By Eunice Charles
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup championships, including five consecutive titles, tying him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time. He is widely considered one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.
Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School, he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA), and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team, Herzog Motorsports, began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late model touring cars and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he switched to the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series).
His talent was noticed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, who convinced owner Rick Hendrick to sign Johnson in the Winston Cup Series full-time for 2002, with Gordon as a part-owner of his car. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004 and fifth in 2005. Johnson won his first Cup Series championship in 2006 and with further wins in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, he became the first and only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships. Johnson finished sixth in the points standings in the 2011 season and third in 2012 before winning his sixth championship in 2013. In 2016, Johnson won his seventh championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most Cup Series championships of all time. Johnson is also a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, winning in 2006 and 2013. Between 2002 and 2017, Johnson recorded seven championships, 83 career race wins, 222 top fives, 341 top tens, and 35 pole positions. From 2021 to 2022, Johnson competed in the IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing, and has competed occasionally in sports car racing throughout his career.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:
“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”
Which means:
“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”
In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”). Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months.
As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“
Formerly called “I am an American Day” (1940) and then “Citizenship Day” (1952), this observance’s long new name (2004) is called Constitution Day for short. It marks the anniversary of the date in 1787 when the final draft of the Constitution of the United States was signed by delegates to the Constitutional Convention after months of wrangling. The framers of the Constitution had been arguing constantly as they met in secret, but they had leaked reports to the press indicating that all was well. “So great is the unanimity, we hear, that prevails in the convention, upon all great federal subjects, that it has been proposed to call the room in which they assemble ‘Unanimity Hall.’” The Federalists (as they came to be called) argued through June and most of July and reached an agreement on July 16. After deciding to leave out a bill of rights — because everyone was worn-out and they thought there was no need for such a list — the framers completed the final draft on September 17 and made it ready for submission to the states for ratification. The American Bar Association and other organizations make an effort to mark this anniversary by sponsoring symposia and, in some cases, offering free legal advice.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
In schools I’m met with every day; transposed, your stories fraught with wonder; again transposed, I’m small, you’ll say; and again, you’ll learn to rob and plunder. (What word fits the first clue, and when rearranged, fits the others?)
Slate – tales – least – steal
Died
- Tobias George Smollett (Scottish satirical novelist) –
- Spiro T. Agnew (served as vice president under Richard Nixon) –
- Red Skelton (comedian) –
- Robert Truax (rocket scientist) –
Born
- David Dunbar Buick (automobile manufacturer) –
- William Carlos Williams (writer & doctor) –
- Hank Williams (musician) –
- Anne Bancroft (actress) –
- David Souter (U.S. Supreme Court justice) –
- Phil Jackson (basketball coach) –
- John Ritter (actor) –
- Kyle Chandler (actor) –
- Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR driver) –
- Patrick Mahomes (football player) –
- Auston Matthews (hockey player) –
- India Amarteifio (actress) –
Events
- City of Boston founded –
- The U.S. Constitution signed –
- Harriet Tubman and her two brothers temporarily escaped slavery in Maryland. –
- Battle of Antietam in Maryland occurred; known as the bloodiest battle of the Civil War –
- First powered flight of X-15 rocket plane –
- First public display of a lunar rock, at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. –
- M*A*S*H made its television debut –
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police began accepting women as uniformed members –
- NASA unveiled the first space shuttle, Enterprise, to the public –
- Vanessa Williams became the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America –
- William Rehnquist is confirmed as chief justice of the US Supreme Court –
- Heather Whitestone of Alabama became the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss America –
- The Late Show with David Letterman was the first TV talk show to return to the airways six days after terrorists attacked the United States in New York City –
- Barry Bonds hit his 700th home run –
- A 17-pound 4-ounce white catfish was caught in the Humboldt River of Nevada –
- A bottled message tossed from an April Caribbean cruise was found in Sunset Beach, North Carolina –
Weather
- 2.42” rain fell in 3 hours in Yuma, Arizona –
- Lander, in the Wyoming Rockies, had 23.6 inches of snow –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
