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Dec. 15, 2019 Week: 51 Day: 349
86004: H 46° \ L 32° \ Average Sky Cover: 20%
Nearest lightning:
2011mi
Nearest active fire:
267mi.
Wind: 12mph\Gusts: 20mph Visibility:
10 mi
Record High: 63°[1929] Record Low: -14°[1931]
Dec. Averages: 44°\17° (5 days with moisture)
Today’s Quote
“Grown men may learn from very little children,
for the hearts of little children are pure
and therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them
many things which older people miss.”
Black Elk
~ Native American Proverb
Random Tidbits
Africa is the only
continent with land in all four hemispheres
As you already know,
planet Earth is divided into four hemispheres: north, south, east, and west.
But only one of the seven continents can lay claim to being located in all
four, and that's Africa.
Observances This Week
3-24
10-17
Human
Rights Week
14-1/5
14-28
Halcyon
Days
(Always
7 days before and 7 days after the Winter Solstice)
15-21
Observances for Today
National Cupcake Day
National Gingerbread Latte Day
National Gingerbread Latte Day
My Rambling Thoughts
I ran to the bookstore
for some Christmas gifts. Found what I needed. B&N has changed a lot over
the last few years but still has good prices and good selection.
NPR had a good story
this morning on the American Prairie Project in Montana, about 40 miles from
Lewiston. Hoping to have buffalo, better grasses, and almost no people living
in the area. It will be about the size of the Serengeti if all goes according
to plan. Farmers and ranchers aren’t
very happy, but environmentalists think is great. My great uncle grew wheat,
hay, and raised cattle on the other side of that huge state. I can see both
sides of the controversy.
Got my local paper
stopped, I hope, for my upcoming trip. The USPS site wasn’t working so I’ll try
that one again tomorrow.
Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of this page
If you threw a yellow
hat with a red ribbon into the Black Sea, what would it become?
Historical Events
1488 Bartolomeu Dias
returns to Portugal after becoming 1st known European to sail round the Cape of
Good Hope
1791 US Bill of Rights
ratified when Virginia gives its approval, becomes amendments 1-10 of the US
constitution
1827 - The city of
Boston, Massachusetts, the School Committee voted to require, effective 1 Mar
1828, that public school students show that they had been vaccinated against
smallpox prior to school entrance. Certificates to the board of health were to
be issued where necessary for free vaccination. This initiative came just three
decades after Edward Jenner's discovery of a method to immunize against
smallpox. The state of Massachusetts passed the first school vaccination law in
1855, followed by New York (1862) and Connecticut (1872).
1836 - A fire
destroyed the US Patent Office, erasing the records of most of the first 9,957
US patents' records.
1840 Napoleon
Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
1890 - Native American
Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) was shot and killed by Indian police over a
political misunderstanding.
1933 - The
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the
Eighteenth Amendment.
1939 - Gone with the
Wind premiered at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
1944 US Congress gives
General Eisenhower his 5th star
1944 - Bandleader
Glenn Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel. One of the largest
pop stars of his day, he was the first of many who died in an airplane mishap.
1951 - #1 Hit: Eddy Howard
– It’s No Sin
1954 - Davy Crockett,
starring Fess Parker, premiered. It was the first mini-series, lasting 5
episodes.
1961 Adolf Eichmann is
sentenced to death for war crimes in Israel
1970 - Soviet
spacecraft Venera 7 successfully landed on Venus. It is the first successful
soft landing on another planet.
1973 - The American
Psychiatric Association voted 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its official
list of psychiatric disorders.
1973 - #1 Hit: Charlie Rich - The Most
Beautiful Girl
1978 - U.S. President
Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would recognize the People's
Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
1979 Chris Haney and
Scott Abbott develop the board game Trivial Pursuit
1989 - Driving Miss
Daisy debuted in theaters.
1993 – Schindler’s
List, starring Liam Neeson, opened in theaters.
2000 - What Women
Want, Dude Where's My Car and Chocolat debuted in theaters.
2000 - Chernobyl
nuclear plant was officially, permanently shut down in Ukraine, after the April
26, 1986 disaster.
2001 The Leaning Tower
of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing
its famous lean
2011 Former French
President Jacques Chirac is convicted of diverting public funds, receives a
two-year suspended prison sentence
2018 Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko announces establishment of independent Ukrainian
Orthodox Church, splitting from Russian Orthodox
2018 Egyptian
Archaeologists announce discovery of 4,400 year old tomb of Fifth Dynasty
priest in Saqqara pyramid complex near Cairo
Birthdays Today
@85 - Tim Conway,
American comedian and actor
(died in 2019)
@83 - J. Paul Getty,
American-English businessman, founder ofGetty Oil
(died in 1976)
@81 - Kurt
Schaffenberger, German-American comic book illustrator: Capt. Marvel
(died in 2002)
79 - Dave Clark,
English drummer
@78 - Uziel
"Uzi" Gal
(Hebrew: עוזיאל "עוזי"
גל, born Gotthard Glas),
German/Isreali inventor of the Uzi
submachine gun
(died in 2002; cancer)
73 - Carmine Appice,
American drummer; songwriter (Vanilla Fudge)
70 - Don Johnson,
American actor
56 - Helen Slater,
American actress (Supergirl)
40 - Adam Brody,
American actor
@30 - Nero, Roman
emperor (died in 68; suicide)
Puzzle answer:
Wet, because it fell
into the water.
