Darien Morning Briefing, Aug. 18

Today is Thursday, Aug. 18, the 230th day of 2011 (and Darien Patch's second birthday).

HEADLINES

EVENTS & REMINDERS

• Kids Summer Reading Club Finale: Tonight from 6 to 7 p.m., the hosts a Kids Summer Reading Club finale. Making a guest appearance will be Michael Buckley, bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm series. The celebration is open to those who have completed the summer reading program and obtained a "party pass" from the library.
• Women of the 50s & 60s: On Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., the hosts a discussion group titled "Women of the 50s and 60s." Conversation revolves around the hit AMC show Mad Men and the role of women in the workplace during this period. For more information, contact the senior center at 203-656-7455.
• Currier & Ives Exhibit: The 's exhibit "A Collection of Currier & Ives" continues today and runs through Sept. 9. The show features 22 lithographs by the iconic printmaking firm on loan from the Ziegler Family. The society is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Get Puzzled: Help the library solve the world's largest jigsaw puzzle in record time for a chance to be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes: 5:00 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. (1 hr. 50 min.)
• Crazy, Stupid, Love: 4:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m. (1 hr. 47 min.)

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

• None scheduled

FORECAST

• Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 9 a.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming southwest between 6 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
• Thursday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. West wind between 3 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

TIDES & TIMES

• High tide: 2:49 a.m. (7.0')
• Sunrise: 6:06 a.m.
• Low tide: 9:00 a.m. (0.7')
• High tide: 3:05 p.m. (7.5')
• Sunset: 7:49 p.m.
• Low tide: 9:33 p.m. (0.8')

TODAY IN HISTORY

• 1590: John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
• 1868: French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.
• 1920: The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
• 1958: Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the U.S.
• 1963: James Meredith becomes the first African American person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

Forecast obtained from the National Weather Service; tide information obtained from saltwatertides.com (calibrated to Long Neck Point); 'Today in History' items compiled from Wikipedia and other sources.