9/1/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 36/ Day: 244   

Today: H 69°…L 57°

Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  8mph  

Ave. humidity:  79%

Record Low: 33° (1962)

Record High: 91° (1948)

Average Low: 47°

Average High: 77°

Flash Flood Warning

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, WA…1836

Aaron Burr acquitted of charges of plotting to set up an empire…1807

Alberta & Saskatchewan become 8th & 9th Canadian provinces…1905

Beslan, North Ossetia school hostage crisis begins…2004

Construction begins on NY Stock Exchange…1901

Jews living in Germany are required to wear a yellow Jewish star…1941

LA Court orders Clayton Moore to stop wearing Lone Ranger mask…1979

Last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo…1914

Max speedometer reading mandated at 85 MPH…1982

NYC law requires all "pool" rooms to change name to "billiards"…1922

Physical Review publishes 1st paper to deal with "black holes"…1939

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland Ohio…1995

Russia began taxing men's beards…1689

St Petersburg, Russia changes name to Petrograd…1914

Traditional date of destruction of Jerusalem…69

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Wet and rainy Saturday with a flash flood warning since last night that continues until tomorrow. A little sunshine throughout the day, but hard steady rain when the sun wasn’t shining. I was planning on heading to the fair again, to see the local bagpipers play, but about an half hour before I was ready to leave the first heavy rain of the day started.

Since I was home, I had CNN on for background noise. Was so happy I did, as our President came on and said even though he had the power, he would wait for Congress for approval to do a strike on Syria. That is the man I voted for. He did leave the possibility open to do it without Congressional approval, but I doubt he would do that. He and his crew will just spend the next few weeks trying to convince Congress to approve. I was wondering why France was our only vocal supporter in a strike, until I check the history of Syria and discovered that it was under French control until 1938. It will be an interesting debate as the usually pro-War, anti-Obama Republicans feel about our possible involvement in Syria…surely will be a difficult vote for many.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

On a 12-hour digital clock, what is the smallest interval between two times that are palindromic (can be read forwards and backwards as the same number)?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Gloria Estefan - Here We Are

• BOXCAR WILLIE - Walbash Cannonball

• Ethel Waters - Georgia On My Mind (1939)

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Bathing
You're suffering from... Ablutophobia (from Latin ablutere 'to wash off")If you have an irrational fear of... Beards
You're suffering from... Pogonophobia (pogonic 'pertaining to beards)

It is Illegal…

Next-Door Neighbors May Not Lend Each Other Vacuum Cleaners In Colorado

Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…

You can worship freely, without fear of violence or threats.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Percentage of college professors teaching online courses who do not believe students should receive credit for them: 72

Unusual Fact of the Day

Braces go all the way back to ancient Egypt. In fact, archeologists have found several mummies with crude metal bands wrapped around their teeth.

Joke-of-the-day

A shy man was feeling a little lucky and decided to ask the subdued provocative Librarian about seduction as he tended to be oblique in his intentions.

“Do you have any books on women seducing men?''

The Librarian answered without hesitation '' Why yes" she murmured. 

Most likely found in the '' Fantasy section"

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

CLIMBING MOUNTAINS

According to the 1952 Everest Expedition, one pound added to your boots equals five pounds added to your back. Buy the lightest boots that are safe.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

ST. LOUIS - A Missouri man said his Harley-Davidson motorcycle was stolen and recovered twice in the space of about 24 hours. David Dickinson, 61, of St. Louis, said the 2006 Dyna Wide Glide was in a trailer in front of his house with a flat tire and someone took the bike and trailer sometime between 3:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Aug. 20, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday. Dickinson filed a police report and the motorcycle and trailer were found later in the day behind a stolen truck about 5 miles away. The trailer was towed to Dickinson's son's house, where he thought it would be more secure, but the motorcycle was gone from the trailer by 4:45 a.m. Aug. 21. The motorcycle was spotted by a neighbor in the parking lot of an apartment complex about a mile away. Dickinson said he isn't taking any more chances with the bike. "I put a lock, chain and a padlock on it," he said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• When an octopus gets angry, it shoots a stream of black “ink”.

• There are about 100 billion birds in the world, and about 6 billion of them make their homes in the United States.

• The emperor penguin is playful, and often times lies on its chest and side to slide along the ice and snow.

• The leatherback is the biggest sea turtle, and it can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds.

• The snapping shrimp, only 1 1/2 inches long, makes a noise with its one big claw, which sounds exactly like a firecracker.

• Flying fish actually glide on wind currents above the surface of the water, sometimes up to 20 feet above the surface.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Month:

Happening This Week:

1^st-7^th

International Enthusiasm Week
National Nutrition Week

National Waffle Week
Self-University Week
National Payroll Week

Today Is                                                                       

·        Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day

·        Calendar Adjustment Day: Following the British Calendar Act of 1751, Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. However, the current Julian calendar system required them to drop eleven days in order to sync themselves with the proposed Gregorian calendar. On the evening of 1st September 1752, the population of Britain and its American colonies went to sleep and awoke the next morning to 13th September 1752  

·        Chicken Boy's Day: statue perched atop a fried chicken restaurant in downtown LA Historic Route 66) in the 1960s

·        Emma M. Nutt Day (first female telephone operator)

·        International Day of Awareness for the Dolphins of Taiji

·        National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day

·        Toy Tips Executive Toy Test Day

~~~~

·        Libya: Revolution Day (1969 commemoration; Green Revolution of Muammar Gaddafi)

·        Qatar: Independence Day (1971 from UK)

·        Slovakia: Constitution Day (1992)

·        Uzbekistan: Independence Day (1991 from USSR)

Today’s Events through History  

1st Pullman sleeping car in service…1859

UN announces Earth population has hit 3 billion…1962

King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—longest of any European 

     monarch…1715

Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia…1752

Luxembourg became the 1st country to complete the move to all digital TV 

     broadcasting…2006

Manuelito and 23 of his Navajo followers surrender to the army at Fort Wingate…1866

Murder conviction forces the violent Irish anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", 

     to disband…1875

NYC reinstates the death penalty…1995

Robert T Freeman is 1st black to graduate from Harvard Dental School…1967

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Alan Dershowitz, attorney (Claus Von Bulow, OJ Simpson) is 75

Gloria Estefan, [Fajardo], Havana, singer (Miami Sound Machine-Conga) is 57

Barry Gibb, Manchester England, guitarist/singer (Bee Gees) is 67

George Maharis, actor (Buz-Route 66, Most Deadly Game) is 85

Dr. Phil McGraw, TV psychologist is 63

Scott Speedman, movie, TV actor is 38

Lily Tomlin, comedienne/actress (9 to 5, Laugh-in, All of Me) is 74

Remembered for being born today

James Gordon Bennett, Sr., American newspaper publisher [1795-1872]

Edgar Rice Burroughs, sci-fi author (Tarzan of Apes, Mars Saga) [1875-1950]

Yvonne De Carlo, Vancouver BC, actress (10 Commandments, Munsters) [1922-2007]

Rocky Marciano, heavyweight champion boxer [1923-1969]

Ann Richards, (Gov-D-Tx) [1933-2006]

Conway Twitty, [Harold Jenkins], Miss, country singer (Hello Darlin') [1933-1993]

"Boxcar" Willie, singer [1931-1999]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Jacques Cartier, French explorer…typhus?...1557…at 65ish

William Clark, 2nd Lt of Lewis & Clark Expedition…1838…at 68

Hal David, American Lyricist…2012…at 91

Henry "Scoop" Jackson, (Sen-D-Wash)…aortic aneurysm…1983…at 71

Louis XIV, the sun king of France (1643-1715)…gangrene…at 76

Ethel Waters, actress (Beulah)/singer (Stormy Weather)…1980…at 76

Brain Teasers

The interval is two minutes, between the times of 9:59 and 10:01

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  §