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Almanac: Week: 27 \ Day: 184
July Averages: 82°\50°
86004 Today: H 83° \ L 55° Average Sky Cover: 60%
Wind ave: 1mph\Gusts: 17mph
Ave.
High: 82° Record High: 96° (2007) Ave. Low: 48° Record Low:
32° (1912)
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Observances Today:
Air
Conditioning Appreciation Days
Boom
Box
Dog
Days Caribbean or Caricom Day
Hop
A Park Day
Independence
From Meat Day
International
Cherry Pit Spitting Day
International
Day of Cooperatives
National
Country Music Day
Parade
Day
Ramadan
(Islam)
Sidewalk
Egg Frying Day
Tom
Sawyer Fence-Painting Day
Fil-American
Friendship Day (Philippines)
Fourth
of July or Independence Day (US-1776 from Britain)
Heroes
Day (Zambia)
Indivisible
Day (US)
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Observances This Week:
National
Unassisted Homebirth Week: 1-7
Beans and Bacon Days: 1-5
National Tom Sawyer Days: 2-5 (aka Fence Painting Days)
Rosewell UFO Days: 3-5
Freedom Week: 4-10
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Quote of the Day
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US Historical Highlights for Today
1636 - City of Providence, Rhode Island form
1776 - According to popular legend the Liberty Bell
rings for the 2nd Continental Congress
1776 - US Congress proclaims the Declaration of
Independence and independence from Britain
1789 - 1st US tariff act
1796 - 1st Independence Day celebration is held
1802 - US Military Academy officially opens (West
Point, NY)
1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the
American people
1817 - Chief Engineer James Geddes begins
construction on the Erie Canal, one of the first great engineering works in
North America
1827 - Slavery abolished in NY
1828
- Construction begins on B & O
(Baltimore-Ohio) 1st US passenger RR
1829 - Cornerstone laid for 1st US mint (Chestnut
& Juniper St, Phila)
1831 - "America (My Country 'Tis of
Thee)" is 1st sung in Boston
1836 - Wisconsin Territory forms
1845 - Henry David Thoreau moves into his
shack on Walden Pond
1855 - In Brooklyn, the first edition of Walt
Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published
1861 - In a special session of 27th Congress Lincoln
requests 400,000 troops
1863 - Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho)
1863 - General Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg
1866 - Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire
destroying half of Portland, Maine
1876 - 1st public exhibition of electric light in SF
1881 - Booker T. Washington establishes
Tuskegee Institute (Alabama)
1883 - Buffalo Bill Cody presents 1st Wild West
show, North Platte, Nebr
1884 - 1st US bullfight held (Dodge City Ks)
1884 - Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris
1888 - 1st organized rodeo competition held,
Prescott, Ariz
1895 - Katherine Lee Bates publishes "America
the Beautiful"
1918 - The community of
Ajo, AZ celebrated the 4th of July with foot races, boxing contests, pie eating
contests and other activities.
1950 - Harry Truman signs public law 600 (Puerto
Ricans write own constitution)
1959 - America's new 49-star flag honoring Alaska
statehood unfurled
1966 - LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act
1970 - Casey Kasem's "American Top 40"
debuts on LA radio
1996 - Hot Mail, a free internet E-mail service
begins
1997 - US space probe Pathfinder lands on Ares
Vallis Mars
2004
- The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid
on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City
2009 - The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the
public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center
attacks.
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Today’s World Events through History
1054 - Brightest known supernova SN 1054 (creates
the Crab Nebula) 1st reported by Chinese astronomers
1634 - The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New
France, later to become the Canadian province of Quebec.
1785 - James Hutton, geologist, publicly reads an
abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first time at the meeting
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
1829 - The first London bus "omnibus",
operated by George Shillibeer, begins service between Marylebone Road and Bank
Junction
1865 - First edition of "Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland" is published
1950 - The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe.
1976 - Operation Entebbe - Israel rescues 229 Air
France hostage passengers In Uganda (3 hostages die along with Ugandan soldiers
and Israeli soldier)
1987 - Nazi Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of
Lyon" sentenced to life in France
1992 - 99th Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Steffi
Graf beats Monica Seles (6-2 6-1)
§ § § § §
♫ Birthdays
Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthdays Today
§ § § § §
My Rambling Thoughts
Happy Independence Day. 239 years ago the Declaration of
Independence was made public.
While I certainly celebrate this event each year, I am always
reminded that the words on many of the founding father’s documents present
great ideas. I also realize that ideals of these documents have not always been
heeded. For example: ‘All men are created equal’ unless you were a Native
American, Black, Latino, female, adopted, Japanese during WWII,… and the list
goes on and on. We all have selective memory on many events, but today as our
country celebrates its Independence from Britain, let’s all remember that we
are far from a perfect union. We need to do what we can to meet the ideals of
our founding fathers/mothers who just wanted to be free.
I’m taking a break until July 6…enjoy your weekend.
§ § § § §
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
Add
a different set of three letters to each of the following words to create a
list of new words. The three-letter additions all have something in common.
What are the new words, and how are the three-letter additions related?
EASE
GIN
HEM
ICE
ON
OPUS
RILE
TIC
§ § § § §
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
§ § § § §
…Cool Facts…
Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a 50,000 word book titled 'Gadsby'
which did not use the letter "e".
Thumbelina, the smallest horse in the world, is about the size of
a dog.
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…Flagstaff, AZ
History…
100 YEARS
AGO-1915
Last Sunday, William Schlosser, while riding with Miss Florence
Bart and three young children in a new Ford, broke an axle near the divide on
the Grand Canyon Road. The vehicle overturned and they were all thrown out. No
one was seriously injured, and the car was righted and returned to town under
its own power.
As of July 1, 1915, every person in the United States who is 10 years
of age or older may open a Postal Savings Bank account. This will be of great
advantage to those persons who live far away from the more usual banks.
Postmaster General Barenson.
¤ ¤
…Harper’s Index…
125 – number of
US prisoners exonerated last year
46 –
percentage of those exonerations in which no crime had occurred
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… Relationship Facts…
According to the New York Times, a study conducted during the
1980's found that men who kiss their wives before leaving for work live longer,
get into fewer car accidents, and have a higher income than married men who
don't.
Men fall in love faster than women do.
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…Unusual Fact of
the Day…
Jerry Lynn Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz hold the record for most
spaceflights by an astronaut.
§ § § § §
2 jokes for the day
Q: Did you hear about the cannibals that
attended the wedding?
A: They toasted the bride and groom.
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There was a student who was desirous of taking
admission for a study course.
He was smart enough to get through the written test, a GD and was to appear for
the personal interview. Later, as the interview progressed, the interviewer
found this boy to be bright since he could answer all the questions correctly.
The interviewer got impatient and decided to corner the boy.
"Tell me your choice;" said he to the boy, "What's your choice:
I shall either ask you ten easy questions or ONE real difficult. Think well
before you make up your mind."
The boy thought for a while and said, "My choice is ONE real difficult
question."
"Well, good luck to you, you have made your own choice!" said the man
on the opposite side. Tell me: What comes first, Day or Night?"
The boy was jolted first but he waited for a while and said: "It's the
DAY, sir."
"How???????" the interviewer was smiling ("At last, I got
you!" he said to himself.)
"Sorry sir, you promised me that you will not ask me a SECOND difficult
question!"
Admission for the course was thus secured.
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Yep, It Really
Happened
As a dumb kid (and dumb young adult), whenever July rolled around
I always lamented the fact that my state, Illinois, outlawed the sale and
possession of fireworks. As an older and wiser adult I was always on the fence
about the justification for these kinds of laws, but then I come across a story
like this and I start to think that maybe people really can't be trusted to
themselves.
In some kind of YouTube stunt gone wrong, 47-year-old Scott Jeffers of Walled
Lake, died last week when he held a firecracker to his face and it exploded.
Police in Michigan say his family watched while Jeffers attempted the prank.
Paramedics who arrived at the scene found him unresponsive and suffering from
serious head trauma.
Jeffers was pronounced dead at the scene and alcohol was a factor.
According to the police investigation, Jeffers tried to perform a stunt for
YouTube, and he thought that the firecracker was unlit.
Police said that the firecracker was bought in the state legally. Family
members told investigators that Jeffers was preparing to host a party.
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Somewhat Useless
Information
Emily
Dickinson (1830-1886), America's most famous female poet, published only seven
poems in her lifetime; all were published anonymously and against her will. It
wasn't until after her death, at 56, that her nearly 2000 poems were
discovered.
Sharks and rays share the same kind of skin: instead of scales, they have small
tooth-like spikes called denticles. The spikes are so sharp that shark skin has
long been used as sandpaper.
During the first 90 years of this century, the USA dominated the race for the
title of the tallest building in the world. In 1974 Chicago's Sears Tower was
completed, and generally seen as the 'tallest building' in the world. Sears
Tower held on to that title for over 20 years.
More than 50 percent of the people who are bitten by venomous snakes in the
United States and who go untreated still survive.
A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance. On the ocean,
a nautical mile measures 6,080 feet. A land or statute mile is 5,280 feet.
To clean tarnished copper bottoms of pots and pans, spread a little ketchup
onto the bottom. Let it sit for about one minute. Wipe it clean and rinse.
§ § § § §
Birthdays Today
91 - Eva Marie Saint, Newark NJ, actress (On
the Waterfront, North by Northwest)
88 - Gina Lollobrigida, Subiaco Italy,
actress (Trapeze, Falcon Crest)
88 - Neil Simon, Bronx, playwright (Odd
Couple, Plaza Suite, Biloxi Blues)
72 - Geraldo Rivera, TV
personality
69 - Ron Kovic, disabled vietnam vet (Born
on 4th of July)
44 - Koko, sign-language gorilla
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Born this day…Died in __@__
Gloria
Stuart, actress (Rose-Titanic)/founder (Screen Actors Guild)-2010@100
Mitch
Miller, sing along with Mitch (Yellow Rose of Tx)-2010@99
Abigail
Van Buren, [Mrs Pauline Phillips], columnist 2013@94
Rube
Goldberg, cartoonist (who made the easy outrageously difficult) Pulitzer
Prize 1948-1970@87
Vincent Joseph Schaefer, Chemist\Meteorologist (cloud
seeding)-1993@87
Leona
Helmsley, (wife of Harry), real estate billionaire/tax cheat-2007@87
Virginia
Graham, TV personality (Girl Talk, Where Was I) 1998@86
Ann
Landers, Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer, columnist-2002@83
Hiram
Walker, American grocer and distiller-1899@82
Stephen
Mather, organized US National Park Service-1930@62
Calvin
Coolidge, [Silent Cal], 30th US President (1923-29)-1933@60
Nathaniel
Hawthorne, author (House of 7 Gables, Scarlet Letter)-1864@59
Stephen
Boyd [William Millar], Glengormley, County Antrim, Irish actor
(Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur)-1977@45
Stephen
Foster, American composer (Oh! Susanna, Swanee River)-1864@37
§ § § § §
Historical Obits Today
John
Adams, 2nd US President (1797-1801)-1926@90
Thomas
Jefferson, 3rd US President (1801-09)-1826@83
Hannibal
Hamlin, 15th U.S. Vice President-1891@81
Eva Gabor, actress
(Green Acres), pneumonia-1995@76
James
Monroe, 5th US president (1817-25), TB-1831@73
Marie
Skłodowska-Curie, French-Polish
Physicist/Chemist, 1st woman to win Nobel Prize (1903, 1911) radiation
poisoning-1934@66
Charles
Kuralt, news anchor (CBS Sunday Morning), lupus-1997@62
Barry
White, American singer, stroke, 2003@58
§ § § § §
Brain Teasers Answers
DECEASE
MARGIN
MAYHEM
NOVICE
APRON
OCTOPUS
FEBRILE
SEPTIC
Each of the three-letter additions is the common three-letter
abbreviation for the months of the year (DEC, MAR, MAY, etc). AUG completes the
hint word.
§ § § § §
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…§
