Today is Friday July 22, 2016 The 204th day of 2016-- 162 left It is a leap year Sunrise this morning 6:06 a.m. set: 8:26 p.m. 14:19 hours of daylight Moonrise: 10:19 p.m. set: 9:01 a.m. SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS TODAY; Today is Casual Pi Day. The mathematical constant p (pi) is special for a number of reasons. One of them is that there are at least two holidays dedicated to pi: Pi Day celebrated on March 14 and Pi Approximation Day observed on July 22. The number pi is the ratio of the circle's circumference to its diameter. It is an irrational number, which means it can't be expressed as a common fraction. However, fractions and other rational number are commonly used to approximate it in order to facilitate calculatons. The fraction 22/7 is one of the most widely used approximations of pi. It dates from Archimedes. 22/7 is accurate to two decimal places (3,14). Pi Approximation Day is celebrated on July 22 since this date is written 22/7 in the day/month date format, which is viewed as a reference to the fraction 22/7 It is also National Pied Piper Day as well as Spooners Day. This day in History: 1376 - The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin leading rats out of town is said to have occurred on this date. 1587 - A second English colony was established on Roanoke Island off North Carolina. The colony vanished under mysterious circumstances. 1796 - Cleveland was founded by General Moses Cleaveland. 1798 - The USS Constitution was underway and out to sea for the first time since being launched on October 21, 1797. 1812 - English troops under the Duke of Wellington defeated the French at the Battle of Salamanca in Spain. 1926 - Babe Ruth caught a baseball at Mitchell Field in New York. The ball had been dropped from an airplane flying at 250 feet. 1933 - Wiley Post ended his around-the-world flight. He had traveled 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. 1937 - The U.S. Senate rejected President Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court. 1943 - American forces led by General George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily. 1941 - Plans for the Pentagon were presented to the House Subcommittee on Appropriations. 1955 - U.S. Vice-President Richard M. Nixon chaired a cabinet meeting in Washington, DC. It was the first time that a Vice-President had carried out the task. 1965 - "Till Death Us Do Part" debuted on England’s BBC-TV. 1975 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee had his U.S. citizenship restored by the U.S. Congress. 1987 - The U.S. began its policy of escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers up and down the Persian Gulf to protect them from possible attack by Iran. 1998 - Iran tested medium-range missile, capable of reaching Israel or Saudi Arabia. 2000 - Astronomers at the University of Arizona announced that they had found a 17th moon orbiting Jupiter. 2003 - In northern Iraq, Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai died after a gunfight with U.S. forces. 2003 - In Paris, France, a fire broke out near the top of the Eiffel Tower. About 4,000 visitors were evacuated and no injuries were reported. 2004 - The September 11 commission's final report was released. The 575-page report concluded that hijackers exploited "deep institutional failings within our government." The report was released to White House officials the day before. 2009 - The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds, occurred over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean. 2011 - Space Shuttle Atlantis landed successfully at Kennedy Space Center after completing STS-135. It was the final flight of NASA's space shuttle program. If Today is your Birthday you share your special day with: Gregor Mendel 1822 Steve Vincent Benet 1889 Rose Kennedy 1890 Karl Menninger 1893 Alexander Calder 1898 Bob Dole 1923 Martha Whiting 1924 Orson Bean 1928 Marcia Henderson 1930 Perry Lopez 1931 Oscar De La Renta 1932 Louise Fletcher 1934 Chuck Jackson 1937 Terence Stamp 1939 Alex Trebek 1940 George Clinton 1940 Thomas Wayne 1941 Bobby Sherman 1944 Richard Davies (Supertramp) 1944 Estelle Bennett (The Ronettes) 1944 Paul Shrader 1946 Danny Glover 1947 Albert Brooks 1947 Don Henley 1947 - Musician (The Eagles) Alan Menken 1949 Willem Dafoe 1955 Keith Sweat 1961 Rob Estes 1963 Joanna Going 1963 Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) 1963 David Spade 1964 John Leguizamo 1965 Patrick Labyorteaux 1965 Irene Bedard 1967 Selena Gomez 1992 - Singer, actress Tags: almanac
July 22, 2016
