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Dec 17, 2017 Week: 51\ Day: 352
86004 Today: H 45° \ L 21°
Average Sky Cover: overcast
Wind ave.: 7mph\Gusts: 18mph
Visibility: 10 mi
Record High: 65°[1980] Record Low: -14°[1928]
Dec Averages: 50°\23°
Dec Records: H: 68° (1950) L: -23° (1990)
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Quote of the Day
Colors are the smiles of nature.
Leigh Hunt
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Observances Today
A Christmas Carol Day (Story)
Clean Air Day
Wright Brothers Day
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Observances This Week
10-17: Human Rights Week
14-1-5: Christmas Bird Count Link
14-28: Halcyon Days
16-24: Posadas
17-23: Saturnalia
Gluten-free Baking Week Link
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Today’s Significant US Historical Events
Today’s Significant International Historical Events
1300’s
1398 Timur (Tamerlane) captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies which include elephants
1500’s
1538 Pope Paul II excommunicates King Henry VIII of England
1700’s
1728 Congregation Shearith Israel of New York purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan to build the city's first synagogue
1790 Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
1800’s
1845 German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt arrives in Port Essington after a nearly 4,800 km (3,000 mi) overland journey to explore Australia's Northern Territory
1852 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized
1862 General Ulysses S. Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
1875 Violent bread riots in Montreal
1900’s
1900 1st prize of 100,000 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy
1914 Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate
1924 1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY
1935 First flight of the Douglas DC-3 (C-47 Skytrain/Dakota) airplane.
1941 German troops led by Erwin Rommel begin retreating in North Africa
1947 British industrial company BTH receives a patent for holography, invented by Dennis Gabor in their development lab
1965 Astrodome opens, 1st event is Judy Garland & Supremes concert
1965 Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents)
1989 The Simpsons, created by Matt Groening, debuts - America's longest-running sitcom
2000’s
2013 Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term
2013 Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt and Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2015 Libyan warring political factions sign a UN-brokered deal to form a unified government
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My Rambling Thoughts
It’s been overcast for most of the day. Looks like snow coming. Too warm for that. Furnace running more than usual. Just hoping for some moisture.
As a Federal employee, I recall that when the Dems were in charge, our country was busy trying to help those who needed help, helping with education, setting up programs to help many. I recall that we all had to cut everything when the Republicans were in power. The story of all the cuts was that we had to keep the debt down. After all, we couldn’t help those in need because we just didn’t have the money and everyone knows that the debt can’t keep increasing. What about our kids and grandkids? They can’t be saddled with an unpayable debt. Those days are gone. Now the party in charge claims to cut my taxes but actually isn’t. They ARE cutting corporate taxes. And the debt is going to skyrocket. We are now living with alternative facts…those things we used to call lies or fabrications. If the current tax thing passes, I won’t be holding my breath for large corporations to suddenly raise wages for their workers.
As 45 is busy telling everyone who will listen that he is busy getting rid of thousands of government regulations he forgets to mention he never studied those regulations to see why they were there in the first place. While I have first-hand experience with some cumbersome government regulations, I also know that the clear majority of those regulations were necessary to prevent unnecessary waste of our environment, or waste of taxpayer money, or to stop unscrupulous people from cheating the government or the public. We are now on a very, very slippery slope.
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Bizarre News
*--------------- I Said 'No Ice!' ---------------*
A Southern California couple said they were shocked when a huge block of ice, suspected to have fallen from an airplane, crashed through the roof of their home. Claudell Curry, 82, said he and his wife, Odell Marie Curry, 83, were watching TV at about 9 p.m. Sunday at their San Bernardino home when there was a loud crashing noise that shook their home. "That terrible noise, I never heard a noise like that before," Claudell told local news. "It sounded like a bomb went off." Curry said he went into the master bedroom, where he found the bed and floor covered with insulation from the attic, which he could see through a hole punched in the ceiling. "And then we saw the big huge white objects on the floor," Curry said. "And I was like what is this? It was ice." He said the ice, which was the approximate size of a car engine, may have fallen from a passing plane. Gregor said the ice would have been blue if it had come from a plane's lavatory. The ice in both incidents was clear.
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Birthdays Today
@- indicates age at death
90’s
@97- Mary Cartwright,
English mathematician (Chaos Theory)
(d. 1998)
80’s
@84- John Greenleaf Whittier,
American poet (Snow-bound)
(d.1892)
@84- Arthur Fiedler,
conductor (Boston Pops),
born in Boston,
(d. 1979)
@83- Erskine P Caldwell,
author (Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre)
(d. 1987)
81- Pope Francis [Jorge Mario Bergoglio],
Catholic Pope (2013-) 1st Jesuit pope, 1st from the Americas and 1st non-European pope since Syrian Gregory III in 741,
born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
@80- Joseph Henry,
American scientist/inventor/pioneer of electromagnetism
(d. 1878)
70’s
@79- William Safire,
American political columnist (NY Times) and speech writer (Nixon),
born in NYC
(d. 2009)
@79- Bob Guccione,
American publisher (Penthouse, Omni),
born in Brooklyn,
(d. 2010)
72- Jacqueline Wilson,
children’s author, controversial topics
@71- Willard Frank Libby,
American chemist (carbon-14 "atomic clock" - Nobel 1960),
born in Grand Valley, Colorado
(d. 1980)
71- Wes Studi,
Cherokee actor (Last of the Mohicans)
60’s
@66- Deborah Sampson,
war hero (served as man for 17mos. in Continental Army)
(d. 1827)
64- Barry Livingston,
actor (Ernie-My 3 Sons),
born in Los Angeles
50’s
@50- Hunphry Davy,
English chemist (discovered some elements) (d. 1829)
50- Christopher A. Wray, American lawyer, F.B.I. Director (2017-),
born in NYC
40’s
48- Chuck Liddell,
American mixed martial artist
@47- Richard Long,
American actor (Prof-Nanny and the Professor),
born in Chicago,
(d. 1974)
@44- Paul Butterfield,
blues musician (Better Days),
born in Chicago
(d. 1987)
42- Milla Jovovich,
American actress (Return to Blue Lagoon, Chaplin),
born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
30’s
39- Manny [Emmanuel Dapidran] Pacquiao,
Filipino boxer (first ever eight-division world champion),
born in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
30- Chelsea [born Bradley] Manning,
US soldier who released WikiLeaks,
born in Crescent, OK
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Historical Obits Today
90’s
@96-2016 Henry Heimlich,
American surgeon and inventor of the Heimlich maneuver
80’s
@88-2012 Daniel K. Inouye,
American politician
@83-1992 Dana Andrews,
American actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura)
@83-1907 William Thomson,
1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-Scottish mathematical physicist (Kelvin Scale) and engineer (transatlantic telegraph)
70’s
@78-1999 Rex Allen,
American actor, singer and songwriter (Disney narrator),
injuries from road accident
@70-2011 Kim Jong-il,
supreme leader of North Korea (DPRK) 1994-2011,
suspected heart attack
60’s
@66±-1273 Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi,
Persian poet, scholar and mystic
40’s
@47-1830 Simón BolÃvar,
South American revolutionary and president (Colombia),
TB
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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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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…☼☼☼☼
