Yesterday was Thursday August 20, 2026
EDITION #1305 This issue 5ยข
This is day 233 of 2026

Did You Know

  • During World War II, Uncle Bens was the exclusive supplier of rice to the U.S. Armed Forces.

  • An earthquake on December 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards.

  • A one ounce milk chocolate bar has 6 mg of caffeine.

View More...
  • Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar were both epileptic.

  • Airports that are at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

  • Each year there are more than 40,000 toilet related injuries in the United States.

Quips

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

Filed Under: Church Notices


Sign seen in a bar: "Those drinking to forget, please pay in advance."

Filed Under: Signs


Our next song is: "Angels We Have Heard Get High."

Filed Under: Church Notices


Fun Book Titles

  • All Aboard!
    - by Abel Seamann

  • The Barber of Seville
    - by Aaron Floor

  • Falling from a Window
    - by Eileen Dowt

  • My Years in a Lunatic Asylum
    - by I. M. Nutty

  • Neck Exercises
    - by G. Rarff

View More: Book Titles

Good Question

  • You know that little indestructible black box that is used on planes. Why can't they make the whole plane out of the same material?

  • Why are cigarettes sold at gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?

  • What will fall on the lawn first? An autumn leaf or a Christmas catalogue?

Filed Under: Good Question

World Firsts

  • The United States swears in its 1st female Secretary of Transportation, namely Elizabeth Dole.

    Monday February 7, 1983

  • Filed Under: → Travel Section


  • The 1st wireless message sent from a moving train to a station is received.

    Sunday February 7, 1915

  • Filed Under: → Travel Section


  • Jean-Bertrand Aristide is sworn in as Haiti's 1st elected President.

    Thursday February 7, 1991

  • Filed Under: → Politics


Events

  • Relatives of a 91-year-old Ohio woman who died this week are giving her the last word with a sassy, occasionally profane obituary that starts with the basics, "I was born. I lived. I died.", and instructs people to "Wait the appropriate amount of time" before trying to claim her stuff.

    They wrote it in Jean Oddi's perspective, recapping the people important to her, adventures she had and her favorite activities, including playing cards and teaching her granddaughter "dirty songs".

    Thursday February 23, 2017

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • The man known as the 'Crocodile Hunter' died after his chest was punctured by a stingray barb while diving off Australia's northeast coast. The 44 year-old colourful personality was filming a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef when tragedy struck.

    According to friend and colleague, John Stainton, Steve Irwin swam too close to the ray while he was diving off his boat "Croc One" near Batt Reef, northeast of Port Douglas.

    Monday September 4, 2006

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • A father and son in Alabama were killed when they crashed into each other in a head-on collision. Jeffrey Morris Brasher and his son Austin Blaine Brasher of Bankston, Alabama, died early Saturday morning.

    Jeffrey Brasher was driving a 2006 Ford pickup and his son was driving a 2004 Chevrolet truck when they collided on a highway head-on, said Alabama State Trooper Jonathon Appling.

    Saturday February 18, 2017

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
    - American Indian Proverb

  • Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
    - African Proverb

  • Where there is no shame, there is no honor.
    - African Proverb

World Firsts

  • New Jersey issues its 1st U.S. railroad charter. The proprietors included the famous inventor John Stevens.

    Monday February 6, 1815

  • Filed Under: → Travel Section


  • "Monopoly" the board game goes on sale for the 1st time.

    Wednesday February 6, 1935

  • Filed Under: → Business & Industry


  • Astronomical Society of Pacific holds its 1st meeting in San Francisco.

    Thursday February 7, 1889

  • Filed Under: → Science


View More: → World Firsts

Wise Words

  • When elephants fight, it is the grass who suffers.
    - African Proverb

  • If you refuse to be made straight when you are wet, you will not be made straight when you are dry.
    - African Proverb

  • Where there is no shame, there is no honor.
    - African Proverb

Filed Under: Wise Words

Good Question

  • What will fall on the lawn first? An autumn leaf or a Christmas catalogue?

  • Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

  • When a doctor doctors a doctor does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored, or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor?

Filed Under: → Good Question