February 10th - Today is the 41st day of the year, with only 324 days remaining in 2006.

February Flowers - Violet, Primrose
February Birthstone - Amethyst (Sincerity)

Mr. Z Rex Auction Day
In 2000, millionaire.com and lycos.com put up for auction a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex skelton with an opening bid of $5.8 million. By the time bidding close, the skelton sold for more than $30 million. The skeleton had been discovered by paleontologists Alan and Robert Detrich on a private cattle ranch in northwestern South Dakota in 1992.


"Universal Time" (UT) which is sometimes referred to, now colloquially, as "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT)
FIRST QUARTER - Feb 5   6:28 a.m.
FULL MOON - Feb 13   4:44 a.m.
LAST QUARTER - Feb 21   7:17 a.m.
NEW MOON - Feb 28   0:32 a.m.


- "$400. Do I hear $500?" asked the auctioneer morbidly.
- A skeleton walked into a bar and said, "Hi, can I have a beer and a mop?"
- An auction is a place where you get something for nodding.
- Ann: They have lots of old dinosaur bones in the museum. Andy: Why? Can't they afford the new ones?
- Do archaeologists have skeletons in the closets?
- I took my old Grandma to an antique auction. Made $50!
- In a dog-eat-dog world, don't wear MilkBone underwear.
- Is a Tarotdactyl a dinosaur who reads your fortune cards?
- The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program.
- Wanted: a alien family to adopt a cute purple dinosaur!
- Warning Sign: Unattended children will be sold at auction.
- Why didn't the skeleton cross the road? He didn't have the guts.


ACTING -
1893 Jimmy Durante, NYC, long-nosed comedian (and good-night Mrs Calabash)
1906 Lon Chaney Jr, Oklahoma City OK, actor (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Phantom) [D: 07/12/73]
1930 Robert Wagner, Detroit MI, actor (It Takes a Thief, Hart to Hart)
1967 Laura Dern, LA CA, actress (Jurassic ParkI/III)

ARTISTIC -
1868 William Allen White, Emporia KS, editor The Emporia Gazette (Pulitzer 1923) [D: 01/31/44]
1890 Boris L Pasternak, Moscow, novelist/poet (Dr Zhivago, Nobel 1958) [D: 05/30/60]

HISTORIC -
1910 Georges Pire, Belgium, educator, aided WWII refugees (Nobel 1958) [D: 01/30/69]
1961 George Stephanopoulos, Fall River MA, broadcaster (ABC's This Week) and /political adviser (Clinton)

MUSIC -
1937 Don Wilson, Tacoma WA, rhythm guitar (Ventures-Walk Don't Run)
1939 Roberta Flack, Asheville NC, vocalist (Killing Me Softly With His Song)
1940 Jimmy Merchant, Bronx NY, rock vocalist (Frankie Lymon & Teenagers-Why Do Fools Fall In Love)
1962 Clifford Lee Burton, Castro Valley CA, bassist (Metallica-Fade to Black) [D: 09/27/86]

SCIENCE -
1897 John F Enders, West Hartford CT, micro-biologist (polio-Nobel 1954) [D: 09/08/85]
1902 Walter H Brattain, Amoy China, US physicist (Nobel 1956-transistor) [D: 10/13/87]

SPORTS -
1906 John "Cat" Thompson, Saint George UT, basketball HoF 1975 [D: 10/17/90]
1929 Jim Whittacker, mountain climber (first American to climb Mt Everest)
1950 Mark Spitz, Modesto CA, swimmer (Olympics-9 gold/silver/bronze-68, 72)
1974 Tajuan "Ty" Law, Pittsburgh PA, cornerback (Jets) Pro Bowl 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006
1976 William Lance Berkman, Waco TX, outfielder/first baseman (Astros) All-Star 2001, 2002, 2004


1763 Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrenders Canada to England.
1855 US citizenship laws amended all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship.
1863 PT Barnum stages wedding of Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren in NYC.
1870 YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) is founded (New York NY).
1879 First electric arc light used (California Theater).
1890 Around 11 million acres, ceded to US by Sioux Indians opens for settlement.
1897 New York Times begins using slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print".
1933 The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.
1940 Tom and Jerry created by Hanna & Barbera debut by MGM.
1947 WWII peace treaties signed.
1962 Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
1997 O J Simpson jury reaches decision on $25 million in punitive damages.
MORE EVENTS

SOURCE: Earth Calendar
Oruro Local Festival - Bolivia
St. Paul's Shipwreck (Feast of ) - Malta
Tu B'Shevat / New Year of Trees - Israel


HIGHWAYS
An anthropology professor explained to his class that highways often follow landscape features laid down by glaciers. Since both early man and even-earlier animals found food and water at the foot of these glaciers, anthropologists sometimes serve on highway projects in order to identify any bones or artifacts found during construction.

In fact, the professor went on, partial remains of a dinosaur had been found beside recent excavations for Interstate 81.

Looking around the class, his eyes fell on a fine football player (but indifferent student) who slept through most of his classes.

"Well," the professor asked, "how would YOU account for this dead dinosaur beside the Interstate?"

Startled, the newly awakened student replied, "I don't know, sir. Perhaps he was hit by a truck?"


If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. - George Bernard Shaw


FORBIDDING: Why auctioneers pause. (WordFoolery)

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