If you feel a special, hair-raising electricity in the air today, well that’s no wonder — it’s National Static Electricity Day. Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between negative and positive charges in an object. These charges build up on the surface until they are discharged. This commonly happens when you shuffle about when the humidity is very low and then touch a conductor, such as a door handle or your pet’s wet nose. Static electricity has uses in air purifiers, photocopiers and bonding in the painting of automobiles, as well as sticking party balloons onto walls. Generating and distributing more practical electricity is a $429 billion a year business for over 10,000 electric power establishments in the U.S. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the ‘America’s Economy’ mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Saturday, January 10th. Legislation to grant women the vote was first introduced on this date in 1878 when a California senator proposed the necessary constitutional amendment. Called the Susan B. Anthony amendment, it was buried in committee for years and defeated when finally put to a vote in 1887. But some decades later, the matter was settled rather speedily. The 19th Amendment enfranchising women was proposed in Congress in June 1919 and became law in August 1920. In the 2012 election, nearly 64 percent of female citizens 18 and older reported voting, while not quite 60 percent of males cast a ballot in the Presidential election. Additionally, nearly 73 percent of female citizens reported being registered to vote. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, January 11th. This date in 1973 was a day that lives in infamy, at least among some self-described baseball purists. The American League approved a three-year experiment with replacing pitchers in the batting order with a designated hitter. The rule change stuck and is the most prominent distinction between the two major leagues. The first designated hitter to come to the plate was the New York Yankees’ Ron Blomberg on April 6, 1973. The result of that historic at-bat was an anticlimactic walk. With the Houston Astros having moved to the American League a couple years ago, there are up to 15 major league designated hitter jobs in the U.S. — a tiny, one-in-10 million specialty among the nearly 156 million people 16 and older in the labor force. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.
I was wondering why my hairy dogs lit up every time I reached out to pet them! Yes, low humidity increases static electricity, It makes me wonder how much dry air electricity exists in a desert.