~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 19, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  “The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they’re ok, then it’s you.”  ― Rita Mae Brown

★~ Temporary Insanity Day:

Today, a jury acquitted Daniel E. Sickles,  controversial New York congressman and future Civil War general of murdering his wife’s lover, the son of the composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner by successfully using for the first time the  temporary insanity defense (1859).

And what makes this Insanity Day?  Not the fact that he won–but the fact that politicians have been getting away with murder for years!!

Click here for my list of how to have fun driving people crazy.

★~ Chocolate Mint Day:

Mint and chocolate were made for each other. A burst of refreshing peppermint, spearmint, or crème de menthe combined with the smooth, rich taste of chocolate is a truly unique pairing.

Some of the most famous chocolate mint inventions include mint chocolate cake, Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, grasshopper martinis, mint chocolate soap and lip balm, Andes after-dinner mints, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

To celebrate Chocolate Mint Day, snack on a piece of your favorite chocolate mint candy, enjoy a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, or perhaps make a grasshopper pie as suggested by El Morno friend, Debbie -Musing by an ND Domer’s Mom  last year on Chocolate Mint Day.

★~ Today in History:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/v04QxYvJ_1c[/youtube]

 

♥~ 1878 – Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph.

♥~ 1910 – At a New York dinner party, Diamond Jim Brady amazed (not to mention, grossed out) his guests by eating five helpings of roast beef, gallons of stewed fruit, 84 oysters — and three gallons of orange juice to wash it all down!

♥~ 1992 –  Crazy for You opened at the Shubert Theater in New York City — for 1622 performances.

♥~ 1985 – Cherry Coke was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company

♥~ 1996 – Two days before her 121st birthday, Jeanne Clement of France became the world’s oldest pop star by releasing her first CD entitled Mistress of Time, on which she spoke over funk-rap, techno, and dance music. She said she made the recording to earn money for a minibus for the retirement home where she lived.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1473  – Nicolaus Copernicus –  Today’s Google’s Doodle  is a stately animation of the movement of the planets around the sun. The lovely diagram illustrates the theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish astronomer whose naked-eye observations of the planets led him to the conclusion that the sun was the true center around which everything else revolved. Fifty years before Galileo built his telescope, Copernicus determined the true movement of the planets, as well as the Earth’s rotation.

♥~ 1940 – Smokey (William) Robinson Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Famer: group: The Miracles: Shop Around, I Second That Emotion, Tears of a Clown; songwriter: My Guy, My Girl; solo:Cruisin’, Bein’ with You; Motown VP

♥~ 1960 – Prince Andrew (Duke of York) British royalty

♥~ 1963 – Seal (Sealhenry Olumide Samuel) singer: Kiss from a Rose, Prayer for the Dying, Waiting for You, Loneliest Star, Love’s Divine, Crazy, Human Beings

♥~ 1966 – Justine Bateman actress: A Century of Women, Primary Motive, The Fatal Image, Family Ties, Men Behaving Badly

★~ Did You Know:  Thinking outside the box, being a little insane,  can change the world.

♥~ The Earth is round: We take it for granted now that the Earth is round, but for most of ancient history, humanity believed that the Earth was flat. The first practical proof of the world’s sphericity did not occur until Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano’s circumnavigation of the globe.

♥~ Classical Elements: Pre-Socratic philosophers (Thales of Miletus, Anaximander, Anaximendes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, etc.) postulated that the world was comprised of four classical elements: earth, fire, water and air. (No, not the band.) It was the first time that man tried to explain the world without relying on mythological explanations and set the foundation for modern science.

♥~ Agriculture: Farming, at first, may not seem to be such a breakthrough idea, however, without it no other advances in humanity would have been possible. Farming allowed a single person, for the first time in human history, to generate more food than he himself could eat. Without the need to constantly search for food, this freed up time for everyone else to pursue other goals like inventing the shake weight.

♥~ Germ theory: Tiny things that we can’t see make us sick? No way! For much of early human civilzation, people thought that disease was spontaneously generated, while others blamed spirits or other supernatural phenomena. Then along came Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, commonly known as “the Father of Microbiology,” who was the first to record bacteria and other microorganisms. His research would help lead to the development of germ theory, a theory where microorganisms cause disease, the basic foundation of modern medicine.

♥~ Vaccination: Smallpox, polio, measles–diseases that were once life-threatening were virtually eliminated due to the discovery and implementation of vaccination. The simple process of getting a shot instantly improves the life expectancy and health of every modern human.

♥~ Zero: The concept of zero has been around since the ancient Bablyonians, but it wasn’t until the 12th century when Leonardo Fibonacci included it in his book “Liber Abaci” that the idea took hold in the west. Why is this lowly number so important? Everything from quantum physics to the binary code that runs computers relies on the mathematical principles derived from it.

♥~ Women’s Rights: Women deserve the same treatment as men? What a novel idea. It wasn’t until about the last 100 years that feminist movements finally convinced society that women deserved equal opportunities at things like voting and higher education.

♥~ Computers: The computer has become so ubiquitous to everyday life, that it’s hard to imagine life before it.  But the fact is, computers only started to become widespread at a consumer level in the 1980/90s. Before that, computers were limited to governments and universities and took up entire floors of buildings.

♥~ The internet:  Before the internet, It was hard if not impossible to share cat, dog, and laughing babies videos globally.

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Lots of people talk about having a bucket list, but have you ever thought about having a crazy list? A list of really crazy ideas that you would love to do if only…..

A crazy list might included:
Skydiving
Drive a Lamborghini or Ferrari
Take a Cross-Country Road Trip With Your Friends
Throwing a snow ball at someone and hitting them smack on
Witness the Northern Lights in Alaska
Betting a $100 On “Red” (Roulette wheel)
Kissing a total stranger
Learning a musical instrument or foreign language
Leave your bed unmade (OMG Crazy)
Smoke a joint
Call your friends at an odd time and seeing how many you can talk into coming over just as they are
Adding a little temporary “wild” color to your hair or your pets fur.

And the list goes on…what would you add?

Odd Loves Company!