FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns and are included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.

The game was invented in 1938 by American architect Alfred Mosher Butts. Scrabble is produced in the United States and Canada by Hasbro, under the brands of both of its subsidiaries, Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers. Mattel owns the rights to manufacture Scrabble outside the U.S. and Canada. The game is sold in 121 countries and is available in more than 30 languages; approximately 150 million sets have been sold worldwide, and roughly one-third of American and half of British homes have a Scrabble set. There are approximately 4,000 Scrabble clubs around the world.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

How does a person get rid of slugs?

First, trap them. Go out to the garden in the late afternoon and lay boards or pieces of cardboard on the bare soil around your plantings. In the morning, turn over the boards and scrape the hiding slugs into a large yogurt or cottage cheese container. Cover and place in the freezer for three hours. When they’re frozen stiff, dump them on your compost pile.

Advice of the Day

Do not let any sweet-talking woman beguile your good sense with fascinations of her shape. It’s your barn she’s after. — Hesiod

Home Hint of the Day

If your lawn is troubled by summer dry spells, add clover seed in the spring. Follow instructions on the seed package. Later on, clover will help keep your lawn green during hot, dry weather.

Word of the Day

Snub

A post on a dock or shore, around which a rope is thrown to check the motion of a vessel.

Puzzle of the Day

What do sea monsters eat?

Fish and ships!

Born

• Ella Fitzgerald (singer) – 1917
• Melissa Hayden (ballerina) – 1923
• Al Pacino (actor) – 1940
• Talia Shire (actress) – 1946
• Hank Azaria (actor) – 1964
• Renee Zellweger (actress) – 1969
• Jason Lee (actor) – 1970

Died

• Ginger Rogers (dancer & actress) – 1995
• Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes (rap artist) – 2002
• Bobby “Boris” Pickett (singer best known for the Billboard hit Monster Mash) – 2007
• Bea Arthur (actress) – 2009

Events

• New York became first state to require auto license plates– 1901
• The first guide dog, Buddy, was presented to Morris Frank– 1928
• First circus telecast– 1940
• United Negro College Fund was incorporated– 1944
• The board game Scrabble trademark was registered– 1950
• St. Lawrence Seaway completed. (It was dedicated on June 26.)– 1959
• “Purple People Bridge” reopened, Cincinnati– 2003
• A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal killing more than 8,000 people– 2015

Weather

• New York City had 3 inches of snow– 1875
• 118 degrees F, Volcano Springs, CA– 1898
• In Michigan, a 70 mph wind picked up a 6-pound Chihuahua and blew her out of sight– 2009
• The temperature in Concord, New Hampshire, reached 90 degrees setting a new state record for this date– 2009
• A large tornado outbreak (about 362 twisters) began that lasted into April 28 and affected eastern U.S. and southern Canada– 2011

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