Monday February 24, 2014

• 55^th Day of 2014 / 310 Remaining
• 24 Days Until The First Day of Spring

• Sunrise:6:46
• Sunset:5:58
• 11 Hours 12 Minutes of Daylight

• Moon Rise:2:48am
• Moon Set: 1:08pm
• Moon’s Phase: 27 %

• The Next Full Moon
• March 16 @ 10:10am
• Full CrowMoon
• Full Crust Moon
• Full Sap Moon
• Full Lenten Moon

As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

• Tides
• High:5:39am/7;52pm
• Low:12:49pm

• Rainfall
• This Year:5.89
• Last Year:14.35
• Average Year to Date:17.49

• Holidays
• Gregorian Calendar Day
• Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
• National Chili Day
• National Tortilla Chip Day
• National Personal Chef Day
   
• Flag Day-Mexico
• Independence Day-Estonia
• Baire Proclamation-Cuba

• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

• On This Day In …
• 1803 --- The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, decides the landmark case of William Marbury versus James Madison, Secretary of State of the United States and confirms the legal principle of judicial review--the ability of the Supreme Court to limit Congressional power by declaring legislation unconstitutional--in the new nation.

• 1821 --- Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

• 1835 --- "Siwinowe Kesibwi" (The Shawnee Sun) was issued as the first Indian language monthly publication in the U.S.
  

  

• 1868 --- The U.S. House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnson's removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history.

• 1868 --- The first parade to use floats occurred in New Orleans at Mardi Gras.
  

  

• 1900 --- New York City Mayor Van Wyck signed the contract to begin work on New York's first rapid transit tunnel. The tunnel would

  

  link Manhattan and Brooklyn. The ground breaking ceremony was on March 24, 1900.

• 1917 --- During World War I, British authorities give Walter H. Page, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, a copy of the "Zimmermann Note," a coded message from Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign secretary, to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to Mexico. In the telegram, intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in late January, Zimmermann stated that in the event of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the

  

  conflict as a German ally. In return, Germany promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. After receiving the telegram, Page promptly sent a copy to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who in early March allowed the U.S. State Department to publish the note. The press initially treated the telegram as a hoax, but Arthur Zimmermann himself confirmed its authenticity. The Zimmermann Note helped turn U.S. public opinion, already severely strained by repeated German attacks on U.S. ships, firmly against Germany. On April 2, President Wilson, who had initially sought a peaceful resolution to end World War I, urged the immediate U.S. entrance into the war. Four days later, Congress formally declared war against Germany.

• 1938 --- The first nylon bristle toothbrush was made. It was the first time that nylon yarn had been used commercially.
  

  

• 1940 --- Frances Langford recorded one of the classic songs of all time -- and one that would become a Walt Disney trademark. When You Wish Upon a Star was recorded on Decca Records during a session in Los Angeles. Many artists have recorded the song, including pop diva Linda Ronstadt (with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra in the early 1980s). One can hear the song not only on record, but as the theme in the opening credits of any Disney movie, video and TV program and those “I’m going to Disneyland/World!” commercials, too.

• 1946 --- Juan Peron was elected president of Argentina.
  

  

• 1956 --- The city of Cleveland invoked a 1931 law that barred people under the age of 18 from dancing in public without an adult guardian.

• 1968 --- The Tet Offensive ends as U.S. and South Vietnamese troops recapture the ancient capital of Hue from communist forces. Although scattered fighting continued across South Vietnam for another week, the battle for Hue was the last major engagement of the offensive, which saw communist attacks on all of South Vietnam's major cities.

• 1969 --- Johnny Cash recorded his second live prison performance.

  

  It followed a concert the previous year at Folsom Prison. The LP Johnny Cash at San Quentin, with the hit single A Boy Named Sue, was recorded live as part of a British TV.
  

  

• 1973 --- Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly with His Song hit #1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100.
  

  

• 1979 --- The Sex Pistols released the album "The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle."

• 1983 --- The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 1100 mark for the first time. The stock market moved 24.87 points on this day to close at 1121.81. The 1100 plateau had been reached in 1972, but a rally was not able to keep the benchmark high at that point at the end of the trading day.

• 1980 --- The U.S. Hockey Team won its “Do you believe in miracles?” gold medal. Final score: U.S. 4, Finland 2. The drama had begun with the U.S. team’s upset win over the powerful Soviet

  

  team on February 22. When the U.S. polished off Finland for the gold medal, folks all over the U.S. decided to start believing, indeed!

• 1989 --- Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death for his novel "The Satanic Verses". A bounty of one to three-million-dollars was also put on Rushidie's head.

• 1989 --- United Airlines Flight 811, out of Honolulu on its way to Sidney, was 100 miles southwest of Hawaii when its cargo door blew out. The explosion in the Boeing 747 created a 10x40-ft. hole in the fuselage, knocked out the two engines on the right side and caused damage to the flaps and hydraulics. Nine passengers were sucked out of the jetliner 20,000 ft over the Pacific.

• 1992 --- The U.S. Postal Service unveiled 2 versions of its proposed Elvis stamp for fans to vote on. The younger Elvis design won and was issued on January 8, 1993.
  

  

• 1999 --- Lauryn Hill won five Grammys for her debut solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."
  

  

• 1999 --- A massive avalanche in the Austrian Alps buries homes and kills 13 people in Valzur on this day in 1999. The avalanche came only one day after an avalanche in the neighboring village of Galtur killed 25 people.

• 2008 --- Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel.
  

  

• Birthdays
• Abe Vigoda
• Steven Jobs
• Chester W Nimitz
• Sen Joe Lieberman
• Paula Zahn
• Edward James Olmos
• George Thorogood
• Fred Dean
• Michelle Shocked
• Winslow Homer
• Honus Wagner
• Mary Ellen Chase
• Wilhelm Grimm
• Marjorie Main
• Mark Lane
• George Harrison