February 19, 2016

Iwo Jima Day

Friday, February 19, 2016

The 50 day of the year

316 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• Random Acts of Kindness Week
• International Flirting Weeks Day
• Love a Mensch Week
• National Nestbox Week
• NCCDP Alzheimer's and Dementia Staff Education Week

TODAY IS

• Iwo Jima Day (Landing) 
• National Chocolate Mint Day
• National Lashes Day 
• Women in Blue Jeans Days
• National Caregivers Day 
• Great American Spit Out (Link) 

ON THIS DATE...

1473: Nicolaus Copernicus, the "father of modern astronomy", is born in Torun, a city in north-central Poland. 


1777: The Continental Congress voted to promote Thomas Mifflin; Arthur St. Clair; William Alexander, Lord Stirling; Adam Stephen; and Benjamin Lincoln to the rank of major general. Although the promotions were intended in part to balance the number of generals from each state, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold felt slighted that five junior officers received promotions ahead of him and, in response, threatened to resign from the Patriot army.

1807: Aaron Burr, former US vice president, was arrested in Alabama on charges of plotting to annex Spanish territory in Louisiana and Mexico to be used toward the establishment of an independent republic. He was acquitted on the grounds that, although he had conspired against the United States, he was not guilty of treason because he had not engaged in an "overt act," a requirement of treason as specified by the Constitution of the United States of America (bio)

1878: Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph. 
1881: Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages. 

1906: William Kellogg established the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company, selling breakfast cereals. The cereals were originally developed as a health food for psychiatric patients (Read more).

1913: the first "prize" was inserted into a Cracker Jack box (History). 



1935: Lou Gehrig signed a one-year contract with the Yankees for $30 thousand. 

1972: on a memorable episode of "All in the Family," Archie Bunker got a kiss from Sammy Davis, Jr.  (See Video) 


1981: the U.S. Post Office announced it would raise the price of a first class postage stamp from 15 to 18 cents. 

1981: George Harrison was ordered to pay ABKCO Music the sum of $587,000 for “subconscious plagiarism” between his song, My Sweet Lord and the Chiffons early 1960s hit, He’s So Fine. Of all the riffs, chords, melodies, octaves and notes out there, George had to go and pick those in particular.
1982: Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for urinating on The Alamo.

1985: the Coca-Cola Company introduced Cherry Coke. 


1985: William Schroeder became the first artificial-heart patient to leave the confines of the hospital. 
1985: Mickey Mouse was welcomed to China as part of the 30th anniversary of Disneyland. The touring mouse played 30 cities in 30 days. 

1987: a controversial anti-smoking TV ad aired for the first time.  It featured actor Yul Brynner in a public service announcement that was recorded shortly before his October 1985 death from lung cancer.  Brynner warned viewers of the danger of cigarettes from "beyond the grave." (Video)

1993: Miss Michigan, 22-year-old Kenya Moore, was named the new Miss USA.  She was the second black woman to win that title in the pageant's 42-year history. 

1994: comedian Martin Lawrence hosted "Saturday Night Live" -- but deviated from his planned monologue, and instead launched into a segment on Lorena Bobbitt, women and hygiene.  The performance not only got him uninvited from a "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" appearance the following month, but unofficially banned from all shows on NBC.  The offending episode of "SNL" has since been shown on Comedy Central, with an abbreviated monologue and a card inserted to explain that Lawrence's monologue had to be edited. 

1994: American speedskater Bonnie Blair won the fourth Olympic gold medal of her career as she won the 500-meter race in Lillehammer, Norway (Read more)


1998: at the Nagano Olympics, Austrian Hermann Maier won the men's giant slalom while Hilde Gerg of Germany won the women's slalom. 
1999: "NYPD Blue" star Dennis Franz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  
2006: Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 Daytona 500 auto race.  Johnson crossed the finish line ahead of Casey Mears to win the 48th running of the "Super Bowl of NASCAR."  The win marked the 19th of Johnson's Nextel Cup career. 

2010: golf star Tiger Woods issued a public apology over reports of his extramarital affairs.  

2011: during the 60th NBA All-Star Game Weekend in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin was voted the Slam Dunk Contest champion after leaping over the hood of a car to complete his final slam.  



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

Marines Invade Iwo Jima (Source) 

On this day, Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids against Japan, only 660 miles away.
The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of the island in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which the Japanese--21,000 strong--fortified the island, above and below ground, including a network of caves. Underwater demolition teams ("frogmen") were dispatched by the Americans just before the actual invasion. When the Japanese fired on the frogmen, they gave away many of their "secret" gun positions.
The amphibious landings of Marines began the morning of February 19 as the secretary of the navy, James Forrestal, accompanied by journalists, surveyed the scene from a command ship offshore. As the Marines made their way onto the island, seven Japanese battalions opened fire on them. By evening, more than 550 Marines were dead and more than 1,800 were wounded. The capture of Mount Suribachi, the highest point of the island and bastion of the Japanese defense, took four more days and many more casualties. When the American flag was finally raised on Iwo Jima, the memorable image was captured in a famous photograph that later won the Pulitzer Prize.



QUICK TRIVIA 

According to a 2014 survey conducted by the National Science Foundation, 74 percent of participants knew that the Earth revolved around the sun (the rest believed the sun revolved around the earth).  (Source) 




WORD OF THE DAY 

tautological \taw-TOL-uh-guh-kuhl\, adjective:

unnecessarily or uselessly repetitive

"The "song that never ends song" can be classified as tautological"






WORD FROM THE WORD 

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.--Habakkuk 3:17-18