Bethel Daily Briefing: Monday, January 2

Today is Monday, January 2, 2012, the second day of the year. Only 78 days until spring.

"According to Scottish custom, the first Monday of the new year was the time to give children and servants a small gift, or handsel. The gift itself was less important than the good luck it signified. The handsel was popular as a new year's gift from the 14th to 19th centuries. It continues today in the form of a housewarming gift to someone moving into a new home."  From the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Today's Weather

Monday: Increasing clouds, with a high near 39. West wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18. West wind between 6 and 8 mph.

Municipal Meetings

There will be a meeting of the at 8 p.m. at the Stony Hill Fire House on Rt 6

Today in History

1842 - In Fairmount, PA, the first wire suspension bridge was opened to traffic.

1879 - Thomas Edison began construction on his first generator.

1890 - Alice Sanger became the first female White House staffer.

1935 – Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh

1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring

1971 - A federally imposed ban on television cigarette advertisements went into effect.

1974 – President Richard Nixon lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo

1999 – A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches in Chicago, Illinois, where temperatures plunge to -13 °F.  68 deaths are reported

Weather information taken from the National Weather Service. Today in History compiled from Wikipedia and On This Day.

Know of something else your Bethel neighbors should know today? Tell us in the comments.