Grandma's Got Wheels! (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday, an A to Z Challenge Post

***********************************

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

***********************************

Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by yours truly right here.

This week’s prompts are:

elegant

limited

spontaneous

bother

list

pin

and/or the following phrases

don’t count your chickens before they hatch (meaning do not rely on something you are not sure of)

par for the course (meaning what you would expect to happen)

a piece of cake (meaning a task which is easy to accomplish)

Charlotte's  colour of the month is Sea Green.

While the kids' trip to Alaska was not exactly SPONTANEOUS, it was a whirlwind visit, and as we all know if travel involves airlines, it's never A Piece Of Cake.

Years ago, air travel was ELEGANT, and if you are very wealthy it still can be, but when you are like most of us on a LIMITED budget, you just get the basics.  Because our little Annie is under age 2, they didn't BOTHER to get a seat for her, just for #2 Son and Daughter-in-Law, and the little bounced from lap to lap.

They had also taken the precaution to put an air tag in her shoe so they could track her location if they ever somehow lost sight of her.  There is also an air tag on Daughter-in-Law's keys, which i had because they were allowing me to use her car while they were gone.  Any time #2 son checked the LIST of where all of his air tags were (he uses to phone app to do it), the tag on the keys would start to beep, and to me it seemed totally random.  One minute, i'm sitting at my computer and the room has soft music in the background, the next my Sea Green pouch in my bag where i keep keys is beeping.  Once i figured out where the noise was coming from and what caused it, it actually got to be pretty funny.

It's a long trip from Louisiana to Alaska, and a three-hour time difference, so to say they arrived tired would be Par For The Course.  They still managed to let Annie play in the snow and see all the relatives, and the memorial service was just what they'd wanted it to be.

You Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch and you don't count on all your flights to be on time, either.  On the way back, the inevitable happened and one flight was delayed, causing them to have to reschedule a connection.  They were able to PIN down the new flight quickly and actually arrived home around the same time as originally scheduled.

All this happened after TSA went back to work, also, which meant it was easier than air travel in the US has been in quite a while.

With the whole thing, they were only gone five days, and came home needing naps, well, except for Annie, who was quite ready for adventure after having slept on the plane and on the hour drive back from the airport.  She got handed to this GG for snacks, and walks, and reading time, and all the things until her parents felt human again.

***********************************

Today is:

Aerosol Day -- John D. Lynde receives a patent for an early aerosol dispenser on this day in 1862

All is Ours Day -- an internet holiday to remind us of what we do have

Buddha's Birthday -- Mahayana Buddhism in Japan (based on Gregorian Calendar, other Buddhists use a different dating system)

     Hana Matsuri Flower Festival

Counter Stool Memorial Day -- when was the last time you got to sit on the stool at a diner counter and spin?  if you can find such a place, go take a spin today

DAB(Draw a Bird) Day -- a movement begun in Britain in the 1940's, encourages everyone to draw a picture of a bird, and share it with friends

Feast of the Hummingbird -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (date approximate)

Hammerin' Hank Day -- anniversary of his 715th homer in 1974, breaking Ruth's record

International Day of the Roma -- a celebration of Romani culture

Milk in Glass Bottles Day -- prior to this day in 1879, milk was sold in the container you brought with you to the seller

National Empanada Day

Sealing the Frost -- Guatemala (Cuchumatan Indians ritual to protect their corn from frost; date approximate, always early in April)

St. Julie Billiart's Day (Patron against bodily ills, disease, and poverty)

Trading Cards for Grown-Ups Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, and i got this out of my system dealing with Pokemon cards when my kids were young

Tutor Appreciation Day -- because some people need that extra boost

Zoo Lovers' Day -- go support your local zoo

Anniversary Today:

Voyageurs National Park established, Minnesota, US, 1975

Birthdays Today:

Kirsten Storms, 1984

Katee Sackhoff, 1980

Patricia Arquette, 1968

Robin Wright, 1966

Julian Lennon, 1963

John Schneider, 1960

Gary Carter, 1954

James Augustus “Catfish” Hunter, 1946

Stuart Pankin, 1946

Kofi Annan, 1938

Seymour Hersh, 1937

Shecky Greene, 1926

William D. Chase, 1922

Carmen Mcrae, 1920

Betty Ford, 1918

Sonja Henie, 1912

Mary Pickford, 1893

O. Raymond Knight, 1872

William Williams, 1731

Lewis Morris, 1726

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Twin Peaks"(TV), 1990

"White Horse Inn"(Musical), 1931

"The Bolt"(Shostakovich ballet), 1931 *Note: sometimes translated as "The Arrow"

"La Gioconda"(Ponchielli opera), 1876

Today in History:

Sultan Baybars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, 1271

The first Jewish congregation in the US forms the Shearith Israel synagogue in NYC, 1730

The first fire escape, a wicker basket on a rope and pulley system, is patented, 1766

The statue Aphrodite of Milos (Venus de Milo) is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos, 1820

John D. Lynde patents the aerosol dispenser, 1862

William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons, 1886

The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 1893

Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times, 1904

Auguste Deter, the first person officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, dies, 1906

The last meeting of the League of Nations is held, 1946

Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, beating Babe Ruth's record, 1974

Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries, 1992

The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations, 1993

The construction of the world's first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain, 2008

The U.S. Department of Justice admits that it has probed WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, defending the practice and dismissing privacy and freedom of speech concerns, 2011

Wikileaks released 1.7 million U.S diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973-1976 when Henry Kissinger was U.S. Secretary of State, 2013

The world's oldest living person, Gertrude Weaver of the U.S., dies at age 116, just five days after the death of the previous record holder, Misao Okawa of Japan, who died at age 117, 2015

A record 17ft (5.2M) invasive Burmese python pregnant with 73 eggs is captured in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve, 2019

Egyptian archaeologists announce the discovery of the "golden city" of Aten, near Luxor, 2021

The first all private space flight, Axiom-1, launches to the International Space Station, 2022

A total solar eclipse stretches from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland, 2024

Little Girl's Big Days

Sweetie and i only travel well if we know the way, or if we avoid big cities.  Dallas is a big city, with big traffic.  On the way up, we didn't do Dallas well at all.

To recap, Little Girl was graduating from basic training.  We were to drive up to Fort Sill, Oklahoma on Wednesday, participate in Family Day on Thursday, watch her graduate on Friday, and today we are driving home.

The most efficient way to Fort Sill from where we live is straight up to Shreveport, across to Dallas, then up to Wichita Falls and on to Lawton/Fort Sill.  It takes us through Dallas, though.  Did i mention Sweetie about has panic attacks if we get stuck in big city traffic or if we get turned around in any way?

He drove for the first several hours, and then i took over, which was a good thing, because when we finally got to Dallas, between the construction, the traffic, the accidents, and the fact that the GPS directions were confusing and got us turned around twice, he was near a conniption or apoplexy or something.

It was a relief to finally pull up to the hotel, and we were so tired after about 14 hours on the road that we decided to eat right there.  The hotel had fabulous vegetarian options and Sweetie enjoyed the best chicken fried steak and gravy he's ever had, and he's eaten the stuff all of his life.

This was a visit to a military base, so there are certain procedures, and those include getting permission to actually be on the base.  To do that, you print out a request and fill it out and mail it in, if the website is working and you can get it to print.  Since it didn't work, and i tried, that meant going to the visitor center and filling it out there and getting permission on site.

Because there will be a lot of people wanting to do that same thing, you want to get there early.  They open at 5am, and we got there Thursday morning about five minutes before they opened, and we were not the first in line.  It was a good thing they didn't take long, we got our permission forms and were able to go on base all we needed.

The Family Day program included demonstrations of uniforms and the things they've learned.  They did a skit that looked like it could have come straight out of a Three Stooges short, showing what the recruits looked like on the day they got there.  It had all of us laughing, and from what i understand, was totally accurate.

When they acknowledged the top graduates, i was surprised that the person who scored the highest on the physical training test was one of the females.  She was very pretty, but i can guarantee you do not want to meet her in a dark alley.

One thing i did not expect was that there were over 20 recruits who were from other countries. In joining the US Military, they became eligible for expedited naturalization.  They had not only done their military training, but had gone through what they needed to do to pass for citizenship, so there was a naturalization ceremony right there as part of the Family Day program.  It had me in tears as these newly minted soldiers took the oath of citizenship. 

Little Girl was one of the soldiers who received a promotion.  That was another thing i didn't expect, they call the parents up to actually take the old insignia off of the soldier's uniform and put the new one on.  Yes, i really got to do that, it was amazing.

Once the Family Day ceremony was over, we got to bring Little Girl with us to have lunch and then go back to the hotel.  She took a nap while we were there, i'm sure she needed it.  Then a dinner at the hotel and back to the base for Accountability Formation (in other words, roll call).

Friday morning was much more restful for us, if not for the graduates.  They had to get up and do Physical Training and then practice.  The ceremony was beautifully done and most important, the guest speaker was brief and what he said was actually excellent advice.  Boiled down, he was saying to watch what you do, because if you don't want a future potential employer to find out, or your family, then you shouldn't do it.

We spoke to Little Girl for a while after the graduation ceremony, and then she went to go have a meal with her battle buddies who didn't have family that could come to the ceremony.  We were so glad that they had each other.

 

That gave me and Sweetie a bit of the afternoon to ourselves, so we had a meal and i dropped him back at the hotel and i went to the used book store and met the lovely, somewhat elderly, owner and her dog.  We talked, and i helped her water the garden boxes and haul the empty garbage can back up to the side of the building.  Of course i bought books, too, and she and i have promised to pray for each other's children.

Today Little Girl ships out for the next phase of her training, and as we head home it is the big test of whether or not we are going to live through the drive.  If i post tomorrow, you will know we survived.

Today is:

Canmore Folk Music Festival -- Canmore, AB, Canada (bringing beautiful folk music and more to the area; through Monday)

Dia del Amigo -- Paraguay

Father-in-Law Day -- unsponsored and unclaimed, but fathers-in-law deserve respect, too

Feast of the Throne -- Morocco; Western Sahara

Festival of Fortuna Huiusque Diei -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Fortune of the Present Day")

Friendship Day/International Day of Friendship -- UN

Hanover Dutch Festival -- Hanover, PA, US (celebrating the area and it's heritage)

Herbal Ballooning -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Vanuatu(1980)

Kronia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Kronos as god of the harvest)

Martyr's Day -- South Sudan

National Cheesecake Day

National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)

National Support Public Education Day -- Change.org wants this to be an official day for support of US public education systems

"Paddle for Perthes" Disease Awareness Day -- to promote awareness of the children's condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes disease 

Paperback Day -- anniversary of the 1935 publication of Penguin #1, Arial, A Life of Shelley, by Andre Maurois in London, the first successful series of paperback books

Quilt Exhibition -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US (a juried show, demonstrations and other activities; through Sept. 18)

Sagbraw: Schramm's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Wisconsin -- Wisconsin's oldest cross-state bicycle tour; through Aug. 5

Sts. Abdon and Sennen's Day (Patrons of barrel makers and coopers; the ashes of ferns cut and burned on this day will keep away insects and unwanted guests)

Sumiyoshi Matsuri -- Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, Osaka, Japan (Osaka's last major summer festival, through Aug. 1)

Sumidagawa River Fireworks Festival -- Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan's largest fireworks festivals, held every year since 1733, making it also one of the world's oldest continuously held fireworks displays)

Taylor Horsefest -- Taylor, ND, US (big enough to be fun, small enough to get you lots of time with the stars of the show, the horses! through tomorrow)


Anniversaries Today

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, marries Michael Tindall, 2011


Birthdays Today

Hope Solo, 1981
Jaime Pressly, 1977
Misty May-Treanor, 1977
Hilary Swank, 1974
Tom Green, 1971
Simon Baker, 1969
Vivica A. Fox, 1964
Lisa Kudrow, 1963
Alton Brown, 1962
Laurence Fishburne, 1961
Kate Bush, 1958
Delta Burke, 1956
Ken Olin, 1954
Jean Reno, 1948
Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1947
William Atherton, 1947
David Sanborn, 1945
Paul Anka, 1941
Peter Bogdanovich, 1939
Buddy Guy, 1936
Allan Huber “Bud” Selig, 1934
Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, 1933
Thomas Sowell, 1930
Sid Krofft, 1929
Christine McGuire, 1926
Henry W. Bloch, 1922
Henry Spencer Moore, 1898
Casey Stengel, 1891
Henry Ford, 1863
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, 1857
Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, 1855
Emily Bronte, 1818


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Santa Barbara"(TV), 1984
"Death Valley Days"(Radio), 1930


Today in History

City of Baghdad is founded, 762
The First Defenestration of Prague, 1419
Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage, 1502
At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs, which set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years, 1608
In Jamestown, Virginia, the first European style representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time, 1619
An earthquake in Naples, Italy kills 10,000 people, 1629
Baltimore, Maryland is founded, 1729
Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers, 1756
First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps,1859
Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah, 1863
In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first Football World Cup, 1930
Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short, 1932
A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto, 1956
US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid, 1965
David Scott and James Irwin on Apollo Lunar Module module, Falcon, land with first Lunar Rover on the moon, 1971
Six Royal Canadian Army Cadets are killed and fifty-four injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp, 1974
Jimmy Hoffa disappears, 1975
In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line, 2003
Israel and Palestinian officials agree to resume negotiations for a peace agreement, 2013

Gallivanting in Galveston: Home Again

The journey back home was rather uneventful, and i only stopped once, which is unusual for me. 

My text to my friends when i arrived was simple:  Got home, house as usual, hope all is well.

And the house was mostly as usual; the A/C is working but may still be leaking, the kids immediately wanted to talk about arrangements to get to the football game this weekend, there was no room in the freezers for some of what i brought back, Sweetie wanted my help cleaning out his small A/C in his music room, there was KidsMosquito's crumbs from her special food all over the floor, HopeCat had left me a "gift" in her special spot, and etc.

Also, i got the notice that means i may be getting a jury summons soon.  Having to miss work for jury duty would sink us for sure, but that isn't their problem, is it?

Today, back to Ms. P's house.  After a week off, i may have to take pictures again, because it probably has to be seen to be believed.

Today is:

Autumn Equinox Festival at Chichen Itza -- beginning today, thousands will gather for the amazing play of light and shadow each evening at sunset through the 27th)

Birthday of Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala -- Tonga

Chelsea Antique Fair -- Chelsea Old Town Hall, London, England (through Sunday)

Citizenship Day -- US

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 7, Women (sponsored by We, the World)

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

Fundacion de Melilla -- ML, Spain

Ganesha Chaturthi -- Hindu (festival to honor the god of prosperity, prudence, and success, Ganesha; local customs and dates can vary, as can official government holiday status)

Hummer/Bird Celebration -- Rockport and Fulton, TX, US (ruby-throated hummingbirds and other avians are the stars of this show; through Sunday)

Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony -- Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US (each winner has done something that makes people laugh, then think)

Imilchil Marriage Festival -- Imilchil, Morocco (Marriage Festival, among the Berber people, a three day whirlwind of speed dating, weddings, exotic music, traditional costumes, and romance)

International Country Music Day

National Apple Dumpling Day

National Heroes Day -- Angola

Newport International Boat Show -- Newport, RI, US (through Sunday)

Niketeria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Operation Market Garden Remembrance -- Netherlands

Osage River Mountain Man Festival and Black Powder Shoot -- Lake Ozark, MO, US (reenactment of a pre-1840s wilderness rendezvous; through Sunday)

Pledge Across America Day -- US (beginning of Constitution Week, every school is invited to join a synchronized Pledge of Allegiance across the whole nation, from 8am Hawaiian time to 2pm Eastern; schools also have an exercise of some kind about the US Constitution)
     on the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787

Return of Kelp-Koli Celebration -- Fairy Calendar (under duress, of course)

Stigmata of St. Francis' Day

St. Hildegard von Bingen's Day (author of treatises on natural healing and the first musical composer whose biography is known)

St. Lambert's Day (Patron of Middelaar, Netherlands)

Time's Up Day -- created by Wellcat Holidays; time's up on holding that grudge, you need to make amends with people today, since you aren't guaranteed a tomorrow

VFW Ladies Auxiliary Day -- anniversary of founding in 1914


Anniversary Today:

American Professional Football League (later the NFL) founded (a/k/a the Swallowing Up of Weekends), 1920
The Constitution of the United States is signed, 1787


Birthdays Today:

Chuck Liddell, 1969
Kyle Chandler, 1965
Rita Rudner, 1956
Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, 1951
John Ritter, 1948
David H. Souter, 1974
Ken Kesey, 1935
Maureen Conolly, 1934
Anne Bancroft, 1931
Roddy McDowall, 1928
George Blanda, 1927
Hank Williams Sr., 1923
Chaim Herzog, 1918
Warren E. Burger, 1907
Jerry Colonna, 1904
John Willard Marriot, 1900
Andrew "Rube" Foster, 1879
Baron Friedrich Von Steuben, 1730


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Home Improvement"(TV), 1991
"Head of the Class"(TV), 1986
"M*A*S*H"(TV), 1972
"McMillan and Wife"(TV), 1971
"Mission: Impossible"(TV), 1966
"Bewitched"(TV), 1964
"The Fugitive"(TV), 1963
"Car 54 Where are You?"(TV), 1961
"Outward Bound"(Play), 1923


Today in History:

The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between 300 Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas, and the Achaemenid Empire begins, BC480
Arabs conquer Alexandria, and destroy its library for the last time, 642
Netherland sailors discover Mauritus, 1598
Massachusetts Bay Colony gets a new charter, 1691
Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain, 1776
US Constitution is adopted by the Philadelphia convention, 1787
Sprinkler system for extinguishing fires is patented by Phillip W. Pratt, 1872
The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality, 1908
The first transcontinental airplane flight, from New York to Pasadena, is completed after 82 hours 4 minutes, 1911
The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards 
of 2,500 people, the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 1928
The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives, 1949
Television is first broadcast in Australia, 1956
Malaysia joins the United Nations, 1957
Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations, 1974
The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA, 1976
The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt, 1978
Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America, 1983
Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations, 1991
The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet, 1991
Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years, 2006
A drill finally reaches the 33 Chilean miners trapped after the Aug. 5 Copiapo mining accident, 2010 

Out and Away?

The plan was:

#2 Son would have no classes or work, so he could have the joy of sleeping in and then getting ready for us to leave.

Bigger Girl would take Little Girl to school in Happy the Honda, then go do whatever ti is she does on Friday (i think she goes to the tutoring center, then has fun with her friends, and then goes to work).

Sweetie would take Cicero to have her tires checked, then take #2 Son's car, Humphrey, for an oil change.  After that, he was to pick Little Girl up from school, checking her out early to go get her driver's license.  Then the two of them could go home to pack.

As for me, Bible study at 6:30 am, then high-tail it to the flower shop and see how many deliveries i could get done.

After a route or two, depending on how much they could give me, i would go home in the early afternoon, get stuff packed up and ready, and we'd be gone by 3pm.

Fat chance.

Upon arriving at home, after two successful routes and 22 completed deliveries (yea! over $100 earned!) we were tripping all over ourselves and each other in trying to get ready, and then discovered the worst glitch.  Bigger Girl's old insurance card on Cicero expired on the 13th, and her new one picked up on the 14th.  She only handed Sweetie the new one, so we would have no insurance the first lap of our trip.  (Yes, you have to have both with you.  The one that picks up tomorrow is no good if you get stopped today.)

The Sweetie realized the registration had expired on Cicero, too.

Of course, it was too late to get back to the DMV.

Bigger Girl had to haul herself home in Happy so we could take it, despite the fact that it was too small for the luggage and we hadn't had it vetted for a trip.  She will have to go on Monday and renew the registration.

By the time she got back, and we got it all straight, and we got out on the road, it was 4:30pm.  Because, of course.

And there were four construction zones, because, of course.

And there were 3 accidents, all of them off of the road, for which the traffic came to a complete stop, because, of course.

It was almost 6:30pm before we even crossed into Mississippi, and miles to go before we sleep.

 

Today is:

Bird Mating Season begins -- according to legend, in honor of St. Valentine

Blessing of the Salmon Nets -- Norham, Northumberland, England & North Shields, Northumbria, England (just before midnight, nets are blessed and right after midnight, the first nets of the season are thrown out; anything caught is presented to the officiating vicar)

Carnaval de Barranquilla -- Barranquilla, Spain (four days of pre-Lent celebration and street dances that mostly shut down the city)

Day Sacred to Juno Lupa -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno of the Wolf)

Feast of Vali -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (archer god, an Asatru answer to the Valentine celebration, which is really a thinly disguised Lupercalia)

Ferris Wheel Day -- birth anniversary of G.W.G. Ferris, Jr.

Fjortende Februar -- Denmark (Danish lovers send each other snowdrop flowers.)

Galesburg Historical Society Chocolate Festival -- Galesburg, IL, US (home made and commercially made chocolates, all you can eat for the price of the low admission fee; through tomorrow)

International Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

International Quirkyalone Day -- a day to value your individuality, whether you are partnered or not

League of Women Voter's Day -- US

Library Lovers Day -- for those whose favorite companion is a great book

Lemon Festival -- Menton, French Riviera (through Mar. 4)

National Call In Single Day -- what a lot of men who feel pressured to be romantic on this day wish they could do, i'm sure!

National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day

National Have-a-Heart Day -- to create awareness of the impact of our food choices on the environment, world hunger, animal welfare and human health—especially heart health

National Nest Box Week -- UK; US (begun in the UK, this is a week to build or put up a nest box in your yard to encourage our avian friends and give them safe places to raise their young)
 
National Organ Donor Day -- US, but no matter where you live, consider leaving instructions about this to your loved ones

Quirkyalone Day -- for those who prefer to be single and not dating just for the sake of dating 
 
Race Relations Day -- originally on Lincoln's birth anniversary, now on the day promoting love

Rafik Hairi Memorial Day -- Lebanon

Read to Your Child Day -- to start their love of learning early (and do it daily!)

Sts. Cyril & Methodius' Day (Patrons ecumenism, unity of Eastern and Western Churches; Bohemia; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Europe; Moravia; the Slavic peoples)

Trifon Zarezan -- Bulgaria (Viticulturists' Day; since Thracian times, a day to celebrate Dionysus and wine)

Valentine's Day (St. Valentine of Rome, Patron of apiarists/beekeepers, betrothed couples, greeting card manufacturers, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, travellers, young people; Bussolengo, Italy; against epilepsy, fainting, plague)



Anniversaries Today:

Jerry Garcia weds Deborah Koons, 1994
US League of Women Voters formed, 1920
Arizona becomes the 48th US state, 1912
Oregon becomes the 33rd US state, 1859


Birthdays Today:

Drew Bledsoe, 1972
Jessica Yu, 1966
Zach Galligan, 1964
Enric Colantoni, 1963
Meg Tilly, 1960
Renee Fleming, 1959
Raymond Joseph Teller, 1948
Gregory Hines, 1946
Carl Bernstein, 1944
Michael Bloomberg, 1942
Andrew Prine, 1936
Florence Henderson, 1934
Vic Morrow, 1932
Hugh Downs, 1921
Mel Allen, 1913
Jimmy Hoffa, 1913
Jack Benny, 1894
George Washington Gale Ferris,Jr., 1859
Winfield Scott Hancock, 1824
Frederick Douglass, 1817
Mary Ann "Aunt Mary" Prout, 1801


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cloud Nine"(Play), 1978
"The Maltese Falcon"(Publication date), 1930
"Sinbad"(Musical), 1918
"Importance of Being Earnest"(Play), 1895


Today in History:

The annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg make the first known mention of Lithuania, 1009
Approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg, 1349
Roman Catholic emperor Leopold I chases the Jews out of Vienna, 1670
The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones, 1778
James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii, 1779
John Jervis and Horatio Nelson lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar, 1797
The apple parer is patented by Moses Coats of Downington, Pennsylvania, 1803
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of the US Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void, 1803
The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio, 1835
In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken, 1849
Esther Hobart Morris is appointed the first female Justice of the Peace in the US, in South Pass City, Wyoming, 1870
A.G. Bell and Elisha Gray both apply for a patent for a telephone; Bell first by only 2 hours, and is ruled the rightful inventor, 1876
The first trainload of California grown fruit, oranges, leaves L.A. for the east,1889
Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections, 1899
The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar, 1918
The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois, 1920
The Bank of England is nationalized, 1946
ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled, 1946
The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time, 1949
Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California, 1961
The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit, 1989
Space probe Voyager 1 takes photograph of entire solar system , 1990
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft becomes first vehicle to land on an asteroid (433 Eros), 2001
Love letters written between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning are published online by Wellesley College and Baylor University, 2012