Easy to Buy For

"Mom, have any packages come here for me?" #2 Son asked.

Yes there's a box here, i told him.

"Great, I'll pick it up on my way to work," he said.

When he stopped by, i was at the cat shelter, but Sweetie was there and asked him what the box contained.

It turned out to be a gift for Fiancée Becky.  "It's a 'possum skull!" he said.

"I beg your pardon?" Sweetie said, a bit shocked.

"Well, you see," #2 Son continued, "she has a big interest in mammalogy, and she collects skulls from small mammals.  She's got a whole big shelf of them.  So when I saw the chance to get a 'possum skull for her, since she doesn't have one, I went ahead and got it."

All i can say at this point is, at least his future wife will be easy to shop for on those special occasions.

Today is:

AKC/Eukanuba National Championships -- Orlando, FL, US (top dogs from around the world compete to see -- who really is top dog?  through tomorrow)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Constitution Day -- Russia (constitution approved in nationwide referendum 1993)

Feast of Masa'il (Questions/Mystery) -- Baha'i

Gingerbread House Day -- because today is as good a day to start making one as any

Hakidaore Ichi -- Tokyo, Japan (fabulous shoe festival; through tomorrow)

Hovercraft Day -- the first prototype of a hovercraft was patented this day in 1955 by British engineer Christopher Cockerell

Independence Day -- Kenya (Jamhuri)(1953)

International Shareware Day

Miracle of the Roses / Our Lady of Guadalupe -- Catholic Christian; related celebrations
     Fiesta del Virgin de Guadalupe -- Mexico
     Las Mananitas -- Puerto Rico

National Ambrosia Day

National Cocoa Day

National Day -- Maldives

National Day of the Horse -- US (by Congressional resolution, information here)

National Ding-A-Ling Day -- an unofficial day on which to honor all the ding-a-lings you know, and even act like one yourself if you wish

Neutrality Day/National Day and Student Youth Day -- Turkmenistan

Poinsettia Day -- death anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett

St. Finnian of Clonard's Day (Father of Irish Monasticism; going to bed without supper tonight means you risk being carried away by the fairies)

St. Lucy's Eve -- Austria (night of the shining that some use to predict the future)

Unmentionable Thoughts Festival -- Fairy Calendar (Imps, Goblins, and naughty Fairies)

Yuletide Lads begin arriving -- Iceland (Jolasveinar trolls, children of Gryla and Leppaludi, who come one each day to bring gifts and mischief from now until Christmas)
     Yuletide Lad of the Day, Stekkjarstaur -- Sheepfold Stick, who will try to drink the milk from the farmers' ewes


Anniversaries Today:

Jerry Lee Lewis marries his cousin Myra Gale Brown, 1957
Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd US State, 1787


Birthdays Today:

Mayim Bialik, 1975
Rey Mysterio, Jr., 1974
Madchen Amick, 1970
Jennifer Connelly, 1970
Tracy Austin, 1962
Sheila E. 1957
Cathy Rigby, 1952
Robert Lindsay, 1949
Tom Wilkinson, 1948
Emerson Fittipaldi, 1946
Dionne Warwick, 1941
Connie Francis, 1938
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit, Jr., 1932
Edward Irwin Koch, 1924
Bob Barker, 1923
Bob Dorough, 1923
Joe Williams, 1918
Frank Sinatra, 1915
Edward G. Robinson, 1893
Edvard Munch, 1863
Gustave Flaubert, 1821
Stand Watie, 1806
William Lloyd Garrison, 1805
John Jay, 1745 (Old Style date)
Erasmus Darwin, 1731


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"La Valse"(Ravel ballet), 1920
St. Louis Post-Dispatch(First edition), 1878



Today in History:

The Battle at Ninevah: Byzantine emperor Heraclius defeats Perzen, 627
The Order of the Dragon is created by Sigismund, King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje, following the battle for possession of Bosnia, 1408
Isabella crowns herself Queen of Castile and Aragon, 1474
Jews are expelled from Schlettstadt Alsace by Emperor Frederick III, 1479
In Vienna, Ludwig von Beethoven receives his first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn, 1792
Mexico is officially recognized as an independent nation by the US, 1822
The first Canadian coins are circulated (1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent and 20 cent), 1858
Rudolph Dirks' first Katzenjammer cartoon strip appears in the NY Journal, 1897
Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is founded, 1897
George F Bryant of Boston patents the wooden golf tee, 1899
Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland, 1901
Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India, 1911
Oscar Straus becomes US Secretary of Commerce, the first Jew to be a US Cabinet member, 1906
The first all metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1, is test flown in Dessau, Germany, 1915
In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys, 1917
The first prototype of a hovercraft is patented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell, 1955
Guinea joins the United Nations, 1958
The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR, 1991
An asteroid named 4179 Toutatis, over 3 miles wide, passes within 4.3 million miles, or 18 lunar distances from Earth, 2012