Today is April 15 2014

National Glazed Ham Day: More

• Tax Day: More
  Prior to 1955, the date was March 15.
• One Day Without Shoes Day: More
  As a child, that was all summer.
• National Rubber Eraser Day: More
  Just in time for tax day. Even if your math is OK, you can use it, as an after thought, to remove that note concerning what the tax department can do with the form.

• In 1755, Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
  From Wikipedia: 'Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language.
  
  There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), equivalent to about £220,000 in 2016. Johnson took nearly nine years to complete the work, although he had claimed he could finish it in three. Remarkably, he did so single-handedly, with only clerical assistance to copy out the illustrative quotations that he had marked in books. Johnson produced several revised editions during his life'.
  
  Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 173 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent English dictionary. According to Walter Jackson Bate, the Dictionary "easily ranks as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship, and probably the greatest ever performed by one individual who labored under anything like the disadvantages in a comparable length of time"'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf, the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
  From Wikipedia: 'The American School for the Deaf (ASD) is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States. It was founded April 15, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut, by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Dr. Mason Cogswell, and Laurent Clerc and became a state-supported school later that year.'
  
  'During the winter of 1818–1819, the American School for the Deaf became the first school of primary and secondary education to receive aid from the federal government when it was granted $300,000. As a result of its pivotal role in American deaf history, it also hosts a museum containing numerous rare and old items. While it is situated on a 54-acre (220,000 m2) campus, the ASD has a small enrollment — in its history, the ASD has graduated approximately 6000 graduates'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Vice President Andrew Johnson, becomes President upon Lincoln's death.
  From Wikipedia: 'Abraham Lincoln, February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and an event often considered its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.'
  
  'John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service. In 1864, Booth formulated a plan (very similar to one of Thomas N. Conrad previously authorized by the Confederacy) to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. After attending an April 11, 1865, speech in which Lincoln promoted voting rights for blacks, an incensed Booth changed his plans and became determined to assassinate the president. Learning that the President and Grant would be attending Ford's Theatre, Booth formulated a plan with co-conspirators to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at the theater, as well as Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward at their homes. Without his main bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln left to attend the play Our American Cousin on April 14. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play.'
  
  Lincoln's bodyguard, John Parker, left Ford's Theater during intermission to drink at the saloon next door. The now unguarded President sat in his state box in the balcony. Seizing the opportunity, Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed at the back of Lincoln's head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President. Major Henry Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped.'
  
  After being on the run for 12 days, Booth was tracked down and found on a farm in Virginia, some 70 miles (110 km) south of Washington. After refusing to surrender to Union troops, Booth was killed by Sergeant Boston Corbett on April 26.''
  
  Doctor Charles Leale, an Army surgeon, found the President unresponsive, barely breathing and with no detectable pulse. Having determined that the President had been shot in the head, and not stabbed in the shoulder as originally thought, he made an attempt to clear the blood clot, after which the President began to breathe more naturally. The dying President was taken across the street to Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15. Secretary of War Stanton saluted and said, "Now he belongs to the ages".
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1892, The General Electric Company was formed from the Edison Electric Company and the Thomson Houston Company.
  From Wikipedia: 'During 1889, Thomas Edison had business interests in many electricity-related companies: Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann and Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for Edison's lighting experiments. In 1889, Drexel, Morgan and Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel, financed Edison's research and helped merge those companies under one corporation to form Edison General Electric Company which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company also acquired Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company in the same year.
  
  At about the same time, Charles Coffin, leading the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, acquired a number of competitors and gained access to their key patents. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, with the support of Drexel, Morgan and Co. Both plants continue to operate under the GE banner to this day. The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric,was formed'.
  - At GELLighting: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1912, The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th).
  From Wikipedia: 'RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City, US. The sinking resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 passengers and crew, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The RMS Titanic, the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, with Thomas Andrews as her naval naval architect. Andrews was among those who died in the sinking. On her maiden voyage, she carried 2,224 passengers and crew'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1923, Manufactured insulin becomes widely available to all diabetics.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1921 three University of Toronto scientists, J. J. R. Macleod, Frederick G. Banting, and Charles H. Best, were working on the development of insulin for treatment of diabetes. Clowes and Eli Lilly met with the researchers in 1922 to negotiate an agreement with the University of Toronto scientists to mass-produce insulin. The collaboration led to the first successful large-scale production of insulin. In 1923 Lilly began selling Iletin (Insulin, Lilly), their tradename for the first commercially available insulin product in the U.S for the treatment of diabetes. Banting and Macleod won a Nobel Prize in 1923 for their research. Insulin, "the most important drug" in the company’s history, did "more than any other" to make Lilly "one of the major pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world"'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1927, The 'Rand McNally Auto Chum' is published. It will become the 'Rand McNally Road Atlas'.
  From Wikipedia: 'Rand McNally was the first major map publisher to embrace a system of numbered highways. One of its cartographers, John Brink, invented a system that was first published in 1917 on a map of Peoria, Illinois. In addition to creating maps with numbered roads, Rand McNally also erected many of the actual roadside highway signs. This system was subsequently adopted by state and federal highway authorities. The oil industry quickly developed an interest in road maps, enticing Americans to explore and consume more gasoline. In 1920, Rand McNally began publishing road maps for the Gulf Oil Company, to be freely distributed at its service stations.'
  
  'By 1930, Rand McNally had two major road map competitors, General Drafting and Gousha, the latter of which was founded by a former Rand McNally sales representative. The Rand McNally Auto Chum, later to become the ubiquitous Rand McNally Road Atlas, debuted in 1924. The first full-color edition was published in 1960 and in 1993, it became fully digitized.
  - At RandMcNally: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1934, In the comic strip 'Blondie', Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead welcomed a baby boy, Alexander. The child would be nicknamed, 'Baby Dumpling'.
  From Wikipedia: 'Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930. The success of the strip, which features the eponymous blonde and her sandwich-loving husband, led to the long-running Blondie film series (1938–1950) and the popular Blondie radio program (1939–1950).
  
  Chic Young drew Blondie until his death in 1973, when creative control passed to his son Dean Young, who continues to write the strip.'
  
  'Blondie Bumstead (née Boopadoop): The eponymous leading lady of the comic strip. Blondie is a smart, sweet, and responsible woman. She can be stressed at times when raising her family and because of Dagwood's antics, and despite being usually laid-back and patient, Blondie does get upset sometimes. She is also extremely beautiful with gold hair, gentle curls, and a shapely figure. A friend once told Dagwood that Blondie looked like a 'million bucks'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1951, The first episode of the 'Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok' radio show aired.
  - At OtrWestern: More
  - On YouTube (radio): More
  - On YouTube (TV): More
• In 1952, The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons, and has a typical combat range of more than 8,800 miles (14,080 km) with aerial refueling.
  
  Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52's official name Stratofortress is rarely used; ...'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1955, First opening of a restaurant owned by Ray Kroc (in Illinois), technically the founding of McDonald's restaurants.
  From Wikipedia: In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers, they closed down their successful scarhop drive-in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks, and apple pie. After the first year, potato chips and pie were swapped out for french fries and milkshakes.
  
  In 1952, the brothers decided they needed an entirely new building in order to achieve two goals: further efficiency improvements, and a more eye-catching appearance. They collected recommendations for an architect and interviewed at least four altogether, finally choosing Stanley Clark Meston, an architect practicing in nearby Fontana, in the fall
  
  Further marketing techniques were implemented to change Mc Donald's from formerly a sit down restaurant to a fast food chain, they used such things as turning off the heating to prevent people wanting to stay so long, fixed and angled seating so the customer would sit over their food promoting them to eat faster, spreading the seats further apart so being less of a socialble place to dine in, and giving their customers branded cone shaped cups forcing them to hold their drink whilst eating which would speed up the eating process.
  
  'Believing the McDonalds' formula was a ticket to success, Kroc suggested they franchise their restaurants throughout the country. The brothers were skeptical, however, that the self-service approach could succeed in colder, rainier climates; furthermore, their thriving business in San Bernardino, and franchises already operating or planned, made them reluctant to risk a national venture. Kroc offered to take the major responsibility for setting up the new franchises elsewhere. He returned to his home outside of Chicago with rights to set up McDonald's restaurants throughout the country, except in a handful of territories in California and Arizona already licensed by the McDonald brothers. The brothers were to receive one-half of one percent of gross sales. Kroc's first McDonald's restaurant opened on April 15, 1955, at 400 North Lee Avenue in Des Plaines, Illinois, near Chicago'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1968, Aretha Franklin recorded 'Think'.
  From Wikipedia: '"Think" is a song performed by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released as single in 1968, from her Aretha Now album. The song, a feminist anthem, reached No. 7 on Billboard Hot 100, becoming Franklin's seventh top 10 hit in the United States. The song also reached No. 1 on the magazine's Hot Rhythm and Blues Singles, becoming her sixth single to top the chart. The song was written by Franklin and Ted White. Franklin re-recorded the song in 1989 for the album "Through the Storm"'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1971, At the 43rd Academy Awards:
  From Wikipedia: More
  Best Picture is, Patton
  -- At Wikipedia: More
  -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
  -- On YouTube: More
  Best Actor is George C. Scott for 'Patton'
  Best Actress is Glenda Jackson for 'Women in Love'
  -- At Wikipedia: More
  -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
  -- On YouTube: More
  Best Supporting Actor is John Mills for 'Ryan's Daughter'
  Best Supporting Actress is Helen Hayes for 'Airport'
  Best Song is For All We Know from 'Lovers and Other Strangers'
  -- At Wikipedia: More
  -- On YouTube: More

Nothing. Looks like I was lazy on this day.

No. 1 song

• Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles: More
  'Twist and Shout' has been displaced by 'Can't Buy Me Love', which will hold the no. 1 spot until May 16th, when 'Hello, Dolly!', takes over.

Top movie

• The Carpetbaggers More
  Having displaced 'The Pink Panther', it will be there until the weekend box office of May 17 , 1964 when, 'Crack in the World', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: April 15 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: April 15 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 15th April More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 15th April More
• On-This-day.com history 15th April More
• On-This-day.com music history 15th April More
• Wikipedia.com: History April 15 More

National Florida Tomato Month National Food Month National Soft Pretzel Month National Soy Foods Month Cruelty to Animals Month National Grilled Cheese Month

April is:

April origin (from Wikipedia):
'The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis but the derivation of this name is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the verb aperire, 'to open', in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to 'open', which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of (anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that April was the second month of the earliest Roman calendar, before Ianuarius and Februarius were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it also was given 29 days. The 30th day was added during the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC, which produced the Julian calendar.'

April 'is commonly associated with the season of spring in parts of the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.'

April at Wikipedia: More

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

Best selling books of 1964 More

• 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

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