Photo-Finish Friday: Sign of the Month

This sign at the entrance to our subdivision tickled my funny bone.

Photo-Finish Friday is the brainchild of Leah at The Goat's Lunch Pail.



Today is:

All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest -- Forest Grove, OR, US (quartets from throughouth the Pacific Northwest compete in an 1890s setting; through tomorrow)

As Young As You Feel Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to stop acting your chronological age and go act peppy!

Banned in Boston Day -- see history for 1630 for explanation of why today

Charleston International Antiques Show -- Charleston, SC, US (world class show with museum quality objects in every category; through Sunday)

Coq Au Vin Day

Crane Watch Festival -- Kearney, NE, US (80% of the world's sandhill cranes congregate on the Platte River during March and April; what better reason to throw a 10 day party?)

Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Emancipation Day) -- Puerto Rico

International Goof-off Day -- sponsored by Monica A. Dufour and A.C. Vierow, who think everyone needs a special day each year to goof off.

International Day of the Seal -- drawing attention to a disappearing species

Laser Day -- the first patent on a laser was granted this day in 1960 to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes

National Bavarian Crepes Day

National Sing-Out Day -- begun by an anonymous person who must love singing; and yes, i promise, i won't sing where anyone has to listen to me

Pittsburgh Arts & Crafts Spring Fever Festival -- Monroeville, PA, US (fun way to break up the spring fever blues; through Sunday)

St. Darerca's Day (reportedly the sister of St. Patrick; Patron of Valentia Island, Ireland)

World Day for Water -- UN


Birthdays Today:

Reese Witherspoon, 1976
Elvis Stojko, 1972
Matthew Modine, 1959
Stephanie Mills, 1957
Lena Olin, 1955
Bob Costas, 1952
Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1948
James Patterson, 1947
George Benson, 1943
Marvin Yagoda, 1938
J.P. McCarthy, 1933
William Shatner, 1931
Stephen Sondheim, 1930
Marcel Marceau, 1923
Karl Malden, 1912
Louis L'Amour, 1908
Chico Marx, 1887


Today in History:

Hugo de Groot escapes imprisonment in Loevenstein Castle in a book case, 1621
The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags, 1621
Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, 1622
Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables, 1630
Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer), 1733
The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies, 1765
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand, 1784
The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece, 1829
Cornstarch is patented by Orlando Jones, 1841
Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico, 1873
The Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories (especially aimed at the Mormons), 1882
August and Louis Lumiere privately screen the first "motion picture" ever made, of workers leaving their factory three days earlier, 1895
World's first airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins, 1914
The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt, 1945
Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser, 1960
Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1978
The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips, 1993
Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in space, 1995
The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth, 1997
Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion, 1997
ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire, 2006
Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska began erupting after a prolonged period of unrest, 2009