FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Kamala Devi Harris (/ˈkɑːmələ ˈdeɪvi/ (listen) KAH-mə-lə DAY-vee; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017 and as a United States senator representing California from 2017 to 2021.

Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco‘s office. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco. She was elected Attorney General of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Harris served as the junior United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021. Harris defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate. As a senator, she advocated for healthcare reform, federal de-scheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform. She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault.

Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but withdrew from the race prior to the primaries. Joe Biden selected her as his running mate and their ticket went on to defeat the incumbent president, Donald Trump, and vice president, Mike Pence, in the 2020 election. Harris became vice president upon being inaugurated on January 20, 2021, alongside President Joe Biden.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

What is the red tide that occurs on ocean coasts?

A red tide is a bloom of dinoflagellates that turns the ocean water red. Certain dinoflagellates produce toxins that can kill fish and contaminate shellfish, making the shellfish inedible.

Advice of the Day

Wear gold earrings on your wedding day to ensure wedded bliss.

Home Hint of the Day

To sand moldings or other curved surfaces, make a cylindrical sand pad by slitting a short length of hose or plastic pipe, then wrapping the sandpaper around the hose and tucking the ends in the slit.

Word of the Day

Horse latitudes

Either of two belts of latitudes located over the oceans at about 30° to 35° north and south, having high barometric pressure, calms, and light, changeable winds.

Puzzle of the Day

Why is coffee like an ax with a dull edge?

It must be ground before being used.

Born

• Samuel Keefer (first Canadian Chief Engineer of Public Works) – 1811
• George Burns (comedian & actor) – 1896
• Joy Adamson (author of Born Free) – 1910
• Patricia Neal (actress) – 1926
• Edwin Buzz” Aldrin” (astronaut) – 1930
• John Naber (swimmer) – 1956
• James Denton (actor) – 1963
• Rainn Wilson (actor) – 1968

Died

• John Ruskin (art critic) – 1900
• Alan Freed (disc jockey) – 1965
• Audrey Hepburn (actress) – 1993
• David Fathead” Newman” (jazz musician) – 2009
• Etta James (singer) – 2012
• Naomi Parker Fraley (inspiration for the 1943 “We Can Do It!” Westinghouse poster ) – 2018

Events

• First major U.S. geology book debuted– 1809
• U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower was lassoed by a cowboy at the inauguration parade– 1953
• In Montreal, censors withdrew The Wild Ones from cinemas claiming it inspired violence among youth– 1956
• John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th U.S. president– 1961
• Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th U.S. president– 1981
• Ronald Reagan was privately sworn in for his second term as U.S. president. The public ceremony was held the following day– 1985
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time– 1986
• George H. W. Bush was sworn in as the 41st U.S. president– 1989
• Solar activity knocked out Telesat Canada’s satellites Anik E-1 and E-2, affecting TV, radio, and phones– 1994
• National Hockey League season began after 103-day lockout.– 1995
• George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd U.S. president– 2001
• Bode Miller won his 28th World Cup victory, the most ever for an American alpine skier– 2008
• Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office and became the first African American U.S. president– 2009
• A 6.1-magnitude aftershock struck Haiti, eight days after a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake– 2010
• 74-pound striped bass caught near Cape Henry, Virginia– 2012
• Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female and first black vice president of the United States– 2021
• Joe Biden was sworn is as the 46th president of the United States– 2021

Weather

• The temperature at Boca, California, hit -45 degrees F– 1937
• Rogers Pass, Montana, set the record lowest temperature for the continental United States of -69.7F.– 1954
• Two feet of snow fell in New Hampshire in what became known as the “Kennedy Inaugural Storm,” which hit the East Coast– 1961

COURTESY www,almanac.com