FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio “barn dance” on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history.^[1][2] Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners.

In the 1930s, the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours. Broadcasting by then at 50,000 watts, WSM made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943. As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America’s “country music capital.” The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that it is included as a “home of” mention on the welcome signs seen by motorists at the Metro Nashville/Davidson County line.

Membership in the Opry remains one of country music’s crowning achievements. Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville, with an annual three-month winter foray back to the Ryman since 1999. In addition to the radio programs, performances have been sporadically televised over the years.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Advent Sunday

“Advent Sunday is a liturgical period preceding Christmas, beginning in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and observed by many as a season of prayer, fasting, and penitence. Advent Sunday is also called the First Sunday of Advent by Western Christian Churches. It is the first day of the liturgical year and the start of the season of Advent.”

Hanukkah Begins

Hanukkah (also spelled “Chanukah”) is an eight-day Jewish festival which begins this evening at sundown. The festival commemorates events that took place in Judea more than 2,000 years ago, when the Syrian king Antiochus ordered the Jews to abandon the Torah and publicly worship the Greek gods. This act provoked a rebellion led by Judas Maccabeus, climaxed by the retaking of the Temple in Jerusalem, which had been desecrated by the Syrians. In an eight-day celebration, the Maccabees (as the rebels came to be known) cleansed and rededicated the Temple (Chanukah means “dedication”). According to the Talmud, there was only enough consecrated oil to relight the candelabra for one day, yet, miraculously, it remained lit for eight days. The central feature of the observance of Chanukah is the nightly lighting of the Chanukiah, an eight-branched candelabra with a place for a ninth candle, the shammes, used to light the others. One candle is lit on the first night of Chanukah, and an additional candle is lit on each successive night, until, on the eighth night, the Chanukiah is fully illuminated. Learn more about Hanukkah.

Question of the Day

Why is it called hamburger when it is made from beef?Hamburger was named for the city of Hamburg, Germany, where it was common for residents to pound their beef in the 19th century. By 1912, people in the United States were shaping this pulverized beef into patties.

Advice of the Day

When things go wrong, don’t go with them.

Home Hint of the Day

To rid a car of stale smoke odor, leave shallow containers of ground coffee in the car. Ventilate the car thoroughly by opening all the windows, and let the wind blow through for several hours.

Word of the Day

CrumpetA kind of large, thin muffin or cake, light and spongy, and cooked on a griddle or spider.

Puzzle of the Day

What is that which is so easily broken that the mere mention of it breaks it?Silence

Born

• William Blake(poet)– 1757
• Friedrich Engels(philosopher)– 1820
• Earl Grey(Canadian Governor General 1904 – 1911)– 1851
• James Connolly(first champion of modern Olympics)– 1865
• Henry Bacon(architect)– 1866
• Jose Iturbi(pianist)– 1895
• Alberto Moravia(writer)– 1907
• Berry Gordy, Jr.(founder of Motown Records)– 1929
• Gary Hart(politician)– 1936
• Paul Warfield(football player)– 1942
• Randy Newman(singer & songwriter)– 1943
• Paul Shaffer(musician & composer)– 1949
• Alexander Godunov(composer, ballet dancer, & actor)– 1949
• Dave Righetti(baseball player)– 1958
• Judd Nelson(actor)– 1959
• Jon Stewart(actor)– 1962
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead(actress)– 1984
• Scarlett N. Pomers(actress)– 1988

Died

• Washington Irving(writer)– 1859
• James Naismith(invented game of basketball)– 1939
• Dwight Davis(tennis player)– 1945
• Garry Moore(comedian)– 1993
• Leslie Nielsen(actor)– 2010
• Dale Armstrong(drag racer)– 2014

Events

• Navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific, emerging from what is now known as the Strait of Magellan– 1520
• Banff Hot Springs Reserve (later renamed Banff National Park) established– 1885
• North Pacific Canning Company formed, British Columbia– 1888
• First recorded automobile race in America. Six cars left Chicago’s Jackson Park for a 54 mile race to Evanston, Illinois, and back through the snow– 1895
• Grand Ole Opry made its radio debut– 1925
• In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove night club killed 492 people– 1942
• John Lennon made a concert appearance at NYC’s Madison Square Garden– 1974
• U.S. bill signed allowing states to set their own speed limits– 1995

Weather

• Thomas Jefferson recorded in his journal: “It is so cold that the freezing of the ink on the point of my pen renders it difficult to write.”– 1796
• A storm on Lake Superior damaged 29 ships– 1905
• A Lake Superior storm caused waves 20 to 40 feet high– 1960

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