Kona Lanes was a 40-lane bowling center in Costa Mesa, California, that closed in 2003 after 45 years in business. Built during the advent of Googie architecture, its Polynesian Tiki-themed styling extended from the large roadside neon sign to what the Los Angeles Times called the building's "flamboyant neon lights and ostentatious rooflines meant to attract motorists like moths". At its peak, Kona Lanes was open 24 hours a day, averaging more than 80 ten-frame games of bowling on each of its 40 lanes. The center also hosted music concerts and other events. Following years of decline, Kona Lanes closed and was torn down in 2003; a portion of the distinctive sign (pictured) was saved and sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, for display in the American Sign Museum. Plans for a department store on the Kona Lanes site were rejected; in 2010, the still-unused land was rezoned for senior citizens' apartments and commercial development. Construction on the apartment complex began in 2013 after the lot had sat empty for ten years.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kona_Lanes

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1537:

The main settlement Bacatá was conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada during the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, effectively ending the Muisca Confederation in the Colombian Eastern Andes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacat%C3%A1

1809:

War of the Fifth Coalition: Napoleon led a Franco-German force to victory over a reinforced Austrian corps in the Battle of Abensberg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Abensberg

1939:

Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday in Nazi Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_50th_birthday

1968:

British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell made his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech in opposition to immigration and anti-discrimination legislation, resulting in his removal from the Shadow Cabinet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech

2010:

An explosion on Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, caused the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

execration: 1. An act or instance of cursing; a curse dictated by violent feelings of hatred; an imprecation; an expression of utter detestation. 2. That which is execrated; a detested thing. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/execration

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It's a rare man who is taken for what he truly is … There is much misjudgment in the world. … We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream.   --The Last Unicorn https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn