Good News!

In case you haven't read it elsewhere, the world does not end this year, according to the Mayans!

At least, that's the thinking of those who have found the room in Mayan ruins that dates back 600 years earlier than the calendars that some say predict our doom.

This room was the scribes working room, where they performed their calculations.  According to what's been found there, they were already calculating for another thousand or so years past our current year back then.

Probably they just didn't need to use that long of a calculation in day to day calendars.  So maybe these scribes were number crunchers who loved to do the math.

Either way, the speculation now is that if they believed this year was the end, why keep calculating further?  They probably wouldn't have.

It also goes to show that there have been number nerds since the beginning of time and in lots of different cultures.

Now it would be great news if they came up with a pill for it; none of my kids are number people, and all get good grades but struggle in math. 




Today is

Aso ote Tala Lei -- Tuvalu (Gospel Day)

Dance Like a Chicken Day -- no idea why today, but i'm waiting for wedding season

French Fairy Awareness Day -- Fairy Calendar

Hastings Banda's Birthday -- Malawi

Izumo-taisha Shrine Grand Festival -- Izumo-taisha, Japan (through tomorrow)

Learn About Butterflies Day

Mars Invictus Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Midnight Sun at North Cape -- Norway (the sun will not set until July 30)

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

National Unification Day -- Liberia

Runic Half-Month Ing (expansive energy) commences

"Stars and Stripes Forever" Day -- first public performance this day in 1897

St. Bonifatius' Day (4th Ice Saint)

St. Matthias' Day (Patron against alcoholism)

Underground America Day (imagine what our landscapes would look like if more of our buildings were under ground)


Anniversaries Today:

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark marries Mary Donaldson, 2004


Birthdays Today:

Miranda Cosgrove, 1993
Dan Auerbach, 1979
Martine McCutdcheon, 1976
Cate Blanchett, 1969
Danny Wood, 1969
Jose Da Silveira, 1965
Tim Roth, 1961
David Byrne, 1952
Robert Zemechis, 1951
George Lucas, 1944
Jack Bruce, 1943
Bobby Darin, 1936
Laszlo Kovacs, 1933
Otto Klemperer, 1885
Thomas Gainsborough, 1727
Gabrile Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony, 1607
Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox  vaccination, 1796
The Lewis and Clark expedition sets out, 1804
Paraguay  gains independence from Spain, 1811
The first edition of the London Illustrated Times is published, 1842
Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk, 1853
Vaseline, the first petroleum jelly, is marketed, 1878
Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five, 1939
Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established; immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1948
Kuwait joins the United Nations, 1963
Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched, 1973
The Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary, 1986
The last episode of Seinfeld airs, with commercials going for $2M per 30 seconds, 1998