A LARGE GEMSTONE HAS SOLD AT AUCTION

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A gemstone, billed as one of the largest
gem-quality opals ever found, was sold for $143,750 at auction in
Alaska on Sunday.

The opal, dubbed the “Americus Australis,” weighs more than
11,800 carats, according to the auction house Alaska Premier
Auctions & Appraisals. It also has a long history.

Most recently, it was kept in a linen closet in a home in Big Lake,
north of Anchorage, by Fred von Brandt, who mines for gold in
Alaska and whose family has deep roots in the gem and rock
business.

The opal is larger than a brick and is broken into two pieces,
which von Brandt said was a practice used decades ago to
prove gem quality.

Von Brandt said the stone has been in his family since the late
1950s, when his grandfather bought it from an Australian opal
dealer named John Altmann.

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posted by Bob Karm in Auction,CURRENT EVENTS,Gems,HISTORY and have No Comments

AMERICAN ORBITED EARTH ON THIS DAY

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From Cape Canaveral, Florida,
John Herschel Glenn Jr. was
successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7
spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut
on this day in 1962.

Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was
among the seven men chosen by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) in 1959 to become
America’s first astronauts.

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posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,Astronauts,Earth,HISTORY,Marine Corps,NASA,SPACE and have No Comments

RESCUE OF SURVIVORS BEGAN ON THIS DAY 1847

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On February 19, 1847, the first rescuers reached surviving members
of the
Donner Party, a group of 89 California-bound emigrants led
by the Donner and Reed families, stranded by snow in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. Three additional rescue parties arrived later.

The trip back to Sutter’s Fort was also brutally hard. Only 45 of the original 89 members of the Donner Party survived.

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posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,DEATH,HISTORY,Immigrant,Rescue and have No Comments

HISTORY WAS MADE ON THIS DAY

today in history

john belmont 2
JOHN BELMONT

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Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr.
(April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

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posted by Bob Karm in AUTHORS,BIRTHDAY,Court,CURRENT EVENTS,DEATH,FBI,HISTORY,NASCAR,POLITICAL,President and have No Comments

MCCARTNEY ANNOUNCES HIS NEXT TOUR

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Paul McCartney announced his first
live shows since 2019 Friday, including stops from Tennessee to California.

McCartney said…“I said at the end of the last tour that I’d see you
next time. I said I was going to get back to you. Well, I got back!"

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posted by Bob Karm in CURRENT EVENTS,MUSIC,Musician,Tour and have No Comments