They Got The Lead Out

"Throughout history, the most common debilitating human ailment has been cold feet."
Paul W. Powell, Getting Lead Out Of Leadership

On this Independence Day, i'm grateful our nation's leaders, all those years ago, didn't have cold feet.

Happy 4th of July, everyone.


Today is

Apache Maidens' Puberty Rites -- Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico

Baal Fire Day -- Whalton, Northumbria, UK (a bonfire, Anglo-Saxon "bael", with traditional morris dancing -- originally a Moorish dance)

Barbecue Day -- US

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Calithumpian Parade -- Biwabik, MN, US (clowns, hilarity and patriotism reign together as the 1,000 citizens of Biwabik put on a show for more than 15,000 guests)

Caribbean Day a/k/a Caricom Day -- Guyana; St. Vincent

Earth at Aphelion -- @11AM, EDT (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Family Day -- Lesotho

Filipino-American Friendship Day -- Philippines; U.S.

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Heroes Day -- Zambia

Holy Firecracker Day (John Updike's Couples)

Independence Day -- U.S.

Independence from Meat Day

Jumping on the Mattress Night -- Fairy Calendar

Kimberly International Old-Time Accordion Championships -- Kimberly, BC, Canada (through the 9th)

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod -- Eisteddfod Field, Llangollen, Benbigshire, North Wales, UK (65th annual international music festival, through the 11th)

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day

Old Midsummer Eve

Shounan Hiratsuka Tanabata Matsuri -- Shounan City, Kanagawa Prefecture (One of Japan's largest Tanabata festivals, through the 8th)

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day -- you can do this anywhere that it's hot enough, but for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day

St. Ulrich's Day (patron against difficult birth, dizziness, mice, moles)

Stone Skipping Tournament -- Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US (open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!)

World's Greatest Lizard Race -- Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US (cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16 foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!)


Anniversaries Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881



Birthdays Today

Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language)
Geraldo Rivera, 1943
George Steinbrenner, 1930
Gina Lollobrigida, 1927
Neil Simon, 1927
Eva Marie Saint, 1924
Ann Landers, 1918
Abigail Van Buren, 1918
Mitch Miller, 1911
Gloria Stuart, 1910
George Murphy, 1902
Rube Goldberg, 1883
Louis B. Mayer, 1882
George M. Cohan, 1878
Calvin Coolidge, 1872
Stephen Foster, 1826
Hiram Walker, 1816
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804


Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054
Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534
The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634
City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636
The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776
The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802
The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803
Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817
The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837
The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840
Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845
The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855
Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*
The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879
The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886
The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886
Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892
The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894
Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903
African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910
First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927
Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939
After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946
The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966
NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997
The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005
The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009