Tuesday Coffee Chat: If it won't change, move on.

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question, Is there anything you need to let go of before you can embark on this new year? 

There is one thing, and i've been trying to let it go for a long time.  It's not easy.  It's time, though, to let go the thought and hope that the traffic is going to get any better around here, or that people are going to drive any better than they do now.

When i am right in my own little area, it's not so bad.  Yes, several of the people nearby think that because this is a quiet, neighborhood area they don't really have to obey the stop signs if they can see from a distance that no other cars are there, but when they do see you coming, they do stop.  It's a bit of a relaxed atmosphere, because everyone is a neighbor and there's never "traffic."

Once you get out on the highway, it's a totally different story.  People driving so slowly they are causing the equivalent of a rolling road block.  People driving so fast they are weaving in and out and going to end up killing someone.  People on their phones or texting, weaving into your lane and don't even realize it.

The only thing that could make this teetotaler a drinking woman is the traffic.

But i do need to let it go.  The situation will not change, there are double the number of vehicles on the roads than we have the capacity to handle.  No matter what, they cannot build enough roads, or synchronize the traffic lights, or change the fact that every time someone has a wreck on the interstate it shuts down traffic in four parishes.  (It's Louisiana, we don't have counties, we have parishes.)

It's not going to get better, even if there were a plan that would work to make it better, there's no money to implement it, and letting my blood pressure go up because of it won't change it.

Time to change me, and let this go.

Today is:

Annual Visit of the Poe Toaster -- the mysterious person who, for almost 75 years, dressed in black with a wide brimmed hat and scarf, annually visited Poe's grave on his birthday, leaving roses and cognac; has not been seen since 2009

Brew A Potion Day -- internet generated, no reasons given

Confederate Heroes Day -- Texas, US (some things never change)

Feast of Sultan (Sovereignty) -- Baha'i

Horror Novels Are Horrendous Day -- for Poe's birth anniversary

La Tamborrada -- San Sebastian, Spain (begins in the evening, a 24 hour drum jam session and the city's biggest fiesta)

Little Ricky Day -- marking the date of his arrival on "I Love Lucy"

National Popcorn Day

Neon Sign Day -- patented this day in 1915

Rid The World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day -- always the Tuesday of Healthy Weight Week and includes the announcement of the Slim Chance Awards, highlighting the worst fad diets of the prior year; 

Sacrifices to Apollon -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Canute's Day a/k/a St. Knud (Patron of Denmark)

St. Henry of Uppsala's Day (Patron of the Catholic Cathedral of Helsinki; Finland; against storms)

Theophany/Epiphany -- Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians who still follow the Julian Calendar
     Timket -- Ethiopian Orthodox Christian (with huge, colorful festivals through the whole country)
     Blessing of the Waters -- Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sophia, Bayswater, London, UK

Tin Can Day -- patented this day in 1825


Birthdays Today:

Shawn Johnson, 1992
Jodie Sweetin, 1982
Frank Caliendo, 1974
Drea de Matteo, 1972
Shawn Wayans, 1971
Wendy Moniz, 1969
Junior Seau, 1969
Paul McCrane, 1961
William Ragsdale, 1961
Thomas Kinkade, 1958
Simon Rattle, 1955
Desi Arnaz, Jr., 1953
Dewey Bunnell, 1952
Robert Palmer, 1949
Paula Deen, 1947
Dolly Parton, 1946
Shelley Fabares, 1944
Janis Joplin, 1943
Michael Crawford, 1942
Phil Everly, 1939
Richard Lester, 1932
Robert MacNeil, 1931
Tippi Hedren, 1931
Fritz Weaver, 1926
Jean Stapleton, 1923
Guy Madison, 1922
John H. Johnson, 1918
Lester Flatt, 1914
Edgar J. Helms, 1863
Paul Cezanne, 1839
Edgar Allan Poe, 1809
Robert E. Lee, 1807
James Watt, 1736 (O.S. date)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"48 Hours"(TV), 1988
"The Millionaire"(TV), 1955
"Woman of the Year"(Film), 1942
"Il Trovatore"(Verdi Opera), 1853
"Faust Part I"(Goethe tragic play), 1829


Today in History:

Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy, 1419
San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is currently the oldest church in the Philippines, 1607
The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay, 1788
The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope, 1806
Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett obtain a patent for a process of storing food in tin cans, 1825
Goethe's Faust Part I premiers, 1829
Verdi's Il Trivatore preniers in Rome, 1853
The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey, 1883
Ibsen's play The Master Builder premiers in Berlin, 1893
Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising, 1915
The US Senate votes against membership in League of Nations, 1920
Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs, 1930
For the only time in recorded history, snow falls in Miami, Florida, 1977
The last VW Beetle made in Germany leaves the plant, 1978
United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity, 1981
The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced, 1983
Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations, 1993
The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto, 2006

How Many?

How many vehicles does it take to shut down the whole area?

Only one.

"Don't go anywhere!" #1 Son said as he came in from work.

Yes, i heard, i told him.  Your father called to get me to look online to see if there were any routes open.  The whole area is shut down from a car breakdown about 5 hours ago.

"I know!  It's amazing that one car breaking down on the bridge can shut down the whole thing!  How does that happen?" he asked.

Oh, the usual, i answered.  One car breaks down or there's an accident up on one of the interstate areas.  It slows to a crawl, so people flood the what they call the surface streets and the other highways, trying to get through.  Then add more traffic as people get off work and are trying to leave, and it shuts everything down.

"Yeah, well, it took me an hour from about two miles from here!"

That's how it goes, i told him.  So i expect your dad to be late, which means i can't pay this bill online until he gets here, and it has to be done today.

"What's with that?" he asked.

Well, it's one of those sites that asks for your credit card number and expiration date, as usual.  The only problem is, my card expires this month, and they only ask for the expiration month and year, not the day.  Thus, they have decided that this card is expired, even though it is still good until the end of the month or until i get the new one and activate it.  And i can't just use the new expiration date that will be on the new card, because that card hasn't been activated yet, since i don't have it.  So i will have you use your father's card, which has a different expiration month from mine!

"That's dumb!" he said.  "They should know that an expiration month means at the end of the month!"

You would think, i said.

So how many cars does it take to shut down this whole area and turn it into a 7 hour traffic nightmare?  Only one.  How many websites does it take to make me almost wish we could go back to paper and pen and a check in the mail?  Also only one.

And how many of my kids does it take to put me back in a good mood?

"Mom, I just found out we get a whole week for spring break!" Little Girl practically yelled.

Of course, i said.  You get Good Friday and all of the week after Easter.

"A whole week for Mardi Gras, and a whole week for Easter!  Bless the Catholics!" she yelled.

The answer is still only one.


Today is:

Biezputras Diena (Porrige Day) -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (date unconfirmed, some sites suggest it's always on a Sunday before Feb. 23 instead)

Create-A-Vacuum Day -- an internet generated celebration of the nothingness of vacuums

Cultural Caravan for Peace -- various cities in Mali and on the Niger River; the Caravan for this very remote music festival will be hosted by The Festival on the Niger through the 8th, then continue in various other cities through the 15th

Festival sur le Niger -- Segou, Mali (Festival on the Niger, an annual heritage celebration, with a special combination festival with the Festival au Desert on the 6th; through the 9th)

General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Day -- Poland (birth anniversary)

Homemade Soup Day

Independence Day -- Sri Lanka

King Frost Day -- London (Celebrated yearly until WWI, in remembrance of the frozen River Thames on this day in 1814.)

Liberation Day -- Angola

National Girls and Women in Sports Day -- US (information here) 

National Stuffed Mushroom Day

Quacker Day -- for those who love Quacker Factory clothes

Spoiled Cats' Day -- internet generated, and isn't this every day?

St. Andrew Corsini's Day (Patron of Carmelites; against civil disorder and riots)

St. John de Brito's Day (Patron of Portugal; Sivagangai, India)

Thank A Mailperson/Postal Worker Day -- because someone decided it would be a good day to do that, and put it on the internet

Tu B'Shvat -- Judaism ("New Year of the Trees", began yesterday at sunset)

USO Day -- US (founded this date in 1941)

World Cancer Day -- International  


Anniversaries Today:

United Service Organizations (USO) founded, 1941
The University of Wisconsin is established, with one classroom and 20 students, 1849


Birthdays Today:

Natalie Imbruglia, 1975
Oscar De La Hoya, 1973
Gabrielle Anwar, 1971
Michael Goorjian, 1971
Rod corddry, 1971
Clint Black, 1962
Lawrence Taylor, 1959
Lisa Eichhorn, 1952
Alice Cooper, 1948
Dan Quayle, 1947
George A. Romero, 1940
Jhn Schuck, 1940
David Brenner, 1936
Gary Conway, 1936
Betty Friedan, 1921
Ida Lupino, 1918
Rosa Parks, 1913
Clyde W. Tombaugh, 1906
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906
Charles Lindbergh, 1902
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 1746


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours"(Album), 1977


Today in History:

The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta, 211
The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries, 960
Maximilian I assumes the title Holy Roman Emperor without being crowned, 1508
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler meet for the first time near Prague 1600
In Edo (now Tokyo), The 47 Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) after avenging the death of their master, 1703
The worst earthquake in 8 years in Calabria, Italy, leaves 50,000 dead, 1783
The first Anglican bishops of New York and Pennsylvania are consecrated in London, 1787
George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College, 1789
The French National Convention proclaims the abolishment of slavery, 1794
An earthquake in Quito, Ecuador, kills 41,000, 1797
J.W. Goodrich introduces his rubber galoshes to the public, 1824
The Mormons of Nauvoo, Missouri, leave to go west, eventually settling in Utah, 1846
The Codex Sinaiticus is found at the Greek Monastery of Mount Sinai, 1859
The first rolling lift bridge opens, in Chicago, 1895
The first Winter Olympics games close at Chamonix, France, 1924
The first tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks open, in New Orleans, 1930
Radium E is the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically, 1936
The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops, 1941
Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft, 1967
After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections, 1997
Facebook, a mainstream online social network is founded by Mark Zuckerberg, 2004
The Federal Court of Australia's ruling in Roadshow Films v iiNet sets a precedent that Internet service providers (ISPs) are not responsible for what their users do with the services the ISPs provide them, 2010
The remains found the previous year in a dig at Leicester are confirmed to be those of King Richard III of England, 2013

Round We Go

It seems the biggest, hottest trend in south Louisiana's current attempts to get traffic moving is to build roundabouts or traffic circles.  (No, our traffic isn't all that bad when compared to, say, L.A., but that doesn't help when the interstate is turned into a parking lot again, or there's one big accident in town and every other street slows because it's a major throughway, and everyone has to go around.)

They seem to be popping up all over, and wouldn't you know it, the people here just aren't quite sure what to do with them.

They aren't that difficult, but some people are stopping to get their bearings, or missing their turn off and having to go around and around until they figure out which side is what.

And then we wonder why our car insurance rates are so high.  But anyway.  One man who travels through the four lane traffic circle in a city a couple of hours north of here says he's always in the wrong lane when he needs to get off, and can't get over.  His wife just tells him he's a lousy driver, but they've been married for over 40 years, and she's always teasing him.  At least, i think she's teasing about that.

Speaking of going around, ringworm is going around again, with kittens.  The shelter now has 10 cases, and i'm battling the fungus among us here, hoping it clears up soon.  My current weapons are bleach water (6 parts water to one part bleach), grapefruit seed extract (50 drops in a quart of water), and apple cider vinegar.  If i hit them with all 3, i figure, sooner or later something will clear it up.

Little Girl is excited about the news now going around that J.K. Rowling is going to make her book Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them into a movie.  She says Rowling is taking control of it, writing, directing, and making sure it gets done the way she wants.  If that's so, i have to say i admire her, as such a thing would drive me around the bend.

And rumor around the SEC has it that a poll was taken among Alabama football fans, asking them which away game in 2014 (next season, not the current one being played) they are looking forward to the most.  Their answers supposedly broke down as follows:
Virginia Tech 7%
Ole Miss 6%
Arkansas 1%
Tennessee 7%
LSU 79%

Can we safely say that Alabama fans like coming to Louisiana?

Have a great Saturday, everyone, whether you hang around the house, or whatever you do.





 
Today is:

Aloha Festivals Keiki Ho'olaule'a -- Oahu, Hawai'i, US (preserving Hawai'ian culture, with games, keiki activities, performances, and more)

Battle of San Jacinto Day -- Nicaragua

Big Mac Shoreline Fall Scenic Bike Tour & Ride Across The Mackinac Bridge -- Mackinaw City, MI, US (a one-of-a-kind bike tour; through tomorrow)

Flax Scutching Festival -- Stahlstown, PA, US (through tomorrow; demonstrations of the tradition of making linen out of flax)

Cochabamba Day -- Cochabamba, Bolivia

Eat a Hoagie Day

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 4, Economic Justice (sponsored by We, the World)

Feast of the Triumph of the Cross/Elevation of the Life Giving Cross/Holy Cross Day -- Christian

Festivals and Matsuri of Japan -- several throughout Japan, today and for the next several, most as harvest festivals or traditional horseback archery rituals)
       including the O Sannomiya Autumn Festival, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Festival, Tono Matsuri, Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri, Tsurugaoka-hachimangu Reitasai, Yachi Donga Festival, and Furusato Hyappei Festival

Hug a Crabby Stranger Day -- okay, as long as i don't end up on the evening news

International Drive Your Studebaker Day -- an official event of the Studebaker Drivers Club Inc. (wish i could!)

National Cream-Filled Doughnut Day

National Iguana Awareness Day 2013

Nutting Day -- British Isles tradition, the hazelnuts are supposed to be perfectly ripe on this day

On the Waterfront Swap Meet and Car Show -- St. Ignace, MI, US (with a car show, truck show, toy show, and swap meet, there's something for everyone! through tomorrow)

Pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Einsiedeln -- Switzerland

St. Notburga's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, husbandmen, peasants, restaurant servers)

Thimphu Tsechu -- Thimphu, Bhutan (Drukpa Buddhism festival; through Monday)

Unclear Ideas Display -- Fairy Calendar (Imps celebration)

Yom Kippur -- Judaism (began sundown yesterday, ends sundown today)


Birthdays Today:

Wendy Thomas, 1961 (Namesake of Wendy's Hamburgers)
Sam Neill, 1947
Joey Heatherton, 1944
Nicol Williamson, 1938
Walter Koenig, 1936
Harve Presnell, 1933
Clayton Moore, 1914
Ivan Pallov, 1849



Today in History:

Domitian becomes emperor of Rome upon the death of his brother Titus, 81
Harun al-Rashid beomes Abbasid Caliph upon the death of his brother, al-Hadi, 786
The first lighthouse in the US, in Boston, is lit, 1716
George Frederick Handel finishes "Messiah" oratorio, after working on it non-stop for 23 days, 1741
Napoleon occupies Moscow; fires begin that will not be fully extinguished for 5 days, 1812
Francis Scott Key witnesses the battle which inspires him to write "The Defense of Fort McHenry", later retitled "The Star Spangled Banner", 1814
George K Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patents typewriter ribbon, 1886
President of the United States William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, 1901
Groundbreaking for the United Nations headquarters in New York City, 1948
The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it, 1959
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded, 1960
The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI, 1975
President-elect of Lebanon, Bachir Gemayel, is assassinated, 1982
Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a hot air balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean, 1984
The Toronto Blue Jays set a record for the most home runs in a single game, belting 10 of them, 1987
Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations, 1999
Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks; a similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital, 2001
In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union, 2003

Can't Get Away from Destiny

Another sunrise walk on the beach that featured clouds turning colors, but no sun could be seen until it was well up.  It was still worth seeing, as i walk toward the east and onto the nature reserve, where there aren't any buildings to interfere with the view.

(Note:  yes, it costs to go on the nature reserve.  Yes, at the beginning of the week i stop there and pay for a week's worth of beach walks, and keep my little receipt with me so if any rangers stop me, they will know i am not trying to get in without going through the gate and paying.)

By the time the sun is well up, it's still not even 7am and everyone else is still asleep except Doc, who get up with the chickens as i do, so i decided to run to the store to pick up a few things, including orange juice for Sweetie, who can put away gallons of the stuff.  In fact, when we are here, he does.  Anyway, i grabbed the keys and headed out -- right into traffic.

It seems to be my destiny to run into traffic wherever i go, even on vacation.  If i went to a place on earth where there had never been a traffic jam, someone would start one.  This time, i was construction on the bridge off of the island's west side.  The workers had shut down one lane and were directing traffic, and someone who didn't want to be so directed caused a nice accident.  So we sat for a good while, up on that bridge, waiting for them to figure out how to get us all around the person who didn't want directions, and at the same time get the police and a tow truck in.

Thus when i got to the store, i helped myself to even more coffee than is good for me and lingered until i was rather sure the traffic had cleared.  It had, although they were still directing traffic around the construction on the one open lane, it was running quite well and everyone was cooperating.

Back at the condo, there was movement and life, so i had my favorite breakfast, a mango, pineapple, and avocado salad.  Then i took my puzzle book, pencils, eraser, reading glasses, and lap desk and went to sit under the waterfall and lollygag and watch the kids swim, ours and other people's.  One lady had a cute little guy in the water in the shade near me, and he swam and played and had a blast.  Watching him laugh just made me laugh all over, and he wore himself out from so much play and went down for his morning nap right on one of the pool chairs.  All of us were chased upstairs by the daily storm that blows through.  They don't last long, but long enough to go have some lunch, at least.

After lunch, Doc had a treat for the older kids -- he took them to an electronics store to buy them each a tablet computer for the upcoming school year.  Because we were sans kids for a while, Sweetie and i went to check out a few of our favorite haunts, and find a few new ones.

Our favorite locally owned souvenir/clothing shop had a beautiful selection of nice, summery dresses, and Sweetie insisted i try one on.  He liked it, so of course i had to get it.  Then he found a pair of sandals to replace the ones he got there two years ago.  He also found a hat for Brother-in-Law, The Mouth.

Several years ago, Sweetie gave his brother a hat of a particular vintage style, and his brother wore it all of the time, until he lost it about a month ago.  He has been bugging the living daylights out of Sweetie, asking him if he could get another.  Now, we have another, and if he loses this one, he's on his own.

Next up, we went to a strip mall to look for clip-on sunglasses for my new driving glasses at a store that specializes in sunglasses.  They didn't have anything to fit, but next door was the best named coffee shop i've ever seen.  It's called "Liquid Life Coffee Shop." Anyone who knows me and my addiction will know i insisted we go in to see if they had coffee mugs with that logo, because i would love that.  It turns out they don't, not yet, but the owner has designed a few things and they should be coming in a couple of months.  In a few months, i'm going to get on their website and pester them to sell them to me online, because i don't want to have to wait a year, i'm too impatient!

Sweetie then wanted to find a guitar shop, so we crossed to the Florida side of the island and headed to Pensacola.  We were in parts of the city i hadn't been to before, and we managed to find the mall, and the guitar place.  He noodled around among the musical instruments, and i picked up a ukelele.  It's a beautiful little instrument that i'll have to take up one day, when i have spare time.  Yeah, right.

As much as i dislike malls, we did stop there so he could get some shoes for work at Dillards.  For some reason, that's the only place that carries the particular type he has to wear at work.  Then we decided it was time to head home.

So did everyone else, as my destiny caught up with me and we got stuck in the afternoon rush hour.  Working my way to the interstate took a long, long time, but once we got on going the opposite direction from most people we made good time.  Even though i've never been this particular route before, i managed to find the exit and the back roads to the island.  Sometimes having a weird sense of direction where i know what leads where serves me well.

Dinner for those who eat such things was Doc's roast and mashed potatoes and i pulled out a salad and insisted on leaving it out until almost everyone had some.  My brothers are notorious for not eating vegetables in any form, and while #2 Son eats salad and veggies almost every day when we are at home, as Bigger Girl noted, the only green thing he's had since we left home was a green Popsicle.  We remedied that.

The rest of the evening was spent on the beach, where the setting sun behind the clouds sent rays like golden fingers into the sky opposite.




Today is

Audacity to Hope Day -- to encourage all to have the audacity to keep hope

Demise of Imam Khomeini -- Iran

Emancipation Day -- Tonga (trad.)

Festival for Hercules Custos -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Hercules the Custodian)

Flag Day -- Estonia

Flag Day -- Finland (Armed Forces observe the birth anniversary of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim)

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression -- UN

Jarila's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Festival of Jarila, god of the sun and fertility)

Lailat al Miraj -- Islam (observance of Mohammed's night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem; begins at sundown, local customs and dates may vary)

Lassie Day -- the first dog to play the role of Lassie, in the movie Lassie, Come Home, was born this day in 1940

National Cheese Day -- not to be confused with Cheese Lover's Day earlier in the year

National Cognac Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day -- not to be confused with the Frozen Yogurt Day celebrated on Feb. 6 in Los Angeles, where the temperatures make such a thing possible

National Unity Day -- Hungary

Old Maid's Day -- supposedly established after WWII, when there were so many eligible young ladies who weren't getting any younger

Plynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival in Athens in honor of Athena; date approximate)

St. Petroc's Day (Patron of Cornwall and Wales, as well as many locations in Cornwall, Wales, and England, and Saint-Meen, France)


Birthdays Today:

Russell Brand, 1975
Angelina Jolie, 1975
Noah Wyle, 1971
Sam Harris, 1961
George Noory, 1950
Michelle Phillips, 1944
Joyce Meyer, 1943
Bruce Dern, 1936
John Drew Barrymore, 1932
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 1928
Dennis Weaver, 1924
Robert Merrill, 1919
Rosalind Russell, 1907
Aesop, BCE620 (not certain, but close enough)


Today in History:

Chinese astronomers make the first recording of a solar eclipse, BC781
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English colony on Roanoke Island, old Virginia (now North Carolina), 1584
Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan, 1615
New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians, 1760
A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history, 1769
The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon), 1783
Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain, 1792
The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title, 1878
Henry Ford test drives his first prototype automobile, the Ford Quadricycle, 1896
Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage, 1912
A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, 1973
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, 1989
Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, 1989
Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,2010