8-25-14

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 237 / Week: 35 
August Averages: 78° \ 50°
Today:
    Average Sky Cover: 10%
    H 72° L 52° Ave. humidity: 71%
    Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  16mph 
    Average High: 78° Record High:  88° (1985)
    Average Low: 48° Record Low:  36° (2002)
        
Quote of the Day
Historical Highlights for Today
  325 - Council of Nicaea ends with adoption of the Nicene Creed establishing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity
1537 - The Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed.
1609 - Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1689 - Montreal taken by Iroquois
1814 - British forces destroy Library of Congress, containing 3,000 books (War of 1812)
1868 - Acting Governor Hall of Colorado telegraphs to the military that 200 Indians are "devastating southern Colorado." 
1886 - 1st international polo meet (US vs England)
1910 - Yellow Cab is founded
1944 - Gen De Gaulle returns to Paris/walks Champs Elysees Paris
1952 - Puerto Rico becomes a US commonwealth
1960 - 17th summer Olympics opens in Rome
1967 - Beatles go to Wales to study transcendental meditation w Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
2012 - Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, enters interstellar space
  Birthdays Today:   
How many can you identify? Answers in Birthday’s Today below
My Rambling Thoughts   
Great weather day here…warm, little breeze, beautiful time to read the Sunday paper on the deck. Can’t beat it.
Watched my Sunday news programs. One of my former students is going to grad school in SF, and posted that she was too far south to have any problems with their earthquake.
Last night’s discussion group was one of the best we have had. I have heard the term ‘maghreb’ tossed around for years, but didn’t really know what it was. Now I know. It is a region in NW Africa that was named back when the Moors were in the area and in Spain. Now it is 5 countries…Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Western Sahara. As with so much of the world, when conquerors came in, they drew lines to make countries. It is a tribal area, Muslim, very poor, and not really that stable. Slavery is still prevalent, women’s rights are almost unheard of, and not a very bright future. Western Sahara isn’t even a real country and is fought over by Morocco and Algeria. There are lots of Muslim splinter groups, mostly Sunni, that have ideas to better the area, but basically little happens. While the discussion was very enlightening about the area, we don’t have answers but did realize that the US and western influence is not welcome in the area.
The Brits are sure that they are almost ready to name the Brit who beheaded the American journalist last week, simply from the voice on the video. They quickly narrowed down that he grew up in N. London and believe that by looking at passports and airport surveillance video they will figure out exactly who he is. WOW!
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
What is the next animal in this series:
Quail, Weasel, Emu, Raccoon, -?-

Choose from:
Yak
Turkey
Bumblebee
Ostrich
Tiger
Eland
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
OK Then…
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Paraphernalia 4 the Brain :     
Africa Facts…
More than 30 African nations have more cell phones than land lines.
Brain Facts…
Studies suggest that people who appear to be constantly distracted have more "working memory" and "sharper brains".
Computer Facts…
In 1989, a British company made a laptop with a graphical user interface, a 60 hour battery life, SSD storage, and a touchpad.
Flagstaff, AZ History…
75 YEARS AGO
Park officials learned this week that President Roosevelt has signed a bill ordering 43 acres of the Tuzigoot Ruins near Clarkdale be set aside as a national monument.
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Babbitt’s is offering prizes to the first three homebuilders to complete first-class residential homes of quality materials. 1st Prize, a 2 piece living room suite in stone cut mohair worth $185, 2nd Prize, a 4-piece bedroom suite in fashion flow bleached walnut worth $132, 3rd Prize, a 6-piece dining room suite with a walnut buffet table and 4 matching chairs worth $79. All materials must be purchased from Babbitt’s and the cost exclusive of the lot must be at least $3,000.
Harper’s Index
Portion of US kindergartners who are the children of single mothers: 2/5 
Language Facts…
Hoover vacuum cleaners were so popular in the UK that many people now refer to vacuuming as hoovering.
Rules of Thumb…   
TRAVELING ON FOOT
There is a simple test for checking your pace: If you can't keep it up, hour after hour, it is too fast.
Superstitions…
Placing a hat on the bed is, apparently, bad luck. (South Carolina)
Unusual Fact of the Day…
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the Canadian and Vermont border. The actors perform in Canada while most of the audience sits in the United States. There is even a painted line running through the building.
Joke-of-the-day
Ah! Yes, love is blind, and marriage is and eye opener!
Yeah, It Really Happened
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (UPI) - A South Carolina woman was arrested Monday for allegedly beating a man in his 60s, after the man drunkenly passed gas in her face. Witnesses told police that 33-year-old Jessica Cerney was asleep on her couch in her Myrtle Beach residence when 64-year-old Darrell McNight entered the home and farted in her face. "[McKnight] came into the house intoxicated and 'passed gas' is [Cerney's] face while she was laying on the couch," according to the police report obtained by the Smoking Gun. In the initial report, the names of both parties were omitted. "[Cerney] walked outside to get away from [an] intoxicated [McKnight] but [McKnight] walked out also. The two were arguing over the incident and [McKnight] walked toward [Cerney] cursing in a "threatening manner." [Cerney] stated that she pulled her arms down and when McKnight bent down she struck him in the face approximately three times with a closed fist." McKnight had to be taken to the hospital for treatment to a swollen right eye while Cerney, unless she develops a case of delayed pinkeye, did not suffer any injuries. Both parties were issued citations for fighting. It is unclear if they knew each other prior to the incident.

Somewhat Useless Information   
The maximum speed limit you'll see on US highway signs depends on the state. In Iowa, New Mexico, and North and South Dakota, 75 mph is posted on some stretches of interstate highways. But in Hawaii, 60 mph is the maximum statewide, and in the District of Columbia, 55 mph is still the law.
The criteria vary from state to state, but as a rule, each area works closely with the Department of Natural Resources to review reported automobile/deer accidents. A "Deer Crossing" sign is generally erected whenever a deer has been hit within the previous 12 months.
Forty-nine states participate in the "Adopt a Highway" program. The lone holdout is Vermont, whose anti-billboard laws prohibit the necessary road adoption signage.
In 2004, the Federal Highway Administration approved the use of a new font, Clearview, on federal road signs after tests showed that drivers found Clearview easier to read than the current Highway Gothic font.
The large blue signs on freeways indicating that there's a Shell station or a McDonald's at the next exit are called "interstate logo boards." A business must meet strict criteria, such as restrooms, telephones, no cover charge, and so on, in order to get its name posted.
The Federal Highway Administration has adopted certain shapes for the various types of road signs in hopes that drivers will recognize them reflexively. A round sign indicates a railroad crossing; a pentagon stands for a school crossing; and diamond-shaped signs alert us to a particular potential hazard.
Check Your Calendar
Observances This Week:
24-30
National Chuck Wagon Races
National Safe at Home Week
Be Kind To Humankind Week
Today Is  
Kiss and Make Up Day
National Second-hand Wardrobe Day
National Whiskey Sour Day
  
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Independence Day (Uruguay-1825-from Brazil)
                                                        
Today’s Events through History  
1986 - A's Mark McGwire hits his 1st major league home run
1988 - Serious fire destroys historic center of Lisbon
1991 - Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
Birthday’s Today                                                        
Monty Hall, Winnipeg, TV game show host (Lets Make a Deal) is 92
Sean Connery, Edinburgh, actor (James Bond) is 84
Regis Philbin, Bronx, talk & game show host is 83
Tom Skerritt, actor (Ryan's Four) is 81
Rollie Fingers, relief pitcher (Athletics, Cy Young-1981) is 68
Gene Simmons, [Chaim Witz], rock guitarist (KISS-Beth) is 65
Elvis Costello, [Declan Patrick McManus], rock vocalist is 60
Tim Burton, film director (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) is 56
Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer (Achy Breaky Heart) is 53
Blair Underwood, actor (Jonathan-LA Law, High Incident) is 50
Claudia Schiffer, super model (Elle, Rolling Stone) is 44
Blake Lively, actress (Gossip Girl) is 27
Remembered for being born today
Michael Rennie, actor (Klatuu-Day the Earth Stood Still) (1909-1971)
Walt Kelly, cartoonist, creator (Pogo) (1913-1973)
Van Johnson, actor (Brigadoon) always wore red socks (1916-2008)
Don Defore, actor (George-Hazel) (1913-1993)
Mel Ferrer, actor (Longest Day) (1917-2008)
Richard Greene, composer/actor (Adv of Robin Hood) (1918-1985)
George C Wallace, Gov-Ala/Pres candidate (1919-1998)
Althea Gibson, Silver SC, 1st black tennis champion in major event (1927-2003)
Historical Obits Today                                                           
F William Herschel, German astronomer (discovered Uranus), 1822, @83
Neil Armstrong, astronaut, surgery complications, 2012, @82
Michael Faraday, English scientist, 1867, @75
David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian, cancer, 1776, @65
Ghengis Khan, [Temudjin], founded Mongolia, 1227, @65
Truman Capote, author (In Cold Blood), cancer, 1984, @59
Friedrich Nietschze, philosopher (Also sprach Zarathustra), stroke, 1900, @55
George Lincoln Rockwell, head of American Nazi Party, assassinated, 1967, @49
John Birch, American intelligence officer and missionary, killed, 1945, @27 (namesake of John Birch Society, not affiliated with it)
Brain Teasers                                         
Turkey
The series alternates between bird and mammal, but at the same time, the animals begin with the letters from the top row of a QWERTY keyboard. Thus "T" is the next letter, and the only bird in the list that begins with a "T" is "Turkey".
Also, "Yak" would be next in the series after Turkey... extra points if you noticed!

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.