1-2-14


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 01 / Day: 002   
Today: L 25°…H 48°… Ave. humidity: 52%
Wind: ave:   14mph; Gusts:  26mph  
Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -21° (1919)
Average High: 42° Record High:  60° (1902)

Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
1492 - Spain recaptures Granada from the Moors (Granada Day)
1602 - Spanish force in Ireland surrender to the English army at Kinsdale
1776 - 1st revolutionary flag displayed
1811 - US Sen Thomas Pickering is 1st senator censured 
1839 - 1st photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre)
1882 - Because of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil is organized as a trust
1893 - World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago
1910 - 1st junior high schools in US opens (Berkeley California)
1929 - US & Canada agree to preserve Niagara Falls
1938 - Book publisher Simon and Schuster founded
1944 - 1st use of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol)
1947 - Mahatma Gandhi begins march for peace in East-Bengali
1965 - NY Jets sign quarterback Joe Namath
1966 - 1st Jewish child born in Spain since 1492 expulsion
1975 - US Dept of Interior designates grizzly bear a threatened species
1983 - Gary Trudeau takes a 20-month break from writing "Doonesbury"
1995 - Most distant galaxy yet discovered found by scientists using Keck telescope in Hawaii (est 15 billion light years away)

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
So the new year has begun.  The sun rose, it was a warm day. Ready for the new beginnings. No big plans for this year, just to have a good year.
 
I talked to several people last night and it seems I must be getting old-er as everyone I called or who called me were home. I went to the internet machine to check out the pine cone drop on a web cam only to discover that there are no longer any web cams downtown. There had been 3 that I would check occasionally. Turns out, according to the sites, that the building owners decided that they would no longer rent 3 sq feet of space on any of their roofs for the cams. The site said their reasoning was that the cams were not increasing business and in some cases, the cams were showing competition’s business on the web cam. The site also claimed that most of their traffic was from out-of-towners just checking to see our little town. They also claim the police had used the cameras to solve crimes. Because of my service provider, I would be counted as an out of towner as my signal comes up from Mesa. I am sorry to see them go, but didn’t check them that often.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Each pair of definitions is for two words, where the second word is the first word with a letter deleted (example: brand & band). The length of the first word in each pair is provided, along with the position of the deleted letter to obtain the second word.
1) covered with soft thick hair (5 letters) & (delete 3rd letter) violent anger, wild rage
2) a fabric made of fibrous material (5 letters) & (delete 5th letter) to coagulate
3) the relative resistance of a material to scratching or denting (8 letters) & (delete 4th letter) the straps by which a parachute is fastened to a person
4) a hypnotic, cataleptic, or ecstatic state (6 letters) & (delete 4th letter) a barely perceptible amount

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Odd Lawsuits…
Cheating Wife
After a Long Island doctor received divorce papers from his cheating wife, he decided to sue her for $1.5 million for a gift he gave her eight years earlier- his kidney.
New Years Eve Drops
  • Raleigh, North Carolina: A 900-pound copper-and-steel acorn
  • Richland, Pennsylvania: A cigar is dropped
  • Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: An anchor is dropped
  • Show Low, Arizona: A deuce of clubs 
  • St. George's, Bermuda: A paper-Mache Bermuda onion
  • Tallapoosa, Georgia: An opossum drops on odd years.
  • Traverse City, Michigan: A cherry is dropped at midnight
  • Vincennes, Indiana (near Terre Haute): The giant 18-foot, 500-pound steel-and-foam Watermelon  

OK Then…
 
Harper’s Index 
Percentage of American sixth-graders who cannot locate the United States on a world map: 20
Unusual Fact of the Day
President John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in the East Room.

Joke-of-the-day
An 85-year-old widow went on a blind date with a 90-year-old man.
When she returned to her daughter's house later that night, she seemed upset.
"What happened, Mother?" the daughter asked.
"I had to slap his face three times!"
"You mean he got fresh?"
"No," she answered. "I thought he was dead!"  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
ORDERING FROM A CATALOG
If it doesn't say it, it doesn't have it.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii woman whose last name is 36 characters long has finally gotten the whole thing to fit on her driver's license and state identification card.
Janice "Lokelani" Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele (KAY'-ee-hah-nah-EE'-coo-COW'-ah-KAH'-hee-HOO'-lee-heh-eh-KAH'-how-NAH-eh-leh) received her new license and ID after her campaign to get her full name on the cards prompted the state Department of Transportation to change its policy and expand how many characters can appear on them.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • A French philosopher and political analyst talking on abuse of power, said that humans are ruled and as such, they are in solidarity. That great philosopher was Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984) who dealt mainly with the relationship between power and knowledge and how they are used as a means of social control.
  • Before Mona Lisa was put on the walls of the Louvre Museum for public display, it had been hosted in other ‘houses’, as well. Firstly, it used to be on the walls of the French royal family palace up until the French Revolution. Secondly, Napoleon removed the painting, as he liked it so much, and placed it in his bedroom for several years. Lastly, the painting was removed and placed in an unknown, till today, place, during the World War II.


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
1-7
New Year's Resolutions Week
Celebration of Life Week
Diet Resolution Week
Silent Record Week
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        55-MPH Speed Limit Day (1974)
·        Happy Mew Year for Cats Day
·        National Buffet Day
·        National Motivation and Inspiration Day
·        National Personal Trainer Awareness Day
·        National Science Fiction Day
^^^^^^
·        Ancestors' Day (Haiti-remembering all who fought for Haiti)
·        Kakizome (Japan-for the first calligraphy written at the beginning of a year)

Today’s Events through History  
1791 - Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the 
     Northwest Indian War.
1903 - Pres T Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing 
     to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black
1921 - 1st religious service radio broadcast in US, KDKA-Pittsburgh

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Julius LaRosa, Brooklyn, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air) is 84
Dabney Coleman, actor, (That Girl, Mary Hartman, Buffalo Bill) is 82
Jim Bakker, televangelist (PTL Club)/rapist (Jessica Hahn) is 74
Jack Hanna, American zoologist is 67
Cuba Gooding Jr, actor (Boyz N the Hood, Glaadiator, Few Good Men) is 46
Taye Diggs, actor is 42
Dax Shepard, American actor, comedian is 39
Kate Bosworth, American actress (Superman Returns) is 31

Remembered for being born today
1902 - Barry Goldwater, American politician
1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russia, scientist/writer (I Robot, Foundation Trilogy)
1936 - Roger Miller, country singer (King of the Road, Dang Me)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Anne Francis, American actress (Honey West) in 2011 @80
Alan Hale Jr, Skipper on Gilligan's Island of cancer in 1990 @68
Tex Ritter, country singer (5 Star Jubilee) of heart attack in 1974 @67
Pete Postlethwaite, English actor of cancer in 2011 @64
Dick Powell, actor/director (Dick Powell Theater) of lymphoma in 1963 @58
Erroll Garner, jazz pianist (Misty) of heart attack in 1977 @53

Brain Teasers
1) furry & fury 2) cloth & clot 3) hardness & harness 4) trance & trace
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  §
Posted by No comments:

1-1-14


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 01 / Day: 1   
Today: L 17°…H 54°… Ave. humidity: 46%
Wind: ave:   mph; Gusts:  mph  
Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -21° (1919)
Average High: 42° Record High:  61° (1981)

Quote of the Day


Today’s Historical Highlights
   45 BC - The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.
404 - Last gladiator competition in Rome
630 - The Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly.
1502 - Portuguese navigators discover Rio de Janeiro
1600 - Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of 25 March.
1651 - Charles II Stuart crowned king of Scotland
1805: Lewis & Clark attend a party with the local Indians.
1788 - Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves
1801 - Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain
1818 - Official reopening of the White House
1846 - Yucatan declares independence from Mexico
1874 - New York City annexes the Bronx
1898 - Brooklyn merges with NY to form present City of NY1962 - United States Navy SEALs established.
♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts  
A really nice day to end 2013. So Sunny, so warm. Couldn’t ask for anything more.  Did some end of the year cleaning, getting everything put away or thrown away. I really can’t believe how much ‘stuff’ one accumulates without even trying. I am always surprised when I finally get pumped to clean up and what I find.   I have a beautiful new Mandela Calendar and have decided to mark each day with a set of rooms to straighten up and clean up…I’ll see how well that works out. Listening to NPR this morning they had a story from Florida where the state has been issuing lots of Public Service Announcements reminding their residents that celebrating by shooting a gun into the air is very dangerous…since the bullets have to come back down to earth and every year at least one person is injured or killed.  Duh…It made me wonder where is the NRA on this issue? It would seem to me that they too should be doing a PSA reminding all gun owners not to be celebrating by shooting off a gun. Are they afraid that such a PSA would be seen by their members of ‘caving to gun control’ or that none of their members would be so irresponsible, it is not their problem? If it is the former, they should be able to come up with something about the dangers. If the later is the problem, they are admitting that there are irresponsible gun owners out there and they don’t want to talk about them. Either way, their inaction says a lot about their mission. I sure hope the New Year brings some sanity to the gun debate.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
In this teaser, you will be given rows, each with three clues. The answer to the second clue of any row will consist of the letters -- usually rearranged -- of the answer to the first clue in that row, minus one letter. The answer to the third clue, likewise, will consist of the letters from the second answer, minus one. If you put each dropped letter into the box following the word from which it was dropped, reading down the two columns of boxes will give a phrase, or two terms that are somehow related.
1. Domestic rodent [_] 2. Lovely suit? [_] 3. Look, intently 4. Booths, chairs, and stools [_] 5. Secret and real-estate [_] 6. Dread 7. Alter orientation [_] 8. Straight [_] 9. Internal covering 10. Dresser compartment [_] 11. Shallow pool's occupant [_] 12. Erode, through use 13. Weakness; lack of vigor [_] 14. Northeastern U.S. state [_] 15. Explosive device 16. Follower; student [_] 17. Joined; bound [_] 18. Drive away, as a feeling 19. French/Swiss river [_] 20. Savior [_] 21. Metal, prior to extraction 22. Get away from [_] 23. Word separator [_] 24. Baseball hats

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Odd Lawsuits…
Leg Cramps Slide
In 2004, Jerome and Judith O'Callaghan sued American Airlines for $100,000 because there wasn't enough leg room on their flight.
  • New Years Eve Drops
  • McClure, Pennsylvania: A kettle is dropped in honor of McClure Bean Soup Festival
  • Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: A wrench is dropped
  • Memphis, Tennessee: A guitar is dropped
  • Mobile, Alabama: A 600-pound electric Moon Pie is dropped 
  • Mount Olive, North Carolina: The New Year's Eve Pickle is lowered
  • Niagara Falls, New York: A ten-foot Gibson Guitar is dropped
  • Passamaquoddy Bay: A red maple leaf is dropped in Eastport, Maine
  • Pensacola, Florida: A pelican is dropped
  • Plymouth, Wisconsin: Plymouth drops an 80-pound decorated cheese wedge
  • Port Clinton, Ohio: A walleye fish named "Captain Wylie Walleye"
  • Princess Anne, Maryland: A stuffed muskrat in a top hat and bow tie named Marshall P. Muskrat 

OK Then…


Harper’s Index 
  • Bald eagle population of the continental United States in 1979: 9,815
  • In 1982: 13,825

Unusual Fact of the Day
Fifty years ago, the average man first married at 23, and the woman at 20. Today, those ages have increased to 27 and 25, respectively.


Joke-of-the-day
A New Yorker was forced to take a day off from work to appear for a minor traffic summons. He grew increasingly restless as he waited hour after endless hour for his case to be heard.
When his name was called late in the afternoon, he stood before the judge, only to hear that court would be adjourned for the rest of the afternoon and he would have to return the next day.
"What for?!?!?" he snapped at the judge.
His honor, equally irked by a tedious day and sharp query, roared out loud: "Twenty dollars contempt of court! That's why!"
Then, noticing the man checking his wallet, the judge relented:
"That's all right. You don't have to pay now."
The young man replied, "I know. But I'm just seeing if I have enough for two more words."  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
FINDING WHERE TO PUT YOUR MOUTH ON A CLARINET
To find the correct place to put your mouth on a clarinet reed, put a piece of paper between the reed and the mouthpiece. Where the paper stops is the correct place for your mouth.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
In Wisconsin a postal carrier said he simply wanted to cheer up a woman on his rounds who seemed "stressed out" so he decided to deliver her mail naked.
He even told her he was going to do it. As a prank, I suppose. But whether she took him seriously or not, there was no doubting his sincerity when he showed up at her office wearing only a smile and his mail bag.
Those wacky letter carriers.
The 52-year-old was arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior several days later.  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The famous dance ‘Samba’ was originated in Brazil during the 70s, being a favorite for competitions throughout the world because of its lively and upbeat rhythm. The word “Samba” has African roots as it comes from the word “Semba,” meaning naval bump, an indication to the intimacy of the dance.
  • Between 1971 and 1972 Germany lifted the restriction on haircuts for soldiers and as photos of that period show, soldiers used to have long hair in the army at that time! However, this restriction was active only for one year, as later on the defense minister decided a soldier’s hair could not touch his uniform or collar and that hair could not cover a person’s eyes or ears.
  • Did you know that eating meat is crucial for humans’ evolution according to two recent independent studies? What has been demonstrated in these studies, is that meat contributed to human’s big brain and mentally advanced system. It is also said that if gorillas used to eat meat, in the long term they could be mentally as advanced as humans were in primitive times.
  • The prime minister of New Zealand appointed an Official Wizard in 1990 and it was the first country of the modern world to have done so. “I have spent the past 40 years of my life in a largely solo attempt to re-enchant the world, making use of my training as an academic sociologist and psychologist”, says the 80 years – old Ian Brackenbury Channell.
  • The public broadcasting system of the United Kingdom, BBC, was founded in October of 1922 by John Reith and George Villiers. BBC, which is headquartered at the Broadcasting House in London, is the largest broadcaster in the world numbering 23, 000 employees.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Month:
Apple and Apricots Month 
Artichoke and Asparagus Month 

Bath Safety Month 
Be Kind to Food Servers Month
Birth Defects Month 
Book Blitz Month

California Dried Plum Digestive Month
Carnival Season
Celebration of Life Month
Cervical Health Awareness Month 

Financial Wellness Month

Get A Balanced Life Month
Get Organized Month

International Brain Teaser Month
International Change Your Stars Month
International Child-Centered Divorce Awareness Month
International Creativity Month
International New Years Resolutions Month for Businesses
International Quality of Life Month
International Wayfinding Month
International Wealth Mentality Month

Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month 

National Be On-Purpose Month
National Braille Literacy Month 
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Glaucoma Awareness Month
National Hot Tea Month
National Mail Order Gardening Month
National Mentoring Month  
National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month 
National Stalking Awareness Month 
National Polka Music Month 
National Poverty in America Awareness Month
National Radon Action Month
National Skating Month
National Soup Month 
National Volunteer Blood Donor Month 

Oatmeal Month

Rising Star Month 

Self-help Group Awareness Month
Self-Love Month
Shape Up US Month

Teen Driving Awareness Month
Tubers and Dried Fruit Month 
Thyroid Awareness Month 

Worldwide Rising Star Month

Happening This Week:
1-7
New Year's Resolutions Week
Celebration of Life Week
Diet Resolution Week
Silent Record Week
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Copyright Law Day
·        Commitment Day
·        Ellis Island Day 1892
·        Euro Day
·        First Foot Day
·        Global Family Day
·        Mummer's Parade
·        New Years Day Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day
·        Rose Bowl Game
·        Tournament of Roses Parade Day since 1886
·        Z Day
^^^^^^^^^^
·        Liberation Day
o   Cuba-1959
·        Independence Day
o   Cameroon-1960 from France
o   Haiti-1803 from France
o   Sudan-1956 from UK and Egypt

Today’s Events through History  
1975 - International Women's Year begins
1979 - International Year of the Child begins
1983 - World Communications Year begins
1985 - International Youth Year begins
1986 - International Peace Year begins
1987 - International Year of Shelter for Homeless begins
1988 - Year of the Reader begins
1989 - Year of the Young Reader begins
1992 - International Space Year begins
1994 - International Year of Family
1999 - International Year of Elderly         
2014- International Year of Family Farming
^^^^^
1502 - Portuguese navigators discover Rio de Janeiro
1600 - Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of 25 March.
1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between NY & Boston
1801 - Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain
1808 - Congress prohibits importation of slaves
1818 - Official reopening of the White House
1842 - 1st illustrated weekly magazine in US publishes 1st issue, NYC
1852 - 1st US public bath opens, in NYC
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln


1934 - Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison
1948 - 1st color newsreel filmed (Pasadena, California)
1948 - Britain nationalizes its railways
1957 - Benjamin Britten's ballet "Prince & the Pauper," premieres in London
1962 - United States Navy SEALs established.


1968 - Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump Caesar's Palace Fountain
st mandatory seat belt law goes into effect (NY)

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Ty Hardin, actor (Riptide, Bronco) is 84
Country Joe McDonald, rock guitarist/vocalist (& the Fish) is 72

Remembered for being born today
1735 - Paul Revere, silversmith/US patriot
1752 - Betsy Ross [Elizabeth Griscom], seamstress widely credited with making the first American flag
1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1900 - Xavier Cugat, Barcelona Spain, bandleader (married Abbe Lane, Charo)
1909 - Dana Andrews, actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura)
1919 - J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, novelist (Catcher in the Rye)
1919 - Rocky Graziano, boxer (Middleweight champ) and entertainer

Today’s Historical Obits 
1557 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (Canada), typhus @65
1896 - Alfred Ely Beach, American inventor (NYC subway system), pneumonia @69
1972 - Maurice A Chevalier, French actor (Can Can, Gigi), @83
1982 - Victor Buono, TV actor (King Tut-Batman), heart attack @43
1994 - Cesar Romero, US actor (Joker-Batman) @86
2005 - Shirley Chisholm, 1st American black congresswoman/pres candidate @80
2013 - Patti Page [Clara Ann Fowler], American pop singer @ 85

Brain Teasers
1.      hamster [M] 2. hearts [H] 3. stare
4. seating [I] 5. agents [E] 6. angst
7. realign [G] 8. linear [A] 9. liner
10. drawer [R] 11. wader [D] 12. wear
13. anemia [A] 14. Maine [A] 15. mine
16. disciple [I] 17. spliced [C] 18. dispel
19. Rhone [N] 20. hero [H] 21. ore
22. escape [E] 23. space [E] 24. Caps
 4. seating [I] 5. agents [E] 6. angst 7. realign [G] 8. linear [A] 9. liner 10. drawer [R] 11. wader [D] 12. wear 13. anemia [A] 14. Maine [A] 15. mine 16. disciple [I] 17. spliced [C] 18. dispel 19. Rhone [N] 20. hero [H] 21. ore 22. escape [E] 23. space [E] 24. Caps"Migraine headache"
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.