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Almanac - Tuesday 2/9/21

Alice Walker, by flickr user veesees

Today is the birthday of Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple...

Today is Tuesday, the 9th of February of 2021

February 9 is the 40th day of the year

325 days remain until the end of the year

39 days until spring begins

The sun rises at 7:06 am 

and sunset will be at 5:43 pm.

We will have 10 hours and 37 minutes of daylight today

The solar transit will be at 12:24 pm.

The first low tide was at 3:12 am 

The first high tide will be at 9:10 am 

The next low tide at 4:10 pm.

and the final high tide at Aquatic Park in San Francisco will be at 11:24 pm

Moon: 5.7%

Waning Crescent

New Moon in 2 days on Thursday the 11th of February of 2021 at 11:06 am

Lunar New Year begins this Friday February 12

It’s the year of the Ox

Today is…

Chocolate Day

Extraterrestrial Culture Day

National Cut the Cord Day

National Develop Alternative Vices Day

National Toothache Day

Read in the Bathtub Day

Safer Internet Day

Today is also…

St. Maroun's Day in Lebanon

On this day in Black History…
– On this day in 1906, composer Paul Laurence Dunbar died at the age of 33.

Born on this day in 1943:  Barbara Lewis ~ (singer and songwriter) is born in South Lyon, Michigan

On February 9, 1944 - Novelist Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Ga.

Feb. 9, 1952 - Author Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man wins the National Book Award.

1965 --  Martin Luther King meets with President Lyndon Johnson to discuss Black voting rights

Feb. 9, 1971 - Leroy "Satchel" Paige is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Feb. 9, 1995 - Bernard Harris, African-American astronaut, takes space walk.

Also on this day in history…

1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.

1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.

1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.

1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.

1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).

1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.

1950 – Second Red ScareUS Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.

1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.

1971 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro league player to be voted into the USA's Baseball Hall of Fame.

1986 – Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.

…and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You!  You share this special day with…

1737 – Thomas Paine, English-American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 1809)

1773 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)

1814 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 28th Governor of New York (d. 1886)

1874 – Amy Lowell, American poet, critic, and educator (d. 1925)

1885 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1935)

1896 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1982)

1909 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1955)

1909 – Dean Rusk, American colonel and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)

1914 – Ernest Tubb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)

1923 – Brendan Behan, Irish rebel, poet, and playwright (d. 1964)

1928 – Roger Mudd, American journalist

1930 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (d. 2003)

1940 – J. M. Coetzee, South African-Australian novelist, essayist, and linguist, Nobel Prize laureate

1942 – Carole King, American singer-songwriter and pianist

1943 – Barbara Lewis, American soul/R&B singer-songwriter

1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor

1943 – Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1944 – Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, and poet

1945 – Mia Farrow, American actress, activist, and former fashion model

1947 – Joe Ely, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1963 – Travis Tritt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1980 – Manu Raju, American journalist