The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. Click on national nodes on the right side to find information on United States activities. http://www.astronomy2009.org/general/about/

Fourteen years after Pope John Paul II said the Catholic Church erred when it condemned the 17th-century astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Vatican secretary of state said the astronomer was "a man of faith" who recognised God as creator of the cosmos. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the secretary of state, spoke briefly on November 26, 2008 at the opening of a Rome conference titled, Science 400 years after Galileo Galilei.
http://www.totalcatholic.com/tc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=422:vatican-says-galileo-was-a-man-a-faith&catid=20:vatican-news&Itemid=46

In May, several Vatican officials will participate in an international conference to re-examine the Galileo affair, and top Vatican officials are now saying Galileo should be named the ``patron'' of the dialogue between faith and reason. It's quite a reversal of fortune for Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who made the first complete astronomical telescope and used it to gather evidence that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe. The church denounced Galileo's theory as dangerous to the faith, but Galileo defied its warnings. Tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, later changed to house arrest. The Church has for years been striving to shed its reputation for being hostile to science, in part by producing top-notch research out of its own telescope.
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-main-1-l11&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20081223%2F1445221807.htm&sc=1103

Welcome to the District of Columbia’s 2009 Presidential Inauguration website. http://www.inauguration.dc.gov/index.asp This site will assist you in finding valuable information about the events surrounding the 56th Presidential Inauguration on January 20, including lodging information, transportation, security measures and closures.
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Armed Forces Inaugural Committee
US Secret Service
Metro
Presidential Inaugural Committee
Click and Park

Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His bicentennial will be marked with a year-long birthday party. He was raised largely in Richmond, Virginia, and Virginia events are listed here: http://www.poe200th.com/events.php
Baltimore, the city where Edgar Allan Poe died, will celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth with a year's worth of exhibits and events, including a funeral re-enactment. http://www.freep.com/article/20081130/FEATURES07/811300360/1032/FEATURES07 A list of selected events in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Richmond is here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20081222/ap_tr_ge/travel_poe_bicentennial_glance
Find biography and poems here: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/poe

From: John Campbell (johnppj aol.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--minnow
Def: Someone or something considered insignificant
You probably know that the ship on the TV series Gilligan's Island was named the S.S. Minnow, but did you know that the ship was so named by the show's producer to make fun of Newton Minow, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who in 1961 used the words "a vast wasteland" to describe the state of television programming. AWAD Mail issue 339

Q. Who wrote “Saturday night in Toledo Ohio.” “Holy Toledo (On A Sunday Morning, Everyone’s In Church Or On The Way”, and “I Want My Maumee (I Wanna Go Back To Toledo).”
A. Randy Sparks. He also gave Henry John Deutschendorf his start in the music business and named him John Denver. http://www.toledofreepress.com/2008/12/26/%e2%80%98saturday-night-in-toledo%e2%80%99-author-changes-his-tune/