Jan 1 2020

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

Jan. 1, 2020 Week: 1  Day:1

86004:   H 36° \ L 15° \ Average Sky Cover: 20%

Nearest lightning:  1438mi

Nearest active fire:  346mi.  

Wind:   10mph\Gusts:  15mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Feels like 22°

Record High: 61°[1981]   Record Low: -21°[1919]

Jan. Averages: 43°\16° (22” days with snow)

Today’s Quote

“I am thankful to all those who said No.

Because of them, I did it myself.”

~ Albert Einstein

Random Tidbits

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar, which marks January 1 as the new year, was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.

Auld Lang Syne is the song traditionally sung at the end of New Year's parties. Poet Robert Burns wrote it in 1788. Though most people do not know all of the words, Auld Lang Syne means "times gone by".

Observations this Month

Adopt A Rescued Bird Month Link
Bath Safety Month
Be Kind to Food Servers Month
Birth Defects Month Link
Black Diamond Month Link
Book Blitz Month
California Dried Plum Digestive Month Link
Carnival Season 1/6-2/25
Celebration of Life Month
Cervical Health Awareness Month Link
Children Impacted By Parent's Cancer Month
Clap 4 Health Month

Observations This Week

Diet Resolution Week: 1-7

New Year's Resolutions Week: 1-8 

Silent Record Week: 1-7

Observations for Today

Copyright Law Day
Commitment Day Link
Ellis Island Day
Euro Day
First Foot Day Link
Global Family Day Link
Mummer's Parade
National Black Eyed Pea Day

National Bloody Mary Day

National Hangover Day

New Year’s Day
New Year's Dishonor List Day
Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day Link

(Cony Island NY & Vancouver, BC)
Public Domain Day  Link
Rose Bowl Game
Tournament of Roses Parade Day
World Day of Peace Link
Z Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Happy New Year—2020 is going to be a great year.

Finally got my mail, and many Christmas cards. Answered all of them via the internet machine. I started doing e-cards years ago when I discovered Jaquie Lawson cards. The yearly subscription is very reasonable and has cards for every occasion.

Flag is still in the freezer. It is warming up, but the very cold wind makes that almost impossible to spend anytime outside.

Just printed up my 2020 monthly calendar for the refrigerator. I used to buy them, but seldom use them and the fridge feels naked without them, so I just print them out a plain, black & white one with Federal holidays and boxes if I need to add something.

I had an appointment with my Kidney doctor this morning. All is well. My blood issue is no longer messing with my kidneys and all my numbers are within the normal range. Go back in 4 months for another good report.

I’ve been watching a few of the Decade in Review shows. I am astounded at how much this great country has changed in the last ten years. I sure hope 2020 returns our country to a more humane one.

Language Lesson: January in Navajo is Yas Nilt’ees, which is talking about snow and preparing for winter ceremonies.

Just had a Facebook chat with our Focus guide, Melaku Tesfa, from the Ethiopia trip a few years back. He has just received his Tour Operator license and is running his own company, a dream he had when we were there. He has a website: Bright Ethiopian Tours. Check it out, he says a bigger and better site is on the way. So cool to see him living his dream.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

Of the words 'ought', 'thorough', 'ghost' or 'sight', which one best relates to the word 'mug'?

Historical Events

4713 BC - Julian Calendar day #1, according to Joseph Justus Scaliger's cycle of 7980 years.

46 BC - The Julian calendar began, and was used widespread until 1582.

1622 - January 1st became the start of the "new Year" (it was March 25 for a long time prior)

1788 - The Times of London newspaper began publication.

1801 - Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland unite, founding the "United Kingdom"

1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus was published (anonymously) in London. (500 copies were made)

1862 - U.S. income tax began, with 3% of incomes over $600, 5% of incomes over $10,000.

1863 - The 'Emancipation Proclamation' issued by Abraham Lincoln

1886 - 1st Tournament of Roses took place in Pasadena, California

1896 - German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen announced his discovery of X-rays.

1908 - 1st New Year's ball drop at Times Square, NYC

1910 - The Hydrox "biscuit bonbon," a chocolate sandwich cookie with creme filling, was introduced. Oreos came out in 1912.

1915 - Aspirin was made available for the first time in tablet form. The pills were manufactured by Bayer pharmaceuticals, and had been available in powder form before that.

1928 - The 21-story Milam Building was the first air-conditioned, high-rise office building in the United States (San Antonio, TX)

1925 - 1st Sugar Bowl and 1st Orange Bowl

1936 - The Herald Tribune of New York began microfilming the latest issues, becoming the first US newspaper to make a current record of its publication.

1946 - ENIAC, the first U.S. computer was completed. It was built at the Moore School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,

1948 - The first motion picture 'newsreel' in color was taken at the Tournament of Roses and the Rose Bowl Game, Pasadena, California.

1954 - NBC broadcasted Pasadena's Rose Bowl parade, for the first time in color.

1960 - US population: 179,245,000

1962 - The Rose Bowl game on NBC was the first coast-to-coast color television broadcast of a college football game in the US.

1964 - Tops of the Pops first aired on BBC

1966 - "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health" warning started appearing on cigarettes.

1971 - Cigarette television ads cease.

1985 - VH1 debuted on US cable

1985 - The AT&T monopoly was broken up into seven companies: Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell and US West.

1995- The History Channel was launched

1995 - The last syndicated "Far Side" by cartoonist Gary Larson appeared. (started in 1985)

1997 - U.S. television networks adopted a ratings system for programming similar to the one used for motion pictures.

1997 - The Emergency Broadcast System was replaced by the Emergency Alert System

1999- The Biography channel and DIY channels were introduced

2008 - CourtTV was rebranded as TruTV

2011 - Discovery Health Channel became The Oprah Winfrey Network.

2014 -The manufacture and importing of the common 40-watt and 60-watt general service incandescent lamps was ended under the deadline set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Birthdays Today

1735 Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot who alerted the colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1818)

1752 Betsy Ross [Elizabeth Griscom], American seamstress widely credited with making the first American flag, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1836)

1895 J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72), born in Washington, D.C.

1919 J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, American novelist (Catcher in the Rye), born in NYC, New York (d. 2010)

1956 Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician, 1st female head of the IMF, born in Paris

Puzzle Answer:

In 'sight', 'thorough' and 'ought', the 'gh' is silent. In 'ghost', the 'gh' has a hard 'g' sound, as in 'mug'.