Old Sailors' Almanac

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Week 02, 2017

Previous Week   January 09, 2017 - January 15, 2017  Next Week

First elected female senator on January 12, 1932

First elected female senator on January 12, 1932

First elected female senator: Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, becomes the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Caraway, born near Bakerville, Tennessee, had been appointed to the Senate two months earlier to fill the vacancy left by her late husband, Thaddeus Horatio Caraway. With the support of Huey Long, a powerful senator from Louisiana, Caraway was elected to the seat. In 1938, she was reelected. After failing to win renomination in 1944, she was appointed to the Federal Employees Compensation Commission by President Franklin Roosevelt.

Although she was the first freely elected female senator, Caraway was preceded in the Senate by Rebecca Latimer Felton, who was appointed in 1922 to fill a vacancy but never ran for election. Jeannette Rankin, elected to the House of Representatives as a pacifist from Montana in 1917, was the first woman to ever sit in Congress. History Channel / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / United States of Representatives History, Art & Archives / Biography / University of Arkansas.edu


“Sea Fever”

The Old Salt’s Corner

“Sea Fever”

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must down go to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

~ John Masefield (from Salt-Water Ballads, 1902)


“I’m Just Sayin’”

“I’m Just Sayin”

“Most favorable predictions about future technology will fall around latest possible date they can come true and still remain in the lifetime of the person making the prediction.”

~ Maes–Garreau law


“Thought for the Day”

“Thought for the Day”

“You can discover more about a person

in an hour of play

than in a year of conversation.”

~ Plato


“What I Have Learned”

“What I Have Learned”

“At some point

you just have to let go

of what you thought should happen

and live in what is happening.”

~ Anonymous


Why is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky?

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Why is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky?

There are two particular events associated with Friday the 13th involving the Knights Templar - the first is that apparently the Pope put an end to the last Crusade on a Friday the 13th, and he was forced to capture and burn alive 13 Knights Templar, and the second is that Philip IV, on Friday the 13th, 1307, ordered the Knights Templar arrested.

Why is the number 13 considered unlucky?

The standard answer is that Judas Iscariot was the 13th and last guest to sit down for the Last Supper.

Other unlucky associations:

• The Vikings believed that Loki was the 13th and last god in their pantheon. Loki murdered Balder, the god of happiness, and was the 13th guest to arrive at Balder's funeral.

• The ancient Persians associated each month with a constellation of the zodiac, and believed that each constellation ruled the world for a thousand years, after which there'd be a time of chaos - thus they considered 13 unlucky and associated with chaos.

International Business TimesTime and DateTelegraphMental FlossWhy is the number 13 considered unlucky? - QuoraTriskaidekaphobia - Wikipedia


Where Did That Saying Come From? “Don't count your chickens before they hatch”

Where Did That Saying Come From?

Don't count your chickens before they hatch:”  Meaning: Don't be hasty in evaluating one's assets.

Origin: Many of the proverbial words of advice that have lasted the test of time begin with “don't”. We are warned not to “keep a dog and bark ourselves”, “look a gift horse in the mouth”, “change horses in mid-stream”...

“Don't count your chickens” is one of the oldest, and possibly the wisest, of these. The thought was recorded in print by Thomas Howell in New Sonnets and pretty Pamphlets, 1570: ”

Counte not thy Chickens that vnhatched be,

Waye wordes as winde, till thou finde certaintee.

Samuel Butler continued the pleasing rhyming in his expression of the proverbial advice, in the narrative poem Hudibras, 1664:

To swallow gudgeons ere they're catch'd,

And count their chickens ere they're hatched.

English Stack Exchange - Phrases.org UK


NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang - U.S. Navy America's Navy - A Global Force For Good

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang


Motrin: A magical pill dispensed by hospital corpsmen capable for minor owies or to hypochondriacs; “take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” Also called Vitamin M and Grunt Candy, the latter especially when dispensed to Marines.

Mouse House (Submarine Service): (1) (Ballistic Missile Submarine description of) those areas which are usually occupied by Missile Technicians. (2) MCC (Missile Control Center).

Mung: Submarine Service): Any dark green/brown plant residue with snot-like consistency found in/on scuppers (mostly in engineering spaces).


Just for MARINES - U.S. Marines Marines - The Few. The Proud.

Just for you MARINE


NJP or Ninja Punch: Non-Judicial Punishment, a legal proceeding much like a court-martial of much smaller scope. A commanding officer is authorized to issue summary punishments at office hours (called Captain's Mast afloat) under Article 15, UCMJ to punish offenses too serious to be dealt with by a mere rebuke, but not serious enough to warrant court-martial.

NMCI: Navy/Marine Corps Intranet, the program that outsources garrison information technology services for the Department of the Navy, sometimes jokingly referred to as “Non-Mission-Capable Internet”.


Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

VT-4 - Fixed Wing Training Squadrons: “Warbucks”
Formerly Basic Training (BTG-9) Re-designated VT-4 on May 1, 1960 Primary TRAWING 5 / Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Santa Rosa County near Milton, Florida


The Strange, Mysterious or Downright Weird

The Strange, Mysterious or Downright Weird

New Millipede Species Has 414 Legs and 4 Penises

New Millipede Species Has 414 Legs and 4 Penises

A new species of millipede (Illacme tobini) with about 414 legs and four “penises” was discovered in a cave in Sequoia National Park in California.

The stringy arthropod has 414 legs and four "penises," limbs that were converted over evolutionary time into structures that transfer sperm. Only a single specimen of the new species has been found, a male, so researchers don't know what the females look like.

The millipede hails from a marble cavern called Lange Cave in Sequoia National Park. Researchers launched a major survey of caves in Sequoia and nearby Kings Canyon National Park that lasted from 2002 to 2004, with smaller follow-up excursions running from 2006 to 2009. During one of those excursions in October 2006, cave biologist Jean Krejca, now of Zara Environmental in Texas, discovered a skinny little millipede about 0.8 inches (20 millimeters) long. Krejca sent the specimen for analysis to millipede specialists Paul Marek of Virginia Tech and William Shear of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. Live Science (10/24/2016) video


© CEASAR CHOPPY by cartoonist Marty Gavin - archives Ceasar Choppy's Navy! “© CEASAR CHOPPY” by Marty Gavin

SONG FACTS

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” - The Tokens 1961

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” - The Tokens
Album: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Released 1961 video

The original title was “Mbube”, which means “lion”. It was a hunting song originally sung in Zulu in what is now Swaziland.

This was popularized in the 1930s by South African singer Solomon Linda, who recorded it in 1939 with his group video, The Evening Birds. Apparently they were a bold bunch, and got the idea for this from when they used to chase lions who were going after the cattle owned by their families.

This was recorded in South Africa, where it was a big hit. Around 1948, the South African record company sent a copy to Decca Records in the U.S., hoping to get it distributed there. Folk singer Pete Seeger got a hold of it and started working on an English version.

In the 1950s, Miriam Makeba recorded this with the Zulu lyrics video, and Pete Seeger recorded it with his band, The Weavers (who dominated the charts with “Goodnight Irene”) video. The Weavers recorded the refrain of the song (no verses) and called it “Wimowehvideo. Their version hit #15 on the US Best Sellers charts in 1952. In 1957, it was included on, The Weavers At Carnegie Hall, a very popular album in the world of folk music.

The run at #1 for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was interrupted by a unique event: the return to #1 by Chubby Checker's “The Twistvideo 17 months after it hit the top spot on the Hot 100 for the first time.

The success of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” didn't ensure long-term recording security for The Tokens as a singing group. They didn't have a singing/recording contract, but they DID have a producing contract! After “Lion”, members of the group had producing success with the Chiffons (“He's So Finevideo, “One Fine Dayvideo, “Sweet Talkin' Guy”) video, the Happenings (“See You in Septembervideo, “My Mammy”) video and Dawn (“Knock Three Timesvideo, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree”) video. In 1971, they produced a note-for-note remake of “The Lion Sleeps Tonightvideo by Robert John - with Jay, Hank, and Mitch singing backgrounds and Ellie Greenwich singing bass. The new version peaked at #3.

Continue...

Jay Siegel and The Tokens, official site/ Billboard / All Music / Song Facts / Wikipedia

Image: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (album)” by The Tokens


Trivia

Trivia

● During World War II the Japanese foot soldiers invaded a land region that is today part of United States - ALASKA.

● Africa is so large that China, India, Europe and the U.S.A. could all fit within.

● Tobacco was last advertised on American television was January 2, 1971.


People Who Know Everything

A Test for People Who Know Everything

Which writers created these characters? a. Uncle Tom's Cabin b. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. c. Cinderella

Answer for People Who Do Not Know Everything, or Want to Verify Their Answer a), b) and c). Wikipedia.org


Answer to Last Week's Test

How many seconds are there in one year?

Answer: 31,536,000 seconds or 12 of them: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd, April 2nd, May 2nd, June 2nd, July 2nd, August 2nd, September 2nd, October 2nd, November 2nd, December 2nd. Wonderopolis.org


Joke of the Day

Joke of the Day

Three guys are sitting in a sauna. Two are showing off their new tech gadgets.

One says, “Hey, look what I got: the new Google Glass!”

The other two say, “Wow, that's nice, man.”

Then the second guy says, “Check out my new cellphone; it's a watch!”

The other two say, “Very cool, dude.”

The third guy has nothing to show these guys, so he gets up and walks away naked to to the bathroom. Then he comes back 5 minutes later from the bathroom still naked with paper hanging out of his butt crack.

The tow guys say, “Hey, you have something hanging out of your arse.”

The third guy says, “Oh look, I'm receiving a Fax!”


Pun of the Day

Farmers have “my grain” headaches.