16 Jan

 

Week 3  Day 16   Flag Today  44°/20° Sky cover:  20% Wind 10mph Gusts 22mph Active Fire:  314miles away Risk of fire: Low  Nearest Lightning:  1584 miles away Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly cloudy Jan. Daily Averages: Temps: 44°\16° Moisture:  5 Days

Today’s Quote                                                                                                Today’s Meme

Weekly Observations

6-2/13 Carnival 11-17 Cuckoo Dancing Week 13-21 International Snowmobile Safety & Awareness Week Link

14-20 Healthy Weight Week Hunt for Happiness Week Idiom Week Sugar Awareness Week 15-19 No Name Calling Week Link

Daily Observations

Appreciate A Dragon Day Book Publishers Day Civil Service Day Fig Newton Day Link  Link Get to Know Your Customers Day International Hot and Spicy Food Day National Good Teen Day

National Nothing Day National Quinoa Day Without a Scalpel Day Religious Freedom Day Link  Without A Scalpel Day Link  Link Zeta Phi Beta Day

Today’s Thoughts

A tad windy but a nice day. Republican Iowa Caucus being held tonight. Guess we will be finding out how Iowa Republicans feel about the Republican ticket. I like the idea of a caucus, with people amassing in various parts of the room for who they like, then when their candidate doesn’t have enough people standing in their corner, the candidate is  dropped, and supporters move to another part of the room. Not sure I would show up though when it is well below zero, roads are icy, and it is dark.

Weird History…

Russia Ran Out of Vodka Celebrating the End of World War II It's a fact that seems too wild to be true, but it's actually real: Russia ran out of vodka celebrating the end of World War II. On May 9th 1945, after Nazi Germany had surrendered, Russians celebrated with such enthusiasm and vigor that they drank all of their vodka reserves dry! It was an incredible display of jubilation from a country that had endured so much suffering during the war years, and one that will never be forgotten. The celebration also marked the beginning of a new era for the Soviet Union, as they emerged victorious in the conflict and began rebuilding their nation. So next time you raise your glass to toast a special occasion, take a moment to remember this remarkable historical event - when Russia ran out of vodka celebrating the end of WWII!

Most important inventions

1979: Sony Walkman “This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day.” —Akio Morita, Sony Chairman, February 1979.

Untrue myths about Colonial America…States that never made the map

The Continental Congress Declared Independence From England on July 4, 1776 While the majority of citizens in the United States may believe that July 4, 1776, was the birth of our nation, according to John Adams, it was July 2. On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife stating, "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary Festival." The reason people believe it was on July 4, was because the first printing of the Declaration of Independence took place two days after the Continental Congress voted to declare their independence.

Historic Events

The first ‘Modern Novel’ was published in 1605; The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes, in Madrid, Spain. About 500 million copies have been printed. 1920 – The League of Nations held its first council meeting in Paris, France. 1944 – Dwight Eisenhower assumed command of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe). 1991 – The Gulf War began.

Birthdays with some quotes

89 – A.J. Foyt, American race car driver 81 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer 80 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter @78 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist, founder of Michelin Tire Company (dies in 1931) @76 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984; glioblastoma) I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they’d be up here on stage and I’d be out there watching them. 76 – John Carpenter, American director 74 – Debbie Allen, actress @71 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004; blood disease) To me, literature is a calling, even a kind of salvation. It connects me with an enterprise that is over 2,000 years old. What do we have from the past? Art and thought. That’s what lasts. That’s what continues to feed people and give them an idea of something better. A better state of one’s feelings or simply the idea of a silence in one’s self that allows one to think or to feel. Which to me is the same. We live in a culture in which intelligence is denied relevance altogether, in a search for radical innocence, or is defended as an instrument of authority and repression. In my view, the only intelligence worth defending is critical, dialectical, skeptical, desimplifying. 65 – Sade (Helen Folasade Adu), Nigerian-English singer-songwriter Social order at the expense of liberty is hardly a bargain. @64 – Dizzy Dean (Jay Hanna Dean), baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974; heart attack) It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up. 60 – James May, British journalist/co-host of Top Gear Nothing in this life worth achieving is easy, nor is it impossible. There are all sorts of things embodied in the Lego brick – geometry and mathematics and truth and proportion and shape and color… It is a faintly spiritual activity that everybody connects with. @53 – Dian Fossey, Gorilla advocate (d. 1985; assassinated) 50 – Kate Moss, English model What people say isn’t going to stop me. I have to do things for myself. 44 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, stage actor 39 – Joe Flacco, American football player 37 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor @22 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001; plane crash)

…The End for today…