BIRTHDAYS: Marie Curie, 1867; Albert Camus, 1913; Billy Graham, 1918; Al Hirt, 1922; Joan Sutherland, 1926; Al Martino, 1927; Mary Travers, 1937; Joni Mitchell, 1943; Dana Plato, 1964.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1504 Christopher Columbus arrived in Sanlucar, Spain, ending his fourth and last voyage to America.
On this date in 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition sighted the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River.
On this date in 1837 Abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered by a mob.
On this date in 1874 the elephant was first used as a symbol of the Republican Party, in HARPER'S WEEKLY.
On this date in 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution began when Vladimir Lenin and his followers fought against Alexander Kerensky's provisional democratic government. This Russian Revolution did not begin as a Communist movement; the Czar was overthrown and replaced by a democratic coalition. But that government seemed to be content to make only a small portion of the reforms the people demanded.
On this date in 1929 the Museum of Modern Art opened in New York.
On this date in 1940 the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed in a windstorm. It was the nation's third-largest suspension bridge.
On this date in 1944 president Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth consecutive term.
On this date in 1962 Richard Nixon held his "last" press conference, having just lost the California gubernatorial race. He thus uttered one of the most ironic lines in the history of American politics, "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more!"
On this date in 1966 NBC became the first network to broadcast all of its programs in color.
On this date in 1972 Richard M. Nixon was re-elected president of the United States.
On this date in 1977 by catching a grape thrown 259 feet in his mouth, college student Arden Chapman established a new world record.
On this date in 1987 Albert and Tipper Gore announced that they smoked "grass" in their youth (though they later regretted it). Bruce Babbit said he smoked it 20 years ago, and Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) said he took "several puffs" off a "joint" years ago and "didn't like it".
On this date in 1989 L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first elected Black governor.
MEANINGLESS FACTS: Gilles Menage (1613-1692), famed French scholar, had so phenomenal a memory that he compiled a French dictionary in 2 volumes without consulting a single reference book... The fish known as "horse mackerel" is not a mackerel at all -- it is a tuna... The frilled Lizard of Australia stores the insects it feeds on in the folds of its huge collar. Believe it, or not!
TRIVIA: In the Bible, what 5-year-old was dropped by a careless nurse and lamed for life?
Some humorous thoughts... "I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they now do... Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke... A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries... Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for... If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you." - All today's quotes are from Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935
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From our archive: Thanks to L.B.S. for this one:
A woman went to the local psychic in hopes of contacting her dearly departed grandmother.
The psychic's eyelids fluttered and she began moaning. Eventually, a voice came, saying, "Granddaughter are you there?"
The granddaughter, wide-eyed responded, "Grandma is that you?"
"Yes granddaughter, it's me."
"It's really you, Grandma?" the woman repeated.
"Yes, it's really me, granddaughter."
The woman paused, "Grandma, I have just one question for you."
"Anything, my child."
"When did you learn to speak English?"
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Thanks to D.O. -- WATCHING LIFE PASS BY -- Wilkin Tom O'Neal
A little boy was asked what his father did by an older man. The boy answered, "He watches." "You mean he is a night watchman?"
"Oh no", the little boy exclaimed, "He just watches."
"Well, what does he watch?"
"I don't know if I can tell you everything, but I can name a few things."
"Well, tell me," the curious man replied.
"He watches TV, he watches Mom do the housework, he watches for the mail man, he watches the weather, he watches the computer, and I think he watches girls, too" he said with an impish grin on his face. "He watches the stock market, football games. He watches Mom spank us, and he watches us do our homework. He watches us leave to go to Church and PTA and shopping. He watches Mom write letters and me play with my dog. He watches Mom pay the bills. But mainly, he just watches."
There are many who idly sit and watch life pass them by in the church today. They live lives for which their is no meaning, no significance. If this is characteristic of your life, the Apostle Paul offers a challenge to each of us when he penned to Timothy, " Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses" (1 Timothy 6:12).
James had said also, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).
DON'T BE DECEIVED BY WATCHING AND LOOKING. BE DOERS!
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From a friend -- Blonde Chips
There was this blonde farmer who had these two horses that she couldn't tell apart. She went to her neighbour and asked if he had any ideas to help her.
The neighbor told her to trim part of one horse's tails so one would be shorter than the other. The blonde thanked her neighbor and went home.
She trimmed one of the tails, and she could tell her horses apart now, until one day when the other horse got his tail caught in the fence.
Now the blonde had a problem because she couldn't tell the horses apart again. So she went back to her neighbor and asked him what she could do. Her neighbor said to trim one of the horse's ears.
The blonde thanked her neighbor again and went home. Then she trimmed one of her horse's ears. Now she could tell them apart. Until one day when the other horse got its ear caught in the fence. Now the blonde was stuck. So she went back to her neighbor. Her neighbor suggested that she measure her horses.
The blonde thanked her neighbor once again and went home. It turns out that the black horse is two inches taller then the white horse...
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ANSWER: Mephibosheth (II Samuel 4:4) was dropped by a careless nurse and lamed for life -- "And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth."
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