Dec 31 New Year's Eve

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 52/ Day: 366   

Today: H   30°…L 10° Averages: H  42° L 17° Records: H   62°(1917)…L -16°(1911)

Wind: ave:   4mph; Gusts:  25mph  ave. humidity:  62%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

1st Huguenots depart France to Cape of Good Hope: 1687
1st New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as      Longacre Square: 19041st time a ball drops at Times Square to signal new year: 1907
22,990 mm [901.5”] of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam, India world record: 1861
60 U boats sunk this month (330,000 ton) :1942Bank of North America, 1st US bank opens: 1781
Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip :1995
Charles Darrow patents Monopoly :1935
CNN Headline News debuts: 1981
Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US) : 1879
Jockeys W Shoemaker & Joe Culmone set record of 388 wins in a year: 1950
Willie Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year: 1953
Window tax is imposed in England, many shopkeepers brick up windows      to avoid the tax: 1695

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

 Returns in the new year

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

Well, it’s that last day of 2012. Looking forward to 2013. Personally, it was a good year all around but I certainly feel for the poor, the sick, and the hungry. Here’s some stuff others remember of 2012:Top Googled stories of 2012

1. Hurricane Sandy2. Kate Middleton pictures released3. Olympics 20124. SOPA debate5. Costa Concordia crash6. Presidential Debate7. Stratosphere jump8. Penn State scandal9. Trayvon Martin shooting10. Pussy Riot

Yahoo year in review

#1 Election 2012#2 Whitney Houston#3 Hurricane Sandy#4 Gas prices#5 Trayvon Martin case#6 Colorado shooting#7 Jerry Sandusky trial#8 Joran van der Sloot#9 Connecticut school shootings#10 Miami cannibal attack

It was a good day for the Broncos as they heard to the playoffs…not a good day for the Cards as they head for the showers. Snow is just starting to fall on our little mountain town.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

 The children put on galoshes to go out in the rain. 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• Floyd Cramer - Last Date

• Ricky Nelson - Travelin' Man 1961

• Henri Matisse

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

Picture of the Day:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who built India's Taj Mahal as a memorial for his favorite wife, intended to build his own grand mausoleum next to the Taj, but he was overthrown and imprisoned by one of his sons before construction began.

Harper’s Index:         

• Date on which Grum , a Russian spambot, was taken offline: 7-18-2012

• Percentage of the world’s spam for which Grum was responsible at its peak: 17

Unusual Fact of the Day:

If your morning commute to work is 20 minutes or less, it's below the national average. New Yorkers have some of the longest commutes, averaging 40 minutes.

Joke-of-the-day:

One reason the Military Services have trouble operating jointly is that they don't speak the same language. For example, if you told Navy personnel to "secure a building," they would turn off the lights and lock the doors. The Army would occupy the building so no one could enter. Marines would assault the building, capture it, and defend it with suppressive fire and close combat. The Air Force, on the other hand, would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

SIMULATION COMPLEXITY

If your simulation has N parameters it needs to produce at least N+1 nontrivial    

Yeah, It Really Happened

MOSCOW - A Russian woman told police two other women robbed her by using hypnotism to trick her into handing over $40,000. The Moscow woman told police the thieves approached her after she withdrew the money from her bank account and hypnotized her to convince her to hand over the cash to break a spell placed on her husband and son, RIA Novosti reported Friday. Police said the thieves could face a possible 10 years in jail if they are caught and convicted.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Frank Sinatra always carried a roll of dimes.

• On December 16, 1811, an earthquake caused parts of the Mississippi to appear to flow backwards. 

• The body creates and kills 17 million red blood cells per second.

• The eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano in November 2004 blasted gas emissions so high that airlines were forced to divert their flights.

• The tin can was invented by Peter Durand in 1810. The modern can opener was not invented until 1856. Before the can opener, people used a chisel and hammer to open cans.

• Cows are one of the main contributors to global warming. In the United States, cattle release some 5.5 million metric tons of methane annually.  

Calendar Information        

Happening Next Week:

1-7

New Year's Resolutions Week

Celebration of Life Week

Diet Resolution Week

Silent Record Week

Today Is                                                                       

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day
Make Up Your Mind Day
New Years Eve
No Interruptions Day
Universal Hour of Peace Day
World Peace Meditation Day

Today’s Events through History  

100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily: 1492
1st performance of Beach Boys: 1961
25 U boats sunk this month (81,000 ton) : 1939
37 U boats sunk this month (213,000 ton) :1940Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons: 1841
BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID :1923Bonnie Prince Charlies army meets with de Esk: 1745
Congress authorizes Eisenhower dollar coin :1970General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. Corp to make over      $1 billion USD in a year: 1955
Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states:1783
Indian and British forces, under General Phineas, will attack Buffalo,      New York today. They will burn the small village to the ground. Settlers      will return soon, and rebuild: 1813
James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as      Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island      of Majorca: 1229
Marie Curie receives her 2nd Nobel Prize: 1911
Official opening of Taipei 101, the current tallest skyscraper in the world,      standing at a height of 509 meters (1,670 feet) :2004President Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to the Union: 1862
Ratification of UN Charter completed :1945Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting :1990Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado: 1977
USSR, last day of existence: 1991

Today’s Birthdays                                                            

In their 70’s

Anthony Hopkins, actor (Elephant Man, QB VII, Magic, Bounty) is 75

Andy Summers, Blackpool England, rock guitarist (Police-Roxanne) is 70

In their 60’s

Ben Kingsley [Krishna Pandit Bhanj], actor (Gandhi, Betrayal, Maurice) is 69

Tim Matheson, actor (Animal House, Fletch, Up the Creek) is 65

In their 50’s

Val Kilmer, actor (Top Secret, Top Gun, Willow) is 53

Bebe Neuwirth, actress (Lilith-Cheers, Damn Yankees) is 54

Remembered for being born today

Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (1920-1999)

Elizabeth Arden, Canadian Cosmetic businesswoman (1878-1966)

Pat Brady, Toledo Ohio, actor (Roy Rodgers Show) (1914- alcoholism-1972)

Jacques Cartier, French explorer (1491-1557)

John Denver, NM, singer (Rocky Mt High, thank God he's a country boy) (1943-exp. Plane crash-1997)

Odetta, [Holmes], Birmingham Ala, folk singer (Sanctuary) (1930- heart disease-2008)

Henri Matisse, French impressionist painter (Odalisque), (1869-1954)

Donna Summer, singer (Love to Love You Baby, On the Radio), (1948-lung cancer from 9/11-2012)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

1985 - Rick Nelson, singer/actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet)at 45

1997 - Floyd Cramer, pianist (Nashville Sound): cancer: 1997: at 64

2000 - José Greco, Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer: 2000: at 82

Answer: Hidden Countries

 The children put on galoshes to go out in the rain. 

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  §

Dec 30, 2012

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 52/ Day: 365   

Today: H   34°…L 1° Averages: H  42° L 17° Records: H   62°(1945)…L -13°(1988)

Wind: ave:   4mph; Gusts:  22mph  ave. humidity:  68%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"Let's Make A Deal," debuts on NBC-TV—1963

1st coffee planted in Hawaii (Kona) —1817

1st US music concert (Peter Pelham's great room in Boston) —1731

1st use of 24-sec shot clock in pro basketball—1954 

California's 1st freeway, (Arroyo Seco Parkway), opens—1940

Congress authorizes Kennedy half dollar—1963

Japan dedicates 1st subway in Orient—1927 

John E Hoover decides to be called J Edgar Hoover—1918

Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die—1703

Vatican recognizes Israel—1993

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

A quiet Saturday, catching up in on ‘stuff’ after my week in Chicago. Yeah, even retired people have ‘stuff’ to do. The wind made it a little chilly to spend much time outside this afternoon.  

I can’t believe that we have such hacks in DC. They are all interested in only their own way of thinking, their own way of doing things. This congress has one of the lowest approval ratings in the history of our country; they have basically become the ‘do nothing’ congress. Their time is almost up, the country’s citizens will have increased taxes, and some new people will come in soon. Don’t expect a lot of change.

 

As an adoptee I probably have different views about the Russian adoption news. As an educator who worked with the culturally diverse I have views too. The idea that it is OK to take a child from their home country, their home language is troublesome. I get that the adopting parents really believe they are going to give the child a better life than what they currently have. There is no promise of teaching the children about their homeland, their language, their culture. That would probably change my feelings. Native American kids cannot be adopted by non-tribal members for a reason. As much as I believe in the ‘salad bowl’ in America, it has a long ways to go. I hope that politicians are able to work this out for the good of the children and of the adoptive parents.

 

I’ve been following Idle No More on Facebook. I mentioned this to the in laws in Chicago. They are politically aware, for the most a little left of center, yet none of them had heard of it. It continues to amaze me how Natives of this continent are treated so poorly and are so invisible. One thing that offers hope for me is that many US Natives have picked up on the cause of their ‘relatives’ in Canada. While a couple of centuries ago they were fighting each other, now they are uniting for their treaty rights. A good sign.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

Have you ever heard an animal talk in dialect? 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Ok, then?

Read This Headline Carefully!!

Hotel, Zurich:

BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Countdown to 2013 begins:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

In 1815, Thomas Jefferson sold his 6,700-volume personal library to Congress for $23,950 to replace books lost when the British burned the U.S. Capitol during the War of 1812.

Harper’s Index:         

Portion of college students who reported experiencing ‘phantom’ cell phone vibration in a July survey: 9/10

Unusual Fact of the Day:

Underneath the striped fur of a tiger is striped skin (which preserves the camouflage effect).

Found on You Tube: 

• I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General

• Monkees - Daydream Believer

Joke-of-the-day:

A garage mechanic comes out to rescue a broken down car. Out of respect for other drivers the mechanic leaves his hazards on while parked on the side of the road. The exhaust from the broken down car has fallen off and needs tying up before the car can be driven onto the mechanic's trailer. The mechanic tells the car owner "As it is only 3:00pm I should be able to have the car ready for you by 5pm". At 5:10pm the mechanic rings the car owner. "Sorry I didn't ring you by 5:00pm, but I only got back to the garage 5 minutes ago. "Why, what happened?" asked the car owner. "My vehicle battery went flat, and I had to ring the garage to ask for another mechanic to come out and rescue me," replied the mechanic.  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

REPEATING AN EXPERIMENT

If you can't repeat your own experiment, you are probably not doing science. If no one else can repeat your experiment, you are probably lying.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

BARNARP, Sweden - Residents of Barnarp, Sweden, had been trying for years to close a local strip club without success, so they bought it, village officials said. The Cafe Musfaalan -- Mousetrap Cafe -- had been a source of noise, littering and harassment complaints since it opened, The Local.se reported. The last straw was the decision last month by the strip club's owners to change the name to Heaven "where we knead the buns together." "It has been a great inconvenience for residents in Barnarp," Commissioner Mats Green said. The community Friday ponied up 3 million Swedish kronor ($470,000) to buy the property so it could evict the tenants. No word on what the property will be used for next.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The first golf car was invented in the late 1940s strictly for people with disabilities.

• The first vending machines in the United States were installed on New York City train platforms in 1888 and dispensed Chewing gum.

• Buddy was the name of the FIRST SEEING EYE DOG in America, brought to the U.S. in 1928 from Switzerland by owner Morris Frank.

• Cartoon character "Pebbles" Flintstone was born on February 22, 1963. To help celebrate the event, the Mattel toy company manufactured over 250,000 "Pebbles" dolls, which were among the company's hottest-selling toys that year. 

• To insure a worldwide audience, Alfred Hitchcock filmed his opening and closing remarks in English, French and German. He also drew the famous profile of himself that he steps into before each episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. 

• In 1964, HASBRO introduced an 11 1/2-inch doll called G.I. JOE, with 21 movable parts to "move G.I.JOE into action positions" First-year sales for the doll and his equipment reached $10 million.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

25-31> It's About Time Week

Today Is                                                                      

Bacon Day
Falling Needles Family Fest Day
Festival Of Enormous Changes At The Last Minute
National Bicarbonate Of Soda Day
No Interruptions Day
Oh My! Day

Today’s Events through History  

"Wonderful World of Disney," last performance on NBC-TV—1980

American Metrological Society forms (NYC) weights, measures & money—1873

Carter holds 1st news conference by US pres in Eastern Europe—1977

Fire at Chicago's Iriquois Theater kills 602—1903

Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," premieres—1879

Gold discovery in Ga, Cherokees forced to move across Miss—1835

Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed—2006

Premier Mugabe elected president of Zimbabwe—1987

Pres Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam & announces peace talks—1972

United Auto Workers stage 1st sit-down strike—1936

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

John Hillerman, Denison Tx, actor (Magnum PI, Blazing Saddles) is 80

In their 70’s

Sandy Koufax, Dodger pitcher (Cy Young '63, '65, '66, perfect-1967) is 77

Michael Nesmith, Houston, rocker (Monkees-Last Train to Clarksville) is 70

Paul Stookey, singer/musician (Peter, Paul, & Mary) is 75

In their 50’s

Ben Johnson, 100m runner (Olympic-gold-1988-disqualified) is 51

Matt Lauer, TV host (Today Show) is 55

Meredith Vieira, tv journalist is 59

In their 30’s

Laila Ali, boxer is 35

Tiger Woods, Cypress, California, golfer (16 Major and 74 PGA wins) is 37

Remembered for being born today

Bo Diddley, [Ellas Bates], Miss, rock `n' roll pioneer (1928-2008)

Simon Guggenheim, philanthropist (1867-1941)

Davy Jones, singer (Monkees-Last Train to Clarksville)(1945-heart attack-2012)

Rudyard Kipling, Bombay, author (Jungle Book, Gunga Din-Nobel 1907), (1865-1936)

Jack Lord, American actor (Steve McGarrett-Hawaii 5-0, God's Little Acre) (1920-1998)

Bert Parks, [Jacobson], Atlanta Ga, TV host (Miss America) (1914-1992)

Del Shannon, American singer (1934-1990)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Saddam Hussein, deposed Iraqi dictator—hanged—2006—at 69

~Ling-Ling, 1st panda China gave US—1992—at 23

Sonny Liston, World heavyweight boxing champion (1962-64)—found dead—1970—at 38

John Francis Regis, French saint— pneumonia—1640—at 43

Richard Rodgers, composer (Rogers & Hammerstein)—1979—at 77

Answer: Hidden Countries

 Have you ever heard an animal talk in dialect? 

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  §

Dec 29, 2012

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 52/ Day: 364   

Today: H   32°…L -3° Averages: H  42° L 16° Records: H 61°(1980)…L -12°(1966)

Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  9mph  ave. humidity:  89%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport—1975

1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston—1782

2nd Irish constitution goes into effect; Irish Free State renamed Erie—1937

Assassination inside Canterbury Cathedral of Thomas Becket—1170

Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica—1982

Bowling ball invented—1862

British burn Buffalo, NY during War of 1812—1813

Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with Alabama (323 wins) —1982

Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio) —1891

Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants—1852

Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration) —1848

Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu—1997

Life magazine ceases publication—1972

Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty—1911

SF Symphony formed—1911

Star Trek's "Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs—1967

Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China—1911

Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east 

     of the Mississippi River to US—1835

Wayne Gretzky & Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by AP—1989

Wounded Knee Battle or Massacre (depending on which version you read) —1890 

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

I had a great Christmas in Chicago. The family in-laws are so kind and nice to me. Lots of great people, even better food than last year, Christmas Chaos with little ones…and big ones too. We had three separate gift sharing events…two on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day. Must say they have an interesting White Elephant gift exchange where you pick a gift from the pile and you can open it or steal one that is already open. Then when all the gifts are open, you have another round of stealing. For the real gift exchange, you can only steal once. A lot of fun, lots of laughs, and everyone had a great time.

My trip was fairly uneventful with an hour delay in Minneapolis on the way. One the way back we got to Phoenix about 45 minutes early. The drive to Flag was also uneventful but the driver warned us we might have problems with snow. Luckily, we came in on time, between two storms. On the drive home from the shuttle drop off, it was snowing real hard, but stopped about an hour later. Then there is my brother’s trip…they were flying from Chicago to Houston, to Merida on United. The plane was about 30 minutes late leaving Chicago and landed in Houston. Some idiot left his seat on the approach to move to the front of the plane to ‘make his connection’. He was told to return to his seat. So he did, then he got up again while the plane was on the tarmac. He was told he would be greeted by the local cops when they got to their gate. They had to wait about 15 minutes for the cops to arrive. That guy was carted off and Richard and Laura got off the plane and walked to the next gate…which was right beside the gate they were in. The plane to Merida had left 4 minutes earlier. It’s a one flight a day deal. Why the idiots on the ground didn’t hold the plane will never be known…strange since it is also a United Flight and surely everyone knew why the plane was late. They did get a flight for the morning to Cancun and then rented a car for a 4 hour drive…getting to Merida about 3 hours earlier than they would have on the plane. To top off the great travel adventure, upon landing in Cancun, they couldn’t find Laura’s one checked bag. So they left and it will be delivered sometime. They are at their hacienda until the 8^th so things should work out. On a sad note, their 19 year old cat, who had been sick for a couple of months, had to be put down on Wednesday. Hard on both of them, especially since they couldn’t be there with Mr. Snaps at the end.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

 Vladimir and Olga are Soviet names. 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Ok, then?

Read This Headline Carefully!!

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE, THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, OR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT, UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Countdown to 2013 begins:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

The Greek Dark Ages, which lasted from 1200 to 800 B.C., saw the collapse of cities and towns, a return to small-scale farming and animal herding, and the disappearance of writing for more than 400 years.

Harper’s Index:         

Percentage of Americans who viewed college as a good financial investment in 2008: 81
Percentage in 2012: 57

Unusual Fact of the Day:

President Grover Cleveland's first name is Stephen. Grover is his middle name.

Found on You Tube: 

• Mary Tyler Moore Show- Bloopers Pt. 1

• Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By
 

Joke-of-the-day:

Q: How come legacy programmers get Halloween and Christmas confused? A: Because Oct 31 = Dec 25 (Octal 31 = Decimal 25)  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

 COUNTING YOUR VOLUNTEERS

Any volunteer organization is alive and well if at least 35 percent of its members volunteer consistently.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

FORT DODGE, Iowa - An Iowa woman fired for being "irresistible" to her boss says a court decision against her was unfair. Melissa Nelson told CNN, "The last couple of days have just been an emotional roller coaster. I'm trying to stay strong. It's tough. I don't think it's fair. I don't think its right." An Iowa Supreme Court judge said the allegations do not amount to sex discrimination. Dentist James Knight, whose business is in Fort Dodge, fired dental assistant Nelson, an employee of 10 years, because she presented too much of a distraction and jeopardized his relationship with his wife, CNN reported Sunday. The Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's ruling that the employment termination did not amount to sex discrimination under the state's civil rights act. Knight's wife discovered in 2009 that Knight and Nelson were sending text messages to each other and demanded her husband fire Nelson, which he did in 2010, CNN reported. Knight told Nelson near the end of her employment that her clothing was "distracting," but Nelson said she wore scrubs at work, CNN reported. The court's decision said Knight told Nelson "if she saw his pants bulging, she would know her clothing was too revealing," and that Knight said in reply to Nelson's alleged comment about her infrequent sex life, "That's like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it." In siding with Knight, Iowa Supreme Court Justice Edward M. Mansfield wrote on behalf of the court, "The issue before us is not whether a jury could find that Dr. Knight treated Nelson badly. We are asked to decide only if a genuine fact issue exists as to whether Dr. Knight engaged in unlawful gender discrimination when he fired Nelson at the request of his wife."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• A rubber band in some regions is known as a binder, elastic or lacker band or gumband in Australia.
• Synthetic Rubber - About 3/4's of the world rubber come from crude oil.
• Chicle, widely used as a base for chewing gum, is another latex product.
• Latex is the sap of various plants, mostly from the rubber tree. If you expose the sap to the air it hardens and become 'rubbery'. Over the year various cultures learned that if you add certain other juices and saps to the mass it becomes more elastic and lasts longer. 
• Latex is used in many types of clothing. It is different from rubber in that it is less refined and often thinner. Worn on the body (or applied directly by painting) it tends to be skin-tight, producing a "second skin" effect. It has a shinier finish than rubber. 
• A story says that the first European to return to Portugal from Brazil with samples of such water-repellent rubberized cloth so shocked people that he was brought to court on the charge of witchcraft.  

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

25-31> It's About Time Week

Today Is                                                                      

Tick Tock Day
Pepper Pot Day
Saint Thomas [Becket] of Canterbury Feast Day
US: Texas: Admission Day (1845—28^th state)

Today’s Events through History  

1st American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston—1851 

CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year—1965

English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia—1778

Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam 

     in the Mississippi River -Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans—1930

Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London (WW II) —1940

Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia 

     that claimed over 1 million—1998

Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake—1908

Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine—1947

Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine—1837

US State Dept announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit (Elmsford NY) —1948

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Inga Swenson, Omaha Nebraska, actress (Gretchen-Benson) is 80

In their 70’s

Mary Tyler Moore, actress (Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People) is 76

Ray Thomas, England, rock vocalist (Moody Blues-Nights in White Satin) is 71

Jon Voight, actor (Deliverance, Midnight Cowboy) is 74

In their 60’s

Ted Danson, actor (Cheers) will be 65

Marianne Faithfull, Hampstead England, vocalist (Money) is 66

In their 50’s

Paula Poundstone, comedienne (Emmy Awards)is 53

In their 40’s

Jude Law, actor, film producer and director is 40

Remembered for being born today

Archibald Alison, Scottish historian (History of Europe) (1792-1867)

Tom Bradley, (Mayor-D-LA)  (1917-1998)

Pablo Casals, Vendrell Catalonia Spain, violinist/conductor/composer (1876-1973)

Ed Flanders, Minneapolis Mn, actor (Dr Westphall-St Elsewhere) (1934-suicide-1995)

Charles Goodyear, inventor (vulcanization process for rubber), (1808-1860)

Andrew Johnson, Raleigh NC, (Unionist), 17th pres (1808-1875)

Madame de Pompadour, mistress of French King Louis XV (1721-TB-1764)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Julius Axelrod, biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine—2004—at 92

Roy Engle, actor (Police Chief-My Favorite Martian)—1980—at 67

Big Foot (Unpan Glešká), Lakota Indian chief—at Wounded Knee—1890—at 64

Tim Hardin, US singer (Bird on a Wire)—drug overdose—1980—at 39

Answer: Hidden Countries

 Vladimir and Olga are Soviet names. 

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  §