Dec 29

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Dec 29, 2018 Week: 52  \ Day: 363

86004 Today: H 28° \ L 10° \ Average Sky Cover: 65% 

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

Record High: 62°[1945]   Record Low: -13°[1988]

Nov Averages: 43°\17°

Today’s Quote

The great thing about getting older is that

you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

Madeleine L'Engle

Random Tidbits

In the mid-19th century, many British children believed that if you crossed paths with a white horse, you could make a wish. Others would count the white horses they saw and would make a wish after reaching a hundred.

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Young girls commonly used dandelions in the 1800s for romantic and oracular purposes. It was believed that if you blew on a dandelion and all the seeds flew away, your loved one returned the feelings; if any seeds remained, they might have reservations or no feelings at all.

Observances This Week

           

14-1/5/19
Christmas Bird Count Week Link 

25-31
It's About Time Week

26-1/1/19
Kwanzaa

Observances for Today

           

National “Get on the Scales” Day

National Pepper Pot Day

Tick Tock Day
YMCA Day: (Organization not The Song)

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1800’s

1845 Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union

1851 1st American Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston, Massachusetts

1862 Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat General William T. Sherman

1862 Bowling ball invented

1890 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

1900’s

1937 Pan Am starts service between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand

1972 Life magazine ceases publication

1989 Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu

2000’s

2016 US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s been a while since I posted anything. Christmas stuff and all. I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I had a great trip to Chicago to share Christmas with my brother, his wife, and her family. We ate and ate and ate some more. It was just what I needed. Ham & turkey for Christmas Eve (32 people), Prime rib for Christmas (20). Then we exchanged gifts at 3 different homes. This year’s white elephant took a good turn with almost everyone getting very nice presents. Lots of kids, lots of presents, lots of happy people, including me.

The shuttle and flight over to Chicago was easy, no delays, no waiting. The flight home was great with only about a 30-minute delay. The shuttle home had to take a 40-minute detour off the Interstate due to an accident. Didn’t get home until almost midnight but I was just glad to get home. My brother and his wife were not so lucky. They missed their Chicago flight back to Mexico because some TSA guy didn’t like their paperwork for their service dog (Micho is a rescue chihuahua) so they were rerouted then that flight was cancelled so they didn’t get back to Merida until about an hour after I got home. They left for the airport at 5a, I left at 12N. Family is everything at Christmas and I was so happy to be with mine.

Today is laundry day.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

80’s

@88- William Ewart Gladstone,

British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Liberal: 1868-74, 1880-86, 1892-94), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1898)

@84- Robert C. Baker,

American inventor & professor (invented the chicken nugget), born in Newark, New York (d. 2006)

@80- Tom Bradley,

Mayor of Los Angeles (D-1973-93), born in Calvert, Texas (d. 1998)

@80- Mary Tyler Moore,

American actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ordinary People), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)

80- Jon Voight,

American actor (Deliverance, Midnight Cowboy), born in Yonkers, New York

70’s

@76- Charles Macintosh,

Scottish chemist and inventor (waterproof fabric), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1843)

71- Ted Danson,

American actor (Cheers, 3 Men & A Baby, CSI), born in San Diego, California

60’s

@66- Andrew Johnson,

17th US President (Unionist: 1865-69), born in Raleigh, North Carolina, stokes (d. 1875)

50’s

@59- Charles Goodyear,

US chemist and manufacturing engineer (vulcanized rubber), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1860)

59- Paula Poundstone,

American stand-up comedian (Emmy Awards), born in Huntsville, Alabama

40’s

46- Jude Law,

actor

30’s

39- Diego Luna,

actor

Historical Obits Today

@-  indicates age at death

70’s

@70-1890 Big Foot,

Sioux Indian chief, dies at Wounded Knee

60’s

@64-1975 Euell Gibbons,

American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets, Marfan syndrome  

50’s

@52-1170 Thomas Becket,

English Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated by 4 knights of King Henry II

40’s

@45-1916 Grigori Rasputin,

Russian monk and confidant of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, assassinated by conservative Russian aristocrats

Dec 16

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Dec 16, 2018 Week: 51  \ Day: 350

86004 Today: H 51° \ L 25° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind:   7mph\Gusts:  -mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 63°[1958]   Record Low: -18°[1971]

Nov Averages: 43°\17°

Today’s Quote

Nature can do more than physicians.

Oliver Cromwell

Random Tidbits

Rudolph's red nose was originally created using a 12v light bulb painted red.

***

Yukon Cornelius discovers the peppermint mine on his third prospecting attempt.

***

There are 43 animals featured throughout Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

***

One car battery could power Rudolph's nose for 33 hours! That's much more efficient than regular headlights, which would drain a battery in only a few hours.

Observances This Week

           

3-24
Andisop (Meterological Fiddling)   Link

10-17
Human Rights Week

14-1/5/19
Christmas Bird Count Week Link 

14-28
Halcyon Days

15-21 
Gluten-free Baking Week Link 

16-20
Cookie Exchange Week

16-24
Posadas

Observances for Today

           

Barbie and Barney Backlash Day
Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Zionism Day

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1400’s

1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama is 1st European to sail along Africa's East Coast, names it Natal

1600’s

1653 Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland

1700’s

1773 Boston tea party incident - Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act

1900’s

1907 As a gesture of the US's new presence as a world power, President Theodore Roosevelt sends the 'Great White Fleet' on a round-the-world cruise, visiting ports internationally

1946 French fashion designer Christian Dior and his backer Marcel Boussac found fashion house Christian Dior

1953 1st White House Press Conference (President Eisenhower & 161 reporters)

1978 Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of People's Republic of China

2000’s

2009 Ben Bernanke, Chair of the US Federal Reserve is named Time's Person of the Year for rescuing the global economy from the Great Recession

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s been a busy few days and things are only going get busier this holiday season. Leaving for Chicago on the 19^th so these posts will be a tad sporadic until I return on the 27^th.

Finally went to my PCP for some meds as my cough just wouldn’t go away completely. Five days of antibiotics prescribed. Already on day 3 and cough is almost gone. Still have a couple of coughing spells when I first lay down at night. She said it was probably a light case of pneumonia. Turns out, all those pneumonia shots only ‘decrease’ the severity if some old-er person gets it. Guess I qualify. It’s been more years than I can remember since I last had pneumonia, so I ain’t complaining.

Zinke, Sec. of Interior, is resigning. Yeah! If I was still working, he would have been one of my many bosses. So many investigations and none looking good. Nat’l monuments have been shrunk, Indian policy is in shambles, there are possible Hatch Act violations, travel with family @ government expense issues. And the list goes on and on and on. Bye, and don’t let the door hit you one the way out.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@90- Arthur C. Clarke,

English sci-fi author (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End), born in Minehead, England (d. 2008)

70’s

@76- Margaret Mead,

American anthropologist (Coming of Age in Samoa), born in Philadelphia, (d. 1978) cancer

@74- Steven Bochco,

American television showrunner, producer, and writer (Murder in the First, Hill St Blues, LA Law, St Elsewhere, NYPD Blue), born in NYC  (d. 2018) leukemia

50’s

@56- Ludwig van Beethoven,

German composer (5th Symphony, Ode to Joy), born in Bonn, Electorate of Cologne (d. 1827) liver disease

@50- Catherine of Aragon,

Spanish princess, 1st wife of Henry VIII, Queen of England (1509-33), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1536)

4 0’s

@41- Jane Austen,

English novelist (Pride and Prejudice), born in Steventon, England (d. 1817) Addison’s Disease

Historical Obits Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@90-1980 Colonel Harland Sanders,

American founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken

80’s

@87-2013 Ray Price,

American singer

@86-1921 Camille Saint-Saens,

French composer (Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso)

70’s

@73-1859 Wilhelm Grimm,

German writer (Grimm's Fairy Tales) infection

60’s

@64-1989 Lee Van Cleef,

US actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), heart attack

50’s

@56-2007 Dan Fogelberg,

American singer/songwriter, prostate cancer