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Almanac: Week: 52 \ Day: 002
December
Averages: 44°\17°-wind
chill-drop 10°
86004 Today: H 30°\L 11°
Ave. humidity: 85% Average Sky Cover: 75%
Wind ave: 5mph\Gusts: 14mph
Ave. High: 42° Record
High: 60° (1902)
Ave. Low: 16° Record Low:
-21° (1919)
Observances
Today:
Run Up the Flagpole and
See if Anybody Salutes It Day
National
Personal Trainer Awareness Day
Observances This
Week:
1-7
New
Year's Resolutions Week
Celebration of Life Week
Diet Resolution Week
Silent Record Week
2-8
Someday We'll Laugh About This Week
« »
Quote of
the Day
Historical
Highlights for Today
1602 - Spanish
force in Ireland surrender to the English army at Kinsdale
1818 - Lord
Byron completes "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" (4th canto)
1832 - 1st
Curling club in US (Orchard Lake Curling Club) opens
1839 - 1st
photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre)
1882 - Because
of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil is organized as a trust
1890 - Alice
Sanger becomes 1st female White House staffer
1893 - 1st US
commemoratives & 1st US stamp to picture a woman issued (Queen Isabella,
patron of Columbus)
1903 - Pres T
Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing to accept its
appointed postmistress because she was black
1910 - 1st
junior high schools in US opens (Berkeley California)
1919 - Anti-British
uprising in Ireland
1923 - Ku Klux Klan surprise
attack on black residential area Rosewood Fla, 8 killed (compensation awarded in 1995)
1935 - Bruno R
Hauptmann trial begins for kidnap-murder of Lindbergh baby
1941 - World War
II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales
1942 - WWII: 28
nations at war with Axis powers, pledge no separate peace deals
1944 - 1st use
of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol)
1969 - Australian Rupert
Murdoch gains control of the 'News of the World'
1974 - 55 MPH
speed limit imposed by Richard Nixon
1983 - Gary Trudeau takes a 20-month break from
writing "Doonesbury"
1985 - Egyptian Pres Mubarak reappoints Coptic pope
Shenuda III
2014 - Raul Castro
gives a speech commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Cuban revolution and
warns of "neo-liberal and neo-colonial thinking" entering the country
« »
♫
Birthdays Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today
My
Rambling Thoughts
Ah, 2015 started with a blue sky, but quickly clouded over with
more snow expected. No complaints, it’s why I live at 7000’…I get all four
seasons.
Quiet New Year’s Eve for me. Made it till 12m but not much longer.
Only a few horns in our quiet neighborhood. We have a new snow crew and they
are great. When it snows this much the older guys left a pile of snow where the
sidewalk meets the parking pavement. Not the new crew…I can get out, if I
wanted to without having to climb a mountain of snow and ice. NICE!
I am getting a little cabin fever as I haven’t ventured out since
I got home the 30th. But tomorrow, I’m out and about. Today was
putting all the Christmas stuff and lights away. While doing that, I also did 5
loads of laundry. Vacuumed up all the little tinsel pieces that fell off.
Everything is now packed or folded, or hung up. Very productive way to start
the new year.
« »
Brain
Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
Can
you break this code?
Shift three. Caps lock one. Shift six.
Tab six. Tab nine. Tab seven.
Tab four. Tab three. Caps lock one. Caps lock three.
Tab five. Caps lock six. Tab eight. Caps lock two. Shift 10.
Found on
You Tube with some relevance to today
« »
Paraphernalia
4 the Brain:
50’s
Inventions…
1951
Super glue invented.
Power steering invented by Francis W. Davis.
Charles Ginsburg invented the first video tape recorder (VTR).
Education
Facts…
<> In
Iceland, more books are published and sold per person every year than anywhere
else in the world. Ten percent of Icelanders become a published author in their
lifetime.
<> Harvard earns enough money from interest on its endowment
that it could offer free tuition to every student and still profit.
Flagstaff,
AZ History…
75 YEARS
AGO
Christmas tree lighting has begun on most homes, churches and
schools. This project is sponsored by the Women's Club Garden Department. The
deadline for entries in the 20th of December. Mrs. Richard Heath Chairman.
Flagstaff’s
Iconic 50…
Dubeau
and Hotel Downtowner Signs
When the federal government realigned Route 66 from Phoenix Avenue
to Santa Fe Avenue in 1934, a sign war erupted between the hotels on the south side
of the tracks. Both the Motel DuBeau and Downtowner raised 60-foot
lighted signs to attract customers from the new alignment.
The Motel DuBeau was one of the first motels that opened on the
Southside. Motels became popular in the 1920 as the U.S. highway system started
to grow and people began taking longer car trips.
In 1929, Albert Neil DuBeau opened a motel with 22 rooms and
heated garages at the corner of Phoenix Avenue (then Route 66) and Beaver
Street. According to Platt Cline’s book “Mountain Town,” the hotel cost around
$45,000 to build. The rooms rented for $2.50 to $5 a night and featured private
baths, double beds and carpet.
The Downtowner was originally a series of brothels. K.J. Nackard
bought the properties in 1918 when the state voted prostitution out and
Prohibition in. It was originally called the Nackard Auto Inn. The motel
eventually became the Grand Canyon International Youth Hostel.
Harper’s
Index…
30
Factor by which a person in Nevada is more likely than one in
Massachusetts to be the target of a federal wiretap.
Rules of
Thumb…
PLAYING
THE MIDWAY
At an amusement
park, ask the person at the game booth to demonstrate the game. If he refuses,
it's because he can't win a prize. This means your chances of losing are too
high.
Unusual
Fact of the Day…
Ken
Osmond, the actor who played Eddie Haskell in Leave It to Beaver,
wasn't the troublemaker in real life. He grew up to become an L.A. policeman.
« »
Joke-of-the-day
|
One day, a cowboy rode into a Wild, Wild
West town. The people in the town love to play jokes on visitors. After tying
his horse to the pole outside a bar, the cowboy went in.
"A cup of milk please." he said to
the bartender. After drinking, he went out, only to find his horse missing.
Knowing that the villagers did it, he went
back into the bar and said to everybody," I am going to have another
drink and when I finish it, I want to see my horse outside! Or else, I will
have to do what I did in Texas - HERE!"
The
people were very frightened. When he finished his drink, he went outside and
saw his horse. The villagers had put it back. Curious, the bartender asked
the cowboy,” What did you do in Texas?"
The Cowboy replied," Well, I had to walk home. |
|
|
|||||||
Yep, It Really
Happened
FRAMINGHAM,
Mass. (UPI)
In an explosive fit of symbolism, a woman in Boston bombarded a
local police precinct with uncooked breakfast meats -- bacon and pork sausage.
Before serving her unwelcome meal -- disguised inside a Dunkin' Donuts box --
the woman approached an officer at a teller window offered loudly to "feed
the pigs." The woman, Lindsey McNamara, subsequently smeared several of
the bacon slices and sausage links on the window, tossing the others onto the
counter. Her assault on the William H. Welch Way police station, in Framingham,
Massachusetts, was short-lived; she was arrested shortly after 11:00 a.m. She
faces charges of disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property.
Lieutenant Harry Wareham said it isn't clear what her motivation was, but
feelings of ill-will towards the police have been growing after a series of
incidents involving the deaths of unarmed African American males at the hands
of police. "There's a lot of unrest regarding law enforcement, and I don't
know if [this] is related or not," Wareham told Boston.com. "There's
probably a lot more productive ways to voice her displeasure with police."
McNamara later claimed to be religiously motivated. "God told me to go
over there and feed the pigs," she said during her first court appearance.
Somewhat
Useless Information
Here’s
a special list of things you didn’t know about how do people celebrate New
Year’s Eve around the world.
<>
There is a strong belief in America that eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s
Day will ensure good luck in the new year. In Italy, people wear red underwear
on New Year’s Day, as they believe that it will bring good luck for the
upcoming year.
<>
The world famous Time Square ball is made from Waterford Crystal and weighs
over one thousand pounds. In 1942 and 1943, the ball was not dropped due to war
restrictions.
<>
New Year’s Eve Resolutions is a very old tradition. It dates back to the
Ancient Babylonians and in Mesopotamia and date back to 2000 B.C. The most
common resolutions are: weight loss, getting organized, spending less and
saving more, staying fit and quitting smoking.
<>
About 41% of American adults plan to kiss someone at the stroke of midnight on
New Year’s Eve.
<>
Julius Caesar is the man responsible for establishing New Year’s Day at January
1st, with the Julian calendar.
<>
Ancient Persians gave eggs as New Year’s gifts, which symbolized
productiveness.
A
“new” New Year’s Eve ball was introduced at November 11, 2008. New Year’s Eve
celebration in New York attracts more than 1 million people each year, with
about 1 more billion people watching the broadcast on television.
<>
22% of Americans admit to falling asleep before midnight at New Year’s Eve.
<>
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s statistics, New Year’s Day
is the day with the most vehicles been stolen, than on any other holiday
throughout the year.
<>
United States’ top three destinations to
ring in the New Year are: Las Vegas, Disney World and New York City.
Gizmos
PRINCETON, N.J. (UPI)
Scientists
say a new method, called ballistic capture, for transporting robotic rovers,
satellites and astronaut-carrying spacecraft to Mars could save space agencies
time and money.
Currently, the favored method for getting a spacecraft into orbit around Mars
is the "Hohmann transfer." After rocketing through the Earth's
atmosphere, the craft make a beeline for the Red Planet, barreling through
space at high speeds. As it approaches Mars, its thrusters fire in the opposite
direction -- slamming on the brakes and swinging the craft into orbit.
The Hohmann transfer is a highly effective move -- road-tested and reliable.
But it is expensive and time specific. Launches are limited to a brief window
when the orbit and rotation of Earth and Mars are just right.
Ballistic capture, on the other hand, would allow a more flexible launch
window. It would also do away with the fuel-guzzling that Hohmann's high-speed
braking requires. Instead of rocketing straight at Mars, a ballistic capture
technique would see the spacecraft launched out ahead of Mars' orbital path. It
would gradually slow and hold in place, waiting for Mars to swing by -- the
Martian gravity pulling the craft into orbit as it approached.
"That's the magic of ballistic capture -- it's like flying in
formation," Edward Belbruno, a visiting associated researcher at Princeton
University, recently told Scientific American.
Belbruno, along with Francesco Topputo of the Polytechnic University of Milan,
is responsible for a new paper on the subject of ballistic capture and its
potential for enabling cheaper more frequent visits to Mars.
The study was published on arXiv, Cornell University's free science journal
library, this week; it has also been submitted for formal publication to the
journal Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy.
As both Belbruno and Topputo are willing to admit, ballistic capture isn't
perfect. It takes much longer than the typical six-month straight shot that has
spit a number of Mars current orbiters into their paths around the Red Planet.
Ballistic capture would also put a craft into a much higher orbit than most
probes prefer for their scientific missions.
But the new study considers other options, too, including aerocapture, whereby
a Hohmann transfer is tweaked to allow Mars' atmosphere to do some work in
slowing down the craft's approach. That's why not as much fuel needs to be
burned during the braking.
Ballistic capture may need some kinks worked out, but NASA is excited about its
potential.
"It's an eye-opener," James Green, director of NASA's Planetary
Science Division, told Scientific American. "This [ballistic capture
technique] could not only apply here to the robotic end of it but also the
human exploration end."
NASA has used the ballistic capture technique on one of its lunar missions --
the GRAIL mission in 2011. The European Space Agency also used the technique
for its SMART-1 lunar mission in 2004.
« »
Today’s
Events through History
1788 - Georgia
is 4th state to ratify US constitution
1791 - Big Bottom massacre
in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War
1800 - Free
African American community of Philadelphia petitions US Congress to abolish the
slave trade
1814 - Lord
Byron completes "The Corsair"
1921 - 1st
religious service radio broadcast in US, KDKA-Pittsburgh
1934 - 1st
state liquor stores open, in Pennsylvania
1954 - Herman
Wouks "Caine Mutiny," premieres in NYC
1968 - Christian Barnard performs 2nd heart
transplant
« »
Birthday’s
Today
Julius
LaRosa, Brooklyn singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air) is 85
Jim
Bakker, televangelist (PTL Club)/rapist (Jessica Hahn) is 75
Ricky Van
Shelton, country singer (Wild-Eyed Dream) is 63
Tia
Carrere [Althea Janairo], actress (Wayne's World) is 48
Cuba
Gooding Jr, actor (Boyz N the Hood) is 47
Taye
Diggs, American actor is 44
Paz Vega, Spanish
actress is 38
Kate
Bosworth, American actress is 32
« »
Remembered
for being born today
Nathaniel
Bacon, leader of Bacon's Rebellion, Va 1647-1676 @29
William C
Mills, museum curator (excavated Ohio Indian mounds) 1860-1928 @68
Barry
Goldwater, American politician 1909-1998 @89
Isaac
Asimov, Russia, scientist/writer (I Robot) 1920-1992 @72
Larry
Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (Bozo) 1925-2008 @83
Roger
Miller, country singer (King of the Road) 1936-1992 @56
« »
Historical
Obits Today
Margaret
A. Brewer, soldier and 1st female general officer US Marine, 2013@82
William
P. Carey, businessman\philanthropist, 2012, @81
Alan Hale
Jr, Skipper on Gilligan's Island, cancer, 1990, @71
Tex
Ritter, country singer (5 Star Jubilee), heart attack, 1974, @68
Roman poet Ovid (in
Latin: Publius Ovidius Naso), 17AD, @59ish
Dick
Powell, actor/director (Dick Powell Theater), cancer, 1963, @58
« »
Brain Teasers Answers
It spells out "Can you read this?"
Use your keyboard like a grid. Tab, caps lock and shift are the vertical side
of the grid and one through nine are the horizontal side of the grid. For
example shift five would be B.
« »
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…§
