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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 231 / Week: 34
August Averages: 78° \ 50°
Today:
Average Sky Cover: 60%
H 73°… L 55°… Ave. humidity: 59%
Wind: ave: 10mph; Gusts: 19mph
Average High: 79° Record High: 88° (1973)
Average Low: 49° Record Low: 35° (1979)
Quote of the Day
Historical Highlights for Today
1561 - Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Scotland to assume throne after spending 13 years in France
1692 - Five more people hanged for witchcraft (20 in all) in Salem
1839 - Details of Louis Daguerre's 1st practical photographic process are released
1888 - 1st beauty contest (Spa, Belgium), 18 yr old West Indian wins
1909 - Indianapolis 500 race track opens
1960 - Francis Gary Powers convicted of spying by USSR (U-2 incident)
1963 - NAACP Youth Council begins sit-ins at lunch counters, Oklahoma City
1976 - President Ford wins Republican presidential nomination at KC convention
1984 - Republican convention in Houston nominates Ronald Reagan for President
2010 - Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
♫ Birthdays Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers in Birthday’s Today below
My Rambling Thoughts
Started out as a beautiful day and in the early afternoon the monsoon came as predicted. Just a nice rain for about 20 minutes to cool things off and water our forest. Nice day for sure.
Yesterday the Broncos won…great game with a few Tuba friends who took me to dinner after the game.
I just watched an interesting live report from the demonstrations in MO. A CNN reporter was doing a live report and a county police officer walked up to him and told him to move back and keep moving. The guy tried to move back, but the crowd behind the camera didn’t move. The officer moved in real ‘up in your face’. Tense to say the least. According to the reporter, this is where they have been all day at police orders, doing live reports and for some unknown reason the protesters were being moved to another location, without telling them where they were going. It all worked out peacefully for the time, but there is certainly a breakdown in the heart of America. This on top of the news that the kid was shot 6 times. I am really confused as first it was the local police, then the county police, then the state patrol, then the National Guard. Sounds like there are way too many chiefs running this operation. In my little world, I thought when the National Guard was called up, they took over everything. Guess not.
Game Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
At a train station in Sydney, Australia, an intelligent rich man was awaiting his upper class rail transport. He was sorting through his wallet and pulled out credit cards, receipts, and $200 in cash.
An egotistical scam artist (and a talented one at that) approached the man and said to him, "I'll bet you, on all the money in your wallet, that I can get a packet of chips out of that snack machine without inserting any money!"
The rich man, who was intrigued by this 'talent', readily agreed.
The scam artist walked over to the snack dispenser, stuck his hand up through the compartments, and a chip packet fell out.
The rich man was amazed, but being a faithful businessman, stuck to his word, yet the scam artist walked off without a penny.
An egotistical scam artist (and a talented one at that) approached the man and said to him, "I'll bet you, on all the money in your wallet, that I can get a packet of chips out of that snack machine without inserting any money!"
The rich man, who was intrigued by this 'talent', readily agreed.
The scam artist walked over to the snack dispenser, stuck his hand up through the compartments, and a chip packet fell out.
The rich man was amazed, but being a faithful businessman, stuck to his word, yet the scam artist walked off without a penny.
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
OK Then…
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Paraphernalia 4 the Brain :
Africa Facts…
More people in Africa speak French than in France itself.
Brain Facts…
Falling in love raises levels of nerve growth in a person's brain for about a year and can improve their memory.
Brief History…
The Alamo Was Defended by American Patriots Defending Their Rights.
Mexico had welcomed American settlers to Texas. Mexico, however, had already outlawed slavery and the Americans in Texas insisted on owning slaves, which was the issue fought about at the Alamo. How many people do you know that realize that? Additionally, the Alamo is portrayed as having been fought to the last man, every person fighting to the death. Actually, some survived to be captured and were executed afterwards.
Computer Facts…
IBM's Watson computer has 90 processors, 2,880 cores, 11,200 threads, 16 terabytes of RAM, and 4TB worth of data on its hard drive.
Flagstaff, AZ History…
From 1889: The recent rain has been good for all classes of ranchmen. Farmers are saying the prospect for a large crop has never looked better at this time of year.
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P. J. Brannen, one of the most enterprising business men in town, is making quite extensive improvements to his property on the south side of town.
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There are bargains in green fruit at Fisher’s this week. Pears, plums and apples 10 cents. Evaporated nectarines, plums and cherries 15 cents. There are still no new potatoes.
Harper’s Index
Chances that a young Afghan man says he has never heard of 9/11: 9 in 10
Language Facts…
The United States does not have an official language.
Rules of Thumb…
WRITING A MAGAZINE ARTICLE
When writing a magazine article, begin with a snappy lead sentence, then write the piece to match the tone of the lead. Before submitting the article, delete the lead sentence.
Superstitions…
Two people breaking a wishbone is said to lead to good luck for the person with the larger piece.
Unusual Fact of the Day…
The Earth's North and South Poles flip polarity on a semi-frequent basis, having done so more than 20 times in the past 5 million years. That means that with the next flip, all compasses will be pointing South rather than North.
Joke-of-the-day
Pete and Larry had not seen each other in many years. Now they had a long talk trying to fill in the gap of those years by telling about their lives. Finally Pete invited Larry to visit him in his new apartment. "I got a wife and three kids and I'd love to have you visit us."
"Great. Where do you live?"
"Here's the address. And there's plenty of parking behind the apartment. Park and come around to the front door, kick it open with your foot, go to the elevator and press the button with your left elbow, then enter! When you reach the sixth floor, go down the hall until you see my name on the door. Then press the doorbell with your right elbow and I'll let you in."
"Good. But tell me...what is all this business of kicking the front door open, then pressing elevator buttons with my right, then my left elbow?"
"Surely, you're not coming empty-handed."
Yeah, It Really Happened
FLORENCE, Ariz. (UPI) - At least she kept her pants on, unlike a teacher in Oklahoma. An Arizona math teacher was arrested at San Tan Valley high school on Wednesday after she allegedly had to take a taxi to work because she was too drunk to drive. Kathleen Jardine somehow made it into her classroom and attempted to teach, but then aroused her students' suspicions by "yelling and cursing" at them. "She just seemed slow," student Cole McCormick told CBS 5. After a school security officer found vodka and mixers in her classroom, the 57-year-old allegedly admitted she had been drinking and the alcohol belonged to her. Jardine was cited for consumption of alcohol in public and she could also be facing a disorderly conduct charge, according to a press release from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. According to Gilbert Police, Jardine was arrested for driving drunk the day before and cited for extreme DUI and failure to maintain a lane. "Learning math can be hard enough, I can't imagine trying to learn it from a drunk teacher," said Sheriff Paul Babeu. "This is not the first time teacher Kathleen Jardine has been intoxicated in the classroom."
Somewhat Useless Information
Bocce is based on one of the oldest diversions known to man-throwing something at a target. A painting of two boys playing a similar type of game was found in an Egyptian tomb and dated to 5200 B.C.
Roman soldiers played a game like bocce during the Punic Wars in the Third Century B.C. In this version of the sport, stones were used instead of balls.
Later, the Romans played the game with coconuts they brought back from Africa. Emperor Augustus (31 B.C.-14 A.D.) played the game and became the first in a long line of notable public figures who enjoyed bocce or a closely related type of sport.
Bocce shared a fate common to many games of the Middle Ages-it was banned by both kings and the church. In 1319, Roman Emperor Charles IV outlawed the game because it took people's attention away from military matters. King Carlos of Spain would issue a similar ban.
A bocce court is 10-13 feet wide and between 60 and 100 feet long. The ball that becomes the target is called the pallino.
Some notable names have been associated with the game of bocce. Galileo and deVinci reportedly enjoyed the sport, as did Queen Elizabeth and George Washington. Washington is said to have built a bocce court on his Mount Vernon estate in the 1780s.
Roman soldiers played a game like bocce during the Punic Wars in the Third Century B.C. In this version of the sport, stones were used instead of balls.
Later, the Romans played the game with coconuts they brought back from Africa. Emperor Augustus (31 B.C.-14 A.D.) played the game and became the first in a long line of notable public figures who enjoyed bocce or a closely related type of sport.
Bocce shared a fate common to many games of the Middle Ages-it was banned by both kings and the church. In 1319, Roman Emperor Charles IV outlawed the game because it took people's attention away from military matters. King Carlos of Spain would issue a similar ban.
A bocce court is 10-13 feet wide and between 60 and 100 feet long. The ball that becomes the target is called the pallino.
Some notable names have been associated with the game of bocce. Galileo and deVinci reportedly enjoyed the sport, as did Queen Elizabeth and George Washington. Washington is said to have built a bocce court on his Mount Vernon estate in the 1780s.
Check Your Calendar
Observances This Week:
14-24
Little League Baseball World Series
15-21
National Aviation Week
18-24
Today Is
Aviation Day
"Black Cow" Root Beer Float Day
National Men's Grooming Day
World Humanitarian Day
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Independence Day (Afghanistan-1919-from UK)
Today’s Events through History
1768 - Saint Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia
1895 - John Wesley Hardin, outlaw killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon
1897 - 1st electric taxis drive in London
1954 - Ralph J Bunche named undersecretary of UN
1993 - George Tiller, abortion doctor, shot in his arms
2009 - A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others
Birthday’s Today
Renee Richards, [Richard Rankind], trans-sexual tennis player is 80
Diana Muldaur, NYC, actress (McCloud) is 76
Ginger [Peter] Baker, England, drummer (Cream-White Room) is 75
Jill St John, [Oppenheim], actress (Diamonds are Forever) is 74
Bill Clinton [William Jefferson], , 42nd President is 68
Mary Elizabeth Tipper Gore, wife of vice president Al Gore is 66
Adam Arkin, Bkln, actor (Busting Loose, Pearl, Northern Exposure) is 58
John Stamos, actor, singer is 51
Kyra Sedgwick, actress (Phenomenon, Singles) is 49
Lee Ann Womack, Country musician is 48
Matthew Perry, Canadian/American actor (Chandler Bing on Friends) is 45
Remembered for being born today
Seth Thomas, pioneer in mass production of clocks (1785-1859)
Orville Wright, aviator (Wright Brothers), (1871-1948)
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (Chanel) (1883-1971)
Ogden Nash, humorous poet (I'm a Stranger Here Myself) (1902-1971)
Malcolm Forbes, Brooklyn, publisher (Forbes Magazine) (1919-1990)
Gene Roddenberry, executive producer (Star Trek) (1921-1991)
Willie Shoemaker, jockey (won 8,833 of 40,350 starts) (1931-2003)
Historical Obits Today
Linus Pauling, Nobel scientist (Vitamin C advocate), 1994, @93
Don Hewitt, creator of 60 Minutes, 2009, @86
Groucho Marx, comedian (Marx Bros), 1977, @86
Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor, 14, @75
John Wesley Hardin, American gunfighter, shot, 1895, @42
Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, TB, 1662, @39
Brain Teasers
The rich man had already removed all the money and items from his wallet before he made the bet. Therefore, when he gave the scammer all the money in his wallet, it totaled $0!
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 §
