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Today is March 21 2014

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

National French Bread Day: More

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • National Puppy Day: More
Events in the past on: March 21
  • In 1935, The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, meaning 'Land of the Aryans'.
    From Wikipedia: 'In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, Iran. As the New York Times explained at the time, "At the suggestion of the Persian Legation in Berlin, the Tehran government, on the Persian New Year, Nowruz, March 21, 1935, substituted Iran for Persia as the official name of the country." Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably. Today, both Persia and Iran are used in cultural contexts; although, Iran is the name used officially in political contexts'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1939, 'God Bless America' was recorded by Kate Smith.
    From Wikipedia: '"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1947. President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have allegiance to the United States.
    From Wikipedia: 'President Harry S. Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the "Loyalty Order", on March 22, 1947. The order established the first general loyalty program in the United States, designed to root out communist influence in the U.S. federal government. Truman aimed to rally public opinion behind his Cold War policies with investigations conducted under its authority. He also hoped to quiet right-wing critics who accused Democrats of being soft on communism. At the same time, he advised the Loyalty Review Board to limit the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to avoid a witch hunt. The program investigated over 3 million government employees, just over 300 of whom were dismissed as security risks. Some in the Truman administration, such as Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, believed there were "many Communists in America." At the same time, Truman created a temporary commission on Employee Loyalty'.

    The Loyalty Order was part of the prelude to the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin. It was mostly the result of increasing U.S.–Soviet tensions and political maneuvering by the president and Congress. The order established a wide area for the departmental loyalty boards to conduct loyalty screenings of federal employees and job applicants. It allowed the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation to run initial name checks on federal employees and authorized further field investigations if the initial inquiry uncovered information that cast someone in a negative light. Executive Order 9835 also was the main impetus for the creation of the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO)'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1952, Alan Freed presents the 'Moondog Coronation Ball', the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Moondog Coronation Ball was a concert held at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952. It is generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert.'

    'The concert was organized by Alan Freed (a disc jockey considered to have coined the term "Rock and Roll" at WJW-Radio), along with Lew Platt, a local concert promoter, and Freed's sponsors, including Leo Mintz, owner of the Record Rendezvous store. More tickets were printed than the arena's actual capacity, in part due to counterfeiting, and a printing error (tickets for a follow-up ball were sold with the same date printed after the first had sold out). With an estimated 20,000 individuals trying to crowd into an arena that held slightly more than half that — and worries that a riot might break out as people tried to crowd in — the fire authorities shut down the concert after the first song by opening act Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams ended. Freed made a public apology on WJW the next day'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1955, NBC-TV presented the first 'Colgate Comedy Hour'.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars.'

    'The program evolved from NBC's first TV variety showcase, Four Star Revue, sponsored by Motorola. The "running gag" sketches were dropped in favor of more performing acts. The weekly show was proposed to be hosted by four comedians in a four-week rotation to provide competition for Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town on CBS. The first episode, starring Hans Conried, Rosemary DeCamp and Dick Foran, was written and produced by the then 22-year-old Peggy Webber, who appeared in over 100 episodes of Dragnet with Jack Webb.'.

    'The new format was heavily backed by its sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive, to the tune of $3 million in the first year, and the 8:00 p.m. ET, Sunday evening format show was a spectacular success, particularly for Eddie Cantor and the Martin and Lewis and Abbott and Costello duos.'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1956, At the 28th Academy Awards:
    From Wikipedia: More
    Best Picture is, Marty
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actor is Ernest Borgnine for 'Marty'
    Best Actress is Anna Magnani for 'The Rose Tattoo'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Supporting Actor is Jack Lemmon for 'Mister Roberts'
    Best Supporting Actress is Jo Van Fleet for 'East of Eden'
    Best Song is Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing from 'Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'
    -- at Wikipedia: More
    -- On YouTube: More
  • In 1964, The Beatles' 'She Loves You' single goes #1 and stays #1 for 2 weeks.
    From Wikipedia: '"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock group the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the American charts simultaneously on 4 April 1964. It is their best-selling single and the best selling single of the 1960s in the United Kingdom'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1994, At the 66th Academy Awards:
    From Wikipedia: More
    Best Picture is, Schindler's List
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actor is Tom Hanks for 'Philadelphia'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actress is Holly Hunter for 'The Piano'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Supporting Actor is Tommy Lee Jones for 'The Fugitive'
    Best Supporting Actress is Anna Paquin for 'The Piano'
    Best Song is Streets of Philadelphia from 'Philadelphia'
    -- at Wikipedia: More
    -- On YouTube: More
  • In 1999, At the 71st Academy Awards:
    From Wikipedia: More
    Best Picture is, Shakespeare in Love
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actor is Roberto Benigni for 'Life Is Beautiful'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actress is Gwyneth Paltrow for 'Shakespeare in Love'
    Best Supporting Actor is James Coburn for 'Affliction'
    Best Supporting Actress is Judi Dench for 'Shakespeare in Love'
    Best Song is When You Believe from 'The Prince of Egypt'
    -- at Wikipedia: 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

  • She Loves You - The Beatles: More
    I Want To Hold Your Hand, has been displaced by another Beatles song.She Loves You, which will hold the no. 1 spot until April 4th, when another Beatles song, Twist And Shout, takes over.

Top movie

  • Kissin' Cousins More
    It will be there until the weekend box office of March 22, 1964 when, 'The Pink Panther', takes over.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): March 21
   V.
This month March 2014 (updated once a month - last updated - )

National Celery Month, National Flour Month, National Nutrition Month, National Noodle Month, National Peanut Month, National Sauce Month


March is:

March origin (from Wikipedia):
'The name of March comes from Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named for Mars, the Roman god of war who was also regarded as a guardian of agriculture and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus. '

March 'is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is one of seven months that are 31 days long. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20th or 21st marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where September is the seasonal equivalent of the Northern Hemisphere's March. '

March 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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