Every Day Is Special: record

Showing posts with label record. Show all posts

March 16 - Anniversary of the Greatest Rainfall in 24 Hours

Posted on March 16, 2021

This is an update of my post published on March 16, 2010:

On this date in 1952, a record was set for the most rainfall in 24 hours.

The “lucky” recipient of such bounty? Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, which received 73.6 inches or 1,869.9 mm of rain in just one day!

Yikes!

Translate that to feet or centimeters/meters to fully grasp just how much rain that is!

Reunion Island is shown here, at left.

Is it raining today?

Here are some activities to do in the rain - you don't want to miss racing Gators in the Gutters, do you?

Learn about rain, courtesy of the Weather Dude.

Make a rain gauge.

Rain is just one part of the Water Cycle. Learn more about the water cycle here.

If you live in the U.S., check out the Precipitation Analysis website. You can see how much rainfall has fallen in the last week, month, and year (see "Time Range") for the whole U.S. or, close-up, just your state, plus see the percentage above or below normal, plus more.

Write a poem about rain.
First, read these poems for inspiration:

Spring Rain
by Matsuo Basho

Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps' nest.

Morning Rain
by Tu Fu

A slight rain comes,
bathed in dawn light.
I hear it among treetop leaves before mist
Arrives. Soon it sprinkles the soil and,
Windblown, follows clouds away. Deepened

Colors grace thatch homes for a moment.
Flocks and herds of things wild glisten
Faintly. Then the scent of musk opens across
Half a mountain -- and lingers on past noon.

Puddles
by Brenda Williams

Big puddles,
Small puddles,
Puddles in the lane.

Puddles on the footpath,

Puddles near the drain.

Shiny puddles,

Muddy puddles,

Puddles that grow.

Winter puddles,

Icy puddles,

Puddles of snow.

Spring puddles,

Summer puddles,

Puddles on the grass.

Squashy puddles,

Sploshy puddles,

Puddles to splash!

Rain
by Shel Silverstein

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

Also on this date:

Poet Cesar Vallejo's birthday

Artist Rosa Bonhuer's birthday

Goddard Day

St. Urho Day

Freedom of Information Day

Black Press Day

Birthday of U.S. President James Madison

Panda Day

Lips Appreciation Day

No Selfies Day

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

September 4 - First Time This! Longest That! Fastest, Highest, Heaviest!

Posted on September 4, 2019

Florence Griffith-Joyner
is sometimes called Flo-Jo.

The world of athletic records, including world records, is filled with -ests. Usain Bolt (Jamaica) and Florence Griffith-Joyner (U.S) have the records for fastest 100-meter sprints. Renauld Lavillenie (France) and Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) have the records for the highest pole vault. Lasha Talakhadze (Georgia) and Tatiana Kashirina (Russia) have the records for the heaviest weights lifted in the Olympics.

But some athletic records are specific to only one nation or one league, and others are more like "first human to..." Today we celebrate the anniversaries of two such records:

On this date in 1972, American swimmer Mark Spitz became the first competitor - male or female, in any sport, Summer or Winter Olympics - to win seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games. The great thing about being the first person to do something is that world records are always being broken - someday, someone WILL run the 100 meters just a leeeeetle bit faster than Bolt! - but the "first" will always be first.

One thing about Spitz is that he swam at a time when both swimmers were shaving off all their body hair to make their times faster. (Yes, men were shaving it all off, too.) Mark Spitz was told he couldn't grow a beard or mustache, because it would slow him down. But that rule bugged him; I guess just to be contrary, he grew a mustache and beat everyone else anyway!

He was going to shave off the mustache for the Olympics, I read, but everyone was talking about the remarkable fact that such a great swimmer had facial hair - so Spitz decided to keep it. And apparently it wasn't a problem - he entered seven races, and he won them all! And he also set seven world records while doing it!!

The 1972 Olympics was Spitz's second Olympics - even though he was only 22 years old! - and he went ahead and retired from competitive swimming. It took 36 years for someone to beat Spitz's seven-gold-medals-in-one-Olympics - and of course it was another American swimmer, Michael Phelps, who won eight golds in 2008.

But, notice! - Phelps didn't win
WITH A MUSTACHE!

On this date in 2002, the Oakland Athletics (often called the Oakland A's) set an American League Baseball record by winning 20 consecutive games.

That's amazing - but there has been a new record set, in 2017, by the Cleveland Indians, who won 22 games in a row. Also, the record for the longest winning streak in all of Major League Baseball is 26 - set by the New York Giants of the National League waaaaaaay back in 1916!!

Also on this date:

National Wildlife Day

Anniversary of the discovery of Fullerenes

Inventor Martin Wiberg's birthday

Newspaper Carrier Day

Civil Servants' Day in Venezuela

Birthday of Los Angeles

First Cafeteria in the U.S.

Birthday of violinist David Garrett

Birthday of writer / thinker Ivan Illich

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

November 15, 2012 - Guinness World Record Day

Check out the world's largest “Hello Kitty” collection.

Who, do you think, holds the world's record for most widespread social network message in 24 hours?

Want to see what 77,282 fireworks ($15 million worth!) looks like? Check out the world's largest fireworks show in Kuwait.

Stay tuned for news about whether a new Sports Stacking record is set today! If you don't know what Sports Stacking is, be sure to watch this video—a record-breaking cup stacking, before your very eyes!