When it comes to water, penguins aren’t naturals.

As a matter of fact, “some of them are terrified,” says Bethany Wlaz,a keeper at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

So each time African penguins are born into the zoo’s breeding program for the endangered birds, someone like Wlaz becomes their swimming coach. But first comes the equally terrifying introduction to being wet.

Soft as a cotton ball and about the size of a roasted chicken, Male One — hatched on Oct. 12 — is lowered into a stainless steel sink by Wlaz and Betty Dipple, another animal keeper.

“Araaah,” the bird protests, as a stream of lukewarm water washes over its head and flippers. “Araaah.”

My favorite line from the story is “It’s hard to have an entirely bad day when you’re around penguins”  🙂

Also, I had no idea that penguin eggs were at one time considered a delicacy…but I reckon most folks will eat most anything, eh?

It was on this day in 1814 that The London Times became the first newspaper to be printed by an automatic press. Built by two German inventors, the steam powered machine was able to produce over 2000 pages per hour, compared to only 800 per hour that the hand-cranked presses were able to do. When the newspaper went on sale the next day, it ushered in a new era of cheap and accessible reading material for the masses.

The earliest thing that Wiki says took place on this day is “1095 – On the last day of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II appoints Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse to lead the First Crusade to the Holy Land” and the most recent is “2002 – Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air-missiles.”

A few other events that also occurred on this day are:

1925 – Uncle Jimmie Thompson is the first guest on the first radio broadcast of WSM Barn Dance. The show would later be re-named The Grand Ole Opry.

1948 – First Polaroid camera sold.

1974 – John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden. They play three songs together, and it is the last time Lennon performs in public.

Happy birthday to Jon Stewart, Jane Sibbett, Judd Nelson, Paul Shaffer, Beeb Birtles, and Berry Gordy Jr.

“History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.” 

It was on this day in 1095 that Pope Urban II first urged Christians in Europe to wage war against Muslims in the Middle East. The Turks had control of Jerusalem, and they had banned Christian pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land. The Pope stated that all sins would be forgiven for soldiers that fought under the “Banner of God”, and the First Crusade was soon launched.

The earliest event that Wiki says happened on this day is “176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of Imperator and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions” and the most recent is “2006 – The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s motion to declare Quebec a nation within a unified Canada.”

A couple other things that also occurred on this day are:

1826 – Friction match is invented by John Walker.

1924 – Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held for the first time.

Happy birthday to Jaleel White, Robin Givens, Mike Bordin, Michael Rispoli, Bill Nye, Curtis Armstrong, and James Avery.

It was on this day in 1864 that Charles Dodgson gave a handwritten manuscript to Alice Liddell. Entitled Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, it was based on a tale he had told the 10 year-old girl and her sisters during a fishing trip several months earlier. Alice was so delighted with the story that she begged him to write it down. The mathematician-now-turned-author also illustrated his story before having the book bound as a Christmas present for her. In 1965 the book was officially published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, under the pseudonym “Lewis Carroll” and with illustrations by John Tenniel. It has since been translated into 97 different languages and has been the inspiration for several movies, TV shows and video games.

The earliest event that Wiki says took place on this day is “43 BC – The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (“Octavian”, later “Caesar Augustus”), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony is formed” and the most recent are two from 2004: “Ruzhou School massacre: a man stabs and kills eight people and seriously wounds another four in a school dormitory in Ruzhou, China” and “Male Po’ouli (Black-faced honeycreeper) dies of Avian malaria in the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, Hawaii before it could breed, making the species in all probability extinct.”

A few other things that also happened on this day are:

1716 – Captain Arthur Savage puts a lion on exhibit in Boston, the first time such an animal is seen in the American Colonies.

1956 – First episode of  The Price Is Right.

1988 – Russian cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 7 play a cassette copy of the album Delicate Sound Of Thunder, making Pink Floyd the first rock band to be played in outer space.

Happy birthday to John McVie, Daniel Davis, Tina Turner, Rich Little, and Frederik Pohl.

“Does anyone know where the decency goes,
when you beat up on teachers and nurses?”

This day in history has seen some very rough weather and natural disasters. Earthquakes struck on this day in 1343 (wiping out Naples and other port cities in Italy), 1667 (killing over 80,000 people in the Caucasus region), 1759 (over 40,000 killed in Damascus and Beirut), and 1833 (reports only state that “numerous” people died in Sumatra). It was also on this day in 1703 that a one-week long windstorm in southern England…which ended up killing anywhere from 8,000-15,000 people…reached its peak intensity, with wind gusts of over 120 mph. In 1926 over two dozen tornadoes were reported in the United States, causing 75 deaths and 400 injuries. A typhoon slammed into the Philippines on this day in 1987, killing over a thousand people. And in 1996 an ice storm blanketed the central part of the United States, killing at least 26. Sometimes Mother Nature needs to remind us just exactly who is in charge, eh?

The earliest event that Wiki says took place on this day is “571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans” and the most recent is “1999 – The United Nations establishes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to commemorate the murder of three Mirabal Sisters for resistance against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in Dominican Republic.”

A couple other things that also occurred on this day are:

1936 – Germany and Japan sign a treaty, promising to defend each other if either country is attacked by the Soviet Union.

1940 – First appearance of Woody Woodpecker.

2002 – US Department of Homeland Security officially established.

Happy birthday to Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Christina Applegate, Kevin Chamberlin, Amy Grant, Tracey Walter, John Larroquette, Ben Stein, and Percy Sledge.

May your belly always be full,
your naps forever be restful,
and you always have plenty to be thankful for…

It was on this day in 1971 that a hijacker who called himself Dan Cooper parachuted out of an airplane. The man, whose actual name was never found out, had purchased a ticket for a flight from Portland OR to Seattle WA. Once aboard the plane he passed a note to a flight attendant, which stated that he had a bomb in his briefcase. He demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. After receiving the ransom and having the airplane refueled at Seattle, he instructed the crew to fly the plane towards Mexico City while maintaining the slowest speed and the lowest altitude possible. Sometime during the flight he opened a hatch in the back and hasn’t been seen since. It is the only unsolved hijacking in US history.

The earliest event that Wiki says happened on this day is “380 – Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople” and the most recent is “1992 – A China Southern Airlines domestic flight in the People’s Republic of China, crashes, killing all 141 people on-board.”

A few other things that also took place on this day are:

1835 – The Texas Rangers are created by the Texas Provincial Government.

1859 – On the Origin of Species is first published by Charles Darwin.

1932 – The FBI Crime Lab officially opens.

Happy birthday to Amanda Wyss, Denise Crosby, Clem Burke, Dwight Schultz, Bev Bevan, Donald Dunn, and Pete Best.