Feb 5

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

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Feb 5, 2018 Week: 06\ Day: 36

86004 Today: H 61° \ L 26° \ Average Sky Cover: 3% 

Wind ave.:   8mph\Gusts:  12mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 67°[1963]   Record Low: -21°[1985]

Feb Averages: 46°\19°

Feb Records: H: 71° (1986) L: -23° (1985)

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Today’s Quote

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil

of appreciation for goodness.

  Dalai Lama

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Observances This Week

1-5

US Snow Sculpting Week

1-7

African Heritage & Health Week
Women's Heart Week

2-4
Cordova Ice Worm Day Link

2-8

Publicity for Profit Week

3-9

Dump Your Significant Jerk Week

4-10

Burn Awareness Week Link 
Children's Authors & Illustrators Week

5-11

Children's Mental Health Week Link
National School Counseling Week Link
International Networking Week

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Observances for Today

Adlai Stevenson Day Link
Dump Your Significant Jerk Day
 Move Hollywood & Broadway to Lebanon, PA Day
National Weatherman's Day

Shower With A Friend Day Link
Western Monarch Day Link
World Nutella Day Link
World Animal Reiki Day  Link

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Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1400’s                                          

1428 King Alfonso V, orders Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons

1500’s                                          

1597 A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society

1600’s                                          

1631 Rhode Island, founder, Roger Williams arrives in Boston from England

1644 1st US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut

1800’s                                          

1861 Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Philadelphia

1869 World's largest alluvial gold nugget, the Welcome Stranger, found by John Deason and Richard Oates (weighting 97.14kg) in Moliagul, Australia

1870 1st motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia

1881 Phoenix, Arizona incorporates

1887 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Otello" premieres at La Scala in Italy

1900’s                                          

1904 American occupation of Cuba ends

1922 Reader's Digest magazine 1st published

1936 National Wildlife Federation forms

1948 Dick Button becomes 1st US figure skating Olympic champion

1956 7th Winter Olympic games close at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

1967 "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS (later ABC, NBC)

1971 Apollo 14, 3rd US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro Alan Shepard & Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walk on Moon for 4 hrs

1972 US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage

1973 Comic strip "Hagar The Horrible" by Dik Browne debuts

1981 Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane

1981 Joni Mitchell inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame

1983 Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie brought to trial

1988 Arizona House of Reps vote to impeach Republican Governor Evan Mecham

1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes 1st NBA player to score 38,000 points

1996 British supermarket chains stock genetically modified tomato puree - the first GM food to be sold in the country

1997 O.J. Simpson found liable in the deaths of Ron Goldman & Nicole Simpson in a civil court action

2000’s                                          

2004 Twenty-Three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.

2013 UK House of Commons votes in favor of same-sex marriage

2016 Computer hackers try to steal 1 billion from Federal Reserve Bank of New York using Bangladesh banking codes, steal 81 million before a typo alerts authorities

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My Rambling Thoughts

Our discussion group had a great meeting on Pax Americana. Since WWII the US has been the leader of the world. However, much of this leadership has come from giving money and business to countries who agree with us with the promise of protection from others. We have assisted in overthrowing governments that did not agree to our terms. Unless there is a big change in DC, we are rapidly losing our influence. The TPP is going to happen without the US and this will hurt American business. Neither Canada nor Mexico is happy about redoing the NAFTA and may refuse, again hurting American farmers and manufacturing. China is continuing to pour money into Africa, without much from the US. For decades it has been the US that buys friends with things they need. Now another country is doing this. Since I didn’t know much about Pax Americana I hit the internet machine…where we all know is only truthful information. That said, Pax Americana is not a popular concept on the machine. So nice to have a discussion group that opens minds and informs.

Some friends are stopping by for the Super Bowl. Guess I’ll be an Eagles fan since the Broncos didn’t make it this year.

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Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@87- Red Buttons [Aaron Chwatt],

American comedian

actor (Sayonara, Five Weeks in a Balloon),

born in NYC

(d. 2006)

84- Henry 'Hank' Aaron, Mobile Alabama, baseball player (record 755 HRs, 1957 NL MVP)

70’s

@76- Hiram Stevens Maxim,

inventor (automatic single-barrel rifle)

(d. 1916)

76- Roger Staubach,

NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)

75- Craig Morton,

NFL quarterback (Dallas, Denver),

born in Flint, Michigan

@74- Cory Wells [Emil Lewandowski],

American rock vocalist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World),

born in Buffalo, NY

blood infection (d. 2015)

74- Nolan Bushnell,

American electrical engineer (founded Atari, created Pong),

born in Clearfield, Utah

60’s

@69- Stephen J Cannell,

producer (Rockford Files)

melanoma (d. 2015)

@65- Adlai E Stevenson II,

(Gov-D-Ill), presidential candidate (D) (1952, 1956)

heart attack (d. 1965)

@62- Robert "Bobbie" Peel, 

British Prime Minister founder of the British Conservative

Party and

founder of the modern police force (Bobbies),

born in Ramsbottom, England  fall from horse

(d. 1850)

50’s

53- Duff McKagan,

bassist ‘Guins & Roses’

30’s

33- Cristiano Ronaldo,

Portuguese footballer (Real Madrid),

born in Funchal, Portgual

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Historical Obits Today

90’s

@94-1967 Leon Leonwood Bean,

American outdoor store founder

@90-2008 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,

Indian guru, founder of Transcendental Meditation

80’s

@87±-1991 Dean Jagger,

American actor (White Christmas, Vanishing Point)

@85-1881 Thomas Carlyle, 

historian/essayist

@84-1972 Marianne Moore,

US poetess (Pulitzer 1951)

60’s

@66-1969 Thelma Ritter,

American actress (All About Eve, Pillow Talk),

heart attack

@61-1981 Ella Grasso,

Governor of Connecticut

ovarian cancer

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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…☼☼☼☼

Feb 4

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

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Feb 4, 2018 Week: 06\ Day: 35

86004 Today: H 58° \ L 30° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind ave.:   7mph\Gusts:  13mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 64°[1953]   Record Low: -22°[1922]

Feb Averages: 46°\19°

Feb Records: H: 71° (1986) L: -23° (1985)

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Today’s Quote

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop

than when we soar.

  William Wordsworth

Harper’s Index

22- Estimated number of additional congressional seats Republicans 

       won last year because of gerrymandering

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Observances This Week

1- 4
US Nationals Snow Sculpting Days

1-5

US Snow Sculpting Week

1-7

African Heritage & Health Week
Women's Heart Week

2-4
Cordova Ice Worm Day Link

2-8

Publicity for Profit Week

3-9

Dump Your Significant Jerk Week

4-10

Burn Awareness Week Link 
Children's Authors & Illustrators Week

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Observances for Today

Create a Vacuum Day

Facebook's Birthday-2004
Liberace Day
Medjoola Date Day
Popcorn Day  Link
Stuffed Mushroom Day

Superbowl Sunday
Thank a Mailman Day

Quacker Day
USO Day
World Cancer Day Link

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Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1700’s                                          

1789 1st US electoral college chooses George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice-President

1800’s                                          

1844 World's oldest known Bible, "The Codex Sinaiticus" (Sinai Bible), is discovered or stolen in Egypt by Constantin von Tischendorf

1849 University of Wisconsin begins in 1 room with 20 students

1861 Confederate constitutional convention meets for 1st time; Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederacy (US Civil War)

1865 Hawaiian Board of Education formed

1866 Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) cures her injuries by opening a bible

1880 Black Donnelly massacre in Biddulph, Ontario. Irish immigrants James (63), Johannah (56), John (32), Thomas (25) and Bridget (21) Donnelly murdered at home by members of the Vigilance Committee

1887 Interstate Commerce Act authorizes federal regulation of railroads

1900’s                                          

1924 1st Winter Olympic games close at Chamonix, France

1941 United Service Organization (USO) founded

1948 Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) declares independence from UK

1957 1st electric portable typewriter placed on sale (Syracuse NY)

1967 "Wild Thing" hits #20 on the pop singles chart by Senator Bobby

1970 "Patton" directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring George C. Scott premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1971)

1971 British car maker Rolls Royce declared itself bankrupt

1973 An International inspection team is sent to Vietnam to observe progress on the Paris truce agreement

1974 Patricia Hearst (19), daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army

1976 12th Winter Olympic games opens in Innsbruck, Austria

1985 20 countries (but not US) sign UN treaty outlawing torture

1987 US President Reagan's veto of Clean Water Act is overridden by Congress

1997 US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announces she just discovered that her grandparents were Jewish

2000’s                                          

2003 The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.

2004 Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room

2014 Same-sex marriage is legalized in Scotland

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My Rambling Thoughts

Our discussion group meets tonight. We’ll be talking about Pax Americana…the US domination of social, economic, political since WWII. The readings were about events that suggest the demise of Pax Americana. Should be an informative, interesting and frankly a little frightening. Lots of readings so not a whole lot else to do today.

One of the points of these articles was the perceived failure of the American political institutions by many in this country.

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Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@92- Rosa Parks,

American civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat

on a bus to a white passenger,

born in Tuskegee, Alabama

(d. 2005)

@90- Clyde William Tombaugh,

American astronomer (discovered Pluto in Flagstaff, AZ)

(d. 1997)

80’s

@85- Betty Friedan,

American feminist and writer (Feminine Mystique),

born in Peoria, Illinois

(d. 2006)

70’s

78- John Schuck,

American actor (McMillan & Wife, Holmes & Yoyo),

born in Boston

@77- George A. Romero,

director of horror films…zombies

lung cancer (d. 2017)

@77- Ida Lupino,

Anglo-American actress (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

director (The Hitch-Hiker),

born in London, England colon cancer

(d. 1995)

@73- Robert Coote,

British actor (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Scaramouche),

born in London, England

in his sleep (d. 1982)

@72- Charles A Lindbergh,

pilot (1st to fly solo across Atlantic),

born in Detroit,

lymphoma (d. 1974)

70- Alice Cooper, [Vincent Furnier], 

rocker (School's Out),

born in Detroit

50’s

@58 Nigel Bruce,

British actor (Rebecca, Suspicion, Sherlock Holmes),

born in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico  

heart attack (d. 1953)

56- Clint Black,

American country vocalist (Killin' Time, A Better Man),

born in Long Branch, NJ

40’s

45- Oscar De La Hoya,

boxer

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Historical Obits Today

80’s

@87-2005 Raiford "Ossie" Davis,

American actor, director, author, and civil rights activist

(Purlie Victorious, Do the Right Thing, Hot Stuff,

Man Called Adam)

@85-2006 Betty Friedan,

American writer and feminist, on her birthday

@80-1974 Satyendra Nath Bose,

Indian physicist ( Bose–Einstein statistics)

70’s

@79-1961 Piet[er] L Kramer,

influential Dutch architect (Amsterdam School)

60’s

@69-1989 Kenneth "Jethro" Burns,

country singer (Homer & Jethro),

prostate cancer

@67-1987 Liberace,

pianist (Liberace Show, Evil Chandell-Batman),

AIDS

@66-1975 Louis Jordan,

American musician, songwriter and bandleader (Caldonia),

 heart attack 

@63-1880 James Donnelly,

Irish-Canadian patriarch of the "Black

Donnellys", 

murdered (Black Donnelly massacre)

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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…☼☼☼☼