March 3, 2016

Thursday, March 3, 2016

The 63 day of the year

303 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• National Cheerleading Week
• National Ghostwriters Week
• National Pet Sitters Week  
• National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
• Universal Human Beings Week 
• Will Eisner Week

TODAY IS

• I Want You To Be Happy Day
• International Ear Care Day
• World Book Day (Link)
• World Wildlife Day  (Link)
• National Anthem Day (See History Spotlight) 
• Princess Day 
• What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day
• National Cold Cuts Day
• National Mulled Wine Day

ON THIS DATE...

1791: Congress established the U.S. Mint (read more).


1820: Congress passes the Missouri Compromise (read more)

1845: The U.S. Congress passed legislation overriding a President’s veto. It was the first time Congress had done so. President John Tyler was in office at the time (read more)

1873: Congress enacts the so-called Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" book through the mails. Also unlawful under the law is sending anything "designed or intended for the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion" (Read more)

1875, indoor ice hockey makes its public debut in Montreal, Quebec.
1877: Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath of office as the 19th president of the United States in a private ceremony.  A public swearing-in took place two days later. 
1885: the Indian Appropriations Act was passed by Congress.  It made all American Indians wards of the federal government and nullified all previous treaties with the Indians (Source). 
1885: The U.S. Post Office began offering special delivery for first-class mail.

1887: Helen Keller, who was uncontrollable at the time, meets her “miracle worker” for the very first time (Link). 


1915: the film "Birth of a Nation" debuted in New York City.  Once hailed as the greatest silent film ever produced, the film has also been the target of much criticism for its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan.  

1923: "Time" magazine made its debut.



1931: "The Star Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem of the United States.  Francis Scott Key wrote the song during the War of 1812. 
1931: Cab Calloway and his Orchestra recorded "Minnie the Moocher." 
1955: Elvis Presley made his first television appearance on "Louisiana Hayride." 
1959: actor, comedian Lou Costello died at the age of 52.  He and his partner, Bud Abbott, formed one of the most popular comedy duos of all-time  --  Abbott and Costello. 
1960: Lucille Ball filed for divorce from Desi Arnaz. 
1968: Montreal Canadiens forward Jean Beliveau recorded career point number one-thousand.  

1985: "Moonlighting," starring Cybill Sheperd and Bruce Willis, made its debut on ABC. 

1987: legendary entertainer Danny Kaye died at the age of 74. 
1991: motorist Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles police officers following a high speed chase.  The entire scene was captured on home video, sparking a nationwide outrage.  
1998: Larry Doby was elected to the Baseball Hall-of-Fame.  He was the first black player in the American League. 
2004: jury deliberations began in the criminal case of Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker. 


HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

The Star Spangled Banner (Source) 

President Herbert Hoover signs a congressional act making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official national anthem of the United States.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the massive overnight British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while under detainment on a British ship and penned the famous words after observing with awe that Fort McHenry's flag survived the 1,800-bomb assault.
After circulating as a handbill, the patriotic lyrics were published in a Baltimore newspaper on September 20, 1814. Key's words were later set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," a popular English song. Throughout the 19th century, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was regarded as the national anthem by most branches of the U.S. armed forces and other groups, but it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In March 1931, Congress passed an act confirming Wilson's presidential order, and on March 3 President Hoover signed it into law.



QUICK TRIVIA 

Fun Facts About Helen Keller (Source and Source) 

"The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects."

• Helen Keller loved hot dogs!
• Helen Keller wrote to eight Presidents of the United States, and received letters from all of them—from Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 to Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965.
• Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama, USA.Helen was an excellent typist. She could use a standard typewriter as well as a braille writer. In fact, she was a better typist than her companions Anne Sullivan Macy and Polly Thomson.
• Helen loved animals, especially dogs. She owned a variety of dogs throughout her life. The first Akita dog in the United States was sent to Helen from Japan in 1938.
• Helen visited 39 countries around the world during her lifetime.
• Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a college degree. She graduated from Radcliffe College, with honors, in 1904.
• Helen was friends with many famous people, including Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, the writer Mark Twain, and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• Helen won an Oscar for the documentary about her life, "Helen Keller in Her Story."

WORD OF THE DAY 

Idiom
[id-ee-uhm] –noun

an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements

"The coach told Jimmy to take it up a notch--unfortunately, Jimmy had no idea what the coach was talking about because the idiom was unfamiliar to him"





WORD FROM THE WORD 

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.--Deuteronomy 32:7

Read "Our Daily Bread"