Good-bye Teens

#1 Son has left his teens behind. He is 20 today.

No, it's not considered as huge a deal as other years, but to me it means a closed chapter.

Some people tell teens, "These are the best years of your life!" With all the anguish so many go through, it seems cruel to say that. Those people must not remember the bad stuff.

The best is yet to be. Always.

Today is

Atomic Bomb Day

Bannack Days-- Bannack, MT, US (through the 17th, explore the territorial capital now turned ghost town and celebrate the pioneer spirit)

Birth of Setekh -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (god of dischord)

Circus City Festival -- Peru, IN, US (did you ever want to run off and join the circus? This is the week kids age 7-21 get to do just that, so go watch and have fun with them! Through the 23rd)

Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Fresh Spinach Day -- yippee!

Gentse Feesten -- Ghent, Belgium (a ten day music and theatre festival)

Ice Cream Cone Day -- this is one of the many days people say the confection was invented, so why not?

La Festa del Redentore -- Venice, Italy (Feast of the Redeemer, through tomorrow)

LaPaz Day -- Bolivia

National Corn Fritters Day

National Personal Chef Day -- some websites say Feb. 24, but since i'm not going to have one, you may celebrate it whichever you choose

National Woodie Wagon Day

Omaha Railroad Days -- celebrating all things track and train, through tomorrow

Petal-Hopping for Non-Starters Day -- Fairy Calendar

Pori Jazz Festival -- Pori, Finland (through the 24th, a world class, very diversified program in lovely surroundings)

Prince Lot Hula Festival -- Moanalua Gardens, Hawai'i

Sourdough River Festival -- Edmondton, Alberta, Canada; through the 17th

St. Eustathius' Day

Stroud International Brick and Rolling Pin Throwing Contest -- held simultaneously in the 4 cities called Stroud: Gloucestershire, England; Oklahoma, US; Ontario, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia (results are compiled internationally following the event)

Talk to a Telemarketer Day -- only if i can mess with his/her mind in some way!

Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day -- write down all the "could have" and "should have" things in your life, then toss them in the trash! Resolve from this day to live in the present, not the past.

Wrong Days in Wright, Minnesota -- in honor of "Wrong Way" Corrigan (through tomorrow)

Birthdays Today

Corey Feldman, 1971

Larry Sanger, 1968

Barry Sanders, 1968

Will Ferrell, 1967

Michael Flatley, 1958

Ginger Rogers, 1911

"Miss Frances" Horwich, 1907

Barbara Stanwyck, 1907

Orville Reddenbacker, 1907

Roald Amundsen, 1872

Ida B. Wells, 1862

Mary Baker Eddy, 1821

Today in History

The Islamic Calendar begins, 622

East-West Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches begin, 1054

The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco, 1661

Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands, 1683

Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, 1769

First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1782

The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown, 1809

Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada, 1880

The world's first parking meter is installed in the Oklahoma capital, Oklahoma City, 1935

The world's first nuclear weapon, the "atom bomb," is detonated in New Mexico, 1945

The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane, 1948

J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye published by Little, Brown and Company, 1951

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas, 1956

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first Ballistic missile while submerged, 1960

The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens, 1965

Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1969

Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister; he will be in office 22 years, Asia's longest-serving political leader, 1981

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter (impacts continue until July 22), 1994

John F. Kennedy, Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies in a plane mishap over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, 1999