5-1-14

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 121 / Week: 18 

Today: L 32°…H 54°… Ave. humidity: 26%

    Wind: ave:   13mph; Gusts:  49mph  

    Average High: 63 Record High:  80° (1947)

    Average Low: 31° Record Low: 17 ° (1972)

 

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1328 - Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton - the Kingdom of England recognizes Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.

1707 - England, Wales & Scotland form United Kingdom of Great Britain

1867 - Howard University chartered

1867 - Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration

1869 - Folies Bergère opens in Paris

1883 - "Buffalo Bill" Cody put on his 1st Wild West Show

1883 - Amsterdam World's Fair opens

1889 - Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)

1893 - World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago

1919 - Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages

1931 - Empire State Building opens in NYC

1940 - The 1940 Olympics are cancelled

1941 - "Citizen Kane", directed & starring Orson Welles, premieres in NY

1941 - General Mills introduces Cheerios

1948 - North Korea proclaims itself People's Democratic Republic of Korea

1950 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Rodgers & Hammerstein (South Pacific)

1961 - 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba

1961 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

1994 - Charles Kuralt retires as CBS newsman (On the Road)

2003 - "Mission Accomplished" speech, "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" 

2009 - Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

While the temps weren’t that bad, the wind chill made it feel about 10° lower than it showed. The hard wind gusts have been going on and off, mostly on, since sunrise. Not a good day to spend much time outside. I went out to feed the birds in my slippers and short cuts early this morning, not a good idea. Birds were happy to get new food and some fresh water, but I should have put on shoes and long pants. Our local guy who keeps us up to date on police calls on Facebook had two separate postings for trees that had fallen and blocked a road here in Flag…has to be wind-related in some way. While I am not real happy with this weather, my brother is in Mexico where it is 97° and raining. He can’t do much outside work at the hacienda with weather like that.

I am having some tech issues with my blog site, so the banner can’t be changed for May. Guess I will figure it out sometime during the month. Each month I make several changes in the layout and never can remember how to change the banner. The problem is with my Windows 8 setup, which for some reason the blog site doesn’t like. I think I made some changes from my iPad, but not sure until I post today’s blog. I’ll see then if the changes worked.

 

Our retirement group may be headed to the Rez for lunch tomorrow…looking forward to a Navajo Taco at Cameron. We haven’t gone there for a long time so it should be a nice trip…about 55 miles one way, but well worth the trip. We are planning to meet a friend from Tuba for lunch, but she hasn’t responded. And all this wind may make a change in our plans too. There is a high vehicle wind warning for the area and while it is not a problem for us in cars, it is a problem when you have to follow or pass a big rig.

 

Our great city council played politicians last night. Rather than voting to follow the county’s new no cell while driving rule, they all said they were for the ban, but figured their minds were better than the county supervisor’s minds and would prefer writing their own small town ordinance that would be better for the many citizens of Flagstaff. Talk about small town mentality. Hopefully they will miss the deadline to opt out of the county decision…and have to do what the county is doing. Any new more strict or more liberal ordinance for Flag will only have everyone confused. Few people know where the exact city line is, so enforcement will be difficult. One member of the board wondered how the police would be able to prove a driver was actually using their phone if stopped. The cop said that if the individual did not let the cop look at the phone log, they would have to get a warrant to see it and probably no judge would issue such a warrant. Hmmm

 

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

I am a set of three words, all with the same four letters.

First I am a type of carriage.

Then switch my middle letters, and I am a cover often useful on a diamond.

Now switch my end letters ...

When you see me, you also see hair.

 

What are the words?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Kate Smith Introduces God Bless America

Congress sings "God Bless America" - 2001.09.11

 

Tim McGraw - Lookin' For That Girl

 

Judy Collins - Amazing Grace (without choir)

OK Then…

 

 

Harper’s Index 

 

Percentage of fee-charging open access medical journals that accepted a spoof cancer drug study for publication last year: 52

 

Number of patients over that past decade who participated in clinical trials based on research that was later retracted: 473,847

 

Unusual Fact of the Day

Chimpanzees are excellent tool makers and have been documented to make very primitive spears to kill galagos (bush babies) hiding in the trees at night.

 

Number One Country in the world…  

Venezuela: Beautiful Women

By far Venezuela has the most ‘Big 4’ Beauty Pageant wins with 19: five more than America (the second place winner) and 11 more than India, the third place winner. The Big 4 Pageants are: Miss World (founded in 1951), Miss Universe (1952), Miss International (1960) and Miss Earth (2001)

 

Joke-of-the-day

An idiot decided to start a chicken farm, so he bought a hundred chickens to start. A month later, he returned to the dealer for another hundred chickens because all of the first lot had died. A month later he was back at the dealers for another hundred chickens for the second lot had also died. "But I think I know where I'm going wrong," said the idiot. "I think I am planting them too deep."

 

Rules of Thumb:   

DRIVING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC

When stopped at a red light with a long line of traffic ahead of you, if your car begins to move before the light turns red, you'll make it through the light on the next cycle.

 

Yeah, It Really Happened

TORONTO (UPI) - Librarians at the Toronto Public Library were asked to remove copies of Dr. Seuss' 1963 children's book "Hop on Pop" from the establishment's collection because it allegedly promotes violence. A document detailing the seven books the library has been asked to remove over the past year was posted online on Monday. The book "encourages children to use violence against their fathers," according to the complaint. In addition to apologizing to fathers in the Toronto area, the complainant also asked that the library "pay for damages resulting from the book." The Materials Review Committee pointed out that the book is "humorous," "well-loved" and that it has "appeared on many 'Best of' children's book lists." The MRC also pointed out that the children in the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's book are actually told not to hop on pop. Despite the complaint, the library opted to retain the book in the children's collection.

 

Somewhat Useless Information   

 

On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. That means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life.

 

Every year, nearly four million cats are eaten in Asia.

 

Calendar Information        

This Month’s Observances
ALS Awareness Month  (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease) 
American Wetlands Month 
APS Awareness Month 
Arthritis Awareness Month
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Awareness of Medical Orphans Month
Better Hearing & Speech Month 
Borderline Personality Disorder Month 
Brain Tumor Awareness Month 
Building Safety Month 
Celiac Awareness Month 
Chip Your Pet Month 
Clean Air Month
Community Living Month (Ontario, Canada): 
Creative Beginnings Month
Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month 
Drum Month 
EcoDriving Month 
EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) Awareness Month 
Family Wellness Month
Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month
Freedom Shrine Month 
Gardening for Wildlife Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Gifts From The Garden Month
Global Civility Awareness Month
Global Health and Fitness Month 
Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month
Haitian Heritage Month
Heal the Children Month
Healthy Vision Month
Home Schooling Awareness Month
Huntington's Disease Awareness Month
International Audit Month 
International Business Image Improvement Month
International Civility Awareness Month
International Mediterranean Diet Month
International Victorious Woman Month
Jewish-American Heritage Month
Latino Books Month
Lupus Awareness Month 

Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection & Prevention Month
Motorcycle Safety Month
National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month 
National Barbeque Month
National Better Hearing Month 
National Bike Month 
National Egg Month   
National Foster Care Month 
National Good Car Keeping Month
National Guide Dog Month 
National Hamburger Month 
National Hepatitis Awareness Month
National High Blood Pressure Education Month  
National Inventors Month 
Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month (aka NF Month) 
(World) Lyme Disease Awareness Month 
National Meditation Month
National Mediterranean Diet Month 
National Mental Health Month
National Military Appreciation Month 
National Moving Month
National Pet Month
National Osteoporosis Prevention Month
National Photo Month
National Physical Fitness & Sports Month
National Physiotherapy Month 
National Preservation Month
National Salad Month
National Salsa Month (the food)
National Service Dog Eye Examination Month  
National Smile Month  
National Stroke Awareness Month
National Sweet Vidalia Onions Month
National Toddler Immunization Month 
National Tuberous Sclerosis Month 
National Water Safety Month 
Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month 
National Vinegar Month
National Youth Traffic Safety Month 
Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month 
Older Americans Month
Personal History Month 
Pet Cancer Awareness Month 
Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month
Preeclampsia Awareness Month 
React Month
Revise Your Work Schedule Month
Social Security Education Awareness Month
Skin Cancer Awareness Month  
Spiritual Literacy Month
Strike Out Strokes Month
Teen CEO Month
Tennis Month
Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month 
Ultra-violet Awareness Month
Women's Health Care Month
Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month

This Week’s Observances:

1-7

Choose Privacy Week  

Today Is

Amtrak Day
Batman Day
Beltaine 
Executive Coaching Day
Global Love Day 
Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day
Law Day
Lei Day (in Hawaii since 1926)
Loyalty Day
May Day
Mother Goose Day 
National Bubba Day
National Dance Day

National Infertility Survival Day

National Day of Prayer  
National Day of Reason 
National Purebred Dog Day 
New Homeowner's Day
Satchmo Days-4  (See also April)
School Principals' Day
Silver Star Day 
Stepmother's Day: Executive Coaching Day
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Festival of Saint Efisio (Italy)
International Labor Day
Yom Hashoah (Israel - Holocaust Day)                                                                     

    

Today’s Events through History  

1704 - Boston Newsletter publishes 1st newspaper advertisement

1863 - Confederate congress passed resolution to kill black soldiers

1873 - 1st US postal card issued

1901 - Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo

1939 - Pulitzer Prize awarded to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Yearling)

1944 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Martin Flavin (Journey in the dark)

1960 - Pancho Gonzalez retires from tennis

1963 - 1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest

1966 - Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)

1978 - Naomi Uemura became 1st to reach North Pole overland alone

1997 - Tony Blair elected Prime Minister of UK

 

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Judy Collins, singer (Send in the Clowns, Clouds) is 75

Rita Coolidge, singer (Higher & Higher, We're All Alone) is 69

Tim McGraw, American musician is 47

 

Remembered for being born today

1825-1894 - George Inness, US landscape painter (Delaware Water Gap)

1852-1903 - Calamity [Martha] Jane [Burke], frontier adventurer

1907-1986 - Kate Smith, American singer  

1913-2005 - Louis Nye, comedian and actor (d. 2005)

1916-2006 - Glenn Ford, Quebec, actor (Cade's County, Midway)

1918-2004 - Jack Paar, television host

1919-2005 - Dan O'Herlihy, Ireland, actor (Fail Safe, Robocop)

1925-2013 - Scott Carpenter, Boulder, CO, pilot and astronaut  

1939-1988 - Max Robinson, broadcast journalist (ABC Evening News)

 

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

John Glover, English chemist (production sulfuric acid), 1902, @85

Gene Sheldon, actor (Bernardo-Zorro), heart attack, 1982, @72

John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Rival Ladies), 1700, @68

Eldridge Cleaver, American activist, cancer, 1998, @62

Antonín Dvorak, Czech composer (Slavic Dancing), 1904, @62

David Livingstone, British physician/explorer (Africa), malaria, 1873, @60

Paul Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of propoganda, suicide, 1945, @47

 

Brain Teasers 

                                        

trap = a light one-horse carriage
tarp = a canvas cover, one use is to protect a baseball diamond from rain
part = the line that divides hair, as when combing

 

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  §