Good morning!
Questions! The first I found on Twitter and traced back to Reddit. The second is one kids always ask each other. The rest are random.
If you were granted access to Wikipedia of 100 years in the future for ten minutes only, what would you look up? Would you rather be able to turn invisible or fly? Would you rather cook dinner or clean up after? What's easier for you, folding laundry or ironing it? Is your preferred car an automatic or manual transmission? Do you prefer your chee-tos baked or deep fried to a crackly crunch?
The Twitter Emitter
First the leftover SOTU stuff:
And more recent:
On This Day
In 1849, James Knox Polk became the first serving President of the United States to be photographed.
In 1855, Texas was linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States. Communication remains garbled, though. I think it's the textbooks they use.
In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.
In 1899, Congress approved the use of voting machines in Federal elections.
In 1903, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor was established.
In 1912, when Jan Brewer was just a young 'un, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union.
In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago.
In 1979, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police. Of course Lindsey Graham and John McCain held a gazillion hearings to get to the bottom of this incident. (not)
In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses," a novel Khomeini condemned as blasphemous. A few of the translators of the book were attacked, as were many bookstores. Rushdie went into hiding for a time, but never suffered any harm.
In 2006, the first mammal cloned from an adult, Dolly the sheep, was put to death at age 6 due to premature aging and disease. I hope this does not mean that premature aging is punishable by death!
In 2008, a former student shot five students to death in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University before committing suicide.
In 2013, an Area Man forgot to get his wife a gift, resulting in the silent treatment for several weeks.
Born on This Day
1799 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter (d. 1842)
1812 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist who traveled extensively and documented much of what he saw, especially landscapes and natives. (d. 1846)
1818 – Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist (d. 1895)
1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American suffragette (d. 1919)
1871 – Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (d. 1959)
1880 - Aida Overton Walker, African American dancer and singer (d. 1914)
1890 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist's model, artist, designer, and self styled Queen of Bohemia (d. 1956) (Painting by Roger Fry)
1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)
1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (presumed d. 1975)
1921 – Hugh Downs, American television host
1922 – Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey (d. 1982)
1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (d. 2007)
1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor (d. 1982)
1931 – Phyllis McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)
1937 – Magic Sam, American blues musician (d. 1969)
1941 – Big Jim Sullivan, English session guitarist (d. 2012)
1941 – Paul Tsongas, American politician (d. 1997)
1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American media mogul and politician
1943 – Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter
1943 – Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)
1946 – Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003)
1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1975)
1947 – Judd Gregg, American politician
1948 – Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)
1952 – Nancy Keenan, American reproductive-rights advocate
1956 – Dave Dravecky, American baseball player
1960 – Jim Kelly, American football player
1968 – Scott McClellan, 25th White House Press Secretary and star of the late lamented "Scotty Show" on Daily Kos.
1972 – Rob Thomas, American musician (Matchbox Twenty)
1975 – Scott Owen, Australian bass player (The Living End)
Died on This Day
1400 – King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)
1676 – Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist
1779 – James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)
1943 – Dora Gerson, German actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (b. 1899)
1950 – Karl Guthe Jansky, American Discoverer of cosmic radio waves (b. 1905)
1959 – Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (b. 1898)
1967 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
1975 – P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)
2009 – Louie Bellson, American jazz drummer (b. 1924) here with his wife, Pearl Bailey
2010 – Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack) (b. 1952) WARNING: EARWORM
2010 – Dick Francis, British jockey-turned-novelist (b. 1920)
Today is
Valentine's Day
Ferris Wheel Day
National Organ Donor Day
Singles Awareness Day
National Crème-filled Chocolates Day