Jul 21

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

Jul. 21, 2019 Week: 30 \ Day: 202

86004:   H 84° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 10% 

Nearest wildfire:  11mi. Nearest lightning:  173mi

Wind:   15mph\Gusts:  37mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 92°[1937]   Record Low: 38°[1924]

Jul Averages: 82°\542° (8 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

Real knowledge is

to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius

Random Tidbits

There are two suborders of whales to which all species of whales belong: toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed whales include sperm, killer, and beluga whales, and they prey on large fish in deep waters as their main source of food. Baleen whales include blue and humpback whales, and they are filter feeders that feed on small organisms such as krill and plankton by straining large amounts of sea water through a comb-like structure in their mouth called a baleen.

While ancient fishermen used the meat of whales for food, in the modern era whales were primarily hunted for oil and whalebone, a term used for the baleen. Whalebone was used to make corsets, umbrella ribs, handles, and brushes, while the oil was used for cooking, candle wax and, much later, making margarine.

Observances This Week

6-28
Tour de France

15-21

Rabbit Week

18-21

Comic Con International
Hemingway Look-Alike Days   Link 
World Lumberjack Championships

18-25

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week

19-21

National Parenting Gifted Children Week Link

20-24

National Scrabble Week Link 

20-28

National Moth Week Link

21-27

Captive Nations Week
International Lace Week  Link

National Independent Retailers Week Link  
National Zoo Keeper Week Link

RAGBRAI

Observances for Today

Celebration of The Horse Day: 19-21 
Robin Hood Day: 19-21  Link

Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day

Fast of Tammuz
Lake Superior Day  
Legal Drinking Age Day
Lowest Recorded Temperature Day (-128.6F Antarctica) 
National Be Someone Day Link
National Creme Brûlée Day

National Ice Cream Day

National Junk Food Day

No Pet Store Puppies Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Readings for my discussion group are impressive, but very lengthy. I’ll be able to update the Focus website tomorrow…for sure.

I have always enjoyed socializing with people with many different beliefs, different cultures, and backgrounds. I have never understood how some people want to get rid of any people who are the tiniest bit different themselves.  The readings I’m doing on Nuclear Policy, have me even more confused. It appears to many that the only way to prevent war with others is to have a bigger bomb than anyone else. The belief seems to be that we are born with enemies who are out to destroy us, and our job is to be able to destroy them before they destroy us. I find this very disturbing. I refuse to believe that were born with enemies. Just look at a group of kids playing together. I understand that there is always the kid who likes to fight, but that kid is always in the minority. When no one intervenes, that kid will gravitate to a group that also likes to fight, just like most kids gravitate to kids who don’t fight. Only time will tell if nuclear weapons will save our planet, or destroy it.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

I have two coins, one is marked George I and one is marked George IV. One is genuine but one is a forgery. Which is the forgery?

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1700’s

1798 Napoleon Bonaparte wins Battle of Pyramids in Egypt (Battle of Embabeh) against Mamluk rulers, wiping out most of the Egyptian army

1800’s

1846 Mormons found 1st English settlement in California (San Joaquin Valley)

1853 Central Park in New York created when New York State Legislature puts aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan Island

1900’s

1920 Irish Nationalist and Loyalists engage in street fighting over the issue of Irish independence from Britain, though Loyalist are reinforced by 1500 British Auxiliaries and 5800 British troops

1925 John T. Scopes found guilty of teaching evolution in the “Scopes monkey trial”, Dayton, Tennessee, fined $100 & costs

1930 US Veterans Administration forms

1949 US Senate ratifies North Atlantic Treaty by a vote of 82-13 (NATO)

1951 Dalai Lama returns to Tibet

1954 At Geneva, France agrees to independence of North & South Vietnam

1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the world's 1st female head of state elected in modern times, as Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)

1969 Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to step on the Moon at 2:56:15 AM (GMT)

1983 World's lowest-ever natural temperature recorded −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F; 184.0 K) at Soviet Vostok Station, Antarctica

2000’s

2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series by J. K. Rowling is published worldwide. 11 million copies sell in 24 hrs

2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigns after opposing appointment of Anthony Scaramucci

Highlighted Birthdays Today

0’s

1899 Ernest Hemingway,

American author (The Old Man and the Sea, Nobel 1954), born in Oak Park, Illinois (d. 1961: @61: suicide)

1920 Isaac Stern,

American-Ukrainian violinist (debut San Francisco Symphony), born in Kremenets, Ukraine, Soviet Union (d. 2001: @81)

1924 Don Knotts,

American actor (Andy Griffith Show, 3's Company), born in Morgantown, West Virginia (d. 2006: @81)

1938 Janet Reno,

first woman US Attorney General (1993-2001), born in Miami, Florida (d. 2016: @78: Parkinson’s)

1951 Robin Williams,

American actor and comedian (Mork & Mindy, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2014: @63: suicide)

70’s

73- Ken Starr,

American lawyer who Investigated Bill Clinton (Starr Report), born in Vernon, Texas

71- Cat Stevens

[Steven Demetre Georgiou; Yusaf Islam],

 rock vocalist (Peace Train), born in London, England

71- Garry Trudeau,

political cartoonist (Doonesbury)

40’s

41- Josh Hartnett,

American actor and movie producer, born in St. Paul, Minnesota

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

90’s

@91-1998 Robert Young,

American actor (Father Knows Best, Marcus Welby, M.D.)

70’s

@75-1967 Basil Rathbone,

British actor (Sherlock Holmes), dies of heart attack

@74-1998 Alan Shepard,

American astronaut and 1st American in space, dies of leukemia

60’s

@69-1982 Dave Garroway,

TV host (Today Show), suicide

30’s

@37-1796 Robert Burns,

Scottish poet (Auld Lang Syne), dies of rheumatic heart condition

Puzzle answer:

George I. A coin would not be marked George I because at the time it was produced it would not have been known that there was going to be a George II.

Jul 20

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

Jul. 20, 2019 Week: 29 \ Day: 201

86004:   H /83° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 40% 

Nearest wildfire:  10mi. Nearest lightning:  361mi

Wind:   13mph\Gusts:  24mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 91°[1939]   Record Low: 42°[1940]

Jul Averages: 82°\542° (8 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

Better keep yourself clean and bright;

you are the window through which

you must see the world.

George Bernard Shaw

Random Tidbits

Before the Civil War, schools did not have summer vacation. In rural communities, kids had school off during the spring planting and fall harvest while urban schools were essentially year-round. The long summer holiday didn't come about until the early 20th century.

If you have to choose between being bit by a venomous snake or touching a poisonous frog, you might want to go with the snake. As it turns out, snakes don't always inject venom when they bite: Some 20 percent or more of bites from venomous snakes are "dry bites" that create a wound but don't include venom. Poisonous animals can't choose when to apply their toxins.

Some animals you might not know are venomous; the duck-billed platypus, the gila monster, centipedes, Millipedes, the komodo dragon and coral!

Observances This Week

6-28
Tour de France

14-20

Everybody Deserves A Massage Week Link 

15-21

Rabbit Week

17-20

National Baby Food Week Link
National Ventriloquism Week  Link

18-21

Comic Con International
Hemingway Look-Alike Days   Link 
World Lumberjack Championships

18-25

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week

19-21

National Parenting Gifted Children WeekLink

20-24

National Scrabble WeekLink 

20-28

National Moth Week Link

Observances for Today

Celebration of The Horse Day: 19-21 
Robin Hood Day: 19-21 

Fortune Cookie Day

International Cake Day 
 Moon Day

National Bridal Sale Day 
National Ice Cream Sundae Day

National Lollipop Day

National Lollipop Day Link
Space Exploration Day  Link
Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day   Link
Toss Away "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day
Ugly Truck Day

Woodie Wagon Day
World Jump Day Link
 

My Rambling Thoughts

I am updating the Focus Travel Club site. It should be completed by tomorrow. I did finish updating the Home page, but still have some new adventures to add.

I was out and about early this morning to pick up some much-needed things. As with most trips like this, I also found stuff I didn’t know I needed, but picked up anyway. I had to make three trips to get the stuff into the house. My young next-door neighbor was in her car, she saw me with the first load, got out of her car and asked if I needed help carrying stuff in. Nice, but I was doing just fine. Not sure if this is a perk of being a senior, or if I should be offended. I’ll take it as a perk.

Vlad, our Russian tour guide, has left Hong Kong and is headed to Moscow through Vietnam. He keeps me posted on his Facebook page. He also mentioned he hopes to see Focus in Denver, someday.

Slowly getting back to a normal life in Flagstaff. Tomorrow our discussion group meets to discuss Nuclear Negotiations. I’m expecting a good discussion at one of our newest member’s home. I’ve got a bit of reading to do to prepare for the discussion. Guess there is no late-night partying tonight. Haha.

Flying long-haul flights is always interesting. On the Beijing to Newark flight, I had the aisle seat. A young Chinese businessman was in the middle, and Annette, a Focus traveler had the window seat. The Chinese guy and I had an interesting discussion about culture, acceptance, and living in the US today. He really liked the ‘Salad-bowl’ concept vs the ‘Melting Pot’ concept. ‘Salad-bowl’ means that America is made better with letting individual cultures keep their identity instead of simply ‘melting’ in to a grey soup with no real identity. He also mentioned how impressed he was with our ‘liberal’ views…something he had not expected on his journey. Then we all slept.

I talked to Ellie yesterday. She was in a great mood and said that it was because she is seeing a chiropractor that fellow Focus traveler, Betty, has been using for years. Ellie said that she had been fearing that her pain would become part of everyday life but that the chiropractor has done wonders and that she will keep up the adjustments for a pain-free life. Great news.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

When I’m first said,

I’m quite mysterious,

But when I’m explained,

I’m nothing serious.

What am I?

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1300’s

1304 Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold of the war

1700’s

1749 Earl of Chesterfield says "Idleness is only refuge of weak minds"

1800’s

1810 Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada (now Colombia), declare independence from Spain

1837 Euston railway station opens in London as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), the city's 1st intercity railway station

1878 1st telephone introduced in Hawaii

1881 Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull, surrenders to US federal troops

1900’s

1917 Pact of Corfu signed: Serbs, Croats & Slovenes form Yugoslavia

1921 Congresswoman Alice Mary Robertson becomes the first woman to preside over the floor of US House of Representatives

1924 Tehran, Persia comes under martial law after the American vice consul, Robert Imbrie, is killed by a religious mob enraged by rumors he had poisoned a fountain and killed several people

1926 A convention of the Methodist Church votes to allow women to become priests.

1928 The government of Hungary issues a decree ordering Gypsies to end their nomadic ways, settle permanently in one place, subject themselves to the same laws and taxes as other Hungarians

1933 In London, 500,000 march against anti-Semitism

1942 1st detachment of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, begin basic training

1953 The United Nations Economic and Social Council votes to make UNICEF a permanent agency

1964 1st surfin' record to go #1-Jan & Dean's "Surf City"

1969 Apollo 11 lunar module carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lands on the surface of the Moon; Aldrin and Armstrong walk on the moon seven hours later

1975 India expels three reporters from "The Times", "The Daily Telegraph", and "Newsweek" because they refuse to sign a pledge to abide by government censorship

1977 The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments

1989 Burma government puts author Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest

1989 Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's show opens at Washington, D.C.'s Project for the Arts after the Smithsonian Institution's Corcoran Gallery cancels it

2000’s

2000 Terrorist Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European Court of Human Rights for allegedly torturing him

2005 Canada becomes the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the bill C-38 receives its Royal Assent

2017 Elon Musk tweets he has "verbal government approval" to build 29-minute Hyperloop between New York and Washington D.C.

2017 China announces a plan against “foreign garbage” banning 24 categories of plastic and recyclable waste from 2018

Highlighted Birthdays Today

356 BC Alexander the Great,

Macedonian king and military leader, born in Pella, Macedonia (modern Greece) (d. 323 BC: @32: fever)

1822 Gregor Mendel,

Austrian monk and geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity), born in Heinzendorf, Austria (d. 1884: @61)

1919 Edmund Hillary,

Explorer and Mountaineer (1st to scale Mt Everest with Tenzing Norgay), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2008: @88)

1931 Marina Popovich,

Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer and test pilot (102 world records), born in Leonenki, Smolensk Oblast, USSR, birth date uncertain (d. 2017: @86)

1938 Natalie Wood

[Natasha Gurdin],

American actress (Gypsy, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1981: @43: drowning)

1958 Billy Mays,

ENTREPRENEUR, TV commercials (d. 2009: @50: OD)

80’s

81- Diana Rigg,

Doncaster England, actress (Emma Peel-Avengers, Hospital)

70’s

72- Carlos Santana,

Mexican rock guitarist (Santana-Black Magic Woman), born in Autlán de Navarro

60’s

62- Donna Dixon,

American actress, former beauty queen, and wife of actor Dan Aykroyd (Couch Trip, Bossom Buddies), born in Alexandria, Virginia

40’s

48- Sandra Oh,

Korean Canadian actress (Grey's Anatomy), born in Nepean, Ontario

46- Omar Epps,

Actor

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

80’s

@85-2005 James Doohan,

Canadian actor (Star Trek)

@80-2007 Bill Flemming,

American journalist and sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports)

60’s

@65-2007 Tammy Faye Bakker (Messner),

American Christian singer and former wife of Jim Bakker (The PTL Club), dies from cancer

@63-1937 Guglielmo Marconi,

Italian engineer/marquis (radio, Nobel 1909), dies of a heart attack

50’s

@59-1983 Frank Reynolds,

news anchor (ABC Evening News), dies from multiple myeloma

@55-1923 Pancho Villa

[José Doroteo Arango Arámbula],

Mexican revolutionary general and guerrilla leader, murdered

@52-1984 Jim Fixx,

American jogger and writer (Jim Fixx on Running), dies after heart attack

40’s

@48-1926 Felix Dzerzhinsky

[Iron Felix, Bloody Felix],

Soviet statesman, established and developed Soviet secret police (Cheka, forerunner to the KGB), dies after heart attack

30’s

@32-1973 Bruce Lee

[Lee Yuen Kam],

Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor (Enter the Dragon), dies of cerebral edema

Puzzle answer:

RIDDLE.