By Vickie Sellers
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline, Chun Kuk Do. Shortly after, in Hollywood, Norris trained celebrities in martial arts. Norris went on to appear in a minor role in the spy film The Wrecking Crew (1969). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in The Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested he take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead, Good Guys Wear Black (1978), became a hit, and he soon became a popular action film star.
Norris went on to star in a streak of bankable independently made action and martial arts films, with A Force of One (1979), The Octagon (1980), and An Eye for an Eye (1981). This made Norris an international celebrity. He went on to make studio films like Silent Rage (1982) with Columbia, Forced Vengeance (1982) with MGM, and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) with Orion. This led Cannon Films to sign Norris into a multiple film deal, starting with Missing in Action (1984), which proved to be very successful and launched a trilogy. Norris started to work almost exclusively on high-profile action films with Cannon, becoming its leading star during the 1980s. Films with Cannon include Invasion U.S.A (1985), The Delta Force (1986), and Firewalker (1986), among others. Apart from the Cannon films, Norris made Code of Silence (1985), which was received as one of his best films. In the 1990s, he played the title role in the long-running CBS television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 until 2001. Until 2006, Norris continued taking lead roles in action movies, including Delta Force 2 (1990), The Hitman (1991), Sidekicks (1992), Forest Warrior (1996), and The President’s Man (2000) and its sequel (2002). His most recent film appearance to date was in The Expendables 2 (2012).
Throughout his film and TV career, Norris diversified from his regular endeavors. He is a noted writer, having penned books on martial arts, exercise, philosophy, politics, Christianity, Western fiction, and biography. He was twice a New York Times bestselling author, first with his book on his personal philosophy of positive force and the psychology of self-improvement based on personal anecdotes called The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story (1988). His second New York Times bestseller, Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America (2008), is about his critique of current issues in the United States. Norris also appeared in several commercials endorsing several products, most notably being one of the main spokespersons for the Total Gym infomercials. In 2005, Norris found new fame on the Internet when Chuck Norris facts became an Internet meme documenting humorous, fictional, and often absurd feats of strength and endurance. Although Norris himself did not produce the “facts”, he was hired to endorse many products that incorporated Chuck Norris facts in advertising. The phenomenon resulted in six books (two of them New York Times bestsellers), two video games, and several appearances on talk shows, such as Late Night with Conan O’Brien, where he read the facts or participated in sketches.
Ramadan begins at sundown. The exact timing is subject to the first sighting of the Moon. Beginning at age 12, all Muslims take part in the month-long sunrise-to-sunset fast that is the hallmark of Ramadan. Eating and drinking (including water) is prohibited during daylight hours, and the day’s abstinence is offset by a nightly meal known as iftar. The holiday honors the time when the angel Gabriel revealed the first verses of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, to a desert-wandering caravan trader named Muhammad. Muslims believe that fasting cleanses the body, and the practice reminds them of the suffering of the poor. Food is often shared with a poor family during Ramadan. At the end of the 30-day fast is Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast), replete with feasting and celebration. Read more about Ramadan.
Today is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, time for moving the clocks one hour ahead. The exceptions are Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Credit for Daylight Saving Time belongs to Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested the idea in 1784. The idea was revived in 1907, when William Willett, an Englishman, proposed a similar system in the pamphlet The Waste of Daylight. The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones. This experiment lasted only until 1920, when the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers (cows don’t pay attention to clocks). During World War II, Daylight Saving Time was imposed once again (this time year-round) to save fuel.
The fourth Sunday of Lent was traditionally a break from the austere rigors of the season, and on that day boys living away from home, such as apprentices or students, were allowed to return home to visit their mothers. It was customary for them to bring a simnel—a highly spiced fruitcake—as a present. The visit was termed “going a-mothering,” and on this occasion the mother bestowed a blessing upon her child.
Question of the Day
On the equinoxes, the very center of the Sun sets just 12 hours after it rose. But the day begins when the upper edge of the Sun reaches the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises), and it doesn’t end until the entire Sun has set. Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun’s rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Ferdinand V (King of Aragon) –
- Angel de Saavedra (poet, dramatist) –
- Emily Pauline Johnson (Canadian writer, performer) –
- Lillian D. Wald (social worker) –
- Barry Fitzgerald (actor) –
- Bix Beiderbecke (jazz musician) –
- Victor Manuel Blanco (astronomer who helped build the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile) –
- Kenneth Burns (singer) –
- James Earl Ray (convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.) –
- Chuck Norris (actor) –
- David Rabe (playwright) –
- Lance Burton (magician) –
- Prince Edward (youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II) –
- Mike Timlin (baseball player) –
- Jon Hamm (actor) –
- Lyne Bessette (professional bicycle racer) –
- Shannon Miller (gymnast; Olympic gold medalist) –
- Robin Thicke (musician) –
- Carrie Underwood (singer) –
- Emily Osment (actress) –
Died
- Harriet Tubman (American abolitionist) –
- Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald) –
- Konstantin Chernenko (Soviet leader) –
- Lloyd Bridges (actor) –
- Danny Joe Brown (musician) –
- Corey Haim (actor) –
- Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe writer ) –
- Emilio Delgado (actor; played Luis on Sesame Street ) –
Events
- Thomas Jefferson became U.S. minister to France–
- Thomas Jefferson presented a paper on the megalonyx (which was later determined to be an extinct giant ground sloth)–
- U.S. national paper currency first issued–
- The first royal wedding took place at Windsor Castle in St. George’s chapel. Edward, Prince of Wales, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark–
- Ulysses S. Grant became the Lt. Gen. of Union army in the Civil War–
- Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant saying, Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.–
- Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers officially began the work of the Salvation Army in the U.S.(Battery Park, N.Y.C.)–
- William Knox bowled first perfect 300 game in competition–
- A 6.4 earthquake killed 120 people and caused $50 million in damages, Long Beach, California–
- Mildred E. Gillars, who made wartime broadcasts for the Nazis under the name Axis Sally, was convicted of treason in Washington— she served 12 years in prison–
- Tennessee Williams’s play, Sweet Bird of Youth, opened on Broadway–
- James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and was sentenced to 99 years in prison–
- U.S. Army Captain Ernest L. Medina was court-martialed on murder charges in connection with the My Lai incident of March 1968 (Vietnam War)–
- Uranus rings discovered–
- The Vatican declared its opposition to test tube fertilization, embryo transfer, and most other forms of scientific interference in procreation–
- A previously healthy 25-year old man from Virginia became the first known fatality in the U.S. linked to raccoon rabies–
Weather
- 5.12 inches of rain fell in Wilmington, North Carolina–
- Thirty-four degrees below zero F at International Falls, Minnesota–
- In Colebrook, New Hampshire, snow was 21.5 feet deep–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
