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Jan
30, 2019 Week: 04 \ Day: 30
86004
Today: H 44° \ L °22 \ Average Sky Cover: 90%
Wind: 3mph\Gusts:
6mph Visibility: 10 mi
Record
High: 66°[1991] Record
Low: -19°[1979]
Jan
Averages:
43°\11°
Today’s Quote
Every man dies.
Not every man
really lives.
William Wallace
Random Tidbits
The term
"opera" comes from the Latin opus, or "work."
Opera was the
fruit of the Italian Renaissance. In the final decade of the sixteenth century,
a group of artists, musicians, and poets who called themselves the Florentine
Camerata met there to revive Greek drama and developed an opera in musica: a
work in music. Galileo's father, Vincenzo Galilei was reportedly a member.
The earliest
surviving opera (written by Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini) is Euridice
which was performed in Florence in 1600. Opera quickly spread from Florence to
Rome, Venice, and all other major cities in Italy.
Richard
Wagner revolutionized opera by disposing of existing operatic rules and
structures. He also created the "Leitmotif" (or leading theme), which
is a musical theme that is associated with a main character. For example, in
Star Wars, there is a different musical theme associated with Princess Leia,
with Luke Skywalker, with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and with Yoda.
The famous
proverb "the opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings" in reference
to buxom Brunhilde's 10-minute aria at the end of Wagner's Ring cycle operas is
usually attributed to pro basketball coach Dick Motta, who in turn attributes it
to San Antonio sportswriter/broadcaster Dan Cook, who says he overheard a
friend say it.
Amalie
Materna, who played Brunnhilde during Wagner's lifetime (1876), may be the
first proverbial "fat lady".
Observances This Week
24-2/3
Sundance Film Festival
Catholic Schools Week
Meat Week
National Medical Group Practice Week
Tax Identity Theft Week
US Nationals Snow Sculpting Days
Observances for Today
Inane Answering Message Day
My Rambling Thoughts
Woke up to
overcast sky but the weather guy sez not to worry, no moisture in them high
clouds.
Started the
process for my Visas to Russia and China. I will get a call on Thursday morning
from a very nice lady to answer questions. The good news is they will hand
carry my passport to the embassies to get the Visas pasted into my passport.
All this is new to me, but…all is well.
Houston Texas…
police officers shot…most amazing is that I saw the Mayor and Police Chief on
live TV say that action is required to prevent more gun violence and that
prayers are not enough…they want work to change the laws. Good for them.
Today’s Significant Historical Events
1700’s
1790 Lifeboat 1st
tested at sea, by Mr Greathead, the inventor
1798 Rep Matthew
Lyon (Vt) spits in face of Rep Roger Griswold (Ct) in US House of
Representatives, after an argument
1800’s
1815 Burned US
Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500 volumes
1818 John Keats composes
his sonnet "When I Have Fears"
1826 The Menai
Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge,
connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened.
1835 Richard
Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C. in 1st
attempted assassination of a US President
1847 Yerba Buena
renamed San Francisco
1873 "Around
the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne is published in France by
Pierre-Jules Hetzel
1900’s
1922 World Law
Day 1st celebrated
1946 1st issue of
Franklin Roosevelt dime
1948 Mahatma
Gandhi assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse
1961 JFK asks for
an Alliance for Progress & Peace Corps
1963 Ivan
Sutherland submits a thesis containing his Sketchpad program, a forerunner to
modern-day graphic user interfaces and computer-aided design programs
1965 State
funeral of Winston Churchill at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Then world's
largest ever state funeral.
1972 Bloody
Sunday: 27 unarmed civilians are shot (14 are killed) by the British Army
during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland; this is the highest
death toll from a single shooting incident during 'the Troubles'
1975 Ernő Rubik applies for a patent for his
"Magic Cube" invention, later to be known as a Rubik's cube
1989 Five Pharaoh
sculptures from 1470 BC found at temple of Luxor
2000’s
2015 Shake Shack
founded by Danny Meyer first lists on the New York stock exchange
2017 Scientists
in central China reveal oldest known human ancestor - 540-million-year-old
Saccorhytus in a fossil
Birthdays Today
1882 Franklin
Roosevelt,
32nd US President
(Democrat: 1933-1945),
born in Hyde
Park, New York
(d. 1945)-@63-stroke
1913 Amrita
Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Indian painter
described as the
“Indian Frida Kahlo" and "one
of the greatest
avant-garde women artists of
the early 20th
century," born in Budapest,
Kingdom of
Hungary
(d. 1941)-@28,
fell into coma and died
1914 David Wayne,
American stage
and screen actor (Andromeda
Strain, Adam's
Rib), born in Traverse City,
Michigan
(d. 1995)-@81
1922 [Thomas
Richard]Dick Martin,
American actor
and comedian (Rowan &
Martin's
Laugh-In, Carbon Copy), born in
Detroit, Michigan
(d. 2008)-@86
1925 Douglas
Engelbart,
American computer
scientist (computer
mouse, Engelbart's
Law), born in Portland, Ore
(d. 2013)-@88
1942 Marty Balin
[Buchwald],
American singer
(Jefferson Airplane/Starship),
born in Cincinnati, Ohio
(d. 2018)-@76
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89- Gene Hackman,
American actor
(Bonnie & Clyde, Under Fire,
The French
Connection), born in San
Bernardino
California
82- Vanessa
Redgrave,
British actress
(Blow-Up, Julia, Orient
Express), born in
London, England
78- Dick Cheney,
American
politician (Vice President: 2001-
2009), born in
Lincoln, Nebraska
68- Phil Collins,
English drummer
& singer (Genesis-Against All
Odds), born in
Chiswick, England
61- Brett Butler,
American comedian
(Grace-Grace Under Fire),
born in
Montgomery, Alabama
45- Christian
Bale,
British actor
(Batman Begins, American
Psycho, The
Machinist), born in Haverfordwest,
Pembrokeshire,
Wales
39- Wilmer Valderrama,
TV actor (That 70’s
Show)
Historical Obits Today
@91-2015 Carl Djerassi,
Austrian-born
American chemist and father of
the contraceptive
pill
@89-2007 Sidney
Sheldon, American novelist and
playwright
(Master of the Game, Bloodline, The
Bachelor and the
Bobby Soxer)
@84-1836 Betsy
Ross
[Elizabeth
Griscom],
American
seamstress widely credited with
making the first American flag
@83-1991 John
McIntire,
American actor
(Naked City, Wagon Train,
Virginian)
@83±-1961 Maud
Wagner,
first known
American tattoo artist and circus
performer
@82-1991 John
Bardeen,
American
physicist, electrical engineer and
co-inventor of
the transistor (Nobel 1956,
1972)
@78-2006 Coretta
Scott King,
American activist
and wife of Martin Luther
King Jr.,
dies of ovarian
cancer
@78-1948 Mahatma
Gandhi
[Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi],
Indian
independence activist and spiritual
leader,
assassinated in New Delhi by Hindu
extremists
@76-2009 Ingemar
Johansson,
Swedish
heavyweight professional boxing
champion of the
world,
dies of Alzheimer's
@76-1948 Orville
Wright,
US aviation
pioneer
@75-1951
Ferdinand Porsche,
German automotive
engineer (Volkswagen
Beetle,
Mercedes-Benz SS) and founder of the
Porsche car
company
@72-1934 Frank
Nelson Doubleday,
American
publisher
@33±-1838 Osceola
(Asi-yahola in
Creek),
chief of Seminole,
dies in jail of
infection
