Mar 21

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Mar 21, 2019 Week: 12 \ Day: 80

86004 Today: H 58° \ L °29 \ Average Sky Cover: 85% 

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  9mph Visibility: 9 mi

Record High: 70°[2004]   Record Low: 5°[1948]

Mar Averages: 51°\23° (6 days with rain)

Today’s Quote

Most people have the will to win,

few have the will to prepare to win.

Bobby Knight

Random Tidbits

In 1839 the editor of the Boston Post was inspired to invent the phrase "o.k.," which he defined as "all correct."

It was supposed to be a joke, perhaps on the literary competency of the Post's readership, but whether or not readers found it funny the phrase was picked up by another newspaper, the Evening Transcript, and o.k. was on the road to immortality.

Observances This Week

Lent: 6-20

Special Olympics 2019: 14-21

American Chocolate Week: 17-23 

National Animal Poison Prevention Week: 17-23    

National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Week: 17-23   

World Folktales & Fables Week: 17-23

Act Happy Week: 18-24

International Teach Music Week: 18-24

National Fix A Leak Week: 18-24 

Shakespeare Week: 18-24 

Wellderly Week: 18-24

National Cherry Blossom Festival: 20-4/14  

International Week of Solidarity with People's Struggling Against Racism & Discrimination: 21-27

Observances for Today

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day 
Afghanistan Day Link
Common Courtesy Day

Credit Card Reduction Day

Fragrance Day

Gallo Wine Day
International Color Day  Link
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
International Day of Forests and The Tree Link
International Day of Nowruz Link
Memory Day
National Common Courtesy Day
National Crunchy Taco Day

National Day of Action On Syringe Exchange Link
National Farm Rescuer Day Link 
National Fragrance Day Link 
National Healthy Fats Day
National Renewable Energy Day
National Single Parent Day Link  Link
Twitter Day (Social Media Application)
WE Day Link 

World Down Syndrome Day Link
World Poetry Day  Link   Link
World Puppetry Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Our retirement group met yesterday as some were busy on Thursday. Great lunch at Wildflower. Mary had some great stories about her recent visit to London and Paris with her son, daughter-in-law, and  twin grand kids. The 12-year-old boy wandered of while the fam was shopping in Harrods. Took about 30 minutes for security to return him to the fam. He stuck close by after that. Overall it was a great trip. They got to see the Queen and her family enter and exit Westminster Abbey. Turns out the bells rang very loudly for the entrance and exit. Timed to begin as the Queen’s first foot touched ground on leaving the limo and ending as her foot left the pavement as she left. She said the bells were very loud.

I am enjoying the first day of spring. It’s warm and nice, but the clouds are preparing for more rain and/or snow. While writing this it has already started to rain.

My maternal grandmother was born today in 1897. She was a pre-insulin diabetic and passed at 60 years old when I was 8 years old. I still have fond memories of her. In her young days she taught in a one-room school house in Iowa. The diabetes ravaged her body, but not her soul. In her late 50’s she was blind. She wanted to be able to read again so she took Braille, so she could continue her love of reading. And it did.

I never would have believed that the President of the United States would disparage an American Hero. I did not agree with much of John McCain’s politics. I visited the Hanoi Hilton while in Vietnam. He was a real hero by refusing to leave without his team. 45’s continued tirades show his lack of empathy, his lack of common courtesy, and his sickness to try and demean a dead hero. Disgusting!

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1700’s

1788 Fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana

1800’s

1859 Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 1st in US, incorporated

1866 US Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes

1900’s

1925 Tennessee governor Austin Peay passes the "Butler Act," making

            Tennessee the 1st state to outlaw teaching theory of evolution

            (repealed 1967)

1947 US President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring

            all federal employees to have allegiance to the United States

1975 Ethiopia abolishes its monarchy after 3,000 years

1990 Namibia becomes independent of South Africa,

            Sam Nujoma becomes president

1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

            (UNFCCC) enters into force after being ratified by the required

            number of nations

2000’s

2006 Immigrant workers constructing the Burj Dubayy in Dubai, The

            United Arab Emirates and a new terminal of Dubai International

            Airport join together and riot, causing $1M in damage.

2013 The European Space Agency reveals new data that indicates that

            the universe is 13.82 billion years old

2014 Russia formally annexes Crimea amid international condemnation

Birthdays Today

1806 Benito Pablo Juarez,

president of Mexico (1858-72),

born in Oaxaca, Mexico

(d. 1872@66-heart attack)

1856 Henry Ossian Flipper,

American soldier, former slave and

first African American to graduate from the United States Military

Academy at West Point in 1877,

born in Thomasville, Georgia

(d. 1940:@84)

1869 Albert Kahn,

American architect (architect of Detroit),

born in Rhaunen, Kingdom of Prussia

(d. 1942:@73)

1921 Joe Sutter,

American engineer and head of the Boeing 747 program,

born in Seattle, Washington

(d. 2016:@95)

1930 James Coco,

American character actor and singer

(Only When I Laugh, Man of La Mancha, Murder by Death),

born in The Bronx, New York

(d. 1987:@56-heart attack)

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75- Timothy Dalton,

Welsh actor (James Bond), born in Colwyn Bay, Wales

70- Eddie Money, [Mahoney],

singer/guitarist (Take Me Home Tonight),

born in Brooklyn, New York

64- Jair Bolsonaro,

Brazilian politician, President of Brazil (2019-),

born in Glicério, Brazil

61- Gary Oldman,

English actor (Sid & Nancy, The Darkest Hour),

born in London, England

57- Matthew Broderick,

American actor (WarGames, Biloxi Blues),

born in NYC, New York

57- Rosie O'Donnell,

comedienne, actress and TV host

(League of Their Own, Flintstones, Rosie,

born in Commack, New York

Historical Obits Today

@87-2017 Chuck Barris,

American TV game show producer and host (Gong Show)

@82-2013 Chinua Achebe,

Nigerian poet and novelist (Things Fall Apart)

@81-1994 Macdonald Carey,

American actor (Days of Our Lives, Lock Up)

@81-1991 Leo Fender,

American inventor (Fender guitar)

@80-2016 Peter Brown

[Pierre Lind de Lappe],

American actor (Lawman, Laredo, Bold & Beautiful)

@79-2016 Andrew Grove,

Hungarian-American pioneer in the semiconductor industry and

one of the founders and CEO of Intel

@78-1992 John Ireland,

Canadian actor (All the King's Men, Rawhide, Gunfight at OK

 Corral),

dies of leukemia

@68-1987 Robert Preston [Meservey],

American actor (Music Man, Mame, Last Starfighter),

dies of lung cancer

@66-2017 Martin McGuinness, I

rish Sinn Féin politician and IRA member,

dies of a heart condition

@58-1915 Frederick Winslow Taylor,

American mechanical engineer and the father of scientific

management,

dies of influenza

@52-1994 Dack Rambo,

American actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas),

dies from AIDs

@21±-1617 Pocahontas

[Matoaka],

Algonquin princess and daughter of Powhatan,

dies in England (pneumonia/smallpox)