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Friday December 5, 2014

  • Bathtub Party Day
  • Day of the Ninja
  • Faux Fur Friday
  • National Sacher Torte Day
  • Bartender Appreciation Day
  • Salesperson Day

  • World Sail Day
  • Discovery Day-Haiti
  • Krampslauf-Austria
  • International Volunteers Day

  • On This Day
  • 1776 --- The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

  • 1791 --- Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.
  • 1848 --- U.S. President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming the fact that gold had been discovered in California. 

  • 1876 --- A fire at the Brooklyn Theater in New York kills nearly 300 people and injures hundreds more on this day in 1876. Some victims perished from a combination of burns and smoke inhalation; others were trampled to death in the general panic that ensued. By the time firefighters arrived it was too late for hundreds of people. The fire raged through the night and destroyed nearly the entire 
    building. When would-be rescuers were finally able to get in, all they found were bodies melted together. Up to 100 of the victims were burned beyond recognition and could not be identified. A mass grave was set up at the Green-Wood Cemetery. In all, approximately 295 people died. A 30-foot-high granite memorial was later erected in their honor by the city of Brooklyn.

  • 1908 --- Numerals were used for the first time on football uniforms worn by college football players. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers proudly displayed their new numbers in a game with Washington and Jefferson.

  • 1932 --- German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa making it possible for him to travel to the U.S. 

  • 1933 --- The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment and bringing an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, 
    achieving the requisite three-fourths majority of states' approval. Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier in the day. The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for national liquor abstinence. Several states outlawed the manufacture or sale of alcohol within their own borders. In December 1917, the 18th 
    Amendment, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On January 29, 1919, the 18th Amendment achieved the necessary three-fourths majority of state ratification. Prohibition essentially began in June of that year, but the amendment did not officially take effect until January 29, 1920.

  • 1934 --- The Soviet Union executed 66 people charged with plotting against Joseph Stalin's government. 

  • 1941 --- John Steinbeck's nonfiction book The Sea of Cortez is published. The book reflects Steinbeck's serious study of marine biology. He also uses his knowledge of the sea and its creatures in creating Doc, the marine biologist character in Cannery Row (1945).
  • 1945 --- At 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They never returned. Although naval officials 
     maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the "Lost Squadron" helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.

  • 1951 --- The first push button-controlled garage opened in Washington, DC. A single attendant, without entering a car, could automatically park or return an auto to or from the ‘Park-O-Mat’ in less than a minute.

  • 1952 --- The Abbott and Costello Show started a 52-episode, syndicated run on TV. Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello became such big hits that those same 52 episodes were run over and over on local and network TV for years.

  • 1955 --- After many years of rivalry, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to become the AFL-CIO. Not all national unions belong to the AFL-CIO. The Teamsters Union was kicked out in 1957 and the United Auto Workers pulled out in 1968.The AFL-CIO has five major activities (in addition to keeping itself organized): 1) To work for laws 
    favorable to labor and general welfare; 2) To help organize workers who are not in labor unions; 3) To settle disputes and encourage friendly relations among member unions; 4) To take part in the world labor movement through the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, an association of unions from all parts of the free world; and 5) To help educate union members and the general public about the aims of organized labor.

  • 1967 --- 'Apple,' the Beatles (Apple Corps) clothing store opened in London. It closed July 30, 1968.

  • 1974 --- The BBC broadcast the last episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus.'

  • 1978 --- In an effort to prop up an unpopular pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union signs a "friendship treaty" with the Afghan government agreeing to provide economic and military assistance. The treaty moved the Russians another step closer to their disastrous involvement in the Afghan civil war between the Soviet-supported communist government and the Muslim rebels, the Mujahideen, which officially began in 1979.

  • 1980 --- John Lennon gave his last interview. It was with Jonathan Cott of Rolling Stone. 

  • 1984 --- Eddie Murphy stars as the wisecracking Detective Axel Foley in the action-comedy “Beverly Hills Cop”, released in theaters on this day in 1984. The movie marked the first major starring role for Murphy, who went on to become one of the top-grossing actors in Hollywood.

  • 1988 ---- Millionaire Evangelist Jim Bakker and former aide Richard Dortch were indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on fraud and conspiracy charges. 

  • 2000 --- Released several weeks ahead of the film itself, the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack would catch on slowly, but it would eventually sell upwards of 7 million copies while winning a broad new audience for contemporary artists performing a style of American music--bluegrass--that  had been absent from the pop charts for five decades or more.
  • 2008 --- A judge in Las Vegas sentenced O.J. Simpson to 33 years in prison (with eligibility for parole after nine) for an armed robbery at a hotel room.

  • 2011 --- The Amy Winehouse album "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" was released in the U.K. It was a posthumous compilation album that featured unreleased songs and demos.
  • Birthdays
  • Margaret Cho
  • Martin Van Buren (8th President)
  • Walt Disney
  • Christina Rosetti
  • Fritz Lang
  • Kate Simon
  • George Armstrong Custer
  • Otto Preminger
  • JJ Cale
  • Calvin Trillin

  • 339th Day of 2014 / 26 Remaining
  • Winter Begins in 16 Days

  • Sunrise:7:10
  • Sunset:4:50
  • 9 Hours 40 Minutes

  • Moon Rise:4:40pm
  • Moon Set:6:10am
  • Moon Phase:
  • Full Moon December 6 @ 4:27am
  • Full Cold Moon
  • Full Long Nights Moon

During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

  • Tides:
  • High Tide:9:08am/11:00pm
  • Low Tide:3:05am/4:07pm

  • Rainfall
  • This Year to Date:5.01
  • Last Year:1.70
  • Avg YTD:5.20
  • Annual Avg:23.80