And you thought you had trouble getting in and out of the Post Office.

What with the lines always to the door and only two people on duty at any one time.

Well, imagine not even being able to get to the door because of attacking birds.

Really.

Apparently, for the second year in a row, a pair of bald eagles that nest on the bluff near the U.S. Post Office in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, are dive bombing patrons.

It seems that eagles are very protective of their young, and feel the people coming to the Post Office pose a threat to their new hatchlings.

Just one more reason to send an email, i guess.


Today is

64th Annual Rhododendron Festival -- Roan Mountain State Park, Tennessee (through tomorrow)

Autistic Pride Day

Constitution Day / National Day -- Seychelles

Evacuation Day -- Egypt

Foundation Day -- Benguet, Philippines

Go Fishing Day

International Picnic Day

International Sushi Day

Madame Lou Bunch Day -- Central City, Colorado (Old Flop House Celebration, complete with a brass bed race!)

National Cherry Tart Day

National Hollerin' Contest -- Spivey's Corner, North Carolina, US

National Splurge Day - Oh yeah!!

Queen Mother's Birthday -- Cambodia

Sandcastle Day -- Cannon Beach, Oregon, US

St. Alena's Day (patron against eye disease, toothaches)

Waterloo Day -- UK

World Juggling Day

Yosakoi Soran Matsuri -- Sapporo, Japan (folk dance festival that turns the whole city into a stage, through the 23rd)


Birthdays Today:

Nathan Morris, 1971
Carol Kane, 1952
Isabella Rossellini, 1952
Roger Ebert, 1942
Paul McCartney, 1942
Red Adair, 1915
E.G. Marshall, 1910
Bud Collyer, 1908
Jeanette MacDonald, 1903
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova of Russia, 1901
E.W. Scripps, 1854


Today in History:

Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang Dynasty rule over China, 618
Five monks from Canterbury report seeing "two horns of light" on the shaded side of the moon, probably witnessing the meteor impact formation of the Giordano Bruno crater, 1178
The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature, 1264
French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay, 1429
Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island, 1767
The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1812
The Battle of Waterloo leads to Napoleon Bonaparte abdicating the throne of France for the second and last time, 1815
Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory, 1858
Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 (US) for attempting to vote in the prior year's US presidential election, 1873
Empress Dowager Longyu of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families, 1900
Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly as a passenger in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, 1928
The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill, 1940
The Republic of Egypt is declared and the monarchy is abolished, 1953
Governor of Louisiana Earl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital's director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane, 1959
The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California, 1981
Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, 1983
Kazakhstan launches its first satellite, KazSat, 2006