Patriots on Wednesdays

Welcome to Patriots on Wednesdays.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Here is an amalgamation of trivial facts and seemingly useless data.

Do not forget to hit the hyperlinks.

We have links, lots of them.

From the Radixionary

ETAOIN SHRDLU

A nonsense phrase; an absurd or unintelligible utterance.

With the idea of speeding up the setting of type, the old Linotype keyboards had their letters arranged in decreasing order of the frequency with which they appear in the language, making the first two rows ETAOIN SHRDLU. This curious phrase is recorded both in the Oxford English Dictionary and also in the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. Linotype operators who made a typing error would often run their fingers down the keyboard to cast nonsense to fill out the line. The resulting cast slug was usually put back in the pot to be melted down and reused, but sometimes, in the heat of composition, the mistake was missed and ended up being printed.

Each half, and the complete phrase, has occasionally been borrowed to mean something that is nonsense or absurd; the first part is recorded in a story by James Thurber from 1931, and the whole thing appeared in 1942 as the title of a short story by Fredric Brown about a sentient Linotype machine. Jake Loddington told about The Naughty Princess by Anthony Armstrong, written in 1945, in which there is a whimsical short story called Etaoin and Shrdlu which ends “And Sir Etaoin and Shrdlu married and lived so happily ever after that whenever you come across Etaoin’s name even today it’s generally followed by Shrdlu’s”. Andrew Stiller mentioned a once-famous play, The Adding Machine, in which Etaoin Shrdlu was a character. The second half of the phrase was used in 1972 by Terry Winograd as the name for an early artificial-intelligence system.

With computerized typesetting the machines have gone and the associations are almost lost, but the phrase remains a useful mnemonic for the most-used letters in English.

Happy Birthday

Sir Henry Morton Stanley 1841

Dr Livingstone I presume

Would you like some Cheerleaders for your Patriots?

The Stamp Act

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -- History.org

The Battle of Bunker Hill

On June 17, 1775, American troops displayed their mettle in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the siege of Boston, inflicting casualties on nearly half of the British troops dispatched to secure Breed's Hill (the actual site of the battle).

Men, we gotta take that hill. They're gonna shoot at us. But it'll be okay.

Happy Birthday

William Seward Burroughs 1857

In 1888, the American William Seward Burroughs patented the first printing calculator. It was, in fact, an adding machine. Multiplication was carried out as repeated addition. The Burroughs and its competitors used a 'full keyboard' with separate key rows for units, tens, &c. up to 999,999.99.

My Hat

My hat it has three corners,
Three corners has my hat,
And if it didn't have three corners,
It wouldn't be a hat!

Happy Birthday

Artur Rubinstein 1889

Happy Birthday

Jackson Pollock 1912

Happy Birthday

Acker Bilk 1927

Court Marshalled for sleeping on guard duty!

The classical Prisoner's Dilemma is as follows:

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and having separated them, visit each of them and offer the same deal: If you confess and your accomplice remains silent, he gets the full 10-year sentence and you go free. If you both stay silent, all we can do is give you both 6 months for a minor charge. If you both confess, you each get 5 years.

Each prisoner individually reasons like this: Either my accomplice confessed or he did not. If he did, and I remain silent, I get 10 years, while if I confess I only get 5. If he remained silent, then by confessing I go free, while by remaining silent I get 6 months. In either case, it is better for me if I confess. Since each of them reasons the same way, both confess, and get 5 years. But although each followed what seemed to be rational argument to achieve the best result, if they had instead both remained silent, they would only have served 6 months.

This illustrates that if the two had been able to communicate and cooperate, they would have been able to achieve a result better than what each could achieve alone. There are many situations in the social sciences that have this same property, so understanding these situations and how to resolve them is important. In particular, it demonstrates that there are situations where naïve reasoning in one's own best interest does not always lead to a best result.

In political science, the Prisoner's Dilemma is often used to illustrate the problem of two states getting into an arms race. Both will reason that they have two options, either to increase military expenditure or to make an agreement to reduce weapons. Neither state can be certain that the other one will keep to such an agreement; therefore, they both incline towards military expansion. The irony is that both states seem to act rationally, but the result is completely irrational.

Would you like some more Cheerleaders for your Patriots?

Happy Birthday

Susan Sontag 1933

I am an old-fashioned liberal democrat (bwa hahahahahaha)

Happy Birthday

Nicholas Pryor 1935

Happy Birthday

Alan Alda 1936

If you want my opinion, you must be stupid.

Happy Birthday

Marthe Keller 1945

Are you taking any prescription medications?

Barbi Benton 1950

Would you like some more Cheerleaders for your Patriots?

Happy Birthday

Sara McLachlan 1968

Happy Birthday

Elijah Wood 1981

Another Patriot Cheerleader

Jeri Colbert
  Height: 5-4
Birthplace/Date: 27 Feb 78 Durham NC
  School: United States Military Academy at West Point
  Major: BS in Systems Engineering/American Politics
  Years with Team: R

One of the pivotal events that helped bring about the American Revolution took place on March 5, 1770. This event was the Boston Massacre. The patriots would use this incident to further their cause of fighting against British tyranny.

Velocity & Energy

We are shredding cards.

Kinetic Temperature...

The expression for gas pressure developed from kinetic theory relates pressure and volume to the average molecular kinetic energy. Comparison with the ideal gas law leads to an expression for temperature sometimes referred to as the kinetic temperature.

Difference Between Republicans and Democrats

A Republican and a Democrat were walking down the street when they came to a homeless person. The Republican gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come to his business for a job. He then took twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.

The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came to another homeless person, he decided to help. He walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. He then reached into the Republican's pocket and gave the homeless person fifty dollars.

Now you understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats

Would you like some more Cheerleaders for your Patriots?

Best headlines of 2002

Something went wrong in jet crash, expert says

Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers

Iraqi head seeks arms

Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over

Teacher strikes idle kids

Miners refuse to work after death

Juvenile court to try shooting defendant

War dims hope for peace

If strike isn’t settled quickly, it may last awhile

Cold wave linked to temperatures

Red tape holds up new bridges

Man struck by lightning faces battery charge

New study of obesity looks for larger test group

Kids make nutritious snacks

Chef throws his heart into helping feed needy

Hospitals are sued by 7 foot doctors

Meteorologist blames constant inaccuracies on weather

Today's Wednesday field trip takes us to Gillette Stadium....

Would you like to run a Pool for the SuperBowl?

Get a paper, pen and a deck of cards.
Make a 10 by 10 grid on the paper, so you have a square block of 100 cells.
Write the name of the visiting team across the top of your grid and the home team along the side of your grid.
Assign a dollar value to each cells which is suited to the tastes of your guests. (hint: do not price yourself out - you'll want to sell all 100 squares.)
Sell all 100 squares. This is the hard part.
Once you've sold all 100 squares to your guests, count up the total prize pool, (purse) and assign the following prizes; 15% of total purse for correct 1st quarter score, 25% of total purse for correct 1/2 time score, 20% of total purse for correct 3rd quarter score, 40% of total purse for correct final score.
From your deck of cards, set aside one set of numbers ace (1) through 10.
Shuffle your ten cards and then flip them over in order, recording the numeric value along the top of your grid, with ace having a value of 1 and 10 having a value of 0. Repeat this procedure along the side of your grid as well.
Your 10 by 10 grid should now have a number representing each column along the top and each row along the side and should have one of your guests names accompanying each of the 100 cells contained in the grid.
Record the official score at the end of the 1st quarter, the half, the third quarter and the final score.
Cross reference the last number in each teams score as it relates on your grid to determine which of your guests wins each quarter pot.

On this day:

1521 - The Diet of Worms began, at which Protestant reformer Luther was declared an outlaw by the Roman Catholic church

On this day

1871 - France surrendered in the Franco-Prussian War.

or Franco-German War, 1870–71, conflict between France and Prussia that signaled the rise of German military power and imperialism. It was provoked by Otto von Bismarck (the Prussian chancellor) as part of his plan to create a unified German Empire.

On this day

1878 - The first telephone switchboard was installed in New Haven, CT.

1915 - The Coast Guard was created by an act of the U.S. Congress.

Established: In the Treasury Department by act of January 28, 1915 (38 Stat. 800), merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life Saving Service.

1960 - The first photograph bounced off of the moon.

1986 - The U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded just after takeoff.

All seven of its crewmembers were killed.

Spirit of 1776...

Despite the near universality of this image as synonymous with Americanism and its instantaneous recognition in the iconography of the Revolution, the world of art has never considered it to be Art with a capital "A".

As a result, you'll search in vain in your local library for an art history book that mentions the work or the artist.

What we do know about Archibald McNeal Willard (1836-1918) is that he was an Ohio boy and a carriage painter by trade. He moved to New York City to study art in 1873. He first painted this work for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876.

Almost immediately, it was dismissed by art critics as little more than a cartoon. However, it seized the public imagination with the kind of fervent adulation we see exhibited for todays' rock stars. After the Exposition, it went on tour from Boston to San Francisco, and was admired by sell-out crowds wherever it was shown.

Patriots Wednesdays

Definitely

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on January 28:
1457 Henry VII Pembroke Castle, 1st Tudor king of England (1485-1509)
1600 Clement IX [Giulio Rospigliosi], Pistoia, Italy, 238th pope (1667-69)
1608 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli Naples Italy, mathematician/astronomer/physiologist
1611 Johannes Hevelius Danzig, astronomer (star cataloger)
1706 John Baskerville English printer (typeface inventor)
1717 Mustapha III Sultan of Turkey (1757-74)
1815 Andrew Jackson Hamilton Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1875
1822 Alexander MacKenzie (L) 2nd PM of Canada (1873-78)
1825 George Edward Pickett Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1875
1828 Thomas Carmichael Hindman Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1868
1831 Henry Brevard Davidson Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1899
1833 Charles George Gordon London England, military hero/general (China, Khartoum)
1841 Henry Stanley England, journalist/explorer (found Livingston in Africa)
1853 José Martí y Perez Cuba, poet/essayist/politician
1855 William Seward Burroughs New York, inventor (recording adding machine)
1880 Mary Boland Philadelphia PA, US, comedienne/actress (Ruggles of Red Gap)
1884 Auguste Piccard Switzerland, scientist/explorer (balloonist)
1909 Lionel KP "Buster" Crabb British diver (WWII-George Medal)
1910 John Banner Vienna Austria, actor (Sergeant Hans Schultz-Hogan's Heroes)
1912 Jackson Pollock Cody WY, abstract artist (Lavender Mist)
1924 Frank R Lautenberg (Senator-D-NJ)
1928 Slade Gorton (Senator-R-WA, 1981- )
1929 Acker Bilk clarinetist (Stranger on the Shore)
1933 Susan Sontag New York City NY, essayist/novelist/film director (The Benefactor, 1966 Pol Award)
1936 Alan Alda [Alphonso D'Abruzzo], New York City NY, actor (Hawkeye Pierce-M*AS*H)
1944 Brian Keenan New York City NY, rock drummer (Chamber Brothers-Time Has Come Today)
1948 Mamoru Mohri Yoichi-machi Hokkaido Japan, astronaut (STS 47)
1949 Thomas J Downey (Representative-D-NY, 1975- )
1950 Barbi Benton [Klein], California, Playboy model/actress (Hee Haw, Sugar Time!)
1950 David Carl Hilmer Iowa, Colonel USMC/astronaut (STS 51-J, 26, 36, 42)

Deaths which occurred on January 28:
0814 Charlemagne German emperor/Roman Emperor (800-814), dies at 71
1119 Gelasius II [Giovannis Caetani], pope (1118-19), dies
1256 Willem II Earl of Holland/German emperor (1238, 47-56), dies at 22
1547 Henry VIII King of England (1509-47), dies at 55
1595 Sir Francis Drake English navigator/pirate (Porto Bello West Indies), dies at about 50
1621 Paulus V [Camillo Borghese], 233rd pope (1605-21), dies at 68
1725 Peter I "the Great" Romanov czar of Russia, dies at 52
1829 William Burke murderer/body snatcher, executed in Edinburgh
1939 William Butler Yeats Irish poet (Nobel), dies in France at 73
1963 Jean Felix Piccard swiss explorer, dies on his 79th birthday
1973 John Banner actor (Schultz-Hogan's Heroes), dies on 62nd birthday
1980 Jimmy Durante New York City NY, comedian (Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 86

1986 Christa McAuliffe astronaut/teacher, dies in Challenger disaster
1986 Ellison S Onizuka Hawaii, Major USAF/astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
1986 Francis R Scobee Washington, USAF/astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
1986 Gregory B. Jarvis Detroit Michigan, payload specialist/astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
1986 Dr Judith Arlene Resnik Akron OH, astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
1986 Michael J Smith Beaufort NC, Commander USN, astronaut, dies in Challenger
1986 Ronald E McNair Lake City SC, astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster

1994 Hal Smith actor (Otis Campbell-Andy Griffith Show), dies at 77
1996 Dan Duva boxing promoter, dies at 44
1996 Jerry Siegel comic book writer (Superman), dies at 81
2004 Jack Parr Pioneered tv talkshow format (Tonight Show)

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 MC PHERSON FRED LAWER---OAKLAND CA.
1967 BIEDIGER LARRY W.---LA COSTE TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/03/83]
1967 THORNTON WILLIAM D.---TERRYTOWN NY.
1968 BENGE MICHAEL
[03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 SINGSON WILFREDO D.
1970 ANDERSON GREGORY L.---WHEATON IL.
["MIG HIT, EXPLODED"]
1970 BELL HOLLY G.---BEAUMONT TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED 05/89]
1970 LEESER LEONARD C.---FLORAL PARK NY.
1970 MALLON RICHARD J.---PORTLAND OR.
[REMAINS RETURNED 05/89]
1970 PANEK ROBERT J. SR.---CHICAGO IL.
[PROBABLY KIA, REMAINS RETURNED 04/89]
1970 PRUETT WILLIAM D.---BLUEFIELD VA.
1970 SHINN WILLIAM C.---WOODLAND CA.
1970 SUTTON WILLIAM C.---GOLDSBORO NC.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0028 The Roman Emperor Nerva names Trajan, an army general, as his successor.
1077 Pope Gregory VII pardons German emperor Heinrich IV
1099 1st Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria
1495 Pope gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France
1547 9-year-old Edward VI succeeds Henry VIII as king of England
1561 By Edict of Orleans persecution of French Huguenots is suspended
1581 James VI signs the 2nd Confession of Faith in Scotland
1613 Galileo may have unknowingly viewed undiscovered planet Neptune
1689 English parliament ends king Charles II reign
1787 Philadelphia's Free Africa Society organizes
1788 Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of queen of France
1807 London's Pall Mall is 1st street lit by gaslight
1821 Bellingshausen discovers Alexander Island off Antarctica
1851 Northwestern University (Chicago) chartered
1858 John Brown organized raid on Arsenal at Harper's Ferry
1864 Battle of New Bern, NC
1865 President Jefferson Davis names 3 peace commissioners
1871 Paris surrenders to Prussians ((SHOCK!)
1878 1st telephone exchange (New Haven CT)
1878 George W Coy hired as 1st full-time telephone operator
1878 Yale Daily News published, 1st college daily newspaper
1881 Battle at Laing's Neck Natal Boers beat superior powered British
1899 American Social Science Association incorporated by Congress
1902 Carnegie Institute founded in Washington DC
1904 1st college sports letters given to Seniors who played on University of Chicago's football team are awarded blankets with letter "C" on them
1909 US military forces leave Cuba for 2nd time
1914 Beverly Hills, California, is incorporated
1915 1st US ship lost in WWI, William P Frye (carrying wheat to UK)
1915 US Coast Guard created from Life Saving & Revenue Cutter services
1915 US President Wilson refuses to prohibit immigration of illiterates
1916 1st Jewish Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, nominated
1922 American Pro Football Association renamed "National Football League"
1922 J E Clair turns Green Bay franchise back to NFL
1923 1st "Reichs Party" (NSDAP) forms in Munich
1925 -46ºF (-43ºC), Pittsburgh NH (state record)
1932 1st US state unemployment insurance act enacted-Wisconsin
1932 Japan occupies Shanghai
1933 French government of Paul Boncour falls
1933 German government of Von Schleicher falls
1934 1st US ski tow (rope) begins operation (Woodstock VT)
1935 Iceland becomes 1st country to legalize abortion
1936 Pravda criticizes Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth" opera
1942 General Timoshenko's troops move into Ukraine
1942 German troops occupy Benghazi Libya
1944 683 British bombers attack Berlin
1945 General "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell & truck convoy reopen Burma Road to China
1945 Swedish ships bring food to starving Netherlands
1949 UN Security council condemns Dutch aggression in Indonesia
1950 Preston Tucker, auto maker, found not guilty of mail fraud
1951 "La Vie Commence Demain", which depicted artificial insemination & is the 1st X-rated movie, opened in London
1956 Elvis Presley's 1st TV appearance (Dorsey Brothers Stage Show)
1958 Construction began on 1st private thorium-uranium nuclear reactor
1958 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella is paralyzed in an automobile wreck
1959 Soviet Union wins 62-37 for 1st international basketball loss by US
1960 1st photograph bounced off Moon, Washington DC
1960 NFL announces Dallas Cowboys (1960) & Minnesota Vikings (1961) franchises
1962 Johanne Relleke gets stung by bees 2,443 times in Rhodesia & survives
1963 -34ºF (-37ºC), Cynthiana KY (state record)
1965 The Who make their 1st appearance on British TV
1967 Rolling Stones release "Let's Spend the Night Together"
1968 Goose Goslin & Kiki Cuyler elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1969 Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st woman jockey to win in North America
1973 Ron Howard appears on M*AS*H in "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet"
1978 "Fantasy Island" starring Ricardo Montalban premieres on ABC TV
1978 Ranger's Don Murdoch failed on 4th penalty shot against Islanders
1978 Ted Nugent autographs a fan's arm with his knife
1981 Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision
1981 William J Casey becomes the 13th director of CIA (until 1987)
1982 US General Dozier freed from Red Brigade of Padua Italy
1984 Mr Glynn Wolfe marries for non-bigamous record 26th time, Las Vegas NV
1984 Record 295,000 dominoes toppled, Fuerth, West Germany

1986 25th Space Shuttle (51L)-Challenger 10 explodes 73 seconds after liftoff

1986 Angolan Unity Leader Jonas Savimbi visits Washington, DC
1987 Wrestler Jim Neidhart indicted for assaulting a flight attendant
1988 Canada's Supreme court declares anti-abortion law unconstitutional
1991 Dictator Siad Barre flees Somalia ending 22 year rule

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Rwanda : Democracy Day (1961)
Australia : Australia Day (1788 - 1993) (Monday)
US : Meat Week (Day 4)
US : School Nurse Day
US : Spieling Day
National Be On-Purpose Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Valerius
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Charlemagne
old Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Peter Nolasco (now 1/31)
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas, priest, friar

Religious History
1581 Scotland's King James VI, who in 1603 would become England's James I, signed the Second Scottish Confession of Faith.
1822 Birth of William D. Longstaff, English philanthropist. A close acquaintance of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey, Longstaff is better remembered today as author of the hymn, "Take Time to Be Holy."
1834 Birth of Sabine Baring-Gould, Anglican clergyman and author. A man of widely diverging interests, he published numerous books on history, biography, poetry and fiction. He also penned the enduring hymns, "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day is Over."
1947 In NY City, a copy of the 1640 Bay Psalm Book was purchased at an auction at Parke-Bernet Galleries for $150,000 --the highest price ever paid to date for a single volume. (The original title of the book was: "The Whole Book of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre.")
1977 The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith published an 18-page document ruling out the admission of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood because women lacked a "natural resemblance which must exist between Christ and his ministers."

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours.""

Question of the day...
If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Murphys Law of the day...(Jones's Law)
The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone he can blame it on

Amazing Fact #45...
Dr. Seuss wrote "Green Eggs and Ham" after his editor dared him to write a book using fewer than 50 different words.

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