5 Things: Find Out Why You Should Take Out Your Lucky Penny Today

1. FORECAST:

Thursday: Hot and humid. Hazy sun with some late day t-storms (after 5pm). Highs from 77-83. Southwest wind 7-11mph.

Friday: Cloudy & cooler--in fact much cooler with periods of rain for the day. Highs only in the 60s.

Saturday: Partly to mostly cloudy. Highs in the 60s.

2. FUNDRAISER AT CAMBRIDGE WEAR: Support Project Graduation by shopping at Cambridge Wear at Acton Woods Plaza all day today. A percentage of your purchase will be donated to fund the all night alcohol-, drug-free event for this year's graduating high school seniors. Project Graduation is funded entirely by business, citizen and parent donations. Cambridge Wear won the Acton Patch's Gold Readers Choice Award for favorite woman's clothing store for Acton and for the region in 2012.

3. MEET LINDA CHORNEY: Sudbury native and Grammy nominee Linda Chorney will be reading from her new book, "Who the F*** Is Linda Chorney?" at Goodnow Library from 7 - 8:30 p.m.

Linda, a 1978 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, was nominated for a Grammy award in 2011. An independent recording artist, she shocked the industry by securing a nomination in the Americana category using Grammy 365, the social network for Grammy voters. The book describes her journey as she sought the nomination and the reaction of the industry to a nominee most had never heard of.

4. ODD HOLIDAYS HELD TODAY: Today is Lucky Penny Day. Perhaps a Lucky Penny will be lucky for you today. Taken at face value, a penny doesn't buy you much, if anything. It used to. During your parents and grandparents days, a penny bought a lot of things. Most notably, Penny Candy got its name because a piece of candy cost a penny. Inflation year after year after year eroded the penny's value. There has even been some discussion as to whether to discontinue the penny.

5. THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

• 1430 — Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians and subsequently sold to the English.
• 1788 — South Carolina became the eighth state in United States.
• 1830 — The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began the first passenger service in the United States.
• 1873 — The North West Mounted Police force was formed in Canada. It would later be known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
• 1911 — The New York Public Library, at the time the largest marble structure ever built in the United States, was dedicated by President Taft in New York City after 16 years of construction.
• 1934 — Bonnie (Parker) and Clyde (Barrow) were killed in a police shootout.
• 1945 — Heinrich Himmler, head of Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo, committed suicide while in prison.
• 1949 — The German Federal Republic came into existence.
• 1997 — Moderate Mohammad Khatami was elected president of Iran.