Good Morning Everyone !
Today is December 10, the 344th day of 2013 and there are 21 days left this year.
Another brisk and chilly day here in Albuquerque with a temperature of 16 outside this morning, but nice as compared to many places this morning and am thankful for it! I do remind everyone during this cold spell, please bring those precious little four-legged loved ones inside at night; it’s just too cold to be out all night!
It may be cold but it is still a wonderful, beautiful and blessed day to continue our work for our Lord here at:
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!
So, What Happened Today In 1901:
First Nobel Prizes Are Awarded
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The ceremony came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will, Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune be placed in a fund in which the interest would be “annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Although Nobel offered no public reason for his creation of the prizes, it is widely believed that he did so out of moral regret over the increasingly lethal uses of his inventions in war.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833, and four years later his family moved to Russia. His father ran a successful St. Petersburg factory that built explosive mines and other military equipment. Educated in Russia, Paris, and the United States, Alfred Nobel proved a brilliant chemist. When his father’s business faltered after the end of the Crimean War, Nobel returned to Sweden and set up a laboratory to experiment with explosives. In 1863, he invented a way to control the detonation of nitroglycerin, a highly volatile liquid that had been recently discovered but was previously regarded as too dangerous for use. Two years later, Nobel invented the blasting cap, an improved detonator that inaugurated the modern use of high explosives. Previously, the most dependable explosive was black powder, a form of gunpowder.
Nitroglycerin remained dangerous, however, and in 1864 Nobel’s nitroglycerin factory blew up, killing his younger brother and several other people. Searching for a safer explosive, Nobel discovered in 1867 that the combination of nitroglycerin and a porous substance called kieselguhr produced a highly explosive mixture that was much safer to handle and use. Nobel christened his invention “dynamite,” for the Greek word dynamis, meaning “power.” Securing patents on dynamite, Nobel acquired a fortune as humanity put his invention to use in construction and warfare.
In 1875, Nobel created a more powerful form of dynamite, blasting gelatin, and in 1887 introduced ballistite, a smokeless nitroglycerin powder. Around that time, one of Nobel’s brothers died in France, and French newspapers printed obituaries in which they mistook him for Alfred. One headline read, “The merchant of death is dead.” Alfred Nobel in fact had pacifist tendencies and in his later years apparently developed strong misgivings about the impact of his inventions on the world. After he died in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1896, the majority of his estate went toward the creation of prizes to be given annually in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The portion of his will establishing the Nobel Peace Prize read, “[one award shall be given] to the person who has done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Exactly five years after his death, the first Nobel awards were presented.
Today, the Nobel Prizes are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the world in their various fields. Notable winners have included Marie Curie, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King Jr., Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Nelson Mandela. Multiple leaders and organizations sometimes receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and multiple researchers often share the scientific awards for their joint discoveries. In 1968, a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was established by the Swedish national bank, Sveriges Riksbank, and first awarded in 1969.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides the prizes in physics, chemistry, and economic science; the Swedish Royal Caroline Medico-Surgical Institute determines the physiology or medicine award; the Swedish Academy chooses literature; and a committee elected by the Norwegian parliament awards the peace prize. The Nobel Prizes are still presented annually on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. In 2006, each Nobel Prize carried a cash prize of nearly $1,400,000 and recipients also received a gold medal, as is the tradition.
Other Memorable Or Interesting Events That Occurred On December the 10th In History:
741 – Zacharias becomes Pope;
1041 – Michael IV, Paphlagonicus, Byzantium Emperor dies. His wife, Empress Zoe, elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the eastern Roman Empire as Michael V;
1510 – Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication;
1672 – New York Governor Lovelace announces monthly mail service between New York and Boston;
1778 – John Jay elected President of the Continental Congress. Later, in his 2nd term, upholding his opposition to complete independence from Great Britain, he resigned rather than sign the declaration of independence;
1799 – Metric system established in France;
1817 – Mississippi is admitted as 20th state of the union;
1830 – Poet Emily Dickinson is born;
1851 – Melvil Dewey, American Librarian famous for creating the Dewey Decimal Classification System, is born;
1861 – Confederacy admitted Kentucky by recognizing pro-southern shadow government acting without authority of pro-union government in Frankfort;
1864 – Union General William T Sherman completes his march to the sea when he arrives in front of Savannah, Georgia;
1869 – Wyoming becomes the 1st state to grant women the right to vote. Many believe this was motivated simply by sheer loneliness, men outnumbered women 6 to 1 in the state and some hoped the vote would attract more women to the state;
1898 – Treaty of Paris ends Spanish-American War. U.S. acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico & Guam;
1906 – President Theodore Roosevelt becomes 1st American awarded Nobel Peace Prize for helping mediate end to Russo-Japanese War;
1915 – Ford builds its one millionth car which rolled off the assembly line at the River Rouge plant in Detroit;
1927 – Grand Ole Opry makes 1st radio broadcast in Nashville, TN;
1931 – Jane Adams becomes 1st American woman awarded Nobel Peace Prize with co-recipient Nicholas Murray Butler;
1936 – King Edward VIII abdicates his throne to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson. England replaces King Edward VIII stamp series with King George VI;
1941 – 4,000 Japanese troops land on the Philippine Islands while their aircraft sink the British warships Prince of Wales and Repulse while Guam was also seized prompting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to exclaim, “We have lost control of the sea.”;
1950 – Ralph J Bunche becomes 1st black American to win Nobel Peace Prize;
1964 – Martin Luther King Jr. receives Nobel Peace Prize;
1967 – Otis Reading, 26, & 6 others killed when their place crashed into Wisconsin’s Lake Monona;
1970 – Trial begins in case of Lt William Calley for his leadership role in Vietnam’s My Lai massacres;
1984 – 1st planet, outside our own solar system, is discovered;
1998 – 6 astronauts opened the doors to the new international space station;
2007 – Michael Vick is sentenced to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dog fighting operation & killing dogs that under performed;
2012 – Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper declares marijuana legal.
Today’s Christian Thought:
Live in such a way that those who know you, but don’t know God, will come to know God, because they know you!
Today’s Faithful Quote:
“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” – Ronald Reagan
Today’s Amazing ‘Useless’ Fact:
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
Today’s Word Of The Day:
Empirical is an adjective that describes a study or technique that relies upon observation and physical evidence as opposed to theory. It comes from Latin empiricus, “a physician guided by experience.” “Empirical evidence” is a source of knowledge resulting from observation or experimentation. The most common use of empirical in writing for the general reader is in the expressions “empirical evidence” and “empirical study”.
Today’s Inspirational Music Video:
“Indescribable” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yQW_4zNt_w
Today’s Funny Picture:
No doubt they also serve road kill! Today's Remember This? - Ever Shop Here?
Today’s Silly Question:
If ghosts can walk through walls & glide down the stairs, why don’t they fall through the floor?
UNTIL TOMORROW – GOD BLESS TO ALL !!!