Today is May 18 2014

National Cheese Souffle Day: More

• Visit Your Relatives Day: More
  
• International Museum Day: More
• Golf Day: More
• No Dirty Dishes Day: More
  How do you do that, you ask? Easy, it is also Visit Your Relatives Day. Got the idea? But, while you are at their house, be very quiet and don't slam any doors, be on your best behavior for it is also National Cheese Souffle Day. Of course, you may not find them at home since it is Golf Day and Museum Day. But you can circumvent that by arriving just at the right time or posting a lookout at the end of the block.

• In 1933, As part of the 'New Deal', President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. The enterprise was a result of the efforts of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region's economy and society.
  
  T.V.A.'s service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest. Under the leadership of David Lilienthal ("Mr. T.V.A."), T.V.A. became a model for America's governmental efforts to seek in assisting the modernization of agrarian societies in the developing world'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1963, The song 'If You Wanna Be Happy' by Jimmy Soul hits #1.
  From Wikipedia: '"If You Wanna Be Happy" is a 1963 song recorded by Jimmy Soul, written by Joseph Royster, Carmella Guida and Frank Guida.'
  
  '"If You Wanna Be Happy" is based on the song "Ugly Woman" by the Trinidadian calypsonian Roaring Lion recorded in 1934. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 18, 1963, as well as the R&B singles chart. It was issued on Guida's S.P.Q.R. label and distributed by London Records, and in the United Kingdom on EMI's Stateside label'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1969, Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
  From Wikipedia: 'Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the United States Apollo space program, and the second (after Apollo 8) to orbit the Moon. Launched on May 18, 1969, it was the F mission: a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, testing all of the components and procedures, just short of actually landing. The Lunar Module (LM) came to within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the lunar surface, the point where the powered descent to the lunar surface would begin. Its success enabled the first landing to be attempted on Apollo 11 in July, 1969'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1974, The song 'The Streak' by Ray Stevens hits #1.
  From Wikipedia: '"The Streak" is a popular country/novelty song written, produced, and sung by Ray Stevens. It was released in March 1974 as the lead single to his album Boogity Boogity. "The Streak" capitalized on the then popular craze of streaking. In 2007 Cledus T. Judd covered "The Streak" on his album "Boogity Boogity - A Tribute to the Comic Genius of Ray Stevens".
  
  One of Stevens' most successful recordings, "The Streak" was his second number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA, spending three weeks at the top in May 1974 and reached #3 on the Billboard Country singles chart. A major international hit it also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, spending a single week at the top of the chart in June 1974. In total it sold over five million copies internationally and ranked on Billboard magazine's Top hits of 1974 at number 8.
  
  Each of the three verses starts with a news reporter, played by Stevens, commenting on a streaking incident somewhere around town, and trying to interview one of the witnesses, who always turns out to be the same man, also played by Stevens. A slide whistle can be heard through out the song. The witness tells what he saw and relates how he tried to warn his wife, Ethel, not to look ("Don't look, Ethel!"), but is always too late. After each interview, a chorus is sung by multiple voices; the chorus is the only part of the song that is actually sung; the rest is spoken. After the third interview, the man sees the streaker again, but to his horror the streaker is joined by his wife, and the man changes his tune: "Ethel, you shameless hussy!", as well as "You get your clothes on!", and "Say it isn't so, Ethel!"'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state.
  From Wikipedia: 'On May 18, 1980, a major volcanic eruption occurred at Mount St. Helens, a volcano located in the state of Washington, United States. The eruption (a VEI 5 event) was the only significant volcanic eruption to occur in the contiguous 48 U.S. states since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California. The eruption was preceded by a two-month series of earthquakes and steam-venting episodes, caused by an injection of magma at shallow depth below the volcano that created a huge bulge and a fracture system on the mountain's north slope.
  
  An earthquake at 8:32:17 a.m. PDT (UTC-7) on Sunday, May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away, creating the largest landslide ever recorded. This suddenly exposed the partly molten gas- and steam-rich rock in the volcano to lower pressures. The rock responded by exploding a hot mix of lava and pulverized older rock toward Spirit Lake so fast that it overtook the avalanching north face.
  
  An eruption column rose 80,000 feet (24 km; 15 mi) into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 U.S. states. At the same time, snow, ice and several entire glaciers on the volcano melted, forming a series of large lahars (volcanic mudslides) that reached as far as the Columbia River, nearly 50 miles (80 km) to the southwest. Less severe outbursts continued into the next day, only to be followed by other large, but not as destructive, eruptions later that year.
  
  Approximately fifty-seven people were killed directly, including innkeeper Harry R. Truman, photographer Reid Blackburn and geologist David A. Johnston. Hundreds of square miles were reduced to wasteland, causing over a billion U.S. dollars in damage ($2.89 billion in 2015 dollars), thousands of game animals were killed, and Mount St. Helens was left with a crater on its north side. At the time of the eruption, the summit of the volcano was owned by the Burlington Northern Railroad, but afterward the land passed to the United States Forest Service. The area was later preserved, as it was, in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
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Nothing. Looks like I was lazy on this day.

No. 1 song

• Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong': More
  'Can't Buy Me Love' has been displaced by 'Hello, Dolly!', which will hold the no. 1 spot until May 23th, when 'Love Me Do', takes over.

Top movie

• Crack in the World More
  Having displaced 'The Carpetbaggers', it will be there until the weekend box office of May 24, 1964 when, 'Viva Las Vegas', takes over.
  Crack in the World: on Wiki.com: More

• FamousBirthdays.com: May 18 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: May 18 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 18th May More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 18th May More
• On-This-day.com history 18th May More
• On-This-day.com music history 18th May More
• Wikipedia.com: History May 18 More

National Asparagus Month National Barbeque Month National Chocolate Custard Month National Egg Month National Gazpacho Aficionado Month National Hamburger Month National Salad Month National Strawberry Month

May is:

May origin (from Wikipedia):
The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Conversely, the Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for 'elders,' and that the following month (June) is named for the iuniores, or 'young people'

May ' is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.
May is a month of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Summer in Europe). Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. '

May 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