5-17-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 137  / Week: 20 
May Averages: 68° \ 34°
Today: Average Sky Cover: 90%
    H 77° L 46° Ave. humidity: 32%
    Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  24mph  
    Average High: 68° Record High:  82° (1970)
    Average Low: 34° Record Low:  20° (1943)
         
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights

1536 - Anne Boleyn's 4 "lovers" executed
1590 - Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland
1620 - 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Turkey)
1756 - Britain declares war on France (7 Years' or French & Indian War)
1875 - 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75
1884 - Alaska becomes a US territory
1904 - Maurice Ravel's "Shéhérazade" premieres in Paris
1920 - 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)
1928 - 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam
1946 - Harry Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike
1957 - School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education
1970 - Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on reed raft Ra

  Today’s Birthdays:   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays below
My Free Rambling Thoughts   

A quiet Friday…didn’t do a whole lot…the overcast sky kinda drained me of wanting to do very much. Or maybe it was because it is one of the hottest days so far this year.

Had to chuckle with one of Rachael Maddow’s posts today. It seems some very conservative people planned a protest on DC today to return the current corrupt government to the basics of the constitution. They called their demonstration “Operation: American Spring”. Their website and publicity said to expect 10-30million demonstrators to show up and peacefully overthrow the current corrupt government. As Rachael pointed out, they did have the demonstration and did have between 10-30million people show up. The actual number demonstrating was about 15 crazies which is in fact between 10 and 30,000,000 . Probably won’t make the evening news.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
You are an adventurer and come across two caves: one on the left and one on the right. One of the caves has treasures; the other, most certain doom. You see an imp passing by and ask which cave has the treasure. The imp said, "Two caves you came across. Many have failed to pick the right one. It contains treasure of many kinds. What is left, to tell, is the other cave, with terror and death lurking around." Which one should you pick?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today






OK Then…
Harper’s Index 

Percentage change since 1980 in the rate of labor-force participation among US women: +5.7

Among US men: -7.7

Unusual Fact of the Day

One of the drugs Nazis experimented with in 1944 was D-IX, a cocaine-based compound that included both an amphetamine and a morphine-related chemical to dull pain. Nazi doctors found that test subjects could march 55 miles before having to rest. Luckily, the war ended before production could begin.

Largest Animals in the world…

The Heaviest Flying Bird in the World: The Dalmatian Pelican
The Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a member of the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe to India and China in swamps and shallow lakes. This is the largest of the pelicans, averaging 160–180 cm (63-70 inches) in length, 11–15 kg (24-33 lbs) in weight and just over 3 m (10 ft) in wingspan. With a mean weight of 11.5 kg (25 lb), it is the world’s heaviest flying bird species on average, although large male bustards (terrestrial and ground-running birds) and swans can exceed the pelican in maximum weight.

Oldest Trees in the World…

Olive Tree of Vouves
This ancient olive tree is located on the Greek island of Crete and is one of seven olive trees in the Mediterranean believed to be at least 2,000 to 3,000 years old. Although its exact age cannot be verified, the Olive Tree of Vouves might be the oldest among them, estimated at over 3,000 years old. It still produces olives, and they are highly prized. Olive trees are hardy and drought-, disease- and fire-resistant — part of the reason for their longevity and their widespread use in the region.

Travel Destination Info…   

2) Spain - $53.2 billion
Spain is second on the list of countries where international tourists spent the most money but at $53.2 billion Spain is a distant second to the United States. International tourists come to Spain for the beautiful summer resorts, hotels and beaches along both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea as well as to visit religious sites and to see the Pyrenees Mountains and open plains.

Joke-of-the-day

A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.
“Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work for me?"
"Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.
"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO, as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy..."

Rules of Thumb:   

ESTIMATING THE COST OF A DOCTOR VISIT
The fee for a routine office visit is the same price as a first-class postage stamp multiplied by 100.

Yeah, It Really Happened

GASTONIA, N.C. (UPI) - A North Carolina woman was arrested and charged with misuse of the 911 system after she allegedly called emergency dispatchers because she was given a flatbread pizza that was made with marinara sauce instead of pizza sauce. Bevalente Hall allegedly called 911 after Subway employees wouldn't refund the money she paid for a "flatizza" pizza that was sauced incorrectly. "It's terrible, and I got my receipt," the 37-year-old says in the call. "And I told them I can't eat that kind of sauce." In the 911 call, Hall says she wants report the incident to investigators with Channel 9. "They made my mom another sandwich without a problem, but say they won't make me a sandwich," Hall said, the Gaston Gazette reported. Hall's husband told Channel 9 that his wife called 911 after being yelled at by an officer.

Somewhat Useless Information   

Contrary to popular belief, excavated skeletons show that the pyramid builders were actually Egyptians who were most likely in the permanent employ of the pharaoh. Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams "Friends of Khufu," "Drunkards of Menkaure," and so on--names indicating allegiances to pharaohs.
[]
Although popular legend blames Napoleon and his troops during the French campaign in Egypt (1798-1801) for having shot the nose off the Great Sphinx, in fact this story just isn't true.
It is not known who destroyed the nose of the Sphinx. There are sketches of the Sphinx without a nose in 1737, over 60 years before Napoleon reached Egypt and hundreds of years before the British and German armies of the two World Wars. The only person known to have damaged it was an Islamic cleric, Sa'im al-dahr, who was lynched in 1378 for vandalism.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

11-17
Universal Family Week
Food Allergy Awareness Week 
National Hospital Week 
National Nursing Home Week
National Police Week 
National Return To Work Week 
National Transportation Week 
National Women's Health Week 

Reading is Fun Week
Salute to Moms 35+ Week


12-18
American Craft Beer Week 
Children's Book Week
National Bike to Work Week

National Dog Bite Prevention Week  

National Etiquette Week

*Work At Home Moms Week


13-17
Neuropathy Awareness Week

13-19
Salvation Army Week  
Neuropathy Awareness Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week


Today Is  

Pack Rat Day
Armed Forces Day
Mike, The Headless Chicken Day 

Morel Mushroom Day
National Learn To Swim Day
Preakness
World Hypertension Day  
World Information Society Day
World Telecommunications Day
World Neurofibromatosis Day (NF Day) 

[]
Constitution Day (Norway-‘ Syttende Mai’-1814)
                                                      
Today’s Events through History  

1733 - England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies 
1845 - Rubber band patents
1865 - International Telegraph Union (later the Internat’l Telecommunication Union) is established.
1989 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr Gachet" auctioned for $825M

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Taj Mahal, singer/songwriter (Real Thing) is 72
Bill Paxton, actor (True Lies, Big Love-HBO) is 59
Bob Saget, , comedian (Full House, America's Funniest Home Video) is 58
Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, boxer (Olympics-gold-76) is 58
Jim Nantz, Sports broadcaster is 55
Enya [Eithne Ní Bhraonáin], Irish singer and songwriter is 53
Craig Ferguson, Glasgow, actor, writer and comedian is 52
Sasha Alexander, American television actress is 41
Derek Hough, dancer (DWTS) \ singer is 29

Remembered for being born today

1749-1823 - Edward Jenner, England, physician, discovered vaccination
1868-1920 - Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer
1889-1959 - Alfonso Reyes, Mexican poet/historian/diplomat
1912-2004 - Archibald Cox, special prosecutor (Watergate)
1936-2010 - Dennis Hopper, actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

1992 - Lawrence Welk, conductor/accordionist, 1992, @89
1829 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States, 1829, @83 
1886 - John Deere, blacksmith and manufacturer, 1886, @82
1510 - Sandro Botticelli, Renaissance painter, 1510, @65ish
2012 - Donna Summer, American singer, cancer, 2012, @63
1875 - John C. Breckinridge, US VP, cirrhosis, 1875, @54
1727 - Catherine I, Empress of Russia, fever, 1727, @43  

Brain Teasers                                         

You should pick the right one. As he said, it has treasure of many kinds. The left one lurks with death and danger, as he said.

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.