2-1-14


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Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 05 / Day: 032   
Today: L 32°…H 41°… Ave. humidity: 48%
Wind: ave:   16mph; Gusts:  37mph  
Average Low: 17° Record Low:  -23° (1985)
Average High: 44° Record High:  60° (2003)
FEBRURARY HISTORICAL DATA
Ave Low: 19°; Ave High: 46°; Record Low -23° (1985); Record High: 71° (1986)

Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
1587 - Queen Elizabeth I of England signs death warrant for Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
1789 - Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1790 - Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (NYC)
1861 - Texas becomes the 7th state to secede from the United States.
1865 - 13th amendment approved (National Freedom Day)
1898 - 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Co
1906 - 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth, Kansas
1917 - By Executive Order, the PAPAGO Indian Reservation in established in Arizona.
1920 - 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul Minn)
1935 - 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
1948 - Federation of Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1951 - 1st telecast of atomic explosion
1953 - "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television
1959 - Texas Instruments requests patent of IC (Integrated Circuit)
1968 - Famous photo: Saigon police chief executes a Viet Cong officer with a 
             pistol shot to head
1972 - Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter
1976 - "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
1991 - President F W de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws
2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry
2004 - Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII
2009 - Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23

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


My Free Rambling Thoughts   
What a great day…started out with an amazing sunrise, followed by some rain, then about an inch of snow then some sunshine. The weather service says we got some moisture before midnight so just tied the dry record, but now we have moisture in our drought ridden forest. It’s amazing how even this little bit of moisture can change the mood of the town.
 
Did some major cleaning in my bedroom today…amazing how much dust and stuff ends up in that room. All I do is sleep in there, and change clothes…how can that much of a mess happen. I must have someone who comes in while I’m not here to mess it up.
 
One of my neighbors always has relatives visiting from California. I’m sitting in my office and three carloads of Californians just pulled into the parking lot. About 6 kids jumped out and started running around snapping pictures on their phones…obviously the first time some had seen snow…very cool.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Listed below are clues that refer to 2 different words. The sound of these words, put together, make a different compound word. Also, just to make things even trickier, when you figure out the words, you might need to switch them around to find the compound word.
Ex. A piece of bread used for making some sandwiches shaped as the fifth letter of the alphabet. (Bun + E = Bunny)
Can you figure out all the compound words?
1. A relation's short sleep. 2. The talker was the opposite of quiet. 3. A cube-shaped vehicle. 4. Spade's situation.

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Suggested New State Mottos:
  • North Carolina: Tobacco Is A Vegetable
  • Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Remembering TV’s great shows:
"The Honeymooners" Ralph's get-rich-quick schemes may never have worked, but Jackie Gleason found a comedy gold mine in the realistic struggles of the Brooklyn bus driver, his long-suffering wife, Alice, and his dim-bulb BFF, Ed Norton.
Phrases Shakespeare invented:
disgraceful conduct Henry VI Part 1 Scene 1
Words Shakespeare invented
GenerousDefinition: Freely giving or sharing money and other valuable things
Origin: From the Latin "generosus," meaning "of noble birth."
Quote: "Free me so far in your most generous thoughts / That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house / And hurt my brother." - Hamlet
OK Then…


Harper’s Index 
  • Minimum percentage of federal criminal defendants who qualify for court-appointed counsel: 80
  • Minimum number of furlough days federal public defenders have taken since spring as a result of sequestration cuts: 12,500
  • Estimated percentage by which the cost to the government reises when private attorneys must be appointed: 28.6

Unusual Fact of the Day
Mozart's "Ah! Vous Dirai-je, Maman" might well be his most popular melody — it's the tune used in both "The Alphabet Song" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Joke-of-the-day
One Sunday morning, Satan appeared before a small town congregation. Everyone started screaming and running for the front church door, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away.
Soon, everyone was gone, except for an elderly gentleman who sat calmly. Satan walked up to the man and said, "Don't you know who I am?"
The man replied, "Yep, sure do."
Satan asked, "Aren't you going to run?"
"Nope, sure ain't," said the man.
Perturbed, Satan asked, "Why aren't you afraid of me?"
The man calmly replied, "Been married to your sister for over 48 years."
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
MAIL-ORDER SALES
The best months to sell something by mail are September, November, and January. Of those, September and January are best.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
Cheryl Crausewell said they were cleaning their home after it was toilet-papered as part of a teen prank. Unable to get rid of pesky pieces on a tree's branches, she lit once piece of paper with a lighter in hopes that it would burn off.
But she said the wind blew the flaming piece into the yard and set the grass ablaze.
"It just popped out into a little patch and we tried to put it out and it just kept going," she said.
There were no injuries reported but the home was destroyed. On the plus side the toilet paper was no longer a problem.  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • There is a country in Europe where people face tax break in November so that they can save money for Christmas. Norwegians try to work as much as possible in November as all of their earnings are taxed half the regular amount. The purpose of this tradition is to have Norwegians save money just before Christmas and have a lovely Christmas and New Year’s Eve!
  • Did you know that our beloved animals, dolphins, sleep having one eye open due to their incapability of breathing  in the water for a long time?
  • Dolphins can’ t hold their breath more than 15-17 minutes, so they sleep by resting one half of the brain each time. This is called ‘unihemispheric sleep’. During this time the eye opposite the sleeping half of the brain is open, while the other is closed.
  • More than a century later Marie Curie’s research papers are still radioactive as along with her husband she used to live under laboratory conditions ionizing radiation. It is said that in a normal day she could carry polonium and radium in her coat’s pocket and store them in her desk drawer. Even after 100 years, her furniture, papers or books are still radioactive and in order for someone to access them he or she needs to wear protective clothing and sign a waiver of liability.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Month:
Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month ☼ AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month ☼ American Heart Month
Avocado and Banana Month 
Bake for Family Fun Month ☼ Beat The Heat Month ☼ Beans (Dried and Fresh) Month 
Dog Training Education Month 
Exotic Vegetables and Star Fruit Month 
February is Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month ☼ From Africa to Virginia Month
Grapefruit Month 
International Boost Self-Esteem Month ☼ International Expect Success Month ☼ International Hoof-care Month ☼ International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month 
Jobs in Golf Month 
Library Lovers Month ☼ Love The Bus Month 
Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month ☼ Marijuana Awareness Month 
National African American History Month ☼ National African American Read-In  ☼ National Bird Feeding Month ☼ National Black History Month ☼ National Care About Your Indoor Air Month ☼ National Cherry Month ☼ National Condom Month ☼ National Children's Dental Health Month ☼ National Haiku Writing Month ☼ National Hot Breakfast Month ☼ National Laugh-Friendly Month ☼
National Mend A Broken Heart Month ☼ National Parent Leadership Month ☼ National Pet Dental Health Month ☼ National Prevent A Litter Month ☼ National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month ☼ National Therapeutic Recreation Month ☼ National Time Management Month ☼ National Weddings Month ☼ National Women Inventors Month ☼ North American Inclusion Month (NAIM) 
Pet Dental Health Month ☼Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month ☼ Pull Your Sofa Off The Wall Month
Relationship Wellness Month ☼ Responsible Pet Owner's Month  ☼ Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month
Spay/Neuter Awareness Month ☼ Spunky Old Broads Month ☼ Sweet Potato Month
Wise Health Care Consumer Month ☼ Worldwide Renaissance of the Heart Month
Youth Leadership Month

This Week:
☼1-7☼
African Heritage & Health WeekSolo Diners Eat Out Weekend Women's Heart Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        African-American Coaches Day
·        American Dental Association - Give Kids A Smile Day
·        Car Insurance Day
·        Change Your Password Day
·        Decorating With Candy Day
·        G.I. Joe Day
·        Hula in The Coola Day
·        Ice Cream For Breakfast Day
·        International Face & Body Art Day
·        Freedom Day
·        Robinson Crusoe Day
·        Serpent Day
·        Spunky Old Broads Day
·        Take Your Child To The Library Day
·        Working Naked Day

Today’s Events through History  
1840 - Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated
1893 - Thomas Edison completes world’s 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)
1929 - 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs
1946 - Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Sec-Gen of UN
1965 - Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
1979 - Patricia Hearst is released from a SF prison for bank robbery

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Don Everly, vocalist (Everly Bros-Wake Up Little Susie) is 77
Garrett Morris, actor (SNL, Martin, Carwash) is 77
Anthony LaPlagia, actor (Criminal Justice, Betsy's Wedding) is 56
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis is 46
Pauly Shore, comedian (Totally Pauly, Encino Man) is 46
Brian Krause, actor (Return to Blue Lagoon, Charmed) is 45          

Remembered for being born today
1889 - Gertrude Caton-Thompson, British archaeologist (Zimbabwe, So Arabia)
1895 - John Ford, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)
1901 - Clark Gable, American actor (Gone With the Wind)
1902 - Langston Hughes, poet/translator (Weary Blues)
1918 - Muriel Spark, Edinburgh, novelist (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
1931 - Boris Yeltsin, Ural Mts USSR, president of Russian SSR
1938 - Sherman Hemsley, Phila, actor (All in the Family, Jeffersons, Amen)
1948 - Rick James (James Ambrose Johnson Jr), funk musician(Super Freak)
1965 - Brandon Lee, actor (Showdown in Little Tokyo)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Ed Koch, American congressman and New York Mayor, 2013, @88
Hedda Hopper, [Elda Furry], US gossip columnist, 1966, @80
Jack Bailey, TV host (Queen for a Day), 1980, @72
Buster Keaton, [Joseph Francis], US comic (General), cancer, 1966, @69
Rene Descartes, philosopher "I think therefore I am", pneumonia, 1650, @53
Ilan Ramon - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @48
David Brown - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @46
Rick D. Husband - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @45
Carlos I, King of Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated, 1908, @44
Michael P. Anderson - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @43
Willie McCool - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @41
Laurel Clark - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @41
Kalpana Chawla - (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) @40

Brain Teasers
1. Napkin (nap + kin) 2. Loudspeaker (loud + speaker) 3. Boxcar (box + car) 4. Suitcase (suit + case)
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  §
Posted by No comments:

1-31-14


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 05 / Day: 031   
Today: L 28°…H 47°… Ave. humidity: 50%
Wind: ave:   18mph; Gusts:  34mph  
Average Low: 17° Record Low:  -25° (1916)
Average High: 44° Record High:  63° (1971)

Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
1747 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1851 - SF Orphan's Asylum, 1st in California, founded
1865 - Gen Robert E. Lee named Commander-in-Chief of Confederate Armies
1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations.
1915 - 1st (German) poison gas attack, against Russians
1919 - The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland. Troops 
           deployed against protesters for fear of a Bolshevik uprising.
1928 - Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company
1936 - "Green Hornet" radio show is 1st heard 
1948 - J D Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in NY
1949 - 1st daytime soap on TV 
1955 - RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer
1958 - James van Allen discovers radiation belt
1958 - US launches their 1st artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1961 - Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2
1982 - 10 Arabian oryx (extinct except in zoos) released in Oman
1988 - Super Bowl XXII: Wash Redskins beat Denver Broncos, 42-10 in San Diego 

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
A fairly windy and overcast day…something we haven’t seen for quite a spell. Today tied the record for the most days in a row with no precipitation…maybe we will finally get something. It looks like snow, but feels like rain. Whatever comes out of the sky just needs to be really wet. The humidity is up so all fingers and toes are crossed for some much needed precipitation.  If it comes before midnight, the 1917 record is tied, if after midnight, a new record.
 
Our retirement group got together for lunch and a movie…lunch at Red Lobster was very good. Mary caught us up on her NY/NC trip. She had a great much needed break and had some cool pics of NYC. Her hotel offered a free tour of NYC…where you could get off the tour anytime you wanted to and when you were ready to continue you just hopped on the next shuttle…which she said came by every 15 minutes. Now that is a great way to see Manhattan. She caught a cold and since she is taking some med that depresses the immune system, it because pneumonia, and she had to go on antibiotics while in NC. She is fine now. Cheryl and I had semi-quite weeks with no great news. Then we went and saw Nebraska, I have always enjoyed Bruce Dern and some of the others in the movie. Since I spent time in SD, while living in a small Nebraska town, I could sure identify. Cheryl worked a number of years in Lincoln, and pointed out several sites she knew well. From my limited point of view, the movie sure hit small town Nebraska right on the head. Well worth the time spent.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Here are more movie alternates, but this time they are a bit more challenging.
Use synonyms of the following phrases to decode popular movie titles.
1.) Razors of Honor 2.) Wonder-male Comes Back 3.) Ruler of the Bands 4.) Endless Light of the Unstained Head 5.) Super Quartet 6.) Mandibles

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Suggested New State Mottos:
  • Tennessee: The Educashun State
  • Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?

Remembering TV’s great shows:
"Star Trek" Five-year mission? Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Nearly 50 years later, Gene Roddenberry's creation continues to boldly go where no science-­fiction franchise has gone before, launching five more TV series and a dozen movies. Can it keep going? Yes, it Khaaan!
Phrases Shakespeare invented:                                                   
eat out of house and home Henry IV; Part 2; Act 2, Scene 1
Words Shakespeare invented
HurryDefinition: Move or act with haste; rush
Origin: Likely derived from the verb "harry"
Quote: "Lives, honors, lands, and all hurry to loss." - Henry VI Part 1
OK Then…


Harper’s Index 
  • Number of FB users in a class-action settlement after the company violated their privacy: 3,663,543
  • Total amount the class received in the settlement: $39,000
  • Total amount the plaintiffs’ lawyers received: $2,364,973

Unusual Fact of the Day
Despite its reputation as a cosmonaut staple, freeze-dried ice cream only made one mission to space. In 1968, it provided instant sugar rushes to the astronauts of Apollo 7.
Joke-of-the-day
A beautiful, sexy, good looking lady was sitting next to a guy in a plane...... The lady said to him ' Can you help me remove something from my breast please? ‘The exciting young man replied, 'Wow! It will be my pleasure....... So what is it?'
"Your Eyes, idiot!"  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
MIXING CONCRETE
The largest stones in a batch of concrete should be one-fourth the thickness of the slab you are going to pour. A driveway six inches thick should have stones no larger than one and a half inches in diameter.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
OKLAHOMA CITY - A Satanic group based in New York said it has been surprised by the support it's received for a statue the group wants to place at the Oklahoma state Capitol. The Satanic Temple of New York caused a stir this month when it proposed a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan and two children be placed alongside a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma state Capitol, The Oklahoman reported.
The group contends if the Christian monument is allowed to remain in place, other monuments such as the satanic statue should also be allowed. The group said it has received a lot of support, much of it from Christians.
"It's really the best I could hope for. The response has been remarkable, amazing," group spokesman Lucien Greave told the newspaper. "I couldn't have hoped for this magnitude of positive response, but I'm really moved by it. I'm happy and encouraged by people. We're getting emails from people who are Christians who feel comfortable reaching out to us and supporting it. "They are starting to look past the labels to see what we're actually doing and what we actually stand for. I am surprised, but I'm very happily surprised," Greaves said. "We've gotten a flood of emails from more Oklahomans who stand behind this project and are willing to support it -- sign a petition, sign a waiver, you know, help establish our standing or help in any way they can."  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The first eight athletes in each Winter Olympic event receive a diploma from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The first three finishers receive both a medal and a diploma.
  • The Winter Olympics were first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The modern Summer Olympics began in Athens in 1896.
  • The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which in English means "Faster, Higher Stronger". Pierre de Coubertin, considered the father of the modern Olympic games, proposed it in 1894 after hearing the words said by Dominican priest Henri Didon years earlier.
  • The last year that the Winter Games and Summer Games were held in the same year was 1992. The Summer Games were in Barcelona, Spain and the Winter Games were in Albertville, France. 
  • The walls of the halfpipe for the Halfpipe Snowboarding event are 22 feet high. The halfpipe will also be used for Ski Halfpipe for the first time this Olympics.
  • The 2018 Winter Olympics be held in PyeongChang, South Korea. It will be the first time the Winter Games are held in South Korea. The country hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
26-31
Catholic Schools Week
Meat Week
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week
National Medical Group Practice Week
International Hoof Care Week
US National Snow Sculpting Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day
·        Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
·        Chinese New Year Year of the Horse
·        Fun at Work Day
·        Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
·        National Pre-school Fitness Day

Today’s Events through History  
1871 - Millions of birds fly over western SF, darkening the sky
1905 - 1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach
1918 - A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss 
     of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another 
     five British warships.
1984 - Edwin Newman retires from NBC News after 35 years
2001 - In the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another 
    for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, 
    Scotland in 1988.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Carol Channing, actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hello Dolly) is 93
Ernie Banks, "Mr Cub" Chicago Cubs, Hall-of-Famer is 83
James G Watt, US Secretary of Interior (1981-83) is 76
Nolan Ryan, pitcher (Mets, Angels, Astros) (7 no-hitters, 5,714 Ks) is 67
Minnie Driver, British actress and singer-songwriter (Good Will Hunting) is 43
Justin Timberlake, singer-songwriter (Sexyback, My Love) is 33

Remembered for being born today
1797 - Franz Peter Schubert, Austria, composer (Unfinished Symphony)
1872 - Zane Grey, American West novelist (Riders of the Purple Sage)
1892 - Eddie Cantor, comedian (Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater)
1902 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress (Lifeboat, Die Die Darling)
1915 - Garry Moore, [Thomas Garrison Morfit], host (I've Got a Secret)
1919 - Jackie Robinson, 1st black major league baseball player (Dodgers)
1921 - Mario Lanza, actor/singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans)
1923 - Norman Mailer, novelist (Naked & the Dead)
1934 - James Franciscus, actor (Mr Novak, Longstreet, Hunter)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Samuel Goldwyn, Polish/English/US film magnate (MGM), 1974, @91
A. A. Milne, English author, 1956, @76
[Bonnie Prince Charlie] Charles E Stuart, English pretender to the throne, 1788, @67
Guy Fawkes, convicted in the "Gunpowder Plot", executed, 1606, @35
Eddie Slovik, 1st US executed for desertion since Civil War, 1945, @25

Brain Teasers
1.) Blades of Glory 2.) Superman Returns 3.) Lord of the Rings 4.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 5.) Fantastic Four 6.) Jaws
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  §
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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.