FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Noriyuki “Pat” Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005)^[1] was a Japanese-American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi on Happy Days, Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid film series, Captain Sam Pak on the sitcom M*A*S*H, Ah Chew in Sanford and Son, Mike Woo in The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, and The Emperor of China in Mulan and Mulan II. He was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina and in Ohara, a police-themed drama. The two shows made history for being among the few TV shows with an Asian American series lead.

Morita was nominated for the 1984 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid,^[2] which would be the first of a media franchise in which Morita was the central player.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

Do cars feel the effects of the windchill factor?No. The temperature of the wind should have no effect on a car whatsoever. Wind can cause a car’s engine to cool down faster if it’s parked outside, but its ultimate temperature will be unaffected.

Advice of the Day

After a dinner party, offer your guests anise seeds; they can be chewed to aid digestion and freshen breath.

Home Hint of the Day

When building or repairing a stone wall, use the oldest rule in masonry: One over two and two over one. If the stones overlap, the wall will be stronger.

Word of the Day

Bronx cheerA cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt.

Puzzle of the Day

What is the geometrical form of an escaped parrot?A polygon (Polly gone)

Born

• Zachary Taylor(12th U.S. president)– 1784
• Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett(novelist)– 1849
• Cass Gilbert(architect)– 1859
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec(artist)– 1864
• Scott Joplin(pianist, King of Ragtime)– 1868
• Cathleen Nesbitt(actress)– 1888
• Garson Kanin(playwright)– 1912
• Geraldine Fitzgerald(actress)– 1914
• William Buckley, Jr.(publisher)– 1925
• Steve Yeager(baseball player)– 1948
• Brad Sherwood(comedian)– 1964
• Colin Hanks(actor)– 1977
• Katherine Heigl(actress)– 1978

Died

• Lee Harvey Oswald(suspected assassin of President John F. Kennedy)– 1963
• Freddie Mercury(musician)– 1991
• John Rawls(leading figure in political philosophy and legal theory)– 2002
• Warren Spahn(American baseball player)– 2003
• Pat Morita(actor)– 2005

Events

• The transit of Venus was first observed– 1639
• Justus Falckner became the first Lutheran pastor ordained in America (Philadelphia)– 1703
• Charles Darwin’s controversial Origin of Species published– 1859
• First national Thanksgiving celebration– 1863
• Joseph Glidden granted patent for barbed wire fencing– 1874
• Cape Breton Railway opened, Nova Scotia– 1890
• Ruth Nichols became the first woman to fly a transcontinental flight– 1930
• Lee Harvey Oswald, accused by Dallas police of assassinating President Kennedy, was shot and killed by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas municipal building while in police custody– 1963
• 239-lb. yellowfin tuna caught off Catalina Island, California– 1984
• 14.04-pound saugeye caught, Antrim Lake, Ohio– 2004

Weather

• In what became known as the “Battle Above the Clouds,” the Union army, aided by clouds obscuring the battlefield, was victorious at Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga– 1863

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