Jul 17

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Jul. 17, 2019 Week: 29 \ Day: 198

86004:   H 86° \ L 57° \ Average Sky Cover: 15% 

Nearest wildfire:  13mi. Nearest lightning:  100mi

Wind:   20mph\Gusts:  24mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 93°[2009]   Record Low: 62°[1988]

Jul Averages: 82°\542° (8 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it.

Yogi Berra

Random Tidbits

Westsylvania

This was the second name for the failed Vandalia colony attempting to become the 14th state, in 1776. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky made up this area. Pennsylvania, having the most land to lose, made a law stating talk of secession to be an act of treason punishable by death. That dream quickly and quietly went away.

Long Island

The region grew weary of the 'Boss' political system in New York and wanted to seek its freedom in 1869. This idea was revisited in the 1990s, but New York is unwilling to give up this diverse and economically sound portion of the state.

Sequoyah

The name Sequoyah was requested by Native Americans and encompassed the majority of Oklahoma. This included a tract of land where the U.S. Government had relocated them.

More Observances This Month

Sandwich Generation Month
Self Care Month  Link 
Smart Irrigation Month
Social Wellness Month
Tour de France Month (1-23)
Wheat Month Link
Women's Motorcycle Month
World Watercolor Month Link
Worldwide Bereaved Parents Month

Observances This Week

6-28
Tour de France

14-20

Everybody Deserves A Massage Week Link 

15-21

Rabbit Week
(Re: Magician Rabbits  The sponsor is Melvin Rabbit up in Canada. No website. )

17-20

National Baby Food Week Link
National Ventriloquism Week  Link

Observances for Today

Disneyland Day
National Hot Dog Day Link 
Peach Ice Cream Day

Take Your Poet To Work Day
Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attack Day  Link
World Day for International Criminal Justice  Link
World Emoji Day  Link
Wrong Way Corrigan Day
Yellow Pig Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Focus had a great time in the Paris of Siberia, Irkutsk. So much beauty. Then it’s off to Lake Baikal after a stop in Baikal. At Lake Baikal we were given an amazing picnic, time for swimming, and an evening of mixing it up with the many passengers on the train. When we first saw Rosa and Victor on the train, we assumed they were traveling together. Turns out, we learned differently. Rosa works for the Portuguese government at a high-level position with the EU on economics. She met Victor on the train. He is from Madrid, but spent his time with the Portuguese group, even though he spoke little Portuguese. He was a cab driver who had built up his own fleet of taxis. Both were in their 30’s. Then there was the older German couple who were delightful. Isabella was a unique traveler. She was probably in her 60’s, lived in Lisbon and always traveled alone. She has a great story, married later in life, lost her husband, and is happy being alone. After the picnic, we had several more days of interesting conversations, as she decided we were both soulmates who liked traveling and living alone. The picnic and the beauty of Lake Baikal brought our various language groups together in an amazing way. The food was awesome, the weather was perfect, and the views were stunning. Time to re-board our train and head for Mongolia.

I didn’t know what to expect from Russia. I guess it was grey square Soviet buildings with people wearing drab clothes, working for the state, and not being very happy. I could not have been more wrong. The Russian cities we visited certainly had Soviet area buildings. The people were vibrant, happy, and were enjoying their lives. In the cities, the residents were stylish, the children were happy, everyone liked practicing their English with us. There was lots of new construction in every city. Every city had a rich history of architecture.  We met kids with their parents, college students, and workers. Everyone was smiling and welcoming. Each local guide wanted to share the beauty and enthusiasm of their city. Parks, museums, cultural venues were in each city. At no time in our tours was politics or Putin ever mentioned. Everyday people just enjoying their lives and willing to share with visitors. Ann, who spoke minimal Russian would stop people and talk to them, using hands, facial expression, to get them to share their story. Those she met enjoyed her antics and enjoyed sharing their English knowledge.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I have forests but no trees.

I have lakes but no water.

I have roads but no cars.

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1800’s

1861 US Congress authorizes paper money

1863 Battle of Honey Springs - largest battle in Indian Territory

1867 1st US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, established

1897 1st ship arrives in Seattle carrying gold from Yukon

1900’s

1917 Royal Proclamation by King George V changes name of British Royal family from German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor

1918 The Romanov royal family and several of their retainers are executed by a Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of Ipatiev House, in Yekaterinburg, Siberia

1936 Spanish generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola lead a right-wing uprising, starting the Spanish Civil War

1938 Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan leaves NY flying for LA, winds up in Ireland supposedly by mistake

1945 Potsdam Conference: Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill hold 1st meeting

1948 US Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen encounters children in at Templehof Airport in Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, giving him the idea to drop candy in 'Operation Little Vittles'

1955 Arco, Idaho, becomes 1st US city lit by nuclear power

1959 Paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey discovers partial skull of a new species of early human ancestor, Zinjanthropus boisei or 'Zinj' (now called Paranthropus boisei) lived in Africa almost 2 million years ago

1964 ANC leader Nelson Mandela, recently sentenced to life imprisonment, is awarded the Joliot Curie Gold Medal for Peace

1966 Jim Ryun sets mile record (3m51s3)

1979 Sebastian Coe runs world record 3:49 mile in Oslo

1984 US passes National Minimum Drinking Age Act, prohibiting under 21's from buying or possessing alcohol as a condition of receiving State highway funds

1995 Forbes Magazine announces Bill Gates is the richest man in world with a net worth of $12.9 billion dollars

1998 Russia buries Tsar Nicholas II and family, 80 years after they died

2000’s

2004 Former South African President Nelson Mandela calls for commitment by the world to take action against AIDS

2015 Scientists solve mystery of sleeping sickness in two villages in northern Kazakhstan - uranium mining had caused increase in carbon monoxide

2016 17 works by Swiss architect Le Corbusier included in UNESCO World Heritage sites list as "an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement"

2018 Oldest evidence of bread, made from wild grains, discovered by archaeologists in 14,000 year-old dig in the Black Desert, Jordon

Highlighted Birthdays Today

1744 Elbridge Gerry,

American statesman who invented gerrymandering and 5th Vice President of the United States, born in Marblehead, Massachusetts Bay (d. 1814: @70)

1763 John Jacob Astor [Johann Jakob Astor]

German-American businessman (first multi-millionaire in the United States), born in Walldorf, Electoral Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1848: @84)

1889 Erle Stanley Gardner,

American detective writer (Perry Mason), born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 1970: @80)

1899 James Cagney,

American actor (Yankee Doodle Dandy), born in NYC, (d. 1986: @86)

1912 Art Linkletter,

TV host (People are Funny) born in Saskatchewan Canada, (d. 2010: @97)

1917 Phyllis Diller,

American comedienne and actress (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number), born in Lima, Ohio (d. 2012: @95)

1920 Gordon Gould,

American physicist (inventor of the laser), born in NYC, New York (d. 2005: @85)

1950 Phoebe Snow [Laub],

American singer-songwriter (Poetry Man), born in New York City (d. 2011: @60; stroke)

80’s

84- Diahann Carroll,

actress (Julia, Claudine, Dominique-Dynasty), born in The Bronx, New York

84- Donald Sutherland,

St John New Brunswick, Canadian actor (M*A*S*H, Body Snatchers)

80- Spencer Davis,

Wales, vocalist (Spencer Davis Group-Gimme Some Lovin)

70’s

72- Camilla Parker Bowles,

English wife of Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, born in London

60’s

67- David Hasselhoff,

American actor (Night Rider, Mitch-Baywatch), born in Baltimore, Maryland

65- Angela Merkel,

German politician, Chancellor of Germany (2005-), born in Hamburg, West Germany

50’s

59- Mark Burnett,

English-born television producer

40’s

43- Luke Bryan,

American country singer (I'll Stay Me), born in Leesburg, Georgia

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

90’s

@92-2009 Walter Cronkite,

American broadcast journalist and news anchor (CBS Evening News 1962-81)

80’s

@88-2006 Mickey Spillane

[Frank Morrison Spillane],

American mystery writer (I the Jury)

@85-1887 Dorothea Dix,

American pioneering nurse and social activist who created the first American mental asylums

@84-2001 Katharine Graham,

American publisher (The Washington Post during Watergate)

70’s

@77-1881 Jim Bridger,

American mountain man, Indian fighter, and explorer

@74-1961 Ty Cobb,

American baseball great (Detroit Tigers) who set 90 MLB records during his career, dies of cancer

60’s

@67-1790 Adam Smith,

Scottish economist (Wealth of Nations) and moral philosopher

50’s

@57-1996 [Bryan] Chas Chandler,

English rock bassist (The Animals-House of the Rising Sun) and manager of Jimi Hendrix, dies of aneurism

40’s

@44-1959 Billie Holiday,

jazz singer, dies of cirrhosis of the liver

@40-1967 John Coltrane,

American jazz saxophonist/composer (Blue Train), dies of cancer

Puzzle answer:

A MAP