Genealogy’s Star

Genealogy tip for today: Highlighting today’s genealogy blog

Genealogy’s Star

Genealogy Tip for today: Family Tree Magazine lists the top 40 genealogy blogs every year and this blog site is in their top 40. And with good reason. It is very helpful and educational. The blogger here is a retired lawyer with a strong background in technology. He has been doing genealogy for over 20 years. So his emphasis is tips on using technology in your adventure into family history.  

His experience in the public forum and with technology and genealogy makes him an excellent teacher/lecturer. He presents programs “everywhere” and even lists his upcoming programs on his blog. He also shares his expertise with us on his blog with his informative posts. 

He is an avid blogger posting daily and sometimes even twice a day. This is an interesting and helpful website. If you have any technology issues I would suggest you browse his website and see what all he has to offer.  

He does also post announcements of news in the genealogy world, e.g. maps that have recently gone on line. He keeps you up-to-date in what is going on in the genealogy world. 

When you have a few minutes, go to Genealogy’s Star and see what kind of light he can shed on your situation.

Today in History

Yoritomo

1129 The warrior Yoritomo is made Shogun without equal in Japan.

1525 Estavao Gomes returns to Portugal after failing to find a clear waterway to Asia.

1794 France surrenders the island of Corsica to the British.

1808 Napoleon Bonaparte's General Junot is defeated by Wellington at the first Battle of the Peninsular War at Vimiero, Portugal.

1831 Nat Turner leads a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia that kills close to 60 whites.

1858 The first of a series of debates begins between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Douglas goes on to win the Senate seat in November, but Lincoln gains national visibility for the first time.

1863 Confederate raiders under William Quantrill strike Lawrence, Kansas, leaving 150 civilians dead.

1864 Confederate General A.P. Hill attacks Union troops south of Petersburg, Va., at the Weldon railroad. His attack is repulsed, resulting in heavy Confederate casualties.

1915 Italy declares war on Turkey.

1942 U.S. Marines turn back the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal in the Battle of Tenaru.

1944 The Dumbarton Oaks conference, which lays the foundation for the establishment of the United Nations, is held in Washington, D.C.

Harry S. Truman

1945 President Harry S. Truman cancels all contracts under the Lend-Lease Act.

1959 Hawaii is admitted into the Union.

1963 The South Vietnamese Army arrests over 100 Buddhist monks in Saigon.

1968 Soviet forces invade Czechoslovakia because of the country's experiments with a more liberal government.

1972 US orbiting astronomy observatory Copernicus launched.

1976 Mary Langdon in Battle, East Sussex, becomes Britain's first firewoman.

1986 Operation Paul Bunyan: after North Korean guards killed two American officers sent to trim a poplar tree along the DMZ on Aug. 18, US and ROK soldiers with heavy support chopped down the tree.

1988 In Cameroon 2,000 die from poison gas from a volcanic eruption.

1989 Ceasefire in the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq

1991 Voyager 2 begins a flyby of planet Neptune.

1994 Communist hardliners' coup is crushed in USSR after just 2 days; Latvia declares independence from USSR.

1996 Ernesto Zedillo wins Mexico's presidential election.

new Globe Theater

1996 The new Globe Theater opens in England.

2000 Tiger Woods wins golf's PGA Championship, the first golfer to win 3 majors in a calendar year since Ben Hogan in 1953.

2001 NATO decides to send a peacekeeping force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Birthdays today:

1798 Jules Michelet, French historian who wrote the 24-volume Historie de France

1904 William "Count" Basie, American band leader and composer

Right: Wilt Chamberlain

1936 Wilt Chamberlin, four-time MVP for the National Basketball Association and only player to score 100 points in a professional basketball game.

1938 Kenny Rogers, singer, actor; one of top-selling artists of all time; voted Favorite Singer of All Time in 1986 poll.

1944 Jackie DeShannon (Sharon Lee Meyers), singer/songwriter ("Lonely Girl," "What the World Needs Now"); toured as The Beatles opening act in 1964; inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame, 2010.

1944 Peter Weir, film director; among the leaders of Australian New Wave cinema (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli); Academy Award nominee (Dead Poets Society, Master and Commander)

1950 Arthur Bremer, attempted assassin who shot segregationist Alabama governor George C. Wallace in May 1972.

1951 Harry Smith, TV co-anchor, (The Early Show and its predecessor CBS Morning Show, 1987–96, 2002–10).

Harry Smith

1952 Joe Strummer, lead singer of British punk band The Clash ("Rock the Casbah")

1953 Ivan Stang (Douglass St. Clair Smith), writer, Church of the SubGenius

1954 Archie Griffin, NFL running back; only college player to win two Heisman trophies (Ohio State) and first player to start in four Rose Bowls; member, College Football Hall of Fame.

1956 Kim Cattrall, actress (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Sex in the City TV series).

1961 Stephen Hillenburg, animator and cartoonist; created character of Spongebob Squarepants

Word for the day:  

siren

PRONUNCIATION:

(SY-ruhn)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A beautiful and seductive woman, especially one leading others into disaster.
2. Something attractive that is potentially disastrous.
3. A device that makes loud sounds, used for warning signals.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Siren, one of a group of sea nymphs, whose enchanting singing lured sailors to shipwreck on the rocks around their island; Also see femme fatale. Earliest documented use: 1340.

USAGE:

"That woman is a siren of cooking. She calls a man's soul through his stomach."
Ariana Franklin; Mistress of the Art of Death; Penguin; 2007

"In the mid-17th century Russians first heard its [The Amur River, bordering Russia and China] siren song and appeared on its banks, drawn by greed and fantasy."
The Amur's Siren Song; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 17, 2009.

Quote for the day:

Insanity in individuals is something rare -- but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

August is Sandwich Month

Today’s Recipe

Creamy Asparagus on Toast

 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 2 cups milk 
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
• 4 slices bread, toasted and halved

Directions: 

• In a large skillet, bring 1/2 in of water to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and boil for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Transfer to a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Arrange eggs over the top.
• In a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter; gradually stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Pour over eggs.
• In a small skillet, melt the remaining butter; toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with toast. Yield: 4 servings.
  

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 each) equals 513 calories, 36 g fat (22 g saturated fat), 207 mg cholesterol, 782 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 18 g protein.  

ENJOY! 

Now You Know!