Word of the day

Perissology – the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning; redundancy or superfluity of expression, pleonasm; an instance of this.

Work ethic

When we visited my grandma in the summer, we’d sit on the porch & watch the moon every night to be sure it made it safely home. My grandma said we should say prayers that it find fulfilling work during the day. It’s not like there’s a lot of jobs out there for a moon, she said. She had been through the Depression & thought about a lot of things like that.

Work Ethic – ©2015 Brian Andreas – posed with permission.

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Sunday soapbox

Sunday’s soapbox is yours to use as you will – within the bounds of decency and absence of defamation. You’re welcome to look back or forward, discuss issues of the moment, to pontificate, ponder or point us to something of interest, to educate, elucidate or entertain, amuse, bemuse or simply muse but not to abuse.

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

December 27 in history

537  The Hagia Sophia was completed.

1571 Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, was born  (d. 1630).

1773  George Cayley, English scientist, inventor, and politician, was born (d. 1857).

1822 Louis Pasteur, French scientist, was born (d. 1895).

1831 Charles Darwin embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle.

1836 The worst ever avalanche in England occured at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people.

1845  Ether anesthetic was used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia.

1901 Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer, was born (d. 1992).

1915 William Masters, American gynecologist, was born (d. 2001).

1918 The Great Poland Uprising against the Germans began.

1922  Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō became the first purpose built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world.

1932  Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

1941 Michael Pinder, British musician (Moody Blues), was born .

1943 Joan Manuel Serrat, Spanish musician, was born.

1945  The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.

1948 Gérard Depardieu, French actor, was born.

1949 Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognised Indonesian independence.

1968 Apollo Program: Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.

1951 Ernesto Zedillo, President of Mexico, was born.

1955 Brad Murphey, Australian racing driver, was born.

1978 Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.

1979  Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

1987 Rewi Alley, friend of China, died of heart failure and cerebral thrombosis at his Beijing residence.

2001  The People’s Republic of China was granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.

2004 Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reachedEarth – the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.

2007 – Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber.

2008 – Israel launched 3-week operation on Gaza – Operation Cast Lead.

2009 – On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, government security forces fired upon demonstrators.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.