1-16-14

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 02 / Day:  015 

Today: L 20°…H 57°… Ave. humidity: 45%

Wind: ave:   4mph; Gusts:  8mph  

Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -8° (1915)

Average High: 43° Record High:  60° (1974)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1492 - The first grammar of a modern language, in the Spanish language, is presented 

to Queen Isabella

1759 - British Museum opens in London

1920 - 18th Amendment, prohibition, goes into effect; repealed in 1933

1936 - 1st photo finish camera installed at Hialeah Race track in Hialeah Fla


 

1938 - 1st jazz concert was held at Carnegie Hall (Benny Goodman)

1951 - World's largest gas pipeline opens (Brownsville Tx, to 134th St, NYC)

1970 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American

      Institute of Architects

1985 - "Playboy" announces end of stapling centerfolds

1988 - Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder fired from CBS for racial remarks

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

OK, yesterday’s rather windy conditions turned into something good…a really nice day outside.

 

Not sure what happened yesterday with the school shooting in Roswell, NM. Why didn’t we have the ‘Breaking News’ coverage for hours on end? Maybe because we have become accustomed to this kind of tragedy…maybe because it was only two kids shot…maybe because Rowell, NM is a tiny isolated town only known by most for its ‘aliens’…maybe because no big name reporters were anywhere nearby. Whatever the reason, the town, the families, and the students are suffering and few are fully informed about the incident.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Hidden in each sentence is a word. For example, in the sentence: When I grow up, I want to be a ranger. (Hidden animal) The hidden word is BEAR from "to BE A Ranger". Now, try to identify the hidden colors in the sentences below:

I agree not to eat all the food. Bob decided to jump in, knowing that this is his only choice. The sunset makes Cairo seem magnificent. Some states ship lumber and coal on canal barges.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• In loving memory of Dian Fossey

• Sade - By Your Side

• Fame TV Series Debbie Allen Emmy Awards Performance

• Ronnie Milsap Medley of Hits Opry Live

Actual Complaints… These are actual complaints received from dissatisfied customers by Thomas Cook Vacations (based on a Thomas Cook/ABTA survey):

"The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

Suggested New State Mottos:

Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes ... Well Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good

Something to Ponder in your free time…

• If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

• If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?

Auction Prices Monica Lewinsky's lingerie.

Thirty two pieces of memorabilia that had once been submitted as evidence to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr during his investigation of Bill Clinton's dalliances with Monica Lewinsky went up for sale this year. Among the items was a floor-length black negligee belonging to the former White House intern. The lingerie and other collectibles were expected to nab nearly $50,000 in total, but bids reached just north of $12,000 instead.

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Months it will take for the number of AIDS cases in the United States to double: 12

Unusual Fact of the Day

Holograms are images made using lasers. That said, if you make a hologram of a magnifying glass, the resulting image would also function as a magnifying glass.

Joke-of-the-day

Yesterday scientists revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones.

To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men 12 pints of beer and observed that 100% of them gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, and couldn’t drive.

No further testing is planned.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

ADJUSTING YOUR HANDLEBARS

On a bicycle with drop handlebars, the seat and handlebars are positioned properly if the handlebars block your view of the front axle.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Organizers of the No Pants Subway Ride in Stockholm said dozens of people put their lower halves at the mercy of the cold and snow for a trip on the train. Betty Jarra, an organizer of the event, which began in New York in 2002 and has spread internationally, said subway riders took to the tubes in their underwear Sunday amid 14-degree temperatures and falling snow outside, TheLocal.se reported Monday. "It was really nice. We had about 65 people altogether and two more joined in when they saw what was happening," Jarra said. "They just took off their trousers and continued their journey -- and a couple more joined us along the way." Jarra said some subway riders wondered whether their pantless counterparts were mounting a protest. "Some people wondered if we were protesting the weather," she said. "But it's not some important political thing, we're just having fun and trying to get a smile out of other Stockholmers. When we finished up with a group photo, there were about 20 other people standing there taking pictures of us." "A few of them even said they'd join us next year," Jarra said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The word crochet is derived from the Middle French word croc or croche, meaning hook.

• Do you know why most crocheters in earlier eras held the crochet hook in their hand like a pencil? In the 1800s, this hand positioning was thought to be more feminine and graceful. Many crocheters now hold their hooks in the palms of their hands (often called the "knife hold") to reduce carpal tunnel.

• Do you know why most crocheters in earlier eras held the crochet hook in their hand like a pencil? In the 1800s, this hand positioning was thought to be more feminine and graceful. Many crocheters now hold their hooks in the palms of their hands (often called the "knife hold") to reduce carpal tunnel.

• The earliest written reference to crochet didn't appear until 1812. Crochet didn't become the widely popular craft we know today until the 1840s.

• Crochet patterns have an underlying mathematical structure and have been used to illustrate shapes in hyperbolic geometry that are difficult to reproduce using other media or are difficult to understand when viewed two-dimensionally.

• It is believed that the earliest forms of crochet were created using a bent finger instead of a hook.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

11-17

Cuckoo Dancing Week
13-19

National Vocation Awareness Week  
National Soccer Coaches of America Week
16-26

Sundance Film Festival

Today Is                                                                      

·        Appreciate A Dragon Day

·        Get to Know Your Customers Day

·        Nothing Day

·        Religious Freedom Day

·        Women in Blue Jeans Day

^^^^^

·        National Day of Peace (El Salvador-1992-end of Civil War)

·        Haru-No-Yabuiri (Japan-day off for those who worked during holidays)

·        John Chilembwe Day (Malawi-hero of independence)

Today’s Events through History  

1120 -  Council of Nablus held, establishes earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1493 - Columbus leaves the new world and sets sail for Spain on his 1st trip

1605 - The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes published

1868 - Refrigerator car patented by William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit

1883 - Pendleton Act creates basis of US Civil Service system

1900 - US Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899; the UK renounces claims to Samoan islands.

1954 - "South Pacific" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 1928 performances

1964 - "Hello, Dolly!" opens at St James Theater NYC for 2,844 performances

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

A J Foyt, auto race driver (Indy 500 1961, 64, 67, 77) is 79

Ronnie Milsap, country singer (Legend in My Time) is 71

John Carpenter, Carthage NY, director (Halloween, The Thing) is 66

Debbie Allen, dancer/actress (3 Girls 3, Lydia-Fame) is 64

Sade, Nigerian-born singer is 55

Kate Moss, Addiscomb Surrey England, model (Calvin Klein) is 40

Remembered for being born today

1853 - Andre Michelin, France, industrialist/tire manufacturer (Michelin)

1874 - Robert Service, England, Canadian poet (Cremation of Sam McGee)

1901 - Fulgencio Batista, president/dictator of Cuba (1933-44, 1952-59)

1908 - Ethel Merman, stage & screen actress (Anything Goes, Call Me Madam)

1911 - Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, HOF baseball pitcher (St Louis Cardinals)

1932 - Dian Fossey, San Francisco, California, American zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist)

1933 - Susan Sontag, author/film director (Benefactor, 1966 Pol Award)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Pauline Phillips, advice columnist (Dear Abby) 2013 @94

Arturo Toscanini, Italian US conductor (NBC), in 1957 @89

Robert R "Bob" Jones, founder (Bob Jones University) 1968 @84

Marshall Field, founder of Marshall Field & Company pneumonia in 1906 @71

Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist 1856 @65

Ted Cassidy, actor (Lurch-Addams Family), surgery complications in 1979 @46

Carole Lombard, actress (To Be or Not to Be),plane crash 1942 @33

Ennis Cosby, son of Bill Cosby, murdered on LA highway 1997 @27

Brain Teasers

• Green. i aGREE Not to eat all the food.
• Pink. Bob decided to jumP IN, Knowing that this is his only choice.
• Rose. The sunset makes caiRO SEem magnificent.
• Plum. Some states shiP LUMber and coal on canal barges.

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  §