Feline Friday: Teaching

C'mere, mini-me, I'll teach you to drink from the bowl!

Dansig teaching Thomas about the water bowl.

Today is

Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Bicycle Race Day -- anniversary of what is supposed to have been the first bicycle race ever, at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris, in 1868

Buffalo Days Celebration (with Buffalo Chip Throw) -- Luverne, MN, US (parade, arts in the park, and the throwing contest; through Sunday)

Centralia Anchor Festival -- City Square, Centralia, MO, US (anchor driving, archery shoot, tractor show, carnival, crafts, softball and more; through Sunday)

Dia de Castilla-La Mancha -- Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Derby Festival begins -- Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, England (today is Surrey Ladies Day, with Derby Day tomorrow)

Doha Document for Peace in Darfur Commemoration -- Sudan

English Riviera Dance Festival -- Torquay, Devon, England (learn ballroom dance, or take a master class, all levels are welcome, with Gala Evenings where you can dance the night away; through next Friday)

Feast of the Visitation of Mary -- Christianity (Mary's visit of her cousin Elizabeth, chronicled in Luke 1:39-56)

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival -- Little Chute, WI, US (celebrate with other Cheeseheads; through Sunday)

Harvard Milk Days Festival -- Harvard, IL, US (parade, carnival, food, fireworks, petting zoo, and more, all as a salute to hard working dairy farmers; through Sunday)

International Horseradish Festival -- Collinsville, IL, US (lots of fun in the "Horseradish Capital of the World"; through Sunday)

"Make My Day" Day -- birth anniversary of Clint Eastwood

National Macaroon Day

Portland Rose Festival -- Portland, OR, US (over 50 events, including three parades, dragon boat races, and more celebrate a city full of roses; through June 16)

President's Day -- Palau

Route 66 Summerfest -- Rolla, MO, US (citywide celebration to kick off the summer; through Sunday)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day / Royal Brunei Armed Forces Day -- Brunei

Save Your Hearing Day -- because once it is gone, you will regret it; on the anniversary of the concert by The Who which set a Guinness World Record for loudest rock concert in 1976

Speak in Complete Sentences Day -- be a good example!

St. Petronilla's Day (Patron of mountain travelers; against fever)

Take This Job and Shove It Day -- birth anniversary of Johnny Paycheck

Telluride Balloon Festival -- Telluride, CO, US (volunteer to help with the festival and you may get a free balloon ride! through Sunday)

This Day (again) -- Fairy Calendar

What You Think Upon Grows Day -- Stephanie West Allen wants you to remember the power of positive thinking

World No Tobacco Day -- WHO


Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Tucker, 1982
Colin Farrell, 1976
Brooke Shields, 1965
Lea Thompson, 1961
Gregory Harrison, 1950
John Bonham, 1948
Sharon Gless, 1943
Joe Namath, 1943
Johnny Paycheck, 1941
Peter Yarrow, 1938
Clint Eastwood, 1930
Denholm Elliott, 1922
Don Ameche, 1908
Norman Vincent Peale, 1898
Fred Allen, 1894
Walt Whitman, 1819


Today in History:

Rameses II (The Great) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, BC1279
A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000, 526
Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans, 1223
Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary, 1669
The Godiva procession through Coventry begins, 1678
The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions, 1759
In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains, 1813
In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, 1866
Dr James Moore of the UK wins the first recorded bicycle race, a 2k velocipede race at Parc de St Cloud, Paris, 1868
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes, 1884
Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria, 1884
Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889
The Union of South Africa (predecessor of the Republic of South Africa) is created, 1910
The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles, 1927
A 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan, 1931
The Republic of South Africa is created, 1961
The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide  that buries the town of Yungay, Peru, 1970
In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30, 1971
The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released, 1979
The burning of Jaffna Library, Sri Lanka, is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century, 1981
Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead, 1985
Athena 98.4 FM, the first legal private radio station in Greece, starts broadcasting, 1987
Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, 2005