January 20th - Today is the 20th day of the year, with only 345 days remaining in 2006.

Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18) - 11th sign of the Zodiac
In Greek mythology, Aquarius was 'cup-bearer to the Gods' (Ganymede). Ganymede was the son of Tros, king of Troy (according to Lucian, he was also son of Dardanus). While tending his father's flocks on Mount Ida, Ganymede was spotted by Jupiter. The king of gods became enamored of the boy and flew down to the mountain in the form of a large bird, whisking Ganymede away to the heavens. Ever since, the boy has served as cupbearer to the gods. This constellation is placed in the sky near other watery constellations including a dolphin (Delphinus), the sea monster (Cetus) and a fish (Pisces).


"Universal Time" (UT) which is sometimes referred to, now colloquially, as "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT)
FULL MOON - Jan 14   9:47 a.m.
LAST QUARTER - Jan 22   3:14 p.m.
NEW MOON - Jan 29   2:15 p.m.
FIRST QUARTER - Feb 5   6:28 a.m.


RULING PLANET: Uranus, god of lightning, electricity and bikers.
ELEMENT: Air (intellectual thinker)
QUADRUPLICITY: Fixed (stability)
POLARITY: Positive / Masculine (direct, self-expressive or extrovert)
SYMBOL: The Water bearer is the sign of the thinker.
COLOR OF CHOICE: Turquoise
STARSTONE: Turquoise
BODY PART: Aquarius rules the ankles, shins and the blood circulation.
KEY PHRASE: "I know."
* On the downside: Resisting Change, Rebellious, Erratic, Perverse, and Eccentric.
* Your good qualities include: Loath Restriction, Resourceful, Intuitive, Inventive, and Humanitarian.
* Recognizing that change is not all bad and accept the freedom and individual purpose that it brings could be your ongoing life's work.


ACTING -
1896 George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum), NYC, actor/comedian (Oh God) [D: 03/09/96]
1920 DeForest Kelley, Atlanta GA, actor (Dr McCoy-Star Trek) [D: 06/11/99]
1926 Patricia Neal, Packard KY, actress (Hud, Subject Was Roses)
1929 Arte Johnson, Benton Harbor IL, comedian (Laugh-in, Don't Call Me Charlie)
1937 Dorothy Provine, Deadwood SD, actor (That Darn Cat!, The Great Race)
1955 Wyatt Knight, actor (Tommy Turner-Porky's trilogy)
1956 Bill Maher, NY NY, comedian (Politically Incorrect)
1958 Lorenzo Lamas, Santa Monica CA, actor (Lance-Falcon Crest, California Fever)
1969 Melissa Rivers, NY NY, TV hostess (MTV, CBS Morning News)

ARTISTIC -
1873 Johannes V Jensen, Farsø Denmark, novelist/poet/essayist (Energy Storage, Nobel Prize for Literature 1944) [D: 11/25/50]
1894 Harold L Gray, artist/cartoonist (Little Orphan Annie) [D: 09/06/68]
1960 Will Wright, Atlanta GA, video game developer (SimCity, The Sims)

HISTORIC -
1732 Richard H Lee, Stratford VA, urged Tenth Amendment, (signed Declaration of Independence) [D: 06/19/1794]
1798 Anson Jones, Seekonkville MA, 5th and last President of Texas [D: 01/09/1858]
1883 Betram Home Ramsay, English Admiral/Commander Allied Naval Forces [D: 01/02/45]

MUSIC -
1942 Slim Whitman (Otis Dewey Whitman, Jr.), yodeler/country singer (Rose Marie)
1952 Paul Stanley (Stanley Harvey Eisen), rock guitarist/vocalist (KISS-Rock and Roll all Night)
1965 John Michael Montgomery, Danville KY, award-winning country singer (Life's a Dance)
1971 Gary Barlow (Kurtis Rush), Frodsham England, singer/songwriter/bandleader/producer (Love is in the Air)

SCIENCE -
1775 Andre-Marie Ampere, Lyon France, discovered electromagnetism [D: 06/10/1836]
1910 Joy Adamson, naturalist/author (Born Free) [D: 01/03/80]
1930 Edwin E "Buzz" Aldrin Jr, Montclair NJ, Colonel USAF/astronaut (Gemini 12, Apollo 11)
1948 Jerry L Ross, Crown Point Indiana, Colonel USAF/astronaut (STS 61B, 27, 37, 55, 74, 88)

SPORTS -
1940 Carol Heiss Jenkins, Queens NY, figure skater (Olympics-gold/silver-56, 60)


1783 Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
1887 The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1892 At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
1930 First radio broadcast of "Lone Ranger" (WXYZ-Detroit).
1945 FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as President.
1949 J Edgar Hoover gives Shirley Temple a tear gas fountain pen.
1964 Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released.
1968 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming.
1980 President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow.
1981 Iran releases 52 American hostages bare minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
1986 Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in New Orleans LA.
MORE EVENTS

SOURCE: Earth Calendar
Army Day - Laos, Lesotho, Mali
AtiAtihan Festival - Philippines
Chiaraque en Canas - Peru
Death of Amilca Cabral - Guinea Bissau
Foundation Day (Rio de Janeiro) - Brazil
Inauguration Day - United States of America
National Heroes Day - Cape Verde Islands, Guinea Bissau


HUMOR SCOPE (http://humorscope.com)
The Humorscope has been called "uncannily accurate" by at least one person. I construct forecasts each day, using precise planetary positions, a custom-made analog computer, and ancient Norwegian meditation techniques. Or at least, that's what I would do if I had more time. Currently, I mostly just spin a carrot.

Aries (March 21 - April 19) - Someone you've never met will come up and nudge you today. You don't have to stand for that, though, and you should just nudge them right back.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20) - A hexapod robot will run away from its laboratory today, change its name to "Bob", and take up residence with you. Eventually, you'll become best friends.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20) - You will get a postcard from the Forbidden City today, containing some very unsettling news. You won't realize that, of course, since it will be written in a language you don't understand.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22) - Good day to be callously indifferent to the plight of the masses. You have larger things on your mind than whether the peasants are happy. Oui?

Leo (July 23 - August 22) - You will design a really wonderful new type of placemat, today, and it will make you fantastically wealthy, providing you get it on the market before your competitors.

Virgo (August 23 - September 22) - A huge spacecraft will hover over your dwelling structure today, and secretly analyze you down to the last parasitic microbe in your epidermal layers. They will be on the point of making contact with humans, and offering us technology to cure all illness, let us live indefinitely while looking like healthy 20-year-olds, and give us the ability to travel interstellar distances in an eye blink...when they spot you making something with SPAM. After a bit of horrified bleeping at each other, they will zoom off, never to return.

Libra (September 22 - October 22) - Most people are aware that it's supposed to be good luck to toss a pinch of salt over your left shoulder. Today you will discover that it's even better luck to toss a carton of yogurt over your right shoulder.

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) - A small packet containing 7 oddly-colored bean seeds will arrive in the mail today. There will be no return address, nor any indication of what they are. Only one way to find out...

Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21) - Huge mutant gnats will pester you today. Or at least, that's what it will seem like -- sometimes managers bear a striking resemblance...

Capricorn (December 22 - January 20) - Beware the Ides of March. Also, if you have a friend named "Brutus", it might behoove you to be a trifle more selective...

Aquarius (January 21 - February 18) - Through a casual remark in an elevator, you will realize that both you and your fellow passenger have seen John Cleese's informational film called How To Irritate People. By the time you reach the 10th floor, you will both be severely vexed with one another.

Pisces (February 19 - March 20) - If you aren't careful, you may accidentally insult someone by a poor choice of words, and hurt their feelings. In particular, the expression "hideously deformed" may not be as neutral as you believe.


Getting involved is so, so ... involving. - Vera-Ellen / February 16, 1926

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

New subscribers are always welcome.
To receive your FREE Jest-A-Day Journal, sign-up here