Feb 13

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

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Feb 13, 2018 Week: 07\ Day: 44

86004 Today: H 44° \ L 29° \ Average Sky Cover: 90% 

Wind ave.:   9mph\Gusts:  26mph Visibility: 7 mi

Light snow showers!!!!!

Record High: 68°[1977]   Record Low: -18°[1905]

Feb Averages: 46°\19°

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

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Today’s Quote

It is the dim haze of mystery

that adds enchantment to pursuit.

   Antoine Rivarol
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Observances This Week

11-17

Celebration of Love Week Link
Children of Alcoholics Week Link
International Friendship Week Link
Jell-O Week
National Secondhand Wardrobe Week
Random Acts of Kindness Week Link 

International Flirting Week

12-16

National Green Week Link

12-18

Love a Mensch Week

13-15

World AG Expo

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Observances for Today

Desperation Day Link
Employee Legal Awareness Day
Galentine's Day  Link
Get a Different Name Day
International Condom Day Link
International Pancake Day (aka Shrove Tuesday)
Pancake Day Race (Between US and England)  Link  
Madly In Love With Me Day
Mardi Gras  / Fat Tuesday

Paczki Day
World Radio Day Link

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Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1600’s                                          

1633 Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun

1692 Glencoe Massacre: about 78 MacDonald’s killed early in the morning by rival Campbell clan members, allegedly for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange

1693 College of William & Mary opens in Williamsburg, Virginia

1700’s                                          

1777 Marquis de Sade arrested without charge, imprisoned in Vincennes fortress

1795 1st state university in US opens, University of North Carolina

1800’s                                          

1826 American Temperance Society forms in Boston

1837 Riot in New York due to a combination of poverty and increase in the cost of flour

1861 First military action to result in Congressional Medal of Honor, Arizona

1867 Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna

1881 The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by activist Hubertine Auclert

1900’s                                          

1937 "Prince Valiant" comic strip appears; known for historical detail

1943 Women's Marine Corps created

1961 Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label under Warner Bros Records
1965 Peggy Fleming, 16, wins ladies senior figure skating title

1971 US Vice President Spiro Agnew hits 2 tee shots into crowd while golfing, injuring 2

1972 "1776" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 1,217 performances

1972 The Musical "Grease" 1st opens on Broadway

1972 11th Winter Olympic games close at Sapporo, Japan

1972 "Cabaret", directed by Bob Fosse, based on the musical of the same name and starring Liza Minnelliand Michael York, is released

1974 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist and historian, is deported from the Soviet Union to Frankfurt, West Germany and stripped of his Soviet citizenship

1976 American Dorothy Hamill wins Olympic figure-skating gold in Innsbruck, Austria

1981 Longest sentence published by "The New York Times" - 1286 words

1982 Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon" marks 402 weeks in the album charts

1988 15th Winter Olympic games opens at Calgary, Canada

1992 Jose Canseco repeatedly rams his Porsche into wife Esther's BMW

1996 British boy band Take That officially announce that they are disbanding, prompting UK government to set up counselling phone lines

1997 Discovery captures Hubble Space Telescope

2000’s                                          

2000 The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies.

2017 Harrison Ford involved in a near miss while flying a plane at John Wayne Airport, Orange County

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My Rambling Thoughts

Headed out to eye exam in snow! Only flurries, but nice.

Had my eyes dilated so things have been a little blurry since I got home. Good report, only minor changes to my script. I’ll wait until I can actually see again to order my new glasses. Haven’t had new glasses for at least 5 years, so this will be nice. The current glasses used to have a non-glare coating, but it has disappeared with age.

Got a call from Ellie with Focus. The blowout was another success with about 45 people and it was snowing up there. She emailed me the latest updates for the website, so tomorrow will be spent updating and adding new stuff. I’ll see if I can design a new look. Can’t do it today as blurry doesn’t work when updating.

After a few news interviews on several different outlets, I am becoming concerned about the number of WH employees who still don’t have a security clearance but have access to America's secrets. My job was low on the totem pole of security, but it was still done. After filling out several pages, an interview and questionnaires sent to my friends and neighbors it took about a year to get my clearance. According to the interviews, the WH has top priority to get these done, and still over a year later, many have not received them. Seems to me that anyone without the clearance in the WH should be sent to an office with no contact until it is approved. Over the years, at low-level clearance, I did have three employees who were sent to the agency to answer phones until their clearance was approved. And these employees had never had access to ‘sensitive’ information, let alone ‘secret’ or ‘top secret’ like the people in the WH. Other administrations have hired people who didn't get quick security clearance from the FBI. Those administrations were told of the possible issue with the clearance and those people were quickly and quietly removed from their job. This administration is soooooo  different. When the FBI notifies them of a problem, they simply ignore it, let the person keep working, and wait. So dangerous for our country. 

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Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@97- Bess Truman, 

US First Lady (1945-52),

born in Independence, Missouri

(d. 1982)

95- Chuck Yeager,

American test pilot

1st man to break the sound barrier,

born in Myra, WV

80’s

85- Kim Novak, [Marilyn],

American actress (Vertigo, Of Human Bondage),

born in Chicago

84- George Segal,

actor/banjo player (Carbon Copy, Fun with Dick & Jane)

70’s

@76- Alfred Carlton Gilbert,

American athlete, inventor, and businessman

(invented the Erector Set),

born in Salem, Oregon

(d. 1961)

76- Peter Tork,

American musician and actor (The Monkees)

74- Jerry Springer,

talk show host (Jerry Springer Show),

born in London, England

74- Stockard Channing,

American actress (Grease, Big Bus, Without a Trace),

born in NYC

@72- Tennessee Ernie Ford,

American country music singer and actor (Sixteen Tons),

born in Bristol, Tennessee

liver failure: alcoholism

(d. 1991)

71-Mike Krzyzewski,

Duke B-ball coach

60’s

68- Peter Gabriel,

singer (Genisis)

20’s

28- El Rubius [Rubén Doblas Gundersen],

Spanish YouTube star (6th most subscribed channel),

born in Mijas, Spain

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Historical Obits Today

80’s

@85-2014 Ralph Waite,

American actor, director and political candidate

(John Walton Sr. in The Waltons)

70’s

@79-2016 Antonin Scalia,

American 105th Supreme Court Justice (1986-2016),

natural causes

60’s

@69-1883 Wilhelm Richard Wagner,

composer

heart attack

@64-2002 Waylon Jennings,

American country singer and guitarist (Ramblin' Man),

diabetic complications

40’s

@48- David Janssen, [Meyer],

actor (Fugitive, Harry O),

heart attack

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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 12

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

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Feb 12, 2018 Week: 07\ Day: 43

86004 Today: H 46° \ L 31° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind ave.:   6mph\Gusts:  25mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 58°[2002]   Record Low: -16°[1965]

Feb Averages: 46°\19°

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

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Today’s Quote

Man is so made that when anything fires his soul,

impossibilities vanish.

Jean de La Fontaine

Harper’s Index

1/4-Portion of US college freshmen who are required to write papers longer than 11 pages

1/2-Who spend an average of less than 5 hours a week on assigned reading
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Observances This Week

11-17

Celebration of Love Week Link 
Children of Alcoholics Week Link
International Friendship Week Link
Jell-O Week
National Secondhand Wardrobe Week
Random Acts of Kindness Week Link 

International Flirting Week

12-16

National Green Week Link

12-18

Love a Mensch Week

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Observances for Today

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

Clean out Your Computer Day Link
Darwin Day
Extraterrestrial Culture Day
Extraterrestrial Visitor Day
Lincoln's Birthday
NAACP Day
National Lost Penny Day

Oglethorpe Day
Paul Bunyan Day (Born Feb. 12, 1834 in Bangor,

         ME) Link   Link  or Link or Link 
Plum Pudding DaySafety Pup Day
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Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1500’s                                          

1502 Muslims in Granada forced to convert to Catholicism

1541 Santiago, Chile founded 1733 Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah

1700’s                                          

1793 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves

1800’s                                          

1821 Mercantile Library of City of NY opens

1825 Creek Indian treaty signed. Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government & migrate west by Sept 1, 1826

1855 Michigan State University established

1874 Hawaii King David Kalakaua is 1st king to visit the US as guest of Ulysses S. Grant at 1st US state dinner at the White House

1876 Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop

1879 1st artificial ice rink in North America (Madison Square Garden, NYC)

1900’s                                          

1908 Anna Jeanes bequeaths $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female

1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms

1938 The first 'Kindertransport' carrying Jewish refugee children from Nazi Germany arrives in Britain

1947 French fashion designer Christian Diorpresents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

1949 "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances

1950 Senator Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist government employees

1973 1st US POWs in N Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippines

1981 Pete Squires sets record for 1575 steps of Empire State Building, 10m

1984 Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean skate "Bolero" at the Olympics

1987 Survivors of a black man murdered by KKK members awarded $7 M damages

1989 Barbara Harris becomes 1st female bishop of a US Episcopal church

1994 17th Winter Olympic games opens in Lillehammer, Norway

1994 "The Scream" by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1893 pastel version) is stolen in Oslo

1995 Bonnie Blair skates female world record 500m (38.69 sec)

1999 US President Bill Clinton acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial

2000’s                                          

2002 US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear waste repository

2002 The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He eventually dies four years later before its conclusion.

2004 The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

2010 21st Winter Olympic Games open at Vancouver, Canada

2016 Pope Francis begins his visit to Mexico, arriving at “Benito Juarez” International Airport in Mexico City

2016 Pope Francis meets Patriarch Kirill in Havana - first meeting between Catholic and Russian Orthodox church heads for nearly 1,000 years

2017 Emergency spillway at Oroville Dam, California threatens to collapse, 180,00 residents ordered to evacuate

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My Rambling Thoughts

The strong wind and the temps that are 10° cooler than yesterday have had my furnace running a bit more. The hope for snow was just that, nothing but hope.

Really enjoying the Olympics. Best story so far was the Norwegian who crashed early in his 15km skiathon event and came back to win the gold. Amazing. I always enjoy curling, but every 4-years I remember I know little about the sport, promise to learn more before the next Olympics, then return to watch and wonder what strategy is really going on. So while I watch the current curling match, I can offer no strategy help to either team.

It reminds me of my ferry trip Scotland. It was a 2+ hour ride and it was windy and cold outside, so we were all watching the TV. There was some kind of Championship Cricket match on TV. The passengers would watch and cheer then be silent. Watching the match, I couldn’t figure out what was leading to the cheers. I asked a guy a question. He said he would be glad to explain the game if I wanted to stay on the ferry for the next three days. I declined with a smile. Turned out this was the second or third day of the match and suddenly, with nothing apparent to me, the crowd cheered and the match was over. Someday I’ll learn those rules too.

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Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@88- Omar Bradley,

General of Army WW II (GI General)

(d. 1981)

84- Bill Russell,

American basketball star

(Boston Celtics, Olympic-gold 1956),

born in West Monroe, Louisiana

82- Joe Don Baker,

actor (Eischied, Walking Tall, Fletch)

born in Groesback Tx

80- Judy Blume,

author (Wifey)

70’s

@77- Louisa Adams,

US First Lady (1825-29), wife of John Quincy Adams

born in London heart attack

(d. 1852)

@73- Charles Darwin,

English naturalist (Origin of the Species)

conceived the theory of evolution by natural selection,

born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire heart failure

(d. 1882)

73- Maud Adams,

actress (Octopussy, Rollerball, Tattoo)

@72- Ted Mack,

TV host (Original Amateur Hour),

born in Greeley, Colorado

heart failure (d. 1976)

@72- Lorne Greene [Lyon Chaim Green],

Canadian actor (Bonanza, Battlestar Galactica),

born in Ottawa, Canada pneumonia

(d. 1987)

70- Raymond Kurzweil,

American inventor and author 

(Kurzweil reading machine, text-to-speech synthesis),

born in NYC

60’s

@67- Forrest Tucker,

American actor (F Troop, Dusty Trail, The Crawling Eye),

born in Plainfield, Indiana

lung cancer (d. 1986)

@65- Cotton Mather,

American Puritan minister (Salem witchcraft trials),

born in Boston, Massachusetts

(d. 1728)

62- Arsenio Hall,

US comedian (Alan Thicke, Arsenio, Coming to America),

born in Cleveland, Ohio

50’s

@56- Abraham Lincoln,

American politician (R) 16th President (1861-65),

born in Hardin County, Kentucky

assassinated (d. 1865)

50- Josh Brolin,

US actor (Johnny-Private Eye, Jimmy Hickok-Young Riders),

born in Santa Monica, CA

40’s

@49- Anna Pavlova,

Russian prima ballerina and choreographer

(Diaghilew, Dying Swan),

born in St Petersburg, Russia pleurisy

(d. 1931)

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Historical Obits Today

90’s

@96-1983 Eubie Blake,

US ragtime-composer/pianist (Memories of You)

@95-1971 James Cash Penney,

US founder (J C Penney)

@91-2014 Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar,

American comic actor and writer ("Your Show of Shows")

@91-2011 Elizabeth "Betty" Garrett,

American actress, comedian, singer and dancer

(All in the Family)

80’s

@80-2015 Gary Owens,

American disc jockey/TV host (Laugh In, Gong Show)

70’s

@79-1804 Immanuel Kant,

German philosopher (Zum ewigen Frieden)

@77-2000 Charles M. Schulz,

American cartoonist,

colon cancer

@76-2017 Al Jarreau,

American jazz singer (Moonlighting),

respiratory failure

@75-2000 Tom Landry,

American football coach (Dallas Cowboys),

leukemia

@72-1947 Sidney Toler,

American actor, director and playwright

(non-Asian Charlie Chan),

intestinal cancer

60’s

@61-1985 Nicholas Colssanto,

American actor (Coach in Cheers),

heart attack

50’s

@51-1789 Ethan Allen,

American Revolutionary War patriot

(lead the Green Mountain Boys),

apoplectic fit

@50-1942 Grant Wood,

US painter (American Gothic),

pancreatic cancer

30’s

@37-1976 Sal Mineo,

actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause),

stabbed

teen’s

@16-1554 Jane Grey,

Queen of England for 9 days,

beheaded for treason

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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…☼☼☼☼