Almanac June 19, 2011

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Today: is the 170th day of 2011. There are 195 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1910, the first-ever Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane, Wash. (The idea for the observance is credited to Sonora Louise Smart Dodd.)

In 1911, Pennsylvania became the first state to establish a motion picture censorship board.

In 1977, Pope Paul VI proclaimed a 19th-century Philadelphia bishop, John Neumann, the first male U.S. saint.

Today's birthdays

Singer Spanky McFarlane (Spanky and Our Gang) is 69. Actress Phylicia Rashad is 63. Singer-dancer Paula Abdul is 49.

The sun sets 8:35 p.m. today, rises 5:30 a.m. Monday.

The moon sets 9:25 a.m. today, rises 11:39 p.m. Monday. It is five days after the full moon.

100 years ago today

1911: Spiritual guidance: During the monthly meeting of the Ministerial Association a committee was appointed "to secure, if possible, the appointment of a regular chaplain for the spiritual oversight of the county prison. For some time past the feeling has grown more deeply that the present system of visiting the prisoners and preaching only in the regular turn of the clergymen of the city was not the most effective way of helping the prisoners to better lives. It is to be hoped that this county (Northampton) may soon join the ranks of those counties in the State which have made regular provisions for the spiritual care of the prisoners in the penal institutions."

50 years ago today

1961: "The Bethlehem Steel Co.'s new research facilities on South Mountain will be called 'Bethlehem Steel Company-Homer Research Laboratories,' C.H.H. Weikel, vice president in charge of research announced today. The inclusion in the title of the name A.B. Homer, Bethlehem's chairman and chief executive officer, recognizes Homer's longtime interest in the development and centralization of the company's research activities, Weikel said. It was Homer, he noted, who conceived the idea of bringing together at one location the company's research personnel to conduct projects in such fields as metallurgy, mechanics, chemical engineering, ceramics, chemistry, physics and nuclear studies. A series of open houses for the public to see the new facilities are being planned for later in the year."

Shipwreck: "Three persons, including two from Allentown, escaped injury Saturday night when their yacht was cut in two by a Dutch freighter in Chesapeake Bay. The yacht, 46 feet long, was struck amidships by the 363-foot freighter. The three persons were thrown into the water and were later picked up by a Danish freighter."

25 years ago today

1986: An ordinance by Northampton County Council would raise salaries of the part-time councilmen by 4 percent, from $5,500 to $6,073. Council members earned $4,000 in 1978 when the position was created with establishment of home rule government. They last received raises in 1982. Fred Brenner, who ran for county executive in 1985 and lost to County Executive Gerry Seyfried, disputed the need for raises. "The rewards of county council should be the satisfaction of working as a public servant," Brenner said.

Quote of the day

"Exuberance is better than taste." — Gustave Flaubert, French author (1821-1880)