The photo was taken the night of the 6th annual Ruby Drop in 2019.
OVERNIGHT OUTLOOK
Temperatures will drop below freezing overnight and winds should be calm in most of the county except in the higher elevations and on the Highlands Plateau, where winds will be 10 to 15 mph out of the northwest, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
If you plan on going out for the various New Year's celebrations, be sure to bundle up. Be safe and remember to not drink and drive.
Macon Media would like to express appreciation to the management at Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle, who has sponsored the weather here for the last several years for their support. Today is the last day of their sponsorship and Macon Media is looking for a new weather sponsor or sponors.
Weather Sponsor
Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.
Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County. GENERAL OUTLOOK
High pressure will build in briefly today, then a weak passing
low pressure system could bring back light snow showers to the
Tennessee border areas Monday and Monday night. Another low pressure
system will pass to the south Wednesday night and Thursday, but
the trend is toward lower chances of precipitation. High pressure
will build back in for the end of the work week.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
Weather Sponsor
Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.
Mostly cloudy through midmorning, then gradual clearing, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds in the morning increasing to come out of the west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. Winds out of the south around 5 mph shifting to come out of the north after midnight.
New Year's Day
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 20. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the lower 50s.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the west 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the northwest 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
New Year's Day
Mostly sunny, with highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the lower 50s. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph in the morning shifting to come out of the southwest in the afternoon.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph shifting to come out of the northwest after midnight.
New Year's Day
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 20. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday
Sunny, with highs near 50.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
Nantahala Area
Today
Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Light winds out of the southeast early in the morning increasing to 5 to 10 mph by midmorning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
New Year's Day
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the low-to-mid 20s. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph.
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin in 1951
Lowest Temperature 2°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1983
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.34 inches in Highlands in 2012
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 3.0 inches in Franklin in 1963
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on 12-31-1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.25 inches in Highlands on 12-28-2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on 12-21-1876
Record Weather Events for December 31st in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 82°F in Wilmington, New Hanover County in 2015
Lowest Temperature -5°F in Banner Elk, Avery County in 1935
Greatest Rainfall 6.12 inches at the Grandfather Mountain, Avery County in 2015
Greatest Snowfall 15.0 inches in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 1997
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 87°F in Edenton, Chowan County on 12-03-1922
Lowest Temperature -21°F in Banner Elk, Avery County on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 12-29-2018
Greatest Snowfall 25.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 12-09-2017
Back to TopMacon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
January Music Lineup for Friends of the Greenway, Inc.
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
This is a reminder that Frog Quarters remains closed throughout this week, but we will reopen with our regular schedule (Wed thru Sat, 9a to 2p) beginning next week on January 3rd........Meaning Live MidDay Music will resume on Saturdays from 11a to 1p.
1/6/24—George James—You’ll enjoy George’s tenor voice on his wide repertoire of
Folk, Soft Country & Celtic Folk covers. Bring your requests in, because if George
doesn’t know one popular hit, he’ll probably know another by the artist.
1/13/24—Al Scortino & Greg “Squeeze Box” Thomas—Both these guys have a
fantastic offering of original songs they’ve written over the years. “Slice of life” songs,
environmental songs and more. You’ll be shedding a tear over Al’s award-winning folk
song, Molly’s Makeup. Greg always has the perfect instrumental accompaniment with the
keyboard, accordian or harmonica. These guys are a treat.
1/20/24—Melody Lowery—A talented singer/songwriter who’s quite the musician
whether playing her favorite guitar or demonstrating her many years of schooling on the
keyboard. She’s known around town for her original, Frogtown Girl—a Franklin, NC
ballad.
1/27/24—Mike Yow—When this talented Singer/Songwriter isn’t doing Country, Rock
or Gospel with his group, Arnold Hill, he performs his originals along with Appalachian,
country and folk/pop of others. It’s always a treat when Mike comes to town.
Frog Quarters is open 9a to 2p, Wednesdays thru Saturdays—beside the
River Bridge. We are the Non-Profit supporting the Greenway with
monies from sales from our Coffee & Gift Shop, Memberships and
Donations. As always, thank you for your support!
Mountain Findings
432 Spruce Street (physical)
Highlands, North Carolina 28741
Web: MountainFindings.org
Mountain Findings (a thrift store) is open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm until October 2023.
December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Years Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the following year. It is also the last day of the fourth and final quarter of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.
535 – Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
870 – Battle of Englefield: The Vikings clash with ealdorman Æthelwulf of Berkshire. The invaders are driven back to Reading (East Anglia); many Danes are killed.
1105 – Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Henry V, in Ingelheim.
1225 – The Lý dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Trần Thái Tông, husband of the last Lý monarch, Lý Chiêu Hoàng, starting the Trần dynasty.
1229 – James I the Conqueror, King of Aragon, enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain), thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.
1501 – The First Battle of Cannanore commences, seeing the first use of the naval line of battle.
1600 – The British East India Company is chartered.
1660 – James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
1670 – The expedition of John Narborough leaves Corral Bay, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.
1687 – The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
1757 – Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia.
1759 – Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec: British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery.
1790 – Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
1796 – The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.
1831 – Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
1853 – A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England.
1857 – Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.
1862 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
1878 – Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1901–present
1906 – Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906.
1907 – The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in Manhattan.
1942 – USS Essex, first aircraft carrier of a 24-ship class, is commissioned.
1944 – World War II: Operation Nordwind, the last major Wehrmacht offensive on the Western Front, begins.
1946 – President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
1951 – Cold War: The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Western Europe.
1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
1956 – The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.
1961 – RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
1965 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begin a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
1968 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.
1968 – MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.
1981 – A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
1983 – Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.
1983 – In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
1992 – Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
1994 – This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.
1994 – The First Chechen War: The Russian Ground Forces begin a New Year's storming of Grozny.
1998 – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.
1999 – The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
1999 – The U.S. government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ends after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.
2000 – The last day of the 20th Century and 2nd Millennium.
2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
2010 – Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total of 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.
2011 – Samoa and Tokelau skip the day of December 30, 2011 as they jump to the other side of the International Date Line, changing their time zones.
2011 – NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
2014 – A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
2015 – A fire breaks out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, located near the Burj Khalifa, two hours before the fireworks display is due to commence. Sixteen injuries were reported; one had a heart attack, another suffered a major injury, and fourteen others with minor injuries.
2018 – Thirty-nine people are killed after a ten-story building collapses in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, Russia.
2019 – The World Health Organization is informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. This later turned out to be COVID-19, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Published at 5:00am on Sunday, December 31, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe following websites or books:
MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War.
Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center.
Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County. GENERAL OUTLOOK
Expect cooler temperatures going into the weekend with the potential
for light mountain snow today and Saturday. A weak low pressure
system could affect the region Monday, with another one for
Wednesday into Thursday.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
Weather Sponsor
Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Calm winds becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph.
New Year's Day
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s. Winds out of the west 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
New Year's Day
Partly sunny, with highs near 40.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with lows in the lower 20s. Blustery.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Mostly cloudy, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the north 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs near 52. Light and variable winds early in the morning increasing to come out of the west 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing, Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
New Year's Day
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with lows around 20.
Nantahala Area
Today
A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 9am. Mostly cloudy, with highs in the upper 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Winds out of the southwest 3 to 7 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the upper 40s. Light winds out of the southwest increasing to come out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph by midmorning.
New Year's Eve
Partly cloudy, with lows around freezing. Winds out of the southwest 5 to 10 mph.
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 71°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1984
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands in 1917
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 7.70 inches in Highlands in 1912
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 3.0 inches in Highlands in 1997
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on 12-31-1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.25 inches in Highlands on 12-28-2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on 12-21-1876
Record Weather Events for December 30th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 81°F in Dobbins Heights, Richmond County in 1984
Lowest Temperature -21°F in Banner Elk, Avery County in 1917
Greatest Rainfall 4.16 inches at the Asheboro, Randolph County in 2015
Greatest Snowfall 9.0 inches in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County in 1997
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 87°F in Edenton, Chowan County on 12-03-1922
Lowest Temperature -21°F in Banner Elk, Avery County on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 12-29-2018
Greatest Snowfall 25.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 12-09-2017
Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
January Music Lineup for Friends of the Greenway, Inc.
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
This is a reminder that Frog Quarters remains closed throughout this week, but we will reopen with our regular schedule (Wed thru Sat, 9a to 2p) beginning next week on January 3rd........Meaning Live MidDay Music will resume on Saturdays from 11a to 1p.
1/6/24—George James—You’ll enjoy George’s tenor voice on his wide repertoire of
Folk, Soft Country & Celtic Folk covers. Bring your requests in, because if George
doesn’t know one popular hit, he’ll probably know another by the artist.
1/13/24—Al Scortino & Greg “Squeeze Box” Thomas—Both these guys have a
fantastic offering of original songs they’ve written over the years. “Slice of life” songs,
environmental songs and more. You’ll be shedding a tear over Al’s award-winning folk
song, Molly’s Makeup. Greg always has the perfect instrumental accompaniment with the
keyboard, accordian or harmonica. These guys are a treat.
1/20/24—Melody Lowery—A talented singer/songwriter who’s quite the musician
whether playing her favorite guitar or demonstrating her many years of schooling on the
keyboard. She’s known around town for her original, Frogtown Girl—a Franklin, NC
ballad.
1/27/24—Mike Yow—When this talented Singer/Songwriter isn’t doing Country, Rock
or Gospel with his group, Arnold Hill, he performs his originals along with Appalachian,
country and folk/pop of others. It’s always a treat when Mike comes to town.
Frog Quarters is open 9a to 2p, Wednesdays thru Saturdays—beside the
River Bridge. We are the Non-Profit supporting the Greenway with
monies from sales from our Coffee & Gift Shop, Memberships and
Donations. As always, thank you for your support!
Mountain Findings
432 Spruce Street (physical)
Highlands, North Carolina 28741
Web: MountainFindings.org
Mountain Findings (a thrift store) is open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm until October 2023.
More in NC hospitals have flu than COVID | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
• Portion of Clyde Street to be Closed for Waterline Construction From January 2nd to Jan 5th, 2024
[Macon Media]
• Another fight over voting in NC goes to a judge. But could it be resolved out of court? [Raleigh News and observer]
December 30th is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; one day remains until the end of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
534 – The second and final edition of the Code of Justinian comes into effect in the Byzantine Empire.
999 – Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill in Ireland.
1066 – Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.
1896 – Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila.
1896 – Canadian ice hockey player Ernie McLea scores the first hat-trick in Stanley Cup play, and the Cup-winning goal as the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5.
1897 – The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.
1903 – A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
1905 – Former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated at the front gate of his home in Caldwell.
1906 – The All-India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India (later Dhaka, Bangladesh).
1916 – Russian mystic and advisor to the Tsar Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is murdered by a loyalist group led by Prince Felix Yusupov. His frozen, partially-trussed body was discovered in a Moscow river three days later.
1927 – The Ginza Line, the first subway line in Asia, opens in Tokyo, Japan.
1935 – The Italian Air Force bombs a Swedish Red Cross hospital during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
1936 – The Flint sit-down strike hits General Motors.
1943 – Subhas Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair.
1944 – King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.
1947 – Cold War: King Michael I of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.
1952 – An RAF Avro Lancaster bomber crashes in Luqa, Malta after an engine failure, killing three crew members and a civilian on the ground.
1958 – The Guatemalan Air Force sinks several Mexican fishing boats alleged to have breached maritime borders, killing three and sparking international tension.
1996 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
1997 – In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people from four villages are killed.
2000 – Rizal Day bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
2004 – A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 194.
2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin.
2006 – Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.
2006 – The Indonesian passenger ferry MV Senopati Nusantara sinks in a storm, resulting in at least 400 deaths.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2009 – A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptures in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 l (40,000 US gal) of diesel oil flows down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.
2009 – A suicide bomber kills nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.
2013 – More than 100 people are killed when anti-government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Published at 5:00am on Saturday, December 30, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe following websites or books:
MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War.
Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center.
Here is the news and weather briefing for Macon County. GENERAL OUTLOOK
Expect cooler temperatures going into the weekend with the potential
for light mountain snow today and Saturday. A weak low pressure
system could affect the region Monday, with another one for
Wednesday into Thursday.
---BEGIN SPONSOR SEGMENT---
Weather Sponsor
Adams Products, a Division of Oldcastle is underwriting the daily weather briefing & public safety updates for the month.
A 20 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Today
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 8pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 8pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the low-to mid 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the lower 20s. Winds out of the northwest 3 to 7 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 50s.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s.
Highlands Plateau
Today
Mostly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Today
A slight chance of snow before 7pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 7pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high in the lower 20s mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid 20s. Winds out of the northwest 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy, with lows around 30.
Otto and South Central Macon County
Today
Partly sunny, with highs near 40. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Today
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 9pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 9pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday
Partly sunny, with highs in the lower 40s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 24. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 50s.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows around 30.
Nantahala Area
Today
A slight chance of rain after 3pm, mixing with snow after 4pm. Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Today
A chance of snow before 7pm, then a chance of snow showers, mainly between 7pm and 5am. Patchy fog before 2am, then patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 20s. Winds out of the west 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid 30s. Winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Record weather events for this date in Macon County
(1872-2016)
Highest Temperature 73°F in Franklin in 1984
Lowest Temperature -10°F in Highlands in 1894
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 5.26 inches in Highlands in 1954
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 8.5 inches in Highlands in 1935
Weather Extremes for Macon County for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin on 12-31-1951
Lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 6.25 inches in Highlands on 12-28-2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin on 12-21-1876
Record Weather Events for December 29th in North Carolina
Highest Temperature 81°F in Greenville, Pitt County in 2015
Lowest Temperature -10°F in Highlands, Macon County in 1894
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches at the Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County in 2018
Greatest Snowfall 12.00 inches in Gastonia, Gaston County in 1935
Weather Extremes for North Carolina for the month of December
Data available from 1872
Highest Temperature 87°F in Edenton, Chowan County on 12-03-1922
Lowest Temperature -21°F in Banner Elk, Avery County on 12-30-1917
Greatest Rainfall 7.80 inches in Lake Toxaway, Transylvania County on 12-29-2018
Greatest Snowfall 25.00 in Mount Mitchell, Yancey County on 12-09-2017
Macon Calendar
(send your event to calendar@maconmedia.com)
January Music Lineup for Friends of the Greenway, Inc.
Frog Quarters Music Schedule (located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin)
This is a reminder that Frog Quarters remains closed throughout this week, but we will reopen with our regular schedule (Wed thru Sat, 9a to 2p) beginning next week on January 3rd........Meaning Live MidDay Music will resume on Saturdays from 11a to 1p.
1/6/24—George James—You’ll enjoy George’s tenor voice on his wide repertoire of
Folk, Soft Country & Celtic Folk covers. Bring your requests in, because if George
doesn’t know one popular hit, he’ll probably know another by the artist.
1/13/24—Al Scortino & Greg “Squeeze Box” Thomas—Both these guys have a
fantastic offering of original songs they’ve written over the years. “Slice of life” songs,
environmental songs and more. You’ll be shedding a tear over Al’s award-winning folk
song, Molly’s Makeup. Greg always has the perfect instrumental accompaniment with the
keyboard, accordian or harmonica. These guys are a treat.
1/20/24—Melody Lowery—A talented singer/songwriter who’s quite the musician
whether playing her favorite guitar or demonstrating her many years of schooling on the
keyboard. She’s known around town for her original, Frogtown Girl—a Franklin, NC
ballad.
1/27/24—Mike Yow—When this talented Singer/Songwriter isn’t doing Country, Rock
or Gospel with his group, Arnold Hill, he performs his originals along with Appalachian,
country and folk/pop of others. It’s always a treat when Mike comes to town.
Frog Quarters is open 9a to 2p, Wednesdays thru Saturdays—beside the
River Bridge. We are the Non-Profit supporting the Greenway with
monies from sales from our Coffee & Gift Shop, Memberships and
Donations. As always, thank you for your support!
Mountain Findings
432 Spruce Street (physical)
Highlands, North Carolina 28741
Web: MountainFindings.org
Mountain Findings (a thrift store) is open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm until October 2023.
News Briefing ---STATE AND LOCAL---
More in NC hospitals have flu than COVID | WRAL-TV (Raleigh, NC)
• Portion of Clyde Street to be Closed for Waterline Construction From January 2nd to Jan 5th, 2024
[Macon Media]
• Another fight over voting in NC goes to a judge. But could it be resolved out of court? [Raleigh News and observer]
December 29th is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; two days remain until the end of the year.
Historical Events
Historical Events
(Please note that the Wikipedia articles often contain a bibliography and links to where you can learn more about a historical event)
875 – Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor Charles II.
1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
1503 – The Battle of Garigliano (1503) was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Three thousand British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
1812 – USS Constitution, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.
1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.
1874 – The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and the monarchy is restored as Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain.
1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
1916 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is first published as a book by American publishing house B. W. Huebschis after its serialization in The Egoist (1914–15).
1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, killing almost 200 civilians.
1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes in the Florida Everglades on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101 of the 176 people on board.
1975 – A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
1989 – Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
1989 – The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.
1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
1994 – Turkish Airlines Flight 278 (a Boeing 737-400) crashes on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.
1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the city's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives.
2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
2006 – The UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
2012 – A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.
2013 – A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.
2013 – Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher suffers a massive head injury while skiing in the French Alps.
2020 – A large explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden kills at least 22 people and wounds 50.
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Published at 5:00am on Friday, December 29, 2023
Author: Bobby Coggins
Resources used to compile the information in this article include, but are not limited to rthe following websites or books:
MaconMedia.com, youtube.com, weather.gov, airnow.gov, wikipedia.com, onthisday.com, ncdcr.gov, ncsu.edu, utah.edu, https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/, wolfram.com, biorxiv.org, aps.org, nejm.org, plos.org, cell.com, researchsquare.com, cureus.com, spc.noaa.gov, nhc.noaa.gov, ncdenr.org, medrxiv.org, archive.org, ncpedia.org, nasa.gov, https://ww2days.com, nih.gov, carolinapublicpress.org, microbe.tv, smokymountainnews.com, psypost.org, blogspot.com, pollen.com, franklinnc.com, maconnc.org, spaceweather.com, solarham.com, loc.gov, ncleg.net, senate.gov, house.gov, whitehouse.gov, drudgereport.com, politico.com, realclearpolitics.com, ushmm.org, This Day in North Carolina History, World War II Day By Day, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, The Timetables of History, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The World History and Book of Facts (multiple years), On This Day In History: Over 4,000 facts, The NASA Archives. 60 Years in Space, This Day in North Carolina History, The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future, Spaceflight, 2nd Edition: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiousity, The Story of Civilization (11 volumes), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, American History, Volume 1: 1492-1877, American History, Volume 2: 1877 - Present, A Complete Chronolgy of the Second World War.
Weather and Almanac data and information sources: Sources (except where otherwise credited): heavens-above.com, Ian Webster's Github, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, The National Weather Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center, Penn State University Electronic Wall Map, The State Climate Office of North Carolina, Storm Prediction Center, U.S. Naval Observatory, University of Utah Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Weather Prediction Center.
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