National Kazoo Day Day 28 of 2008 338 days left in this year

PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Bensin: Gasoline
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY

“A crab has claws that break off easily.”
 WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK  — World Clock
 WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK  — Barack Obama South Carolina victory speech

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 January 28th, 1974:   OPEC rears its ugly head in 1973, and by 1974 the flow of oil shrinks to a trickle here on Maui. Several fights break out at pumps statewise, and the state legislature passes new gas rationing rules.If you have a quarter tank of gas in your car — you can’t buy any fuel. You can buy gas on odd days if your plate ends in an odd number, and even days if your place ends in even numbers.

Gas is no longer sold on weekends — period.

Not one to take an attack on their gas-guzzling freedoms lightly, Americans fight back with two Gulf wars to protect their access to oil — even at outrageously high prices. One bumper sticker seems to sum up the ignorant attitude Americans have on the subject: “What is their sand doing over our oil?”

HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — January 28th

• 1851: Northwestern University is chartered (Evanston Illinois) 
• 1860: Britain formally returns the Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua 
• 1902: The Carnegie Institute is established in Washington DC 
• 1909: U.S. military forces leave Cuba for the 2nd time 
• 1915: The U.S. Coast Guard is created
• 1916: President Woodrow Wilson appoints Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court
• 1932: The first U.S. state unemployment insurance act is enacted (Wisconsin) 
• 1932: Japanese forces occupy Shanghai 
• 1960: The first photograph is bounced off the Moon and received on Earth
• 1986: The 25th Space Shuttle (Challenger 10) explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all aboard: teacher Christa McAuliffe (1st civilian on a Shuttle mission), Dr Judith Arlene Resnik, USAF Major Ellison S Onizuka, Astronaut Francis R Scobee, USN Commander Michael J Smith and Astronuat Ronald E McNair 

BORN ON THIS DAY — January 28th

• 1775: Peter the Great, Russian Czar
• 1853: Jose Marti, poet/essayist/politician
• 1855: William Seward Burroughs, invented recording adding machine
• 1869: Ozaki Koyo, novelist/essayist/haiku poet
• 1887: Arthur B. Rubinstein, pianist/composer
• 1912: Jackson Pollack, abstract artist
• 1929: Claes Oldenburg, U.S. Pop artist
• 1933: Susan Sontag, author/film director
• 1936: Alan Alda, actor
• 1958: Sarah McLachlan, rock singer
• 1959: Kathryn Morris, actress (”Cold Case”)
• 1963: Danny Spitz, heavy metal guitarist
• 1980: Nick Carter, singer (Backstreet Boys)
• 1981: Elijah Wood, actor (”Lord of the Rings” movies)