Mar 18, 2013

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 12/ Day: 77   Today: H 60°…L 28°

Averages: H  51° L 24° Records: H 73°(2007)…L 3°(1991)

Wind: ave:   15mph; Gusts:  26mph  Ave. humidity:  56%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

$100 millions at Gardner Museum, Boston biggest US art robbery►1990

1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick) ►1931

Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens►1881

Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to walk in space►1965

Enrico Caruso becomes 1st well-known performer to make a record►1902

Jacques de Molay, the 23^rd/ last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, 

     burned at stake►1314

Kraków is ravaged by Mongols►1241

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Org) ratified►1949

Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced►1961

Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1►1966

Tenochtitlan is founded; event is depicted on the Mexican coat of arms►1325

US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N Korea & Cambodia►1977

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Really getting used to this spring weather. Hope it continues.

Watched my Sunday morning news shows. Nice to hear some solutions to our economic, military, and cultural problems. Several of the shows discussed why we are disliked/hated by so many in the world…AND how to fix it. It will take decades to undo the damage we have done throughout so much of the world. It is certainly time to begin the healing process. Killing innocents is the first thing that needs to be corrected, by stopping it, apologizing for past killings and working with the victim’s families to make up for our mistreatment. The list goes on, but I was pleased to see that at least some are talking about the list. Next step is action.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Each sentence below contains a word that can be anagrammed to answer or describe the sentence.
Example: Craft that might tip in the ocean. Answer: Canoe (Anagram of ocean)

1. You cover a mattress with one of these 2. Dangerous thing for an alcoholic to begin 3. Feature on which a tire might be rated 4. Feeling about a poisonous adder 5. Weapon that a cavalryman bears 6. It doesn't necessarily bring rain, but it could

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Fess Parker - Ballad of Davy Crockett

• Arlene Dahl Presents Paper Dresses on "I've Got a Secret"

• CCCP (USSR) Luna Program and first space walk

from Cracked.com

Baffling Science Experiments ThatWere Funded

• Coked-Up Rats and Jazz
• Chickens Don't Like Ugly People
•  See-Through Animals
• Arbitrary Monkey Erections
•  What Happens When You Get Leeches Drunk?
•  The Velocity of Penguin Crap

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

• Percentage of the population of Valencia, Spain that is currently unemployed: 28

• Price of a weeklong prostitution training course offered there since May: $127

Picture of the Day: Mammals of the Sea

Unusual Fact of the Day

Fish cough!

Joke-of-the-day

A wife went to the police station with her next-door neighbor to report that her husband was missing. The policeman asked for a description. She said, "He's 35 years old, 6 foot 4, has dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic build, weighs 185 pounds, is soft-spoken, and is good to the children."

The next-door neighbor protested, "Your husband is 5 foot 4, chubby, bald, has a big mouth, and is mean to your children."

The wife replied, "Yes, but who wants HIM back?"  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

TEACHING

To teach effectively, a teacher should limit a class to 25 students. A class of 25 to 32 students should have a teacher's aide. A group with more than 32 students should be split into two classes.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

NOGALES, Ariz. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection said authorities arrested a 35-year-old Mexican man accused of hiding more than a ton of marijuana among bell peppers. Customs officials said the man's tractor trailer was pulled over for inspection Tuesday at the Nogales Commercial Facility after crossing the border into Arizona when a drug-sniffing dog detected the presence of contraband, KVOA-TV, Tucson, Ariz., reported Thursday. Investigators discovered 280 packages of marijuana, together weighing more than a ton, worth an estimated $1,068,000, KPHO-TV, Phoenix, reported. The drugs were hidden inside a shipment of bell peppers. The drugs and truck were seized and the suspect, whose name was not released, was turned over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations agents.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The only river that flows both north and south of the equator is the Congo. It crosses the equator twice.

• The only rock that floats in water is pumice.

• The only wood used by famed London cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale was mahogany.

• The pecan tree is the only naturally growing nut tree in North American. It is native to the Texas, Mississippi and Mexico River Valleys.

• The penguin is the only bird that can swim, but not fly. It is also the only bird that walks upright.

• The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial (pouched mammal) indigenous to North America.

• There is only one Q in a Scrabble game.

• There's only one city in the United States named merely "Beach." It is found in North Dakota, which is a land-locked state.

• Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

17-23

Campfire USA Birthday Week
Consider Christianity Week
Health Information Professionals Week
National Animal Poison Prevention Week
National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Week
Root Canal Awareness Week
18-24

Act Happy Week
American Chocolate Week
Flood Awareness Week
Wellderly Week
Wildlife Week
World Folktales & Fables Week

Today Is                                                                       

Awkward Moments Day

Forgive Mom and Dad Day

National Biodiesel Day

Well-Elderly or Wellderly Day

~Aruba: Flag Day

Today’s Events through History  

1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted►1952 

Boston Braves move to Milwaukee►1953

English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome►1532

Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo►1850

Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion►1992

Lord Stanley presents silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup) ►1892

Nazi Germany occupies Hungary►1944

Order of DeMolay forms in Kansas City►1919

Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia►1608

Teddy Pendergrass' spinal cord severed in a car accident►1982

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk, president South Africa is 77

Charley Pride, country singer (Sweet Country) is 75

In their 50’s

Vanessa Williams, 1st black Miss America (1983)/singer is 50

In their 40’s

Bonnie Blair, Champaign Ill, speed skater (Oly-5 gold/brz-88, 92, 94) is 49

Queen Latifah, rap singer/actress (Khadijah James-Living Single) is 43

In their 30’s

Adam Levine, singer-songwriter is 34

Remembered for being born today

Smiley Burnette, Summum Ill, cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction) [1911-1967]

Edgar Cayce, American psychic 

Grover Cleveland, [Stephen], NJ, 22nd/24th Pres [1837-1908]

Rudolph C K Diesel, German engineer (Diesel motor) [1858-1913]

George Plimpton, NYC, sports writer (Paper Lion) [1927-2003]

Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England and queen consort of Louis 

     XII of France [1496-1533]

John Updike, poet/novelist (Rabbit Run) [1932-2009]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

John Chapman, [Johnny Appleseed], American pioneer agronomist►1845►at 70

Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of The Knights Templar ►burned 

     at the stake►1314►at 50-64  

Fess Parker, American actor►2010►at 85

Answer: Brain Teasers

1. Sheet 2. Binge 3. Tread 4. Dread 5. Sabre or Saber 6. Cloud

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  §