Feb 20, 2013

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 08/ Day:    

Today: H 43°…L 19° Averages: H  45° L 20° Records: H   66°(1981)…L -6°(1942)

Wind: ave:   16mph; Gusts:  36mph  Ave. humidity:  49%

**WINTER STORM ADVISORY**

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"African Queen" opens at Capitol Theater in NYC—1952

10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in NH for £100 a scalp bounty—1725

1st automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica—1937

1st recorded wine auction held (London) —1673

American Samoa organizes as territory of US—1929

Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers—1944

Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness—1746

Concepcion, Chile destroyed by earthquake; 5,000 die—1835

Jimi Hendrix, rock and roll guitarist, plays his first gig—1960

John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7) —1962

Maj General Idi Amin Dada appoints himself president of Uganda—1971

Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment—1472

Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state—1809

US postal service created, postage 6 cents - 12 cents depending on distance—1792

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

The storm hasn’t arrived but the wind sure makes it feel like it is just around the corner. We still have some blue sky, but clouds are pouring in. Expecting about a foot by tomorrow night. The wind has blown away or dried up any remnants of the previous storm.

 

I called my new friend ‘Margaret’ last Friday. She is the tax bureaucrat in CO who keeps telling me it takes time to fix the error in my taxes. She called me back about noon today to tell me that SHE had talked to the person in charge of reviewing my account and had TOLD her to review it immediately. According to ‘my friend’, the review was positive for me, and she believes I will be getting a letter from the person who reviewed the forms telling me that everything is cleared up. Time will tell if that is correct. What an unbelievable hassle that never should have taken this long.

 

Over the past few days there have been several internet news sources with articles about President’s Day. Now there are rumors that several presidents had some Black relatives in their lineage. Hmmm. 

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

If a cork is put into a glass of water, the cork will almost always drift to the side of the glass. There is one simple way, however, to get the cork to float in the center of the glass (the horizontal center, not the vertical). What is it? Water, the glass, and the cork are all that is required.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• Idi Amin
 I do not agree with this man and lots of longer videos are available at the site. They are longer than this one.

• Salute to Sidney Poitier

• JOHN GLENN LAUNCH LIVE

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

Hospitals Resort to Hiring Doctors

Picture of the Day: Native American Art

Harper’s Index:         

Projected percentage increase in the 2012 US GDP attributed to the sales of the iPhone5: 0.33

Unusual Fact of the Day:

Television lost about 20 percent of its advertising revenue immediately after tobacco ads were banned in 1971.

Joke-of-the-day:

Teacher: Why do we sometimes call the Middle Ages the Dark Ages? Peter: Because they had so many knights.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

DESIGNING BILLBOARDS

People are exposed to outdoor advertisements for only a few seconds. A good billboard should have no more than seven words and two things to look at.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

An antique mirror managed to scare up $155 U.S. in a recent eBay auction despite -- or perhaps because of -- claims that it might be haunted.The two sellers -- Joseph Birch, 20, and Sotiris Charalambous, 43 -- claim they acquired the allegedly haunted mirror when their landlord put it in a dumpster outside their London home about five months ago.

Since then, the duo claim they've suffered a streak of bad luck, including financial problems and illness according to the Daily Mail.

The duo claim that since they took possession of the mirror, they've woken up "screaming in pain," felt "a sense of impending doom," and spotted "flickering shadows" reflected in it, MSNnow.com reported, adding that the final straw was when one of the owners woke up "covered in deep red scratches."

The two recently decided to get rid of the bad luck mirror by auctioning it off on eBay, but making sure to fully disclose its paranormal properties.

It's a good thing there was no profit motive reflected in the eBay posting, but there was only one bid for the item and it was for the original price posted by the two men.

Somewhat Useless Information   

•  George Washington's teeth weren't wooden. Contrary to popular belief, the country's first president had dentures made of gold, ivory, lead, and animal teeth.

• Thomas Jefferson founded the university in 1819 on land that once belonged to eventual President James Monroe. Jefferson is the only president to have ever founded an institution of higher learning.

• After finishing his undergraduate degree in 2 years, James Madison stayed at the university for an additional year, making him the Ivy League institution's first graduate student.

• Andrew Jackson taught his parrot to curse. The parrot had to be removed from President Jackson's funeral because it wouldn't stop swearing.

• Not only was Chester A. Arthur a very sharp dresser (he owned over 80 pairs of pants) but he often took late night strolls around D.C. with friends, not returning home until 3 or 4 in the morning.

• Herbert Hoover moved his family to China before becoming President, and he and his wife learned to speak Mandarin Chinese fluently. They would speak the language around the White House to prevent others from understanding them.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

14-21
National Condom Week
National Nestbox Week
NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week

15-24
National Date (fruit) Week
National Entrepreneurship Week
National FFA Week
Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week
Build A Better Trade Show Image Week
National Engineers Week
National Justice for Animals Week

Today Is                                                                      

Love Your Pet Day

Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day

UN World Day for Social Justice

Today’s Events through History  

Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by computer store in Salt Lake City—1987

Bonnie Prince Charlies troops occupy Fort Augustus, Scotland—1745

Congressional Act modifies the White Mountain-San Carlos-Camp Apache 

     Reserve, in western Arizona Territory—1893

Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour—1950

Kagohami talks of a 120-year-old man to Lewis and Clark—1805

Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace—1942

Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags—1872

Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine—1872

Tenn Gov W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis—1869

US movie box office hits quickest $1 billion for year (51 days) —1998

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Sidney Poitier, actor (Porgy & Bess, A Raisin in the Sun) is 86

Gloria Vanderbilt, designer is 89

In their 70’s

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Maine, folksinger (Now That the Buffalo Are Gone) is 72

Nancy Wilson, jazz vocalist (Feel Like Making Love) is 76

In their 60’s

Peter Strauss, Croton-on-Hudson NY, actor (Rich Man Poor Man) is 66

Ivana Trump, Gottwaldov Cz, ex-wife of Donald Trump (1st Wives Club) is 64

In their 50’s

Charles Barkley, NBA forward (Phoenix, Rockets, Oly-gold-96) is 50

Kelsey Grammer, Virgin Islands, actor (Fraiser Crane-Cheers/Fraiser) is 58

In their 40’s

Cindy Crawford, super model (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit) is 47

Under 30

 Rihanna, Barbadian recording artist, actress is 25

Remembered for being born today

Ansel Adams, photographer (1966 ASMP Award) (1902-1984)

Amanda Blake, [Beverly], Buffalo NY, actress (Kitty Russell-Gunsmoke) (1921-1989)

Kurt Cobain, rock vocalist (Nirvana)/husband of Courtney Love (1967-1994)

Russel Crouse, journalist/novelist/playwright (Life with Father) (1893-1966)

John Charles Daly, South Africa, newscaster/TV game show host 

     (What's My Line) (1914-1991)

Larry Hovis, Wapito Wash, comedian (Gomer Pyle, Hogan's Heroes) (1936-2003)

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, LI NY, founder (Pan Am Airways) (1899-1992)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster—2006—at 86

Rosemary DeCamp, American actress—2001—at 90

Sandra Dee, American actress—kidney disease—2005—at 62

Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, anti-slavery leader—stroke—1895—at 77

Alexander Haig, American soldier and politician—2010—at 85

Joseph Hume, social reformer—1855—at 78

Chester W Nimitz, US admiral (WW II)—1966—at 80

Robert E Peary, US pole explorer (North Pole, 6/4/1909)—1920—at 63

Gene Siskel, American film critic—surgery complications—1999—at 53

Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author—suicide—2005—at 67

Walter Winchell, writer/actor (Dondi, Love & Hisses)—prostate cancer—1972—at 74

Answer: Brain Teasers

The reason that a cork drifts to the side of a glass is that it floats to the highest point. Since water "clings" to the glass, the highest point is around the edge of the water. To get the cork to float in the middle of the glass, all you have to do is fill the glass as much as possible. The water will form a convex shape above the glass, with the highest point at its center. This is where the cork will settle.

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  §