Today is August 24 2014

National Waffle Day: More
Patent for waffle iron in 1869

• National Peach Pie Day: More
  
• Vesuvius Day: More
  Mount Vesuvius On August 24, 79
• Pluto Demoted Day: More
  Pluto demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet.
• Knife Day: More
• Wayzgoose Day: More
  End of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight.
• International Strange Music Day -: More
• Go Topless Day: More
  1971 US Congressional 'Women's Equality Day'

• In 79, The famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius takes place, reaching Pompeii and other Roman cities. The date has been challenged, and many scholars believe that the event occurred on October 24)
  - At FamousDaily: More
  From Wikipedia: 'The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in European history. Historians have learned about the eruption from the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, a Roman administrator and poet.
  
  Mount Vesuvius spewed a deadly cloud of volcanic gas, stones, and ash to a height of 33 kilometres (21 mi), ejecting molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy of the Hiroshima bombing. Several Roman settlements were obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, the most well known being Pompeii and Herculaneum.
  
  The number of deaths is difficult to evaluate. The remains of about 1,500 people have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, but it is not known whether they represent a small or a large part of the overall deaths.
  
  Reconstructions of the eruption and its effects vary considerably in the details but have the same overall features. The eruption lasted for two days. The morning of the first day, August 24, was perceived as normal by the only eyewitness to leave a surviving document, Pliny the Younger, who at that point was staying at Misenum, on the other side of the Bay of Naples about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the volcano, which may have prevented him from noticing the early signs of the eruption. He was not to have any opportunity, during the next two days, to talk to people who had witnessed the eruption from Pompeii or Herculaneum (indeed he never mentions Pompeii in his letter), so he would not have noticed early, smaller fissures and releases of ash and smoke on the mountain, if such had occurred earlier in the morning. Around 1:00 p.m., Mount Vesuvius violently exploded, throwing up a high-altitude column from which ash began to fall, blanketing the area. Rescues and escapes occurred during this time. At some time in the night or early the next day, August 25, pyroclastic flows in the close vicinity of the volcano began. Lights seen on the mountain were interpreted as fires. People as far away as Misenum fled for their lives. The flows were rapid-moving, dense, and very hot, knocking down wholly or partly all structures in their path, incinerating or suffocating all population remaining there and altering the landscape, including the coastline. These were accompanied by additional light tremors and a mild tsunami in the Bay of Naples. By evening of the second day the eruption was over, leaving only haze in the atmosphere through which the sun shone weakly'.
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• In 1456, The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed. It was the first major book printed in the West using movable type.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the first major book printed using mass-produced movable type. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book in the West. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has an iconic status. Written in Latin, the Catholic Gutenberg Bible is an edition of the Vulgate, printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, in present-day Germany, in the 1450s. Since its publication, 49 copies (or substantial portions of copies) have survived, and they are considered to be among the most valuable books in the world even though no complete copy has been sold since 1978. The 36-line Bible, believed to be the second printed version of the Bible, is also sometimes referred to as a Gutenberg Bible, but is possibly the work of another printer'.
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• In 1814, During the War of 1812 (June 18, 1812 to February 16, 1815), Washington, DC, was invaded by British forces that set fire to the White House and Capitol.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Burning of Washington in 1814 was an attack during the War of 1812 between British forces and those of the United States of America. On August 24, 1814, after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross occupied Washington, D.C., and set fire to many public buildings, including the White House (known as the Presidential Mansion at the time), and the Capitol, as well as other facilities of the U.S. government.
  
  The attack was in part a retaliation for the recent American destruction of Port Dover in Upper Canada. It marks the only time in U.S. history that Washington, D.C., has been occupied by a foreign force.
  
  President James Madison, military officials and his government fled the city in the wake of the British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg. They eventually found refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is known today as the "United States Capital for a Day." President Madison spent the night in the house of Caleb Bentley, a Quaker who lived and worked in Brookeville. Bentley's house, known today as the Madison House, still stands in Brookeville.
  
  Less than a day after the attack began, a sudden, very heavy thunderstorm—possibly a hurricane—put out the fires. It also spun off a tornado that passed through the center of the capital, setting down on Constitution Avenue and lifting two cannons before dropping them several yards away, killing British troops and American civilians alike. Following the storm, the British returned to their ships, many of which were badly damaged. The occupation of Washington lasted only about 26 hours. After the "Storm that saved Washington", as it soon came to be called, the Americans were able to regain control of the city'.
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• In 1821, The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Treaty of Córdoba established Mexican independence from Spain at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. It was signed on August 24, 1821 in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico. The signatories were the head of the Army of the Three Guarantees, Agustín de Iturbide, and, acting on behalf of the Spanish government, Jefe Político Superior Juan O'Donojú. The treaty has 17 articles, which developed the proposals of the Plan of Iguala. The Treaty is the first document in which Spanish and Mexican officials accept the liberty of what will become the First Mexican Empire, but it is not today recognized as the foundational moment, since these ideas are often attributed to the Grito de Dolores (September 16, 1810). The treaty was rejected by the Spanish government'.
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• In 1857, The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history. It expanded to a world wide financial crisis.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the 1850s, the financial crisis that began in late 1857 was the first world-wide economic crisis. In Britain, the Palmerston government circumvented the requirements of the Peel Banking Act of 1844, which required gold and silver reserves to back up the amount of money in circulation. Surfacing news of this circumvention set off the Panic in Britain.
  
  Beginning in September 1857, the financial downturn did not last long; however, a proper recovery was not seen until the American Civil War. The sinking of the SS Central America contributed to the panic of 1857, as New York banks were awaiting a much-needed shipment of gold. American banks did not recover until after the civil war. After the failure of Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, the financial panic quickly spread as businesses began to fail, the railroad industry experienced financial declines and hundreds of workers were laid off.
  
  Since the years immediately preceding the Panic of 1857 were prosperous, many banks, merchants, and farmers had seized the opportunity to take risks with their investments and as soon as market prices began to fall, they quickly began to experience the effects of financial panic'.
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• In 1869, Cornelius Swarthout patents waffle iron.
  From Wikipedia: 'Cornelius Swartwout (1838 – December 17, 1910, in Kings County New York) was an American inventor who filed an early US patent related to waffle irons. He was born in Troy, New York, the grandson of the American Revolutionary War military veteran Cornelius Swartwout.
  
  The earliest waffle irons were not the work of Mr. Swartwout; instead, they originated in the Netherlands circa 14th century. The Swartwout family lineage goes back to the Dutch Low Countries.They were typically made of two hinged iron plates connected to two long wooden handles, the plates often imprinted elaborate patterns on the waffles, coat of arms, landscapes, religious symbols, and the like. These irons were held over a hearth fire for baking.
  
  On August 24th, 1869, Swartwout was awarded a US patent for an "Improvement in Waffle-Irons", consisting of a novel handle for opening, closing and turning a stovetop waffle iron. His invention looked nothing like modern electric models, but its design revolutionized how waffles were made. Fashioned to sit on wood or gas stoves, the cast-iron plates were joined by a hinge that swiveled in a cast-iron collar'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1875, Captain Webb 1st swims English Channel (39 miles in 21 hours and 45 minutes.)
  From Wikipedia: 'Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was the first recorded person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids for sport purpose. On 25 August 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in fewer than 22 hours.
  
  In 1873, Webb was serving as captain of the steamship Emerald when he read an account of the failed attempt by J. B. Johnson to swim the English Channel. He became inspired to try himself, and left his job to begin training, first at Lambeth Baths, then in the cold waters of the Thames, the English Channel and Hollingworth Lake.
  
  On 12 August 1875, he made his first cross-Channel swimming attempt, but strong winds and poor sea conditions forced him to abandon the swim. On 24 August, he began a second swim by diving in from the Admiralty Pier at Dover. Backed by three escort boats and smeared in porpoise oil, he set off into the ebb tide at a steady breaststroke. Despite stings from jellyfish and strong currents off Cap Gris Nez which prevented him from reaching the shore for five hours, finally, after 21 hours and 45 minutes, he landed near Calais—the first successful cross-channel swim. His zig-zag course across the Channel was over 39 miles (64 km) long'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1891, Thomas Edison applied patents for the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph (U.S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168). This Kinetoscope was a single user device that one leaned over and looked into. It had an image much like what is seen as a flip-book. The Kinetograph was the camera and process that took the film for the Kinetoscope.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. The Kinetoscope was designed for films to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector but introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic projection before the advent of video, by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter. A process using roll film first described in a patent application submitted in France and the U.S. by French inventor Louis Le Prince, the concept was copied by U.S. inventor Thomas Edison in 1889, and subsequently developed by his employee William Kennedy Laurie Dickson between 1889 and 1892. Dickson and his team at the Edison lab also devised the Kinetograph, an innovative motion picture camera with rapid intermittent, or stop-and-go, film movement, to photograph movies for in-house experiments and, eventually, commercial Kinetoscope presentations.
  
  A prototype for the Kinetoscope was shown to a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs on May 20, 1891. The first public demonstration of the Kinetoscope was held at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences on May 9, 1893. Instrumental to the birth of American movie culture, the Kinetoscope also had a major impact in Europe; its influence abroad was magnified by Edison's decision not to seek international patents on the device, facilitating numerous imitations of and improvements on the technology. In 1895, Edison introduced the Kinetophone, which joined the Kinetoscope with a cylinder phonograph. Film projection, which Edison initially disdained as financially nonviable, soon superseded the Kinetoscope's individual exhibition model. Many of the projection systems developed by Edison's firm in later years would use the Kinetoscope name'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1912, Alaska becomes US territory ('Seward’s Folly').
  From Wikipedia: 'The Alaska Purchase was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate.
  
  Russia wanted to sell its Alaskan territory, fearing that it might be seized if war broke out with the United Kingdom. Russia's primary activities in the territory had been fur trade and missionary work among the Native Alaskans. The land added 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km2) of new territory to the United States.
  
  Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive; some opponents called it "Seward's Folly" (after Secretary of State William H. Seward), while many others praised the move for weakening both Britain and Russia as rivals to American commercial expansion in the Pacific region. The purchase threatened British control of its Pacific coast colony, giving added impetus to Canadian Confederation, which was realized just three months later, in July 1867. The Dominion of Canada would welcome British Columbia to confederation in 1871, ending US hopes of annexation and an uninterrupted connection of Alaska to the United States.
  
  Originally organized as the Department of Alaska, the area was renamed the District of Alaska and the Alaska Territory before becoming the modern state of Alaska upon being admitted to the Union as a state in 1959'.
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• In 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop. The flight was from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey.
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• In 1954, The Communist Control Act goes into effect, outlawing the American Communist Party. The Communist Party exists today as a political party.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Communist Control Act (68 Stat. 775, 50 U.S.C. 841-844) is a piece of United States federal legislation, signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on 24 August 1954, which outlaws the Communist Party of the United States and criminalizes membership in, or support for the Party or "Communist-action" organizations and defines evidence to be considered by a jury in determining participation in the activities, planning, actions, objectives, or purposes of such organizations'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1979, 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' by Prince was released. It was his first U.S. hit.
  From Wikipedia: '"I Wanna Be Your Lover" is a song by American recording artist Prince. It was recorded in 1979 as part of a group of songs Prince hastily wrote and recorded when Warner Bros. asked for a follow-up to his debut album, For You, which did not fare well on the pop charts (peaking at No. 163) and did not contain a hit single. For You did contain a hit single on the R and B charts, "Soft and Wet". In response, Prince recorded "I Wanna Be Your Lover." It turned out to be his first successful single and first top 40 hit, scoring two weeks at number one on the R and B singles chart in December 1979 and peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100.
  
  "I Wanna Be Your Lover" was released on August 24, 1979 as the lead single from his second album, Prince. Musically, it is a funk song sung exclusively in falsetto, detailing Prince's love for a woman and how he would treat her better than the men she is with, and frustration that she thinks of him as "a child". The single edit stops after 2:57, but the album version goes off on a jam of keyboards and synthesizers, played by Prince. It was later revealed that the song concerned a crush Prince had at the time on singer Patrice Rushen'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1989, The U.S. space probe, Voyager 2, sent back photographs of Neptune.
  From Wikipedia: 'Voyager 2's closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989. Because this was the last planet of the Solar System that Voyager 2 could visit, the Chief Project Scientist, his staff members, and the flight controllers decided to also perform a close fly-by of Triton, the larger of Neptune's two originally known moons, so as to gather as much information on Neptune and Triton as possible, regardless of Voyager 2's departure angle from the planet. This was just like the case of Voyager 1's encounters with Saturn and its massive moon Titan.
  
  Through repeated computerized test simulations of trajectories through the Neptunian system conducted in advance, flight controllers determined the best way to route Voyager 2 through the Neptune-Triton system. Since the plane of the orbit of Triton is tilted significantly with respect to the plane of the ecliptic, through mid-course corrections, Voyager 2 was directed into a path about three thousand miles above the north pole of Neptune. At that time, Triton was behind and below (south of) Neptune (at an angle of about 25 degrees below the ecliptic), close to the apoapsis of its elliptical orbit. The gravitational pull of Neptune bent the trajectory of Voyager 2 down in the direction of Triton. In less than 24 hours, Voyager 2 traversed the distance between Neptune and Triton, and then observed Triton's northern hemisphere as it passed over its north pole.
  
  The net and final effect on Voyager 2 was to bend its trajectory south below the plane of the ecliptic by about 30 degrees. Voyager 2 is on this path permanently, and hence, it is exploring space south of the plane of the ecliptic, measuring magnetic fields, charged particles, etc., there, and sending the measurements back to the Earth via telemetry.
  
  While in the neighborhood of Neptune, Voyager 2 discovered the "Great Dark Spot", which has since disappeared, according to observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. Originally thought to be a large cloud itself, the "Great Dark Spot" was later hypothesized to be a hole in the visible cloud deck of Neptune.
  
  Neptune's atmosphere consists of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The methane in Neptune's upper atmosphere absorbs the red light from the Sun, but it reflects the blue light from the Sun back into space. This is why Neptune looks blue.
  
  With the decision of the International Astronomical Union to reclassify Pluto as a "dwarf planet" in 2006, the flyby of Neptune by Voyager 2 in 1989 became the point when every known planet in the Solar System had been visited at least once by a space probe'.
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• In 1995, Windows 95 debuts.
  From Wikipedia: 'Windows 95 (codenamed Chicago) is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released on August 24, 1995, and was a significant improvement over the company's previous DOS-based Windows products.
  
  Windows 95 merged Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products. It featured significant improvements over its predecessor, Windows 3.1, most notably in the graphical user interface (GUI) and in its simplified "plug-and-play" features. There were also major changes made to the core components of the operating system, such as moving from a mainly co-operatively multitasked 16-bit architecture to a pre-emptively multitasked 32-bit architecture.
  
  Accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign, Windows 95 introduced numerous functions and features that were featured in later Windows versions, such as the taskbar, the "Start" button and the way the user navigates. It was also suggested that Windows 95 had an effect of driving other major players (including OS/2) out of business, something which would later be used in court against Microsoft.
  
  Three years after its introduction, Windows 95 was succeeded by Windows 98. Microsoft ended support for Windows 95 on December 31, 2001'.
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• In 2006, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term 'planet such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.From Wikipedia: 'The definition of planet set in Prague in 2006 by the Iget linku.txtnternational Astronomical Union (IAU) states that, in the Solar System, a planet is a celestial body which: is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.''A non-satellite body fulfilling only the first two of these criteria is classified as a 'dwarf planet'.
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Sunday morning and some nice hot waffles. Tomorrow is 'National Waffle Day'. Celebrates the patent of the waffle iron in 1869. Waffles were invented by the Greeks, but I'll take a big Belgium Waffle with fruit and whipped cream on top. I haven't gotten into that Chicken 'n Waffle thing yet.

If your electric waffle iron is still encased in crusted batter from the time you tried to make that super waffle, don't worry. Tomorrow is also 'National Peach Pie Day'. Get those fresh peaches while they are still in season, June-August. I will take deep dish peach pie, myself. Some people call it a cobbler. And yes, with a couple of scoops of Blue Bell Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream on top. Perhaps a peach waffle on the side.

Just reading today about an Icelandic volcano irruption. Tomorrow is 'Vesuvius Day'. This is the day in 79 AD when that irruption began.

Ever felt like today, is just not your day. Well tomorrow Pluto has such a day. It will be 'Pluto Demoted Day'. Pluto was demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet.

. Tomorrow is . 'Knife Day'. An unusual day to celebrate , perhaps. I bet it was created by some 'sharp' P.R. person. If I hadn't said it, you would have.

There was a time, back in the good old days, before Daylight Savings Time, when this time of year brought shorter days and the need for artificial illumination (candles). Tomorrow is 'Wayzgoose Day' which celebrates that time.

Open all those cardboard boxes (the ones you should have marked with the contents and didn't), and find those musical wonders of your youth. Tomorrow will be 'International Strange Music Day'. You can't create strange music without a strange instrument. I am ready with my Kazoo, Sweet Potato, washboard, jug and cow bell. Yes, I did take my musical training in the Beverly Hills School of Music, run by the famous Clampetts.

Here is another one of those days, who's celebration I will leave entirely up to you. Tomorrow is 'Go Topless Day'. It commemorates the 1971 US Congressional 'Women's Equality Day'. It seems like a bad idea for a Texas August, but I will participate. Yes, even though I will most likely get a sunburn on the bald spot at the back of the top of my head, I will go without a hat tomorrow.



Better dust off some of the oldest almanacs for August 24:

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius irrupts.

In 1875 - Captain Webb was the first person to swim the English Channel. (39 miles in 21 hours and 45 minutes.).

In 1891 - The kinetoscope is patented by Thomas Edison. It was sort of a one person movie-in-a-box. It led to better things.

In 1909 – Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.

In 1912 - Alaska becomes US territory The seven million dollar purchase from Russia became known as 'Seward's Folly'. I wish I could make follies like that.

In 1932 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop.

No. 1 song

• Where Did Our Love Go - The Supremes: More
  'Everybody Loves Somebody' has been displaced by 'Where Did Our Love Go', which will hold the no. 1 spot until Sept. 5 2014, when 'The House of the Rising Sun', takes over.

Top movie

• A Hard Day's Night More
  Having displaced 'The Night of the Iguana', it will be there until the weekend box office of August 30 1964 when, 'Mary Poppins', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: August 24 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: August 24 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 24th August More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 24th August More
• On-This-day.com history 24th August More
• On-This-day.com music history 24th August More
• Wikipedia.com: History August 24 More

National Catfish Month, National Goat Cheese Month, National Peach Month, National Brownies at Brunch Month

August is:

August origin (from Wikipedia): Originally named Sextili (Latin), because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar: under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year.
"About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. "

August 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
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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