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HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Makani Pahili: Hurricane
PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY —Taim Belong Koleven: Winter
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — I Ho’okahi Kahi Ke Aloha: Be one in love
HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “There is no monument dedicated to the memory of a committee.“ - Lester Poursiau

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WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — Think Green Hawaii
WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — Bush Shooed in Baghad
NETCAST OF THE WEEK — Slate’s Podcasts
GOOD DEED SITE OF THE WEEK — Recycle Hawaii

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December 15, 2008: This week begins the annual Maui Film Festival’s First Light Screenings. Information about all the movies showing can be seen here: http://www.mauifilmfestival.com/fl_index.php.

December 15th, 1924
Traffic on Oahu and Maui, the two most populous islands, officially gets out of hand. There are no traffic signals, so officials create a new way to control vehicles — whistles. Pedestrian crosswalks are painted on the streets along with white lines where vehicles were supposed to stop.

Traffic police with semaphores then tooted their whistles, one blast of the whistle meant traffic could move from north and south, two blasts allowed traffic to move east and west. On Oahu, left turns were banned Downtown. In Kahului, chaos ensues, and it is quickly decided that such a practice is not warranted on Maui, and it is abandoned.

The world’s first traffic light, by the way, was in London, in 1868, a revolving gas lantern with red and green glass.

EVENTS ON THIS DAY

1582 Spanish Netherlands/Denmark/Norway adopt Gregorian calendar
1593 State of Holland grants patent on windmill with crankshaft
1612 Simon Marius, is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
1791 Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
1791 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
1792 1st life insurance policy issued in US (Philadelphia)
1794 Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France
1810 1st Irish magazine in US, The Shamrock, is published
1874 1st reigning king to visit US (of Hawaii) received by President Grant
1877 Thomas Edison patents phonograph
1891 James Naismith invents basketball (Canada)
1914 British fleet forfeits chance to destroy German fleet in North Sea
1914 Swedish troops over run Belgrade in Austria-Hungary
1916 French defeat Germans in WWI Battle of Verdun
1917 Moldavian Republic declares independence from Russia
1918 American Jewish Congress holds it’s 1st meeting
1919 Edna St Vincent Millay’s “Aria da Capo” premieres in New York NY
1935 Detroit Lions win NFL championship
1935 Max Euwe becomes world champion chess beating Alexander Aljechin
1939 World premiere of “Gone With The Wind” in Atlanta GA
1942 Massachusetts issues 1st US vehicular license plate tabs
1944 Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, lost over English Channel
1945 John J “Cardinal” O’Connor, ordained as a priest
1949 Albert Camus’ “Les Justes” premieres in Paris
1952 Christine Jorgenson is 1st person to undergo a sex-change operation
1952 KHON TV channel 2 in Honolulu HI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1961 Adolf Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel
1964 1st time 4 people in space
1969 Plastic Ono Band, play their only concert at London’s Lyceum Ballroom
1978 Test Cricket debut of Malcolm Marshall, vs India at Bangalore
1979 Deposed Shah of Iran leaves US for Panamá
1979 World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages
1980 New York Yankee Dave Winfield becomes highest-paid player, 10 years $15 million
1980 Premier Queddei troops conquers Chad capital N’djamena
1980 ZBZ Sangha (now ZBZ Bodhidharma) officially registered after 5 years of administrative hassles in Warsaw
1981 NASA launches Intelsat V
1985 Sylvester Stallone & Brigitte Nielson wed
1993 John Williams final appearance as conductor of Boston Pops
1993 Lee Aspen resigns as Secretary of Defense
1993 Y-12 crashes at Phonesavanh, Laos: 18 killed
1994 Diane Modahl banned from Athletics for Drug Use, in the UK
1994 “Tuna Christmas” opens at Booth Theater NYC for 20 performances
1994 John Bruton becomes Ireland’s premier
1994 Liberia militia kills 48 inhabitants of Monrovia
1995 Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland
BORN ON THIS DAY

0037 Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus 5th emperor of Rome (54-68)
1863 Arthur D Little US, chemist (patented rayon)
1882 Helena Rubinstein US cosmetic manufacturer
1892 J Paul Getty Minneapolis MN, oil magnate (Getty Oil)
1892 David Guion composer
1892 Jose Maria Castro composer
1896 Carl Ferdinand Cori US bio-chemist
1896 George B Cressey US geographer (Asia’s Lands & Peoples)
1896 Margaret Bannerman Toronto Ontario, actress (Elopement)
1906 Betty Smith novelist (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
1907 Oscar Niemeyer Brazilians architect (Brasilia)
1932 Edna O’Brien Ireland, writer (Fanatic of Heart, Casualties of Peace)
1933 Tim Conway Willoughby OH, comic (McHale’s Navy, Carol Burnett Show)
1959 Rashid Khan cricketer (4 Tests for Pakistan 1982-85)
1960 Don Franklin Chicago IL, actor (Seaquest 2032, Noah Dixon-The Young Riders)
1960 Doug Phelps Leachville AR, singer (Kentucky Headhunters-Davy Crockett)
1961 Annie Pujol Perpignan, French TV hostess (Roue de la Fortune)
1961 Reginald Hudlin director (House Party)
1963 Helen Slater New York NY, actress (Supergirl, Billie Jean, Ruthless People)
1970 Damon Thomas NFL wide receiver (Buffalo Bills)
1970 Lawrence Funderburke NBA forward (Sacramento Kings)
1970 Mitchell Butler NBA guard (Washington Bullets, Cleveland Cavaliers)
1971 Boudewijk Pahlplatz soccer player (FC Twente, PSV)
1971 Chris Maumalanga NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals)
1971 Eric Bjornson NFL tight end (Dallas Cowboys)
1971 Ken Alexander WLAF linebacker (Barcelona Dragons)
1972 Rodney Harrison NFL safety (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Stanislav Jasecko Spisska Nova Ves, hockey defenseman (Team Slovakia)
1973 Geoff Stewart Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1973 Mike Cherry quarterback (New York Giants)
1973 Mirko Ludemann Weiwasser Germany, NHL defenseman (Team Germany, Colorado)
1973 Tammy Melinda Pearman Brooklyn NY, soccer forward/defender (Olympics-96)
1974 Jeffrey van der Stone soccer player (RKC)
1977 Catherine Fox 400 meter freestyle relay (Olympics-gold-96)
1977 Larissa Fontaine Chicago IL, gymnast (alternate-Olympics-96)
1978 Henrietta Nagyova Nove Zamky Slovakia, tennis star (ITF/Cali-COL)
1985 Sheeba Reiter Florida, illegitimate daughter of Jackie Mason

DIED ON THIS DAY

1675 John Vermeer Dutch painter (Love Letter), dies at 43
1890 Sitting Bull Hunkpapa-Sioux chief (Little Big Horn), killed by US Army
1944 Glenn Miller US band leader/jazz composer, dies at 40
1966 Walt Disney animator, dies at 65, put in suspended animation
1997 Lillian Disney widow of Walt Disney, dies at 98
1997 Pananayiotis Taki Vatikiotis middle east scholar, dies at 69