Ridley's Believe It Or Not March 23 History National Puppy Day

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—March 23, 2015 Trust your weekend was a great one and your brackets in the NCAA (great win for the Stanford women) and NIT (great win for the Stanford men although against Vandy it would be nice if other members of the team would score more). Last night after 13 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds, the last musher in the Iditarod, Cindy Abbott arrived in Nome. 12 out of the starting 80 contestants dropped out in this most difficult of all races for humans and dogs ro. Hope you enjoyed my coverage since the start of the race on March 9.    
As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest, music video, and  relevant quotes on mushing and sled dogs,  enjoying your favorite chips and dip while watching your favorite team play in the NCAA Tournaments (both men and women), blessed  with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.
       1. World Meteorological Day—an observance created by the World Meteorological Organization to promote the study of weather and climate predictions.
       2. National Puppy Day--celebrating today as a day to adopt and not shop for the puppy of your dreams and while doing that donate a few dollars to your local animal shelter.                                                                            

                                                                                   

      3. 1990 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1990, as part of a 2 week run, Black Velvet by Alannah Myles, a Canadian born songwriter and singer who was writing songs at the age of nine. After putting up with an ad from Days Inn, here  is a link to the song being performed by Allanah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkXNEmtf9tk 

      4. National Chip and Dip Day—great way to combine your favorite chips with your favorite dip (mine is guacamole).
      5. Rocketman--celebrating not the classic song by Elton John, but rather the birthday on this day in 1912 of Werhner Von Braun, the father of the V-2 rocket and who after the war was instrumental in the development of the U.S. space program.
On this day in
     a. 1775 Patrick Henry gave his famous speech at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia which included “Give me liberty or give me death!” The speech was duly noted by Ted Cruz in his announcement of his candidacy for president today.
     b. The first telephone was installed in the White House; sadly our current president seems not to like to use it to contact members of Congress, preferring to use his pen instead.
     c. The U.S. Army sold its last carrier pigeon and would exclusively rely on radio to communicate in the field with its troops.
     d. 1983 in what would prove to be the straw that broke the Bear’s back, President Ronald Reagan announced his Strategic Defense Initiative to build a system able to intercept incoming ballistic missiles.
     e. 1989 in a scam of huge proportions, two Utah scientists claimed they had produced nuclear fusion at room temperatures.
     Now that the Iditarod is complete some reflections:  "If you aren't the lead dog, the view never changes." -Author Unknown "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog”-Mark Twain "If my cold weather suit isn't getting dirty - then I'm not mushing hard enough." -Christian Hollingsworth "I do not know the word quit. Either I never did, or I have abolished it." -Susan Butcher, second woman to win the Iditarod and winner of four Iditarods "I'm sure the average Iditarod dog gets better care than 99 percent of the dogs in America."-DeeDee Jonrowe, 61 year old who has competed in 33 Iditarods and finished second three times "Alaska, where women win the Iditarod and the men mush poodles." -John Suter, musher who competed in 4 Iditarods

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