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Flagstaff
Almanac: Day: 225
/ Week: 33
August
Averages: 78° \ 50°
Today:
Average Sky Cover: 60%
H 70°… L 55°… Ave. humidity: 73%
Wind: ave:
1mph;
Gusts: 19mph
Average High: 79° Record High: 90° (2002)
Average Low: 51°
Record Low: 39° (1999)
Quote of
the Day
Historical
Highlights for Today
1521- Montezuma’s
nephew, and successor, Cuahtemoc surrenders to Cortés.
1624 - Cardinal Richelieu appointed Chief Minister
of France by Louis XIII
1814 - Cape of Good Hope formally ceded to British
by the Dutch
1868 - Earthquakes kill 25,000 & causes $300
million damages (Peru & Ecuador)
1889 - William Gray patents coin-operated telephone
1907 - 1st taxicab (NYC)
1913 - Invention of stainless steel by Harry
Brearley.
1914 - Carl Wickman begins Greyhound, the 1st US
bus line, in Minnesota
1923 - US Steel Corp initiates 8th-hour work day
1960 - USSR draws advisors out of China
♫
Birthdays Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers in Birthday’s Today
below
My
Rambling Thoughts
Another monsoon this afternoon. A light and steady rain to help
our forest. Nice!
Mental illness is at a crisis stage here in the US and we still
refuse to talk about it. Most school mass shootings have involved mental
illness. Former soldiers are committing suicide every day—22 a day. Homeless people,
many with mental illness, refuse help when offered. Robin Williams is in the
headlines for his career and his suicide. It is time our government recognizes
the importance of providing help for the millions of mentally ill people living
in our country. Robin Williams is one of the few who readily admitted he had
problems and still, for him, there was no way to get him the help he needed to
deal with our world. So sad.
Game Center (answers at the
end of post)
Brain
Teasers
W+H+E+R+E
ROYGBIV
ROYGBIV
Found on
You Tube with some relevance to today
OK Then…
<>
<> <> <> <>
Paraphernalia
4 the Brain :
Brief
History…
Thomas Crapper Invented the Flush Toilet.
Although Crapper had a plumbing company and invented a variety of
devices making toilets better, he did not invent the flush toilet.
Ancient people a few thousand years ago had toilets with water washing away the
waste, as did the Romans. The more modern variety began to appear in 1596
with an invention by John Harrington and an “S” trap version by Alexander
Cummings in 1775 became popular. In 1778 Joseph Bramah patented an
improved model with a water closet and flap valve and George Jennings continued
developments in the mid-19th Century. Crapper was one of many who
contributed improvements, but did not invent flush toilets.
Common
Sayings from the Bible…
Every day is miserable for the depressed, but a lighthearted man
has a continual feast
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15
Computer
Facts…
Song stuck in your head but can’t think of the name? There's a
website called midomi.com that allows
you to sing or hum a song into your computer or phone and it will find the
actual song.
Earth
Facts…
Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth’s surface, much of which has
never been explored.
Flagstaff,
AZ History…
75 YEARS
AGO
On Tuesday Billie Rodgers, aged 11, was killed instantly by
passenger train #3. He had gone to drive the family cow to the corral across
the track from his home. There was also a heavy freight train on the second
track and it appears that he neither saw nor heard the passenger train. He was
thrown 60 feet and death was instantaneous.
++
Over the past weekend there were 90 fires in the national forest.
The recent storms have helped with their control. It remains extremely dry in
Oak Creek, where practically no moisture has fallen.
Harper’s
Index
Percentage change in the Facebook activity of a newly single
person on the day he or she is dumped: +225
Language Facts…
The word 'mortgage' comes from a French law term that means 'death
pledge'.
Rules of
Thumb…
SETTING YOUR RATES
Freelance artists
and graphic designers should determine their hourly rate by dividing their
annual income requirements by 1,000.
Superstitions…
An acorn at the window will keep lightning out
Unusual
Fact of the Day…
Minnows
have teeth in their throats.
World
Heritage Sites…
Situated in the
north-western Congo Basin, where Cameroon, Central African Republic and Congo
meet, the site encompasses three contiguous national parks totaling around
750,000 ha. Much of the site is unaffected by human activity and features
a wide range of humid tropical forest ecosystems with rich flora and fauna,
including Nile crocodiles and goliath tigerfish, a large predator. Forest
clearings support herbaceous species and Sangha is home to considerable
populations of forest elephants, critically endangered western lowland gorilla,
and endangered chimpanzee. The site’s environment has preserved the
continuation of ecological and evolutionary processes on a huge scale and great
biodiversity, including many endangered animal species.
Joke-of-the-day
For his entire
working life, a dedicated and hardworking Astrophysicist tried in all earnest
to find the existence of other being somewhere in the universe. After 58 years
of constant effort, he finally receives a response from a planet 30 billion
light years away.
“What is your
planet like?” groaned the extraterrestrial from the other side of the Galaxy.
“It is 12,756
Kilometers in diameter, is 93,000,000 miles from the nearest star, our sun, has
an average temperature of 72 degrees F. We breathe oxygen, live about 75 years,
and have both men and women” answered the Physicist.
“Do you get along
with the women on your planet?” the extraterrestrial asked slowly.
Puzzled by the
question, but not wanting to insult the female Physicists nearby, he answered
“Why yes. We get along quite well here.”
The
extraterrestrial perked up “Can we send you ours?”
Yeah, It
Really Happened
DARMSTADT, Germany (UPI) - For ten years, the Rosetta space probe
has been chasing comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Today, it finally caught up,
and is currently preparing to sling intself into orbit around the space rock --
marking a new phase in its 3.7-billion-mile-and-counting-long journey.
Other spacecraft have approached comets at close range, but Rosetta is the first to orbit one. The process of positioning itself into a stable orbit will take a few days.
Once in orbit, it will stay there for a few months, documenting the rock as it whizzes around the sun. But Rosetta and its European Space Agency controllers in Darmstadt, Germany, have larger ambitions than just orbiting a comet. They want to land on it.
On November 11, Rosetta will send down a lander vehicle called Philae. The craft will attempt land on the surface of the comet using two harpoons. There are number things that could complicate the attempt.
First is the fact that scientists don't know exactly what the comet is made of. Will the harpoons properly pierce and grab hold? Second, the comet is a binary comet -- two rocky spheres, one large and one small, seemingly fused millions of years ago in a low-velocity collision. It looks like a rubber duck or a snowman, and the odd shape will make it hard to find a suitable landing site.
If Rosetta and Philae are able to overcome these difficulties it will be a monumental achievement. Astronomers believe comets likely preceded the formation of stars and solar systems and planets, and that they contain the building blocks for life. Studying one up close could offer new insights into how humans came to be.
Already, Rosetta is documenting the comet from close range. Magnificent imagery of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko can be seen on ESA's website.
Other spacecraft have approached comets at close range, but Rosetta is the first to orbit one. The process of positioning itself into a stable orbit will take a few days.
Once in orbit, it will stay there for a few months, documenting the rock as it whizzes around the sun. But Rosetta and its European Space Agency controllers in Darmstadt, Germany, have larger ambitions than just orbiting a comet. They want to land on it.
On November 11, Rosetta will send down a lander vehicle called Philae. The craft will attempt land on the surface of the comet using two harpoons. There are number things that could complicate the attempt.
First is the fact that scientists don't know exactly what the comet is made of. Will the harpoons properly pierce and grab hold? Second, the comet is a binary comet -- two rocky spheres, one large and one small, seemingly fused millions of years ago in a low-velocity collision. It looks like a rubber duck or a snowman, and the odd shape will make it hard to find a suitable landing site.
If Rosetta and Philae are able to overcome these difficulties it will be a monumental achievement. Astronomers believe comets likely preceded the formation of stars and solar systems and planets, and that they contain the building blocks for life. Studying one up close could offer new insights into how humans came to be.
Already, Rosetta is documenting the comet from close range. Magnificent imagery of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko can be seen on ESA's website.
Somewhat
Useless Information
In
1966, Time Magazine predicted, "By 2000, the machines will be producing so
much that everyone in the U.S. will, in effect, be independently wealthy."
In that year too CoCo Chanel said about miniskirts: "It's a bad joke that
won't last. Not with winter coming."
In 1954, a concert manager fired Elvis Presley, saying, "You ought to go back to driving a truck." In 1962, Decca Records rejected the Beatles, "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
In 1894, A.A. Michelson, who with E.W. Morley seven years earlier experimentally demonstrated the constancy of the speed of light, said that the future of science would consist of "adding a few decimal places to the results already obtained."
After the invention of the transistor in 1947, several US electronics companies rejected the idea of a portable radio. Apparently it was thought nobody would want to carry a radio around. When Bell put the transistor on the market in 1952 they had few takers apart from a small Japanese start-up called Sony. They introduced the transistor radio in 1954.
Irish scientist, Dr. Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859) didn't believe that trains could contribute much in speedy transport. He wrote: "Rail travel at high speed is not possible, because passengers 'would die of asphyxia' [suffocation]."
In 1943, Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM forecast a world market for "maybe only five computers." Years before IBM launched the personal computer in 1981, Xerox had already successfully designed and used PCs internally... but decided to concentrate on the production of photocopiers. Even Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, said in 1977, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
In 1954, a concert manager fired Elvis Presley, saying, "You ought to go back to driving a truck." In 1962, Decca Records rejected the Beatles, "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
In 1894, A.A. Michelson, who with E.W. Morley seven years earlier experimentally demonstrated the constancy of the speed of light, said that the future of science would consist of "adding a few decimal places to the results already obtained."
After the invention of the transistor in 1947, several US electronics companies rejected the idea of a portable radio. Apparently it was thought nobody would want to carry a radio around. When Bell put the transistor on the market in 1952 they had few takers apart from a small Japanese start-up called Sony. They introduced the transistor radio in 1954.
Irish scientist, Dr. Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859) didn't believe that trains could contribute much in speedy transport. He wrote: "Rail travel at high speed is not possible, because passengers 'would die of asphyxia' [suffocation]."
In 1943, Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM forecast a world market for "maybe only five computers." Years before IBM launched the personal computer in 1981, Xerox had already successfully designed and used PCs internally... but decided to concentrate on the production of photocopiers. Even Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, said in 1977, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Check
Your Calendar
Observances
This Week:
9-16
10-16
Weird Contest
Week
Today
Is
International Lefthander's Day
National
Garage Sale Day
++
Independence
Day (Central African Republic-1960-from France)
Independence
Day (Chad-1960-from France)
Women's Day (Tunisia)
Women's Day (Tunisia)
Today’s
Events through History
1950 - Pres Harry Truman gives military
aid to Vietnamese regime Bao-Dai
1953 - Pres Eisenhower establishes Government
Contract Compliance Committee
1987 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee ties world record with
24'5½" jump
Birthday’s
Today
Fidel
Castro, dictator/prime minister/president (1959-2008) is 88
Pat
Harrington Jr, actor (1 Day at a Time) is 85
Kevin
Tighe, actor (Another 48 Hours) is 70
Betsy
King, LPGA golfer (1990 US Women's Open) is 59
Danny
Bonaduce, actor (Danny-Partridge Family)/Chicago DJ is 55
Remembered
for being born today
Johann
Christoph Denner, inventor (clarinet) (1655-1707)
George
Gabriel Stokes, physicist/mathematician (spectroscope) (1819-1903)
Annie
Oakley [Phoebe Ann Moses], sharp shooter (1860-1926)
Bert Lahr, [Irving
Lahrheim], US comic/actor (Lion-Wizard of Oz) (1895-1967)
Alfred
Hitchcock, London, director (Psycho), (1899-1980)
Ben Hogan, PGA
golfer (US Open 1950, 51, 53) (1912-1997)
Don Ho, Hawaii,
ukulele player (Tiny Bubbles) (1930-2007)
Dan
Fogelberg, rocker (Same Auld Lang Syne) (1951-2007)
Historical
Obits Today
Julia
Child, American chef and television personality, 2004, @91
Edwin
Newman, American broadcast journalist, 2010, @91
Helen
Gurley Brown, American author/publisher, 2012, @90
Florence
Nightingale, English nurse, 1910, @90
H. G.
Wells, English writer, 1946, @79
Kate
O'Brien, Irish writer (Pray for the Wanderer), 1974, @76
Joe E
Ross, comedian (Toody-Car 54), heart attack, 1982, @68
Jack Ryan,
inventor (Barbie Doll, Hot Wheels, Chatty Cathy), 1991, @65
Mickey
Mantle, baseball great (NY Yankees), cancer, 1995, @63
Brain
Teasers
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
sum where
[over]
the mnemonic device for the colors of the spectrum (the rainbow)
sum where
[over]
the mnemonic device for the colors of the spectrum (the rainbow)
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 §
