Dec 31

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Dec 31, 2018 Week: 01  \ Day: 365

86004 Today: H 38° \ L 5° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  7mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 62°[1945]   Record Low: -16°[1911]

Dec Averages: 43°\17°

Today’s Quote

They invented hugs to let people know

you love them without saying anything.

Bil Keane

Random Tidbits

Today, sushi restaurants in the US generate

$2 billion in annual revenue.

***

Sushi chefs have one of the most difficult training of all professional chefs. They must know how to prepare raw seafood, know which fish contain harmful parasites, and know how to eliminate parasites. They must also know about biochemical changes that happen after seafood is slaughtered.

***

A sushi chef traditionally could work in a restaurant

only after training for 10 years. However, modern

sushi chiefs can start working after just 2 years of training.

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

           

First Nights

National Champagne Day

National Vinegar Day

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day

Look On The Bright Side Day

Make Up Your Mind Day

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve Banished Words List

New Year's Dishonor List

No Interruptions Day

Universal Hour of Peace Day

World Healing Day    

 World Peace Meditation Day

My Rambling Thoughts

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. May 2019 be even better than 2018.

I made an appointment yesterday to get a much-needed haircut. The appointment was at 12:30. She called to say she was running late. Finally got the haircut at 1:25. Tuned out the dealership was supposed to pick up her vehicle at 11:30 but never showed, so she had to drive it to work with a bent tire rim. It was all good as she is a very good stylist.

2018 is coming to an end. It has been a good year. My trip to the Amazon was certainly the highlight. I saw such amazing places, traveled with such great people, and even with the broken wrist, all in all, I had a great trip.

A week with my brother and all was another highlight.

I am officially numbed with anything political. I can’t believe that Congress is on a paid vacation while Government workers are furloughed and not being paid.  Some are even working, knowing the paycheck will be very, very late. I am hoping that 2019 brings us some statesmen/stateswomen to DC who are there FOR the people, instead of looking at the next election. I’m hoping our government leaders develop some empathy for the immigrants, especially the children.

I am also looking forward to the 17-day Trans-Siberian Rail trip in June/July.

New Year’s Eve will be at home. These cold temps are too much to watch the Pinecone drop in downtown Flagstaff.

Today’s Significant Historical Events

100’s

192 Roman Emperor Commodus survives poisoning attempt by his mistress only to be strangled in the bath in assassination plot

1600’s

1695 A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.

1800’s

1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada

1862 President Abraham Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to the Union

1879 Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US)

1890 Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot

1897 Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898)

1900’s

1904 First New Year's Eve celebration held in Times Square (then Longacre Square), in New York City

1911 Marie Curie receives her 2nd Nobel Prize

1921 Last San Francisco firehorses retired

1935 Charles Darrow patents Monopoly

1945 Ratification of United Nations Charter completed

1955 The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.

1984 US leaves UNESCO

1988 "The Fog Bowl", a heavy, dense fog rolls over Soldier Field in Chicago during second quarter of the Bears vs Eagles NFC Divisional Playoff Game, cuts visibility to 15-20 yards (Bears win 20-12)

1995 Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip after 10 years, believing he had achieved all he could in the medium

1997 Microsoft buys Hotmail email service for $400 million and re-launches it as MSN Hotmail

2000’s

2015 US law enforcement kills 1,134 in 2015, young black men 9x more likely to be victims

2017 Ban on ivory trade in China comes into effect

Birthdays Today

1491 Jacques Cartier,

French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France, born in St. Malo, Brittany (d. 1557)@65

1720 [Bonnie Prince] Charles Edward Stuart,

English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), born in Rome (d. 1788)@67

1869 Henri Matisse,

French impressionist painter (Odalisque), born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, France (d. 1954)@84

1880 George Marshall,

US Secretary of State (1947-49) who authored the Marshall Plan (Nobel 1953), born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania (d. 1959)@78

1914 Pat Brady [Robert Ellsworth O'Brady],

American actor (The Roy Rodgers Show, Man from Music Mountain), born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 1972)@57

1930 Odetta [Odetta Holmes],

American folk singer (Sanctuary), actress and civil rights activist, born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2008)@77

1943 John Denver,

American country singer (Rocky Mt High, "thank god he's a country boy"), born in Roswell, New Mexico (d. 1997)@53

1948 Donna Summer,

American singer (Love to Love You Baby, On the Radio), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2012)@63

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83- Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,

King of Saudi Arabia (2015-present), born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

81- Anthony Hopkins,

Welsh actor (Elephant Man, QB VII, Magic, Bounty), born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales

78- Tim Considine,

American actor (Mike-My 3 Sons), born in Los Angeles, California

75- Ben Kingsley,

English actor (Gandhi, Betrayal), born in Scarborough, England

72- Diane von Furstenberg,

Belgian-born American fashion designer (wrap dress), born in Brussels

60- Bebe Neuwirth,

American actress (Lilith in Cheers, Damn Yankees), born in Princeton, New Jersey

60- Val Kilmer,

American actor (Top Secret, Top Gun, Willow), born in Los Angeles, California

41- Donald Trump Jr.,

American businessman and son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump, born in NYC, New York

Historical Obits Today

1972 Roberto Clemente,

slugger (Pitts Pirate), dies in a plane crash @ 38

1985 Rick Nelson,

singer/actor (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet), dies in plane crash @ 45

1997 Floyd Cramer,

American Hall of Fame pianist (Nashville Sound), dies of cancer @ 64

2015 Wayne Rogers,

American actor (M*A*S*H, House Calls), dies @ 82

2015 Natalie Cole,

American vocalist (Pink Cadillac, Miss You Like Crazy), dies @ 65

2015 Beth Howland,

American actress (Vera - Alice, Company), dies @74