July 20

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

Flagstaff Almanac

Week: 29 Day: 202

Today: High   80°…Low 57°

Records: High   92° (1989)…Low 34° (1987)

Averages: High   81°…Low 52°

Wind:   8mph;  Gusts: 10mph

Partly Cloudy…rain on the way  Today’s humidity:  25%

Quote of the Day

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

2005 - Canada becomes the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the bill C-38 receives its Royal Assent

1998 - Two hundred aid workers from CARE International, Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups leave Afghanistan on orders of the Taliban

1984 - Vanessa Williams is asked to resign as Miss America

1973 - The US Senate passes the War Powers Act

1969 - 1st men on Moon, Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin Jr, Apollo 11

1968 - Iron Butterfly's "In-a-gadda-da-vida" becomes 1st heavy metal song to hit charts

1964 - 1st surfin' record to go #1-Jan & Dean's "Surf City"

1944 - Pres FDR nominated for an unprecedented 4th term at Dem convention

1933 - Vatican state secretary Pacelli (Pius XII) signs accord with Hitler

1927 - Lindbergh begins NY flight (Spirit of St Louis)

1926 - A convention of the Methodist Church votes to allow women to become priests

1881 - Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull, surrenders to federal troops

1855 - 1st train from Rotterdam to Utrecht in Netherlands

1749 - Earl of Chesterfield says "Idleness is only refuge of weak minds"

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

                   

 Free Rambling Thoughts   

A great day in Flag, cooler than expected, a little cloudy, looked like rain and even smelled like rain, but none fell on this side of town.

I got a call from Focus Travel today. Ellie and fellow travelers who went to Victoria Falls are safely home…after 42 hours of straight travel without a hotel. So glad I didn’t add Vic Falls to my agenda. Hopefully everyone had as good a time as I did, and I look forward to our next adventure together. I’ll send out my Photo Contest stuff tomorrow, as soon as Ellie sends me the Welcome Home email. Not sure about the Uganda airline trip through Dubai…it may change a little, by adding a night in Dubai for a little sleep before the return to the US. For those who travel the whole trip back to Denver that would certainly help. Time will tell, and I’ll still be spending a night in Houston, no matter what everyone else does. I’m back on a good Flag schedule finally as I didn’t wake up till 6am this morning.

I should mention that the My Latest Adventure are actual pictures I took on my recent HLO Tours/Focus Travel trip to Kenya and Tanzania with a stopover in Dubai. I will also be doing a separate blog and a couple of slide shows that will show up on YouTube sometime in the next few weeks. It was a great trip and couldn’t wait to share them so this is a sneak peak.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

What is the answer?

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, and the only food she had for her ten children was six potatoes. How did she make sure that each child had an equal share?

5X5 Word Boxes

The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 5 letters.

1.    around

2.    anchorage place

3.    talk pompously

4.    speak

5.    not here

Hint: upper left to lower right is: A-E-A-E-E

Lifestyle  Substance     

My Latest Adventure—

One Hit Wonders of the 1950’s

• Harlem Nocturne…Viscounts…1966

• Elusive Butterfly…Bob Lind…1966

• Cool Jerk…The Capitols…1966

• The Cheater…Bob Kuban and the In-Men…1966

Harper’s Index         

Chances that an employed American works in the service industry: 6 of 7

Found on You Tube 

• The Ice Cream Truck Song

• ICE CREAM SONG
       

Joke-of-the-day

Two Alaskans were walking in the woods when they came upon some tracks.
The first said, "You know, those look like deer tracks."The other said, "No, silly, those are moose tracks." They were still arguing about it when a train hit them.

Bonus

A doctor broke the bad news to a man, that his wife would have to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “I’m afraid her mind’s completely gone,” he said. “Makes sense,” mumbled the man. “She’s been giving me a piece of it every day for the last 15 years.”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

On a cold day, soaking wet blue jeans will draw heat from your lower body twice as fast as wearing no pants at all.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - Police in Florida said a man who broke into a Pizza Hut store took two cases of mozzarella cheese when he was unable to open the cash register. Altamonte Springs police said the shoeless bandit was recorded on surveillance video at 2 a.m. June 9 breaking into the store by smashing the glass of the front door with a crowbar and attempting to open a cash register by slamming it on the ground, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Tuesday. Police said the man was unable to open the register and then proceeded to the kitchen, where he took two cases of mozzarella cheese before leaving the store. Police said they are attempting to identify the burglar.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• America is the ice cream capital of the world, producing more than 1.5 gallons of ice cream per year.

• Vanilla is the most popular flavor in the United States, pulling in 20-29 percent of all ice cream sales.

• Ice cream sandwiches and fudge sticks are the most popular ice cream novelties.

• Pecans are the most popular nut and strawberries are the most popular fruit added to ice cream.

• About 9 percent of all the milk produced in the United States is used to produce ice cream.

• Premium ice cream is the most popular with consumers, but it has a higher fat content than regular ice cream.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

15-21

National Parenting Gifted Children Week
*Rabbit Week
Captive Nations Week
National Independent Retailers Week
National Zoo Keeper Week

18-21

Baby Food Festival
National Ventriloquism Week

18-25

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week:

Today Is                                                                      

National Lollipop Day

Moon Day (1969…Man's First Lunar Landing)
* Colombia Independence Day (1810 from Spain) 

* Islamic Calendar: Ramadan begins

Today’s Events Through History  

2000’s

2000 - The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are 

             indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering

2000 - In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members

            for the first time in a decade

1900’s

1989 - Burma government puts author Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest

1982 - Bombs planted by Irish Republican Army explode in 2 London parks

1977 - The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of 

             Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments

1976 - Hank Aaron hits 755th & last home run off Angels Dick Drago

1976 - Vietnam War: The US military completes its troop withdrawal from Thailand

1960 - Sirima Bandaranaike becomes 1st female premier of Ceylon

1956 - Great Britain refuses to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam 

1956 - Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford ties AL record of 6 straight strike-outs

1954 - Armistice for Indo-China signed, Vietnam separates into North & South

1953 - The United Nations Economic and Social Council votes to make UNICEF 

             a permanent agency

1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending 

            Friday prayers in Jerusalem

1944 - Death March of 1,200 Jews from Lipcani Moldavia begins

1940 - Billboard publishes its 1st singles record chart (#1 is "I'll Never Smile Again" by 

            Tommy Dorsey)

1928 - The government of Hungary issues a decree ordering Gypsies to end their 

             nomadic ways, settle permanently in one place, and subject themselves to the

             same laws and taxes as other Hungarians

1924 - Teheran, Persia comes under martial law after the American vice consul, 

             Robert Imbrie, is killed by a religious mob enraged by rumors he had poisoned

             a fountain and killed several people

1921 - Congresswoman Alice Mary Robertson became the first woman to preside

            over the US House of Representatives

1917 - WW I draft lottery held; #258 is 1st drawn

1800’s

1878 - 1st telephone introduced in Hawaii

1876 - 1st US intercollegiate track meet held, Saratoga, NY; Princeton wins

1871 - British Columbia becomes 6th Canadian province

1868 - 1st use of tax stamps on cigarettes

1861 - Confederate state's congress began holding sessions in Richmond, Va

1808 - Napoleon decrees all French Jews adopt family names

1801 - Elisha Brown Jr pressed a 1,235 pound cheese ball at his farm

1700’s

1773 - Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)

1738 - North America: French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan

1600’s

1676 - Captain Benjamin Church has been joined by the Sakonett Indians, in the war 

            with King Philip. They attack Philip's main camp, and almost capture Philip. His 

            wife and child are captured. They are sold as slaves. As many as 170 Indians 

            are killed in the fighting.

1654 - Anglo-Portuguese treaty, Portugal comes under English control

1500’s

1528 - After spending almost a month in the Apalachee village of Ivitachuco, the 

            Narvaez expedition leaves. They set out in their quest for gold looking for the

            village of Aute, near present day St. Marks. Accompanying Narvaez is Aztec 

            Prince Tetlahuehuetzquititzin. The Prince, also known as Don Pedro, fought with

            the Spanish against Montezuma. He is killed by Apalachee warriors during this

            search for gold.

1300’s

1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of 

            England takes the last rebel stronghold of the war

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Under 30

Julianne Hough, ballroom dancer (DWTS) is 24

In their 40’s

Josh Holloway, TV Actor (Lost) is 43

Sandra Oh, Korean Canadian actress will be 41

In their 50’s

Donna Dixon, American actress is 55

In their 60’s

Kim Carnes, Pasadena Ca, rock vocalist (Bette Davis Eyes) is 66

John Lodge, Birmingham, bassist (Moody Blues-Nights in White Satin) is 67

Carlos Santana, Mexico, rock guitarist (Santana-Black Magic Woman) is 65

In their 70’s

Nelson Doubleday, publisher (Doubleday)/owner (NY Mets) is 79

Diana Rigg, actress (Emma Peel-Avengers, Hospital)will be 74

In their 80’s

Thomas Berger, US, novelist (Vital Parts, Little Big Man) is 88

Remembered for being born today

Alexander the Great, Pella Macedon, Macedonian king and military leader - 356BC

Edmund Hillary, Auckland NZ, Explorer and Mountaineer (1st to scale Mt Everest with

        Tenzing Norgay) - 1919

Max Liebermann, German impressionist painter - 1847

Gregor Mendel, Austrian Empire, monk/geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity) - 

         1822

Natalie Wood, [Natasha Gurdin], SF, (Gypsy, Rebel Without a Cause) - 1938

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker), American televangelist dies of cancer at 65 - 2007

Richard Egan, actor (Big Cube, Amsterdam Kill), dies of prostate cancer at 63 - 1987

Jim [James] Fixx, jogger/writer (Jim Fixx on Running), dies of heart attack at 52 - 1984

Andrew Lang, Scottish author (Blue Book of Fairy Tales) dies of angina pectoris at 68 -

         1912

Bruce Lee, [Lee Yuen Kam], actor (Enter the Dragon), dies of cerebral edema at 32 -

          1973

Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author, president of the International Olympic Committee 

          dies at 73 - 1908

Pancho Villa, [Doroteo Arango], Mexican rebel, murdered at 45 -1923

Answers                                                                                                                                            

What is the answer?

She made mashed potatoes and served them with a spoon.

5X5 boxes

ABOUT

BERTH

ORATE

UTTER

THERE

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  ☺

July 19

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

Flagstaff Almanac

Week: 29 Day:  201

Today: High   80°…Low 49°

Records: High   93°(2005)…Low 42°(1940)

Averages: High   81°…Low 52°

Few clouds around horizon /  Today’s humidity:  20%

Quote of the Day

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1996 - XXVI Olympic games open in Atlanta Georgia

1982 - David S Dodge becomes 1st American hostage in Lebanon

1979 - 2 supertankers collide off Tobago-260,000 TONS of oil spill

1961 - 1st in-flight movie shown (TWA)

1956 - US refuse to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam

1928 - King Fuad of Egypt grabs power/disbands parliament

1912 - A meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg explodes over the town of Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona causing approximately 16,000 pieces of debris to rain down on the town

1877 - 1st Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Spencer W Gore beats Marshall (61 62 64)

1860 - 1st railroad reaches Kansas

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

                    

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A nice day in Flag, but alas no rain. Guess we just have to live with great weather.

Started going through the vacation mail today…too much junk mail for sure. Strange that bills keep coming even when you are out of the country.

Conspiracy theories are alive and well in AZ and the US. I must admit, in my youth, I was horrified by the assassination of JFK when I was in 9^th grade. When I was in college the many conspiracy theories were alive and well on the incident. Then the ‘We never went to the moon’ conspiracy theories caught my attention. Now that I am older, I think that it was just a way to wrap around something—either bad or good—that seemed impossible to believe. The current conspiracy theory about Obama’s birth or religion seems for some just impossible to believe that America could legitimately elect a biracial or Black president who had a Muslim father. Sheriff Joe announced that he believes that he has the evidence to prove that Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud. He made national news, but thankfully, most news organizations also mentioned that his ‘facts’ really don’t fit together. Then there is Michelle Bachman, a Representative from MN, who is now claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood have infiltrated the government through Secretary Clinton’s office. Even John McCain has condemned her statement. I understand that in the US everyone can say and believe just about anything. What many of the conspiracy theorists don’t realize is that it is 2012, not 1950 with McCarthyism. What they say is heard around the world in seconds. Our allies basically understand our Freedom of Speech and deal with diplomats. The everyday citizen of our allies may not understand the intricacies of our government anymore than our everyday citizen understands the intricacies of their government. Our enemies love this stuff…and freely share it with their citizens. As shown in Mrs. Clinton’s recent visit to Egypt and the crowd’s tomatoes and shoes, these conspiracy theories are head by everyday people who believe them. Egypt is our friend but doesn’t like hearing that we are involved in their politics. Decades ago the phrase ‘loose lips sink ships’ warned everyone. It’s time to rethink what ‘news’ we are sending around the world…I still have lots of places to visit.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

What is the answer?

Rearrange the following letters to give two different 9-letter words.

A  C  C  E  H  I  M  N  S

5X5 Word Boxes

The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 5 letters.

1.     unpopular poker play
2.     board game with 16 X 16 grid
3.     the previous generation
4.     fix
5.     late
HINT: upper left to lower right letters are: C A N D Y

Lifestyle  Substance     

My Latest Adventure—

One Hit Wonders of the 1960’s

• Baby, the Rain Must Fall
…Glenn Yarbourgh…1965

• Everyone’s Gone to the Moon
…Jonathan King…1965

• They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Haha
…Napoleon XIV…1966

• Psychotic Reaction
…Count Five…1966

Harper’s Index         

Amount Miami’s Miller School of Medicine pays female ‘professional patients’ for each student breast or pelvic exam: $40

Found on You Tube 

Classic Commercial Jingles 50's 60's       

Joke-of-the-day

 1. Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal." 2. After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the Flight Attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal." 3. Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of US Airways."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

When sleeping on long airplane rides, always tuck your blanket under your seatbelt, this will prevent the flight attendants from waking you up to check.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - Police in Florida said a man who broke into a Pizza Hut store took two cases of mozzarella cheese when he was unable to open the cash register. Altamonte Springs police said the shoeless bandit was recorded on surveillance video at 2 a.m. June 9 breaking into the store by smashing the glass of the front door with a crowbar and attempting to open a cash register by slamming it on the ground, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Tuesday. Police said the man was unable to open the register and then proceeded to the kitchen, where he took two cases of mozzarella cheese before leaving the store. Police said they are attempting to identify the burglar.               

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The Coca-Cola jingle "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" was reworked into a proper song and released in 1971. But it wasn't until the release of the accompanying TV commercial, featuring a crowd of young people singing the tune on a hilltop, that the jingle got any real airplay. Two versions of the song ended up hitting the Top 20.

• The voices who sing radio station IDs belong to the Johnny Mann Singers. The vocal group records jingles for stations across the country from a studio in Dallas, Texas.

• The deep voice that says, "Ho, ho, ho," in the Green Giant jingle belongs to singer Elmer "Leon" Dresslar Jr. The baritone first recorded those three syllables in 1959 and continued to receive checks for his effort up until his death in 2005.

• In order for a sound to be trademarked, it must be inherently distinctive and unique and must also indicate to the consumer the source of the product. NBC's three-tone station-ID jingle was trademarked in 1950, the first sound to be so patented.

• For the Meow Mix commercial jingle, Ralston Purina's ad agency used some film footage of a mewing cat, which they proceeded to loop backward, forward, and backward again in order to stretch it out to 30 seconds.

• Barry Manilow wrote commercial jingles to pay the bills before his recording career took off. Some of his best-known compositions include "I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" and "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

15-21

Captive Nations Week
Rabbit Week
National Independent Retailers Week

National Parenting Gifted Children Week
National Zoo Keeper Week

18-21

Baby Food Festival
National Ventriloquism Week

18-25

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week:

Today Is                                                                      

Flitch Day: Beginning in 15th century, the monks offered a "flitch" of bacon as prize for any married couple who could prove to a jury of bachelors and maidens that they had lived together in harmony and fidelity for the past year

Get to Know Your Customers Day

New Moon

Nicaragua: National Liberation Day (marks the day that the National Liberation Army defeated the Somoza dictatorships in the Nicaraguan Revolution; 1979)  

Today’s Events Through History  

1900’s

1991 - Cal Ripken plays in his 1,500th consecutive game

1990 - Richard Nixon library opens in Yorba Linda, CA

1980 - 22nd modern Olympic games opens in Moscow; US & others boycott

1976 - Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created

1969 - Apollo 11 goes into Moon orbit

1957 - Don Bowden becomes 1st American to break 4 minute mile (3m58s7)

1952 - 15th modern Olympic games opens in Helsinki, Finland

1949 - Laos becomes associated state within French Union

1941 - 1st US Army flying school for black cadets dedicated (Tuskegee Ala)

1941 - British PM Winston Churchill launched his "V for Victory" campaign

1939 - 1st use of fiberglass sutures, R P Scholz, St Louis, Mo

1927 - Ty Cobb gets his 4,000th hit

1800’s

1899 - National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, forms

1879 - Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up his New Mexico saloon

1867 - Reconstruction enacted

1866 - Tennessee is 1st to ratify 14th Amendment, guaranteeing civil rights

1848 - 1st US women's rights convention (Seneca Falls NY)

1836 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Ascension

1820 - The Kickapoo sign a treaty (7 Stat., 208.) at St. Louis. Auguste Chouteau and Benjamin Stephenson represent the United States of America. Twenty-eight Kickapoo make their marks on the document.

1700’s

1799 - A group of Napoleon Bonaparte's soldiers discover what is now known as The Rosetta Stone, enabling the translation of hieroglyphics for the first time

1600’s

1674 - Court of Holland bans books of Hobbes/Spinoza/Meyer

1500’s

1553 - 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey deposed as England's Queen after 9 days

1510 - 38 Jews are burned at stake in Berlin Prussia

Before 1000CE

695: Maya King Waxaklahun Ubah K’awil ascends to the throne at Copán, Honduras

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 50’s

Anthony Edwards, actor (It Takes Two, Dr Greene-ER) is 50

In their 60’s

Beverly Archer, Oak Park Ill, actress (Iola-Mama's Family) is 64

Commander Cody (George Frayne), singer/pianist (Commander Cody & Lost Planet Airmen) is 68

In their 70’s

Vikki Carr [Florencia Vicenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona)], El Paso Texas, singer (Let it Be Him) is 72

Remembered

Lizzie Borden, Fall River Massachusetts, accused murderer  - 1860

Giuseppe Castiglione, Italian Jesuit missionary to China - 1688

Samuel Colt, Hartford Connecticut, US inventor/industrialist (Colt 6 shot revolver)  - 1814

A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer (Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years)  - 1896

Max Fleischer, Austrian animator and film producer (Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye…)  - 1883

Juan José Flores, military and first president of Ecuador in 1800

Pat Hingle, Denver Colo, actor (Baby Boom, Norma Rae, Bloody Mama)  - 1924

Charles Horace Mayo, surgeon/co-founder (Mayo Clinic)  - 1865

George McGovern, (Sen-D-SD)/pres candidate (D-1972)  - 1922

Charles Edward Pickering, pioneered American spectroscopist  - 1846

Seraphim of Sarov, Russian Orthodox Saint  - 1759

Today’s Obits                                                           

Ernest H Baillon, French botanist (History of Plants), dies in 1895 at 67

Joe Flynn, actor (McHale's Navy), dies of accidental drowning in 1974 at 49

Lefty Frizzell, American country music singer and songwriter dies of stroke in 1975 at 47

Alan Lomax, American folksong collector dies in 2002 at 87

Frank McCourt, Irish-American author dies in 2009 at 78

Aung San, Burmese nationalist, father of current Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San, assassinated in 1947 at 32

William Somervile, English poet dies in 1742 at 67

Jack Warden, American TV and movie actor dies in 2006 at 85

Earl Warren, gov of Calif/Supreme court justice (1953-68), dies in 1974 at 83

Answers                                                                                                                                            

What is the answer?

mechanics, mischance

5X5 boxes

CHEAT

HALMA

ELDEN

AMEND

TARDY

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  ☺