Merrell In The Morning Fun You May Have Missed

Today's Celebrations

Cyber Monday
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery Day
National Mutt Day
Special Education Day

Celebrity Birthdays

1863 - Charles Ringling - circus entrepreneur; died Dec 3, 1926

1914 - Ray Walston - Emmy Award-winning actor: Picket Fences [1995-96]; My Favorite Martian, Fast Times, Silver Spoons, Damn Yankees, South Pacific, The Apartment, Of Mice and Men, Popeye, Silver Streak,The Sting; died Jan 1, 2001

1952 - Michael McDonald (61) - singer, songwriter, musician: keyboard: group: The Doobie Brothers: What a Fool Believes, Real Love; solo: I Keep Forgettin’ [Everytime You’re Near], On My Own [w/Patti LaBelle], LP: If That’s What It Takes, No Lookin’ Back, Sweet Freedom

1954 - Stone Phillips (59) - news correspondent: 20/20; TV anchor: Dateline NBC

1965 - Casey Beathard (48) - Songwriter is born in Torrance, California. He authors such hits as Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink," Darius Rucker's "Come Back Song," Eric Church's "Homeboy" and George Strait's "The Breath You Take"

>1968 - Lucy Liu (45) - actress: Ally McBeal, Bang, Jerry Maguire, Charlie’s Angels

1973 - Monica Seles (40) - tennis champion: French Open singles [1990, 1991, 1992]; Australian Open [1991, 1992, 1993]; U.S. Open [1991, 1992]

1981 - Britney Spears (32) - dance-pop singer: albums: Baby… One More Time, Oops!… I Did It Again; TV performer: The Mickey Mouse Club, Time Out with Britney Spears, Britney in Hawaii

>1983 - Jana Kramer (30) - is born in Detroit, Michigan. Following an acting career that lands her in the cast of several TV shows, she nabs her first country hit in 2012 with "Why Ya Wanna" and is named the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female in 2013

Tabloid News

Farmers In Spaaaaaaaaaace!

From independent.co.uk -

Nasa has announced plans to grow plants on the moon by 2015 in a project designed to further humanity’s chances of successfully colonizing space. If successful, the Lunar Plant Growth Habitat team will make history by seeding life from Earth on another celestial body for the first time, paving the way for humans to set up more permanent habitation. “If we send plants and they thrive, then we probably can,” says Nasa.
Scientists, contractors and students will work together to create a small 1kg “self-contained habitat” containing seeds and germination material to send to the moon. To get there Nasa plans to ‘hitchhike’, delivering the payload via the Moon Express lander, a commercial spacecraft enrolled in the Google Lunar X Prize.
“After landing in late 2015, water will be added to the seeds in the module and their growth will be monitored for 5-10 days and compared to Earth based controls. Seeds will include Arabidopsis, basil, and turnips,” said Nasa officials. “Can humans live and work on the moon? Not just visit for a few days but stay for decades? A first step in long term presence is to send plants”. “They carry genetic material that can be damaged by radiation as can that of humans [and] can test the lunar environment for us, acting as a ‘canary in a coal mine’.”