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Today is February 8 2014

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

National Molasses Bar Day: More

Other celebrations/observances today:
Events in the past on: February 8
  • In 1735, First opera in the U.S. 'Flora', opens in Charleston SC.
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  • In 1861, The formation of the Confederate States of America takes place.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Confederate States of America (CSA or C.S.), commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a confederation of secessionist American states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was originally formed by seven slave states in the Lower South region of the United States whose regional economy was mostly dependent upon agriculture, particularly cotton, and a plantation system that relied upon the chattel enslavement of African Americans'.

    'Montgomery, Alabama served as the capital of the Confederate States of America from February 4 until May 29, 1861 in the Alabama State Capitol. Six states created the Confederate States of America there on February 8, 1861. The Texas delegation was seated at the time, so it is counted in the "original seven" states of the Confederacy; it had no roll call vote until after its referendum made secession "operative". Two sessions of the Provisional Congress were held in Montgomery, adjourning May 21.

    'The government of the United States (the Union) rejected the claims of secession and considered the Confederacy illegitimate. The American Civil War began with the April 12, 1861 Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after heavy fighting which led to over half a million deaths, largely on Confederate territory, all the Confederate forces surrendered and the Confederacy dissolved'..
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  • In 1922, First radio at the White House.
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  • In 1924, The first U.S. coast-to-coast radio hookup was made. a
    From Wikipedia: '8 February – John Joseph Carty, vice-president at American Telephone and Telegraph Company, speaks on the first nationwide radio hookup in the United States, between New York's WEAF, Washington, D.C.'s WCAP and Providence's WJAR. He is heard by an estimated fifty million people'.
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  • In 1926, Walt Disney Studios is formed.
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    - On YouTube: More
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  • In 1930, The song 'Happy Days Are Here Again' by Benny Mereoff hits #1. a
    From Wikipedia: '"Happy Days Are Here Again" is a song copyrighted in 1929 by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) and published by EMI Robbins Catalog, Inc./Advanced Music Corp. The song was recorded by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra, with Lou Levin, vocal (November 1929), and was featured in the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows'.

    'Today, the song is probably best remembered as the campaign song for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's successful 1932 presidential campaign.'

    'The song is #47 on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century".'.
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    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1936, The first NFL draft, Eagles select Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger. a
    From Wikipedia: 'The first NFL draft began at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia on February 8, 1936. Ninety names were written on a blackboard in the meeting room from which the teams would choose. As no team had a scouting department, the list was created from either print media sources, visits to local colleges by team executives, or by recommendations to team executives. The draft would last for nine rounds, and it had no media coverage. The first player ever selected in the draft was Jay Berwanger. Bell, prior to the draft, was not successfully able to negotiate a contract with Berwanger so Bell traded him to the Bears. George Halas, owner of the Bears, was also unsuccessful in signing Berwanger. Berwanger's decision to not play in the NFL was not unusual, as only twenty-four of the eighty-one players selected chose to play in the NFL that year. The draft was recessed on the first day and it was continued and finished on the next day'.
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  • In 1960, First plaques were placed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Hollywood Blvd. They were for Olive Bordon, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedwick, Ernest Torrance, and Joanne Woodward. a
    From Wikipedia: 'The Hollywood Walk of Fame comprises more than 2,500 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are permanent public monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, musicians, directors, producers, musical and theatrical groups, fictional characters, and others. The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003'.
    More
    - At Wikipedia, Full list: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1963, The First full Color Television program in the World, publicly advertised, is broadcast in Mexico City by XHGC-TV, Channel 5, due to technical breakthrough advances made by Mexican Engineer Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena.
    From Wikipedia: 'In Mexico, Guillermo González Camarena invented an early color television transmission system. He received patents for color television systems in 1942 (U.S. Patent 2,296,019), 1960, and 1962. The 1942 patent (filed in Mexico on August 19, 1940) was for a synchronized color filter wheel adapter for monochrome television, similar to the field sequential color receiver demonstrated by Baird in England in July 1939 and by CBS in the United States in August 1940.

    'On August 31, 1946 González Camarena sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of The Mexican League of Radio Experiments at Lucerna St. No. 1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40 metre band. He obtained authorization to make the first publicly announced color broadcast in Mexico, on February 8, 1963, of the program Paraíso Infantil on Mexico City's XHGC-TV, using the NTSC system which had by now been adopted as the standard for color programming.

    A field-sequential color television system similar to his Tricolor system was used in NASA's Voyager mission in 1979, to take pictures and video of Jupiter'.
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  • In 1969, The last weekly edition of Saturday Evening Post.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then biweekly until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971. In the 1920s–1960s it was one of the most widely circulated and influential magazines for the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features thatreached millions of homes every week'.
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    - On YouTube: More
    - On YouTube: More
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  • In 1974, After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
    From Wikipedia: 'Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA and was the United States' first space station. Skylab orbited Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 169,950 pounds (77 t). Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 using the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. On the last two manned missions, an additional Apollo / Saturn IB stood by ready to rescue the crew in orbit if it was needed.'

    'Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the third manned Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew aboard the first American space station. The mission started on November 16, 1973 with the launch of three astronauts on a Saturn IB rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida and lasted 84 days, one hour and 16 minutes. A total of 6,051 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied by Skylab 4 astronauts performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, observation of the CometKohoutek and other experiments.
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    - On YouTube: More
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  • In 1974, The TV show 'Good Times', debuts.
    From Wikipedia: 'Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on CBS. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family.'

    'Florida and James Evans and their three children live in a rented project apartment, 17C, at 963 N. Gilbert Ave., in a housing project ... '.

    Starrting: Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, Ja'net Dubois, Bern Nadette Stanis Ralph Carter, Johnny Brown, Janet Jackson, Ben Powers'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 2008, Polaroid announces that it will discontinue production of all instant film and photos and will focus on digital photography products.
    From Wikipedia: 'On February 8, 2008, Polaroid (under the control of Thomas J. Petters sof Petters Group Worldwide) announced that the company has decided to sgradually cease production and withdraw from analog instant film products completely in 2008'.
    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 8
   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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