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Today is January 9 2014

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   I.
Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday

National Apricot Day.: More

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • The Beatles haven't hit the US with a number one song yet, but in the UK and Australia the number one song is, I Want To Hold Your Hand. : More
  • National Static Electricity Day!: More
Events in the past on: January 9
  • In 1493, Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids. Columbus wrote in his log that mermaids were “not half as beautiful as they are painted”. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1793, Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
    From Wikipedia: 'On 9 January 1793, Blanchard conducted the first balloon flight in the Americas. He launched his balloon from the prison yard of Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and landed in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey. One of the flight's witnesses that day was President George Washington, and the future presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were also present. Blanchard left the United States in 1797'. More
    - On YouTube (history of balloons): More
  • In 1788, Connecticut becomes the 5th state to become part of the United States. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1816, Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It consists of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen. It was created for use in coal mines, to reduce the danger of explosions due to the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
    From Wikipedia: 'The daguerreotype (/d?'g?r?ta?p/; French: daguerréotype) process, or daguerreotypy, was the first publicly announced photographic process, and for nearly twenty years, it was the one most commonly used. It was invented by Louis-Jaques-Mandé Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839. By 1860, new processes which were less expensive and produced more easily viewed images had almost completely replaced it'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1861, The first hostile act of the Civil War takes place. The "Star of the West" fired on in the harbor at Sumter SC.
    From Wikipedia: 'On January 9, 1861, weeks after South Carolina declared that it had seceded from the U.S. (but before other states had done so to form the Confederacy) Star of the West was fired upon by cadets from The Citadel stationed at the Morris Island battery as the ship entered Charleston Harbor. This prevented Star of the West from resupplying Major Robert Anderson' s garrison at Fort Sumter. Star of the West was given a warning shot across the bow and turned about to leave the harbor mouth. She was hit three times by what were effectively the first shots of the American Civil War'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1903, Wind Cave National Park, SD established.
    From Wikipedia: 'Wind Cave National Park is a United States national park 10 miles (16 km) north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh U.S. National Park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1923, Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
    From Wikipedia: 'Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of De La Cierva, 21 September 1895 in Murcia, Spain – 9 December 1936 in Croydon, United Kingdom) was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of the Autogiro, a single-rotor type of aircraft that came to be called autogyro in the English language. In 1923, after four years of experimentation, De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary- wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1941, the first flight of the Avro Lancaster.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and, as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the central implement for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1956, The newspaper column 'Dear Abby', by Abigail Van Buren debuts.
    From Wikipedia: 'Dear Abby, is an advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name.'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1959, The TV show 'Rawhide' with Clint Eastwood premieres.
    From Wikipedia: 'Rawhide is an American Western TV series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes'' More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1984, The TV show, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, premieres on NBC TV. From Wikipedia: 'TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes is an American television series. Debuting as a weekly series, new episodes have been broadcast as infrequent specials during most of its run. It premiered on NBC in 1984, moved to ABC in 1998, and was revived in syndication in 2012'. More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

Nothing. Looks like I was lazy on this day.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today

No. 1 song

  • There I've Said It Again - Bobby Vinton: More
    This song will stay no. 1 until Jan. 25, when the Beatles hit the no. 1 US charts with, I Want To Hold Your Hand.
  • There are differences in the number one song by country, rating category (top 10, 40 , 100) and chart. The Cash Box 100 has the no. 1 pop hit as:
    Louie Louie More
    For those who, 50 yrs later still can't understand the words, this has the lyrics.

Top movie

  • The Sword in the Stone More
    It will stay on top until the weekend box office ratings of February 2, 1964, when Dr. Strangelove takes over
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): January 9
   V.
This month January 2014 (updated once a month - last updated - )

National: Egg Month, Hot Tea Month, Oatmeal Month, Soup Month.


January is:

January origin (from Wikipedia): 'January is named after Janus, the God of beginnings and transitions; the name has its beginnings in Roman mythology, coming from the Latin word for door since January is the door to the year.'

'January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter) and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer). In the Southern hemisphere, January is the seasonal equivalent of July in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.'

January at Wikipedia: More

  VI.
TV fifty years ago 1964 (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2014)

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

 VII.
Best selling books fifty years ago (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2014)

Best selling books of 1964 More

VIII.
Fun (Last link added October 1 2014, but content on each site may change daily)
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
  • NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
  • Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
  • NASA TV: (video feed) More
    NASA TV schedule: More
  • Public Domain eBook Links

    Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

  • Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  IX.
Other Holiday Sites (Last link added October 1 2014. Link content changes yearly)

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.


US Government Holidays

  • 2014 Postal Holidays More
  • 2014 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

  • List of holidays by country More
  • Holidays and Observances around the World More
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