8-28-14

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

Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 240 / Week: 35 

August Averages: 78° \ 50°
Today:
    Average Sky Cover: 35%
    H 72°… L 49°… Ave. humidity: 78%
    Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  20mph 
    Average High: 78° Record High:  89° (1948)
    Average Low: 47° Record Low:  33° (1920)
        
Quote of the Day

Historical Highlights for Today

  476 - Western Roman Empire formally disbands, emperor Romulus August ousted

1565 - Oldest city in the US, St Augustine Fla, established
1609 - Henry Hudson, discovers & explores Delaware Bay
1789 - Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
1837 - Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce
1845 - Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue.
1864 – 1st Geneva Convention, governing rules of warfare, signed by 26 nations.
1884 – 1st known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard, SD
1898 - Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola"
1907 - United Parcel Service is founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington
1937 - Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1949 - Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY
1963 - 200,000 march\demonstrate in Washington, DC
1963 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream speech"
1982 - The first Gay Games are held in San Francisco

♫  Birthdays Today: ♫  

How many can you identify? Answers in Birthday’s Today below

My Rambling Thoughts   

A light afternoon rain blew through here. Sun was shining while the rain was falling. Just a nice day all the way around. Tomorrow I get to see the Dr about my foot issue. Can’t wait. It is all good today and I actually took a nice walk this morning.  

Yesterday was the AZ primary elections. This is a very Republican and conservative state, but we have had lots of Dems over the years in office. I did vote yesterday, but only on a couple of offices…City Council and Local judge. Most of the rest of the ballot was only one candidate, or no candidate at all. Now it will be time to learn about the actual candidates who are on the Nov ballot. There were some real wacko conservatives on the Republican ballot for governor, now it is just one conservative. The good side of being registered in the minority party, not a lot of robocalls. Those will start while I’m in Ireland and after I return. My polling place for this decade is at the Lutheran church about a block from my house…nice.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Susan needed to go to the store to buy some ingredients to cook with. She started writing them down:
Butter
Milk
Eggs
Baking Soda
Cashews
Oranges
Vinegar
Lemon Juice

What was Susan making?

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

 LeAnn Rimes - Blue (Official Music Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zod1Vv8ZDNg

Ruth Gordon Tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfIxsszLXu8

Shania Twain - You're Still The One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZH-emehxA

The Comic Genius of Nancy Kulp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIjJwoz7j0

OK Then…

 Returns tomorrow

Paraphernalia 4 the Brain :     

Brain Facts…

Scientists say that a 'zombie apocalypse' is actually possible based on the recent discovery of certain brain parasites. But as of now, these parasites only affect bugs.

Computer Facts…

It would take 76 work days (8 hours a day) for the average person to read the Terms and Conditions they agree to in a year.

Flagstaff, AZ History…

25 YEARS AGO

The Doney government survey done 20 years ago is 170 inches off. As many as 1,400 parcels are affected. Some fence lines are being moved by opportunists, causing additional confusion.

**NEW**Fun Facts…

After octopuses breed, they develop dementia. They then live the rest of their lives in this confused, seemingly lost state, with apparently no knowledge of previous events.

Harper’s Index

Portion of North American zoo elephants who are overweight: 3/4   

Language Facts…

Floccinaucinihilipilification, the declaration of an item being useless, is the longest non-medical term in the English language.

Rules of Thumb…   

LOADING A MUZZLE LOADER

Back in the days when every firearm was made by hand and every firearm was a muzzle-loader, the starting powder charge for a new firearm was determined thusly: Place the proper sized bullet in your palm and pour just enough powder over it to cover it completely. That amount of powder will be a safe starting charge that can be adjusted for accuracy. Works today with modern muzzle-loaders too!

Superstitions…

Breaking a mirror is said to bring bad luck for 7 years. To "undo" this, take the shards of glass and bury them underneath the moonlight. In ancient times, the mirror was said to be a window to the viewer's soul.

Unusual Fact of the Day…

Why did the FBI call Ted Kaczynski "The Unabomber"? His early mail bombs were sent to universities (UN) & airlines (A).

Joke-of-the-day

The science graduate asks, "Why does it work?" The engineering graduate asks, "How does it work?" The accounting graduate asks, "How much does it cost?" The liberal arts graduate asks, "Would you like fries with that?" 

Yeah, It Really Happened

BOLTON, England - A man in England was fined for wasting police time after telling his girlfriend he was kidnapped so he could stay at a party with his friends. The unnamed man told his girlfriend he was being held in a house in Bolton, England until he repaid £50 to the fabricated captor. The man's understandably panicked girlfriend called the police to report the fictional crime, launching a very costly manhunt that even led to an unnecessary arrest. "Considerable resources and time then went into finding this man, who it transpires made the entire thing up so he could stay out and party," Detective Inspector Jo Clawson said in a statement. "This is without doubt one of the most foolish and irresponsible incidents I have been involved in ... Significant resources were taken off the front line on a Friday night, which is without exception one of the busiest times of the week." Over a dozen officers executed a neighborhood search, knocking on doors and combing through CCTV footage. The "missing" man was eventually discovered at a party around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Rather an arrest him, the man was fined on the spot and will forever have a criminal record for trying to have night without his girlfriend. "We feel we have wasted enough time and resources on him already and not only has he been fined, this matter will be recorded as a criminal conviction on his record."

 

Somewhat Useless Information   

Dr. Rene Theophile Laenne invented the first stethoscope in 1816. He felt embarrassed if he had to listen to the heart beat of a young female patient by placing his ear directly on her chest, so he rolled up 24 sheets of paper to make a tube and placed one end on her chest and the other end in his ear. By 1855 a stethoscope similar to the one used during most of the 20th century became available.
The blood pressure cuff was invented by an Austrian physician named Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch and first saw use in doctor's surgeries in the 1880's. An improved version of the cuff was unveiled by Italian physician Scipione Riva-Rocci in 1896.
Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is also known as "CAT scanning" (Computed Axial Tomography). CT was invented in 1972 by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield of EMI Laboratories, England and by South Africa-born physicist Allan Cormack of Tufts University, Massachusetts. Hounsfield and Cormack were later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their contributions to medicine and science.
While studying the effects of passing an electrical current through gases at low pressure, German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen accidentally discovered X-rays. When Rontgen held a piece of lead in front of the electron-discharge tube, it blocked the rays, but he was shocked to see his own flesh glowing around his bones on the fluorescent screen behind his hand.
In 1948 George de Mestral, a Swiss mountaineer, and his dog went for a hike in the woods. When they returned both were covered with burrs. Using a microscope he examined the burrs stuck to his pants and discovered that the burrs had small hooks that clung to small loops of fabric in his clothing. This lead him to the idea of making one material with small hooks and the other material with tiny loops. He called his invention Velcro, a combination of the words velour and crochet.
English physician, Sir Thomas Allbutt (1836-1925) invented the first practical medical thermometer used for taking the temperature of a person in 1867. It was portable, 6 inches in length and able to record a patient's temperature in 5 min.

 

Check Your Calendar

Observances This Week:

24-30

National Chuck Wagon Races
National Safe at Home Week
Be Kind To Humankind Week

 

Today Is  

Crackers Over The Keyboard Day

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee
Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day
Radio Commercials Day
++
Family Day (US-Tennessee)
                                                     
 Today’s Events through History  

1830 - 1st locomotive in US, "Tom Thumb", runs from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill

1924 - Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union
1981 - John Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill President Reagan
2003 - An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt
2012 - Mitt Romney is officially nominated

Birthday’s Today                                                        

David Soul, [Solberg], actor (Starsky & Hutch) is 71

Emma Samms, [Samuels], actress (Colby's) is 54
Shania Twain, Windsor Ontario, singer (You're Still the One) is 49
Jason Priestley, Vancouver, actor (Brandon-Beverly Hills 90210) is 45
Jack Black, Comedic actor is 45
LeAnn Rimes, country singer (Blue) is 32

 

Remembered for being born today

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Frankfurt, social philosopher (Faust), (1749-1832)
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, 1st American Catholic saint (1975), (1774-1821)

Charles Boyer, France, actor (Algiers, Fanny, Barefoot in the Park) (1899-1978)

Jack Kirby, cartoonist (X-Men, Spiderman, Hulk, Capt America) (1917-1994)

Nancy Kulp, actress (Miss Hathaway-Beverly Hillbillies) (1921-1991)

Rokie Roker, actress (Helen-Jeffersons) (1929-1995)

Ben Gazzara, actor (Run for Your Life, QB VII), (1930-2012)

 

Historical Obits Today                                                           

Ruth Gordon, actress (Big Bus), 1985, @88

Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader, 1805, @83

Frederick Law Olmsted, writer\landscape architect (Central Park), 1903, @81

Charles Darrow, US inventor of Monopoly, 1967, @78

 

Brain Teasers                                         

A shopping list.

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  §

 

8-27-14

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

Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 239 / Week: 35 

August Averages: 78° \ 50°

Today:

    Average Sky Cover: 100%

    H 63°… L 50°… Ave. humidity: 62%

    Wind: ave:   2mph; Gusts:  25mph 

    Average High: 78° Record High:  88° (1944)

    Average Low: 47° Record Low:  36° (1978)

        

Quote of the Day

Historical Highlights for Today

1667 - Earliest recorded hurricane in North America (Jamestown Virginia)

1832 - Black Hawk, leader of Sauk, gives himself up

1859 - 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn by Edwin Drake

1892 - NYC Metropolitan Opera House catches fire

1912 - Edgar Rice Burroughs publishes "Tarzan of the Apes"

1942 - Cuba declares war on Germany, Japan & Italy

1955 - "Guinness Book of World Records" 1st published

1961 - Francis the Talking Mule is mystery guest on "What's My Line"

1976 - Transsexual Renee Richards barred from competing in US Tennis Open

1984 - US President Ronald Reagan announces Teacher in Space project

2008 - Barack Obama becomes the 1st African-American to be nominated by a major political party

♫  Birthdays Today: ♫  

How many can you identify? Answers in Birthday’s Today below

My Rambling Thoughts   

A cool day, cloudy most of the day, rain was trying to fall, but didn’t really start until mid-afternoon. Bring it on. Thunder started a little before the rain, so it will probably be a noisy afternoon and evening. We are still under a flash flood watch until 11pm. Sounds like this storm may be a big one.

So a hostage was released and an American citizen, who had joined ISIS has been killed. The State Dept. is saying there are as many as 100 Americans who have headed that way to train with ISIS. That does not include other Western countries that have citizens training with ISIS. Such a sad state of affairs.

My foot pain actually almost disappeared yesterday after only one day of pain pills. I sure hope the Dr. can figure this out before I leave for Ireland. An attack over there would be tolerable, but would make some of the tourist things a little bothersome. I find out Thursday.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

There are over fifty members in my family;
Yet none quarrel. We all live merrily.
++
Four leaders have we, all with a bride;
Each has a son who has great pride.
++
We also have servants who make funny gestures;
But they are hardly used, as they often pester.
++
The peasants are at the bottom of the line;
Although they outnumber us, they haven't a right mind.
++
What are we?

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

 

Tommy Sands-Blue Velvet

PeeWee's Playhouse

SNAFU - SUPPORT OUR TROOPS - Martha Raye

Stevie Ray Vaughan-Pride And Joy

OK Then…

<><> <> <> <>

Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     

Africa Facts…

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%. The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%.

Brain Facts…

You see your nose at all times, your brain just chooses to ignore it.

Computer Facts…

The Firefox emblem isn't actually a fox, but a red panda.

Flagstaff, AZ History…

50 YEARS AGO

New offices and a laboratory are being constructed here on McMillan Mesa for Eugene Shoemaker, 14 additional geophysicists and scientists in other fields for their use in their work with the new 30-inch reflecting scope installed on Anderson Mesa last year.

Harper’s Index

Amount Americans spent on mayonnaise last year: $2,000,000,000 

Language Facts…

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

Rules of Thumb…   

MAIL-ORDER ADVERTISING

Ten to 15 percent of the people who accept a trial offer will decide for one reason or another to return the merchandise. But a trial offer will normally produce about twice as many orders as a money-back guarantee.

Superstitions…

If one walks underneath an open ladder it is said to bring bad luck. Sometimes it is said that this can be undone by immediately walking backwards back underneath the ladder.

Unusual Fact of the Day…

Despite his amazing success as a songwriter in the early 60s, Paul McCartney wanted to test the theory whether it was the Lennon-McCartney name that made hit songs. He wrote "Woman" for Peter & Gordon using the pseudonym "Bernard Webb." The song became a hit.

Joke-of-the-day

Three men were sitting on a park bench. The one in the middle was reading a newspaper; the others were pretending to fish. They baited imaginary hooks, cast lines, and reeled in their catch.

A passing policeman stopped to watch the spectacle and asked the man in the middle if he knew the other two.

“Oh yes” he said. “They ‘re my friends.”

“In that case,” warned the officer, “you’d better get them out of here!”

“Yes, sir” the man replied, and he began rowing furiously.

Yeah, It Really Happened

A convenience store owner in New York (or was it New Jersey?) had to personally chase down a shoplifter who has robbed his store several times because the police refuse to respond to so-called petty crimes.
That is not likely to happen at "Shooters Grill" in Rifle, Colorado, where all nine of the servers at the restaurant pack heat as they shuttle plates of food to diners, from Glock semi-automatics to Ashlee Saenz's thigh-length Rueger Blackhawk .357 six-shooter. On the wall, posted alongside copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, is a sign declaring that those inside are still "proudly clinging to my guns and Bible."
Owner Lauren Boebert, 27, says she didn't start out to make a statement when she began carrying a pistol on her hip a month after opening Shooters a year ago. But through the months, her other waitresses thought it was kind of fun and they, too, started carrying in this town of 9,200 about 180 miles west of Denver.
"We don't worship guns. We worship Jesus," said Boebert, a mother of four whose husband works in the oil industry. "We're here to serve people."
Menu items include the M16 burrito, the Swiss and Wesson grilled cheese, and "Locked and Loaded nachos."
"I'm from Texas," said one diner. "This is normal."
And that's just how Boebert sees it. Rifle is hunting country with outfitters offering to help visitors track down and shoot elk and deer roaming the nearby high-country forests and canyons. Legend says the area got its name when a surveyor left his gun leaning against a tree and marked his map with "rifle" to remind himself where it was.
++

In May, the Denver-based Chipotle burrito chain asked gun owners to stop bringing guns into the company's stores following a series of demonstrations from strident Second Amendment supporters in Texas. And last year, Starbucks also asked gun owners to leave their weapons behind when buying coffee.
However, in Rifle, Boebert said the local Starbucks franchisee has no problem when she walks in wearing her Springfield XDS .45.
A sign on the front door welcomes armed patrons and asks them to abide by the same rules but adds, "in such cases, judicious marksmanship appreciated."
"There's no point to be made," Boebert said as her waitresses refilled ketchup bottles and wiped down menus, readying for the dinner rush. "This is our way of life."

Somewhat Useless Information   

Are you a creative thinker? Do you systematically dig into yourself and look for new ideas that will help you improve the important parts of your life?

You can make the negative hypothesis disappear from your life if you follow seven principles of creative thinking:

Ask questions

Practice zero-based thinking

Change your mind

Admit when you are wrong

Continue to learn

Be goal oriented

Eliminate your ego

Generate new ideas

++

Tennis was first developed in France and its original name was ‘tenez’ derived from ‘tenir’ meaning ‘here you are’.

However, tennis lost popularity in France and gained greater popularity in England. Each time British people hit the ball they used to say “tenez”, which in the British accent sounded like “tennis”.

This is how tennis got its new spelling. When tennis gained popularity all over the world, even French used to spell it like “tennis”!

Check Your Calendar

Observances This Week:

24-30

National Chuck Wagon Races
National Safe at Home Week
Be Kind To Humankind Week

Today Is  

Global Forgiveness Day

Just Because Day

The Duchess Who Wasn't Day- celebrates the life of Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, an Irish novelist who was always published under the pen name “The Duchess” 

Tug-of-War Day

++

Independence Day (Moldova-1991-from USSR)

                                                       

Today’s Events through History  

1601 - Olivier van Noort completes first Dutch exploration of new world

1783 - First hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude

1939 - Heinkel He-178 makes first manned flight with rocket/jet propulsion

Birthday’s Today                                                        

Tommy Sands, singer/actor (Teenage Rock) is 77

[Susan] Tuesday Weld, actress (Dobie Gillis, Wild in Country) is 71

G W Bailey, actor (Police Academy, The Closer) is 70

Barbara Bach [Goldbach], actress (The Spy Who Loved Me) is 67

Pee-wee Herman, [Paul Reubens], NY, actor (Pee-wee's Big Adventure) is 62

"Downtown" Julie Brown, TV host (Club MTV, Inside Edition) is 55

Remembered for being born today

Hannibal Hamlin, (R) 15th VP (1809-1891)

Charles Gates Dawes, (R) 30th VP (1925-29, Nobel 1925) (1901-1965)

Theodore Dreiser, US, novelist (Sister Carie, American Tragedy) ()

Al Ritz, [Joaquim], actor (Ritz Brothers) ()

Lyndon B. Johnson, (D) 36th US President (1908-1973)

Martha Raye, [Margaret Reed], actress (Martha Raye Show) (1916-1994)

Historical Obits Today                                                           

W E B Du Bois, scholar/founder (NAACP), 1963, @95

Rowland Hill, introduced postage stamps, 1879, @83

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma assassinated, 1979, @79

Bennett Cerf, (Random House)/panelist (What's My Line), 1971, @73

Gracie Allen, actress (Burns & Allen), heart attack, 1964, @62

Greg Morris, actor (Mission Impossible), cancer, 1996, @62

Stevie Ray Vaughan, blues guitarist, helicopter crash, 1990, @35

Brian Epstein, rock manager (Beatles), overdose, 1967, @32

Brain Teasers                                         

A Deck of Standard Playing Cards
Fifty-four cards in a standard deck.
Four Kings, four Queens, and four Jacks.
The servants are the Jesters.
The peasants are the number cards.

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  §