Today is...

[IceWizard]

29 Apr 2017


Save The Frogs Day

”I’d kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs.”
~ Cameron Diaz

Frogs just don’t get enough love, or enough recognition that certain species of them are in just as much danger of passing from the Earth as bees. Save The Frogs Day aims to raise awareness about these wonderful amphibians and everything they do for us. If you have an abiding hatred of all things insect, then you should definitely be out there beating a drum for Save The Frogs Day! But that’s just the beginning!

History of Save The Frogs Day

Frogs can be found all over the world, and have been with us for an incredibly long time, with the first ancestor of the modern frog being dated to the Triassic period. That’s a really long time ago! Since then these almost entirely carnivorous beasties have been devouring every known type of insect all over the world. Not a fan of mosquitoes? You should totally be a fan of the frog, they eat tons of them every year! Sometimes they even eat them before they become mosquitoes, snacking on the mosquito larvae before they ever have a chance to grow into the blood-sucking menaces we all love to hate.

Frogs are often mistaken for toads, the difference being that toads are capable of living on dry land for long periods of time. Frogs require very moist environments, in part because their skin is semi-permeable, allowing water and gases to pass through it with ease! Any lover of frogs knows that they also have amazing vocalizations, the singing of frogs being one of the first signs of Spring in some areas, even in metropolitan areas where they’ll find stagnant ponds and ditches to live in.

Unfortunately, frogs are endangered, the number of frogs in the world has been dropping rapidly since the 1950’s, and it’s believed that over a hundred species of frogs have vanished from the world just since the 80’s! Save The Frogs Day works to raise awareness about the dangers they face, and the repercussions of living in a world without frogs.



And




International Astronomy Day



Astronomy allows us to see the history of the universe with our own eyes. The stars that twinkle as you look out on a dark, clear night may not exist right now. They existed at whatever point in history they emitted that light, which has taken millions of years to reach Earth.

Celebrate this marvelous feat on International Astronomy Day by participating in a little stargazing. Check out your local planetarium or library for activities, or simply find a quiet, dark spot to look out onto the sparkling canvas that lies above our heads. Use books or websites to identify the players in the Universe’s spectacular, historical light show.

Telescopes allow us to see much more than is visible to the naked eye. On International Astronomy Day, many organizations offer the public the use of telescopes to experience sights of the Universe that they've never seen before.





And




Sense Of Smell Day



In the dark annals of history it served to protect us from danger as we came down from the trees and raised ourselves onto two feet. So strongly attached to our development is it that it is connected to multiple different neurological systems, and as such can trigger memories in a way that little else can. With it we can identify our favorite dish, or pick up the wafting scent of our favorite person, that’s right, Sense of Smell Day is dedicated to this most amazing of our (far more than five) senses.

History of Sense of Smell

The Sense of Smell Institute sponsors this holiday for reasons so obvious we needn't mention it. The importance of the sense of smell is often overlooked, and some don’t truly appreciate how much of a role it plays in every day of our lives. Some of the most important and comforting things we can experience are intricately tied to our sense of smell, and our sense of smell becomes much less discerning without it.

The Sense of Smell Institute is the research and education division of The Fragrance Foundation.
Interesting things that this institute has managed to unveil is the fact that no two people smell odors in quite the same way. As the day progresses your sense of smell gets stronger, with the evening representing our strongest sense of smell. This makes a certain amount of sense when you consider that during the day our sight is the most important sense in identifying dangers, and at night, it could be a scent on the wind that saved our ancestors.

Another interesting revelation is that Vitamin A is not, as purported, good for our eyesight by and large, but is actually vitally important for our sense of smell.

A lack of it can actually cause Anosmia! (An odd little word that means ‘loss of a sense of smell’.)

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April 29 Birthdays



Uma Thurman - 47




Willie Nelson - 84




Jerry Seinfeld - 63




Michelle Pfeiffer - 59




Dale Earnhardt - (1951 - 2001) (49)




Duke Ellington - (1899 - 1974) (75)




Daniel Day-Lewis - 59




Eve Plumb - 59




Kate Mulgrew - 62





April 29th

1998: During an Aerosmith concert in Anchorage, AK, Steven Tyler suffered a knee ligament injury after he dropped his microphone stand on his knee during “Mama Kin” which caused them postpone their tour until September of that year.

1993: Mick Ronson, guitarist for David Bowie, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed and Bob Dylan died of liver cancer in the U.K. He was 46 years old.

1990: ABC premiered The Beach Boys docudrama Summer Dreams: The Story of The Beach Boys.

1989: Jon Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They’re still married to this day.

1988: Patti Boyd filed for divorce from Eric Clapton on grounds of Clapton’s adultery with Italian television personality Lory Del Santo.

1981: Van Halen released their fourth album Fair Warning which went on to reach number five on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and sell two million copies in the U.S.

1980: Against The Wind by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band was simultaneously certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA. The album later went on to sell five million copies in the U.S. & became Seger’s first and only number one album in the U.S.

1976: Bruce Springsteen scaled the fence of Graceland in an attempt to meet his idol, Elvis Presley. Security guards stopped Springsteen and escorted him off the grounds.

1972: John Lennon & Yoko Ono received support from then-New York City mayor John Lindsay to stay in the U.S.



Birthdays:

Klaus Voormann - Bassist for Manfred Mann born in 1938