Feb 20

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Feb 20, 2019 Week: 08 \ Day: 51

86004 Today: H 29° \ L 2° \ Average Sky Cover: 60% 

Wind:   8mph\Gusts:  13mph Visibility: 6 mi

Record High: 65°[1977]   Record Low: -11°[1955]

FebAverages: 45°\19°

Today’s Quote

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain,

comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.

Erma Bombeck

Random Tidbits

The term "chivalry" is from the Latin word caballus, meaning "nag, pack-horse," and is related to the word "cavalier."

Many feminist scholars dismiss chivalry as a type of benevolent sexism because it relies on the assumption that women are weak and in need of protection while men are strong. They argue that chivalry perpetuates gender inequality.

Observances This Week

National Condom Week: 14-21 Link
National Nestbox Week: 14-21
NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week: 14-21
Date (Fruit) Week: 15-24
National Entrepreneurship Week: 16-23 Link
Build A Better Trade Show Image Week: 17-23
National Engineers Week: 17-23
National FFA Week: 17-24 Link 
Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week: 17-23  Link
Random Acts of Kindness Week: 17-23 Link
Bird Health Awareness Week: 18-24 Link  
Learning Disabilities Week: 18-21
Through With The Chew: 18-22  Link
American Camp Week: 19-22 Link
Kitchen and Bath Show Week: 19-21
American Birkenbreiner Race: 20-24

Observances for Today

Love Your Pet Day Link Link      
National Cherry Pie Day

Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day
World Day for Social Justice

My Rambling Thoughts

Sun shine early today, but now almost nothing but grey sky. The weatherman sez: Biggest Winter Storm of season is headed our way. He added to expect TWO plus feet of snow by Friday night. Not that concerned. He’s been wrong many times before. The last storm ain’t melting much.

Blood follow-up was that my red cell count is OK, now it’s still my white cell count to watch. If it ain’t one thing it’s another.

Thank you Facebook for letting me relive my many adventures in the memory section. Nice to see the photos and my commentary again. Two years ago, today I was in Hong Kong.

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1600’s

1673 1st recorded wine auction held in London

1700’s

1725 10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in New Hampshire for £100

            a scalp bounty

1800’s

1809 US Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than

            any state

1839 Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia

1873 University of California gets its first Medical School (UC/San

            Francisco)

1877 1st cantilever bridge in US completed, Harrodsburg, Kentucky

1895 Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorado

1900’s

1913 King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark

            commencement of work on the construction of Australian capital

            Canberra

1929 American Samoa organizes as territory of US

1935 Dane Caroline Mikkelson is 1st woman to land on Antarctica

1943 New volcano Paracutin erupts in farmer's corn field (Mexico)

1947 Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42 blocks in

            LA

1962 John Glenn becomes the 1st American to orbit the Earth, aboard

            Friendship 7

1976 The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.

2000’s

2001 The United States Supreme Court declines to consider an appeal by

            five major oil companies against Unocal's patent on production

            of cleaner "reformulated" gasoline sold in California

2012 Scientists successfully regenerate the flowering plant, Silene

            stenophylla from a 31,800 year old piece of fruit, greatly

            surpassing the previous record of 2,000 years

2013 Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system

            of fast chargers for electric cars

2017 Famine is declared in Unity State, South Sudan,

            affecting 4.9 million

2018 Venezuela becomes the first country to launch a virtual currency,

            the petro, to counteract their financial crisis

Birthdays Today

1902 Ansel Adams, photographer (1966 ASMP Award), born in San Francisco, (d. 1984-@82)

1906 Gale Gordon [Charles Thomas Aldrich, Jr], American actor and comedian (Our Miss Brooks, Here's Lucy), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1995-@89)

1914 John Daly, South Africa, newscaster/TV game show host (What's My Line) (d. 1991-@77-cardiac arrest)

1925 Robert Altman, American screenwriter, producer and director (The Player, M*A*S*H, Nashville), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2006-@81)

1929 Amanda Blake [Beverly Louise Neill], American actress (Kitty Russell-Gunsmoke), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1989-@60-dies of AIDS)

1937 Nancy Wilson, American jazz vocalist (Feel Like Making Love), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 2018-@81)

1946 J. Geils [John Warren Geils Jr], American rock guitarist (J Geils Band-Centerfold), born in NYC, New York (d. 2017@71-natural causes)

1967 Kurt Cobain, American rock vocalist (Nirvana), born in Aberdeen, Washington (d. 1994-@27-suicide)

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95- Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress, artist, heiress and socialite, born in Manhattan, NYC, New York

92- Sidney Poitier, Bahamian American actor, first black actor to win Oscar for Best Actor ('Lillies in the Field' - 1963), born in Miami, Florida

77- Mitch McConnell, American politician, (Senator-R-KY, 1985-, and Senate Majority Leader 2015- ), born in Sheffield, Alabama

72- Peter Strauss, Croton-on-Hudson NY, actor (Rich Man Poor Man)

70- Ivana Trump, Czech-American model and ex-wife of Donald Trump (1st Wives Club), born in Gottwaldov, Moravia, Czechoslovak Republic

56- Charles Barkley, NBA star; TV commentator

55- French Stewart, American actor (Harry Solomon-Third Rock From the Sun), born in Albuquerque, New Mexico

54- Patty Hearst Shaw, famous kidnap hostage (Tanya), born in San Francisco, California

53-Cindy Crawford, model

35- Trevor Noah, South African comedian, actor and TV host (The Daily Show), born in Johannesburg, South Africa

31- Rihanna [Robyn Rihanna Fenty], Barbadian singer-songwriter (Umbrella, We Found Love, Diamonds), born in Saint Michael, Barbados

Historical Obits Today

@86-2006 Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (ABC)

@80-1985 Clarence Nash, American voice actor (Donald Duck), dies of leukemia

@80-1966 Chester Nimitz, American admiral who commanded the US Pacific fleet in World War II

@77-1895 Frederick Douglass, African-American abolitionist, lecturer and editor who was also an escaped slave, dies of a heart attack

@63-1992 Dick York, American actor (Darrin-Bewitched, Inherit the Wind), dies of emphysema

@62-2005 Sandra Dee, American actress dies of kidney disease

@54-1907 Henri Moissan, French chemist who isolated the element "fluorine" from its compounds (Nobel 1906), dies of appendicitis