Big-shot birthdays and special events for the weekend ahead:
SATURDAY, JULY 13 _ Patrick Stewart is 84 (in 2024) • Harrison Ford is 82 (in 2024) • Cheech Marin is 78 (in 2024) • Daphne Maxwell Reid (Eve, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) is 76 (in 2024) • Gil Birmingham (Twilight films) is 71 (in 2024) • Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken, Community, The Masked Singer) is 55 (in 2024) • Colton Hayes (Teen Wolf, Arrow) is 36 (in 2024) • Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries, Chicago Fire) is 36 (in 2024) • Wyatt Oleff (I Am Not Okay With This, It, young Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy) is 21 (in 2024)
SPECIAL EVENTS _ Barbershop Music Appreciation Day • Bean ‘n’ Franks Day • Embrace Your Geekness Day • French Fry Day • Gruntled Worker Day
SUNDAY, JULY 14 _ Football player-turned-actor Rosey Grier is 92 (in 2024) • Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos) is 78 (in 2024) • Jane Lynch (Glee, The Weakest Link) is 64 (in 2024) • Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, The Tick, Bad News Bears) is 63 (in 2024) • Matthew Fox (Lost, Party of Five) is 58 (in 2024) • Comedian Loni Love (The Real) is 53 (in 2024) • Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights) is 45 (in 2024) • Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) is 39 (in 2024) • Musician Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons) is 37 (in 2024) • MMA fighter Conor McGregor is 36 (in 2024) • Darby Camp (Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles) is 17 (in 2024)
SPECIAL EVENTS _ Bastille Day • Collector Car Day • Mac and Cheese Day • Tape Measure Day • Shark Awareness Day
LIGHTNING FACTS _ Summertime is lightning time.
• The average lightning stroke is six miles long.
• Lightning moves 30,000 times as fast as a bullet.
• The temperature of lightning can reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The surface of the sun is not even that hot (around 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
• The Empire State Building averages over 20 hits per year.
• The diameter of the average bolt of lightning is the size of a quarter to half-dollar. Lightning looks so much wider than it really is just because its light is so bright.
MORE ACCURATE NAMES FOR THE SLIP ‘N SLIDE _ Sales of backyard water slides — like the Slip N Slide — skyrocketed during the first two summers of the pandemic. People were sorta stuck at home and back yards became vacations for many. While sales aren’t what they were in 2020 and 2021, the water slide is still a must-have for many families. If you ask me, these slip n slides need more accurate names.
• Slip ‘n Crash
• Slip ‘n Jack Up the Water Bill
• Slip ‘n Kill the Lawn
• Slip ‘n Patch with Duct Tape Again
