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AROUND THE GLOBE

CONGRATS TO OUR NEWEST PAUL HARRIS FELLOW

PIN POWER

By Ron Nethercutt, past chair of the Rotarians on the Internet Fellowship and a member of the Rotary Club of Mabalacat, Pampanga, Philippines

One of my unexpected surprises as a member of Rotary came during a large chamber of commerce meeting held at the Trade Center in New Orleans.A young lady approached me and said “I want to thank you.” I asked “Why? Have we met?” She responded by saying she saw my Rotary pin that I was wearing and that she gave thanks to every Rotarian she saw. She went on to tell me how she had been named a Rotary Scholar and earned a master’s degree in international banking at Oxford University, following undergraduate work in accounting. Upon returning from Oxford, she was hired at the largest bank in New Orleans, and after a few short years, she was named vice president for that bank’s investments in Latin America. She specialized in bank loans to young people to financially assist in their development.I’m sure we all have some personal stories to tell about those being helped by Rotary. My own club has a constant flow of young children who we have helped receive both minor and major medical operations.I share the above story since it came as a complete surprise for something for which I had no personal involvement. Our only link was that Rotary pin.

FASTER

Putting a motor on a skateboard seems like such a simple adaptation that “you wonder why these things aren’t everywhere already.” Apparently, the engineering challenge is formidable. The new Boosted Boardrepresents the product of several years of trial-and-error development. Twin motors spin the rear wheels, drawing juice from a lithium battery mounted behind the front wheels. A handheld remote controls the speed, allowing a top motor-generated velocity of 20 mph. The Boosted Board isn’t as maneuverable as a standard long board and thus “takes some practice.” Still, “it sure is a blast.”
$1,995, boostedboards.com

YOUR NEXT HOUSE

Easton, Conn.: Renowned architect Frazier Peters built this four-bedroom house in 1937. Set on a 7.2-acre lot, the home features arched doorways, a living room with a 20-foot exposed-beam ceiling, and a stone-floor dining room with French doors that lead to a canopied patio. The property has a small cottage and the option to subdivide. $799,900. 

TODAY IN HISTORY

June 28

1635		The French colony of Guadeloupe is established in the Caribbean.
1675		Frederick William of Brandenburg crushes the Swedes.
1709		Russians defeat the Swedes and Cossacks at the Battle of Poltava.
1776		Colonists repulse a British sea attack on Charleston, South Carolina.
1778		Mary "Molly Pitcher" Hays McCauley, wife of an American artilleryman, carries water to the soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth.
1839		Cinque and other Africans are kidnapped and sold into slavery in Cuba.
1862		Fighting continues between Union and Confederate forces during the Seven Days' campaign.
1863		General Meade replaces General Hooker three days before the Battle of Gettysburg.
1874		The Freedmen's Bank, created to assist former slaves in the United States, closes. Customers of the bank lose $3 million.
1884		Congress declares Labor Day a legal holiday.
1902		Congress passes the Spooner bill, authorizing a canal to be built across the isthmus of Panama.
1911		Samuel J. Battle becomes the first African-American policeman in New York City.
1914		Austria's Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assassinated at Sarajevo, Serbia.
1919		Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles under protest.
1921		A coal strike in Britain is settled after three months.
1930		More than 1,000 communists are routed during an assault on the British consulate in London.
1938		Congress creates the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure construction loans.
1942		German troops launch an offensive to seize Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus and the city of Stalingrad.
1945		General Douglas MacArthur announces the end of Japanese resistance in the Philippines.
1949		The last U.S. combat troops are called home from Korea, leaving only 500 advisers.
1950		General Douglas MacArthur arrives in South Korea as Seoul falls to the North.
1954		French troops begin to pull out of Vietnam's Tonkin province.
1964		Malcolm X founds the Organization for Afro-American Unity to seek independence for blacks in the Western Hemisphere.
1967		14 people are shot during race riots in Buffalo, New York.
1970		Muhammed Ali [Cassius Clay] stands before the Supreme Court regarding his refusal of induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
1971		The Supreme Court overturns the draft evasion conviction of Muhammad Ali.
1972		Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
1976		The first women enter the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Related articles

• Today in History, June 28th!

TRIVIA Q & A

What is the only state that has hosted the (summer) Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games?
(click below for the answer)

THE FIRST WORD

canaille

PRONUNCIATION:

(kuh-NAYL, -NY) 

MEANING:

noun: The common people; the masses; riffraff.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French canaille (villain, rabble), from Italian canaglia (pack of dogs, rabble), from cane (dog), from Latin canis (dog). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog), which is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, corgi, cynic, and cynosure. Earliest documented use: 1676.

USAGE:

"The gang in the alley was not canaille; fine gentlemen from the court were raging here."
Isak Dinesen; Last Tales; Random House; 1957. 

PIX OF THE DAY

PROTEIN PRICES

Protein is getting pricey. The cost of beef, beans, bacon, and nine other protein sources jumped 28 percent in the last five years. In 2014 alone, protein prices have risen roughly 5 percent—twice the pace of increase for any other food group.
Bloomberg.com