Today is June 22 2014

National Chocolate Eclair Day: More

• Onion Rings Day: More
  
• Stupid Guy Thing Day: More

• In 1870, Congress creates the Department of Justice.
  From Wikipedia: 'The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government, responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the United States, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.
  
  The Department is headed by the United States Attorney General, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet.
  
  A second bill was introduced to Congress by Rhode Island Representative Thomas Jenckes on February 25, 1870, and both the Senate and House passed the bill. President Ulysses S. Grant then signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870. The Department of Justice officially began operations on July 1, 1870. Just prior to the Civil War, in February of 1861, the Confederate States of America established a Department of Justice.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1942, The Pledge of Allegiance to the US flag, is formally adopted by Congress.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1906, The Daughters of the American Revolution's magazine, The American Monthly, listed the "formula of allegiance" as being the Balch Pledge of Allegiance, which reads:
  
  I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag.
  
  In subsequent publications of the Daughters of the American Revolution, such as in 1915's "Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution" and 1916's annual "National Report", the Balch Pledge, listed as official in 1906, is now categorized as "Old Pledge" with Bellamy's version under the heading "New Pledge". However, the "Old Pledge" continued to be used by other organizations until the National Flag Conference established uniform flag procedures in 1923.
  
  In 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words "my Flag" to be changed to "the Flag of the United States", so that new immigrants would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and the United States. The words "of America" were added a year later. The United States Congress officially recognized the Pledge for the first time, in the following form, on June 22, 1942:
  
  I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1944, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (P.L. 78-346, 58 Stat. 284m), known informally as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). Benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend university, high school or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It was available to veterans who had been on active duty during the war years for at least one-hundred twenty days and had not been dishonorably discharged; combat was not required. By 1956, roughly 2.2 million veterans had used the G.I. Bill education benefits in order to attend colleges or universities, and an additional 5.6 million used these benefits for some kind of training program.
  
  Historians and economists judge the G.I. Bill a major political and economic success—especially in contrast to the treatments of World War I veterans—and a major contribution to America's stock of human capital that sped long-term economic growth.
  
  The GI bill has not been without problems related to race, social class, and economic exploitation. During the 1940s, "fly-by-night" for-profit colleges sprang up to collect veterans' education grants, because the program provided limited oversight. Similarly, for-profit colleges and their lead generators have taken advantage of the post-911 GI Bill to target veterans for subpar products and services. The Veterans Administration, however, does have a GI Bill feedback form for recipients to address their complaints against colleges. President Barack Obama also signed Executive Order 13607 which was to ensure that predatory colleges did not aggressively recruit vulnerable military service members, veterans, and their families.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1959, Chuck Berry's 'Memphis' (AKA: Memphis, Tennessee) was released. It got to #6 on the charts.
  From Wikipedia: '"Memphis, Tennessee" is a song by Chuck Berry. It is sometimes shortened to "Memphis". In the UK, the song charted at #6 in 1963, at the same time Decca Records issued a cover version in the UK by Dave Berry and the Cruisers, which also became a UK Top 20 hit single. "Memphis, Tennessee" was most successfully covered by Johnny Rivers whose version of the song was a #2 US hit in 1964. Chuck Berry later composed a sequel, "Little Marie", which appeared in 1964 as a single and on the album St. Louis to Liverpool.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1963, The Safaris' 'Wipe Out' was released. It got to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  From Wikipedia: '"Wipe Out" is an instrumental composed by Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller, and Ron Wilson. It is a twelve bar blues first performed and recorded by the Surfaris, who were elevated to international status with the release of the "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out" single in 1963. The single was first issued on the tiny DFS label (#11/12) in January, 1963. It was reissued on the tiny Princess label (#50) in February, 1963, and finally picked up for national distribution on Dot 45-16479 in April, 1963. Dot reissued the single in April, 1965 as 45-144. The song – both the Surfaris' version as well as cover versions – has been featured in over 20 films and television series since 1964, appearing at least once a decade. The term "wipe out" refers to a fall from a surfboard, especially one that looks painful.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1963, 'Little Stevie Wonder' at age 13 releases the song 'Fingertips'. It got to #1.
  From Wikipedia: '"Fingertips" is a 1963 number one hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label. Wonder's first hit single, "Fingertips" was the first live, non-studio recording to reach number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the United States since Johnny Standley's 1952 comic monologue "It's in the Book".
  
  Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorded for Wonder's first studio album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. The live version of the song was recorded in June 1962 during a Motortown Revue performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Containing only a few stanzas of lyrics, "Fingertips" is essentially an instrumental piece, meant to showcase Wonder's talents on the bongos and the harmonica.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube (part I): More
  - On YouTube (part II): More
• In 1968, Mason Williams' 'Classical Gas' was released. It got to #1 on the Easy Listing Chart.
  From Wikipedia: '"Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, it has been re-recorded and re-released numerous times since by Williams. One later version served as the title track of a 1987 album by Williams and the band Mannheim Steamroller.
  
  Originally named "Classical Gasoline", the song was envisioned to be "fuel" for the classical guitar repertoire. The title was later shortened by a music copyist.
  
  The song peaked at number 2 for two weeks in August that year. On the US Easy Listening chart it went to number one for three weeks.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1970, President Nixon signs a law which lowers the voting age to 18.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Amendment XXVI) lowered the minimum voting age in the United States from 21 to 18.
  
  The United States Congress approved the amendment on March 23, 1971, and sent it to the states to be ratified. Within three months and eight days, the states had ratified the amendment, and it became part of the Constitution. This was the quickest amendment to be ratified in United States history.
  
  However, on June 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension (an addition) to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The change required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state, and local elections.
  
  After Nixon signed the change to the Voting Rights Act, Oregon and Texas challenged the law in court. The case, Oregon v. Mitchell, made it to the Supreme Court in October 1970. This was just four months after Nixon signed the change. By this time, four states had lowered their minimum voting ages: Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska, and Hawaii.
  
  In Oregon v. Mitchell, the Supreme Court looked at whether the voting age changes that Congress added to the Voting Rights Act were constitutional. This means they looked at whether the changes agreed with the rules in the Constitution, or broke them. The judges on the Supreme Court strongly disagreed with each other in this case. Eventually, five out of the nine judges agreed on a decision - just enough to reach the majority needed for a decision. However, most of the judges did not agree on which legal reason was behind their decision.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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Tomorrow June 22 2014 is 'National Chocolate Eclair Day'.

Not ready for dessert quite yet, after all the Peaches and Cream you ate today. Well, settle down. It will also be 'Onion Rig Day'.

Before you ask. Yes, I have verified by exhaustive personal research, that there is a fifty-fifty chance that you can pass an Eclair through the hole in any given number of Onion Rings. Well at least 12, if you don't count the one I dropped.

And for the second day in a row, it looks like someone has interjected a personal note into the holiday celebrations. However, T.I.P.S. (Truth In Posting Stuff), requires me to reveal the fact that, no matter how obvious an insertion, tomorrow will also be, 'Stupid Guy Thing Day'.

No. 1 song

• Chapel of Love - Dixie Cups: More
  'My Guy' has been displaced by 'Chapel of Love', which will hold the no. 1 spot until June 27, when 'A World Without Love', takes over.

Top movie

• The Unsinkable Molly Brown More
  Having displaced 'Bedtime Story', it will be there until the weekend box office of June 26 1964 when, 'A Shot in the Dark', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: June 22 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: June 22 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 22nd June More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 22nd June More
• On-This-day.com history 22nd June More
• On-This-day.com music history 22nd June More
• Wikipedia.com: History June 22 More

Candy Month Dairy Month Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month Iced Tea Month Papaya Month Seafood Month Turkey Lover's Month

June is:

June origin (from Wikipedia): Perhaps to honor goddess Juno, or from the Latin word iuniores (younger ones).
"is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is 1 June. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is 1 June."

June 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