I tried to post this last night (the 28th) but my computer hates me, and blue-screened before I could press publish. On this date in 1884, Congress declared Labor Day a legal holiday. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday. The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership – the American worker. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France. The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Paris Peace Conference convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris. The conference was called to establish the terms of the peace after World War I. Though nearly thirty nations participated, the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Italy became known as the “Big Four.” The “Big Four” dominated the proceedings that led to the formulation of the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty that ended World War I. On this day in 1976, Janet C. Wolfenbarger and 156 Other Women Became the First Female Cadets in the United States Air Force Academy. In 1976, all the United States service academies – the United States Military Academy (Army), the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy – had been ordered to admit women. That year, both the male and female cadets participated in the same co-ed academic and physical education programs, except for contact sports. One standout female cadet of “The First Ladies of ’80” was Wolfenbarger. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Science. She went on to work as an engineer and then to oversee the development of various weapons systems. In 2012, she made U.S. military history as the first woman in the Air Force to receive the rank of a four-star General. And, on this day in 1975, Captain and Tennille topped the charts for the second week in a row, and nine weeks after its release, with "Love Will Keep Us Together". The song later went on to win the Grammy Award for record of the year. It sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a Gold disc by the RIAA on July 1, 1975. Love (of Cribbage) brought 21 of us together tonight. Liz Henderson celebrated her very first GRAND SLAM! We also learned through "the Facebook" that Frank Abernathy earned enough MRPs in the consolation in Reno to earn his Grand Master ranking. Congratulations to both!! Five folks won "place prizes" last night, though only four made GRPs: 1st: Liz Henderson 19/9/+162 2nd: Dot Davis 14/7/+41 3rd: Jerry Gooden 14/6/+104 4th: Joe Greiner 13/6/+51 5th: Luther Lanier 11/5/+52 Our team partners for the night: 1st: Al (11) and Ernie (10) 2nd: Megan (11) and Allan (10) 3rd: Bernard (10) and David (8) Our fearless leader Cathy Perkins wasn't at club tonight; Russ wasn't feeling well, and she stayed home to care for him. We hope Russ is feeling right as rain soon, and we can see them both return to Monday Night Cards. I did some fancy-dancy 1st grade arithmetic, and have the super-duper-unofficial standings as of this tournament. Cribbage.org will be updated in due time, but here is how things look(ish) now: On that note, I leave you with Captain and Tennille, and a song I know that most of you know the words to, even if you don't know you know. Have a great week, y'all! ~ Jennifer
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On June 26, 1870, the first section of the Atlantic City Boardwalk opened along the New Jersey beach. Dr. Jonathan Pitney and civil engineer Richard Osborne began developing the area on Absecon Island in 1850. Alexander Boardman, a railroad conductor, conceived the idea of constructing a boardwalk as a means of keeping sand out of the railroad cars and hotels. The city used its tax revenues to build an eight-foot-wide temporary wooden walkway from the beach into town which could be dismantled during the winter. The rolling chair, introduced in 1884, was the only vehicle allowed on the Boardwalk. Any consideration of the boardwalk demands at least a nod to salt water taffy, a favorite beach-side treat. Taffy is a candy made of corn syrup and white sugar: the boiled confection is pulled and folded, then rolled into a long strip from which shorter (about two inch long) strips are cut, wrapped in stick resistant paper, and sold. Along the Atlantic City Boardwalk folks have purchased the product since at least the early 1880s. In presenting its opinion on a case concerning the right to label one's product the "original" salt water taffy, the Supreme Court long ago held that no one company might claim that right as salt water taffy, ". . . is born of the ocean and summer resorts and other ingredients that are the common property of all men everywhere." On June 26 1977, Elvis Presley performed his last concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. There's a video below, just the audio -- fair warning that the audio quality isn't the best, but it was the 70's... On June 26, 2021, Raleigh Cribbage Club held its Grass Roots National Tournament. 23 players were in attendance, including visits from Barbara Gooden, Chuck Dolge, Peter Lerch, and Robert Reister. The way the GRNT works in Raleigh, there are prizes for best "first 9", best "last 9" and "best overall". Best First Nine:
Best Second Nine:
And our overall winners (which happens to be the list of all the folks who earned GRPs):
All players who scored 24 points or better will get those added to their GRP totals for the current year, both club and lifetime. They will also get some sort of "overall prize" from the ACC once all the results have been sent in to the GRNT director. Congratulations to all! ~ Jennifer Happy First [Full] Day of Summer! June 2o (late) marked the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. This day is referred to as the summer solstice, the longest day of the summer season. It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degree north latitude. During the solstice, the Earth’s axis — around which the planet spins, completing one turn each day — is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the sun and the South Pole is away from it. Typically, this imaginary axis passes right through the middle of the Earth from top to bottom and is always tilted at 23.5 degree with respect to the sun. Therefore, the solstice, as NASA puts it, is that instant in time when the North Pole points more directly toward the sun that at any other time during the year. Solstice means “sun stands still” in Latin. Let's take a look at some important events from this "first full day of summer" in years past... On June 21, 1788, the Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. After ratification, Congress set dates for the first federal elections and the official implementation of the Constitution. Elections were set to take place from Monday, December 15, 1788, to Saturday, January 10, 1789, and the new government was set to begin on March 4, 1789. On this date in 1945, Japanese troops were defeated on the Pacific island of Okinawa after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II. Okinawa was the last critical outpost the United States needed to reclaim before launching an attack on the Japanese home islands. On June 21, 1978, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical "Evita", starring Elaine Page, premiered at the Prince Edward Theatre, London. You can see her perform my favorite song from that musical "Don't Cry for me Argentina", with the Boston Pops in 1998, in one of the videos below. Finally, on this date in 2021, not only did NC State beat Vanderbilt as play progresses in the College World Series, but there were 25 players coming out to enjoy cribbage on the first day of summer. We said hello to old friends who haven't played with us for a while: both John Morch and Steve Hooker were in attendance tonight. We also said a prayer for Jeff Seidenstein's dad, who had a health issue recently, and Jeff is spending some time caring for his father. Not all the 12s made place money tonight -- some of the dirtier ones made for good partnerships, though. Liz Henderson got her first 12 of the season -- using borrowed pegs, no less!! Way to go, Liz! Here are our place winners for tonight. Full results will be on cribbage.org in short order: 1st: Tom Goeschel with a 16/7/+71 2nd: Mike Due with a 16/7/+56 3rd: Larry Phifer with a 14/7/+71 4th: Glenn McMahon with a 13/6/+20 5th: Cathy Perkins with a 12/6/+40 6th: Andy Wagner with a 12/6/+26 For team prizes: First team: Frank (12) and Bernard (11) Second team: Liz (12) and Russ (10) Third team: Jennifer (10) and Steve (9) As a reminder, we are hosting a Grass Roots National Tournament this coming Saturday (June 26). Registration is at 9:15 am. You can find more information in the "Tournaments" page of this website. Have a great week, and hope to see most of y'all on Saturday! ~ Jennifer
On this day in 1775, the US Army first formed as the Continental Army to fight American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies and, after 1776, from all 13 states. At its peak, the Army was some 80,000 strong. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and volunteer troops that were either loyal to individual states or otherwise independent. Most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783, after the Treaty of Paris formally ended the fighting. The 1st and 2nd Regiments of the Army went on to form what was to become the Legion of the United States in 1792. This became the foundation of what is now the United States Army. In sports, on this date in 1966, the Miami Marlins beat the St Petersburg Cardinals (Florida State League) 4-3 in 29 innings longest uninterrupted game in organized baseball., just one year after the city of St. Petersburg extended the curfew for baseball past midnight. The game began at 7:30 a.m. with 740 fans watching and ended at 2:29 a.m. with just 150 still in the stands, according to the Miami News. After 25 innings, the umpires announced the game would not go past 30 innings, prompting the remaining crowd to boo and yell, "We want more." Spectators on hand at the end included some who left local taverns when they closed at 2 a.m., noticed the still-lighted ballpark and walked in through the unmanned gates, the St. Petersburg Times reported. The game beat the previous record of 27 innings set in May 1965 by the Elmira, N.Y. and Springfield, Mass., teams of the Eastern League. And on this date in 1923, the first country music hit (Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane, by Fiddlin’ John Carson) was recorded. Will S. Hays composed the song for the minstrel trade in 1871. Written in dialect, the song tells of an elderly man, presumably is a former slave, who is getting old and feeble. Since he cannot work anymore, in a broken-down old log cabin is where he is passing his later years. You can check out this gem at the end of the post. We had 25 gems of our own come out to play tonight. With an odd number of players, it takes a bit longer to get through everything, and we weren't done until after 10:30 (!!) but it was worth it :) Jerry Gooden took top honors with 15/7/+143 Curtis Barbour (welcome back, Curtis!!) took second with 15/7/+117 3rd: Larry Phifer with 14/7/+86 4th: Brian Wilson with 12/6/+71 5th: Cathy Perkins with 12/6/+70 6th: Jeff Raynes with 12/6/+47 Team pairings for the night: 1st: Megan and Bernard 2nd: Pete and Jennifer 3rd: Joe and Jim You can get the full results from the website. The top-10 isn't ready, but unofficially, I can tell you that Jeff Raynes maintains a strong hold on the top-spot, with at least 20 points more than the second place person. I hope you all have a great week! ~ Jennifer On this date in 1929, Vatican City became a sovereign nation. With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and a population of about 825, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population. All citizens of Vatican City are Roman Catholic. The only people allowed to live in the Vatican City are clergy (religious people) and the Swiss Guards who are the Police force of the country. Over 2,400 other people work in the country but they travel in each day from Italy. The Holy See is the name given to the government of the Roman Catholic Church, which is led by the pope as the bishop of Rome. As an independent state, the pope is able to exercise his universal authority over Vatican City. Within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from the faithful, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. A visit to Vatican City is definitely at the top of my Bucket List! Tonight, we had 26 members of our Cribbage Family come together for a few hours together of fun. We had a wonderful cake (thanks Frank and Bernard for taking care of everything!) to celebrate Russ Perkin's 93rd Birthday. Happy Birthday, Russ!! Full results will be posted to the website in due time, but here are tonight's winners: Place Winners: 1st place: Jeff Raynes - 16/8/+102 2nd place: Fran Ward - 14/6/+66 3rd place: Glenn McMahon - 12/6/+72 4th place: Kristy Haught - 12/6/-19 5th place: Ernie Hodgson - 12/5/+69 6th place: Jennifer Johnson - 12/5/+62 7th place: Luther Lanier - 12/5/+11 Teams: 1st team: Andy (11) and Bernard (10) 2nd team: Joe (10) and Cathy (10) 3rd team: Frank (11) and Dot (9) I will (endeavor to) come back and update with the Top 10 when it's available. Have a great week everyone! ~ Jennifer |
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