9/16/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 38/ Day: 259   

Today: H 74°…L 46°…Ave. humidity:  69%

Wind: ave:   2mph; Gusts:  7mph  

Average Low: 42°  Record Low: 26° (1903)

Average High: 73° Record High: 87° (2000)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Outer Limits" premieres on ABC-TV…1963

1964 - "Shindig" premieres on ABC-TV…1964

1st broadcast of "Miami Vice" on NBC-TV…1981

Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes a US citizen…1983

Blimp is moored to Empire State Building (NYC)…1931

FDR signs Selective Training & Service Act (1st peacetime draft)…1940

French President Charles de Gaulle recognizes Algerian right of self determination…1959

Great Seal of US used for 1st time…1782

James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes 

     the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland…1701

Pres Ford announces conditional amnesty for US Vietnam War deserters…1974

Richard Nixon appears on "Laugh-in"…1968

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Sunday…with a late morning and then an early afternoon thunderstorm. Made it had to spend any time outside, but not a bad day.

 

I got my Sunday fix of Sunday news shows, so I’m set for the week. Anthony Bourdain, the crazy traveling food critic had some interesting perspectives on food in the Gaza Strip that is part Palestinian, part Israeli, and part international cuisine. Interesting how the cuisine melds but not so much the politics. Then I watched parts of 2 football games where AZ and Denver both won. Nice.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

You can find me on a face; Frequently I'm in a vase. I'm precise by definition, Yet to one man I am different.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• To Have and Have Not - you do know how to whistle

• David Copperfield Walking through The Great Wall of China

• Allen Funt "Smile"

•  IN MEMORY OF MARY TRAVERS ~ There Is A Ship ~

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Colors
You're suffering from... Chromophobia Chrom: Greek (colors)

If you have an irrational fear of... Comets
You're suffering from... Cometophobia Greek (hairy star)

It is Illegal…

It Is Illegal For A Man to Give His Sweetheart A Box of Candy Weighing More Than 50 lbs In Idaho

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

You can be polite, gentle, or peaceful, and not be considered an “exception” to those practicing your faith.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Percentage change in the expected profits to a hospital if a patient experiences surgical complications: 187

Unusual Fact of the Day

At launch, around 300,000 gallons of water was released beneath the Space Shuttle's engines as a noise suppressant.

Animals with the strongest jaws…

Saltwater Crocodile 3700 psi

Saltwater crocs (do you know the difference between a crocodile and an alligator?) tested the highest in the National Geographic experiment mentioned above with 3700 psi. Yet they only measured a few smaller crocs. National Geographic claims that if this number were to be translated to 20 footers (which do exist, in abundance) the number could be higher than 7,000 psi. These monsters are found from eastern India to southeast Asia and northern Australia. Saltwater Crocs eat anything they can bite from water buffalo to fish and even sharks. They are affectionately referred to as “salties” by Australians, yet there is little to be affectionate about when it comes to this giant. They are responsible for more attacks on humans than any other croc but not much more than the next on this list.

Joke-of-the-day

Three handsome male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful, enticing, female Poodle. The three male dogs fall all over themselves in an effort to be the one to reach her first, but end up arriving in front of her at the same time. The males are speechless before her beauty, slobbering on themselves and hoping for just a glance from her in return.

Aware of her charms and her obvious effect on the three suitors, she decides to be kind and tells them “The first one who can use the words “liver” and “cheese” together in an imaginative, intelligent sentence can go out with me.”

The sturdy, muscular black Lab speaks up quickly and says “I love liver and cheese.”

“Oh, how childish,” said the Poodle. “That shows no imagination or intelligence whatsoever.”

She turned to the tall, shiny Golden Retriever and said “How well can you do?”

“Ummmm...I HATE liver and cheese,” blurts the Golden Retriever.

“My, my,” said the Poodle. “I guess it’s hopeless. That’s just as dumb as the Lab’s sentence.”

She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, “How about you, little guy?”

The last of the three, tiny in stature but big in fame and finesse, is the Taco Bell chihuahua. He gives her a smile, a sly wink, turns to the Golden Retriever and the Lab and says...“Liver alone. Cheese mine.”  

Rules of Thumb:    

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

LOADING A MUSKET

 In a pinch, the proper powder charge for a muzzle-loading rifle or musket is the amount that will just cover the ball when you hold it in the hollow of your palm.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

MANCHESTER, England - A British party bus driver said the extra passenger that led to him being fined $688.86 was a blow-up doll, not an actual human. Bash Ali, 41, of Oldham, England, said he was driving the Mercedes minibus from Oldham into a trendy section of nearby Manchester when he was pulled over and cited for using a motor vehicle on a road when the load or passengers were likely to cause danger when police said he was carrying nine people, more than his allowed eight, The Daily Mirror reported Monday. Ali said the ninth passenger was actually a blow-up doll, but he pleaded guilty to the charge in court because he couldn't afford a lawyer. He was ordered to pay $688.86 in fines and costs.

"I have no faith in the justice system," he said. Prosecutor Paul Scott said police were confident the bus was occupied by nine humans when it was pulled over March 30. "There are dangers, clearly, for anybody inside the vehicle and anybody outside the vehicle when it is overloaded," Scott said. "So essentially what the council says is that the vehicle was overloaded and that they were all human beings."  

• Somewhat Useless Information   

• A Japanese explorer named Maomi Uemura was the first man to reach the North Pole alone, on April 29, 1978, after his eight-week journey.

• Mark Twain, one of America’s best-loved authors, dropped out of school when he was 12 years old, after his father died.

• On April 2, 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman candidate for the U.S. presidency.

• Babe Ruth kept a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep cool.

• Abraham Lincoln once invented a device for lifting riverboats over shallow water.

• Did you know that the Egyptians thought the world was in the shape of a rectangle and that the heavens were held up by four giant pillars? They also warned sailors not to go too far away or you just might row off the giant rectangle called Earth. When the Queen of England heard this she sent 4 ships south, north, east and west to search for these “pillars”. When they didn’t find any (because the world is in the shape of a sphere) they questioned the Egyptians and they told her the pillars must have been farther than they predicted! Clever weren’t they?

• There were about 300 bones in your body when you were born, but by the time you reach adulthood you only have 206.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

 15th-21st

Balance Awareness Week
Build A Better Image Week
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
National Clean Hands Week
National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week
National Indoor Plant Week

National Love Your Files Week

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week
National Singles Week
Pollution Prevention Week
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Anne Bradstreet Day 1^st poet published in US

·        Collect Rocks Day

·        International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

·        Mayflower Day

·        National POW/MIA Recognition Day

·        Stay Away From Seattle Day

·        Stepfamily Day

·        Trail of Tears Commemoration Day

~~~~

·        Mexico: Independence Day (1810 from Spain)

·        Papua New Guinea: Independence Day (1975 from Australia)

·        US: Constitution Day/Pledge Across America

Today’s Events through History  

100,000 people participate in the "run" for land in the recently purchased Cherokee Strip 

     of Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). The Cherokees were pressured into selling 

     the land to the Federal Government…1893

1st overland mail for California…1858

American Legion incorporated by an act of Congress…1919

KPAZ TV channel 21 in Phoenix, AZ (IND) begins broadcasting…1967

Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, seeks a court order to resolve a week long 

     teachers strike…2012

Newswriter George Whitney Calhoun names Green Bay team Packers…1890

Oliver Wendell Holmes writes "Old Ironsides"…1830

Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers…1400

Slavery abolished in all French territories…1848

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Lauren Bacall, actress (Dark Passage, Key Largo) is 89

B[lues] B[oy] King, blues singer (Thrill is Gone) is 88

Bernie Calvert, rock bassist (Hollies) is 71

Ed Begley Jr, actor (St Elsewhere)/environmentalist is 64

Mickey Rourke, boxer/actor is 61

David Copperfield, [Kotkin], magician is 57

Molly Shannon, comedian (SNL) is 49

Marc Anthony, actor, record producer, singer-songwriter is 45

Amy Poehler, comedian (SNL) is 42

Remembered for being born today

Francis Parkman, historian/author (Oregon Trail) [1823-1893]

James Cash Penney, founder (J C Penney) [1875-1971]

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Hungary, biochemist (Vitamin C, Nobel 1937) [1893-1986]

Jack Kelly, Astoria Queens, actor (Bart-Maverick) [1927-1992]

Charlie Byrd, guitarist (Desfinado) [1925-1999]

Allen Funt, TV host & creator (Candid Camera) [1914-1999]

Peter Falk, actor (Colombo, Scared Straight) [1927-2011]

Anne Francis, actress (Honey West, Pancho Villa) [1930-2011]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Anne Bradstreet, New England's first published poet…1672…@60

Maria Callas, American-born prima donna…heart attack…1977…@53

James Gregory, character actor…2002…@90

James Jeans, English physicist/mathematician/astronomer…1946…@69

Willie Mosconi, world billiards champ…1993…@80

Tomas de Torquemada, inquisitor who burned 10,000 people…1498..@77ish

Sheb Wooley, singer and actor…2003…@82

Mary Travers, singer (Peter, Paul, and Mary)…chemotherapy…2009…@72

Brain Teasers

A  dozen.

A dozen numbers on the face of a clock, a dozen roses in a vase, and although it means precisely 12, to one man (the baker), it means 13.

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  §