~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 10, 2012

Post updated; February 10, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  “The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.”  Humbert Humphrey is credit for first useing this quote today in 1965

★~ Umbrella Day:

The um-ber-ella-ella-ella,  brolly, gamp, parasol, bumbershoot – whatever you call it, umbrellas are made for one thing – keeping you dry and saving your hair!  Now if only you could remember where you left yours…..which reminds me of a story about the man who left his brolly in the umbrella stand in a London pub with the following note: “This umbrella is owned by the champion boxer of England, and he’s coming back in two minutes.” The man then went to the bar for a drink. When he returned, the umbrella stand was empty, and in place of his brolly, he found a note that read: “This umbrella was taken by the champion runner of England. He’s never coming back.”

There’s the widespread superstition that opening a bumbershoot indoors brings bad luck. Then, of course, there’s the age-old belief that the easiest way to assure a rainy day is to leave your umbrella at home.  Robert Louis Stevenson seemed aware of this peculiar meteor-logical wisdom when he wrote: “There is no act in meteorology better established, than that the carriage of the umbrella produces desiccation of the air; while if it be left at home, aqueous vapor is largely produced, and is soon deposited in the form of rain.” Loosely put I think this means if you leave your um-ber-ella-ella-ella  at home, Sherlock, it’s gonna rain.

★~ Cream Cheese Brownie Day:

The first known recipe for brownies appeared in the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue. What everyone seemed to love about brownies, besides their delicious taste, was how quick and easy they were to make!  This is especially true today if you use Ghirardelli brownie mix and just fold in a little creme cheese!  Or if you want to drag out the mixer and crack open a few eggs  Betty Crocker® Cream Cheese Brownies  are very tasty.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1863 – History was made in New York City. Two of the world’s most famous midgets, General Tom Thumb, (three feet, four inches) and his lovely bride, Lavinia Warren, (two feet, eight inches), exchanged “I do’s” before a small gathering of 2,000 of their closest friends.

♥~ 1863 – The fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane. It was a flaming success…

♥~ 1897- All The News Is Fit To Print anniversary.  This slogan appeared on page one of the New York Times since Feb 10, 1897.

♥~ 1934 – The first  postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in New York City. Talk about inconvenience!  The stamps had to be cut off the sheet and then glued onto the envelope.

♥~ 1951 – John and Marsha, by Stan Freberg became a national catch phrase in the U.S. Do you remember, “John … Marsha … John … Marsha … John … Marsha?”  Ok.

♥~ 1964 – Bob Dylan’s album “The Times They Are A-Changin”‘ was released.

♥~ 1996 – An IBM computer called Deep Blue made chess history by beating world champion Garry Kasparov (only 34 moves). It was the first win for a machine under classic tournament rules.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1890 – Boris Pasternak poet, writer: Doctor Zhivago; died May 30, 1960

♥~ 1893 – Jimmy (James Francis) Durante actor, comedian: “Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.”; Ziegfeld Follies, The Man Who Came to Dinner, It Happened in Brooklyn, The Jimmy Durante Show; died Jan 29, 1980

♥~ 1930 – Robert Wagner actor: Hart to Hart, The Mountain, The Towering Inferno, Titanic, It Takes a Thief, Pink Panther, Midway

♥~ 1939 – Roberta Flack singer: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Feel Like Making Love, Killing Me Softly With His Song

♥~ 1967 – Laura Dern actress: Jurassic Park, Blue Velvet, Rambling Rose; daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd

♥~ 1950 – Mark Spitz swimmer: U.S. Olympic 9-time gold medal winner, the most gold medals won by an individual [seven in 1972 and 2 in 1968]

♥~ 1991 – Emma Roberts actress: Unfabulous, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Valentine’s Day, Hotel for Dogs, Nancy Drew, Spymate, BigLove, The Flight Before Christmas

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The word “umbrella” comes from the Latin root word “umbra”, meaning shade or shadow.

♥~ The umbrella is so old that brolliologists can’t agree on its origin, or decide whether it was first used for protection from the rain or the sun. They do know that it was employed as an item of religious and ceremonial regalia from the earliest days of ancient Egypt.

♥~ The early Greeks used the umbrella as a symbol of productivity and sexual aggression, usually associated with the god Bacchus, and they carried umbrellas in many of their parades and festivals.

♥~ At first umbrellas were only  carried by women.  The Persian traveler and writer, ♥~ Jonas Hanway (1712-86),  popularized umbrellas among men. English gentleman often referred to their umbrellas as a “Hanway.”

♥~ James Smith and Sons was the first umbrella shop. It opened in 1830, and is still located at 53 New Oxford St., in London, England.

♥~ The early European umbrellas were made of wood or whalebone and covered with alpaca or oiled canvas. The curved handles were made hard woods like ebony,

♥~ In 1852, Samuel Fox invented the steel ribbed umbrella design. Fox also founded the “English Steels Company”, and claimed to have invented the steel ribbed umbrella as a way of using up his remnants  of farthingale stays, steel stays used in women’s corsets.

♥~ Compact collapsible umbrellas were the next major technical innovation in umbrella manufacture, showing over a century later.

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Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Odd Loves Company!