24 Apr

24 April 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 17 Day 114\ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 22 miles Flagstaff Today 67° \30°  Wind 3mph \ Gusts 5mph 
Air Quality: Fair \ High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 45mi \ Nearest Lightning 656mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

18-24      Cleaning For A Reason Week

      Consumer Awareness Week

      Police Officers Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty

21-5/2    Festival of Ridvan (Baha'i)

22-27    International Wildlife Film Week

22-29    National Dance Week

 22-30    National Park Week

              Administrative Professionals Week

23-29    Disability Book Week

Fibroid Awareness Week

National Infertility Awareness Week

National Karaoke Week

Medical Laboratory Professionals Week

National Crime Victims Rights Week

National Library Week

National Pediatric Transplant Week

National Princess Week

Mule Days

Sky Awareness Week

24-30    National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)

  National Scoop The Poop Week

24-28   National Playground Safety Week

            National Youth Violence Prevention Week

24-30  Spring Astronomy Week

            World Immunization Week

Daily Observations

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Link
Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day
Sauvignon Blanc Day  Link  &  Link
St. Mark's Eve Link
World Day for Animals in Laboratories Link
World Meningitis Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

What a nice day.  Enjoying the spring weather.

Last night’s discussion on War Crimes was very interesting. Why haven’t many major countries joined the International Court…including the US? What is the history of the UN that acknowledged the USSR end and then allowed Russia to keep the former USSR permanent seat at the UN? These  questions will take more study to fully understand War Crimes. Finally, we agreed that the media uses the term ‘war crimes’ way too liberally. Another term should be used because many of them cannot be proven.

Sudan is changing hourly. Last night the US started the evacuation of Embassy personnel after saying a few hours before that it was not the time. Americans in Sudan are told to stay in place as getting to the airport is very dangerous.

Enjoy… 

Toys Remembered…

The Easy-Bake Oven

The Easy-Bake Oven debuted in stores in November 1963. It was inspired by Norman Shapiro, a sales manager at toy manufacturer Kenner, who saw a New York City vendor warming pretzels in a cart’s tiny oven and thought it would make an excellent toy. The original oven was made up of three cubes with a stovetop and carry handle, all painted bright teal. While users were invited to come up with their own recipes, the oven came with mixes for baked goods, bubble gum, candy bars, and complete “kiddie dinners” of meat, macaroni, and peas. Packet contents were mixed with water, poured into supplied bakeware, and cooked by the heat of two lightbulbs, with temperatures reaching up to 350 degrees.

The toy was originally priced at a then-high $15.95 (around $115 in 2022), which surprisingly did not deter sales of 500,000 units in the oven’s first release. The quick-baking toy’s popularity paralleled America's interest in kitchen technology and the increased use of mixes and packaged products.

In 1968, Kenner was acquired by General Mills, who introduced Betty Crocker recipes into the Easy-Bake Oven’s repertoire. Over the years, production increased along with changes to the toy’s design to reflect the interior design trends of the time, from the harvest-gold and avocado tones of the 1970s to a redesign of the oven to resemble the new microwaves of the 1980s.

Recently the Easy-Bake Oven, now owned by Hasbro, has adopted a more gender-neutral design, acknowledging its popularity with both girls and boys. Since its inception almost 70 years ago, more than 30 million Easy-Bake Ovens have been sold and more than 150 million mixes have been cooked. 

Moon Facts…

The Moon has its own time zone

The Moon has its own time zone dubbed Lunar Standard Time which is based on the motion of the Sun as seen from the Moon. However, the time that is more commonly used, when discussing the Moon and other places in our solar system, is Universal Time, which is a modern form of Greenwich Mean Time that measures time as the same as it is on Earth.

State Names Origins…

Connecticut

Connecticut may be a small state, but it’s also home to part of the longest river in all New England, that being the Connecticut River. That flowing water source lends its name to the state as a whole, as the river was one called Quinnehtukqut — an Algonquian word that aptly means "long river place” — by the state’s native Mohegan tribe. Connecticut owes both its name and verdant landscape to the serene waters that run through it and add to the calm atmosphere of this quiet northeastern state.

Historical Events

v 1704 – The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, The Boston News-Letter, began publication.
v 1800 – The Library of Congress was founded.
v 1913 – The Woolworth Building, a skyscraper in New York City, was opened.
v It was the tallest building in the world until 1930.
v 1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Birthdays Today

89 – Shirley MacLaine, American actress, singer, dancer
“We are not victims of the world we see, we are victims of the way we see the world.”– Shirley MacLaine 
81 – Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress
@79 – Vincent de Paul, French priest, saint (d. 1660)
“We should spend as much time in thanking God for his benefits as we do in asking him for them.”– Vincent de Paul
70 – Eric Bogosian, American actor, writer
“If we all knew we were going to live to be 150 years old, we’d all approach our lives very differently.”– EricBogosian 
59 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian, actor, producer
“I love stand up and it keeps me grounded, to say the stuff I have been thinking without anyone changing it.”– Cedric the Entertainer
@54 – Jill Ireland, English actress (d. 1990; breast cancr)
41 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter
“My experiences remind me that it’s those black clouds that make the blue skies even more beautiful.”– Kelly Clarkson
31 – Joe Keery, American actor
29 – Caspar Lee, British-South African Youtuber