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Almanac: Week: 16 \ Day: 103
April
Averages: 58°\27°
86004
Today: H 64°\L 30° Average Sky Cover: 20%
Wind
ave: 8mph\Gusts: 22mph
Ave. High: 58° Record High: 75°
(1962) Ave. Low: 27° Record
Low: 0° (1965)
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Observances Today:
Blame
Somebody Else Day
Scrabble Day
Thomas Jefferson Day
Undiagnosed Children's Awareness Day
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Observances This Week:
12-18
Animal Control Officer Appreciation
Week
National Library Week
National Animal Control
Appreciation Week
National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week
National Student Employment Week
Pan American Week
National Volunteer Week
Week of The Young Child
American Indian Awareness
Week
International Dark Sky Week
Undergraduate Research Week
Health Information Privacy and Security Week
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Quote of the Day
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US Historical Highlights for Today
1796 - 1st elephant arrives in US from India
1860 - 1st Pony Express reaches Sacramento CA
1870 - Metropolitan Museum of Art forms in NYC
1883 - US prospector Alfred Packer convicted of
manslaughter though
accused of cannibalism
1896 - John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan"
premieres at the Tremont Theatre in Boston
1902 - J C Penney opens his 1st store in
Kemmerer, Wyo
1917
– Florence, AZ turned on its first electric street lights
1920 - 1st woman US Civil Service Commissioner,
Helen Hamilton appointed
1943
- FDR dedicates Jefferson Memorial
1954
- Milwaukee Braves' Hank Aaron's 1st game
1957 - Due to lack of funds, Saturday mail delivery
in US is temp halted
1970
- Apollo 13 announces "Houston, we've got
a problem!" as Beech-built
oxygen tank explodes en route to Moon
1992
- Crystal Pepsi begins test marketing in
Providence, Denver & Dallas
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Today’s World Events through History
837 - Best view of Halley's Comet in 2000 years
1241 - Battle at Theiss: Mongols beat Hungarian
King Béla IV
1250 - The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt,
Louis IX of France is captured
1742 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio
"Messiah" performed for the 1st time
at New Music Hall in Dublin
1829 - English Emancipation Act grants freedom of
religion to Catholics
1868 - Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian
troops capture Magdala
and Ethiopian Emperor commits suicide
1933 - 1st flight over Mount Everest (Lord
Clydesdale)
1987
- Portugal signs agreement to return Macau to
China (in 1999)
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♫ Birthdays Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today
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My Rambling Thoughts
Quiet Sunday…
Discussion group was very successful last night…my presentation
was well received and we had some great discussion points. Brazil is certainly
in metamorphosis…it is not the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last
time. As I was doing last minute stuff for the presentation, CNN announced that
Brazil’s President will be visiting Obama in DC in June. She was scheduled to
come just after the Snowden spy thing hit the fan and she cancelled that visit
because she didn’t like being spied on. As two in our group, who worked in
State Dept. positions have told our group several times…everyone spies on
everyone to varying degrees. What all governments get upset about is when that
spying becomes general public knowledge.
« » « »
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
The
cost of making only the maker knows,
Valueless if bought, but sometimes traded.
A poor man may give one as easily as a king.
When one is broken pain and deceit are assured.
What am I?
« » « »
Found on You Tube with some
relevance to today
« » « »
…Flagstaff,
AZ History…
25 YEARS AGO-1990
~ The recyclathon was a success. About
3,000 people turned out pushing carts of trash, truck loads of trash, huge bags
of trash. The politicians were impressed. Roger Hartstone, Coordinator. The
city is negotiating is with the Forest Service for an additional 99 acres
adjacent to the current trash dump.
~ There were two break-ins on Tuesday. A
robber entered Security Pacific Bank, 2626 N. 4th St., at 9 a.m. showed his gun
and demanded money from the cashier. She gave him 19, $5 bills. He then moved
on over to the Evergreen Inn at 1008 Santa Fe where he got $175 from the room
clerk and left town.
~ Affordable housing continues to outrun
the demand. There are 700 on the waiting list. Construction of modestly priced
homes continues to fall as land prices rise. New mobile homes are locked out by
new city codes and the concern about creating ghettos. Margaret Keener,
Community Block Grants Manager at Northern Arizona Council of Government.
…Harper’s
Index…
7 in 10: chances
that a Protestant in Brazil claims to have witnessed a divine healing
…Language
Facts…
~ Thinking in a foreign language makes decisions more rational.
~ The Simpsons are responsible for popularizing the word 'meh'.
…Paleontology
Facts…
~ The chocobo in Final Fantasy was based on a real creature called
a “Gastornis” that existed 45 million years ago.
~ Dire wolves actually existed, living up to 10,000 years ago
before going extinct.
…
Survival Facts…
~ Clint Eastwood was in a plane which crashed into the sea. He and
the pilot escaped the sinking aircraft and swam 3 miles to safety.
~ Sir Ranulph Fiennes, after having a heart attack and bypass
operation, ran 7 marathons on 7 consecutive days in 7 continents. He has also
hacked off his own frostbitten fingers with a power tool, discovered the lost
city of Ubar, and, in his sixties, reached the peak of Mt. Everest.
…Unusual
Fact of the Day…
~ Those few who have survived a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge
report that it takes about four seconds to hit the water, which is plenty of
time to re-think and regret the decision.
…Water
Facts..,.
~ Scientists have confirmed that Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons,
has a watery ocean.
~ There is a mass reservoir of water floating in space that is
100,000 times bigger than our sun and holds 140 trillion times more water than
all of our oceans.
« » « »
2 jokes
for the day
Why did the author write his novel in the
basement?
He wanted to write a best cellar.
« »
One day, a cat dies of natural causes and goes
to heaven, where he meets the Lord Himself.
The Lord says to the cat, "You lived a good life, and if there is any way
I can make your stay in heaven more comfortable, please let me know."
The cat thinks for a moment and says, "Lord, all my life I have lived with
a poor family and had to sleep on a hard wooden floor."
The Lord stops the cat and says, "Say no more," and a wonderful,
fluffy pillow appears.
A few days later, six mice are killed in a tragic farming accident, and all of
them go to heaven.
Again, the Lord is there to greet them with the same offer.
The mice answer, "All our lives we have been chased. We have had to run
from cats, dogs, and even women with brooms. Running, running, running; we're
tired of running. Do you think we could have roller skates so that we don't
have to run anymore?"
The Lord says, "Say no more" and fits each mouse with beautiful new
roller skates.
Week later, the Lord stops by to see the cat and finds him snoozing on the
pillow.
The Lord gently wakes the cat and asks him, "How are things since you got
here?"
The cat stretches and yawns, then replies, "It is wonderful here. Better
than I could have ever expected. And those 'Meals On Wheels' you've been
sending by are the best!"
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Yep, It
Really Happened
WAGAMAN,
Australia (UPI) - Australian authorities said a man was hospitalized after he
drunkenly ate a glass beer bottle during a family gathering. Northern Territory
Police Superintendent Louise Jorgensen said police received an emergency call
just after 9 p.m. Wednesday about a man at a family gathering in Wagaman who chewed
and swallowed a glass beer bottle "and then went for a lie down."
"His family then called police and St. John [Ambulance], and he was taken
to Royal Darwin Hospital," Jorgensen said. Jorgensen said the call was one
of 500 made to police between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesday. She said drunken
hijinks such as the bottle-eating man are a drain on police resources.
"People are dismayed when we can't respond to their jobs immediately, but
this is why -- because of all these other jobs that are coming in," she
said. "We got 500 calls [Wednesday] evening, and about 450 on
Tuesday," Jorgensen said. "Most of them are domestics, or anti-social
and drunk behavior."
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Somewhat
Useless Information
~
Drug Tax Stamps – In at least 23 states there is a tax on illegal drugs. When
you buy an illegal drug, like marijuana or even moonshine, in Tennessee, you
have 48 hours to report it to the Department of Revenue to pay your tax and get
a stamp for the substance. No identification is needed, though there are a
dozen cop cars sitting outside the office. (Just kidding about the cop cars, I
have no idea)
~
North Carolina has had a illegal drug tax stamp law in place for 15 years, only
79 people have purchased stamps since 1990 (most of those were stamp
collectors, or complete and utter morons).
If
the law sounds absurd, it’s only because of the way it was worded. The real end
result is that people are taxed on drugs found in their possession when they’re
busted. This creates a new revenue stream for the state or county and I can’t
say I can argue with that.
~
“Jock tax” – Levied on athletes who earn an income competing in a particular
city or state. California first levied this tax on athletes from Chicago in
1991 after the Chicago Bulls beat the LA Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. What a
bunch of sore losers.
~
Alabama has a 10 cent tax on a deck of playing cards.
~
Blueberries from Maine are subject to specific tax too, anyone who grows,
purchases, sells, handles, or processes blueberries in Maine has to pay a penny
and a half tax per pound.
« »« »
Birthday’s Today
82 - Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern
Cheyenne-(Sen-D Colorado)
80 - Lyle Waggoner, KC Kansas, actor (Carol
Burnette Show, Wonder Woman)
70 - Tony Dow, Hollywood, California, actor\director
(Wally-Leave it to Beaver)
65 - Ron Perlman,
Bronx NY, actor (Quest for Fire)
45 - Rick Schroder, SI NY, actor
(Ricky-Silver Spoons)
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Remembered for being born today
- Eudora
Welty, novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973) 1909-2001@92
- Samuel
Beckett, Fr. playwright (Waiting for Godot, Nobel 1969) 1906-1989@83
- Thomas
Jefferson, Virginia, (D-R) 3rd President 1743-1826@83
- Don
Adams, actor and comedian (Maxwell Smart-Get Smart1923-2005@82
- F.W.
Woolworth, American businessman 1852-1919@66
- Jon
Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street 1931-1997@65
- John
Hanson, 1st US Pres under Articles of Confederation1721-1783@62
- Butch
Cassidy [Robert LeRoy Parker], desperado 1866-1908@42
- Guy
Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator 1570-1606@36
- Jonathan
Brandis, actor (Lucas Wolenczak-seaQuest DSV) 1976-2003@27
« » « »
Historical Obits Today
Muriel
Spark, Scottish author-2006@88
Annie
Jump Cannon, US astronomer (Henry Draper catalogues)-1941@77
« » « »
Brain Teasers Answers
A Promise
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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…§