Today, Friday, August 17, 2018, is the 229th day of the year. There are 136 days remaining in 2018.
The sun will rise today at 6:27 AM and will set at 7:59 PM. We will have 13 hours and 32 minutes of daylight.
The moon will rise at 1:18 PM today, it will be 41.8% illuminated, a waxing crescent moon
The next full moon is on August 26
The next new moon will be on September 9
The first low tide today is at 5:58 AM
The next low tide will be at 5:55 PM
Today’s only high tide is at 1:01 PM
Today is
- National Nonprofit Day
- Balloon Airmail Day
- Number 2 Pencil Day
- Black Cat Appreciation Day
- Vanilla Custard Day
- Thrift Shop Day
If today is your birthday, happy birthday to you! You share this special day with…
1607 – Pierre de Fermat, French lawyer and mathematician (d. 1665)
1887 – Marcus Garvey, Jamaican journalist and activist (d. 1940)
1893 – Mae West, American actress, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
1936 – Margaret Heafield Hamilton, American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner.
1943 – Robert De Niro, American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer
1958 – Belinda Carlisle, American singer-songwriter
1964 – Maria McKee, American singer-songwriter
1966 – Rodney Mullen, American skateboarder and stuntman
1969 – Donnie Wahlberg, American singer-songwriter, actor and producer
1969 – Kelvin Mercer, American rapper, songwriter and producer
On this day in California history:
In 1849: The first river steamboat in California, The George Washington, began regular service between Sacramento and San Francisco, transporting many who sought their fortune in the Gold Rush. About 300 steamboats eventually provided regular transportation between San Francisco, Benicia, Stockton and Sacramento. The opening of the Carquinez Bridge in 1927 slowed the demand for steamboat travel, and the last steamboat (The Petaluma) sailed from San Francisco in 1950.
In 1855, The Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first passenger railroad in the West, made a trial run from Sacramento to Folsom.
In 2013, The Rim Fire was started by a hunter’s illegal campfire in the Sierra Nevada. The fifth largest wildfire in California history to date burned 257,314 acres and was named for the Rim of the World vista point in the Stanislaus National Forest. It was fully contained on October 24, 2013, and was declared out on November 4, 2014.