5-2-15

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Almanac: Week: 18 \ Day: 122
May Averages: 68°\35°
86004 Today: H 77°\L 42° Average Sky Cover: 20% 
Wind ave:   8mph\Gusts:  24mph
Ave. High: 63° Record High:  84° (1947) Ave. Low: 31° Record Low:  13° (1915)
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Observances Today:
Baby Day                                  Kentucky Derby
Bladder Cancer Awareness Day   Mariachi Day
Brothers and Sisters Day           Martin Z. Mollusk Day-famous for predicting summer
Dandelion Days                         National Homebrew Day
Fire Day                                    National Scrapbooking Day
Free Comic Book Day                           Roberts Rule of Order Day
Join Hands Day                         World Naked Gardening Day
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Observances This Week:
1-3 Toad Suck Daze
1-7 Choose Privacy Week

2-10 National Tourism Week
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Quote of the Day 

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US Historical Highlights for Today
1670 - King Charles of England gives all trade rights to "all the Landes
  Countreyes and Territoryes upon the Coastes and Confynes of the Seas"
  lying within the Hudson Strait to the Hudson’s Bay Company.
  This monopoly remains in effect until 1859.
1780 - William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris
1783 - Architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant is promoted by brevet to Major
 of Engineers in recognition of his service to American liberty
1865 - US President Johnson offers $100,000 reward for capture of Jefferson Davis
1873 - 1st legal hanging in Arizona takes place at Yuma across the street
  from the school. The teacher, not wishing her students to witness the
  hanging, dismissed classes for the day.
1878 - US stops minting 20 cent coin
1885 - "Good Housekeeping" magazine is 1st published
1890 - Territory of Oklahoma created
1908 – “Take me out to the Ball Game" registered for copyright
1918 - General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware
1927 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Louis Bromfield (Early Autumn)
1927 - U.S. Supreme Court's "Buck v. Bell", permits forced sterilizations of
  various "unfits" by states' authorities where such surgeries are
  practiced for eugenic reasons
1932 - Jack Benny's 1st radio show premieres (NBC Blue Network)
1932 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Pearl S Buck (Good Earth)
1938 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder (Our Town)
1949 - Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman"
1955 - Pulitzer prize awarded Tennessee Williams for (Cat on Hot Tin Roof)
1960 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Al Drury (Advice & Consent)
1966 - Pulitzer prize awarded Arthur M Schlesinger Jr (Thousand Days)
1970 - KOAI (now KNAZ) TV channel 2 in Flagstaff, AZ (NBC) 1st broadcast
1994 - Dr Kervokian found innocent on assisting suicides
1999 - John Elway announces his retirement from the NFL
2000 - President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would
  no longer be restricted to the United States military
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Today’s World Events through History
1497 - John Cabot's expedition departs Bristol searching for new lands
across the Atlantic
1536 - Anne Boleyn is arrested and taken to the Tower of London
1970 - 1st woman jockey at Kentucky Derby (Diane Crump)
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Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today 

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My Rambling Thoughts
Another beautiful summer day. While listening to NPR our local weatherman was giving us the weather, then started talking about May Day celebrations around the world. It is basically a day to say summer is almost here. Anyway, he talked about how in the US, we used to give May baskets with candy and flowers. The young college student who does the news said that sounded like a good idea. I grew up with May Day celebrations until, at the time, I thought we were just too old for that stuff. Later I learned that the US May Day celebrations basically stopped when the Soviet block was having military strength parades on May 1. Too bad we lost that nice tradition.
Amazing news from Baltimore with the indictment of 6 police officers. The people of Baltimore didn’t expect it, the protestors didn’t expect it, the media didn’t expect it, the cops certainly didn’t expect it---but this shows that the American Justice system can work with the right people fighting for it. Good news for everyone.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
Even though this is a group of super heroes, which one does not belong?

Spiderman
The Hulk
Batman
Thor
Iron Man
Captain America
Nightcrawler
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Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
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…Cat Facts…
An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and can have 2-3 liters per year. During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years.

The Savannah is the largest domestic cat breed. It resembles a small leopard and behaves like a dog. They can grow up to 40 lbs, have an eight foot vertical jump, and can be trained to walk on a leash and play fetch.

…Cool Facts…
Despite being one of the top 10 richest men in the world, Ingvar Kamprad (founder of IKEA) lives in a small home, eats at IKEA, and uses the bus.

In 1948, Costa Rica abolished its military and spends the money on education and culture instead.

A man named Ryan McKnight spent 470 hours building a giant Lego replica of historic Roman town of Pompeii.

…Flagstaff, AZ History…
100 YEARS AGO-1915
~The Saginaw has commenced logging. About 58 Jacks left Tuesday for the camp north of Bellemont. Despite a great deal of snow, the ground is in fairly good condition.
~Brakeman W. W. Grubb was deadheading into Winslow when he fell from the top of a moving freight train on Friday night. He’s cut up considerably and bleeding. He was briefly stunned and does not recall how it happened as the train was moving slowly.
~Last Saturday’s Kite Festival was a grand success with boys and girls sharing the honors. We hope to see the air filled with kites from now until the next tournament.
Try a schooner of Root Beer at the Confection Den. Looks like Blue Ribbon but doesn’t taste like it.

…Harper’s Index…
$24,000- Average amount paid on the black market to surrogate mothers in China

…Linguistic Facts…
About 3 percent of the world's population accounts for 96 percent of all languages spoken today. Out of all languages in the world, 2,000 have fewer than 1,000 native speakers.

Hence, according to UNESCO estimates, which we visualized in the map above, about half of the world's spoken languages will disappear by the end of the century. You can click on the map to enlarge it.

Linguistic extinction will hit some countries and regions harder than others. In the United States, endangered languages are primarily located along the West coast, as well as in reservations of indigenous people in the Midwest.

Globally, the Amazon rain forest, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, Australia and Southeast Asia are about to lose the most languages.

About 3 percent of the world's population accounts for 96 percent of all languages spoken today. Out of all languages in the world, 2,000 have fewer than 1,000 native speakers.

Hence, according to UNESCO estimates, which we visualized in the map above, about half of the world's spoken languages will disappear by the end of the century. You can click on the map to enlarge it.

Linguistic extinction will hit some countries and regions harder than others. In the United States, endangered languages are primarily located along the West coast, as well as in reservations of indigenous people in theMidwest.

Globally,the Amazon rain forest, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, Australia and Southeast Asia are about to lose the most languages.

…Murphy’s Real Laws…
16.    Pardon my driving, I'm reloading.

17.    Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?

…Unusual Fact of the Day…
Before the invention of nylon bristles in the late 1930's, tooth brushes actually enabled decay and disease. Up until that time, the bristles where made from hog hair; the hollow shafts of the hair tended to retain bacteria.
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2 jokes for the day-classic
If pros are opposite of cons; that means congress is the opposite of progress.
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A man goes on a 2-month business trip to Europe and leaves his cat with his brother. Three days before his return he calls his brother.
Brother 1: So how is my cat doing?
Brother 2: He's Dead
Brother 1: He's Dead! What do you mean He's Dead! I loved that cat. Couldn't you think of a nicer way to tell me! I'm leaving in 3 days. You could of broke me to the news easier. You could of told me today that she got out of the house or something. Then when I called before I left you could of told me, Well, we found her but she is up on the roof and we're having trouble getting her down. Then when I call you from the airport you could of told me, The Fire Department was there and scared her off the roof and the cat died when it hit the ground.
Brother 2: I'm sorry...you're right...that was insensitive I won't let it happen again.
Brother 1: Alright, alright, forget about it. Anyway, how is Mom doing?
Brother 2: She's up on the roof and we're having trouble getting her down.         
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Yep, It Really Happened
Tulsa, OK-Traffic came to a stop as police in Tulsa chased and tased a naked man running along the highway. Police arrested and charged James Jackson with indecent exposure, obstructing justice and burglary.
Drivers slowed and pulled over when they saw Jackson, 24, walking naked down the LL Tisdale Parkway. At least a couple of passengers recorded the incident with their cell phones. One video shows Jackson slamming his fist on a car as it passes by. He appears to try and open the driver side door of a truck that stopped to avoid hitting him.
Jackson continued to walk down the highway and starts to sing before a police officer arrives and attempts to take him into custody. Jackson ignored numerous commands to stop and get on the ground by Tulsa police officers. That's when an officer unsuccessfully used his Taser to subdue Jackson.
In a video Jackson is seen removing the wires from his body and running away again.
A second officer shows up and also uses his Taser. The two officers eventually get him on the ground and carry him away.
Jackson might have been having a mental episode or was under the influence of drugs, according to police.
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Somewhat Useless Information
Honeybees use the sun as a compass and know how far to the left or right of the sun they must fly. When close to the hive, they can recognize landmarks such as trees and make a "beeline" for home.

In winter, honeybees cluster in the center of their wax house. They eat honey continuously to generate heat for the hive. In the heat of summer, worker bees fan their wings quickly to set up cooling air currents.

Beeswax from honeycombs is used to make chewing gum, lipsticks and crayons. Because it burns slowly and has a pleasant smell, it is also formed into pure beeswax candles.

Each hive has on queen bee. She is larger than the rest and has a long abdomen that looks somewhat like a wasp. A queen bee can live three to six years, much longer than other bees in the hive. Her only responsibility is to lay eggs which produce more bees.

Drone bees are males that don't do any work other than mating with the queen to produce fertile eggs. Drones rarely leave the hive and don't have stingers for self defense. When the winter food supply gets low, worker bees push the defenseless drones out of the hive and into the cold to die.

Worker bees are females who don't lay eggs and do almost all of the work around the hive. They live only four to five weeks during the summer, but clean the hive, feed bee larvae and take care of the queen. Workers also build new honeycombs and protect the hive's entrance, as well as collect nectar and pollen for the hive colony.
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Birthday’s Today
91 - Theodore Bikel, Austrian/US folk singer/actor (Russians Are Coming)
79 - Engelbert Humperdinck, [Arnold George Dorsey], Madras India, singer
67 - Larry Gatlin, Seminole Tx, country singer (Gatlin Bros-Broken Lady)
63 - Christine Baranski, actress (Maryann-Cybill, Birdcage)
54 - Peter Doohan, Australia, tennis star
43 - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor
40 - David Beckham, English footballer (Manchester United, England)
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Remembered for being born today
Benjamin Spock, pediatrician\author 1903-1998@94 
Elijah McCoy, African American inventor, held over 50 patents 1844-1929@86 
Pinky Lee, children's show host (Pinky Lee Show) 1907-1993@85 
Phil Bruns, actor and writer (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) 1931-2012@80 
Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist 1885-1966@80 
Lesley Gore, singer (It's My Party) 1946-2015@68 
Catherine the Great [Catherine II], Empress of Russia 1729-1796@67 
John Galt, Scotland, novelist (Ayrshire Legatees, Lawrie Todd) 1779-1839@59 
Lorenz Hart, American lyricist  1895-1942@48
- Manfred von Richthofen [The Red Baron], WWI fighter ace1892-1918@25 
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Historical Obits Today
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor-2014@95
J. Edgar Hoover, 1st Director of FBI, heart disease-1972@77
Jack Kemp, Congressman, VP Candidate 1996, cancer-2009@73
Leonardo da Vinci, artist/scientist-1519@67
Lynn Redgrave, British actress, cancer-2010@67
Jack Barry, game show emcee (Joker's Wild), heart attack-1984@66
Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, killed-2011@54
Joseph McCarthy, anti-communist US senator, hepititus-1957@48
Martin Bormann, Personal Secretary to Hitler, suicide-1945@44
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Brain Teasers Answers
This is a list of "Marvel" comic super heroes.

Batman does not belong. Batman made his first appearance as a comic book superhero in DC Comics "Detective Comics No. 27, May 1939". Bob Kane has been credited with the original creation of Batman.
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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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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.