19 Sep

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 39 Day 262 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 73° \42° 
Wind 12mph \ Gusts 19mph  Air Quality Fair
High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 22mi \ Nearest Lightning 359mi
Sep Averages for Flagstaff: 74° \ 42° (5days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

15-21  National Medicare Education Week Link

15-18  Hummingbird Celebration Link

16-25 National Ballroom Dance Week  Link

17-23 Constitution Week Farm Animal Awareness Week

18-24 Balance Awareness Week Link    Build A Better Image Week  Child Passenger Safety Week Link   Deaf Dog Awareness Week Link   International Clean Hands Week International Go-Kart Week  International Interpreters and Translators Week  International Women's E-Commerce Days Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week   Link National Dog Week Link   Link  Link National Employ Older Workers Week Link  National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week National Indoor Plant Week  National Rehabilitation Awareness Week  National Security Officer Appreciation Week  National Singles Week   Prostate Cancer Awareness Week   Tolkien Week  World Reflexology Week

19-25  International Week of the Deaf Link  National Go-Kart Week  Link National Love Your Files Week   Link   Pollution Prevention Week  Link

19-30 International Women's Commerce Days

Daily Observations

Butterscotch Pudding Day
Cleanup Day
Gymnastics Day
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Iota Phi Theta Day
Respect for The Aged Day  Link
Talk Like A Pirate Day Link  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another nice fall day.

We had a very good discussion last night. We all agreed we would rather hear about outer space than the history of space travel. Our presenter has taught many astronomy classes at the local community college, has volunteered at Lowell Observatory here, and has written a couple of books. He is getting ready for a presentation Flagstaff’s Dark Sky outdoor festival. He kindly shared some of his meteorite collection from around the world, with a short story about each piece. Fascinating.

Chinle, on the Navajo Rez, just purchased, through a grant, 3 all-electric school buses. Each bus holds 72-84 students. They can travel on dirt roads. They can do 120 miles between charges. The company that makes the buses hopes to use the ‘Chinle Experience’ in its advertising. This sounds very cool. For the students it is very quiet and there are no diesel fumes coming into the bus or at the bus stop. I’ll wait and see if it meets its hype.

I will be watching the Cards v Raiders game and internet watching the Broncos v Texans. Both are at the same time.

Favorite Memes

Random trivia…

In China, the Milky Way is called "The Silver River." The Romans called our galaxy the Milky Road because it reminded them of milk. The Greeks called it the Milky Circle. In fact, the word "galaxy" is from the Greek word for milk.

The Milky Way is a galaxy--a huge group of stars, gas, dust, and other matter held together in space by their mutual gravitational pull. The Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies in the universe.

When a person sees the Milky Way at night, they are seeing only about 0.0000025 percent of the galaxy's hundreds of billions of stars.

The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light-years from edge to edge. If a rocket could travel at the speed of light, it would take 100,000 years to cross the galaxy. By comparison, light can go from Earth to the moon in just one second.

If our solar system were the size of a U.S. quarter, the sun would be a microscopic piece of dust and the Milky Way would be about the size of the United States.   

Myth Buster

George Washington’s teeth were made of wood

Oral hygiene in the 18th century was certainly poor, and even the first US president wasn’t spared. This may explain why he never smiled. Indeed, by the time George Washington came to power, he had only one tooth left. While some argue that this former farmer had consumed too much sugar cane, others maintain that abuse of a mercury-laced drug used to treat malaria caused his tooth loss. To alleviate the problem, the president owned several dentures, one of which was carved from hippopotamus ivory and held together with gold wire and brass screws. Another included cow, donkey, horse, and human teeth (from slaves). None of them were made of wood.

Historical Events

1778 – The Continental Congress passed the first United States federal budget.
1881 – President James A. Garfield died of wounds suffered in a July 2 shooting.
1921 – The greatest rainfall recorded in United States history during 18 consecutive hours (measured at an unofficial weather-monitoring site) fell at Thrall, Williamson County, Texas, 36.40 inches fell from a Hurricane.
1928 – Mickey Mouse’s first screen appearance – Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theater NYC.
1970 – The first Glastonbury Festival took place.
1975 – The alligator was removed from the endangered species list in parts of Louisiana.
1976 – A UFO was reportedly seen over Tehran, Iran. Two F-4 Phantom II jets lost power during a chase.
1991 – Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria.

Birthdays Today

@93 – James Lipton, American actor, producer, tv host (d. 2020)
“I think that anybody’s craft is fascinating. A taxi driver talking about taxi driving is going to be very, very interesting.”– James Lipton
@88 – Adam West, American actor, Batman (d. 2017)
“If you hang around long enough, they think you’re good. It’s either my tenacity or my stupidity, I’m not sure which.”– Adam West
82 – Paul Williams, American singer-songwriter and actor
74 – Jeremy Irons, English actor
“We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories… and those that carry us forward, are our dreams.”– Jeremy Irons
73 – Twiggy [Dame Lesley Hornby Lawson], English model and actress
“Always be natural. Putting on airs will make a giggle out of you. Be yourself and if you don’t know something say so.”– Twiggy
60 – Cheri Oteri, American comedic actress
58 – Trisha Yearwood, American singer-songwriter
48 – Jimmy Fallon, American comedian, and talk show host
@32 – Brian Epstein, English talent manager, The Beatles (d. 1967; OD)
@31 – Thomas Cavendish, English naval explorer, led the third expedition to circumnavigate the globe (d. 1592; on expedition)