Feline Friday: None So Relaxed

There is no cat so relaxed as a cat that is relaxing on a surface she shouldn't be on!

SissyCat, sleeping on the kitchen table!

Today is

Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Calgary Stampede -- Calgary, AB, Canada (The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth; through the 14th)

Constitution Day -- Armenia

Earth at Aphelion -- @15:00 UT (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (the finest street performers anywhere; through the 15th)

Feast of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands

Graham Cracker Day -- birth anniversary of inventor of graham flour, the Reverend Sylvester Graham, in 1794

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant -- DeSmet, SD, US (get a taste of pioneer life, this weekend plus the next two)

Montreaux Jazz Festival -- Montreaux, Switzerland (a premier jazz event for music lovers from around the world; through the 20th)

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Old-Time Fiddlers' Jamboree and Crafts Festival -- Smithville, TN, US (through tomorrow; with 32 categories of old-time bluegrass music!)

Pictou Lobster Carnival -- Pictou, NS, Canada (a tail gate party and more;through Sunday)

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Savonlinna Opera Festival -- Savonlinna, Finland (one of Finland's most illustrious and internationally significant cultural events; through Aug. 3)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolithic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

Tynwald Day -- Isle of Man (Manx National Day; assembling of the year's session of the High Court of Tynwald, as their Parliament is called, to read the laws to the citizens; oldest continual parliament in existence)

Ways with Words -- Dartington, Devon, England (The UK's most stylish literature festival, through the 15th)



Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)
Huey Lewis, 1951
Warren Oates, 1928
Georges Pompidou, 1911
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902
Jean Cocteau, 1889
Cecil Rhodes, 1853
P.T. Barnum, 1810


Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295
John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687
The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865
Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934
Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937
Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937
Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947
National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948
The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950
William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951
The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954
Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975
Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998
The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003
Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004
Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009