Almanac d' Mythos
 
August 24th .
Flag Day (Liberia [1847]), National Day (Romania), Independence Day (Ukraine), Heritage Day (South Africa), President's Birthday (Sierra Leone), Feast of Saint Bartholomew (Roman Catholic, Angelican, Lutheran) .
There are 129 days left in the year .

Births/Deaths Chart Toppers
 
Vocabulary of the day Humour for the Day

Events on this Day.
Year Event.
1995Windows 95 debuts .
1994Israel and PLO initialed accord giving autonomy to Palestinians in West Bank in education, health, taxation, social welfare and tourism .
1992Screw magazine superimposed a gunsight over a picture of Larry Flint .
1991Ukraine declares independence from USSR .
Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party .
1990Iraqi troops surround US and other embassies in Kuwait City .
1989Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling .
British brewery Bass buys Holiday Inn hotel chain .
1981Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for John Lennon's murder .
1970Bomb kills 1 at U of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison .
1969Peru nationalizes US oil interests .
1961Former Nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's minister of justice .
1954Eisenhower signs Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party .
Communist Control Act passed, at height of McCarthyism .
1949North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) goes into effect .
1940Luftwaffe bombs London .
1937Republican offensive near Belchite Spain .
1936FDR gives FBI authority to pursuit fascists and communists .
1932First transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart She landed in Newark, New Jersey, the next day, having flown the 2,600 mile journey in nineteen hours and five minutes .
1929Palestinians attack orthodox Jews in Jerusalem .
1912US passes Anti-gag law, federal employees right to petition government .
NYC ticker tape parade for Jim Thorpe and victorious US olympians .
1909Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal .
1904Field battle at Liao-Yang-200,000 Japanese against 150,000 Russian .
1891Thomas Edison patents motion picture camera .
1869Cornelius Swarthout patents waffle iron .
1862C.S.S. Alabama was commissioned at sea off Portugal's Azore Islands, beginning a career that would see over sixty Union merchant vessels sunk or destroyed by the Confederate raider. The ship was built in secret in the in Liverpool shipyards, a diplomatic crisis between the US government and Britain ensued when the Union uncovered the ships birth place .
1858Richmond 'Daily Dispatch' reports 90 blacks arrested for learning .
1853First potato chips prepared by Chef George Crum (Saratoga Springs NY) .
1847Charlotte Bronte finishes manuscript of 'Jane Eyre' .
1831John Henslow asks Charles Darwin to travel with him on HMS Beagle .
1814British forces captured Washington, DC, and burn down many landmarks .
1787Wolfgang A Mozart completes his viola sonata in A, K526 .
1751Thomas Colley executed in England for drowning supposed witch .
1682Duke James of York gives Delaware to William Penn .
1662Act of Uniformity requires English to accept book of Common Prayer .
1572King Charles IX orders massacre of thousands of French Protestants; the king under the sway of his mother Catherine de Medici believed the Huguenot Protestants were plotting a revolution, thus ordered the assassination of Huguenot Protestant leaders in Paris, setting off a massacre of 70,000 Huguenots all across France .
1516Battle at Aleppo: Turks beat Syria .
1391Jews of Palma Majorca massacred .
1349Jews of Cologne Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism .
6,000 Jews, blamed for the Bubonic Plague, are killed in Mainz .
1215Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid .
410Rome overrun by Visigoths, fall of Western Roman Empire .
79Mt Vesuvius erupts, buries Pompeii and Herculaneum, 15,000 die. Vesuvius is near current day near Naples, Italy. Pompeii was rediscovered in the 1740s very much intact due to preservation by lava and has served as a library of information on Roman civilization .

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Birthdays on this Day.
Year Name Details
1974Howie Dorough Singer (Backstreet Boys) .
1964Tori Amos Singer .
Mila Mason Country singer .
James DeBarge Rhythm-and-blues musician .
1962Roland Orzabal Rock singer (Tears For Fears) .
Debbi Peterson Rock musician(The Bangles) .
1960Cal Ripken Havre de Grace MD, shortstop (Balt Orioles, game streak) .
1949Stephen Harrison Paulus Composer .
1943Kathy Lennon Singer (The Lennon Sisters) .
1942Bill Parcells Football coach .
1938Mason Williams Abilene Tx, Composer (Classical Gas)/writer (Smother Brothers Hour) .
1935H. Norman Schwarzkopf General .
1921Ray Bradbury Author .
1918John Lee Hooker Blues singer .
1899Jorge Luis Borges Argentina, writer of fiction, essays (Labyrinths) .
1880Joshua L Cowen Inventor (electric train) .
1872Max Beerbohm England, caricaturist/writer/wit (Saturday Review) .
1817Aleksei K Tolstoi [Kozjma Prutkov]Russian poet/writer .
1816Daniel Gooch Laid 1st successful transatlantic cables .
1759Wilbur Wilberforce England, crusaded against slavery .
1750Laetitia Bonaparte-Ramolino Mother of Napoleon .
1733David Traugott Nicolai Composer .
1669Alessandro Marcello Composer .
1591Robert Herrick England, poet (Gather ye rosebuds) (baptized) .
1113Geoffrey Plantagenet France, conquered Normandy .

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Deaths on this Day.
Year Name Details
1991Bernard Castro Patented convertible couch, dies at 87 .
1988Max Shulman Author (Dobie Gillis, Tender Trap), dies at 69 .
Leonard Frey Actor (Tattoo, Boys in the Band, Magic Christian), dies of AIDS at 49 .
1975Charles H Revson US cosmetic magnate, dies at 69 .
1967Henry J Kaiser Industrialist (Boulder Dam, Liberty ship), dies at 85 .
1958Leo Blech Conductor/composer, dies at 87 .
1923Kate Douglas Wiggin Author (US kindergarten movement), dies at 66 .
1889Jan E Matzeliger Suriname inventor (shoe lacing machine) .
1770Thomas Chatterton English poet (Revenge), commits suicide .
1759Ewald C von Kleist German poet, dies at 44 .
1595Thomas Digges English astronomer (Universe Infinite) .
1572Gaspard de Chastillon Count the Coligny, French gen/admiral, beheaded .
1217Eustace 'the Monk' French buccaneer, killed in battle .
1103Magnus III Berbein [Blootbeen] King of Norway (1093-1103) .

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Chart Toppers
Year Title Artist
1979My Sharona The Knack .
Good Times Chic .
Cola Cola Cowboy Mel Tillis .
After the Love Has Gone Earth, Wind and Fire .
1971Sweet Hitch-Hiker Creedence Clearwater Revival .
Mercy Mercy (The Ecology) Marvin Gaye .
I'm Just Me Charley Pride .
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart The Bee Gees .
1963Memphis Lonnie Mack .
Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! Allan Sherman .
Fingertips - Pt 2 Little Stevie Wonder .
Candy Girl Four Seasons .
1955The Yellow Rose of Texas Mitch Miller .
Rock Around the Clock Bill Haley and His Comets .
Maybellene Chuck Berry .
Learnin' the Blues Frank Sinatra .

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Vocabulary of the day

chiromancy ( KI-ruh-man-see ), [From Greek chiro- (hand) + -mancy (divination).] (noun) The practice of predicting character and future of a person from the lines on the palms; palmistry.


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morose (mo-ROS), (adjective), Gloomy, sullen.


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glossal ( GLOS-uhl ), [From Greek glossa (tongue).] (adjective) Of or pertaining to the tongue.


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flame bait (FLAYM BAYT), (noun) In an unmoderated newsgroup, a posting that contains opinions that prompt flames (abusive remarks and personal attacks) and that may ultimately launch a flame war. Flame-bait topics include abortion, homosexuality, and the desirability of using Microsoft products. True flame bait unintentionally elicits such responses; when such postings are made intentionally, the post is more properly called a troll.


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omerta ( o-MER-tah ), [Italian.] (noun) Secrecy sworn to by oath; code of silence.


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analphabetic ( an-al-fuh-BET-ik ), [From Greek analphabetos, not knowing the alphabet : an-, not + alphabetos, alphabet.] (adjective) 1. Not alphabetical. 2. Unable to read; illiterate. (noun) One who is unable to read; an illiterate.


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rialto ( re-AL-to ), [After Rialto, an island of Venice where a market was situated.] (noun) 1. A theatrical district. 2. A marketplace.


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Humour for the Day

Quotes

We are so fond of being out among nature, because it has no opinions about us. - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep. - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it, but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance. - Charles A. Lindbergh (1902-1974)

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. - Linus Pauling

Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses. - Margaret Millar

Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes, extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life. - Smiley Blanton


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Carjacking Foiled

An elderly lady did her shopping and upon return found 4 males in her car. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at them at the top of her lungs that she "knows how to use it and will shoot if required.... so get out of MY car!"

The 4 men didn't wait around for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad, where upon the lady proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the drivers seat.

Small problem: Her key wouldn't fit the ignition. Her car was identical and parked four or five spaces further down.

She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station. The sergeant that she told the story to nearly tore himself in two with laughter and pointed to the other end of the counter where 4 pale white males were reporting a carjacking by a mad, elderly, white woman...... No charges were filed.


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Champagne

When we moved into our new home, the first one we owned rather than rented, two of my husband's friends gave him a bottle of champagne.

In the hustle and bustle of getting settled, the gift was tucked away and temporarily forgotten.

Three months later we held a Christening party for our third child.

Champagne flowed in celebration until, running short, we remembered our housewarming gift.

In front of our guests, I opened the attached card and read it aloud, "Donald, take good care of this one, it's yours!"


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Personalized License Plates

In Virginia personalized license plates are very common, since the state only charges $10 for them. Many older couples will have their initials put on their license plates.

Today I saw the following plate: DIA - REA

If I were them, I probably would have reversed the order.


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The Reading of the Will

A lawyer was reading out the will of a rich man to the people mentioned in the will:

'To you, my loving wife Rose, who stood by me in rough times, as well as good, I leave her the house and $2 million.'

The lawyer continued, 'To my daughter Jessica, who looked after me in sickness and kept the business going, I leave her the yacht, the business and $1 million.'

The lawyer concluded, 'And, to my cousin Dan, who hated me, argued with me, and thought that I would never mention him in my will - well you're wrong. Hi Dan!'


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Punch Lines

I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian!


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Knock, Knock... Madame

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Madame.

Madame who?

Madame foot will be up your ass, if you don't open this door!


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Hillary and St. Peter

Hillary Clinton died and went to Heaven.

St. Peter was giving her a tour of Heaven when she noticed that there were dozens of clocks on the wall. Each clock displayed a different time of day.

When she asked St. Peter about the clocks, he replied, ''We have a clock for each person on earth and every time they tell a lie the hands move. The clock ticks off one second each time a lie is told.''

Special attention was given to two clocks. The clock belonging to Mother Teresa has never moved, indicating that she never told a lie. The clock for Abraham Lincoln has only moved twice. He only told two lies in his life.

Hillary asked ''Where is Bill's clock?''

St. Peter replied, ''Jesus has it in his office... he's using it as a ceiling fan.''


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The Monk

A man joined a monastary. The order he joined could not speak for seven years. Then they could only say 2 words. The first seven years passed and they went into a small room. His 2 word were "TOO COLD."

The next seven years passed and they took him back into the small room and his 2 words were "BAD FOOD."

The next seven years passed they took him back into the small room and his 2 words were "I QUIT!"

"Good!!" they said, "all you have done is complain."


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Age

Are you the oldest?

No - my sister is older than me.

And who comes after her?

Nobody. If anybody does they can have her.


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Little Turtle

Deep within a forest, a little turtle began to climb a tree. After hours of effort, he reached the top, jumped into the air waving his front legs and crashed to the ground.

After recovering, he slowly climbed the tree again, jumped, and fell to the ground.

The turtle tried again and again, while a couple of birds sitting on a branch watched his sad efforts. Finally, the female bird turned to her mate. "Dear," she chirped, "I think it's time to tell him he's adopted."


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Sam's Explosive Secret

A game warden noticed how a particular fellow named Sam consistently caught more fish than anyone else, whereas the other guys would only catch three or four a day. Sam would come in off the lake with a boat full. Stringer after stringer was always packed with freshly caught trout. The warden, curious, asked Sam his secret. The successful fisherman invited the game warden to accompany him and observe.

So the next morning the two met at the dock and took off in Sam's boat. When they got to the middle of the lake, Sam stopped the boat, and the warden sat back to see how it was done.

Sam's approach was simple. He took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it in the air. The explosion rocked the lake with such a force that dead fish immediately began to surface. Sam took out a net and started scooping them up.

Well, you can imagine the reaction of the game warden. When he recovered from the shock of it all, he began yelling at Sam. "You can't do this! I'll put you in jail, buddy! You will be paying every fine there is in the book!"

Sam, meanwhile, set his net down and took out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and tossed it in the lap of the game warden with these words, "Are you going to sit there all day complaining, or are you going to fish?"


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The Curse

An old man asks a Wizard if he can remove a curse he has been living with for the last 40 years.

The Wizard replies, "Maybe, but you'll have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you."

The old man answers without hesitation, "I now pronounce you man and wife."


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Birthday Party

A 100 year old man was having a big birthday party at his nursing home. A TV crew was there to interview the man on this special day.

"Please tell our audience how you managed to live so long," as the reporter.

"Well, I don't ever drink and I've never smoked," replied the old geezer. "And, I make it a point to stay away from wild women."

Just then, there was a loud shriek in the hall. The crew turned to see a nurse run by, followed by an agile looking, older man. The older man carried a foul smelling cigar in one hand and a glass of whisky in the other. As he ran by, he paused for a moment, looked at the crowd and let out a hardy, "He, he, he!" and then continued his pursuit.

"What was that all about?" asked the astonished reporter.

Replied the old geezer, "Please excuse my father - he gets carried away sometimes!"


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Crash

A doctor and a lawyer had a car crash on a country road. The lawyer, seeing that the doctor was a little shaken up, helped him from the car and offered him a drink from his hip flask. The doctor accepted and handed the flask back to the lawyer, who closed it and put it away.

"Aren't you going to have a drink yourself?" asked the doctor.

"Sure," said the lawyer, "after the police leave."


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So There

From comedian Drew Carey (former Marine)

"How many militant feminists does it take to change a light bulb?

"Two. One to change the bulb, and one to kiss my ass."

"That's right. I said kiss my ass. 'Cause I've had it. I'm tired of being pushed around. Tired of being grouped in with all the dead-beat dads and rapists and lecherous bosses just because I'm a man. All men aren't "potential rapists." I'm not a potential rapist. But, I am a potential murderer if all of you don't shut up and get out of my face already.

You've ruined it for everybody. Everybody, do you hear me? Men, women, everybody. Because of you and everyone else in this society that needs to play political victim and go to court instead of just dealing with it themselves, no one can have any kind of fun anymore. Men and women can't flirt, or hug, or look at anyone sideways because of you and your lawyers.

Are you happy? You've used a stink bomb to kill a few ants. And while I'm at it... Naval Aviators, who are willing to die so that we can have low prices at the gas pump, should be able to throw the wildest parties they can manage without one uptight biddy coming in and stopping it. There were scads of women at that Tailhook party who were having the time of their lives, voluntarily being just as debauched as any of the men were. Everyone who flew a plane, or even knew someone who flew a plane, knew how wild those parties were and what went on. What did she expect?

A prayer service?

And why didn't she just throw some punches of her own when these couple of guys groped her? Why didn't she give them what they had coming and just kick them in the balls? Didn't our tax money go to teach her how to fight? I'm not trying to make the idiotic "she had it coming" argument here, which would go something like "of course they grabbed her breasts, look how big they are."

Plus, just reaching out and grabbing some boob is wrong no matter what. When I was in college, even at our most drunken fraternity parties we never acted like that. No matter how hard I try I can't think of an excuse good enough to do something like that. But it's still nothing to lose a career over.

Besides, fighter pilots are supposed to be aggressive assholes. That's what we pay them for. I don't know about you, but I don't want a navy full of fighter pilots who are gifted at giving sensitivity seminars. I want mad-dog, rabid killers going to battle for me and mine. Man or woman. When our stable gas prices are threatened by a Middle-Eastern Madman, when we want to force our form of government on some poor, unsuspecting Latin American country, when uppity foreign diplomats "forget" to pay their parking tickets, I want to be able to call on men and women who like to fight and drink.

I want a naval officer who knows how to whack some drunk in the balls when he grabs her tits, not call a press conference and a lawyer.

If you're a wimp who doesn't know how to find the exit at a rowdy party, go fly a kite, not a jet fighter."

So there,

Drew


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The Cowboy Without a Horse

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was. When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen.

He goes back into the bar, handily flips his gun into the air, catches it above his head without even looking and fires a shot into the ceiling.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU SIDEWINDERS STOLE MY HOSS?" he yelled with surprising forcefulness.

No one answered.

"ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA HAVE ANOTHA BEER, AND IF MY HOSS AIN'T BACK OUTSIDE BY THE TIME I FINNISH, I'M GONNA DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS! AND I DON'T LIKE TO HAVE TO DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS!"

Some of the locals shifted restlessly. He had another beer, walked outside, and his horse is back!

He saddles up and starts to ride out of town.

The bartender wanders out of the bar and asks, "Say partner, before you go...what happened in Texas?"

The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."


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Midnight Snack

70-year old George went for his annual physical. All of his tests came back with normal results.

Dr. Smith said, "George, everything looks great physically. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with yourself, and do you have a good relationship with God?"

George replied, "God and me are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so he's fixed it so that when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom *poof* the light goes on, when I'm done *poof* the light goes off."

"Wow!" commented Dr. Smith, "That's incredible!"

A little later in the day Dr. Smith called George's wife. Ethel, he said, "George is doing fine. Physically he's great. But, I had to call because I'm in awe of his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night and *poof* the light goes on in the bathroom, and then when he is through *poof* the light goes off?"

Ethel exclaimed, "Oh, no! He's peeing in the refrigerator again!"


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Fresh Popped Colonel

A lieutenant was brilliant in military matters, but lacked a few social graces. One day he called a soldier in to the office and said "Kramer, your grandmother died."

The soldier fell apart. After he left, the colonel told the lieutenant, "You could have been a little more tactful. I have some books at home that could help you."

The lieutenant read the half-dozen books lent him by the colonel and was ready for the next crisis. Private Taylor's grandfather had passed away.

The next morning, at reveille, the lieutenant said, "Men, how many of you have a grandfather still living? Not so fast, Private Taylor!"


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