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Today is February 6 2014

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

National Frozen Yogurt Day: More
Love the stuff any time, but wouldn't a summer day be better to celebrate?

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Waitangi Day: More
Events in the past on: February 6
  • In 1788, Massachusetts becomes the sixth state of the U.S.A., after ratifying the United States Constitution.
    From Wikipedia: 'Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.'

    'From 1786 to 1787, an armed uprising, known as Shays' Rebellion led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays wrought havoc throughout Massachusetts, and ultimately attempted to seize the U.S. Federal Armory at Springfield. The rebellion was one of the major factors in the decision to draft a stronger national constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation. On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1820, The first 86 African American slaves sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia.
    From Wikipedia: 'The American Colonization Society (ACS; in full, The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America), established in 1816 by Robert Finley of New Jersey, was founded by groups otherwise opposed to each other on the issue of slavery. The ACS intended to support the colonization of free African Americans because their presence served as "a perpetual excitement" to the enslaved blacks and threatened the slave societies of the South. All of the early organizers of the Society were slaveholders; according to annual reports of the Society, they hoped in this effort to strengthen the institution of slavery. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 on the coast of West Africa as a place for free-born American blacks. Among its supporters were Charles Fenton Mercer, Henry Clay, John Randolph, and Richard Bland Lee.

    The ACS was a coalition made up mostly of evangelicals and Quakers who supported abolition, and Chesapeake slaveholders who understood that unfree labor did not constitute the economic future of the nation. They found common ground in support of so-called "repatriation". They believed blacks would face better chances for full lives in Africa than in the United States. The slaveholders opposed state or federally mandated abolition, but saw repatriation as a way to remove free blacks and avoid slave rebellions. From 1821, thousands of free black Americans moved to Liberia from the United States. Over twenty years, the colony continued to grow and establish economic stability. In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared the nation an independent state.

    The Society closely controlled the development of Liberia until its declaration of independence. By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the movement of more than 13,000 Americans to Liberia. From 1825 to 1919, it published the African Repository and Colonial Journal. After 1919, the society had essentially ended, but it did not formally dissolve until 1964, when it transferred its papers to the Library of Congress'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1935, The board game, Monopoly, goes on sale for the first time. It was originally invented by Elizabeth Magie, as The Landlord’s Game.
    From Wikipedia: 'Monopoly is a board game that originated in the United States in 1903 as a way to demonstrate that an economy which rewards wealth creation is better than one in which monopolists work under few constraints and to promote the economic theories of Henry George and in particular his ideas about taxation and women’s rights. The current version was first published by Parker Brothers in 1935. Subtitled "The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game", the game is named after the economic concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity. It is now produced by the United States game and toy company Hasbro. Players move around the gameboard buying or trading properties, developing their properties with houses and hotels, and collecting rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them all into bankruptcy leaving one monopolist in control of the entire economy. Since the board game was first commercially sold in the 1930s, it has become a part of popular world culture, having been locally licensed in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages'.

    'The history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when American anti-monopolist Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips, created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George. It was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Magie took out a patent in 1904. Her game, The Landlord's Game, was self-published, beginning in 1906. A series of variant board games based on her concept was developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land and the development of that land. Cardboard houses were added and rents were increased as they were added. Magie again patented the game in 1924.

    'By 1933, a variation on "The Landlord's Game" called Monopoly was the basis of the board game sold by Parker Brothers, beginning on 6 February 1935. Several people, mostly in the Midwestern United States and near the East Coast, contributed to the game's design and evolution, and this is when the game's design took on the 4×10 space-to-a-side layout and familiar cards were produced. The original version of the game in this format was based on streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey. By the 1970s, the false notion that the game had been created solely by Charles Darrow had become popular folklore: it was printed in the game's instructions'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1943, Frank Sinatra debuts on the radio show, Your Hit Parade.
    More
    On YouTube: More
  • In 1950, NBC radio debuted, Dangerous Assignment, starring Brian Donlevy.
    From Wikipedia: 'Throughout his film career, Donlevy also did several radio shows, including a reprise of The Great McGinty. He played the lead character in Dangerous Assignment between 1949 and 1954, taking the series to TV in 1952. He featured in a number of films over the following years until his death. He also appeared in a variety of television series from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s'.
    More
    - On YouTube (radio): More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1959, Cape Canaveral, Florida: first successful test firing of a Titan ICBM.
    From Wikipedia: 'Titan is a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. A total of 368 rockets of this family were launched, including all the Project Gemini manned flights of the mid-1960s. Titans were part of the American intercontinental ballistic missile deterrent until the late 1980s, and lifted other American military payloads as well as civilian agency intelligence-gathering satellites. Titans also were used to send highly successful interplanetary scientific probes throughout the Solar System'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1959. Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
    From Wikipedia: 'Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part (along with Robert Noyce) in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments (TI) in 1958. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics on December 10, 2000.'

    'He is also the inventor of the handheld calculator and the thermal printer, for which he has patents. He also has patents for seven other inventions'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1965, The Righteous Brothers song, You've Lost That Lovin, Feelin' hits #1.
    From Wikipedia: '"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a song written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil, and first recorded by The Righteous Brothers in 1964. The recording was produced by Spector, and it is considered by some music critics to be the ultimate expression and illustration of Spector's "Wall of Sound" recording technique. It has also been described by various music writers as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record"'.
    More
    On Youtube: More
  • In 1982, The song, Centerfold, by the J Geils Band hits #1 on pop charts.
    From Wikipedia: '"Centerfold" is a single released by The J. Geils Band from their album Freeze Frame. The song is about a man who is shocked to discover that his high school crush appeared in a centerfold spread for a men's magazine. The singer cannot decide between his disappointment due to her loss of innocence, or his lust'.
    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

  • I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles: More
    The Beatles have there first hit the No. 1 in the US. This will hold the no. 1 spot until March 21st, when another Beatles song, She Loves You, takes over.

Top movie

  • Dr. Strangelove More
    It will be there until the weekend box office of Feb. 23 when 'Dead Ringer' takes over.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): February 6
   V.
This month February 2014 (updated once a month - last updated - )

National Weddings Month, Potato Lover's Month, Berry Fresh Month, National Cherry Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Snack Food Month, Sweet Potato Month


February is:

February origin (from Wikipedia):
'The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 713 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs (c. 450 BC), when it became the second month. At certain intervals February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary month, Intercalaris, was inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the seasons. Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, ..., December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order. The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years and thus contained a 29-day February.'

February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than 30 days. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 days in leap years.
February is the third month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the third month of summer (the seasonal equivalent of August in the Northern Hemisphere, in meteorological reckoning).

February 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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