5-4-14

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 124  / Week: 19 

Today: L 43°…H 72°… Ave. humidity: 33%
    Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  22mph  
    Average High: 79° Record High:  96° (1970)
    Average Low: 41° Record Low:  22° (1955)
      
Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1715 - French manufacturer debuts 1st folding umbrella (Paris)

1846 - US state Michigan ends death penalty
1886 - Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen
1904 - Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal.
1910 - Canadian parliament accept creation of Royal Canadian Navy
1910 - Tel Aviv founded
1924 - 8th Olympic Games open at Paris, France
1932 - Al Capone enters Atlanta Penitentiary convicted of income tax evasion
1952 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Fresno Golf Open
1953 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Ernest Hemingway for The Old Man & The Sea
1970 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Erik H Erikson (Gandhi's Truth)
1970 – Kent State Shootings
1979 - Margaret Thatcher 1st woman to be elected Prime Minister of UK
1998 - Federal judge gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

As a great day here…windows wide open from 10am on. Nice walk around the neighborhood. Our first really nice spring weekend…with many more on the horizon.

I enjoy watching the Kentucky Derby, but the 3 hour build up for a 2 minute race seems a bit much. Must say the huge new screen is really quite impressive.

Our discussion group meets tonight on China Economic Policy. The articles sure opened my eyes to things I had never considered. Learned quite a bit about how that huge government functions with so many various local, regional, and national party leaders. They have become the 2^nd most powerful economy in a few short decades. They have really burst on the stage politically, economically, and in every other way. I have personally seen their projects in Africa but was fascinated to learn that the Chinese government encourages business and citizens to work overseas. Many Chinese has found that work overseas is difficult, and can be deadly. The government has found a way to convince people that it is still a good career. No country is upset about their economic gains, but most are concerned where this will lead. Many in the West are concerned that their skirmishes with our friends over small islands may lead to a more militarized China. And a China that may not only be aggressive in economic fronts, but also on military fronts. Should be a good evening of discussion.

 

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Change MILE to INCH by changing one letter at a time. Each change must produce a valid word in the English language. But there is a catch. You must make the change by going through YARD and FOOT. No word can be used more than once.

MILE ----> YARD ----> FOOT ----> INCH

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Audrey Hepburn - Moon River

Dean Martin, Dom DeLuise & Glen Campbell

N Sync - This I Promise You

Randy Travis - Forever And Ever, Amen

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Amount AZ’s Red Feather Lodge offered to pay to reopen the Grand Canyon during the government shutdown: $25,000

Unusual Fact of the Day

Mock turtle soup does not actually contain turtle. Its main ingredient is an entire cow's head.

Number One Country in the world…  

Armenia: Piracy

Prior to reading this title, did you think of Armenia as a technologically advanced country? If you’re Armenian we apologize, but let’s face it: you’re not exactly South Korea.
However, regardless of how much we think Armenian people understand technology, they themselves understand it well enough that they don’t have to pay for it anymore. Yes, Armenia is a pirate’s paradise, with 92% of all software there being pirated.

Largest Animals in the world…

The Blue Whale is the Largest Animal Ever

The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. At 30 metres (98 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons) or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed. The Blue Whale’s tongue weighs around 2.7 metric tons (5,952 pounds), about the size of an average Asian Elephant and its heart weighs about 600 kg (1,300 lb) and is the largest known in any animal. Not only is the heart similar size to a mini-cooper car but also comparable in weight.

The Blue Whale is thought to feed almost exclusively on small, shrimp-like creatures called Krill. During the summer feeding season the Blue Whale gorges itself, consuming an astounding 3.6 metric tons (7,900 pounds) or more each day. This means it may eat up to 40 million krill a day with a daily calorie requirement of an adult Blue Whale in the region of 1.5 million.     

Joke-of-the-day

Knock-Knock

   Who's there?

Dwayne.

   Dwayne who?

Dwayne the tub I'm drowning! 

Rules of Thumb:   

CHOOSING A CAR COLOR

When buying a new car, choose a color that matches the ads for your particular model. That's the color most likely to grab a used-car buyer's eye as well.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ROCKFORD, Ohio (UPI) - Nineteen-year-old Austin Dennison asked an older girl to go with him to his senior prom. Much older, in fact, it was his great-grandmother. Austin Dennison said he asked his Granny DD, Delores Dennison, to prom at Parkway High School in Rockford, because she never went to hers, Fox News reported. "I asked her if she would be my prom date," he said. "How cool would it be to take my great-grandmother to prom?" "He was so sweet and adamant about it," Delores, 89, said. "I asked him, 'But are you sure that you wouldn't like to take one of the young ladies who could get out there and do everything with you?' He said no. 'I want you.'" "At first she was a bit resistant," the younger Dennison said. "I assured her I was serious and she finally said yes. It was my privilege to take her." Delores said she had a little trouble finding a suitable dress for the occasion because they were either "too high or too low." The two enjoyed a dinner at her favorite restaurant, Bob Evans, before the dance, and at the event Austin presented his great-grandmother with a pearl necklace. "It was wonderful and I just loved all the girls in their fancy gowns and the gentlemen in their tuxedos. It was quite a night," Delores said. "Everyone there just could not have been more polite. Everyone got an A+."

Somewhat Useless Information   

Anna Haining Swan, born in Canada in 1846, was famous for being very tall (2,27 m), whereas her parents were Scottish immigrants of an average height.

Anna Haining gave birth to a girl in 1872 and the baby was as tall as her mother was in her own birth.
In 1878 she was pregnant for the second time, but the birth was not going in a normal direction and tried using forceps, but the baby’s head was too large.
The baby was born on 19 January, but survived for less than a day. He was the largest newborn ever recorded, at 10.8 kg and 71 centimeters tall!

Although there is the tradition of the ’100 families’ in China, the number of Chinese surnames are a bit more than 4,000. But what is the most common surname in China taking into account that the population reached the billion mark in 1982?

Wang is the most common surname in mainland China and Chen or Chan the most common in Taiwan. Moreover, Zhang Wei is supposed to be the most common full name in mainland China.
Nowadays surnames do not change upon marriage and women in places with western influence such as Hong Kong may adopt their husband’s name.

High heels are undoubtedly strictly connected to femininity and men really like seeing a woman in high heels. But why do women like wearing them?

We present you five main reasons:
  1. They add height on to the wearer which is extremely useful for short women.
  2. They catch attention both from men and women.
  3. They enhance confidence as women feel more assertive.
  4. They make legs seem longer & leaner & improve the way the entire body looks.
  5. They make the wearer look slimmer as they add height.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

1-7
Choose Privacy Week  
2-4
Toad Suck Daze
3-11
Dystonia Awareness Week
National Tourism Week
4-10
Be Kind To Animals Week
Children's Mental Health Week
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
Drinking Water Week 
Flexible Work Arrangement Week 
Goodwill Industries Week 
Kids Win Week
NAOSH Week 
National Alcohol & Drug Related Birth Defects Awareness Week
National Anxiety & Depression Awareness Week
National Correctional Officer's Week
National Family Week 
National Hug Holiday Week 
National Occupational Safety & Health Day  
National Pet Week
National Post Card Week
National Raisin Week 
North American Occupational Safety & Health Week  
PTA Teacher Appreciation Week 
Public Service Recognition Week  

Today Is 

Great American Grump Out
Intergalactic Star Wars Day 
International Baby Lost Mother's Day  
International Firefighters Day 
International Respect for Chickens Day
Lemonade Day  
Mayday for Mutts  
Motorcycle Mass & Blessing of The Bikes Day 
National Candied Orange Peel Day
National Infertility Survival Day 
Petite and Proud Day
World Give Day
World Laughter Day 
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Independence Day (Rhode Island-1776-from Great Britain)
Greenery Day (Japan- Hirohito referred to as Emperor Shōwa birthday )
Youth Day (China--since 1949)                                                                    
 
Today’s Events through History  

1780 - American Academy of Arts & Science founded

1814 - Bourbon reign restored in France
1922 - KNX-AM in Los Angeles CA begins radio transmissions
2013 - Harper Lee files lawsuit against literary agent- copyright of To Kill a Mockingbird

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Betsy Rawls, golfer (US Women’s Open-51, 53, 57, 60) is 86

Hosni Mubarak, Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt, Egyptian president is 86
George Will, political analyst (Night Line) is 72
Randy Travis, country singer (Diggin' Up Bones) is 55
Mike Dirnt [Michael Ryan Pritchard], American musician (Green Day) is 42
Lance Bass, American singer (*NSYNC) is 35

Remembered for being born today

 490-565 - Palenque Maya Lord Kan - Xul I 

796-1859 - Horace Mann, US, educator/author/editor (pioneered public schools)
1889-1967 - Francis J Spellman, US Cardinal
1929-1993 - Audrey Hepburn, Brussels, (Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Moe Howard, [Moses Horowitz], comedian (3 Stooges), cancer, 1975, @77

Dom Deluise, American comedian, actor, cancer, 2009, @75 
Bob Clampett, cartoonist (Looney Toons), heart attack, 1984, @70
MCA [Adam Yauch], Beastie Boys vocalist, cancer, 2012, @47
4 students, at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
   Allison Krause @19; Jeffrey Miller @20, Sandra Scheuerand @20; William Knox Schroeder @19

Brain Teasers                                         

>MILE <
MIRE
MARE
CARE
CARD
>YARD <
WARD
WORD
FORD
FOOD
>FOOT <
MOOT
MOST
MAST
MASH
MACH
EACH
ETCH
ITCH
>INCH <

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  §