BIRTHDAYS: Adolphe Sax (Belgian instrument-maker who invented the saxophone), 1814; John Phillip Sousa, 1854; opera singer Paul Kalisch, 1855; James Naismith, 1861; Ray Coniff, 1916; Mike Nichols, 1931; Sally Field, 1946; Maria Shriver, 1955.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1792 George Washington was reelected by unanimous vote of the Electoral College.
On this date in 1860 Abraham Lincoln defeated 3 opponents and was elected president.
On this date in 1869 the first intercollegiate football game took place when Rutgers University and Princeton University squared off in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers 6, Princeton 4.
On this date in 1871 Anna Sewell began writing BLACK BEAUTY.
On this date in 1888 Benjamin Harrison was elected president.
On this date in 1900 William McKinley was elected president.
On this date in 1928 Herbert Hoover was elected president.
On this date in 1928 Jacob Schick received a patent for the electric shaver.
On this date in 1928 Charles Curtis, whose mother was a Native American of the Kaw tribe, became the 31st vice president of the United States.
On this date in 1984 Ronald Reagan was re-elected president with 525 electoral votes, near the most ever won. He took 49 states (losing only DC and Minnesota), that tied Nixon's 1972 landslide, and he won the popular vote over Walter Mondale by 59% (54,450,603) to 41% (37,573,671).
On this date in 1987 American sailor Tania Aebi completed a 2 1/2 year, 27,000-mile voyage around the world, thus becoming the first woman to circumnavigate the globe solo.
MEANINGLESS FACTS: Lake Fangassier, in Camarque, France, evaporates completely each summer -- leaving a bed of snow white salt... The word "year" in the language of Dahomey, French West Africa, means in literal translation: "Time for reaping maize and eating it plus time of planting and reaping it again"... New Year's Day is celebrated by the Tupi tribesmen of Brazil on whichever day the first wild geese of the year "honk" overhead. Believe it, or not.
TRIVIA: In the Bible (where else?), whose little boy was named Mahershalalhashbaz, and why?
In honor of Election Day, consider this: "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote" (George Jean Nathan).
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Mother: "Soooooo.... you want to become my son-in-law."
Suitor: "No, but I don't see any other way to marry your daughter."
*****
"Oh," sighed the wife one morning, I'm convinced my mind is almost completely gone!"
Her husband looked up from the newspaper and commented, "I'm not surprised: You've been giving me a piece of it every day for twenty years!"
*****
A Mormon acquaintance once pushed Mark Twain into an argument on the issue of polygamy. After long and tedious expositions justifying the practice, the Mormon demanded that Twain cite any passage of Scripture expressly forbidding polygamy.
"Nothing easier," Twain said. "No man can serve two masters."
(From Pulpit Helps)
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From our archive: From GCFL:
The ninety-five year old woman at the nursing home received a visit from one of her fellow church members.
"How are you feeling?" the visitor asked.
"Oh," said the lady, "I'm just worried sick!"
"What are you worried about, dear?" her friend asked. "You look like you're in good health. They are taking care of you, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are taking very good care of me."
"Are you in any pain?" she asked.
"No, I have never had a pain in my life."
"Well, what are you worried about?" her friend asked again.
The lady leaned back in her rocking chair and slowly explained her major worry.
"Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I'm afraid they're all wondering where I went."
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Thanks to M.A.K. -- Wisdom From Senior Citizens:
1. I
started with nothing. I still have most of it.
2. When
did my wild oats turn to prunes and all bran?
3. I
finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart.
4. Funny,
I don't remember being absent minded.
5. All
reports are in. Life is now officially unfair.
6. If
all is not lost, where is it?
7. It
is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
8. If
at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.
9. The
first rule of holes: if you are in one, stop digging.
10.
I tried to get a life once, but they told me they were out of stock.
11.
I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway through.
12.
It was so different before everything changed.
13.
Some days you're the dog, and some days you're the hydrant.
14.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
15.
I wish the buck stopped here! I could use a few.
16.
Kids in the back seat cause accidents; accidents in the back seat cause
kids.
17.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the
end.
18.
It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
19.
Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a trip around the sun.
20.
The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.
21.
If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would have put them on my knees.
22.
Never knock on death's door, ring the bell and run. (he hates that.)
23.
Lead me not into temptation (I can find the way myself)
24.
When you are finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide
to play chess?
25.
If you're living on the edge, make sure you're wearing your seatbelt.
26.
There are two kinds of pedestrians. The quick & the dead.
27.
An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.
28.
A closed mouth gathers no feet.
29.
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
30.
It's not hard to meet expenses; they're everywhere.
31.
Jury: Twelve people who determine which client has the better attorney.
32.
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
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Thanks to JLH: WAR ROOM
Bush and Powell are sitting in a cafe.
A guy walks in and asks the cook, "Isn't that Bush and Powell?"
The cook says, "Yep, that's them."
So the guy walks over and says, "Hello, what are you guys doing?"
And Bush says, "We're planning world war 3"
And the guy says, "Really? What's going to happen?"
And Bush says, "Well, we're going to kill 140 million Afghans this time and one bicycle repairman."
And the guy exclaimed, "A bicycle repairman?!!!"
So Bush turns to Powell and says, " See, I told you no one would worry about the 140 million Afghans!"
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ANSWER: Isaiah's boy was named Mahershalalhashbaz, and as for why, read on: (Isaiah 8:3-4) -- "And I (Isaiah) went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz." This name means "a swift spoil and a speedy pray" and was given to the prophet's child to serve as a warning to the people of the approach of the Assyrians, as Isaiah points out in the next verse: "For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria."
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