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Today is February 20 2014

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

National Cherry Pie Day: More
Well, this year we have had Cherry Popover, Cherry Cobbler and Cherry Turnover day. It's time for the whole pie.

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Love Your Pet Day: More
    This should be an easy day for everyone.
  • National Handcuff Day: More
    Not going to touch this one.
Events in the past on: February 20
  • In 1685, René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
    From Wikipedia: 'The French colonization of Texas began with Fort Saint Louis in present-day southeastern Texas. It was established in 1685 near Arenosa Creek and Matagorda Bay by explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle. He intended to found the colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River, but inaccurate maps and navigational errors caused his ships to anchor instead 400 miles (640 km) to the west, off the coast of Texas. The colony survived until 1688. The present-day town of Inez is near the fort's site'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1792, President George Washington signs legislation creating the U.S. Postal Service.
    From Wikipedia: 'The United States Postal Service, also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, often abbreviated as USPS, is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution'. 'Before the Revolution, individuals like Benjamin Franklin and William Goddard were the colonial postmasters who managed the mails then and were the general architects of a postal system that started out as an alternative to the Crown Post.

    The official post office was created in 1792 as the Post Office Department (USPOD). It was based on the Constitutional authority empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads". The 1792 law provided for a greatly expanded postal network, and served editors by charging newspapers an extremely low rate. The law guaranteed the sanctity of personal correspondence, and provided the entire country with low-cost access to information on public affairs, while establishing a right to personal privacy'.

    'To cover long distances, the Post Office used a hub-and-spoke system, with Washington as the hub and chief sorting center. By 1869, with 27,000 local post offices to deal with, it had changed to sorting mail en route in specialized railroad mail cars, called Railway Post Offices, or RPOs. The system of postal money orders began in 1864. Free mail delivery began in the larger cities in 1863'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1839, Anti-dueling law was passed by U.S. Congress for the area of Washington D.C.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1872, The 'Metropolitan Museum of Art' opens in New York City.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially "the Met", located in New York City, is the largest art museum in the United States and among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments.'

    'The New York State Legislature granted the Metropolitan Museum of Art an Act of Incorporation on April 13, 1870 "for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said City a Museum and Library of Art, of encouraging and developing the Study of the Fine Arts, and the application of Art to manufacture and natural life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end of furnishing popular instruction and recreations".

    The museum first opened on February 20, 1872, housed in a building located at 681 Fifth Avenue in New York City. John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum, served as its first president, and the publisher George Palmer Putnam came on board as its founding superintendent. The artist Eastman Johnson acted as co-founder of the museum'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1872, Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures flat bottom paper bags.
    More
  • In 1934, Ernest Orlando Lawrence is issued a patent for the cyclotron.
    From Wikipedia: 'A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1932 in which charged particles accelerate outwards from the centre along a spiral path. The particles are held to a spiral trajectory by a static magnetic field and accelerated by a rapidly varying (radio frequency) electric field. Lawrence was awarded the 1939 Nobel prize in physics for this invention. Cyclotrons were the most powerful particle accelerator technology until the 1950s when they were superseded by the synchrotron, and are still used to produce particle beams in physics and nuclear medicine. The largest single-magnet cyclotron was the 4.67 m (184 in) synchrocyclotron built between 1940 and 1946 by Lawrence at the University of California at Berkeley, which could accelerate protons to 730 MeV. The largest cyclotron is the 17.1 m (56 ft) multimagnet TRIUMF accelerator at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia which can produce 500 MeV protons.

    There are over 1200 cyclotrons used in nuclear medicine worldwide for the production of radionuclides'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1940 - Larry Clinton and his Orchestra record 'Limehouse Blues'.
    From Wikipedia: '"Limehouse Blues" is a popular 1922 British song written by the London-based duo of Douglas Furber (lyrics) and Philip Braham (music). It was made famous by Gertrude Lawrence. It has been recorded hundreds of times since, and remains in the standard jazz repertory. Some of the most notable recordings include those by Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Stan Kenton, The Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Gerry Mulligan, the Ellis Marsalis Trio, Chet Atkins with Les Paul and The Mills Brothers. Outside jazz it has been recorded by a number of bluegrass artists, most notably by Reno and Smiley'.
    More
    On YouTube: More
  • In 1942, Lt. Edward O'Hare takes off from the aircraft carrier Lexington in a raid against the Japanese position at Rabaul-and minutes later becomes America's first flying ace (5 downed planes). The downs 4 fighters and a bomber.
    From Wikipedia: 'Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was an Irish-American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942 became the Navy's first flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a formation of 9 heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he managed to shoot down or damage several enemy bombers. On April 21, 1942, he became the first naval recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II'. 'Chicago O'Hare International Airport (IATA: ORD, ICAO: KORD, FAA LID: ORD), also known as O'Hare Airport, Chicago International Airport, Chicago O'Hare or simply O'Hare, is an international airport located on the Far Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States.

    'In 1945, Orchard Field was chosen by the city of Chicago as the site for a facility to meet future aviation demands. Matthew Laflin Rockwell (1915–1988) was the director of planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and responsible for the site selection and design. He was the great grandson of Matthew Laflin, a founder and pioneer of Chicago.

    'In 1949, the airport was renamed "O'Hare International Airport" to honor Edward O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. '
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1951, The movie 'The African Queen', starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, opens at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.
    From Wikipedia: 'The African Queen is a 1951 adventure film adapted from the 1935 novel of the same name by C. S. Forester. The film was directed by John Huston and produced by Sam Spiegel and John Woolf. The screenplay was adapted by James Agee, John Huston, John Collier and Peter Viertel. It was photographed in Technicolor by Jack Cardiff and had a music score by Allan Gray. The film stars Humphrey Bogart (who won the Academy Award for Best Actor – his only Oscar), and Katharine Hepburn with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel.

    The African Queen was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1994, with the Library of Congress deeming it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant"'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1962, John Hershel Glenn Jr. is successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut.
    From Wikipedia: 'John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (born July 18, 1921), (Col, USMC, Ret.), is a former Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, and United States senator. He was selected as one of the "Mercury Seven" group of military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA to become America's first astronauts and fly the Project Mercury spacecraft. On February 20, 1962, Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth person in space, after cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov and the sub-orbital flights of Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1971, The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
    From Wikipedia: 'A nationwide activation of the EBS was called an Emergency Action Notification (EAN), and was the only activation that stations were not allowed to ignore; the Federal Communications Commission made local civil emergencies and weather advisories optional (except for stations that agreed to be the "primary" source of such messages).

    To activate the EAN protocol, the Associated Press= and United Press International wire services would notify stations with a special message. It began with a full line of X's, and a bell inside the Teletype machine would sound ten times. To avoid abuse and mistakes, the message included a confirmation password which changed daily.'

    'Despite these safeguards, the system was accidentally activated at 9:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 1971. Teletype operator W. S. Eberhardt "played the wrong tape" during a test, which sent an activation message authenticated with the codeword "HATEFULNESS" through the entire system, ordering stations to cease regular programming and broadcast the alert of a national emergency. A cancellation message was sent at 9:59 a.m. EST, but it used an incorrect codeword. A cancellation message with the correct word, "IMPISH", was not sent until 10:13 a.m. EST After 40 minutes and six incorrect cancellation messages, the accidental activation was terminated.

    This false alarm demonstrated major flaws in the EBS. Many stations had not received the alert but more importantly, the vast majority of those that did either ignored it (because it came at the time of a scheduled test), or did not know what to do in an emergency. Some stations followed the procedures for an activation, but cancelled them prematurely. It is estimated that only 20% of the stations that received the activation followed the procedures completely. While several stations went off the air, the one best remembered was WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which broadcast the 1971 events as they happened, a recording of which has become available. Another recording of how the error sounded on WCCO-AM in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota can be heard on RadioTapes.com

    Numerous investigations were launched, and several changes were made to the EBS. Among them, the on-air alert announcement was streamlined, eliminating one version of the script that warned the audience of an imminent attack against the country (the WOWO broadcast above does not contain the reference to an attack). Another change was moving the tapes for genuine alerts away from the broadcasting machines to prevent them being mistaken for the weekly test tapes'.
    More
    - On YouTube: More
    - On YouTube (more recent): 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 20
   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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