3-13-14

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 072   / Week: 11  

Today: L 26°…H 49°… Ave. humidity: 27%

     Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  25mph  

     Average Low: 22° Record Low:  -9° (1962)

    Average High: 49° Record High:  70° (2007)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1519 - Cortez lands in Mexico

1639 - Cambridge College renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard

1656 - Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam

1781 - Sir William Herschel sees "comet" (really discovered Uranus)

1852 - Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the NY Lantern weekly

1864 – 1st group of NAVAJOs finish the "Long Walk" to Fort Sumner

1897 - San Diego State University is founded.

1930 - Clyde Tombaugh announces discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory

1980 - Ford Motor Co found innocent in death of 3 women in a fiery Pinto

1986 - Microsoft has its Initial public offering.

1991 - Exxon pays $1-billion dollars in fines & cleanup of Valdez oil spill

2012 - Encyclopedia Britannica announces that it will no longer publish printed versions

2013 - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected as the new pope, Pope Francis

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Another good day here in Flag.

 

I had lunch with a former boss who just retired from his work at Navajo Nation. He has been running the Education Dept. for the past decade. He just turned 65 and said it was time…I get that. Now he is continuing his work on his doctorate as he joined a program a couple of years ago to show his staff that education is a lifelong process. He is a fluent speaker and is literate in Navajo. His dissertation is looking at the Navajo language through the eyes of medicine men, rather than the alphabet produced by non-Navajos who used English orthography. Fascinating how medicine men/women learned their healing songs without being literate. They produced something kinda like ancient pictographs. Developing a system of orthography by a Native speaker of Navajo sounds so exciting. This could definitely become one of those ‘I knew him when’ stories. Can’t wait to keep up with his study.

 

Got lots of updates and breaking news after our infamous Governor Brewer announced she would NOT be running for the office again. Most believed she was prohibited from running again by our constitution…she stepped in soon after her re-election when then Governor Napolitano moved to Homeland Security. Brewer has been saying that all the lawyers and constitutional knowledgeable are wrong and that she can run again. Guess the light finally dawned and rather than simply saying she can’t constitutionally  run, she proved again that she is in control and she alone has decided not to run. Thank goodness her reign against so many in AZ is coming to an end.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

I am a wild, untamed beast: I command respect and awe in most, and those who regard me as harmless will most likely find themselves dead by my hand. Men cannot control me, or hold me behind bars, But they ride me. However, They must use caution, for at any moment I can Rear up, throw them aloft, and swallow them whole. Poems have been written to my mighty roar, And yet children play carelessly beside me. I am a mighty entity, and one day I shall rise above the entire Earth. What am I?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do - Neil Sedaka

• L. Ron Hubbard in his own words - evil exposed!

• MAUREEN STAPLETON TRIBUTE

• Stephen Vincent Benet reads The Opening of the Battle of Gettysburg

Remembering TV’s great shows

"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"--The mock anchor sets the national agenda like a wiseass Walter Cronkite — and the show helped turn Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell into headline makers.

Bizarre Facts about World’s Dictators

The Strange Tale Of Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco may need relatively little introduction as a militant leader in the Spanish Civil War. In the late 1930s, Franco’s Spanish Nationalist forces succeeded in overthrowing the democratically elected Second Republic. Although a somewhat brutal dictator, his government was recognized as legitimate by the American and British administrations at that time.What makes that occurrence especially odd is the means by which Franco achieved his victory—drawing on the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Germans tested a number of their war machines while assisting Franco, including the notorious Messerschmitt BF 109 fighter. Having secured his rule in Spain, Franco then refused to assist Nazi Germany and join them in their 1940 invasions at the start of WWII.

Misconceptions of Medieval Figures

Richard The Lionheart Probably Couldn’t Speak English

Thanks to movies set around the time of the Third Crusade, you’re probably familiar with Richard the Lionheart, ruler of England from 1189–1199. He’s often portrayed as one of England’s most courageous, powerful, and inspiring kings, a fierce leader who earned the respect of his legendary opponent, Saladin. Maybe King Richard I was brave and fierce, but he certainly wasn’t proud of being English. In fact, he may not have even been able to speak the English language. For a time, the language of English nobility was actually French, thanks to the Norman subjugation of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. During his 10 years as England’s king, Richard spent only a handful of months within the country and even considered selling it. Most of Richard’s time was spent away on campaign in the Middle East or in France. Richard had a rough time as ruler. Soon after his coronation, he went off to fight in the Third Crusade, having taken a crusader’s vow. On his way there in 1190, Richard’s fleet was wrecked near Cyprus, where he and his men received poor treatment from the island’s ruler. As a result, he conquered Cyprus and deposed its king, but his army could not take Jerusalem and he eventually decided to leave. He shipwrecked again. This time, instead of seizing territory from an unfriendly king, Richard was captured by the Duke of Austria. His ransom was equivalent to a quarter of every Englishman’s yearly income. He was released in 1194. The rest of Richard’s life was spent campaigning in France. At age 41, Richard was hit by an arrow and mortally wounded while besieging a French castle in 1199. He pardoned his killer on his deathbed, but shortly after he died, the archer was flayed and hanged.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

Amount the Canadian Armed Forces spends each year on weight-loss surgery for obese soldiers: $220,000

Unusual Fact of the Day

Fish cough…to spit out undesirable items…like fish hooks.

Joke-of-the-day

A widower who never paid any attention to his wife while she was alive now found himself missing her desperately. He went to a psychic to see if he could contact his late wife. The psychic went into a trance. A strange breeze wafted through the darkened room, and suddenly, the man heard the unmistakable voice of his dearly departed wife. "Honey!" he cried. "Is that you?"

"Yes, my husband."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes, my husband." "

Happier than you were with me?"

"Yes, my husband."

"Then Heaven must be an amazing place!"

"I'm not in Heaven, dear."  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

BUYING WINEThe higher the alcohol level, the drier the wine.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not hear a Pennsylvania school district's appeal of a free speech case involving "I (heart) boobies" bracelets. In denying the case, which involves two Easton, Pa., middle school students banned from, and later punished by school administrators for, wearing bracelets in school meant to raise breast cancer awareness, the court effectively ended the legal fight and gave the victory to the students. Had it accepted the case, the Easton case would have joined a list of historic decisions about public school dress codes and constitutional rights of minors, the Constitution Daily, a publication of Philadelphia's National Constitution Center history museum, said Monday. The students, through their mothers, sued the school after they were not allowed to wear the popular bracelets at school. The district court and a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the students. When the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia heard the case, nine judges sided with the students and five with the school. The school district spent $107,000 pursuing the case in court, mostly paid by an insurance policy, the Easton Express-Times reported last week.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man.

• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe (75%).

• The typewriter was invented in 1829, and the automatic dishwasher in 1889.

• No matter its size or thickness, no piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.

• The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter “J”.

• Hydrofluoric acid will dissolve glass.

• Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

• There are between 100,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000 stars in a normal galaxy.

• The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, with an estimated surface temperature of 864 F (462 C).

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:
1-16

Iditarod Race
8-14
National Procrastination Week
Universal Women's Week
National Agriculture Week

9-15

Teen Tech Week
Girl Scout Week

International Brain Awareness Week
Stand Up! LGBT Awareness Week
11-17

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign

Today Is                                                                      

·        Donald Duck Day

·        Earmuffs Day

·        Good Samaritan Involvement Day

·        K-9 Veterans Day

·        Ken (the doll) Day

·        L. Ron Hubbard Day

·        National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day

·        Planet Uranus Day

·        Smart & Sexy Day

·        World Kidney Day

<>  <>

·        Bretzelsonndeg (Luxembourg-marking the halfway point of Lent - free pastries)

Today’s Events through History  

1868 - Senate begins US President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial

1900 – France-length of the workday for women/children limited to 11 hours by law.

1980 - Eric Heiden skates world record 1000m (1:13.60)

1997 - The Phoenix lights were seen over Phoenix, a hotly debated controversy

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Neil Sedaka, Brooklyn, singer/songwriter (Breaking Up is Hard to Do) is 75

Robert S Woods, actor (Bo-One Life to Live) is 66

William H Macy, actor (Homicide, Water Engine) is 64

Dana Delany, actress (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) is 58

Emile Hirsch, actor (Into the Wild, Speed Racer) is 29

Remembered for being born today

1855 - Percival "Percy" Lowell, US astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto)

1901 - Paul Fix, actor (Rifleman)

1911 - L[aFayette] Ron Hubbard, sci-fi writer/scientologist (Dianetics)

1929 - Peter Breck, actor (Black Saddle, Big Valley, Benji), (d. 2012)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Susan Brownell Anthony, American suffragist, 1906, @85

Clarence S Darrow, Scopes Monkey Trial attorney, 1938, @80

Maureen Stapleton, American actress, 2006, @80

John Barbour, Scottish poet, 1395, @75

Benjamin Harrison, 23rd US President, pneumonia, 1901, @67

Stephen Vincent Benét, American author, heart attack, 1943, @44 

Leland Stanford, Jr., Stanford University named for him, typhoid, 1884, @15

Brain Teasers

I am the sea.

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  §