12/4/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 49 / Day: 338   

Today: L 31°…H 44°… Ave. humidity: 53%

Wind: ave:   17mph; Gusts:  37mph  

Average Low: 18° Record Low:  -4° (1955)

Average High: 45° Record High:  67° (1965)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st Burger King is opened in Miami…1954

1st edition of the Los Angeles Times is published…1881

Britain's Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, 1st published…1791

Cecil B DeMille's 1st version of "Ten Commandments" premieres…1923

Dianne Feinstein is named SF 1st female mayor…1978

Father Marquette builds 1st dwelling in what is now Chicago…1674

FDR creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration…1933

Female contraceptive 'pill' becomes available on the National Health Service in Britain…1961

James K Polk elected 11th president of USA…1944

James Monroe (VA), elected 5th pres, defeating Federalist Rufus King…1816

Killer fogs begin in London England, "Smog" becomes a word…1952

Museum of Modern Art hangs Matisse's Le Bateau upside down for 47 days…1961

Muslim Shiites release last US hostage Terry Anderson (held 6½ years)…1991

Pan American World Airways ceased operations…1991

Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad…1534

Works Progress Administration liquidated…1942

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Another day with a fairly clear sky. Nice. A day of chilly wind. No appreciated. A real drop in temps and now they are predicting up to 6” of snow for tomorrow. Happy winter wonderland appears to be ahead.

 

For decades NORAD in Colorado Springs has been tracking Santa on Christmas Eve. Many kids would call NORAD to hear where Santa was. Later, Santa’s flight showed up on the internet machine with a ‘live’ stream for NORAD. This year it seems the military will be accompanying Santa on his flight with two jet fighter planes. Really?!?...first it is Christmas decorations before Halloween, now this!!! Santa has never needed jet fighters in the past, and he doesn’t need them now!

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

I am as bright as the sunshine on a warm day, I can go a long way. I am seen on the young and the old that God made, but I can fade. I have only five letters in my name, and I am painted on both the strong and the lame. I can be as white as pearls, or as yellow as blond curls. I can never grow old, or never be sold, or turn to mold, but I am more precious than gold. What am I?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• "Empire State of Mind" JAY Z | Alicia Keys

• Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

• The Cowardly Lion - The Wizard of Oz

Very Strange Laws…Vermont

• Women must obtain written permission from theirhusbands to wear false teeth.

• At one time it was illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole.

• It is illegal to deny the existence of God.

• Barre--All residents shall bathe every Saturday night.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

Portion of American workers who say they are either ‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ at work: 7/10

Unusual Fact of the Day

At 6000 degrees Kelvin, the surface of the Sun is actually one of its coolest spots. Both the Sun's interior and its corona measure in the millions of degrees Kelvin.

Joke-of-the-day

A woman is paying for some purchases at Macy’s. As she reaches for her card, a TV remote control falls out of her purse. The sales clerk asks, “Do you always carry your TV remote?” “No.” the woman says, “But my husband refused to come shopping with me today. I figured this was a great way to pay him back.”  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

 COOKING FISH

Cook fish ten minutes per inch of thickness.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

An Australian man and his family has set the Guinness World Record - again - for the most Christmas lights on a residential home.

It took 502,165 lights and 31 miles of wire, but David Richards and his family have done it again.

The family set the record in 2011 with over 331,000 lights, but lost the title to a New York family with more than 346,000 lights in 2012.

Each month's electric bill for this holiday spectacle tops $2,345. Lucky for the Richards family, a local power company has offered to foot most of it.

The Richards say most of their neighbors support the display, but there are a few who haven't spoken to them since they set the first record.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Hawaii is the most geographically isolated land mass in the world.

• At 6000 degrees Kelvin, the surface of the Sun is actually one of its coolest spots. Both the Sun's interior and its corona measure in the millions of degrees Kelvin.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7: Clerc-Gallaudet Week~~Cookie Cutter Week~~International Coelenterate Biology Week~~National Handwashing Awareness Week~~Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week~~Tolerance Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        National Cookie Day

·        National Dice Day

·        Santas' List Day - we hope you are on the "Nice" list

·        Special Kids Day

·        World Wildlife Conservation Day

·        Wear Brown Shoes Day

Today’s Events through History  

King Carloman joint King of the Franks, dies, leaving his older brother Charlemagne,

      sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom…771

Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Mass…1843

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson signed agreement that returns 85,000 acres of 

     land in Utah appropriated by the U.S. Congress took from them 84 years ago to 

    the Northern Utes…2000

Spanish and ACOMA forces engage in a fight…1598

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Wink Martindale, TV host (Tic-Tac-Dough, Can You Top This) is 79

Max Baer Jr, actor (Jethro-Beverly Hillbillies) is 76

Jeff Bridges, actor (Stay Hungry, Against All Odds) is 64

Marisa Tomei, Brooklyn, actress (My Cousin Vinny) is 49

Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter), Brooklyn, rapper (Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint) is 44

Tyra Banks, model/actress (Higher Learning, Fresh Prince of Bel Air) is 40

Remembered for being born today

Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (1840-1877)

Thomas Carlyle, Scotland, essayist/historian (French Revolution) (1795-1881)

Pappy Boyington, American pilot (1912-1988)

Victor French, actor (Highway to Heaven) [1934-1989]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher…1679…@91 

Margaret Landon, US author (Anna & the King of Siam)…1993…@90

Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher…1123…@82ish 

Bert Lahr, [Irving Lahrheim], US comic (Wizard of Oz)…cancer…1967…@72

William I ‘The Lion’of Scotland…1214…@71

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen teacher, founder of SF Zen Center…cancer…1971…@67

Frank V Zappa, US music/composer (Mothers of Invention)…cancer…1993…@52

Charles Dow, American journalist (Dow Jones & Company - Wall Street Journal)…1902…51

John Gay, English poet (Beggar's Opera)…1732…@47

Brain Teasers

A smile. A smile is as bright as the sunshine, and a smile can go a long way. A smile is seen on the young and the old people, but it can fade. The strong and the weak can both smile. I can be as white as pearls because the teeth can be white, or I can be as yellow as blond curls, because the teeth can be yellow. A smile can never be old and you can't sell it, but it won't get moldy either. A smile is more precious than gold.

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  §