Tuesday, June 30, 2015

No, i don't want their job!

It's Tech Support Appreciation Day!

We joke about terrible tech support, because sometimes it does happen.  When it does, you can usually put it under just plain bad customer service or the company's "software" (techies) not being people friendly.  But what does tech support have to put up with from customers?  Sometimes you'd be amazed.

Here are a few samples.

Customer: I'm trying to connect to the Internet with your CD, but it just doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
Tech support: OK, You've got the CD in the CD drive, right?
Customer: Yeah....
Tech support: And what sort of computer are you using?
Customer: Computer? Oh no, I haven't got a computer. It's in the CD player and all I get is weird noises. Listen.....
*******************
Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female customer: A white one...
*******************
Customer: I keep getting inappropriate pop-ups on my computer and don't want my wife to think that it's me.'
Advisor: 'I will remove them for you.'
Customer: 'How do I get them back when she is not in?'
*******************
Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No .. wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it into the computer yet... it's still on my desk... sorry....
********************
During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password:
"MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofyParis"
When asked why she had such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.
********************
Customer: My 14 year-old son has put a password on my computer and I can't get in.
Advisor: Has he forgotten it?
Customer: No he just won't tell me it because I've grounded him.
*******************
Customer:  All my files I saved last week to my C: drive are missing!' 
Tech Support: 'Do you remember what directory you first saved them in?' 
Customer: 'No, I don't . I just know it was on my C: drive.' 
Tech Support: 'Ok, I'll walk you through how to find the files.' 
Customer: 'I wouldn't think I would be losing files on this computer. Gee, I just had the hard drive replaced in it yesterday.'
********************
Tech Support: 'All right, can you insert the disk in the disk drive please?' 
Customer: 'How?' 
Tech Support: 'Place the disk in the opening at the front of the computer.' 
Customer: 'Will I have to have my computer delivered before we can do this'
Tech Support: 'Um yes, that might be an idea.'
********************
Tech Support: 'Have you made backups of your software and data?' 
Customer: 'I didn't know it had a reverse.'
********************
Customer: 'I'm having trouble installing Microsoft Word.' 
Tech Support: 'Tell me what You've done.' 
Customer: 'I typed A:SETUP.'
Tech Support: 'Ma'am, remove the disk and tell me what it says.' 
Customer: 'It says [PC manufacturer] Restore and Recovery disk'.
Tech Support: 'Insert the MS Word setup disk.'  
Customer: 'What?' 
Tech Support: 'Did you buy Microsoft Word?' 
Customer: 'No.'

******************

Tech Support: 'Thank you for calling.  May I have your phone number beginning with the area code first, please?' There was a pregnant pause, then a series of touch tones.Tech Support: 'Hello? I need your phone number, please'. More touch tones.
Tech Support: 'Hi, can you hear me?' 
Customer: 'Yes.' 
Tech Support: 'Great, then can you please tell me your phone number so I can pull up your file?' More touch tones.
Tech Support: 'Sir, what's your name?' 
Customer: Malcolm
Tech Support: 'Great, now can you tell me your phone number?' Touch tones again.
Tech Support: 'Please, tell me your phone number.' 
Customer: 'Again?' 
Tech Support: 'Yes sir, if you don't mind, but can you please just tell me verbally?' Touch tones yet again.
Tech Support: 'Sir, contrary to popular opinion, support is not half machine. I'll need you to verbally tell me your phone number with your mouth so I can bring up your account info, got it?' 
Customer: 'You people are rude as well as incompetent.' 


May all of us have a great day, and not need tech support!



Today is

Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods, and is also called the Yakuta Festival; through July 2)

Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)

Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome

General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show -- Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, England (the world's largest flower show; through Sunday)

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)(1960)

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

National Corvette Day -- US (vehicle introduced this day in 1953)

National Ice Cream Soda Day

Ommegang Pageant -- Grand-Palace, Brussels, Belgium (three days of recreating of the medieval entertainment at the court of Charles V)

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Revolution Day -- Sudan(1989)

Sata-Hame Accordion Festival -- Ikaalinen, Finland (one of the worlds biggest and best accordion festivals; through Sunday)

St. Theobald of Provins' day (Patron of bachelors)

Tech Support Appreciation Day -- if you can get a hold of them, they can be great to have around
The North American Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (show jumping tournament, through Sunday)



Anniversary Today:

Greg Allman marries Cher, 1975


Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Michael Gerard (Mike) Tyson, 1966
Rupert Graves, 1963
Vincent D’Onofrio, 1959
David Alan Grier, 56, 1955
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Patricia Schroeder, 1940
Nancy Dussault, 1936
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917
Czeslaw Milosz, 1911
William Almon Wheeler, 1819


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Johnny Carson Show"(TV), 1955
"Guiding Light"(TV), 1947
"Brenda Starr, Reporter"(Comic strip), 1940



Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French  acrobat  Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997
After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004
The Molecule of the Year 2011 is announced, BMP7 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7), a potential therapeutic utility for recurrent metastatic disease, 2012

Monday, June 29, 2015

Awww Monday: Unique Litter

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

We have a very unique litter of kittens up for adoption.  Like all kittens, they are cute and Awww! worthy, but more than that:

Awww!  A quite unique litter.

Yes, you are looking at 3 pure white boys, one with two blue eyes, the second with two yellow eyes, and the third has one blue eye and one yellow eye!  Then there are the sisters, one totally white except for three small black spots on the top of her head, one totally white except for one small beige spot on her neck, and a tortoiseshell!

Little Girl, petting the kittens.

Six kittens, all white or mostly white except for the one tortie.  That's probably not something we will ever see again!




Today is

Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia

Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate

Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian
     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers
     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves
     a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna
     Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)
     Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul

Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!

Independence Day -- Seychelles

Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon -- Wimbledon, England (through July 12)

National Almond Butter Crunch Day

Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto

Please Take My Children To Work Day -- originally sponsored by mamasaid.net; a tongue-in-cheek way to request that you give a full- or part-time stay-at-home mom a break today!

Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences

Tabarka Jazz Festival -- Tabarka, Tunisia (perfect weather for music, workshops, seminars, and performances by local and international artists; through the 7th)

Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today

Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)


Birthdays Today:

Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008
Amanda Donohoe, 1962
Sharon Lawrence, 1962
Fred Grandy, 1948
Richard Lewis, 1947
Gary Busey, 1944
Robert Evans, 1930
Ray Harryhausen, 1920
Slim Pickens, 1919
Bernard Herrmann, 1911
Nelson Eddy, 1901
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900
James Van Der Zee, 1886
William James Mayo, 1863
George Washington Goethals, 1858
Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Moonraker(Film), 1979


Today in History:

An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512
Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534
The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613
Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786
Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850
Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864
France annexes Tahiti, 1880
The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888
Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891
Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895
France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922
Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937
Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974
The Seychelles  become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976
The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995
Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007
News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Silly Sunday: Enjoying the Flowers

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs.  The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!

  1. Post a joke.
  2. Link Up with the URL to your joke in the Linky Tools Widget.
  3. Read my joke.
  4. Leave a comment to tell me how much you enjoyed my joke.
  5. Try and visit a few others participating in Silly Sunday.
  6. Go to Sandee's site, linked above, and get the Silly Sunday code for your blog, too!

The other day, at prayer, a request was prayed that the Lord would raise up some of the younger people at our church to start doing some of the volunteer work needed there.

Most of the volunteers have been doing certain things for years, and are getting older and less able to carry out some of these duties.  We need some of our younger people to step forward while there are still older volunteers around who can show them the ropes.

"We old gray mares ain't what we used to be, Lord," Elder J prayed.  "We need some of these young people to step up, to serve and not just sit back and be served."

This talk about aging reminds me of something Boudreaux said.

Boudreaux an' some o' his ol' army buddies got together.  Firs' day talk about ol' times, and dat was great.  After a bit, though, de talk turn to de aches an' pains an' illnesses dey had been sufferin'.

Boudreaux decide he gots to get dem off of dat, so he try to change de topic. Of all t'ings, nex' dey start in talkin' about if'n you should have de casket open or close!

Fin'ly Boudreaux he done had enough, an he say, "Mais!  We gots to quit all dis sickness talk and funeral talk!  We got lots o' life lef' in us!  We gots to stop an smell de roses before dey be on top of us!"




Today is

America's Kids Day -- founded to encourage parents to teach their children the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Birthday of Cheng Huang -- Taiwan (the gods that are city guardians are celebrated with a procession of actors on stilts doing dragon and lion dances on this 13th day of the fifth moon)
Constitution day -- Ukraine

Descendent's Day -- on the final Sunday of June each year, an encouragement for all the world's citizens to take an accounting of their activities during the prior year and how those will affect those who come after us

Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut

Gioco Del Ponte -- Pisa, Italy (the Battle of the Bridge or Game of the Bridge, a medieval parade and contest for possession of the bridge)

Guan Sheng Di Jun Dan -- Taoism (Heavenly Sage Guan Di's Birthday [god of war])

Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!

International Body Piercing Day -- on the birthday of James Mark "Jim" Ward, "the granddaddy of the modern body piercing movement"

International CAPS LOCK DAY -- a parody holiday created by Derek Arnold, a user on Metafilter, in 2000

Log Cabin Day -- The Log Cabin Society, dedicated to preserving log cabins and the old fashioned ways of life; many places that have historic log cabins plan big events the last Sunday in June to celebrate

Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)

Mother's Day -- Kenya

National Ceviche Day

National Tapioca Day

Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date

Punxsutawney Ground Hog Festival -- Punxsutawney, PA, US (through Saturday; because the groundhog is worth more than just one cold day in February!)

Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Singing on the Mountain -- Grandfather Mountain, Linville, NC, US (traditional and modern gospel music, with local and nationally known artists and speakers)

Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969

St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)

St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus (religious festivities with the archbishop officiating and a procession of the icon of St. Paul through the streets, through tomorrow)

St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations

Thanksgiving for Useful Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian, based on the traditional Julian Calendar date
     a recognized holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina


Anniversaries Today:

Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919


Birthdays Today:

Kellie Pickler, 1986
Steve Burton, 1970
Danielle Brisebois, 1969
John Cusack, 1966
Mary Stuart Masterson, 1966
Mark Grace, 1964
John Elway, 1960
Thomas Hampson, 1955
Alice Krige, 1954
Kathy Bates, 1948
Gilda Radner, 1946
Bruce Davison, 1946
Turkan Soray, 1945
Pat Morita, 1932
Mel Brooks, 1926
Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1906
Richard Rodgers, 1902
Clara Louise Maass, 1876
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712
John Wesley, 1703
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577
Henry VIII, King of England, 1491


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Nutty Professor(Film), 1996
"Amos 'n' Andy"(TV), 1951
"Quiz Kids"(Radio), 1940


Today in History:

Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098
Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389
Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635
The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838
The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841
The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914
The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919
The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922
Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967
COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991
Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001
The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006
The U.N. reports 10 million people are effected by the worst drought in 60 years, 2011

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Just another day.

A clunk was followed by, "Oh, no!  There's a huge hole in my pocket!" as Little Girl reached down and picked up the new iPhone she just bought.  (Note that she bought it, with the money she is earning.  Grandpa offered to get her one, and she refused, she wanted to earn her own.)

"I've told you that you need to protect that thing," Festus said.  "Have you ordered a cover yet?"

"Yes," she answered.  "And this is the first time I've dropped it, and it wouldn't have happened if I didn't have this huge hole in the pocket that I didn't even know about!"

"You need to duct tape it to you until that cover comes!" Festus said.  "It's more fragile than a baby.  You can't just put it in your pockets.  Would you chuck your baby in a train car full of holes?"

That last question rather surprised me, but Little Girl even more so.  "What does a baby have to do with it?" she asked.

"Your phone is more expensive than a baby," he said.

"No it isn't!" she said.  "Think about how much a baby costs!"

"They aren't that much when you are carrying them.  And they don't eat much," he said.

"But when they are born, it's so expensive!" she said.  "And you have to buy furniture and everything!"

At that point i left them to argue out which was more expensive or fragile, a baby or an iPhone, as Red-headed Alec walked in.

"Well, I now know that I have to have a new job," he said.

Manager being a jerk again? i asked.

"That's one way to say it," he noted.  "The guy chewed me out in front of customers when I had done something right.  But of course, he wouldn't apologize in front of them when he realized he was wrong and I wasn't.  I have to get away from this place!"

Yes, you do, i said.  You do good work, and you need to be where it's appreciated.

"Well, I did have one thing going for me!" he said.  "I had a girlfriend for 4 days!"

Had? i asked.  Which of you broke it off?

"Oh, no, we're still together," he said.  "What made you think that?"

You said you 'had' a girlfriend for four days, that implies past tense, i said.

"Oh, you should know I speak American, not English!  English is more precise, but I only speak American.  Or maybe, what do they call it, Ebonics?" he said.

No, i told him.  You may have gone to public schools with a lot of African-American kids, but you are still a red-headed Irish American to the core, and i guess you talk like it!

At this point i noticed Festus had gotten up and pulled out a cigarette, and was going to head outdoors.  (Several of the boys who hang around here smoke.  It makes me furious, but they have to learn for themselves.  They are not allowed to do it indoors, and must clean up after themselves.)

Little Girl was tugging on his arm, saying "I was to crush it!  Let me!"

Crush what? i asked.

"There's this thing in the filter, and you are supposed to crush it before you light it." she said.  "And I like to do it for him, it feels so weird!"

What's in it? i asked.

"Around 4,000 chemicals, 3,000 of which are bad for me," Festus answered.  "At least, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to admit and be honest about what it's doing to me."

"Well, I hate the smoking, but crushing the little round thing in the filter is fun," Little Girl said.

Is that in all cigarettes now? i asked.

"Just some brands, it's a flavoring.  I just got used to it because it's the brand my mother smoked, and I used to sneak them out of her purse when I was about 14," Festus replied.

Well, don't you ever get used to it! i told Little Girl.

"Oh, don't worry," Festus said.  "Red-headed Alec, Young Jacob, both of your sons and I have already told her that if she ever smokes we will take turns beating her up!"

"And don't worry, they mean it!" Little Girl said.  "No smoking for me, I'm an athlete.  And I have a swim meet tomorrow!"



Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain

ARRL Field Day -- American Radio Relay League's most popular on-air operating event, in which amatuer/ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow

Canadian Multiculturalism Day -- Canada

Colorado Brewers' Festival -- Fort Collings, CO, US (celebrate Colorado's rich brewing history with over 30 breweries; through tomorrow)

Day of National Unity -- Tajikistan

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art -- Turkmenistan

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (personal household gods); also
     Festival of Jupiter Stator -- Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout, god who helped soldiers especially to stand their ground
     Initium Aestatis -- three day festival for the goddess of summer, which season they saw as beginning on this day

Decide to Be Married Day -- sponsored by Barbara Gaughen-Muller; to focus on the joy of couples deciding to be married

Eastern Music Festival --  Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, US (an acclaimed festival and school, with world-class guest artists; through Aug. 1)

Findle-Fritter's Stoat Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

Gettysburg Civil War Relic and Collectors Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US (featuring leading collectors and dealers; through tomorrow)

Great American Backyard Campout -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/Great-American-Backyard-Campout.aspx

Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June

"Happy Birthday to You" Day -- tune composed this day in 1859

Independence Day / National Day -- Djibouti

Industrial Workers of The World Day -- founded this day in 1905

Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)

Martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith -- Mormon

Mineral Collecting Field Trips -- Bancroft, ON, CA (every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this month and next, geologists lead mineral collecting field trips, educating participants about mineral identification, collecting techniques, and earth sciences)

Mixed Races Day -- Brazil

National HIV Testing Day -- US 

National Indian Pudding Day

National Orange Blosssom Day

National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day -- US (by Senate resolution)

Purple Hull Pea Festival and World Champion Rotary Tiller Contest -- Emerson, AR, US (the tiny town of Emerson, population 368, puts on a big show that also includes a World Cup Purplehull Pea-Shelling competiton)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag) -- Germany (according to legend, today's weather determines the pattern for the next seven weeks)

St. Ladislaus' Day (Patron of Szekszard, Hungary)

Sunglasses Day -- a reminder to wear those shades, protect your eyes from UV damage!

Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)


Birthdays Today:

Gabi Wilson, 1997
Madylin Sweeten, 1991
Ed Westwick, 1987
Drake Bell, 1986
Tobey Maguire, 1975
J.J. Abrams, 1976
Jason Patric, 1966
Isabelle Adjani, 1955
Julia Duffy, 1951
James Daughton, 1950
Norma Kamali, 1945
Shirley-Anne Field, 1938
H. Ross Perot, 1930
Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan, 1927
Helen Keller, 1880
Patrick Lafcadio "Koizumi Yakumo" Hearn, 1850
Charles Stewart Parnell, 1846


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Live and Let Die(Film), 1973
"Dark Shadows"(TV), 1966
"Captain Video and His Video Rangers"(TV), 1949


Today in History:

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec, 1759
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, 1844
George Dixon becomes the first black world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion, 1890
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, 1898
Sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian Battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war, 1905
Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane, 1923
The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, 1950
The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, 1954
The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, 1967
The President of Uruguay dissolves Parliament and heads a coup d'état, 1973
U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R., 1974
France grants independence to Djibouti, 1977
The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, is adopted, 1989
Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War, 1991
Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work, 2008
The first democratic election in the history of Guinea is held, 2010
Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 2011
NASA launches IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun, 2013