Feb 7

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Feb. 7, 2020 Week: 1  Day: 38

86004:   H 58° \ L 10° \ Average Sky Cover: 70%

Nearest lightning:  1338mi.; Nearest active fire:  590mi. 

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  12mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High:66 °[1963]   Record Low: -18°[1903]

Jan. Averages: 47°\19° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s LOVE Quote

Love is not enough.

It must be the foundation, the cornerstone –

but not the complete structure.

It is much too pliable, too yielding.

Bette Davis

Random Tidbits

The word "housewife" is from the early 13th century husewif, meaning "woman, usually married, in charge of a family or household." The word "hussy" is an alteration of the word housewife and originally meant "mistress of the household."

Even housewives in the early 20th century had no dishwashers, clothes driers, supermarkets, food processors, or washing machines. They made beds with sheets and blankets (no duvets). They boiled the toweling and cloth diapers (which were at least 10 per baby per day). They could not take out loans or mortgages or hire purchase agreements. They even needed their husband's consent to get a C-section. A wife who left her husband faced destitution. As the suffragettes complained before WWI, "Husband and wife are one person, and that one person is the husband."

Observations this Month

National Haiku Writing Month Link

National Hot Breakfast Month Link  Link

National Mend A Broken Heart Month

National Parent Leadership Month

National Pet Dental Health Month

National Prevent A Litter Month Link

National Self Check Month Link

National Snack Food Month  Link

National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Link

National Therapeutic Recreation Month Link

National Time Management Month

National Weddings Month

National Women Inventors Month

North American Inclusion Month (NAIM) Link

Observations This Week

Women's Heart Week: 1-7

Publicity for Profit Week: 2-8

African Heritage & Health Week: 2-8

Dump Your Significant Jerk Week: 2-8

Burn Awareness Week: 2-8 Link

Children's Authors & Illustrators Week: 2-8

Children's Mental Health Week: 3-9

National School Counseling Week: 3-7

International Networking Week: 3-7

Pride in Foodservice Week: 3-7 Link

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week: 7-14

Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week: 7-14 

National Marriage Week: 7-14  

Risk Awareness Week: 7-14

Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend: 7-12

Observations for Today

Ballet Day
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Bubble Gum Day Link  
 "e" Day (math) Link
Give Kids A Smile Day Link 
Harry Potter Book Night  Link
Laura Ingalls Wilder Day
National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

National Periodic Table Day  Link
Send a Card to a Friend Day

Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor's Day
Wear Red Day
Working Naked Day 

My Rambling Thoughts

Warming up, finally, for a few days. Clouds are a little concerning. Spring can’t come any too soon.

Yesterday the city water people rang my doorbell to inform me I was getting a new water meter. All good, took about 30 minutes, during which time I had no water.

Our local paper printed a great story today about Andy Reid, the KC coach who just won the Super Bowl. Turns out he spent a year as an assistant coach early in his career at our local University (NAU). He didn’t stay long, but his picture was in the NAU yearbook the year he coached here.

Our retirement group met for our weekly lunch today. Good conversation, good food, and the waitress was one of my neighbors that I didn’t know worked there.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

How can you propel a ball in a direction, make it stop and travel in the complete opposite direction, all in a single motion?

Historical Events

1497 - The Bonfire of the Vanities occurred in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burned thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.

1817 - The first public gas street light in the was lit in Baltimore, Maryland, the first in the United States.

1904 - 1500 buildings, in an 80block area of the downtown Baltimore was destroyed in a fire. No one was killed.

1914 - The silent film Kid Auto Races at Venice premiered in theaters, featuring Charlie Chaplin in his first screen appearance as The Little Tramp.

1932 - The 'neutron' was mentioned in an article in the journal Nature by its discoverer, James Chadwick,

1935 - 'Monopoly' was first sold by Charles Darrow. In December he sold the patented (#2,026,082) game to Parker Brothers.

1940 - The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premiered.

1962 - The United States banned all Cuban imports and exports.

1964 - The Beatles first arrive in the United States. Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow landed at New York's Kennedy Airport, bring The Beatles to America for the first time.

1970 - # 1 Hit: Shocking Blue - Venus

1976 - # 1 Hit: Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

1979 - Ex-planet Pluto moved inside real planet Neptune's orbit for the first time since both planets were known to science.

1981 -: Kool & the Gang - Celebration

1984 - STS-41-B Challenger Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).

1985 - New York, New York became the official anthem of New York City.

1987 - # 1 Hit: Madonna - Open Your Heart

1988 - America's Most Wanted premiered on FOX.

1990 - Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.

2001 Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator, dies of a stroke at 94

2018 Missing Nigerian painting masterpiece of Ife princess Adetutu Ademiluyi by Ben Enwonwu announced rediscovered in London

2018 All citrus fruit can be traced to the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, according to DNA study published in "Nature"

2019 New kangaroo fossil research published from Riversleigh, Australia, show Kangaroos learned to hop 20 million years ago, much earlier than first thought

Birthdays Today

Laura Ingalls Wilder, writer, social critic (1867-1957; @90)

Clarence 'Buster' Crabbe; actor (Tarzan) (d. 1983; @75; heart attack)

Charles Dickens (d.1870; @58; stroke)

58-Eddie Izzard, stand up comedian, actor, writer

55-Chris Rock, comedian

58-Garth Brooks, country singer

42-Ashton Kutcher, actor, producer

Puzzle Answer:

Throw it upwards.