On 10th June 1943 the Bíró brothers, László and György, became owners of US Patent 2,390,636 – better known around the world as the ball point pen. The Hungarian inventors’ new pen, inspired by the quick-drying inks used by professional printers, was as remarkable as the first fountain pen had been the century before.
Nowadays, their invention is the ultimate cheap and disposable product – writer Douglas Adams even imagined a planet containing all the lost ball point pens in the universe. Yet it was once a luxury product, available only to the rich. Ball Point Pen Day is a time to appreciate this rarest of things: a design classic that is affordable to almost everyone. Some stores even mark the day with special offers and trade-in deals! Why not get a head start on Letter Writing Day, pick up a ball point pen and make someone’s day with a letter or a postcard.
Word of the Day
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Definition: | (verb) Hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of. | ||
Synonyms: | blockade, obstruct, embarrass, hinder | ||
Usage: | He worked to improve his athletic skills, but his weak knees stymied his progress at every turn. |
thanks, patty, for bringing us along to visit brookside house
Idiom of the Day
act of congress— That which is extremely difficult to achieve or requires a large amount of effort or patience to enact. Primarily heard in US, South Africa |
History
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Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization dedicated to helping alcoholics stop drinking and maintain their sobriety. It functions through local groups that meet regularly and emphasizes a 12-step recovery program that includes acknowledgment of the problem, faith in a "higher power," and a desire to change for the better and to help others recover. |
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Philip is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. The son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice, who was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, he was raised in Britain and served in combat with the Royal Navy in World War II. In 1947, he became a British subject and renounced his right to the Greek and Danish thrones. He married Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and continued on active service in the navy until her accession to the throne in 1952. |
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The only event of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, the annual Sea Music Festival takes place during the second weekend in June at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. The festival is a tribute to the music that has been an integral part of shipboard life since the 16th century, offering performances of chanteys, or sailors' work songs, as well as "forebitters"—songs sung for entertainment. The event features daytime and evening concerts Thursday through Sunday, symposia, workshops, and a dance. |
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Humans began to settle down and farm the land some 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent in southwestern Asia. Over the next couple thousand years, agriculture caught on in other regions, setting the stage for today's human civilization. |
1793 - The Jardin des Plantes zoo opened in Paris. It was the first public zoo.
1854 - The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, held its first graduation.
1902 - The "outlook" or "see-through" envelope was patented by Americus F. Callahan.
1903 - Binney & Smith Company began developing a product line of wax crayons. The product was named Crayola.
1909 - The SOS distress signal was used for the first time. The Cunard liner SS Slavonia used the signal when it wrecked off the Azores.
1944 - The youngest pitcher in major league baseball pitched his first game. Joe Nuxhall was 15 years old (and 10 months and 11 days).
1948 - Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound in the Bell XS-1.
1966 - Janis Joplin debuted on stage at the Avalon ballroom in San Francisco.
1993 - It was announced by scientists that genetic material was extracted from an insect that lived when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
DAILY SQU-EEK
Picture of the day | |
A betafite octahedron collected in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada. Betafite, a mineral group in the pyrochlore supergroup, typically occurs as a primary mineral in granite pegmatites, and rarely in carbonatites. Though there is no applicable use for the accepted betafite species, it is an important ore of thorium, uranium, and niobium.
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from knitting to quilting, is there nothing janice cant do? go visit her crafty website
Painted Passing
Photograph by Lucas Barbieri, National Geographic
A train zips down the coastline in the beach city Del Mar, north of San Diego, California. Lucas Barbieri caught this scene at sunset. “The limited light and the wispy clouds gave it a great painterly feel,” he writes.
knit
knit
knit (must sign up to download)
knit
knit
4 wedge star like dishcloth
Instructions:
Cast on 15 stitches using 5 or 6mm needles, using 2 strands of cotton yarn.
This cloth is made up of 4 wedges, all exactly the same. Then the edge is sewn together, the threads are sewn in and the cloth is complete. :)
Every wedge:
Row 1: M1 (by knitting into the front and back of the first stitch) K across to last st, turn.
Row 2: K across row.
Row 3: M1, K across to last 2 sts, turn.
Row 4: K across row.
Row 5: M1, K across to last 3 sts, turn.
Row 6: K across row.
Row 7: M1, K across to last 4 sts, turn.
Row 8: K across row.
Row 9: M1, K across to last 5 sts, turn.
Row 10: K across row.
Row 11: M1, K across to last 6 sts, turn.
Row 12: K across row.
Row 13: M1, K across to last 7 sts, turn.
Row 14: K across row.
Row 15: M1, K across to last 8 sts, turn.
Row 16: K across row.
Row 17: M1, K across to last 9 sts, turn.
Row 18: K across row.
Row 19: M1, K across to last 10 sts, turn.
Row 20: K across row.
Row 21: M1, K across to last 11 sts, turn.
Row 22: K across row.
Row 23: M1, K across to last 12 sts, turn.
Row 24: K across row.
Row 25: K2tog, K across to last 11 sts, turn.
Row 26: K across row.
Row 27: K2tog, K across to last 10 sts, turn.
Row 28: K across row.
Row 29: K2tog, K across to last 9 sts, turn.
Row 30: K across row.
Row 31: K2tog, K across to last 8 sts, turn.
Row 32: K across row.
Row 33: K2tog, K across to last 7 sts, turn.
Row 34: K across row.
Row 35: K2tog, K across to last 6 sts, turn.
Row 36: K across row.
Row 37: K2tog, K across to last 5 sts, turn.
Row 38: K across row.
Row 39: K2tog, K across to last 4 sts, turn.
Row 40: K across row.
Row 41: K2tog, K across to last 3 sts, turn.
Row 42: K across row.
Row 43: K2tog, K across to last 2 sts, turn.
Row 44: K across row.
Row 45: K2tog, K across to last 1 sts, turn.
Row 46: K across row.
Begin at row 1 again if making another wedge or cast off the 15 stitches you have left on your needles. :)
crochet
crochet
crochet
crochet
RECIPE, adults only
CROCKPOT RECIPE
Chicken Gyros
SWEETS, CROCKPOT
CRAFTS
Reuse Thread Spools
greenecoservices
Make an abacus Art Piece: Via Curbly
CHILDREN'S CORNER ... coloring
QUOTE
CLEVER, Stitches Dictionary
EYE OPENER
100 Ways To Use A Pencil
uncustomary art
1. Impromptu mustache
3. Ear scratching
4. "Reset" tool
5. Taped together animal
6. Write a letter
7. Weapon
8. Dart
9. Straight edge
10. Poking device
11. Wand (magic)
12. Microphone
13. Belly button cleaner
14. Makeshift puppet stick
15. Hair accessory
17. Stress/anxiety relief
18. Baton
19. Whittling stick
20. Lead carvings
21. Art
22. Measuring utensil
23. Plate twirler
24. Draw your own porno
25. Lincoln-Pencils (like Lincoln Logs)
26. Make a picture frame
27. Pointer
28. Marshmallow roaster
31. Fake cigarette
32. Flower pencil
33. Tongue depressor
34. Dream catcher
35. Cross
36. Sword action figure
37. Metronome
38. Kindling
39. Skewer
40. Splint
41. Axle for cardboard car
42. Keep a golf score
43. Christmas tree ornament
44. Rolling device
45. Massager
48. Hole poker
49. Door knocker
50. Extension of limbs
51. Back scratcher
52. Improve dexterity
53. Pinwheel stick
54. Back of a kite
55. Plant support stick
56. Toothpick
57. Mini flag pole stick
58. Mini hockey stick (quarter puck)
59. Prop
62. Crafty rocket ship
63. Litter poker stick
64. Tack on bulletin board/spear
65. Stirrer (drinks)
66. Balance game
67. Spin the bottle replacement
68. Creating new pencils
69. Door jam
70. Handmade helicopter
73. Costume accessory (reporter, etc.)
74. Stick a pencil under your boobs -- if it stays, you need a bra
75. To keep golf scores
76. Dough roller
77. Imprint/stamp objects
78. Wolverine claws
79. Mr. Potato Head legs
80. Get something out of a crack
81. Calculator button presser
82. Knitting needles
83. To keep your ear company
86. Drumsticks
87. Letter opener
88. Test if a cake is done
89. Part your hair
90. Help tie a bow
91. Glue bottle nozzle unclogger
92. Karate test
93. Scantron tests
94. To propose a toast
95. Sun dial
96. Aerator for plants
97. As part of a compass
98. For magnetic compass
99. Raft
100. Curlers
I cannot say I am a fan of ballpoint pens. How grumpy is that:( But if fountain pen day or dip pen day come around I will write a letter or two.
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