December 16, 2016

Dec 17

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
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12.17.16 Week: 50 \ Day: 352
December Averages: 44°\17° Rain
86004 Today: H 49° \ L 36° Average Sky Cover: 95% 
Wind ave:   15mph\Gusts:  23mph Visibility: 2 mi
Record High: 65°[1980]   Record Low: -14°[1928]
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Quote of the Day
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Observances Today                                              
A Christmas Carol Day (Story)
Clean Air Day

Wright Brothers Day
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Observances This Week
10-17 Human Rights Week
14-1/5 Christmas Bird Count Week Link 
14-28 Halcyon Days (Always 7 days before and 7 days after the Winter Solstice)
16-24 Las Posadas (Mexico 12/16-24)
17-23 Saturnalia-ancient Roman festival honoring Saturn, God of Agriculture
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Today’s Significant US Historical Events
  Today’s Significant International Historical Events
500's 
1526 Pope Clemens VII publishes degree Cum ad zero - forms Inquisition
1538 Pope Paul II excommunicates King Henry VIII of England 1
728 Congregation Shearith Israel of New York purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan to build the city's first synagogue
1700's
1777 George Washington's army returns to Valley Forge, Pa
1790 Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
1791 NYC traffic regulation creates 1st 1-way street
1800's
1821 Kentucky abolishes debtors' prisons
1852 1st Hawaiian cavalry organized

1862 General Ulysses S. Grant issues order #11, expelling Jews from Tennessee
1865 Franz Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" premieres
1900's
1900 1st prize of 100,00 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy
1924 1st US diesel electric locomotive enters service, Bronx, NY
1936 Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen & dummy Charlie McCarthy, appear on TV
1957 The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show airs on NBC due to lack of national sponsorship
1965 Astrodome opens, 1st event: Judy Garland & Supremes concert 
1965 Largest newspaper-Sunday NY Times at 946 pages (50 cents)
1978 OPEC raises oil prices by 18% and agrees on a 14.5% petrolium price increase for 1979, to be implemented quarterly
1979 Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph (record for wheeled vehicle)
1983 The Provisional IRA bombs Harrods department store in London, killing six people and injuring 90
1989 The Simpsons, America's longest-running sitcom debuts
1999 The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
2000's
2013 Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term
2013 Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, and Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2015 Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals is arrested on fraud charges in New York by the FBI
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My Rambling Thoughts
Woke up this morning to overcast sky and heavy rain…yeah…rain, not snow…and it is December. Strange.

Headed out for a quick haircut, returned home and did some laundry. Not a day to be outside for very long.  The weatherman says snow by tonight, but I’ll wait and see. Way to warm for any snow now.

Listened to Obama’s last 2016 press conference. Sadly, the first question was not about Syria and the mess over there. Certainly a scar on the Obama administration. Media more interested in Russian hacking. While agree that is very important…at this minute…Allepo is a greater threat. Good answers on all questions, including the Syrian thing. Not looking forward to any press conferences after Jan. 20th. Probably won’t be many as long as Twitter is up and running.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
Who is This? #3
Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.

In this teaser, I have given you 4 words. Beside each word is a series of letter groupings. Your task is to find the answer to the word on the left by choosing one letter from each of the letter groups to the right of each clue.

Example:

Statuette: fro evi gse rpu lor nai ngd rep

Answer:

Fgo evI Gse rpU loR naI Ngd rEp = FIGURINE

1. Building: ant uhp yte alk ttr ase wrq
2. Kettledrum: qwt gig hjm klp all rnq tti
3. Image: ppo ghi kcl axt dug nrm eue
4. Music: sds fof uhk jnl dlk

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…Harper’s Index…
$292,000Amount the Swiss municipality of Oberwildr-Lieli was fined for refusing to admit Syrian refugees

10→Number of refugees the Swiss federal government had asked it to admit
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2 jokes for the day
A guy goes to the doctor. 

Guy: "Doc, I think I broke my arm in three places." 

Doctor: "Well, don't go to those places!"

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Eighty-year-old Bessie bursts into the recreation room of the retirement home.

She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces, "Anyone who can guess what's in my hand, can take me out to dinner tonight!"

A witty, elderly gentleman in the rear shouts out, "An elephant?"

Bessie thinks a minute and replies, "Close enough!"

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Somewhat Useless Information
Gustave Eiffel designed his monument to the French Revolution in 1887 as a grand entranceway to the 1889 International Exposition in Paris. Today, the tower attracts more than six million visitors per year.
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Eiffel and his crew of 300 workers assembled the tower's 18,000 pieces of iron in two years, two months and five days. They came in under budget and on time for the start of the fair.
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Every seven years, at least 25 workers use approximately 60 tons of paint to rustproof the tower.
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On a clear day, a person at the top of the Eiffel Tower can see about 42 miles in every direction.
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On the four sides of the tower, the names of 72 famous French scientists and engineers are engraved to honor their national contributions.
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Heat from the sun can cause the tower to expand up to 3/4 of an inch. During the cold winter months, the tower shrinks approximately six inches.
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Birthdays Today
 indicates age at death
80's
84- Arthur Fiedler, conductor (Boston Pops), born in Boston, Massachusetts [d1979]
81- John Kerr, System physicist (electro-visually Kerr-effect)[d2013]
80- Pope Francis [Jorge Mario Bergoglio], Catholic Pope (2013-) 1st Jesuit pope, 1st from the Americas and 1st non-European pope since Syrian Gregory III in 741, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
70's
79- William Safire, political columnist (NY Times)/speech writer (Nixon), (d. 2009)
79- Bob Guccione, [Robert C J Edwa], US publisher (Penthouse, Omni), (d. 2010)
71 Willard Frank Libby, parachute, Colorado, American chemist (carbon-14 "atomic clock" - Nobel 1960) [d1980]
71- Jacqueline Wilson, English children’s author
60's
69- Wes Studi, Cherokee actor (Last of the Mohicans)
63- Barry Livingston, actor (Ernie-My 3 Sons), born in Los Angeles, California
40's
47- Richard Long, actor (Prof-Nanny & the Professor), born in Chicago, [d1974]
47- Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist
41- Milla Jovovich, Kiev Ukraine, actress (Return to Blue Lagoon, Chaplin)
30's
38- Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and the 1st eight-division world champion, born in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
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Historical Obits Today
80's
@88-2012 Daniel K. Inouye, American politician
@83-1992 Dana Andrews, American actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura)
70's
@78-1999 Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter. Caretaker accidently ran over him
@70-2011 Kim Jong-il, supreme leader of North Korea (DPRK), suspected heart attack
60's
@69-2010 Captain Beefheart [Don Van Vliet], American musician, MS
@65ish-1273 Rumi, Persian poet, scholar and mystic
40's
@47-1830 Simón Bolívar, South American revolutionary and president (Colombia)
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Brain Teasers Answers
1. Building: THEATER
2. Kettledrum: TIMPANI
3. Image: PICTURE
4. Music: SOUND

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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…☼☼☼☼

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