Ringing In The New Year
With 1995 going out and 1996 coming in, there were the usual assortment of comic and tragic events. Among them:
New year in sync
In case you missed it, the last day of 1995 contained a leap second - an extra second that was added to the final minute of the year, Greenwich Mean Time, to bring the world’s atomic clocks back into sync with the movements of Earth. In the Pacific Standard Time zone, the minute that began at 3:59 p.m. on Dec. 31 contained 61 seconds.
The decision to add a leap second is made by the International Earth Rotation Service in France, where scientists compare the time on atomic clocks (based on the highly regular, natural resonant frequencies of certain atoms) to time as measured by the planet’s rotation. Earth’s rotation has been slowing down, noted Neil deGrasse Tyson, acting director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, because of tidal friction, a dragging effect caused by the “tidal bulges” created by the moon’s gravitational pull on the oceans.
Proposal makes a splash
NEW YORK
On the first day of the new year, Anthony Fiorillo wanted to find a new way to propose marriage. All it took was a 500-pound sea lion named Jaws.
Fiorillo arranged for girlfriend Denise Lacinski to catch the aquatic show at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, N.Y., where she works as the switchboard operator. Lacinski, 25, found herself called from the audience to assist at poolside. Before she knew it, Fiorillo, 26, followed her out of the crowd.
Jaws, the 500-pound sea lion, took his cues and waddled over to his perch. When Jaws opened his mouth, Fiorillo reached in and pulled out a package containing a diamond engagement ring. He got down on one knee and proposed marriage to Lacinski.
Before a cheering crowd, she broke into tears and said yes. Jaws clapped his flippers in appreciation.
High water doesn’t stop divers
ROME
The Tiber overflowed its banks in Rome, but the extra water and a police warning didn’t stop two men from making the traditional dive off the Cavour Bridge into the polluted river Monday.
Fifty years ago, a Belgian man started a tradition of New Year’s Day diving from the 60-foot-high Ponte Cavour into the river.
Minutes before this year’s dive was scheduled, firefighters and military police tried to call it off, warning of the danger of strong currents and underwater logs.
But two men went ahead: an Italian who was jumping for his 23rd time and an Egyptian making his fourth Tiber dive.
Gunfire incidents decline
LOS ANGELES
Police efforts to wipe out the tradition of firing guns into the air to usher in the New Year fell short Monday night as gunfire erupted on cue in some areas of Southern California.
But in Los Angeles at least, the number of complaints of random gunfire dropped to 528 from 650 last year and the number of people arrested on gun-related charges dropped to 60 from 98 last New Year’s Eve, according to preliminary police reports. The number of weapons confiscated dropped to 98 from 112, officials said.