By Cynthia Charlene Greason
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Martha Maria Yeardley Smith (/ˈjɑːrdli/ YARD-lee; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress. She stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons.
Smith became an actress in 1982 after graduating from drama school. She moved to New York City in 1984, where she appeared in the Broadway production of Tom Stoppard‘s The Real Thing. She made her film debut in 1985’s Heaven Help Us, followed by roles in The Legend of Billie Jean and Maximum Overdrive. She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and took a recurring role in the television series Brothers.
In 1987, Smith auditioned for the Simpsons shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. Smith intended to audition for the role of Bart Simpson, but the casting director felt her voice was too high, and she was cast as Bart’s sister Lisa. In 1989, the shorts were spun off into their own half-hour show, The Simpsons. For her work on The Simpsons, Smith received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
The phrase “Dog Days” conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days: the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. The rising of Sirius does not actually affect the weather (some of our hottest and most humid days occur after August 11), but for the ancient Egyptians, Sirius appeared just before the season of the Nile’s flooding, so they used the star as a “watchdog” for that event. Since its rising also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all time: “Dog Days bright and clear / indicate a happy year. / But when accompanied by rain, / for better times our hopes are vain.”
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Samuel Huntington (signer of the Declaration of Independence) –
- John Singleton Copley (painter) –
- Richard Bedford Bennett (11th Prime Minister of Canada) –
- George M. Cohan (composer) –
- Franz Kafka (novelist) –
- Ken Russell (film director) –
- Pete Fountain (jazz musician) –
- Harrison Schmitt (geologist, astronaut, politician) –
- Tom Stoppard (writer) –
- Betty Buckley (actress) –
- Frank Daryl Tanana (baseball player) –
- Thomas Gibson (actor) –
- Tom Cruise (actor) –
- Yeardley Smith (actress) –
- Kevin Hearn (musician) –
Died
- Jim Morrison (musician) –
- Rudy Vallee (musician & actor) –
- Jim Backus (actor) –
- Andy Griffith (actor) –
Events
- Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain–
- The first savings bank in America (Bank of Savings) opened in N.Y.C.–
- Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire officially opened to the public.–
- Idaho became the 43rd state to enter the Union–
- Fruit Garden and Home magazine was published. The publication changed its name two years later to Better Homes and Gardens–
- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places–
- The USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf, believing it to be a hostile fighter. All 290 civilians aboard were killed–
- Singer Kylie Minogue received an Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Prince Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace–
Weather
- Black dust fell in Canada–
- Hartford, Connecticut, reached 102 degrees F–
- New York City reached 107 degrees F–
- Allentown, Pennsylvania, reached 105 degrees F–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
