Gratitude Week -- Tuesday

It's Tuesday, that means i'm grateful for the Sunday paper.

Yes, really.

By the time everyone else in the house gets through with it, it's Tuesday before i get it. Which is fine by me, by that time, i don't have to worry who needs it next.

Which is a roundabout way of saying i'm also thankful for freedom of the press.

After all, in some parts of the world, the only news you get is what someone in "authority" wants you to get.

Here, i can take my pick.

And comic strips. Frivolous, but i still like them, and i'm glad for them.


Today is:

Day of the Albanian Alphabet -- Albania and ethnic Albanians

Dispute-Settling Assizes -- Fairy Calendar (no, they won't tell us what kind of disputes)

Go for a Ride Day -- internet generated; during the crazy holiday season, go out for a relaxing sleigh ride or something

Independence Day -- Lebanon

National Cashew Day -- some sites have this on the 23rd, i celebrate both as i love cashews

National Day -- Oman (observed)

National Stop the Violence Day -- a call by US radio and TV stations for a cease fire on American streets

Start Your Own Country Day -- internet generated, and why not, it sounds like fun

St. Cecilia's Day (Patron of music, composers, musicians)

St. George's Day (Patron of Georgia, where this is a national holiday)

Sts. Philemon and Appia's Day

Ydalir -- Ancient Norse Calendar (Celebration of the wintertime god of skiing and archery, Ullr; date approximate)



Birthdays Today:

Scarlett Johansson, 1984
Scott Robinson, 1979
Mariel Hemingway, 1961
Jamie Lee Curtis, 1958
Billie Jean King, 1943
Robert Vaughn, 1932
Rodney Dangerfield, 1921
Benjamin Britten, 1913
Hoagy Carmichael, 1899
Wiley Post, 1898
Charles de Gaulle, 1890
George Eliot (Mary A. Evans), 1819
Abigail Adams, 1744


Today in History:

The first Duke of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon, 845
Spain delegates "New Laws" against slavery in America, 1542
Dutch colonial forces on Taiwan launch a pacification campaign against native villages, resulting in Dutch control of the middle and south of the island, 1635
Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, 1718
Peregrine Williamson of Baltimore patents a steel pen, 1809
Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie called for a rebellion against Great Britain, 1837
In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched – one of the last clippers ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day, 1869
Victoria Street Cable Tram route begins in Melbourne, Australia, 1886
The Congress of Manastir establishes the Albanian alphabet, 1908
1st snowmobile patent granted to Carl Eliason of Sayner Wisconsin, 1927
The premier performance of Ravel's Boléro takes place in Paris, 1928
Gasoline pump patented that computes quantity & price delivered, 1932
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" first heard on Eddie Cantor's show, 1934
The Humane Society of the United States is founded, 1954
US President John F. Kennedy is killed and Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded by Lee Harvey Oswald, 1963
The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status, 1974
Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco, 1975
In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed, 1988
Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery, 1995
Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany, 2005