Hug Your Cat Day

and your cat will hug you!

Also, Play Kick the Can with a Kid Day.

(Isn’t Congress playing kick the can with our budget deficit?)

History 101: May 24, 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic. 

Music History 101: May 24, 1970 Guitarist Peter Green quits the group he helped form because they resisted his idea to give away most of the money they earned to charity. The group was still several years away from making some real money. It was Fleetwood Mac.

The 101 number one song of the day was the first single to be number one simultaneously in America and Great Britain. It came from the duo who would have one of the most public breakups in music history.

After nine consecutive hits on Cadence records, this duo signed an unprecedented 10 year, $1,000,000 contract with a brand new label based in Burbank, California. Their new contract meant financial security for a decade – not to be taken lightly when no one knew at the time if rock and roll would even survive longer than the five years since it began dominating the music scene. Of course it did and so did they although years later, on Friday the 13^th, while they were performing in California’s Knott’s Berry Farm, one of them slammed down his guitar and stormed off stage leaving the other to tell the stunned audience that they were through forever. After ten years of not even speaking to one another, they did get back together for a series of emotional reunion concerts. But long before that, on May 24, 1960 they owned the biggest song in two countries – it was their biggest hit ever – The Everly Brothers  – Cathy’s Clown.

Listen for the 101 Number One Song of the Day Replay and win Wine Festival Tickets!

Other stuff:

Some folks never give up. California preacher Harold Camping said yesterday that his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day will actually come on October 21st.

Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven last Saturday before the Earth was destroyed, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday prediction did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. But Camping said that he’s now realized the apocalypse will come five months after May 21st, the original date he predicted. He had earlier said October 21st was when the globe would be consumed by a fireball. Camping also predicted the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said it didn’t happen then because of a mathematical error. Many of Camping’s followers quit their jobs and used up their life saving to spread the word of the end of the world.

The Story behind the 101 Gold Nugget of Knowledge:

Geeks across America have a lot to celebrate tomorrow! May 25th is National Geek Pride Day. Long gone are the days when the title of “geek” carried a negative connotation. Today, some may argue it’s “chic to be geek.” In fact, 57% of Americans believe being called a geek is actually a compliment, according to a survey for Modis conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. The survey found that Americans most closely associate the term “geek” with favorable attributes such as being extremely intelligent (45%), a reliable source for technology advice (56%) and a first adopter of technology (45%). And nearly twice as many Americans today would prefer to be called a “geek” (41%) rather than a “jock” (22%)!

Other findings:

• 17% of Americans identify themselves as a geek.

• Respondents felt professional geeks are best-suited for video game designer (65%), technology engineer (50%) and professional blogger (37%).

• The terms “nerd” and “geek” are not interchangeable. The survey showed Americans are much more wary of being called a “nerd” than a “geek.” Even geeks agree – 87% of self-identified geeks were more comfortable being labeled a geek than a nerd (61%).

A new study has found that it isn’t enough for couples to relax together for their stress levels to fall at the end of the day. Men find it easier to chill if their wives are still busy doing housework while women prefer hands-on help: Their stress levels improve if their husbands chip in with housework. The study showed how the actions of one spouse can affect the stress levels of the other. The research, conducted at UCLA from 2004 to 2006, measured stress hormones and daily activities among 30 dual-earner couples, average age 41, each with at least one child ages 8-10. Over four days, two weekend days and two weekdays, researchers tracked activities at 10-minute intervals and sampled saliva repeatedly to measure cortisol, which increases in stressful situations. Researchers focused on the cortisol decline following work; a steeper drop is considered healthier. For both sexes, doing more housework kept cortisol levels higher at the end of the day. But for women, healthier levels resulted when their husbands pitched in on housework. But men’s cortisol levels dropped only when he was not doing housework and his partner was – perhaps because he knew that not only the housework was getting done, but also that he didn’t have to do it.