Daily Almanac for Tuesday August 20, 2024

By Michelle Dumas

Actress Joan Allen turns 68 today. she is seen here in 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. By Jared Purdy, CC BY-SA 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. Known for her work on stage and screen, she has received a Tony Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.

She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for And a Nightingale Sang, and won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her Broadway debut in Burn This. In the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, Allen received international recognition for a string of critically acclaimed performances. She is also a three-time Academy Award nominee, receiving Best Supporting Actress nominations for Nixon (1995) and The Crucible (1996), and a Best Actress nomination for The Contender (2000).

Allen’s other film roles include Manhunter (1986), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), The Ice Storm (1997), Face/Off (1997), Pleasantville (1998), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Upside of Anger (2005), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Death Race (2008), and The Bourne Legacy (2012). She won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2015 film Room. She has also starred in the Broadway plays The Heidi Chronicles (1988), Impressionism (2009), and The Waverly Gallery (2018).

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

Why are these hot, humid days of August called Dog Days?

These days are named for the Dog Star, Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major. This star starts shining brightly at this time of year. It rises in the east at about the same time as the Sun. The ancient Egyptians thought that the star was responsible for the heat and blamed it for any droughts, sickness, and discomfort that occurred. The Dog Days traditionally start on July 3 and end on August 11, which may or may not be when the hot, humid weather ends.

Advice of the Day

Try drinking nettle tea to relieve hay fever.

Home Hint of the Day

Squirt lemon juice on windowsills and the bottoms of doors to keep ants from coming into the house.

Word of the Day

Barograph

A recording barometer.

Puzzle of the Day

The Pelican State.(Name the U.S. state!)

Louisiana

Born

  • Benjamin Harrison (23rd U.S. president) – 
  • Edgar Guest (poet) – 
  • Don King (boxing promoter) – 
  • Isaac Hayes (singer) – 
  • Connie Chung (journalist) – 
  • Robert Plant (singer) – 
  • Al Roker (co-anchor and TV weatherman) – 
  • Joan Allen (actress) – 
  • Billy Gardell (actor) – 
  • Amy Adams (actress) – 

Died

  • Pope Pius X (religious leader) – 
  • Sir Fred Hoyle (astronomer) – 
  • Somporn Saekow (founder of first Thailand monkey-training school) – 
  • Joe Rosenthal (photojournalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for the image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over Iwo Jima. The photo became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial) – 
  • Leona Helmsley (hotel magnate) – 
  • Phyllis Diller (comedienne & actress) – 
  • Elmore Leonard (author) – 
  • Jerry Lewis (comedian) – 

Events

  • The 1812 Overture debuted in Moscow– 
  • Strowger firm applied for a patent for the first telephone rotary dial– 
  • The Plant Quarantine Act came into effect, placing restrictions on the entry of plants into the U.S.– 
  • German forces occupied Brussels– 
  • Project Manhigh II completed– 
  • 563-lb. 8-oz. giant sea bass caught near Anacapa Island, California– 
  • The unmanned U.S. planetary probe Viking 1 was launched on a journey to Mars. After nearly a year in space, it became the first vehicle to land on that planet– 
  • Jellyfish invaded the beaches of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island– 
  • Parade of 83 tow trucks set a world record in Wenatchee, Washington– 
  • Talk show host Regis Philbin achieved the Guinness World Record for most hours on camera– 

Weather

  • Salt crystals fell from the sky over Switzerland– 
  • The town of Indianola, Texas, was completely destroyed by a hurricane and fire– 
  • Deadly tornado hit Sudbury, Ontario– 

 

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