Feb 2

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Feb 2, 2019 Week: 04  \ Day: 33

86004 Today: H 51° \ L 26° \ Average Sky Cover: 35% 

Wind:   8mph\Gusts:  -mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 62°[1976]   Record Low: -14°[1922]

FebAverages: 45°\19°

Today’s Quote

Every failure is a step to success.

William Whewell

Random Tidbits

Tellurium (Te)

Tellurium, a silvery-white metal first discovered in Transylvania, is often used in solar panels, computer memory chips and rewritable optical discs. Its name comes from the Latin word for earth (tellus).

Dysprosium (Dy)

Dysprosium (atomic number 66), is named after the ancient Greek dysprositos, meaning "hard to get," appropriately enough. The soft, metallic substance is in big demand for electric motors, especially those in electric vehicles and wind turbines, which has earned dysprosium a place on the U.S. Department of Energy's list of critical materials for the green economy.

More Observances This Month

Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month
Feline Fix By Five Month
Free and Open Source Software Month  Link
From Africa to Virginia Month
International Boost Self-Esteem Month
International Expect Success Month
International Hoof-care Month
International Month of Black Women in The Arts  Link
International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month Link
Jobs in Golf Month Link
Library Lovers Month
Love The Bus Month Link

Observances This Week

Cordova Ice Worm Day: 1-3

US Snow Sculpting Week: 1-5 

Women's Heart Week: 1-7

Publicity for Profit Week: 2-8

Observances for Today

Ayn Rand Day  Link
Barber Day
Candlemas
Crepe Day
Crepe Day or La Chandeleur  Link

Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day 

Ground Hog Day
Groundhog Job Shadow Day
Hedgehog Day
Ice Cream For Breakfast Day  Link
Imbolc
Marmot Day Link
National Tater Tot Day

Play Your Ukulele Day

Sled Dog Day
Take Your Child To The Library Day 
"The Record of a Sneeze" Day
World Play Your Ukulele Day  Link
World Wetlands Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

As February begins, I was reminded by a Navajo friend that in Navajo the month of February is ‘Atsa’ Biyaazh, which means Baby Eagles. Baby eagles hatch in their parentally incubated nests high up in the cliffs. By now the snow is melting fast because the spring winds are gusting. So now is the time to check the internet for Eagle nest’s cameras. Click here to see several Eagle Cams.

Did a quick run for groceries and stuff for the Super Bowl. Weather guy still sez we will be getting about an inch of white tonight and maybe some more on Sunday. Dark clouds are already moving in.

I’m really not that excited about this Super Bowl…but like a good American, I will watch it…especially the commercials. Not sure what to do about the half-time show. Lots of controversy, I guess, about NFL and its treatment of Colin Kaepernick. And on Monday there will be a winner and loser…and way too much arm-chair quarterbacking on the game, commercials, and half-time show.

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1500’s

1536 Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentine

1600’s

1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city

            (later renamed New York)

1800’s

1802 1st leopard exhibited in US, Boston (admission 25 cents)

1848 1st ship load of Chinese immigrants arrive in San

            Francisco

1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-

            American War: US acquires Texas, California, New

            Mexico and Arizona for $15 million

1900’s

1913 NY football Giants sign Jim Thorpe

1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies)

1935 Leonarde Keeler first uses his polygraph machine on

            criminals later convicted of assault on its findings in

            Portage, Wisconsin

1954 "The Nutcracker" ballet choreographed by George

            Balanchine with Maria Tallchief as the Sugar Plum Fairy

            opens in New York, establishes its popularity in the US

1990 South African President F. W. de Klerk promises to free

            Nelson Mandela & legalizes ANC & 60 other political

            prisoners

1993 Frito Lay pays court ordered $2,500,000 to Tom Wait

            for using his song

2000’s

2016 First case of Zika contracted on US mainland (Texas) and

            second known sexually transmitted case confirmed in

            Texas

2018 All 955 miners rescued from the Beatrix gold mine in

            Welkom town, South Africa, after 2 days underground

Birthdays Today

1861 Solomon R. Guggenheim,

American businessman and philanthropist (Guggenheim Museum

 NYC), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(d. 1949)-@89

1882 James Joyce,

Irish novelist and poet (Dubliners, Ulysses, Finnigan's Wake),

born in Dublin, Ireland

(d. 1941)-@58-perforated ulcer

1897 Howard Johnson,

American hotelier

(d. 1972)-@75

1905 Ayn Rand

[Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum],

Russian-American author, screenwriter and philosopher who

developed the philosophical system of "Objectivism" (Atlas

Shrugged, The Fountainhead), born in St. Petersburg

(d. 1982)-@77-heart failure

1923 James Dickey,

American poet, novelist and lecturer (Deliverance, Buckdancer's

Choice), born in Atlanta, Georgia

(d. 1997)-@73-alcholism

1925 Elaine Stritch,

American actress (30 Rock, Two's Company), singer and member

of the American Theater Hall of Fame, born in Detroit, Michigan

(d. 2014)-@89

1927 Stan Getz

[Stanley Gayetski],

American jazz tenor saxophonist (Benny Goodman, Jimmy

Dorsey), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(d. 1991)-@64-liver cancer

1947 Farrah Fawcett,

American actress (Charlie's Angels, The Burning Bed),

born in Corpus Christi, Texas

(d. 2009)-@62-cancer

82- Tom Smothers,

American comedian and folk singer (The Smothers Brothers Show,

 Serial), born in NYC, New York

66- Duane Chapman,

American bounty hunter

65- Christie Brinkley,

[Ex-Mrs Billy Joel], model/actress (SI, Vacation)

71- Ina Garten,

American author and TV cooking show host

(Barefoot Contessa, Food Network), born in Brooklyn

42- Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll,

Colombian pop singer (Whenever Wherever, Waka Waka (This

 Time for Africa)), born in Barranquilla, Colombia

Historical Obits Today

@99-2005 Max Schmeling,

German boxer (world heavyweight champion 1930-32)

@97-1970 Bertrand Russell,

English mathematician and philosopher (Nobel 1950)

@83-1996 Gene Kelly,

American actor and dancer (Singin' in the Rain)

@81-1969 Boris Karloff

[William H Pratt],

British actor (The Mummy, Frankenstein)

@77-1992 Bert Parks,

[Bertram Jacobson],

TV host (Miss America),

dies of lung cancer

@72-1907 Dmitri Mendeleev,

Russian chemist and inventor who devised the periodic table of

the elements,

dies of influenza

@46-2014 Philip Seymour Hoffman,

American actor (Capote, Moneyball)

dies of a suspected drug overdose

@21-1979 Sid Vicious

[John Simon Ritchie],

English musician and bassist (Sex Pistols), dies of a heroin

overdose