~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 8,2011

★~ Today’s Quote: “We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.” BF Skinner

★~ International Literacy Day:

Each year, International Literacy Day highlights the status of literacy and adult learning globally. There are now almost 4 billion literate people in the world, but universal literacy remains an elusive target. One in six adults is still not literate and more than 67 million children are out-of-school. In 1965 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared September 8 as International Literacy Day. It has been observed every year since 1966. This year’s worldwide celebration will focus on the link between literacy and peace.

★~ National Date Nut Bread:

Date nut bread combines — you guessed it! — dates and nuts to bread  for a salty-sweet addition and added texture.  Great sources of protein and iron, dates have been part of the human diet for more than 5,000 years. As a result of its curious shape, the fruit is thought to have taken its name from the Greek word for finger, “daktulos.” Dates require warm climates, and thus grow most prolifically in the Middle East and Africa, or, stateside, Arizona and California. Toast a piece of date nut bread and spread cream cheese or butter  on top to  celebrate Date Nut Bread Day.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1866 – James and Jennie Bushnell became the proud parents of sextuplets in Chicago, IL. Three boys and three girls were born. Though two babies died, the surviving four lived long lives. This was the first recorded birth of sextuplets

♥~ 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America was written by a former Baptist preacher, Francis Bellamy. It only took Mr. Bellamy three hours to write the original 23 words in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering America.

♥~ 1930 – Scotch™ Cellophane Tape was developed by Richard Drew and on this day the first roll of the sticky stuff was sent to a prospective customer. That customer wrote back with the following comments for 3M, “You should have no hesitancy in equipping yourself to put this product on the market economically. There will be a sufficient volume of sales to justify the expenditure.”

♥~ 1952 – Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea was first published.

♥~ 1966 – NBC-TV headed into “Space: the final frontier.” The first episode of Star Trek, was, The Man Trap.

♥~ 1990 – Jon Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory hit number one on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 singles list. The song, from the album of the same name, was the theme song from the movie Young Guns II and earned Jon Bon Jovi an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1922 – Harry Harris Emmy Award-winning director: Fame [1982]; ABC Afterschool Specials, The Waltons, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Kung Fu, Lost in Space, Hawaii Five-O,Falcon Crest, Eight Is Enough; died Mar 19, 2009

♥~ 1925 – Peter (Richard Henry) Sellers comedian, actor: The Pink Panther series, What’s New Pussycat, The Mouse that Roared, The World of Henry Orient, Casino Royale, Dr. Strangelove, Being There; died July 24, 1980

♥~ 1932 – Patsy Cline (Virginia Petterson Hensley) Country Music Hall of Famer: Crazy, I Fall to Pieces, Walkin’ After Midnight, She’s Got You, Heartaches, Sweet Dreams (Of You), Faded Love; killed in plane crash Mar 5, 1963

♥~ 1981 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas actor: The Adventures of Pinocchio, Tom and Huck, Man of the House, Home Improvement, Itsy Bitsy Spider cartoon

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ More than 20% of adults read at or below a fifth grade level- far below the level needed to earn a living wage. The National Adult Literacy Survey found that over 40 million Americans age 16 and older have significant literacy needs.

♥~ As the education level of adults improves, so does their children’s success in school. Helping low-literate adults improve their basic skills has a direct and measurable impact on both the education and quality of life of their children.

♥~ There are more than 1,768 ways of spelling 40 sounds in English.

♥~ Of the 380 English spelling rules, only ONE has no exceptions – no English word ends with the letter “v”.

♥~ “Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.”

♥~ More than 94 million adults in the U.S. can speak, but not read, the English language. Source: Literacy in the Labor Force Report, 2003. http://literacy-research.com/

♥~ Sixty percent of prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems

♥~ “So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”  – Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

★~ Reading Habits: Share some of  yours . . .

Amazon or brick and mortar?

Bookmark or dogear?

Keep, or give away?

If you don’t like: Finish or Quit?

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Buy or borrow?

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Standalone or series?

Favorite series?

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Favorite book of all time?

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We are on to our second day of school…so far so good! If you have a morno moment answer  a couple of the reading questions, or just tells us about your plans for a terrific Thursday. Odd Loves Company!