~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 22,2014

★~ Today’s Quote ~ It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.  ~Andrew J. Holmes, Wisdom in Small Doses

★~ Inconvenience Yourself Day:

My teen and I have both noticed this long Chicago winter is how often people offer to help other people out of the snow. And it is so reciprocal. It’s nice.

★~  Be Humble Day:

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble
when you’re perfect in every way.
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
cause I get better looking each day. (Mac Davis)

Celebrate today by eating a piece of humble pie and taking a minute to acknowledge all the people around you who have helped you become awesome.

★~ Walking the Dog Day:

Hope the weather permits at least a short walk  with your pup.

★~ Margarita Day:

The margarita cocktail—a famous concoction of tequila, Cointreau or Triple Sec, and lime juice—has been around since the 1940s. Every bartender in the world has put a unique spin on this classic, but no one knows who created the original!

Dozens of people claim that they invented the margarita, including a bartender named Willie from Mexico City. He said that in 1934 he created and named the drink for his friend Marguerite Hemery. Another popular legend is that Carlos “Danny” Herrera developed the drink at his restaurant in Tijuana in 1938. He invented it for Marjorie King, a customer who was allergic to all hard alcohol except tequila, but didn’t like its sour taste. Another story is that the Dallas socialite Margarita Sames mixed up the drink in 1948 for a house full of guests. One of them was Tommy Hilton who later added to the drink to the bar menu at his hotel

While the true identity of the tequila master may never be known, we all know who sung about it best- Jimmy Buffett of-course.  Salud!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1630 – Popcorn was introduced to English colonists when Quadequina, brother of Massasoit, brought a bag of the stuff over to dinner  this day. The featured movie was, um, there was no featured movie, as they hadn’t been invented. So, the Indians had a big feast and sat around and watched the sun set. It was kinda like a movie… Americans consume some 16 billion quarts of popcorn ever year.  That’s 51 quarts per man, woman, and child.

♥~1879 – Frank W. Woolworth opened Woolworth’s a 5 and 10-cent store. in Utica, New York.You could get a burger and a real vanilla soda or a lime rickey at F. W. Woolworth’s lunch counter for about a buck.

♥~ 1959 – The very first Daytona 500 auto race was run  at Daytona Beach, Florida. The first champ of Daytona was 44-year-old Lee Petty.

♥~ 1980 – The ‘Miracle on Ice’ the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team surprised the world by beating the Soviets, 4-3, in the semi-final round of the Winter Games. The Americans went on to win the gold against Finland in the games at Lake Placid, New York.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1732 – George Washington 1st U.S. President [1789-1797]

♥~ 1925 – Edward Gorey an American writer and artist noted for his playfully macabre illustrated books. Gorey  is known for writing at least 90 books, illustrating 60 others, and designing sets for stage productions, including “Dracula” on Broadway and “Amphigorey,” an Off Broadway play he wrote. He won a 1978 Tony award for costume design for ”Dracula.” His best-known characters included the Gashlycrumb Tinies, one woebegone child for each letter of the alphabet, from Amy, who fell down the stairs, to Zillah, who drank too much gin. His work was influenced by Ionesco and Buster Keaton, Goya and Matisse. (check out the cool Google  doodle)

♥~ 1944 – Jonathan Demme Academy Award-winning director: Silence of the Lambs; Philadelphia, Married to the Mob, Swimming to Cambodia, Swing Shift, Melvin and Howard, Last Embrace, Caged Heat; playwright: Fighting Mad, Caged Heat, Hot Box, Angels Hard as They Come

♥~ 1962 – Steve Irwin naturalist, wildlife expert, TV host: Animal Planet: Crocodile Hunter; director of Australia Zoo, Queensland, Australia; died after stingray attack Sep 4, 2006 near Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia

♥~ 1975 – Drew Barrymore actress: Bad Girls, Irreconcilable Differences, E.T.:

★~ Good to Know:

♥~ The name Chicago comes from the Algonquin word “Chicagou” or “Shikaakwa,” which translates to “onion field” or “wild garlic.”

♥~ Route 66 starts in Chicago.

♥~ The Field Museum owns the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. Its name is Sue.

♥~ The Chicago River flows backwards.  In the late 19th century, the river was reversed to empty into the Mississippi River instead of Lake Michigan.

♥~ Chicagoans can’t resist messing around with their river. On St. Patrick’s Day, the Plumbers Union dyes it a bright shade of Irish green and every summer the Special Olympics holds a fundraiser where tens of thousands of rubber ducks race down the waterway.

♥~ Wrigley Field was originally named Weeghman Park. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

♥~ In 1927, Chicago bootlegger Al Capone made nearly $60 million selling illegal hooch.

♥~ Even before Capone’s activities, the city had a reputation for crime. In 1918, over 100 waiters were arrested for poisoning stingy tippers.

♥~ In the 1850s, the entire city was hydraulically raised several feet to fix a drainage problem.

♥~  Enrico Fermi conducted the first sustained atomic fission reaction under the University of Chicago’s football field.

♥~ In 1930, the Twinkie was invented in Chicago.

♥~ Rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was swift and legendary—rubble and ash were pushed into the lake to make new neighborhoods.

♥~ Chicago banned pay toilets in 1973.

♥~When Bavarian Anton Feuchtwanger couldn’t convince fairgoers to eat his sausages, he served them in a bun. The hot dog was born.

♥~ You don’t take the subway in Chicago, you take the ‘L’—this is the name for the city’s rapid-transit rail system and is an abbreviated form of “el,” for “elevated.”

♥~ Tall-building construction was invented in Chicago and the city is known as the “Home of the Skyscraper.” It currently has four of the country’s ten tallest buildings.

♥~ Chicago has 26 miles of public beaches that offer a refreshing respite from the summer heat.

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I am certain Chicago also has the record for the most pot holes.  Not the biggest; the most. And they are pretty big, too. Driving is like running an obstacle course.

These two pot holes live on my street. The pictures don’t do them justice but will give you an idea.

 

I am off to conquer zip code number 3. How will you spend your Saturday?

Odd Loves Company!

♥