~★~★~★~★~ El Morno ~★~★~★~★~
July 4th, 2011

★~Today’s quote: If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace. ~Hamilton Fish

★~ Happy Birthday America:

Light the candles, fire up the grill, pop open a drink, and cue the fireworks: a birthday party – a nation’s birthday – is in the air.  America is 235 years young today. Celebrate our great country on her special day by remembering that we remain the land of the free because of the brave. Say nice and kind things about America and focus on all the things that are right in our country; after all, it is her birthday. And don’t forget to shoot some Redi-Whip directly into your mouth, just because it’s fun! God bless the U.S.A.

★~ National Country Music Day:

Today everybody is a little bit country! Get out your harmonica and dust off that fiddle. It doesn’t matter whether you love the old country classics or prefer the new country, let’s two-step our way over to the apple pie.

★~ Sidewalk Egg Frying Day:

Have you ever cooked an egg on the sidewalk? I have. It works! It’s also a fun experiment to do with kids.  First, see if the sidewalk is “preheated to 158F” by taking a magnifying glass, some newspaper, and adding some sun.  Hold the magnifying glass over the newspaper and let the sun beat down onto the magnifying glass for several minutes. When the newspaper catches fire, your sidewalk is ready! It’s always a good idea to have a spray bottle of water nearby when you play with fire.  If you are going to teach children how to get into trouble, be sure to teach them step 2: how to get out of trouble. If not, you might hear the sound of “MAMA FIRE!” being yelled at a deafening level, have to race to put it out, and slip on a buttered sidewalk. Please don’t bother asking me how I know this. While your egg is cooking on the pavement, start the bacon in the driveway…and maybe some flapjacks on the hood of the car. Solar cooking at its finest! By the way, my mom told me it was so hot in Oklahoma the chickens were laying hard boiled eggs.

★~ Today in History:

★~ 1832 – It was on this day that America was sung in public for the first time — at the Park Street Church in Boston, MA. Dr. Samuel Francis Smith wrote the words, borrowing the tune from a German songbook. Ironically, and unknown to Dr. Smith at the time, the melody is the same as the British national anthem.

★ ~ 1848 – The cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid with “elaborate Masonic ceremonies.” The trowel used by Washington at the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793 was used on this occasion.

★~ 1888 – The first rodeo in America was held at Prescott, Arizona. A group of Prescott businessmen organized the first ‘cowboy tournament’ and offered cash prizes for the winners.

★ ~ 1895 – America the Beautiful, the famous song often touted as the true U.S. national anthem, was originally a poem written by Katharine Lee Bates. The Wellesley College professor’s poem was first published this day in the Congregationalist, a church newspaper.

★~ 1970 – Casey Kasem hosted radio’s American Top 40 for the first time this day.

★ ~ 2009 – 25-year-old Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California ate a record 68 hot dogs on the way to capturing his 3rd straight Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York City.

★~ Born Today:

★ ~ 1883 – Rube (Reuben Lucius) Goldberg inventor of elaborate, involved contraptions that accomplish simple tasks; cartoonist; died Dec 7, 1970

★ ~ 1918 – Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman) advice columnist; twin sister of Abigail Van Buren; died June 22, 2002

★ ~ 1924 – Eva Marie Saint Academy Award-winning actress: On the Waterfront [1954]; North by Northwest, Exodus, Raintree County

★ ~ 1951 – Ralph Johnson musician: drums; singer: group: Earth Wind and Fire: Shining Star, That’s the Way of the World, September, Can’t Hide Love, Got to Get You Into My Life, Sing a Song

★ ~ 1971 – Hanabi-Ko, or “Fireworks Child” in Japanese, was born at the San Francisco Zoo. She is probably the most famous gorilla in the world due to her participation in the longest continuous experiment to teach language to animals. She was taught sign language beginning when she was about a year old, and she currently has a vocabulary of 1,000 signs.

★ ~ 1978 – Becki Newton actress: Ugly Betty, Mode After Hours, August Rush, P.S., The Guiding Light

★ ~ Did You Know:

★ ~ John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on July 4. That’s three of the first five United States presidents!

★ ~ 4th of July weekend: $111 Million dollars will be spent on popsicles, $94 Million will be spent on lighter fluid  $193 million will be spent on hamburger patties, $167 million will be spent on Watermelon.

★ ~ 26 percent of Americans don’t know which country the United States won its independence from.

★ ~ 197 million dollars worth of fireworks were imported from China last year.

★ ~ New York City has the largest fireworks display, with over 22 tons of pyrotechnics exploded. That is the same weight as five ad half adult elephants.

★ ~ 155 million hot dogs will be consumed over the 4th of July weekend. That is enough hot dogs to stretch from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. more than 5 times.

★~ Today’s Giggle:

The Fourth of July weekend was approaching, and Miss Pelham, the nursery school teacher, took the opportunity to tell her class about patriotism. ‘We live in a great country,’ she announced. ‘One of the things we should be happy is that, in this country, we are all free.’

Trevor, who was a little boy in her class, came walking up to her from the back of the room. He stood with his hands on his hips and said loudly, ‘I’m not free. I’m four.’

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Happy 4th of July! Hope you all have a blast today!

♥
Kb