Tidbits of Elmore County

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TIDBITS® WISHES YOU A HAPPYVALENTINE’S DAY

by Kathy Wolfe

As Tidbits brings you fresh information about Valentine’s Day, remember: “Say it with flowers; say it with sweets; say it with kisses; say it with eats; say it with jewelry; say it with drink. But always be careful not to say it with ink.” - Anonymous

•There were probably two different men considered to be St. Valentine, and both were supposedly beheaded on February 14. The more commonly accepted legend identifies St. Valentine as a priest in early Rome around the year 260. The Roman emperor at that time forbade his soldiers to marry because he believed that single men made better soldiers. In the name of love and in defiance of the emperor’s edict, Valentine secretly married soldiers and their ladies and paid the price with his execution.

•Tradition places the first Valentine letter around 1415. This was when a Frenchman, the Duke of Orléans, was captured in battle and imprisoned in the Tower of London. From there, he composed rhymed love letters to his wife.

***turn the page for more

Vol 1 Issue 4of Elmore County

Tidbits® of Elmore County

Our pasta recipe is amazingly creamy, and it sneaks vegetables into the kids’ dinner without a lot of fuss.

1 package (16 ounces) cavatelli pasta2 tablespoons margarine or butter3 tablespoons all-purpose flour1/4 teaspoon ground black pepperPinch ground nutmeg3 1/2 cups low-fat (1 percent) milk6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese1 package (10 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables

1. Heat large saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat; add pasta and cook as label directs.2. Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, melt margarine over medium heat. With wire whisk, stir in flour, pepper, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in milk and, stirring constantly, cook over medium-high heat until sauce boils and thickens slightly. Boil 1 minute, stirring.3. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in cheeses just until melted. Following manufacturer’s directions, use immersion blender to blend mixture in saucepan until smooth. (Or, in blender at low speed, with center part of cover removed to allow steam to escape, blend sauce mixture in small batches until smooth. Pour sauce into bowl after each batch.)4. Place frozen vegetables in colander; drain pasta over vegetables. Return pasta mixture to saucepot; stir in cheese sauce. Serves 8.

¥ Each serving: About 340 calories, 11g total fat (4g saturated), 32mg cholesterol, 585mg sodium, 43g total carbs, 2g dietary fiber, 18g protein.

For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our website at www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/.

(c) 2012 Hearst Communications, Inc.All rights reserved

Macaroni and Cheese on the Light Side

VALENTINE’S DAY (continued):• In England during the 1700s, women wrote men’s names on little bits of paper, encased them in a piece of clay and dropped all the clay pieces into a pond. The first paper to rise to the top was supposedly the name of the woman’s true love.

• In the 18th-century, some unmarried women pinned five bay leaves to the center and four corners of their pillows on February 13. According to tradition, that night they would dream of their future husband. Some recited a verse before sleep: “Good Valentine, be kind to me, in dreams let me my true love see.” Perhaps this is where we derive the expression “the man of my dreams”!

• Another old Valentine custom had men write women’s names on bits of paper and place them in a jar. Each man drew a paper, and that woman was the man’s Valentine. He spent the day paying special attention to her and bestowing small gifts, often a pair of gloves. Some of the men pinned the lady’s name to their shirtsleeve and wore it for several days, literally “wearing their hearts on their sleeves.”

• In Victorian days, young women used their fans to convey secret messages to their beaus. Drawing her fan across the cheek meant “I love you,” while twirling it in her right hand gave the warning, “We are being watched.”

• Esther A. Howland was the first person to commercially manufacture Valentines, beginning in 1847. Considered the “Mother of the Valentine,” her original creations featured real lace and colorful ribbons. She eventually expanded her business into sales of $100,000 annually.

• In the late 1850s came the “penny dreadfuls,”

Play Indoor Hopscotch With Carpet Squares

Hop, skip and jump onto your own hopscotch game everyone can play indoors using sample carpet squares. It’s a great way to let out energy and get some exercise when the kids are cooped up on a rainy or snowy day. If you live near a carpet store, ask for discarded sample squares, which are usually free of charge. Choose samples that are approximately 10 inches by 12 inches in a variety of fun, playful colors. You’ll need at least 10 for a standard game of hop-scotch. When you get home, cut rubber shelf liner into 10-inch squares the size of the carpet squares. Glue the shelf-liner pieces onto the backsides of the carpet squares to help keep the squares from slipping and skidding around as the kids jump. Paint the numbers 1 through 10 on the tops of the squares using acrylic or latex paints. When dry, grab some flat stones for markers, and the kids will be ready and eager to play. Or, while the kids are waiting for the paint to dry, they can make their own personalized game mark-ers. Cut out school pictures of each child who is going to play hopscotch, and glue the photos onto one side of a flat frozen-orange-juice lid with smooth sides. When it’s time to play, toss it “face up” onto a square. To play, set the squares on the floor in a hop-scotch pattern, and hop away! Or invent your own games and encourage your kids to practice their numbers while they play. Join in with the kids and enjoy one of the oldest and simplest children’s games around. Like playing jacks, you might quickly remember that you were either good at it and loved to play ... or not!When the game is over, pick up the squares of this portable hopscotch and stack them neatly in a cupboard or closet until another indoor play day.Alternative idea: Instead of a portable hop-scotch, tape the squares together on the backside in the formation you choose using duct tape.***Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

(c) 2012 Donna EricksonDistributed by King Features Synd.

VALENTINE’S DAY (continued): Valentines with insulting and derogatory verses. They were printed on cheap paper and designed to make the recipient feel dreadful, hence their name. They were also known as “vinegar Valentines,” due to their sour or acidic messages.

•According to a French tradition, a young woman lets her admirer know whether his affections are welcome by what she feeds him on Valentine’s Day. If she feeds him an egg dish, the answer is definitely “No,” while something with apple or pear signifies “Yes.”

• Those colorful little candy conversation hearts have been around since 1866, when they were first manufactured by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO, as the company is more commonly known. Originally called “motto hearts,” they contained messages such as “Be Good,” “Be True” and “Kiss Me.” NECCO began updating their phrases in recent years, adding “Call Me,” “Fax Me,” “Email Me” and starting in 2011, one in 80 hearts reads “Tweet Me.” NECCO makes eight billion Sweethearts every year, selling about 100,000 pounds of them every day between January 1 and February 14.

• If you plan to give your Valentine a bottle of perfume, you might want to know that one of the ingredients in many perfumes is coal tar. And in order to prolong the fragrance, manufacturers add substances taken from beavers, male musk deer and sperm whales. Still other ingredients are derived from turpentine. Most perfumes are produced synthetically using chemical substances, and even the best perfumes contain only about 10 percent flower petal oil dissolved in alcohol. It takes about 10 million jasmine flowers to produce only 2.2 pounds of fragrant oil. Although a perfume may smell like one specific fragrance, it can actually be a blend of up to 500 ingredients.

• In the 1600s, perfume was made by placing rose petals in white wine, adding fragrant herbs and spices and allowing the mixture to ferment for two weeks.

• Thinking about chocolates for your sweetie? You’ll be glad to know that chocolate ranks high in food value and contains several vitamins and minerals. It was also the belief of the ancient Aztec Indians that the cacao bean was a source of wisdom and knowledge because the seeds had been brought to their land from Paradise.

• Before it is molded into bars, milk chocolate is stirred by machines for 72 hours to achieve the smoothest chocolate possible.

• About 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be given to sweethearts this year. But Valentine’s Day is far from the biggest day of the year for candy purchases. Halloween is first, followed by Easter, then Christmas.

• For its first 68 years, the Hershey Chocolate Company operated with no advertising budget. It did not advertise its products until July 1970.

• Egyptians were the first candy makers 3,000 years ago when they mixed fruits and nuts with honey.

•If your Valentine asks you for a Pascali, a Chrysler Imperial, a Rubaiyat, a Floradora, a Montezuma or an Iceberg, she’s asking for a rose from the list of the more popular varieties. The Society of American Florists estimates the number of roses produced for Valentine’s Day at around 200 million. About 43 percent of flowers given are red roses, and 29 percent are other colors of roses. The remaining gifts are mixed flowers.

***

Danica Patrick, the trailblazing driver who became the first woman ever to win an IndyCar race, is finally concentrating on NASCAR full-time.This year she will compete in 10 Sprint Cup races while racing full-time in the Nation-wide Series. Her Cup races will be with the current champion, Tony Stewart, in a Chevy carrying No. 10. In Nationwide, she will continue to compete with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team, but this marks her first season competing for the championship.Of her relationship with Stewart, Patrick said, “I feel respected, and I feel like he’s been very patient. Even the little things ... he doesn’t look at me like I’m inexpe-rienced. ... He investigates and says, no problem, let’s get it right, and makes me comfortable with that kind of stuff.”Another significant development is Stewart-Haas Racing’s offseason hiring of Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart’s crew chief during his 2002 and ‘05 titles with Joe Gibbs Racing. Zipadelli now is the team’s competition director, but he will serve as Patrick’s crew chief for her 10 Cup appear-ances, which begin with the Daytona 500.“It really was a perfect opportunity for us, because it’s hard to get a really good crew chief hired to only run 10 races a year in the first year,” said Stewart. “To have some-body like Greg, who has been working with Joey (Logano) and has been a crew chief for the past 13 straight years, he can come into this scenario, and the last two guys he had both were rookies when they came in.”Stewart won three Cup races with Zipadelli as a rookie in 1999.Patrick’s hometown is Roscoe, Ill., but she presently lives in Phoenix. She turns 30 on March 25.“It’s just like going to the first day of school,” Patrick said. “You want to make a good impression; you want to do a good job. ... It’s finding your way around, finding my locker, literally.“There’s no combination for it, of course, but it is a locker that I needed to find, get-ting in sync with that.” ***Monte Dutton covers motorsports for The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette. E-mail Monte at [email protected].

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.

FAMOUS LANDMARKS:WASHINGTON MONUMENT

Pointing to the sky at the west end of the Na-tional Mall in Washington, D.C. is the Wash-ington Monument, the tallest structure in our nation’s capital. Read along and discover some enlightening information about this tribute to America’s first president. • Although George Washington didn’t die until 1799, as early as 1783, Congress proposed a monument to him in the form of an equestrian statue. The site was even selected in the city’s 1791 survey plan. Yet it wasn’t until 1836, after $28,000 in donations had been raised, that a competition for architectural designs was an-nounced.• Robert Mills’ design was chosen for the monu-ment, which featured an obelisk surrounded by a colonnade on which a statue of Washington would stand. Inside the colonnade, the statues of 30 other Revolutionary War heroes were to be included. • Mills’ design was criticized because it would cost more than $1 million to build, over $21 million in today’s dollars. In addition, the se-lected location was deemed not stable enough to support such a heavy structure. The location was changed and the design altered to an Egyp-tian obelisk, reduced from a height of 600 feet (183 m) to 555 feet (169 m). The cornerstone wasn’t laid for another 12 years. • Construction got underway in 1848 using primarily white marble blocks from Maryland. The underlay-ment was Maryland blue gneiss and Maine granite. The work continued for six years; then the donations ran out. Each state of the Union was urged to contribute a commemorative stone to be included in the interior walls in an effort to help cut costs and allow construction to con-tinue. But the expenses of the Civil War finally brought the construction to a halt. • The Monument sat for over 20 years un-til the federal government took over, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the project. An obvious sign of the time difference can be seen on the lower 150 feet (46 m) of the obelisk. The builders were unable to find a match for the color of the marble used during the early construction, which is why the bottom 27 percent is a lighter color. • The Monument was completed in 1884, tower-ing to a height of 555 feet and 5 1/8 inches(continued on page 7) continued

Year of the Danica

Of Elmore CountyPublished weekly by

PTK CorpP.O. Box 264

Wetumpka, AL 36092

For Advertising call (334) 202-7285


To Your Good Health By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am going buggy -- literally. My 5-year-old kindergartener has head lice. I discovered them because he started scratching his head. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about this. I can’t imagine where he picked them up. Is the entire family destined to come down with them? I have four other children, two dogs and a husband. Help. -- B.C.

ANSWER: Head lice cause mothers more consternation than just about any other illness. For the record, head lice don’t transmit any illnesses. They do cause itching and scratching. They’re not a reflection of your cleanliness. Most likely your child picked them up at school from head-to-head contact or from sharing caps, brushes or combs.The head louse is only 3 mm (0.12 inches) long. They’re difficult to see. The female louse lays her eggs at the base of the hair and glues them to the hair. The eggs are called nits. They hatch in about eight days. Nits found within a quarter of an inch from the scalp indicate active infection. If they are farther away, the infection is not likely to be active.Treatments for head lice are many and usually quite effective. Advisory bodies promote permethrin (Nix) as the treatment of choice. It calls for reapplication in one week to 10 days. Malathion lotion (Ovide) is another

Louse Invasion Drives Mom Buggy

1. Name the four N.L. pitchers to win the Cy Young Award in consecutive years. 2. It took just 1,303 innings for pitcher Kerry Wood to record 1,500 career strikeouts. Who held

the mark for fewest innings to reach that mark before Wood?3. Who holds the NFL record for most TD passes caught in a season?4. Three No. 11 seeds have advanced to the NCAA Final Four in men’s basketball. Name two of them.5. True or false: Until the 2010-11 NHL campaign, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Los Angeles Kings had never gone to the playoffs in the same season.6. How many total medals did U.S. boxers tally in the Olympics between 2000 and 2008?7. Who was the last senior golfer before John Cook (2010-11) to win the last tournament of one Champions Tour season and the first tournament of the next season?

reliable cure. Benzyl alcohol (Ulesfia Lotion 5 percent) is another good treatment that is applied to dry hair and then rinsed off. Natroba (spinosad) Topical Solution was approved recently as a head lice treatment. Both these latter two medicines need a prescription. You have many choices. Some of these treatments include combing the wet hair with a fine-toothed comb to get rid of nits.You do not have to treat other family members if they show no signs of infection. Pets are safe; human head lice don’t like them. The only household cleaning necessary is vacuuming chairs and carpets where your 5-year-old has been. Clothes he has worn in the past two days need to be washed in hot water and dried with maximum heat. Lice that are off the head live for only two days. ***DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Some time ago, you wrote about a shrunken leg that was shaped like some kind of bottle. It has the word “teeth” in it. I have a dropped foot. My doctor doesn’t know what I am talking about but would like to see the article. Will you repeat it? -- I.D.

ANSWER: The “teeth” in what I wrote referred to Dr. Tooth, an English doctor whose name is part of a nerve illness called Charcot (SHAR-coe)-Marie-Tooth disease. In spite of the fact that the name draws a look of puzzlement from most people, it’s the most commonly inherited nerve-muscle disorder.The illness usually shows itself in teen years, but it can take many years before it’s diagnosed. The lower leg muscles become quite thin, so the leg looks like an upside-down champagne bottle. It makes walking difficult. People stumble. Often, they cannot lift the foot fully off the ground -- a dropped foot.A number of different varieties of this illness exist. I’ve described the most common one.***

Have you seen the public service announcements with Patty Duke promoting Social Security and Medicare? Now there’s a new one: She’s signing up for Social Security ... from home ... in her pajamas!I thought the plaid PJs were a bit much, but the message is a good one. We can sign up for Social Security and Medicare from the comfort of our home, assuming we have a computer.Here is a partial list of things you can do online at the Social Security site:--Apply for Social Security benefits.--Apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).--Apply for Medicare.--Apply for disability benefits (includes the Adult Disability Report).--Estimate the amount of retirement benefits you’ll

Applying Online for Social Security

get. There’s a limit of 30 minutes to this feature, so make sure you have all your information ready. You’ll need your name, Social Security number, date and place of birth, and your mother’s maiden name. You’ll be able to calculate the best age to start collecting benefits.--Get extra help with Medicare drug plan costs. This could add up to $4,000 in assistance if you’re already on Medicare and have low income.Once you apply online, you’ll be given a confir-mation number. At the same site you can then go in and check the status.If you’re certain you’ll never want to use the on-line features at Social Security, your best bet is to block access. You might want to do this if you’ve been the victim of identity theft or domestic violence.Suggestion: If it’s more convenient to apply online, once you’re all set up, then go in and block your information completely. Then no one, even you, can access it without a phone call to Social Secu-rity.To get started, go online to www.socialsecurity.gov.

For Advertising Call (334) 202-7285

Q: I just have a patio garden for my city apartment, but this fall I was able to start saving kitchen compost, which I trans-fer weekly to a large plastic laundry tub on the patio. The large tub is the problem -- water is seeping up around the dirt, and of course the water has an odor. A friend of mine said the pH balance is off. How can I stop this from occurring? -- Jane in New Jersey

A: What you need to do right away is turn the compost pile -- meaning, take a shovel, spade or stick and stir the compost, remixing everything. The compost in the tub has compacted, so instead of actually composting (breaking down solids) it’s putrefying. Turning the compost will reintroduce air into the pile and help restart the process. If there’s a lot of extra water after turning,

Getting the Most From Compost

By Samantha Mazzotta

¥ Studies have shown that you spend more and make worse decisions when grocery shopping at peak hours. To be a saver on the family food bill, pick a time to shop when you’re not rushed, have a list, know the sales ahead of time and eat be-fore you go.

¥ I used to struggle with plastic wrap every time I tried to use it. But now it’s a breeze since I learned to do these two things: One, keep plas-tic wrap in the freezer. It unrolls evenly, not one side or the other. Two, use a serrated knife to cut it instead of relying on the metal strip down the side of the box. You lay it out on the counter, and just run the knife down the edge you want to cut. Works like magic, and it’s no longer frustrating. -- G.S. in Georgia

¥ Store an apple or two with your potatoes to keep them from sprouting. Be sure to check them often.

¥ Cut cotton pads in half to double your supply. They typically are big enough for two uses, and you can always use two halves if you need a whole.

¥ “Make a creme lipstick last longer and stay cleaner by using a makeup brush to apply it. Your skin picks up more of the lipstick than necessary, one reason why we blot our lips afterward. But the brush uses only what you need. And there’s less bacteria transfer.” -- Y.R. in Massachusetts

¥ File this one under safety AND energy smarts: Clean the dryer vent after every load. Clean the dryer vent screen monthly with a gentle soap and water bath. Rinse well and dry thoroughly before inserting back into your dryer.

Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, c/o King Fea-tures Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475 or e-mail JoAnn at [email protected].



pour off some, but not all of it. There’s also the possibility that rain or snowmelt got into the tub. If you don’t want to punch drain holes in the bottom of the tub (most apartment manag-ers frown on compost water stains on their patios) you should loosely cover the tub with a tarp so that air gets in but water does not.From here forward, monitor your compost regularly and turn it every week. Also keep an eye on what you’re putting into the kitchen compost. Under no circumstances should you put in meat scraps; this will attract flies and result in maggots. Keep a roughly 50/50 ratio of carbon-rich to nitrogen-rich ingredients.Carbon-rich ingredients include anything “brown,” such as sawdust, dead leaves, paper or straw; nitrogen-rich ingredients include anything “green” such as greens and vegetables. You can also add crumbled eggshells (calcium) and occasionally sprinkle wood ashes from the fireplace into the pile. When the danger of hard frost is past, add a handful of live earthworms to the freshly turned pile. They’ll help aerate and break down the pile into rich compost.If you want to learn more about composting, primalseeds.org has published detailed instructions on building a keeping a healthy compost pile.

HOME TIP: Keep compost piles in a far corner of the yard or as far from a home’s exterior walls as possible to prevent pests from entering your home.

Distracted driving is extremely dangerous and can cause personal injury and property dam-age. Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.1 Even with a hands-free device, multi-tasking while driving could have serious consequences.

You’ve seen it before; a vehicle near you is weaving in the traffic lane or traveling well below the speed limit. Chances are that driver is not focused on the road!

According to the U.S. Department of Transporta-tion2, there are three main types of distractions: Visual – taking your eyes off the roadManual – taking your hands off the wheelCognitive – taking your mind off what you are doing

Distracted driving isn’t just about phone calls or text messages. Many activities that take your attention away from traffic can lead to accidents. Examples of distracted driving include:

Adjusting a navigation system EatingGroomingReading Retrieving a dropped itemTalking on the phone TextingWatching a video

Nearly half the U.S. states have restrictions against activities that cause distractions. Some states ban phone use in construction zones and school zones. Others place restrictions on novice drivers and operators of commercial vehicles, such as large trucks and school buses. Take the time to research the laws in your state and visit www.distraction.gov.

So, the next time you reach for the phone while driving, answer this question: Is this call impor-tant enough to risk hurting someone, or can it wait?

1 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 20052 Distraction.gov

Is that phone call worth the risk?by Keyesta ShermanState Farm® Agent


1. Is the book of Gezer in the Old or New Testament or neither?2. From Luke 2, what village was known as the “City of David”? Damascus, Jeru-salem, Jericho, Bethlehem3. Who drove a nail into Sisera’s fore-head while he slept? Mark, Vashti, Jael, Mary4. To what tribe of Israel did Paul be-long? Asher, Benjamin, Issachar, Reu-ben5. From Genesis 4, who built a city called Enoch? Adam, Moses, Noah, Cain6. Whose ear did Peter cut off? His own, Malchus, Baasha, Azariah

Virtually no one has made it unscathed through our years-long financial meltdown. Whether you’re still struggling mightily or you’ve begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel, chances are one of your ques-tions is: What do I do next?A new book likely has answers for you: “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Starting Fresh: How to Leave Financial Hardships Behind and Take Control of Your Financial Life” by Karen Blumenthal [Crown Busi-

ness, $15].“Starting Fresh” is a must-have. It sets its sights on those who’ve lost jobs or homes, or suffered from the effects of a health crisis, death of a spouse, divorce and more. No matter where you are in life and no matter your income level, you’ll find steps on how to adapt and adjust to your new circumstances.Blumenthal sets the tone for dealing with your current reality on the very first page: “Decide that you won’t make any big financial decisions right away ... you’ll make better choices if you step back, reflect, assess and get your bearings.” One of the very first slow-start steps she’ll have you do is to take an inventory of all your assets and liabilities. For example, what is your car worth and how much do you still owe on it? What, exactly, do you owe on credit cards? Medical bills? Are there any valuables in a safe deposit box? Do any of your insurance policies have a cash value?Next you’ll learn how to:

--Repair your credit.--Determine whether your housing is actually af-fordable. (Should you move or stay?) If you own your home, what is it worth? (Check Zillow.com online.) Do you qualify for a modification program?--Adjust your debts to your new situation.--Assess your health-coverage plans.--Develop a sustainable plan for long-term financial health.--Readjust your budget to your current reality. And if there’s a miracle and you come into a large sum of money -- perhaps from an insurance policy, employment severance payout or divorce settlement -- Blumenthal will tell you how to manage that as well.Don’t miss the section on Internet links covering a wide variety of help topics.


Learn How to Make a Fresh Start

For Advertising Call (334) 202-7285

** On Feb. 24, 1786, Wilhelm Karl Grimm, the younger of the two Brothers Grimm, is born in Hanau, Ger-many. The brothers’ collection of oral folktales include “Hansel and Gretel,” “Snow White,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Rapunzel.”

** On Feb. 25, 1890, Vlacheslav Skryabin, foreign min-ister for the Soviet Union who took the revolutionary name Molotov, is born in Kurkaka, Russia. Molotov advocated the use of throwing bottles filled with flam-mable liquid and stuffed with a lit rag at the enemy, and the famous “Molotov cocktail” was born.

** On Feb. 26, 1903, Alexander Winton, driving his Winton Bullet, sets the first speed record ever achieved at Daytona Beach, Fla. Built in 1902, the “Bullet Num-ber 1” drove a measured mile at more than 65 mph.

** On Feb. 23, 1945, during the battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, an event captured on film by AP photographer Joe Rosen-thal. Although the photograph has long led people to believe that the flag raising was a turning point in the battle, fighting continued for 31 more days.

** On Feb. 22, 1950, Walt Disney’s animated feature “Cinderella” opens. Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” featured songs like “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and became one of Disney’s most beloved films.

** On Feb. 20, 1986, France and Britain announce that a tunnel under the English Channel linking the two countries would soon become a reality. Trains, cars and buses would be able to speed through the tunnel in less than half an hour. Construction began in December 1987, and the “chunnel” was finally completed in 1994.

** On Feb. 21, 1994, CIA operative Aldrich Ames is ar-rested for selling secrets to the Soviet Union. At least 10 men were killed after Ames revealed their identities, and more were sent to Russian gulags. Both Ames and his wife were later convicted. Ames was sentenced to life in prison while his wife, as part of a plea-bargain agreement, was given a five-year sentence.


WASHINGTON MONUMENT

(169.3 m) and weighing more than 80,000 tons. At its base, the walls are 15 feet (4.6 m) thick, tapering to 18 inches (460 mm) in the upper shaft. The interior walls contain 193 contributed memorial stones. The final cost was $1,187,710. It was officially dedicated in February of 1885, and within the first six months, 10,041 people had climbed the Monument’s 897 steps to the top. Shortly af-terward, a steam elevator was installed, pro-viding a 20-minute ride to the top, complete with a snack of wine and cheese during the trip. However, only men were allowed to ride the elevator, as it was considered unsafe for women and children! By 1888, an average of 55,000 people were making the trip to the top every month. Today, about 800,000 visitors make the trip annually, and the elevator ride takes just 70 seconds. • At its completion, the Washington Monu-ment became the world’s tallest structure, an honor it held until 1889, when Paris’ Eiffel Tower surpassed it. It remains not only Washington, D.C.’s tallest structure, but the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk as well.

Answers1. Sandy Koufax (1965-66), Greg Maddux (1992-95), Randy Johnson (1999-2002) and Tim Lincecum (2008-09).2. Pedro Martinez did it in 1,337 innings.3. Randy Moss had 23 TD receptions for New England in 2007.4. LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and Virginia Commonwealth (2011).5. True.6. Seven medals (one gold, two silver and four bronze). 7. Gil Morgan, 1997-98.

BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS: 1) Neither2) Bethlehem3) Jael4) Benjamin5) Cain6) Malchus

Tidbits of Elmore County

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