"Tide"al Wave

Which laundry detergent do you use?

Does that question strike you as somewhat silly? It does me, unless you happen to be doing a survey for a soap company.

These days, though, it's not so silly.

It turns out that Tide detergent is the most popular one in the US. And because it is also one of the most expensive, it has become street currency.

Thefts of Tide detergent have been rampant across the country, as drug dealers steal and resell them, or trade them for drugs.

One recent drug bust found more Tide than drugs.

Retailers are having to lock the product down to keep people from walking in, filling a cart, and making a run for it through the doors to a getaway car.

Proctor & Gamble, makers of Tide, are at a loss as to why their detergent has become such a target.

It certainly gives money laundering a new name.


Today is:

Cheltenham Hunt Festival -- Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (through the 16th, with the big race on that final day)

Ear Muff Day -- invented by Chester Greenwood in 1873, when he was only 15; if you need them today, keep a good thought for Chester

Good Samaritan Involvement Day -- emphasizing the importance of unselfish aid to others

Kasuga Matsuri -- Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan (Monkey Festival)

K-9 Veterans Day -- US (on the day in 1942 the US Army K-9 Corps was established)

National Coconut Tort Day

National Jewel Day -- for no other reason than that someone who liked jewels wanted a holiday for them

National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day -- an experiment in whether or not bad luck ensues

Organize Your Home Office Day

Saint Ansovinus of Camerino (Patron protector of crops)

St. Nikephoros' Day -- Greece

Sticking Very Close Together for Fairies of the Fourth and Fifth Flights -- Fairy Calendar

Uranus Day -- the planet was discovered this day in 1781



Birthdays Today:

Emile Hirsch, 1985
Rachael Bella, 1984
Will Clark, 1964
Adam Clayton, 1960
Dana Delany, 1956
William H. Macy, 1950
Neil Sedaka, 1939
William Casey, 1913
L. Ron Hubbard. 1911
Sammy Kaye, 1910
Percival Lowell, 1855
Joseph Priestly, 1733


Today in History:

Twelfth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 607
Spanish explorer Cortez lands in Mexico, 1519
The Spanish fleet occupies Djerba, at Tripoli, 1560
Cambridge College is renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard, 1639
Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam, 1656
Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000, 1677
The twenty-seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 1759
William Herschel discovers Uranus, 1781
The Uncle Sam cartoon figure makes its debut in the NY Lantern weekly, 1852
The US Senate begins Pres Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, 1868
Oxford defeats Cambridge in their first golf match, 1878
The Siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins, Madhist Sudanese against the Egyptian, British, and loyalist Sudanese forces, 1884
In France the length of the workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law, 1900
Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) declares independence from China, 1921
A law is passed in the US state of Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution, 1925
Clyde Tombaugh announces the discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory, 1930
Rotaract begins as a youth program of Rotary International, 1968
Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module, 1969
The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan, 1988
India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader, 1997
Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time, 2008