Jan 31

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 05/ Day: 31

Today: H   42°…L 8° Averages: H  43° L 18° Records: H   66°(1971)…L -19°(1979)

Wind: ave:  7mph; Gusts:  15mph  ave. humidity:  65%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison hit #1 on UK pop chart—1971

1st acts are taken to establish the White Mountain-San Carlos-Camp Apache Reserve in 

     western Arizona territory, by the Military Division of the Pacific—1870

1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach—1905

1st Ukrainian daily newspaper in US (NYC) begins publication—1920

1st venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital—1747

Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland—1919

Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk—1851

Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2—1961

Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway—1948

Millions of birds fly over western SF, darkens sky—1871

Netherlands: a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the 

     bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988—2001

Pres Harry Truman OKs building of hydrogen bomb—1950

Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company—1928

SF Orphan's Asylum, 1st in California, founded—1851

United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations—1876

US launches their 1st artificial satellite, Explorer 1—1958

Viet Cong's Tet offensive begins—1968

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

My two lunch partners did not have a good time while I was away…and I had nothing to do with it. Mary is suffering with nerve damage to her knee and got a cortisone shot this morning…been in pain the entire time I was gone. Cheryl may need eye surgery and has gone to be with her son and is seeing a doctor there about it. She may be bed-ridden for two weeks after the surgery, unable to sit up and have to lie on her back. Strange but worth it to keep her sight. 

Have to talk about what used to be called ‘customs and immigration’ at international points of entry. They changed to ‘border security’ and ‘immigration’. I noted this on my last international trip. This time Houston was involved in some kind of mission. When we entered a long narrow hallway after security points to get to the gates there was a dog and many armed officers. The dog was sniffing all our carry-on. I wrongly assumed that it was drug sniffers. Nope, it was money sniffing dogs. Yeah, I know. Really?. It is legal to enter or leave the country with $9,999 in cash. Any more is illegal. I saw the dog alert to a suitcase and the armed officer came up to this woman who was obviously foreign. He said to her “How much money do you have?” She looked confused, as I would have been. She was taken out of line and led into a side room. Another man had his bag opened on a small table that was just off this narrow hallway. When we returned, another dog was in the baggage claim area doing the same thing for incoming passengers. America has certainly changed since 9/11…and I for one find it a little creepy. I do understand that our flights were to and from Dubai and that country is known for its wealth, so maybe that was it.

 

And then there was the trumpeting elephants. I have seen elephants during almost all my visits to Africa. We were in an area of Uganda that hasn’t had decades of tourists riding around in land cruisers, so the elephants have not been ‘habituated’ to seeing the vehicles. Our driver, Andrew, told us that the females are still very protective around their young. That means that almost all of our encounters had a few trumpeting females. It was amazing to hear, as they were simply warning us, and their young, that danger might be nearby. On one occasion, it was so much more than amazing. We were watching a small herd on one side of the road…standing up and shooting pictures. Out of nowhere a female on the other side of the vehicle, about 10 yards from us let out a trumpet that made our ears ring. No one got a picture of her, but we will never forget the moment. Andrew simply said ‘moving’ as we slowly pulled away. He usually waited for us to respond with ‘moving’ to be sure that we were all seated and ready to move. This time, he didn’t wait for a response. Unforgettable.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Word

Find a hidden word in the sentence

 Even ice melts with time under our breath.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• The Execution Of Private Slovik

• Hello Dolly!

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

On an Electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts."

Picture of the Day: 1960’s TV

Harper’s Index:         

• Percentage of the continental US that experienced drought conditions this summer: 68

• Last year in which the number was that high: 1954

Unusual Fact of the Day:

Former Today Show weatheman Willard Scott got an early career boost by portraying Ronald McDonald in commercials.

Joke-of-the-day:

Bob stood over his tee shot for what seemed an eternity. He waggled, looked up, looked down, waggled again, but didn't start his back swing. Finally his exasperated partner asked, "what the hell is taking so long?"

"My wife is up there watching me from the clubhouse," Bob explained. "I want to make a perfect shot." "Good lord!" his companion exclaimed. "You don't have a snowball's chance in hell of hitting her from here."

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

DECLARING SOMEONE DEAD

For hypothermia victims, nobody's dead until they're warm and dead.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

WEST YORK, Pa. - Family members of a Pennsylvania man who loved Burger King said they took his funeral procession through the drive-through. Linda Phiel, one of the three daughters of West York man David Kime Jr., who died at the age of 88 Jan. 20, said her father enjoyed fast food daily, so the family took his funeral procession through the Burger King drive-through Saturday for one last Whopper Jr., the York Daily Record reported Monday. "He always lived by his own rules," Phiel said. "His version of eating healthy was the lettuce on the Whopper Jr." Margaret Hess, head manager of the Manchester Township Burger King, said the funeral procession ordered 40 of the sandwiches. "They also wanted one for the deceased," Hess said. Phiel said she placed Kime's final the Whopper Jr. atop her father's casket before it was buried.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The first cell phone, made by Motorola, measured 9x5 inches and weighed 2 1/2 pounds. The first cell phone call was placed on April 3, 1973, by Dr. Martin Cooper, the General Manager for Motorola's Systems Division.

• In the early 1960s, John Draper discovered that a plastic whistle included in boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal emitted a perfect 2,600 Hz tone. When the Air Force shipped him to England, he was able to make free overseas calls by blowing the whistle into the telephone and tripping Ma Bell's long distance trunks.

• The Loneliest Phone Booth in America site was the location of an extremely remote phone booth along U.S. Route 50 near Sand Mountain Recreational Area. The booth was solar-powered and assigned the phone number of (775) 423-0904. It was removed by the phone company after too many drivers passing by it used it for target practice with their firearms, filling it with bullet holes. 

• Mr. Burns on TV's The Simpsons persists in answering his telephone with "Ahoy-hoy?" which is one of the greetings that inventor Alexander Graham Bell recommended for his device.

• From 1963 to 2003, Jane Barbe "spoke" to some 20 million people per day. Hers was the voice telephone customers heard when they dialed the number for the correct time and also the voice that informed them "the number you have reached is no longer in service."

• The "Hello, My Name Is" name tag you see at so many meetings and conferences today was created in 1880 for the first Telephone Operators Convention, which was held in Niagara Falls, New York.  

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

27-2/2

World Leprosy Week

Catholic Schools Week

Meat Week

National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week

National Medical Group Practice Week

International Hoof Care Week

US National Snow Sculpting Week

Today Is                                                                      

Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Child Labor Day

Inspire Your Heart with Art Day

National Popcorn Day

Today’s Events through History  

"Green Hornet" radio show is 1st heard on WXYZ Radio in Detroit—1936

Congress passes 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America—1865 

Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft—1675

Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years with the network—1984

Gen Robert E Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies—1865

James van Allen discovers radiation belt—1958

Jesuits "predict" a lunar eclipse for the HURONs of Ossossane. This accurate

     prediction, made with the use of an almanac, will lead to many religious conversions—1646

Kenya: at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage 

     ignition in Molo—2009

Leon Trotsky expelled from Russia to Turkey—1929

President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy—1995

RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer—1955

Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter—1906

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 90’s

Carol Channing, actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hello Dolly) will be 90

In their 80’s

Ernie Banks, Dallas Texas, "Mr Cub" Chicago Cubs, Hall-of-Famer (short stop/1st baseman) is 82

In their 50’s

Anthony LaPaglia, actor (Murder One) , actress (Good Will Hunting) is 54

In their 40’s

Minnie Driver, English actress and singer-songwriter is 42

Portia De Rossi, actress is 40

In their 30’s

Justin Timberlake, Memphis, Tennessee, singer-songwriter (Sexyback, My Love) is 32

Remembered for being born today

John Agar, actor (1921-2002)

Tallulah Bankhead, Huntsville Ala, actress (Lifeboat, Die Die Darling) (1902-1968)

Eddie Cantor, NYC, comedian (Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater) (1892-1964)

James Franciscus, Clayton Mo, actor (Mr Novak, Longstreet, Hunter) (1934-1971)

Zane Grey, American West novelist (Riders of the Purple Sage) (1872-1939)

Mario Lanza, Phila, actor/singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans) (1921-1959)

Norman Mailer, Long Branch NJ, NYC mayoral candidate/novelist (Naked & the Dead), (1923-2007) Garry Moore, [Thomas Garrison Morfit], Balt, host (I've Got a Secret) (1915-1993)

Suzanne Pleshette, NYC, actress (Birds, Emily-Bob Newhart Show) (1937-2008)

Jackie Robinson, Ga, 1st black major league baseball player (Dodgers) (1919-1972)

Emil Strauss, Germany, writer (Naked Man) (1866-1960)

Stewart L Udall, St Johns Ariz, US Secretary of Interior (1961-69) (1920-2010)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Edwin H Armstrong, US radio inventor (FM) — suicide — at 63

Guy Fawkes, convicted in the "Gunpowder Plot" — executed —1606 —at 35

Samuel Goldwyn, Polish/English/US film magnate (MGM) —1974— at 91

John R Mott, US theologist/founder (YMCA, Nobel 1946) — 1955 — at 89

Eddie Slovik, 1st US executed for desertion since Civil War—1945—at 25

[Bonnie Prince Charlie] Charles E Stuart, English pretender to the throne — 1788 — at 67

Answer: Hidden Countries

 EVEN ICE melts with time under our breath.

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  §