Jul 29

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Jul. 29, 2019 Week: 31 \ Day: 210

86004:   H 85° \ L 57° \ Average Sky Cover: 50% 

Nearest wildfire:  4mi. Nearest lightning:  275mi

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  16mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 92°[2002]   Record Low: 37°[1913]

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

Today’s Quote

Freedom is never given;

it is won.

A. Philip Randolph

Random Tidbits

Wonders of the Ancient World

4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus outside of Izmir in Turkey.

Is it simply a temple? How could it take its place among other unique structures such as the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens, and the Colossus of Rhodes? For the people who actually visited it, the answer was simple. It was not just a temple... It was the most beautiful structure on earth... It was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility. That was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in the city of Bodrum in Turkey.

Similar to the Great Pyramid, we are now visiting the burial place of an ancient king. Yet the Mausoleum is different - so different from the Pyramid that it earned its reputation - and a spot within the list - for other reasons. Geographically, it is closer to the Temple of Artemis... And it was the beauty of the tomb rather than its size that fascinated its visitors for years.

Observances This Week

27-8/5
National Little League Baseball Week  Link

Observances for Today

Army Chaplain Corps Anniversary  Link
International Chicken Wing Day Link
International Tiger Day  Link
Lasagna Day
National Chicken Wing Day Link
National Lasagna Day

National Lipstick Day  
Rain Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

I had a nice Sunday morning, reading the Sunday paper on my deck. There hasn’t been any monsoon rain since Thursday, and it isn’t returning until mid- week ahead.  That means everything is drying out quite quickly. This is becoming another concern. This morning my neighborhood was taken out of SET status and returned to normal (READY).  We were in that status for a week. Long enough for me. One of my brother’s half-sisters is about 7 miles from the Oregon fire. She posted yesterday that she was very nervous because she had just been placed in SET status. I reassured her of my experience in SET and she said she felt a little better.

Most of the Rez teachers are back to work, with students returning in two weeks. Most are posting that summer was too short. I sure get that. I look back fondly on my teaching/administration career at this time of year. I still walk slowly through the school supply aisles now. That does not mean I want to work again, just great fond memories.

I washed linens this morning. The 2^nd load should be dry soon.

Looking forward to a quiet week ahead. Two friends some the Rez are spending the week. Gas prices are too high for them to commute every day. They will stay here after work each day until Thursday. Easy-Peasy for me. And they always cook.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

Can you Form a word from the letters?

A  B  C  D  E F  G  I.  (note; the word is hyphenated)

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1600’s

1609 Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, New York setting the stage for French-Iroquois conflicts for the next 150 years

1655 Biggest townhall in the world opens in Amsterdam

1676 Nathaniel Bacon declared a rebel for assembling frontiersmen to protect settlers from Indians

1700’s

1715 10 Spanish treasure galleons sunk off Florida coast by a hurricane

1773 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny Mountains completed, Schoenbrunn, Ohio

1800’s

1836 Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

1848 Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt - an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule put down by police

1884 Society of Independent Artists founded in Paris by Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac

1899 1st motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY

1900’s

1907 Sir Robert Baden-Powell forms Boy Scouts in England

1927 1st iron lung installed (Bellevue hospital, NY)

1956 Jacques Cousteau's Calypso anchors in 7,500 m of water (record)

1958 US President Eisenhower signs into law National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

1987 Ben & Jerry's and Jerry Garcia agree on a new flavor Cherry Garcia

2000’s

2015 Over 3,500 immigrants over 2 days attempt to enter the Channel Tunnel at Calais, to cross into Britian

2015 Part of missing airline MH370 is found on the island of Reunion

Highlighted Birthdays Today

0’s

1796 Walter Hunt,

American inventor (safety pin, sewing machine), born in Martinsburg, New York (d. 1859: @62)

1805 Alexis de Tocqueville,

French statesman/writer (Democracy in America: @53: TB)

1883 Benito Mussolini

[Il Duce],

Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43), born in Predappio, Forlì, Italy (d. 1945: @61: shot escaping)

1888 Vladimir K. Zworykin,

Russian-American inventor (development of television, cathode ray tube), born in Murom, Russian Empire (d. 1982: @94)

1905 Dag Hammarskjöld,

Swedish public servant, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) and posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner (1961), born in Jönköping, Sweden (d. 1961: @56: plane crash)

1907 Melvin Belli,

American lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and "Melvin Bellicose", born in Sonora, California (d. 1996: @88)

1910 Dorothy Hodgkin,

British chemist who developed protein crystallography, 3rd woman to win a Nobel Prize (1964), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1994: @84)

1914 "Professor" Irwin Corey,

comedian (Car Wash, Doc), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017: @102)

1924 Robert Horton

[Meade Howard Horton Jr.],

American actor and singer (Kings Row, Wagon Train, Arena), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2016: @91)

1938 Peter Jennings,

Canadian-American news anchor (ABC Evening News), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2005: @67: lung cancer)

80’s

86- Robert Fuller,

actor (Laramie, Wagon Train), born in Troy, New York

82- Charles Schwab,

American investor and entrepreneur (Charles Schwab Corporation), born in Sacramento, California

60’s

66- Ken Burns,

American director and documentary film producer (The Civil War, Baseball), born in Brooklyn, New York

66- Tim Gunn,

American television and fashion personality (Project Runway), born in Washington D.C.

40’s

47- Wil Wheaton,

American actor (Star Trek Next Generation-Wesley, Stand By Me), born in Burbank, California

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

80’s

@86-1983 Raymond Massey,

Canadian actor (Dr Kildare)

70’s

@73-1983 David Niven,

British actor (Around the World in 80 Days, Rugues), dies in Switzerland of Lou Gehrig's disease

@71-2007 Tom Snyder,

American television personality (The Tomorrow Show), dies from leukemia

50’s

@51-1986 Gordon Mills,

British songwriter (Tom Jones - "Its not Unusual"), dies of cancer

30’s

@37-1890 Vincent van Gogh,

Dutch painter (Sunflowers), dies 2 days after shooting himself

@32-1974 "Mama" Cass Elliot,

American rock vocalist (Mamas & The Papas), dies from a heart attack

Puzzle answer:

Big-Faced

Jul 28

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Jul. 28, 2019 Week: 31 \ Day: 209

86004:   H 84° \ L 54° \ Average Sky Cover: 30% 

Nearest wildfire:  4mi. Nearest lightning:  116mi

Wind:   12mph\Gusts:  21mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 94°[1955]   Record Low: 36°[1913]

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

Today’s Quote

Laziness may appear attractive,

but work gives satisfaction.

Anne Frank

Random Tidbits

Great Wonders of the World

1. Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt.

It is the one and only Wonder which does not require a description by early historians and poets. It is the one and only Wonder that does not need speculations concerning its appearance, size, and shape. It is the oldest, yet it is the only surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon just outside of modern day Baghdad, Iraq.

Fruits and flowers... Waterfalls... Gardens hanging from the palace terraces... Exotic animals... This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people's minds. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in the minds of Greek poets and historians!

3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia on the west coast of modern Greece.

This is the statue of the god in whose honor the Ancient Olympic games were held. It was located on the land that gave its very name to the Olympics. At the time of the games, wars stopped, and athletes came from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Sicily to celebrate the Olympics and to worship their king of gods: Zeus.

Observances This Week

6-28
Tour de France

20-28

National Moth Week Link

25-28

Quilt Odyssey Week
Garlic Days Link

27-8/5
National Little League Baseball Week  Link

Observances for Today

Aunties Day  
Buffalo Soldiers Day  Link
National Hamburger Day

National Milk Chocolate Day  Link
National Waterpark Day  Link
Parents' Day Link  
World Hepatitis Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

I was just lazy for some reason yesterday. Enjoyed the day, enjoyed the weather, really enjoyed my cooler, but did little more. Unusual for me, but enjoyable.

Our local fire is 35% contained, looking good, lots of smoke at night, burns off early each morning. Lots of prep for flooding is taking place. Mary, a friend and former colleague lives in the ‘potential flood area’. She is higher up on a hill, but below her are houses surrounded by sandbags, drainage trenches next to the closed road, and big prep. Hope it works out.

My first visit to China was a couple of years ago in Hong Kong. At the time, part of, but not really part of China. I had a great time there. Now, the demonstrations are continuing, and China is not happy, using tear gas on demonstrators. I certainly hope the demonstrators are treated fairly, and that the Chinses government listens to them instead of simply silencing them through violence.

We are having a warm day. My decade old portable cooler having problems. First one of the wheels just disappeared over the winter, I got a new wheel. Then, the plastic sleeve that holds each of the wheels began breaking. So far two have sleeves have broken and are being held together with super glue. It has been a pain, but I only use the darn thing for a few days a year, so I’m hoping it will make it at least through this season.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of this page

Alice is walking through the forest of forgetfulness. She wants to know what day of the week it is. She stops and asks a lion and a unicorn. Now the lion lies all of the time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The unicorn always lies on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Alice asks the lion what day it is, he says, "Well, yesterday was one of my lying days." Alice can't figure it out just from the lion's answer so she asks the unicorn and the unicorn says, "Yesterday was also one of my lying days." What day is it?

Today’s Highlighted Historical Events

1500’s

1586 Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe on return to England

1700’s

1794 French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of "the Terror" guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris

1800’s

1821 Peru declares independence from Spain (National Day)

1858 First use of fingerprints as a means of identification is made by Sir William James Herschel of the Indian Civil Service

1866 Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in US

1868 US Secretary of State William H. Seward announces 14th Amendment ratified by states, grants citizenship to ex-slaves

1896 City of Miami incorporated

1900’s

1915 Because of virtual anarchy, US Marines go ashore in Haiti on orders from President Woodrow Wilson; this will lead to an occupation that will last until 1934

1917 Silent Parade organised by James Weldon Johnson of 10,000 African-Americans who march on 5th Ave in NYC to protest against lynching

1932 US President Herbert Hoover uses federal troops to evict the Bonus Army (WWI veterans and their families) from their encampment, 4 die

1943 US President FDR announces end of coffee rationing in US

1945 US Army B-25 crashes into 79th floor of Empire State Bldg, 14 die

1945 US Senate ratifies United Nations charter 89-2

1945 Physicist Raemer Schreiber and Lieutenant Colonel Peer de Silva arrive on the Pacific island of Tinian with the plutonium core used to assemble the Fat Man bomb used in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9

1945 "Elevator girl" Betty Lou Oliver survives falling 75 stories after fog causes a US bomber plane to crash into the Empire State Building, breaking the cables supporting the elevator she was operating. This remains a world record for the longest survived elevator fall

1964 Ranger 7 launched toward the Moon; sent back 4308 TV pictures

1965 LBJ sends 50,000 more soldiers to Vietnam (total of 125,000)

1988 Winnie Mandella's home in Soweto, South Africa, destroyed by arson

1990 Blackout hits Chicago

2000’s

2014 UN Security Council hold emergency meeting calling for an immediate and indefinite humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

2017 US Senate vote for "skinny" repeal of Obamacare fails 51-49 when John McCain casts deciding vote against

2018 Longest "blood moon" eclipse of the 21st century, lasting 1 hour 43 minutes

Highlighted Birthdays Today

1866 Beatrix Potter,

English children's author and illustrator (The Tale of Peter Rabbit), born in London (d. 1943: @77: heart disease)

1874 Ernst Cassirer,

German philosopher and educator (Essay on Man), born in Silesia, Prussia (d. 1945: @70)

1887 Marcel Duchamp,

French sculptor and painter (Nude Descending a Staircase), born in Blainville-Crevon, France (d. 1968: @81)

1901 Rudy Vallee,

American singer and one of the earliest crooners (Vagabond Dreams, My Time Is Your Time), born in Island Pond, Vermont (d. 1986: @84)

1907 Earl Tupper,

American-born Costa Rican inventor and businessman (Tupperware), born in Berlin, New Hampshire (d. 1983: @76)

1928 Joe Jackson,

American talent manager and patriarch of the Jackson family, born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas (d. 2018: @89)

1929 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,

American First Lady (1961-63), born in Southampton, New York (d. 1994: @64: lymphoma)

1948 Georgia Engel,

American actress (Georgette- The Mary Tyler Moore Show), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2019: @70: as Christian Scientist did not consult doctors)

1954 Hugo Chávez,

President of Venezuela (1998-2013), born in Sabaneta, Barinas State, Venezuela (d. 2013: @58: cancer)

70’s

74- Jim Davis,

American cartoonist and creator of the comic strips "Garfield" and "U.S. Acres", born in Marion, Indiana

72- Sally Struthers,

American actress (All in the Family), born in Portland, Oregon

40’s

48- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Leader of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), born in Samarra, Iraq

Highlighted Historical Obits Today

80’s

@87-1996 Roger Tory Peterson,

American ornithologist and writer (How to Know Birds)

@80-2013 Eileen Breenan,

American actress (Private Benjamin)

60’s

@65-1750 Johann Sebastian Bach,

German composer (Art of the Fugue, Mattheus-Passion)

@63-741 Antonio Vivaldi,

Italian Baroque composer (The Four Seasons)

50’s

@54±-1540 Thomas Cromwell,

English chief minister for King Henry VIII, executed for treason and heresy

30’s

@36-1794 Maximilien Robespierre,

French revolutionary (President of the National Convention, Member of Committee of Public Safety), executed by guillotine

@36-1655 Cyrano de Bergerac,

French dramatist/novelist, dies of unknown disease

Puzzle answer:

Thursday.