Jul 31

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Jul 31, 2018 Week: 31\ Day: 212

86004 Today: H 85° 56\ L ° \ Average Sky Cover: 15% 

Nearest Lightning:  135 miles away

Wind ave.:   6mph\Gusts:  14mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 91°[1977]   Record Low: 43°[1997]

Jul Averages: 82°\50°

Today’s Quote

All animals are equal,

but some animals are more equal than others.

  George Orwell

Harper’s Index

698,000

Estimated number of LGBT American adults who have been subjected to conversion therapy

Observances This Week

29^th-8/4th
Single Working Women's Week

Observances for Today

Black Women's Equal Pay Day Link
Mutt's Day

National Avocado Day  Link
National Mutt Day  Link   
Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day  Link 
World Ranger Day Link

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1600’s                                         

1620 Pilgrim Fathers depart Leiden for England before heading to America

1700’s                                         

1703 Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers

1786 "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect" by Robert Burns is published by John Wilson in Kilmarnock, Scotland

1790 1st US patent granted, to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process

1800’s                                         

1809 1st practical US railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Philadelphia

1865 The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia

1876 US Coast Guard officers' training school established (New Bedford Massachusetts)

1893 Henry Perky patents shredded wheat

1893 Gaelic League is founded by Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill in order to encourage Irish people to speak the language and take a greater interest in their culture

1900’s                                         

1912 US government prohibits movies and photos of prize fights (censorship)

1922 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's 1st water skis (Minnesota)

1928 1st woman to win a track and field olympic gold medal, Halina Konopacka of Poland

1941 U-boats sink and damage 21 allied ships this month (80,521 tons)

1948 US President Harry Truman dedicates Idlewild Field (now Kennedy Airport), NY

1951 Japan Airlines is established

1960 Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam, calls for a black state

1961 Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant

1969 National Guard mobilizes in racial disturbances in Baton Rouge, Lousiana

1970 Black Tot Day: the last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy (started 1740)

1971 Apollo 15 astronauts take 6½ hour electric car ride on Moon

1976 Seychelles Independence (Independence day)

1984 US men's gymnastics team win team gold medal at LA Summer Olympics

1991 Senate votes to allow women to fly combat aircraft

1999 Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface

2000’s                                         

2014 The US agree to resupply arms to Israel - including rocket launchers, mortar rounds, grenades - despite condemnation of civilian casualties in Gaza

2017 Anthony Scaramucci removed as White House Communications Director after less than 2 weeks

My Rambling Thoughts

Quiet Monday. Weatherman says that only a 20% chance of showers and it’s a tad warm. Oh well.

45’s book tells much about his presidency:

“The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration, and a very effective form of promotion."

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@99- Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (Kmart), born in Bald Mountain, Pennsylvania (d. 1966)

@94- Milton Friedman, American economist (Nobel Prize Economics 1976), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2006)

80’s

@86- Oleg Popov, Russian clown and circus artist, born in Vyrubovo, Moscow (d. 2016)

@85- John Ericsson, Swedish-American inventor (screw propeller, rotating turret), born in Långban, Sweden (d. 1889)

70’s

73- Gary Lewis, Jerry's son, singer, (& The Playboys-This Diamond Ring)

60’s

62- Michael Biehn, American actor (Rampage, Hog Wild, Aliens, Abyss), born in Anniston, Alabama

60- Mark Cuban, American businessman and basketball team owner (NBA's Dallas Mavericks), born in Pittsburgh

50’s

56- Wesley Snipes, American actor (Passenger 57, Money Train, Blade trilogy), born in Orlando, Florida

53- J. K. Rowling, English writer (Harry Potter novels), born in Yate, Gloucestershire

@46- Ted Cassidy, American actor (Lurch-Addams Family), born in Pittsburgh, (d. 1979) complications after heart sugery

40’s

40- Zac Brown, American musician (Zac Brown Band), born in Dahlonega, Georgia

Historical Obits Today

90’s

@99-2010 Mitch Miller, American oboist and recording producer (Sing Along with Mitch)

@91-2013 Michael Ansara, American actor (Broken Arrow, Centennial)

80’s

@86-2012 Gore Vidal, American author

@85-1937 Charles E. Hires, American pharmacist, inventor and manufacturer of the Hires Root Beer beverage

70’s

@74-1886 Franz Liszt [Ferencz], Hungarian pianist/composer

60’s

@66-1875 Andrew Johnson, 17th US President (Unionist: 1865-69), stroke

@65±-1556 Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest, theologian and founder of the Society of Jesus

@62-1913 John Milne, British geologist (developed the first modern seismograph), Bright's disease

50’s

@58-1811 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican hero priest, executed by Spanish

40’s

@44-1944 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer, poet and pioneering aviator (The Little Prince), during a reconnaissance mission

30’s

@39-1964 Jim Reeves, American country singer and actor (Gun Fury, Kimberley Jim), air crash

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…☼☼☼☼