Feb 20

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Castle of Inverness

1811 - Austria declares bankruptcy

1872 - Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags

1872 - Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine

1895 - Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorado

1944 - Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers

1960 - Jimi Hendrix, rock and roll guitarist, plays his first gig

1962 - John Glenn is 1st American to orbit Earth (Friendship 7)

1971 - Natl Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio & TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn't resolved for 30 minutes

1975 - Margaret Thatcher elected leader of British Conservative Party

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

OK, I get it, it might snow, it might not snow. The day started with an overcast sky, then blue sky, then overcast and snow, then blue sky, then overcast and snow. Crazy. A nice day to watch the bird feeder.  Lots of birds eating lots of seed and suet. They seem to know that more snow is coming tonight. I hope my readers are trying most of the puzzles, even when I make a mistake. They are all placed here to keep the mind active. Some I like, some I don’t…but I try them all. I figure the one’s I don’t like will help me too.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a word, name or familiar phrase with alternating A's. For example, if the clue is "Woody Allen movie," the answer is "Bananas."

1.     Group of wagons traveling through the desert:

2.     A knight at King Arthur’s roundtable:

3.     Islamic month of fasting:

4.     Capital of Venezuela:

5.     Language of Barcelona:

6.     Sleepwear:

7.     A hard road surface:

8.     Distant: 2 word phrase:

9.     Marathon runner Alberto, who won NYC marathon 3 times:

10.  Telly who was on the telly:

11.  July 1^st as celebrated North of the Border:

12.  Light summer headwear (2 words):

13.  Body of water adjoining Cuba’s capital:

14.  Largest city in Eastern Afghanistan:

15.  A light multi-hulled boat used for fishing:

16.  Connects Atlantic and Pacific ocean:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Orkney Islands

Found on You Tube         

The 44 Presidents of United States of America

The US Presidents Song

Harper’s Index         

Percentage of gays in the military who are ‘out’ to at least some of their unit, according to the advocacy group OutService: 78

Joke-of-the-day

A man visiting a graveyard saw a tombstone that read: “Here lies John Smith, a lawyer and an honest man.” “How about that!” he exclaimed. “They’ve got three people buried in one grave.”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

It takes almost twice as long to find something in your coat pockets when you are not wearing your coat. If you have a flight jacket or parka with more than four pockets, you can usually save time by putting it on just to look through the pockets.

Somewhat Useless Information Happy President’s Day  

In 1889, at the age of 24, Warren G. Harding had a nervous breakdown and spent several weeks in a sanitarium.

Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird named "Dick" which he kept in the White House study. The bird often rode on Jefferson's shoulder and was trained to take small bites of food held between Jefferson's lips at mealtime!

In June 1886, Grover Cleveland took 21-year-old Frances Folsom as his wife, making him the first President to be married in the White House. He was also the first President to have a child born there.

William Howard Taft was the only President of the United States to also serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In fact, Taft never really wanted to be President. He preferred law to politics and always aspired to serve on the Supreme Court. But his wife -- who wanted to be first lady -- had other ambitions for him. After four uncomfortable years as President, Taft left the White House and became a Professor of Law at Yale. In 1920, Taft finally realized his true dream when President Harding made him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a position which he held until just before his death in 1930.

Only two future U.S. Presidents signed the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln ran for President with the campaign slogan "Vote Yourself a Farm", referring to the Republican party's promise to support legislation granting free homesteads to settlers of the Western frontier. Four years later, during the Civil War, he ran for re-election with the slogan "Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream".

Yeah, It Really Happened                
LEOMINSTER, Mass. - Police in Massachusetts said an accused purse snatcher was arrested after he bummed a cigarette from his alleged victim two days later. Leominster police said the woman, whose purse was taken at knifepoint Saturday at the Heritage Gardens apartment complex, recognized Malek Matos, 25, of Fitchburg, when he asked her for a cigarette Monday outside the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Worcester Telegram reported Thursday. The woman told RMV employees and they called police. Matos was arrested and charged with armed robbery. He was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

14-21

National Condom Week

National Nestbox Week to provide bird houses for winter

NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week

19-25 

National Entrepreneurship Week

Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week

Build A Better Trade Show Image Week

National Engineers Week

National Pancake Week

National Justice for Animals Week

National Future Farmers of America Week

Read Me Week

Texas Cowboy Poetry Week

Today Is                                                                      

Fasching: Germany’s Carnival before Ash Wednesday

Love Your Pet Day

Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day

Pisces Begins

Presidents Day

World Day for Social Justice

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1400’s

1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment

1600’s

1673 - 1st recorded wine auction held (London)

1700’s

1725 - 10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in NH for £100 a scalp bounty

1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops occupy Fort August, Scotland

1800’s

1805 - Kagohami talks of a 120-year-old man to Lewis and Clark

1809 - Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state

1832 - Northeastern District Choctaw Chief, Peter Pitchlynn, and his followers, arrive in  Fort Smith, in western Arkansas, . Floods, cold weather, low rivers, and mud have delayed their trip considerably.

1893 - A Congressional Act modifies the White Mountain-San Carlos-Camp Apache Reserve, in western Arizona Territory. It is amended further on June 10, 1896. At its' largest, it comprises 2,866 square miles, and be occupied by Arivaipa, Chillion, Chiricahua, Coyotero, Membreno, Mogollon, Mohave, Pinal, San Carlos, Tonto, and Yuma-Apache tribes.

1872 - Hydraulic electric elevator patented by Cyrus Baldwin

1900’s

1927 - Golfers in SC arrested for violating Sabbath

1929 - American Samoa organizes as territory of US

1931 - Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge

1949 - 1st International Pancake Race held (Liberal Ks)

1950 - Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour

1952 - "African Queen" opens at Capitol Theater in NYC

1978 - Egypt announces it is pulling its diplomats out of Cyprus

1986 - LA Dodger Orel Hershiser is 1st to win a $1M salary by arbitration

1998 - UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan lands in Baghdad, for peace negotiations

2000’s

2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout

Today’s Birthdays     

In their 80’s

Sidney Poitier, actor, (Porgy & Bess, A Raisin in the Sun) is 85

Gloria Vanderbilt, don't my jeans look great (poor little rich girl) is 88

In their 70’s

Buffy Sainte-Marie, folksinger (Now That the Buffalo Are Gone) is 71

Bobby Unser, auto racer (1968, 75, 81 Indianapolis 500) is 78

In their 60’s

J[erome] Geils, rock guitarist (J Geils Band-Centerfold) is 66

Ivana Trump, ex-wife of Donald Trump (1st Wives Club) is 63

In their 50’s

In their 40’s

Charles Barkley, NBA forward (Phoenix, Rockets, Oly-gold-96) is 49

Cindy Crawford, model, actor is 46

French Stewart, actor (Harry Solomon-Third Rock From the Sun) is 48

Remembered for being born on this day

Ansel Adams, photographer (1966 ASMP Award) in 1902

Amanda Blake, [Beverly], actress (Kitty Russell-Gunsmoke) in 1921

Kurt Cobain, rock vocalist (Nirvana)/husband of Courtney Love in 1967

John Daly, South Africa, newscaster/TV game show host (What's My Line) in 1914

Jackie Gleason, comedian (Ralph Kramden-Honeymooners) in 1916

Larry Hovis, Wapito Wash, comedian (Gomer Pyle, Hogan's Heroes) in 1936

Cecil H King, Irish/British daily newspaper publisher (Daily Mirror) in 1901

Thomas Osborne, Duke of Leeds, English PM (1690-94)/founder (Tories) in 1632

Benjamin Waugh, American minister; founder of the NSPCC (children’s charity) in 1839

Today’s Obits                                                           

Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, anti-slavery leader, dies at 77 in 1895

Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster dies at 87 in 2005

Alexander Haig, American soldier and politician dies at 86 in 2010

Joseph Hume, social reformer, dies at 78 in 1855

Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian auto-designer (Miura), dies at 77 in 1993

Robert E Peary, US pole explorer (North Pole, 6/4/1909), dies at 63 in 1922

Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author, suicide at 68 in 2005

Walter Winchell, writer/actor (Dondi, Love & Hisses), dies at 74 in 1972

Dick York, actor (Bewitched), dies of emphysema at 63 in 1992

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

TownTowelOutlawWombatNetworkOutwardWoodcutTheme: doubled

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Group of wagons traveling through the desert:

a.     caravan

2.     A knight at King Arthur’s roundtable:

a.     Galahad

3.     Islamic month of fasting:

a.     Ramadan

4.     Capital of Venezuela:

a.     Caracas

5.     Language of Barcelona:

a.     Catalan

6.     Sleepwear:

a.     pajamas

7.     A hard road surface:

a.     macadam

8.     Distant: 2 word phrase:

a.     far away

9.     Marathon runner Alberto, who won NYC marathon 3 times:

a.     Salazar

10.  Telly who was on the telly:     

a.     Savalas

11.  July 1^st as celebrated North of the Border:

a.     Canada Day

12.  Light summer headwear (2 words):

a.     Panama hat

13.  Body of water adjoining Cuba’s capital:

a.     Havana Bay

14.  Largest city in Eastern Afghanistan:

a.     Jalalabad

15.  A light multi-hulled boat used for fishing:

a.     catamaran

16.  Connects Atlantic and Pacific ocean:

a.     Panama Canal

Wuzzle

• Times Square
• Turned upside-down
• That’s beside the point

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺

Feb 19

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1600 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.

1919 - Pan-African Congress, organized by W E B Du Bois (Paris)

1934 - US contract air mail service canceled, replaced by US army for 6 mos

1942 - FDR orders detention & internment of all west-coast Japanese-Americans

1949 - Mass arrests of communists in India

1968 - 1st US Teachers strike (Florida)

1984 - 1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom)

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A good day for a walk by afternoon. A little chilly this morning. AZ remains such a strange state. A sitting sheriff, tough on illegal border immigration and a candidate for a US Representative is outed. The one outing him, a former lover who is Mexican. The sheriff claims none the allegations are true, except that he is gay. It will be in the news for a couple of days. If he and his political staff did threaten to deport his former lover, then he needs to be held accountable. If not, there shouldn’t be a story. Since he is running on the Republican ticket, I’m sure this is a hard pill for them to swallow. Syria is sure a mess. So much killing by the government against its own people. Sad. Then the Israeli government is getting real testy with Iran. That is not a good sign.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Oops, a typo yesterday: it should have been prude + u to get Purdue.

Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase with the initials J.R. For example, if the clue is "going for a spin in a stolen car," the answer would be "joy ride."

1.     Pastry with preserve inside:

2.     What married taxpayers usually file with the IRS:

3.     A pirate flag:

4.     What an appellate court exercises over a lower court:

5.     Item used in ‘double Dutch’:

6.     What is practiced by synagogue goers: 

7.     Waterway that is part of the Israel border to the Dead Sea:

8.     Elvis Presley film; or number on song from it:

9.     Nickname for a Southern soldier in the Civil War:

10.  Place for deliberations in a trial:

11.  Place where sushi is served:

12.  Dave Brubeck or Count Basis disc:

13.  What a crime of passion is often committed in:

14.  State license and 2 years experience for example:

15.  Follower of the 3^rd US President; believer in agrarian democracy:

16.  Distinctive alcohol from the Caribbean  used to make a hurricane:

17.  A very fast hare:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Orkney Islands

Found on You Tube         

Note: today’s video contains explicit sexual situations. These are ads from around the world to sell condoms. With the AIDS epidemic still very scary for Africans, I was surprised at the number of billboards throughout South Africa advertizing condoms. Many public restrooms in Ethiopia had a basket of condoms at the wash basin.

World's Best Condom Ads

Harper’s Index         

Percentage of Americans who believe that pornography is ‘morally wrong’: 66

Joke-of-the-day

A young man bought an expensive piece of jewelry as a present for his girlfriend.
“Don’t you want her name engraved on it?” asked the clerk.
The young man thought for a moment, and then, ever the realistic, steadfastly replied, “No, just engrave it: To My One and Only Love. That way, if we break up and she throws it back to me in anger, I can use it again.”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

Never offer more than two-thirds the asking price for rural land.

Somewhat Useless Information    

During the Russo-Japanese War, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt offered to serve as mediator. He summoned representatives of the warring countries to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the summer of 1905 to discuss their differences, and the war came to a close shortly thereafter. A year later, in recognition of his role as a peacemaker, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the first American to receive the prestigious award.

Calvin Coolidge refused to use the telephone while he was President. A man of few words, he once said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it."

In 1928, Herbert Hoover ran for President of the United States with the campaign slogan "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage". Hoover carried 58.2 percent of the vote, easily defeating Democratic candidate Alfred E. Smith.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

CANFIELD, Ohio - Administrators at an Ohio elementary school said the facility was put on lockdown when a mysterious Mickey Mouse was spotted at the school. Superintendent Dante Zambrini said the mother who dressed as Mickey Mouse to surprise her daughter's class at C.H. Campbell Elementary School in Canfield during a Tuesday Valentine's Day party followed procedure when she signed in at the office, but she did not tell officials of her plans to change into the Disney character costume in a restroom and change back after making her party appearance,
The Youngstown Vindicator reported Thursday. "It was a case of, Mickey Mouse was here, and then he was missing," Zambrini said. "Our building principal called our school resource officer and the building went into lockdown as a precaution."
Zambrini said the lockdown was executed perfectly and ended when officials and police spoke to the mother and determined she had no ill intent.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

14-21

National Condom Week

National Nestbox Week to provide bird houses for winter

NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week

16-19

National Conference on Education

Great Backyard Bird Count

19-25 

National Entrepreneurship Week

Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week

Build A Better Trade Show Image Week

National Engineers Week

National Pancake Week

National Justice for Animals Week

National Future Farmers of America Week

Read Me Week

Texas Cowboy Poetry Week

Today Is                                                                      

National Chocolate Mint Day

Iwo Jima Day (Landing) 

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1600’s

1674 - Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English)

1700’s

1725: -Documents regarding the Delaware "Walking Purchase" treaty are discovered

1778 - Virginia Governor Patrick Henry is upset by the actions of several white "frontiersmen" against the Indians. They have killed Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, and four other Shawnees, who have lived in peace with their neighbors. Today Governor Henry writes a letter to Colonel William Fleming. Suggesting that perhaps the murderers are British agents trying to instigate a fight with the Indians to divert troops away from the Revolutionary War.

1900’s

1913 - 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box

1922 - Ed Wynn becomes 1st talent to sign as a radio entertainer

1928 - 2nd Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland

1932 - William Faulkner completes his novel "Light in August"

1942 - About 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin

1942 - NY Yankees announce 5,000 uniformed soldiers admitted free at each of their upcoming home games

1949 - 1st Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Ezra Pound

1952 - French offensive at Hanoi

1953 - Georgia approves US 1st literature censorship board

1960 - Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts

1963 - Robert Frost wins Bollingen Prize

1964 - UK flies ½ ton of The Beatles wigs to the US

1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album released

1980 - Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 10000m in 1:15.18

1983 - Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration of $1 million

1984 - 14th winter Olympic games close at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

1997 - FCC makes available 311 for non-emergency calls & 711 for hearing or speech-impaired emergency calls

1998 - US hockey team destroys their rooms at Olympic village in Japan

2000’s

2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system

2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."

 2008 - Toshiba announces its formal recall of its HD DVD video formatting, ending the format war between it and Sony's Blu-Ray Disc

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Smokey Robinson, American R&B and soul singer-songwriter (The Miracles-Tears of a Clown) is 72

In their 50’s

Jeff Daniels, actor is 57

In their 40’s

Justine Bateman, actor is 46

Benicio Del Toro, actor is 45

Seal, English vocalist/songwriter (Killer, Crazy, Kiss by a Rose) is 49

Remembered for being born on this day

Kay Boyle, novelist (Plagued by Nightingales) in 1903

Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer in 1473

"Mama" Cass Elliot, actress (Mamas & Papas-Monday Monday ) in 1943

Stan Kenton, [Newcomb], jazz musician (Intermission Rift) in 1912

Lee Marvin, actor (Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou) in 1924

Merle Oberon, Calcutta India, actress (Assignment Foreign Legion) in 1911

Today’s Obits                                                           

Grandpa Jones, country comic/banjo wizard (Hee Haw ), dies at 84 in 1998

Stanley Kramer, American director [The Defiant Ones (1958), On the Beach (1959),  Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Ship of Fools (1965) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)]. dies at 88 in 2001

Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek doctor, inventor of the Pap smear dies at78 in 1962

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Pastry with preserve inside:

a.     jelly roll

2.     What married taxpayers usually file with the IRS:

a.     joint return

3.     A pirate flag:

a.     Jolly Roger

4.     What an appellate court exercises over a lower court:

a.      judicial review

5.     Item used in ‘double Dutch’:

a.     jump rope

6.     What is practiced by synagogue goers: Jewish religion;

a.     Jewish ritual

7.     Waterway that is part of the Israel border to the Dead Sea:

a.     Jordan River

8.     Elvis Presley film; or number on song from it:

a.     Jailhouse Rock

9.     Nickname for a Southern soldier in the Civil War:

a.     Johnny Reb

10.  Place for deliberations in a trial:

a.      jury room

11.  Place where sushi is served:

a.     Japanese restaurant

12.  Dave Brubeck or Count Basis disc:   

a.      jazz record

13.  What a crime of passion is often committed in:

a.      jealous rage

14.  State license and 2 years experience for example:

a.     job requirement

15.  Follower of the 3^rd US President; believer in agrarian democracy:

a.     Jeffersonian Republican

16.  Distinctive alcohol from the Caribbean  used to make a hurricane:

a.     Jamaican rum

17.  A very fast hare:

a.     jack rabbit

Wuzzle

• He’s left in the lurch
• Half mast
• Tucson, Arizona [2’s on AZ]

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺