Dec 29

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Dec 29, 2018 Week: 52  \ Day: 363

86004 Today: H 28° \ L 10° \ Average Sky Cover: 65% 

Wind:   4mph\Gusts:  10mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 62°[1945]   Record Low: -13°[1988]

Nov Averages: 43°\17°

Today’s Quote

The great thing about getting older is that

you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

Madeleine L'Engle

Random Tidbits

In the mid-19th century, many British children believed that if you crossed paths with a white horse, you could make a wish. Others would count the white horses they saw and would make a wish after reaching a hundred.

***

Young girls commonly used dandelions in the 1800s for romantic and oracular purposes. It was believed that if you blew on a dandelion and all the seeds flew away, your loved one returned the feelings; if any seeds remained, they might have reservations or no feelings at all.

Observances This Week

           

14-1/5/19
Christmas Bird Count Week Link 

25-31
It's About Time Week

26-1/1/19
Kwanzaa

Observances for Today

           

National “Get on the Scales” Day

National Pepper Pot Day

Tick Tock Day
YMCA Day: (Organization not The Song)

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1800’s

1845 Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union

1851 1st American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston, Massachusetts

1862 Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat General William T. Sherman

1862 Bowling ball invented

1890 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

1900’s

1937 Pan Am starts service between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand

1972 Life magazine ceases publication

1989 Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu

2000’s

2016 US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s been a while since I posted anything. Christmas stuff and all. I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I had a great trip to Chicago to share Christmas with my brother, his wife, and her family. We ate and ate and ate some more. It was just what I needed. Ham & turkey for Christmas Eve (32 people), Prime rib for Christmas (20). Then we exchanged gifts at 3 different homes. This year’s white elephant took a good turn with almost everyone getting very nice presents. Lots of kids, lots of presents, lots of happy people, including me.

The shuttle and flight over to Chicago was easy, no delays, no waiting. The flight home was great with only about a 30-minute delay. The shuttle home had to take a 40-minute detour off the Interstate due to an accident. Didn’t get home until almost midnight but I was just glad to get home. My brother and his wife were not so lucky. They missed their Chicago flight back to Mexico because some TSA guy didn’t like their paperwork for their service dog (Micho is a rescue chihuahua) so they were rerouted then that flight was cancelled so they didn’t get back to Merida until about an hour after I got home. They left for the airport at 5a, I left at 12N. Family is everything at Christmas and I was so happy to be with mine.

Today is laundry day.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@88- William Ewart Gladstone,

British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Liberal: 1868-74, 1880-86, 1892-94), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1898)

@84- Robert C. Baker,

American inventor & professor (invented the chicken nugget), born in Newark, New York (d. 2006)

@80- Tom Bradley,

Mayor of Los Angeles (D-1973-93), born in Calvert, Texas (d. 1998)

@80- Mary Tyler Moore,

American actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ordinary People), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)

80- Jon Voight,

American actor (Deliverance, Midnight Cowboy), born in Yonkers, New York

70’s

@76- Charles Macintosh,

Scottish chemist and inventor (waterproof fabric), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1843)

71- Ted Danson,

American actor (Cheers, 3 Men & A Baby, CSI), born in San Diego, California

60’s

@66- Andrew Johnson,

17th US President (Unionist: 1865-69), born in Raleigh, North Carolina, stokes (d. 1875)

50’s

@59- Charles Goodyear,

US chemist and manufacturing engineer (vulcanized rubber), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1860)

59- Paula Poundstone,

American stand-up comedian (Emmy Awards), born in Huntsville, Alabama

40’s

46- Jude Law,

actor

30’s

39- Diego Luna,

actor

Historical Obits Today

@-  indicates age at death

70’s

@70-1890 Big Foot,

Sioux Indian chief, dies at Wounded Knee

60’s

@64-1975 Euell Gibbons,

American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets, Marfan syndrome  

50’s

@52-1170 Thomas Becket,

English Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated by 4 knights of King Henry II

40’s

@45-1916 Grigori Rasputin,

Russian monk and confidant of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, assassinated by conservative Russian aristocrats