Today is May 26 2014

National Blueberry Cheesecake Day: More

• Memorial Day: More
  
• Sally Ride Day: More
• National Cherry Dessert Day: More

• In 1897, Dracula, a novel by the Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
  From Wikipedia: 'Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula.
  
  The novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
  
  'Stoker did not invent the vampire but he defined its modern form, ...'
  
  'Between 1879 and 1898, Stoker was a business manager for the world-famous Lyceum Theatre in London, where he supplemented his income by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale Dracula published on 26 May 1897. Parts of it are set around the town of Whitby, where he spent summer holidays.
  
  Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, authors such as H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and H. G. Wells wrote many tales in which fantastic creatures threatened the British Empire. Invasion literature was at a peak, and Stoker's formula was very familiar by 1897 to readers of fantastic adventure stories, of an invasion of England by continental European influences. Victorian readers enjoyed Dracula as a good adventure story like many others, but it did not reach its iconic legendary status until later in the 20th century when film versions began to appear'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1896, The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is published by Charles Dow.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Dow Jones Industrial Average /?da? 'd?o?nz/, also called DJIA, the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow Jones Industrial, ^DJI, the Dow 30 or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones and Company co-founder Charles Dow. The industrial Jones and Company co-founder Charles Dow. The industrial average was first calculated on May 26, 1896. Currently owned by S&P Dow Jones Indices, which is majority owned by McGraw Hill Financial, it is the most notable of the Dow Averages, of which the first (non-industrial) was first published on February 16, 1885. The averages are named after Dow and one of his business associates, statistician Edward Jones. It is an index that shows how 30 large publicly owned companies based in the United States have traded during a standard trading session in the stock market. It is the second oldest U.S. market index after the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which was also created by Dow.
  
  The Industrial portion of the name is largely historical, as many of the modern 30 components have little or nothing to do with traditional heavy industry. The average is price-weighted, and to compensate for the effects of stock splits and other adjustments, it is currently a scale average. The value of the Dow is not the actual average of the prices of its component stocks, but rather the sum of the component prices divided by a divisor, which changes whenever one of the component stocks has a stock split or stock dividend, so as to generate a consistent value for the index. Since the divisor is currently less than one, the value of the index is larger than the sum of the component prices. Although the Dow is compiled to gauge the performance of the industrial sector within the American economy, the index's performance continues to be influenced by not only corporate and economic reports, but also by domestic and foreign political events such as war and terrorism, as well as by natural disasters that could potentially lead to economic harm.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1908, At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1901 William Knox D'Arcy, a millionaire London socialite, negotiated an oil concession with Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar of Persia. He financed this with capital he had made from his shares in the highly profitable Mount Morgan mine in Queensland, Australia. D'Arcy assumed exclusive rights to prospect for oil for 60 years in a vast tract of territory including most of Iran. In exchange the Shah received £20,000 (£2 million today), an equal amount in shares of D'Arcy's company, and a promise of 16% of future profits.
  
  D'Arcy hired geologist George Bernard Reynolds to do the prospecting in the Iranian desert. Conditions were extremely harsh: "small pox raged, bandits and warlords ruled, water was all but unavailable, and temperatures often soared past 50°C". After several years of prospecting, D'Arcy's fortune dwindled away and he was forced to sell most of his rights to a Glasgow-based syndicate, the Burmah Oil Company.
  
  By 1908 having sunk more than £500,000 into their Persian venture and found no oil, D'Arcy and Burmah decided to abandon exploration in Iran. In early May 1908 they sent Reynolds a telegram telling him that they had run out of money and ordering him to "cease work, dismiss the staff, dismantle anything worth the cost of transporting to the coast for re-shipment, and come home." Reynolds delayed following these orders and in a stroke of luck, struck oil shortly after on May 26, 1908'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube (1st of 3): More
• In 1928, Andrew Payne wins the first 'Bunion Derby', the great footrace across America.
  From Wikipedia: 'Andy Hartley Payne (November 16, 1907 – December 1977) was the winner of the Trans-American Footrace staged in 1928. He ran the 3,423.5 mile (5,509.6 km) route from Los Angeles to New York City, much of it along U.S. Route 66, in 573 hours, 4 minutes, 34 seconds, (23 days) averaging 6 miles per hour over an 84 day staged run'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1948, The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and occupations. It performs three congressionally assigned key missions: emergency services, which includes search and rescue (by air and ground) and disaster relief operations; aerospace education for youth and the general public; and cadet programs for teenage youth. In addition, CAP has recently been tasked with homeland security and courier service missions. CAP also performs non-auxiliary missions for various governmental and private agencies, such as local law enforcement and the American Red Cross. The program is established as an organization by Title 10 of the United States Code and its purposes defined by Title 36.'
  
  'Civil Air Patrol was conceived in the late 1930s by aviation advocate Gill Robb Wilson, who foresaw general aviation's potential to supplement America's military operations. With the help of New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, in his capacity as then-Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, CAP was created with Administrative Order 9, signed by LaGuardia on 1 December 1941 and published 8 December 1941. The Civil Air Patrol had 90 days to prove themselves to Congress. Major General John F. Curry was appointed as the first national commander. Texas oilman David Harold Byrd was a co-founder of CAP.
  
  During World War II, CAP was seen as a way to use America's civilian aviation resources to aid the war effort instead of grounding them. The organization assumed many missions including anti-submarine patrol and warfare, border patrols, and courier services. During World War II CAP's coastal patrol flew 24 million miles, found 173 enemy U-boats, attacked 57, hit 10 and sank two, dropping a total of 83 bombs and depth charges throughout the conflict. By the end of the war, 64 CAP members had lost their lives in the line of duty.
  
  After the end of World War II, CAP became the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, and its incorporating charter declared that it would never again be involved in direct combat activities, but would be of a benevolent nature.
  
  During the 113th United States Congress, both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives voted to pass S.309 , a bill that would award the Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol. The medal would be presented "in recognition of their military service and exemplary record during World War II"'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1973, Deep Purple's single "Smoke On The Water" was released.
  From Wikipedia: '"Smoke on the Water" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked number 434 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, ranked number 4 in Total Guitar magazine's Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water" at number 12 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Nothing. Looks like I was lazy on this day.

No. 1 song

• Love Me Do - Beatles: More
  'Hello, Dolly!' has been displaced by 'Love Me Do', which will hold the no. 1 spot until May 30rd, when 'My Guy', takes over.

Top movie

• Viva Las Vegas More
  Having displaced 'Crack in the World', it will be there until the weekend box office of May 31, 1964 when, 'From Russia with Love', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: May 26 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: May 26 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 26th May More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 26th May More
• On-This-day.com history 26th May More
• On-This-day.com music history 26th May More
• Wikipedia.com: History May 26 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