May 18


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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
1642 - Montreal Canada founded
1652 - Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France
1863 - Siege of Vicksburg, MS
1897 - Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published
1917 - US passes Selective Service Act
1933 - Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams
1980 - Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die
1998 - United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft
♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 
Free Rambling Thoughts   
Red Flag Warning for all of Arizona. Wind didn’t help the almost 29,000 acres (about 46 sq miles)on fire in AZ. There are 5 separate fires in central AZ and all continue to grow. Thankfully no one has been seriously injured. Old mining towns are in danger. No rain in the forecast but even higher winds than today are expected through the weekend.

OMG…Rednecks, bigots, and racists must be freaking…as of today, for the first time in our US History, more minority babies are born everyday than white babies. As I was working on my Master’s degree we learned that this day would come in our lifetime. I don’t see this as anything to worry about myself, but I do know there are a lot of minorities who are not happy about the way ‘whites’ have treated them. I hope the racists who are white realize the silliness and stop their foolish diatribes.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)
Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle
Given two sentences each sentence has two blanks. A word starting with "UP" goes in the first blank. Move the "UP" to the end, and you'll get a familiar two-word phrase that goes in the second blank to complete the sentence.
For example: "These are important principles to ___________ , so don't __________ the march of progress."
The answer would be: "These are important principles to "UPHOLD", so don't "HOLD UP the march of progress."
1.      The daily ­­­____ of a castle is expensive and it’s hard for even a Nobleman to ____ with the bills:
2.     The embattled executive remained ____ despite being pretty ____ by the press:
3.     It the dull witted employee is slow-witted on the ____ this is an issue you should ____ with his boss:
4.     The rubber band slipped off the end of the balloon with the ____ being ____ in the air:
5.     The short-tempered hostess was ____ when she discovered the caterer couldn’t ____ for the meal:
6.     The prospective groom admired his bride’s ____ nose until pre-rhinoplasty pictures showed up in a family album:  

Riddle of the day
Poke your fingers in my eyes and I will open wide my jaws. Linen cloth, quills, or paper, my greedy lust devours them all.
Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     
Harper’s Index         
Percentage of workers with only a high school diploma who received employer-based health insurance in 1979:70
Percentage of workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher who receive it today: 66
Found on You Tube 
       
Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day
A sweet little boy surprised his grandmother one morning and brought her a cup of coffee. He made it himself and was so proud. He anxiously waited to hear the verdict on the quality of the coffee. The grandmother had never in her life had such a bad cup of coffee, and as she forced down the last sip she noticed three of those little green army guys in the bottom of the cup. She asked, "Honey, why would three little green army guys be in the bottom of my cup?" Her grandson replied, "You know grandma, it's like on TV, 'The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.'"
Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
It takes 16 praying mantis egg cases per acre to keep other insects under control.
Yeah, It Really Happened
CHAPMAN, Ala. -- An Alabama woman who lost her class ring more than 40 years ago said she was shocked when her son-in-law found it after less than 10 minutes of searching. Betty Black said she thought she would never see the Georgiana High School class ring again after she lost it while playing softball in Chapman 43 years ago, but her son-in-law, Wendell Watkins, decided to take another look at the plot of land, which he now owns. "I walked out on the land and tried to figure out how the softball field was laid out," Watkins said. "I found the pitchers mound and then figured out where the backstop was. I was out there for 10 minutes and I saw something that looked out of place in the dirt. I yelled to my kids, I found it. They were like, 'no way, not that fast.'" However, Watkins said he brushed the dirt off the ring and soon positively identified it as his mother-in-law's long-lost keepsake. "He put his fingers in his pocket, and brought out the ring, I almost had a seizure and I was crying," Black said of when Watkins gave her the ring back. 
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • An adult bedbug can survive up to one year without feeding.
  • Ants are social insects and live in colonies which may have as many as 500,000 individuals.
  • Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.
  • People are more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas.
  • The venom of a female black widow spider is more potent than that of a rattlesnake.
  • The buzz that you hear when a bee approaches is the sound of its four wings moving at 11,400 strokes per minute. Bees fly an average of 15 miles per hour.

Calendar Information        
…Happening This Week:
12-19 
National Tourism Week
National Nursing Home Week
Reading is Fun Week
Salute to Moms 35+ Week
National Return To Work Week
National Women's Health Week
American Craft Beer Week
National Bike to Work Week
National Etiquette Week
National Hospital Week
15-21
National Dog Bite Prevention Week
National Educational Bosses' Week
National New Friends, Old Friends Week
National Police Week
National Transportation Week
World Trade Week
EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week

Today Is                                                                      
Bats Day
Endangered Species Day
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
I Love Reeses Day
International Museum Day
International Virtual Assistants Day
Mother Whistler Day
NASCAR Day
National Bike to Work Day
National Defense Transportation Day
National Pizza Party Day
Turn Beauty Inside Out Day
Visit Your Relatives Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1000’s
1096 – Crusader’s massacre Jews of Worm
à
1200’s
1291 - Sultan of Egypt & his son take last Christian stronghold of Acre
1300’s
1302 - Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia
à
1500’s
1593 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe
1600’s
1631 - English colony Massachusetts Bay grants Puritan voting right; John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts
1661: Captain John Odber is order by the Maryland General Assembly to take fifty men and go to the "Susquesahannough Forte." According to a treaty signed on May 16th, Maryland is required to help protect the Susquehannocks from raids by the Seneca. Odber’s force is to fulfill that part of the treaty
à
1800’s
1839: General Alexander Macomb announces the peace terms with the Seminoles. The Seminoles are able to stay in Florida, if they remain near Lake Okechobee
1852 - Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school
1896 - US Supreme court affirms race separation (Plessy v Ferguson)
1896 - Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people
1900’s
1910 - Passage of Earth through tail of Halley's Comet causes near-panic
1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished in Venice California She showed up a month later & said she had been kidnapped
1953 - 1st woman to break sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA)
1964 - Supreme Court rules unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they return to home country for more than 3 years
1974 - India becomes 6th nation to explode an atomic bomb
1992 - Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs
2000’s
2006 - The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country
2009 - Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Remembered for being born on this day
Frank Capra, Italian director (Its a Wonderful Life, Arsenic & Old Lace) in 1897
Perry Como, [Pierino], Canonsburg Pa, singer/TV (Perry Como Show ) in 1912
James Donald, Aberdeen Scotland, actor (Bridge on River Kwai, Vikings)in 1917
Pernell Roberts, Waycross Ga, actor (Adam-Bonanza, Trapper John MD)in 1928
Bertrand Russell, England, mathematician/philosopher (Nobel 1950) in 1872
 [Robert] Meredith Willson, Mason City Iowa, composer ( Music Man) in 1902
John Paul II, [Karol Wojtyla], Wadowice, Poland, 264th Roman Catholic Pope (1978-2005) in 1920
In their 90’s
Bill Macy, Revere Mass, actor (Walter-Maude, Oh! Calcutta) is 90
à
In their 70’s
Dwayne Hickman, LA, actor (Dobie Gillis, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini) is 78
In their 60’s
Reggie Jackson, "Mr October" baseball right fielder (Yankees, A's) is 66
George Strait, Pearsall Tx, country singer ( All My Exes Live in Texas)is 60
In their 50’s
Chow Yun-Fat, Hong Kong, actor (Better Tomorrow) is 57
In their 40’s
Tina Fey, American writer/actress/comedian is 42

Today’s Obits                                                           
Jill Ireland, actress (Carry on Nurse, Family), dies of cancer in 1990 at 54
David A. Johnston, a U.S. Volcanologist, a victim of Mount St. Helens eruption dies in 1980 at 30
Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (Children's Death Songs), dies of defective heart valve in 1911 at 50
Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (Bewitched), dies of cancer in 1995 at 62

Answers                                                                                                                                            
Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day
SCISSORS/ SHEARS
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.      The daily ­­­____ of a castle is expensive and it’s hard for even a Nobleman to ____ with the bills: upkeep, keep up
2.     The embattled executive remained ____ despite being pretty ____ by the press: upbeat, beat up
3.     It the dull witted employee is slow-witted on the ____ this is an issue you should ____ with his boss: uptake, take up
4.     The rubber band slipped off the end of the balloon with the ____ being ____ in the air: upshot, shot up
5.     The short-tempered hostess was ____ when she discovered the caterer couldn’t ____ for the meal: upset, set up
6.     The prospective groom admired his bride’s ____ nose until pre-rhinoplasty pictures showed up in a family album:  upturned, turned up
Anagrams

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  ☺

May 17


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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
1536: Anne Boleyn’s 4 "lovers" executed
1620: 1st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)
1629: According to a deed, Sagamore Indians, including Passaconaway, sell a piece of land in what becomes Middlesex County, Massachusetts
1845: Rubber band patents
1875: 1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75
1883: Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st Wild West show premieres in Omaha
1926: Chiang Kai-shek is made supreme war lord in Canton
1944: General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th
1932: Congress changes name "Porto Rico" (Italian) to "Puerto Rico" (Spanish)
1971: Washington State bans sex discrimination

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 
Free Rambling Thoughts   
We had a great lunch at my favorite Mexican place in Flagstaff. Mary and Cheryl both have doctor’s appointments tomorrow. We are all enjoying the really great weather we’ve been having.

Central AZ mountains are ablaze from 4 huge lightning caused fires. Our humidity has been below 10% for the past week. The winds are not helping at all. A big weather change—more wind with no rise in humidity—is expected tomorrow thru most of the weekend. It is wonderful to live in a forest, except during fire season. So difficult for those who are evacuated and may return to their areas to find nothing but ashes.

The low humidity has been playing havoc with me too. I have to slather up twice a day with a special cream to avoid dry itchy skin. I have also had to turn on my bedroom humidifier every night for the past week. To all those from outside AZ who believe that AZ is a dry heat…let me tell you, that is correct but dry heat is not that pleasant either. We are not hot here in Flag, but we have been dry and everyone is complaining of dry skin…especially arms and legs. Luckily the cream I use is better than the tons of creams and lotions out on the market, and it doesn’t take that much. Until the humidity rises some, I considering giving up my daily hot shower…but things are that bad yet.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)
Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle
Every answer is a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase in which the first part has a long I vowel sound and the second part has a long O sound. Both parts have just one syllable. For example, given "a small pink flower growing in a field," the answer would be "wild rose."
1.      The fruit of an evergreen tree:
2.     Sign on a semi-trailer carrying a house down a highway:
3.     Sound you hear when picking up a telephone receiver:
4.     Set of safety specifications for a building:
5.     Half a round of golf:
6.     Something a circus performer walks on:
7.     Browned bread that is not wheat, rye or pumpernickel:
8.     A small emergency vessel at sea:
9.     A swimming style where the feet do a scissors kick:
10.  Like some of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tales:
11.    What the pyramids of Egypt are made of:
12.   Area a pitcher aims for:
13.   Complete this: There is no place ___ ___ :

Riddle of the day
A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man.
Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     
Harper’s Index         
Factor by which a person experiencing long-term unemployment is more likely to report first instance of mental illness: 3
Found on You Tube 
Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day
A widower who never paid any attention to his wife while she was alive now found himself missing her desperately. He went to a psychic to see if he could contact his late wife. The psychic went into a trance. A strange breeze wafted through the darkened room, and suddenly, the man heard the unmistakable voice of his dearly departed wife. "Honey!" he cried. "Is that you?" "Yes, my husband."
"Are you happy?"
"Yes, my husband."
"Happier than you were with me?"
"Yes, my husband."
"Then Heaven must be an amazing place!"
"I'm not in Heaven, dear."

Yeah, It Really Happened
SEOUL -- Lego officials in South Korea announced the crown prince of Denmark placed the final brick on the world's largest Lego tower, measuring 104 feet, 8 inches tall. Lego Korea said the tower, which was built in Seoul during the weekend by 4,000 young contest winners (with lots of time on their hands), was planned to mark the 80th anniversary of the Lego group. The final brick defeated the previous world record of 103 feet, 8 inches, which was set in France.            
Somewhat Useless Information   
Clouds are made up of many millions of miniscule water droplets which are formed when moist warm air rises up into the sky and is then cooled down. If the cloud is very cold it means that it is made up of ice crystals. It takes somewhere between a few minutes and 1 hour for a cloud to be created.
In 1803 a classification of clouds was made up by Luke Howard (born 1772, died 1864) who used Latin words to describe their characteristics: Cirrus - tufts or whisps, Stratus - a layer, Nimbus - rain bearing, Cumulus - a heap or pile.

Calendar Information        
…Happening This Week:
10-16
Universal Family Week
12-19 
National Tourism Week
National Nursing Home Week
Reading is Fun Week
Salute to Moms 35+ Week
National Return To Work Week
National Women's Health Week
American Craft Beer Week
National Bike to Work Week
National Etiquette Week
National Hospital Week
15-21
EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week
National Dog Bite Prevention Week
National Educational Bosses' Week
National New Friends, Old Friends Week
National Police Week
National Transportation Week
World Trade Week

Today Is                                                                      
Pack Rat Day
World Hypertension Day
World Information Society Day
World Telecommunications Day

Norway: Syttende Mai (Constitution Day—1814) translation: May 17

Today’s Other Events                                                             
Before 1000CE
218: 7th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
à
1500’s
1590: Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland
1600’s
1673: Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joilet begin their expedition from the "Straights of Michilimackinac." Eventually, they explore much of the Mississippi River
1700’s
1733: England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions
1800’s
1804: Lewis & Clark begin exploration of Louisiana Purchase
1814: Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian
1881: Revised version of New Testament
1884: Alaska becomes a US territory
1900’s
1904: Maurice Ravel's  "Shéhérazade," premieres in Paris
1909: White firemen on Georgia RR strike to protest hiring blacks
1915: National Baptist Convention chartered
1916: British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), 1st introduced
1928: 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam
1946: Pres Harry Truman seizes control of nation's railroads to delay a strike
1949: British government recognizes Republic of Ireland
1954: Supreme Court unanimously rules on Brown v Topeka Board of Education reversed 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy Vs Ferguson decision
1959: Sam Snead sets PGA record for 36 holes at 122
1961: Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers
1970: Thor Heyerdahl crosses Atlantic on reed raft Ra
1973: Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of My Love"
1973: US performs 3 nuclear tests at Rifle Colorado
1979: 12°F (-11°C), on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (state record)
1980: Major race riot in Miami Florida: 16 killed, 300 injured
1984: Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
1989: Nelson Mandela receives a BA from University of South Africa
2000’s
2004: Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage
2006: The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to be an artificial reef
2007: Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Remembered for being born on this day
Archibald Cox, special prosecutor (Watergate) in 1912
Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer in 1868
Dennis Hopper, actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider) in 1936
Edward Jenner, England, physician, discovered vaccination in 1749
Maureen O'Sullivan, Boyle Ireland, actress (Tarzan, Pride & Prejudice) in 1911
Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate in 1682
à
In their 70’s
Taj Mahal (Henry Saint Clair Fredericks,) Blues singer/songwriter (Real Thing) is 70
à
In their 50’s
Craig Ferguson, Glasgow, Scottish actor, writer and comedian is 50
Sugar Ray [Charles] Leonard, Rocky Mount North Carolina, boxer (Olympics-gold-76) is 56
Jim Nantz, American broadcaster (CBS)is  53
Bill Paxton,  actor (Brain Dead, True Lies; TV: Big Love) is 57
Bob Saget, comedian (Full House, America's Funniest Home Video)is 56
à
In their 30’s
Tony Parker, French-American basketball player (Spurs)is 30
Under 30 years old
Derek Hough, American dancer and singer (DWTS)is 27

Today’s Obits                                                           
Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi), painter (Birth of Venus), dies in 1510 at about 65
John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States dies in 1875 of cirrhosis at 54
Frank Gorshin, American actor dies in 2005 of emphysema at 72
John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States in 1829 at 83
Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player dies of cancer in 2011 at 74
Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, 1st US woman free balloon pilot, dies in 1981 at 86
Lawrence Welk, conductor/accordionist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies of pneumonia in 1992 at 89

Answers                                                                                                                                            
Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day
RAIN
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.      The fruit of an evergreen tree: pine cone
2.     Sign on a semi-trailer carrying a house down a highway: wide load
3.     Sound you hear when picking up a telephone receiver: dial tone
4.     Set of safety specifications for a building: fire code
5.     Half a round of golf: nine hole
6.     Something a circus performer walks on: tight rope
7.     Browned bread that is not wheat, rye or pumpernickel: white toast
8.     A small emergency vessel at sea: life boat
9.     A swimming style where the feet do a scissors kick: side stoke
10.  Like some of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tales: twice told
11.    What the pyramids of Egypt are made of: limestone
12.   Area a pitcher aims for: strike zone
13.   Complete this: There is no place ___ ___ : like home

Anagrams

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  ☺

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.