Today is the 145th day of 2014. There are 220 days left in the year.
On this date
- In 1935, Babe Ruth hit the 714th and final home run of his career, for the Boston Braves, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- In 1981, daredevil Dan Goodwin, wearing a Spiderman costume, scaled the outside of Chicago's Sears Tower in 7 1/2 hours.
Country singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall is 78. Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 71. Actress Karen Valentine is 67. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 51.
The sun sets 8:20 p.m. today, rises 5:35 a.m. Monday.
The moon sets 5:18 p.m. today, rises 4:17 a.m. Monday. It is five days after the last quarter.
100 years ago today
1914: Window shopping: "Frank Crissman, of Delaware, this county (Warren), was arrested yesterday afternoon on the charge of violating the traffic ordinance. He gave a $5 forfeit for a hearing. Crissman is the man who later in the day ran his auto into a window of Bush & Bull's store, Easton."
Couldn't beat the odds: "A raid was made on a gambling joint in the rear of a Chinese laundry on South Fifth Street, near Northampton Street, on Saturday evening, and 13 prisoners were rounded up and taken to City Hall. Each man left a forfeit of $5 for his appearance in police court."
50 years ago today
1964: Ring of fire: "Drive-in fire service is spreading throughout the area. Kenneth Clark, Freemansburg Highway, noted that the load on his garbage truck was on fire as he turned into Keane Street in Palmer Township. He stopped at a home and used a garden hose to put it out. In the meantime people in a nearby restaurant saw the fire and called in an alarm. Clark continued on his way and when he saw Palmer police answering the alarm, he stopped to tell them he didn't need help. At this time the fire started to burn again. Clark then drove to the fire station at 27th Street where Palmer firemen extinguished it permanently. Earlier this week and last week two drivers brought their cars to the Wilson station to have burning seats extinguished."
25 years ago today
1989: Slow-motion erosion: "The northbound lane of Bushkill Drive, just north of Edgewood Avenue in Forks Township, was closed for three hours yesterday after a 40-foot section of sloped land edged out onto the roadway. Tom Seyfried of the state Department of Transportation said rain apparently entered the sandy slope and gradually caused the slide over the past year. He said workers removed 100 tons of sandy dirt from the area. Barricades were put up and the road was reopened about 8:30 p.m. Seyfried said a wall will probably have to be constructed and the sandy material replaced with dirt." Said Seyfried, "It walks like Jell-O.'
Quote of the day
"There is nothing final about a mistake, except its being taken as final." — Phyllis Bottome, English author (1884-1963).
Almanac is compiled by Pete Brekus, Express-Times news assistant. He can be reached at 610-258-7171, or at firstname.lastname@example.org.