamen tomb discovered

• Top 10 Edgar Cayce Predictions

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

Seen in an Abu Dhabi Souk [open air market] shop window:

IF THE FRONT IS CLOSED, PLEASE ENTER THROUGH MY BACKSIDE…

Picture of the Day:

 returns tomorrow

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

When President Harry Truman visited Disneyland in 1957, he refused to ride one of its most popular attractions, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, due to the elephant's association with the Republican Party.

Harper’s Index:         

Percentage increase since 1990 in the share of US men who say they ‘worry about their weight”: 95

Unusual Fact of the Day:

It is bad luck to whistle in a theatre. The superstition dates back to the time when off-duty sailors would run the fly system in theatres, and the sailors would whistle the cues to each other. Therefore, if you were to walk through a theatre carelessly whistling a tune, you might cause a scenic piece to fall on your head.

Joke-of-the-day:

Pulling into the crowded parking lot at the shopping center rolled down the car windows to make sure my puppy had fresh air. She was stretched full out on the back seat and I wanted to impress upon her that she must remain there. I walked to the curb backward, pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically, "Now you stay. Do you hear me? "Stay! Stay!"

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty young lady, gave me a strange look and said, "Why don't you just put it in park?"

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

FISHING FOR TROUT

If you can see the fish, the fish can see you.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

LONDON - A British divorce lawyer says Christmas Day is the top day for "text message bustings" of unfaithful spouses. Ayesha Vardag said she has noticed Christmas Day has become the most popular day of the year for suspicious spouses to conduct the "text message bustings" by finding messages sent to or from an unfaithful significant other, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

"It is really very sad," said Vardag, whose high-profile cases include representing German heiress Katrin Radmacher in her $160.8 million divorce case. "There is a psychological sense of Christmas being the barometer of how a family is doing. But the other thing we find a lot is that there are a lot of text message 'bustings' on Christmas Day, usually because the husband leaves the phone around and the mistress is sending messages.

"We see that a lot ... it is amazing how many times that is what catches people out," she said. "It has just become very obvious and transparent. Husbands will go off and call the mistress and then the wife will wonder where they were or who they were calling, they will either find the number on there or the text message. "I do wonder whether there is an element of people wanting to get caught because it is an easier way of dealing with it than saying that they want to leave," Vardag said.

Somewhat Useless Information   

January: named after Janus, the god of doors and gates
February: named after Februalia, a time period when sacrifices were made to atone for sins
March: named after Mars, the god of war
April: from aperire, Latin for "to open" (buds)
May: named after Maia, the goddess of growth of plants
June: from junius, Latin for the goddess Juno
July: named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
August: named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B.C.
September: from septem, Latin for "seven"
October: from octo, Latin for "eight"
November: from novem, Latin for "nine"
December: from decem, Latin for "ten"

***

The earliest Latin calendar was a 10-month one, beginning with March; thus, September was the seventh month, October, the eighth, etc. July was originally called Quintilis, meaning fifth; August was originally called Sextilis, meaning sixth.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

New Year's Resolutions Week

Celebration of Life Week

Diet Resolution Week

Silent Record Week

2-8

Someday We'll Laugh About This Week

3-7

Women's Self Empowerment Week

Today Is                                                                      

Congress Assembles Day
Drinking Straw Day—1888 patent
Festival of Sleep Day
J.R.R. Tolkien Day
Memento Mori— "Remember your mortality" or "Remember You Die" Day
National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
~US-Alaska: Admission Day (1959-49^th satte)

Today’s Events through History  

1st known use of the word automobile, seen in editorial—The New York Times—1899

1st opening session of Congress to be televised—1947

1st US building & loan association organized—1831

Danish national anthem "Kong Kristian...," 1st sung—1780

Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole overland—1958

Government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City—1834

Howard Carter, British Egyptologist finds sarcophagus of Tutankhamun—1924

Joan of Arc handed over to the bishop—1431

March of Dimes established to fight polio—1938

Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century—1988

Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers—1932

Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico—1823

Tony Dorsett sets NFL record with 99-yd rush—1983

Washington defeats British at Battle of Princeton, NJ—1777

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Robert Loggia, actor (Officer & a Gentleman, THE Cat) is 83

In their 60’s

Victoria Principal, Fukuoka Japan, actress (Earthquake, Pamela-Dallas) is 63

Stephen Stills, Dallas TX, songwriter/guitarist (Cosby Stills & Nash) is 68

In their 50’s

Mel Gibson, actor (Mad Max, Mrs Soffel, Lethal Weapon) is 57

In their 40’s

Cheryl Miller, Riverside California, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1984) is 49

In their 30’s

Eli Manning, football (Giants) is 32

Remembered for being born today

Victor Borge, [Borge Rosenbaum], Copenhagen Denmark, pianist/comedian (1909-2000)

Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (106BC-assisinated-43 BC)

Betty Furness, NYC, actress/journalist/consumer activist (Studio 1) (1916-1994)

Sergio Leone, Italian, director (Fist Full of Dollars) (1929-1989)

Lucretia Coffin Mott, US, teacher/minister/abolitionist/feminist (1793-1880)

Ray Milland, Neath Wales, actor (Lost Weekend-Acad Award 1945) (1907-1986)

Helen Parkhurst, US educator (Education on the Dalton plan) (1887-1973)

ZaSu Pitts, American actress (1894-cancer-1963)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Bennelong, Australian aboriginal interlocutor between his tribe and the British settlers—alcohol—1813—at 49 

Edgar Cayce, American psychic—stroke—1945—at 67

Robert L Carter, civil rights activist-judge—complications of stroke—2012—at 94

Conrad Hilton, US founder (Hilton Hotels)—1979—at 91

Answer: Hidden Countries

Rash decisions may lead to troubLE SO THOrouGH ANAlysis is required. 

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  §