World Cancer Day
February 4
The American Cancer Society tells us cancer knows no borders. In 2018, one out of six people worldwide died from cancer – that’s more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. World Cancer Day raises awareness of cancer globally and encourages prevention, detection, and treatment. Several factors increase the risk of cancer (officially known as malignant neoplasm), including pollutants, tobacco use, certain infections, radiation, obesity, and lack of physical exercise. In 2008, 7.6 million people died of cancer globally, which equates to 21,000 cancer deaths a day. By 2030, 21.4 million new cancer cases are expected to occur globally with 13.2 million cancer deaths.
Thank A Mail Carrier Day
February 4
Today, take a moment to thank your mail carrier. He or she literally brings your mail in sleet, snow and 100° plus weather. Here’s a couple interesting facts about the U.S. Mail Service. Up until 1915 it was legal to mail a baby by US Mail. In 1914, to save money on train fare, May Pierstorff’s parents paid the 53 cents postage, and mailed the 5-year old to her grandparents for a visit. She rode the whole way in the mail car and was delivered to her grandparents’ house by the mail clerk on duty. In 2006, a prisoner named Richard Lee McNair got himself a job in prison repairing mail bags, and he climbed inside one and mailed himself out of prison.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Rosa Parks – Civil Rights Leader – born in Tuskegee, Alabama
Alice Cooper – Singer – born in Detroit, Michigan