Friday, December 27, 2013

12-27-13

     

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Did You Know . . .?

The longest street in the world is Yonge street in Toronto Canada measuring 1,178 miles.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1900 prohibitionist Carry Nation smashed up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas, causing several thousand dollars in damage and landing in jail. Nation, who was released shortly after the incident, became famous for carrying a hatchet and wrecking saloons as part of her anti-alcohol crusade. Carry Amelia Moore was born in Kentucky in 1846. As a young woman, she married Charles Gloyd, whose hard-drinking soon killed him and left Nation alone to support their young child. The experience instilled in Nation a lifelong distaste for alcohol.

In Kansas she was involved with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU was founded in 1874 by women "concerned about the problems alcohol was causing their families and society." Nation came to believe she needed to abandon the nonviolent methods of the WCTU in order to make an impact. After the incident at the Carey Hotel, her fame increased as she continued her saloon-smashing campaign in other locations and traveled extensively to speak out in favor of temperance. She sold souvenir hatchets to help fund her activities and used the name Carry A. Nation. Some people viewed her as crusader, while others saw her as a crank.

Nation died in 1911, never living to see nationwide prohibition in America, which was established with the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and went into effect on

January 16, 1920. Prohibition, considered a failure, was repealed on December 5, 1933, by the 21st Amendment.

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WORD FOR TODAY

ridiculous  [rih-DIK-you-luhs]
adjective
Deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous, or silly.

More and more I have been hearing radio broadcasters, TV actors, and speechifying politicians pronounce the word ree-dik-you-luhs instead of the correct way, which is rih-DIK-you-luhs. I suppose the word with the initial syllable pronounced 'ree' will soon become acceptable and then finally become correct.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


(born December 27, 1971)
Savannah Guthrie is an American journalist and attorney, working for NBC News. Guthrie joined NBC in September 2007 as a legal analyst and correspondent, regularly reporting on trials throughout the country. After serving as a White House correspondent between 2008 and 2011 and as co-anchor of the MSNBC program The Daily Rundown in 2010 and 2011, Guthrie was announced as the co-host of The Today Show's third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker. In that role she substituted as news anchor and main co-host, and appeared as the Chief Legal Analyst across all NBC platforms.

On June 29, 2012, Guthrie was named co-anchor of Today following Ann Curry's reassignment at the network. She debuted as co-anchor, alongside Matt Lauer, Morales and Roker, on Monday, July 9, 2012.



(born December 27, 1939)
John Amos is an American actor who played James Evans, Sr. on the 1970s television series Good Times. His television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and a recurring role in The West Wing. He also played the father of Will Smith's character's girlfriend, Lisa Wilkes, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous motion pictures in a career that spans four decades.



(born December 27, 1943)
Cokie Roberts is an American journalist and author. She is a contributing senior news analyst for National Public Radio as well as a regular roundtable analyst for the current This Week With George Stephanopoulos. Roberts also works as a political commentator for ABC News, serving as an on-air analyst for the network.



(Dec 27, 1822 - Sept 28, 1895)
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist who is well known for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved countless lives ever since. Pasteur reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax. His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine.

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It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
--Voltaire

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