Aug 16

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Aug 16, 2018 Week: 33\ Day: 228

86004 Today: H 75° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 70% 

Nearest Lightning: 97 miles away

Wind ave.:   2mph\Gusts:  8mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 89°[1939]   Record Low: 37°[1968]

Aug Averages: 80°\49°

Today’s Quote

   Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.

   Eleanor Roosevelt

Harper’s Index

 0

  Number of the 20 largest German companies that are

  headquartered in the former East German

  2

  Rank of Germany in consumption of nonalcoholic beer

  1

  Of Iran

Observances This Week

9-16

Elvis Week Link
National Hobo Week Link
National Scrabble Week  Link  

12-18

National Motorcycle Week Link 
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week  Link  Link 
National Resurrect Romance Week
Weird Contest Week 

15-21

National Aviation Week  

16-26

Little League World Series

Observances for Today

Joe Miller's Joke Day
National Airborne Day
National Rollercoaster Day Day
National Tell a Joke Day

Surveilance Day Link  Link

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1800’s                                         

1812 British forces under the command of Major General Sir Isaac Brock capture Fort Detroit with the help of Indigenous warriors led by Tecumseh

1861 US President Abraham Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with Confederacy

1880 The French state commissions sculptor Auguste Rodin for a large sculpted doorway 'The Gates of Hell' for the proposed Musée des Arts Décoratifs

1894 Indian chiefs from the Sioux & Onondaga tribes met to urge their people to renounce Christianity & return to their old Indian faith

1896 Gold first discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek, Alaska by George Carmack

1900’s                                         

1930 The first color sound cartoon, called Fiddlesticks, is made by Ub Iwerks.

1934 US ends occupation of Haiti (been there since 1915)

1936 11th Olympic games closes in Berlin

1936 The Berlin Olympic equestrian competition concludes with Germany winning all 6 gold medals in an unprecedented team achievement

1954 "Sports Illustrated" magazine begins publishing

1969 Second day of the Woodstock rock festival in NY

1972 Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot during failed coup attempt by General Mohamed Oufkir. Reportedly, King Hassan grabbed the radio and told the rebel pilots "Stop firing! The tyrant is dead!", fooling pilots to break off attack

1988 Mayor Koch says he plans to wipe out street-corner windshield washers

1989 A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.

2000’s                                         

2003 U.S. Representative from South Dakota Bill Janklow hits and kills a motorcyclist with his car at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota; he will eventually be convicted of manslaughter and will resign from Congress.

2008 Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt sets new world record of 9.69 seconds to win the coveted 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

2012 Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador

2016 Wildfire breaks out in San Bernardino County, California, engulfing 15,000 acres, prompting evacuation of 82,000 people

2017 Over 100 Maasai houses destroyed in Tanzania by game park authorities as part of a border dispute near Serengeti National Park

My Rambling Thoughts

The monsoon continues. Last night was another hard-male rain with some lightning. Over an inch of rain in about 45 minutes. More expected today.

More deflection today. Put out a new shiny object for the press and the American people to ponder. Have to say, there is a procedure to remove someone’s security clearance. That procedure has worked for decades. Now 45 ‘don’t give no nevermind’ to the way things have worked, so he just does it himself…much like a dictator. This is not the first time 45 has discounted procedures and it won’t be the last. Starting to look like anyone in government who criticizes 45 will pay a big price and so does our country. Former senior officials can offer a lot to any administration. There have always been formers who have criticized a new administration, but this is far past that.

The whole distraction policy is getting very boring. The name calling and ridicule are not Presidential. I really need to change the channel from this reality TV show to something of substance.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@85- George Meany, labor leader (headed AFL-CIO), born in NYC, New York (d. 1980)

85- Julie Newmar, actress (Catwoman-Batman, Living Doll), born in Hollywood, California

@85- Fess Parker, actor (Davy Crockett, Old Yeller), born in Fort Worth Texas (d. 2010)

@84- Frank Gifford, American NFL halfback (NY Giants)/ABC sportscaster, born in Santa Monica, California (d. 2015)

@84- Eydie Gorme [Edithe Gormezano], American singer (Bossa Nova), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2013)

70’s

@79- Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), born in Oakland, California (d. 2010) heart attack

@78- Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister (1977-83, Nobel 1978), born in Brest, Belarus (d. 1992) heart attack

71- James Taylor, SC, rocker (Kool & The Gang-Joanna)

60’s

65- Kathie Lee Gifford, Paris Fla, hostess (Live with Regis & Kathie Lee)

64- James Cameron, Canadian film director and writer (Titanic, Avatar), born in Kapuskasing, Ontario

60- Madonna [Ciccone], American singer and actress (Like a Virgin), born in Bay City, Michigan

60- Angela Bassett, actress

50’s

56- Steve Carell, American actor and comedian (The Office), born in Concord, Massachusetts

40’s

@46- T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia], British author, soldier and diplomat famous for his liaison role in Arabia during WWI, born in Tremadog, Caernarfonshire, Wales (d. 1935) motorcycle accident

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@89-2016 John McLaughlin, American TV commentator (McLaughlin Group) and Nixon aide

@88-2012 William Windom, American actor, (Murder She Wrote)

@88-1899 Robert Bunsen, German chemist who invented the Bunsen Burner

@85-1854 Duncan Phyfe, furniture maker, dies

@83-2004 Acquanetta [Mildred Davenport], American actress nicknamed "The Venezuelan Volcano" (Tarzan & Leopard Woman)

70’s

@75-80-2003 Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator (1971-79) who killed an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 people, kidney failure

@73-1956 Bela Lugosi, actor (Dracula), heart attack

60’s

@60-1989 Amanda Blake [Beverly Louise Neill], American actress (Gunsmoke), AIDS

50’s

@57-1888 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), stomach cancer

@53-1948 George Herman (Babe) Ruth, American Baseball Hall of Fame slugger, Esophageal cancer

40’s

@48-1949 Margaret Mitchell, American writer (Gone With the Wind), hit by car

@42-1977 Elvis Presley, American musician, the official cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia

Teens

@16-1991 Shamu the Whale, respiratory failure Orcas in the wild live to be 50-80 years old

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…☼☼☼☼

Aug 15

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

Aug 15, 2018 Week: 33\ Day: 227

86004 Today: H 82° \ L 55° \ Average Sky Cover: 60% 

Nearest Lightning:  7.2 miles away

Wind ave.:   4mph\Gusts:  10mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 88°[1962]   Record Low: 33°[1968]

Aug Averages: 80°\49°

Today’s Quote

  Nature is indifferent to the survival of the human species,

  including Americans.

  Adlai E. Stevenson

Harper’s Index

  71

  Percentage of South Koreans over the age of 60 who

  support reunification

  39

  If South Koreans in their rwenties

Observances This Week

9-16

Elvis Week Link
National Hobo Week Link
National Scrabble Week  Link  

12-18

National Motorcycle Week Link 
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week  Link  Link 
National Resurrect Romance Week
Weird Contest Week 

15-21

National Aviation Week  

Observances for Today

Best Friends Day
Chauvin Day
Check The Chip Day (Those Implanted in Pets)  Link
National Medical Dosimetrist Day
National No SpongeBob Day Link  

Relaxation Day

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1000’s                                         

1040 King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare's play). The latter does succeed him as King.

1500’s                                         

1519 Panama City founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila

1600’s                                         

1635 1st recorded north American hurricane hit the Plymouth Colony

1800’s                                         

1824 Freed American slaves establish Liberia on the West African coast through the American Colonization Society (ACS)

1900’s                                         

1901 Arch Rock, a danger to San Francisco Bay shipping, blasted with 30 tons of nitro

1911 Procter & Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening

1914 Panama Canal opens (under cost)

1914 A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, murders seven people and burns the living quarters to the ground.

1939 "The Wizard of Oz", American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, starring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch)

1948 Republic of Korea (South Korea) proclaimed (National Day)

1950 Sukarno proclaims the unitary Republic of Indonesia and becomes its 1st President

1965 Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day at Candlestick Park to honor 1st Japanese player to play in major leagues

1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in New York State on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm

1974 Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours or 52 days)

1979 "Apocalypse Now", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen, is released (Palme d'Or 1979)

1985 P. W. Botha gives the "Rubicon" Speech in Durban, South Africa, dissapointing many by refusing to consider immediate and major reforms in the country's apartheid system

1994 Terrorist Carlos the Jackal, captured in Khartoum Sudan

2000’s                                         

2015 North Korea creates its own time zone -moving its clocks back half an hour to GMT+8.5

2016 Anita Włodarczyk of Poland sets a world record 82.29m to win the women's hammer throw gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; Zhang Wenxiu (China) silver, and Sophie Hitchon (Great Britain) bronze.

2017 Barack Obama's tweet "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." in response to Charlottesville violence becomes most-liked tweet ever

My Rambling Thoughts

Holy crap! I got hit with a huge lightning storm with hard male rain yesterday afternoon. It hit about 4p and lasted about an hour. Closest lightning was ¼ mile from my place. And with all the lightning this was a very loud storm. There was minor flooding on major roads. Our area always needs moisture, just not all at once. More storms appear to be building.

As a former Federal employee, we understood that we were not to go to the press or the public about the internal workings of our offices. On occasion an employee or former employee would go public about something our standard reply was ‘You should contact the Solicitor’s office’ and give them the phone number to the correct person. The concept that a federal employee who receives taxpayer dollars as salary would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement in perpetuity is not part of the country I grew up in. I get that it is common in business, but the running of the government is not a business, it is to protect the people of the United States.

In my Federal service, a few employees or outsiders would make outrageous claims about me or my co-workers. As hard as it was, we were told to ignore the comments and let the system investigate and clear up whatever happened. In my case, it always worked, proven false,  and was soon forgotten. 45 keeps items in the news with his crazy tweets. Too bad he doesn’t just let the system do what it does so well.  

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@94- Rose Marie [Mazzetta], American actress, comedienne and singer (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Doris Day Show), born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)

@92- Phyllis Schlafly, right-wing crusader, Eagle Forum president, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2016)

@91- Julia Child, cook, TV show, WWII OSS (d. 2004)

@91- Mike Connors, [Krekor Ohanian], American actor (Mannix), born in Fresno, California (d. 2017)

80’s

@82- Bill Baird, American puppeteer (Kukla Fran & Ollie, Muppet Show), born in Grand Island, Nebraska (d. 1987)

70’s

72- Jimmy Webb, American singer-songwriter (MacArthur Park, Up Up & Away), born in Elk City, Oklahoma

60’s

@61- Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist and poet (The Lady of the Lake), born in College Wynd, Edinburgh Scotland (d. 1832)

50’s

54- Melinda Gates, American philanthropist and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, born in Dallas, Texas

@51- Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader and Emperor of the French (1804-14, 1815), born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1821) stomach ‘cancer’/arsenic poisoning?

50- Debra Messing, American actress (Will & Grace), born in Brooklyn, New York

@50- Stieg Larsson [Karl Stig-Erland Larsson], Swedish author (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), born in Skelleftehamn, Sweden (d. 2004) heart attack

40’s

46- Ben Affleck, American actor (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor), born in Berkeley, California

30’s

@37- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast), born in London, England (d. 1912) pneumonia

20’s

29- Belinda [Belinda Peregrín Schüll], Mexican singer, songwriter and actress, born in Madrid, Spain

28- Jennifer Lawrence, American actress (Winter's Bone, Silver Linings Playbook), born in Louisville, Kentucky

Historical Obits Today

90’s

@91-2008 Jerry Wexler, American music producer who coined the term "rhythm and blues" (Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan)

70’s

@75-2015 Julian Bond, American civil rights leader and politician (D-Ga), vascular disease

50’s

@55-1935 Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (Judge Priest), plane crash in Alaska

@53-1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding father of Bangladesh and 1st and 4th President of Bangladesh (1971-72 and 1975-76), assassinated in a military coup by a group of junior army officers

30’s

@36-1935 Wiley Post, aviation pioneer, plane crash in Alaska

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…☼☼☼☼