Today is September 12 2014

National Chocolate Milkshake Day : More

• National Video Games Day: More
  
• Stand Up To Cancer Day: More
  Second Friday in September
• Banana Day: More
• International Day for South-South Cooperation: More
  Also: United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation.
• Defenders Day: More
  A state holiday in Maryland
• National Police Woman Day: More
• National Day of Encouragement: More

• In 1940, In Lascaux, France, prehistoric cave paintings are discovered by boys out playing with their dog. The cave is 66 feet long by 16 feet wide with paintings of animals.
  From Wikipedia: 'Lascaux (Lascaux Caves) is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be circa 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley.
  
  On September 12, 1940, the entrance to Lascaux Cave was discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat. Ravidat returned to the scene with three friends, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, and entered the cave via a long shaft. The teenagers discovered that the cave walls were covered with depictions of animals. The cave complex was opened to the public in 1948. By 1955, the carbon dioxide, heat, humidity, and other contaminants produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings and introduced lichen on the walls. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 to preserve the art. After the cave was closed, the paintings were restored to their original state and were monitored daily. Rooms in the cave include the Hall of the Bulls, the Passageway, the Shaft, the Nave, the Apse, and the Chamber of Felines'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1954, 'Lassie' made its television debut on CBS. The last show aired on September 12, 1971.
  From Wikipedia: 'Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973. The fourth longest-running U.S. primetime television series after The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, and Law and Order, the show chalked up 17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color in 1965.
  
  The show's first 10 seasons follow Lassie's adventures in a small farming community. Fictional eleven-year-old Jeff Miller, his mother, and his grandfather are Lassie's first human companions until seven-year-old Timmy Martin and his adoptive parents take over in the fourth season. When Lassie's exploits on the farm end in the eleventh season, she finds new adventures in the wilderness alongside United States Forest Service Rangers. After traveling on her own for a year, Lassie finally settles at a children's home for her final two syndicated seasons.
  
  Lassie received critical favor at its debut and won two Emmy Awards in its first years. Stars Jan Clayton and June Lockhart were nominated for Emmys. Merchandise produced during the show's run included books, a Halloween costume, clothing, toys, and other items. Campbell's Soup, the show's lifelong sponsor, offered two premiums (a ring and a wallet), and distributed thousands to fans. A multi-part episode was edited into the feature film Lassie's Great Adventure and released in August 1963. Selected episodes have been released to DVD'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1959, 'Bonanza' premieres on NBC-TV.
  From Wikipedia: 'Bonanza was a NBC television western series that ran from 1959 to 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, and ranks overall as the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and within the top 10 longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication.
  
  The show is set around the 1860s and it centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the area of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series stars Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts (who left after six seasons), and later David Canary and Mitch Vogel.
  
  The title "Bonanza" is a term used by miners in regard to a large vein or deposit of ore, and commonly refers to the 1859 revelation of the Comstock Lode discovery, not far from the fictional Ponderosa Ranch that the Cartwright family operated.
  
  In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time. The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) to 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War.
  
  During the summer of 1972, NBC aired reruns of episodes from the 1967–1970 period in prime time on Tuesday evening under the title Ponderosa'.
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• In 1959, Luna 2 is launched by the USSR. It is the first spacecraft to impact on the Moon. It crashed landed on the moon on September 14th.
  From Wikipedia: 'Once Luna 2 was split from its upper stage it started transmitting information back to earth using three different transmitters. These transmitters were providing precise information on its course allowing scientist to calculate that Luna 2 would hit its mark on the moon around 0005 on September 14. In order to be able to get a visual of Luna 2 from Earth on September 13 it released a vapor cloud that would expand into a 650 km diameter that would be seen by observatories in Alma Ata, Byurakan, Abastuma, Tbilisi, and Stalinabad. This vapor cloud also acted as an experiment to see how the sodium gas would act in a vacuum and zero gravity.
  
  Launch was scheduled for September 9, but the Blok I core stage was shut down after it failed to reach full thrust at ignition. The booster was removed from the pad and replaced by a different vehicle, delaying the flight by three days. Luna 2, like Luna 1, took a direct path to the Moon, a journey of around 36 hours. The Earth-Moon gravitational system forced it to follow a curved trajectory, and launch had to occur from the side of the Earth opposite the Moon. Luna 2 hit the Moon about 800 kilometres from the centre of the visible disk on 1959 September 14 at 21:02:24.
  
  Luna 2 was similar in design to Luna 1, a spherical spacecraft with protruding antennas and instrument parts. The instrumentation was also similar to Luna 1, including scintillation counters, geiger counters, a magnetometer, Cherenkov detectors, and micrometeorite detectors. There were no propulsion systems on Luna 2 itself.
  
  The last stage of the rocket that carried Luna 2 did not carry any type of tracking device so there was uncertainty as to where it landed, but it did hit the Moon surface about 30 minutes after Luna 2 hit'.
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• In 1964, Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah, is designated as a National Park. Prehistoric man lived there 7,000 – 9,000 B.C.
  From Wikipedia: 'Canyonlands National Park is a U.S. National Park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. It preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964.
  
  The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere."'
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• In 1966, Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA's Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions).
  From Wikipedia: 'Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI)) was the ninth manned spaceflight mission of NASA's Project Gemini, which flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. It was the 17th manned American flight and the 25th spaceflight to that time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometers (54 nmi)). Astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. Gordon, Jr. performed the first-ever direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it one hour and thirty-four minutes after launch; used the Agena rocket engine to achieve a world record high-apogee earth orbit; and created a small amount of artificial gravity by spinning the two spacecraft connected by a tether. Gordon also performed two extra-vehicular activities for a total of 2 hours and 41 minutes'.
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• In 1966, 'The Monkees' premieres on NBC-TV.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 12, 1966 to March 25, 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men (the Monkees) trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series television and won two Emmy Awards in 1967. The program ended on Labor Day 1968 at the finish of its second season and has received a long afterlife in Saturday morning repeats (CBS and ABC) and syndication, as well as overseas broadcasts.
  The series centered on the adventures of The Monkees, a struggling rock band from Los Angeles, California consisting of Micky, Davy, Michael, and Peter. The comic elements of the storyline were provided by the strange encounters that the band would have while searching for their big break.
  
  On September 8, 1965, trade publications Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter ran an ad seeking "Folk and Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series." As many as 400 hopefuls showed up to be considered as one of "4 insane boys." Fourteen actors from the audition pool were brought back for screen tests, and after audience research, Raybert chose their final four.
  
  Micky Dolenz, son of screen actor George Dolenz, had prior screen experience (under the name "Mickey Braddock") as the 10-year-old star of the Circus Boy series in the 1950s. He was actively auditioning for pilots at the time and was told about the Raybert project by his agent.
  
  Englishman Davy Jones was a former jockey who had achieved some initial success on the musical stage (appearing with the cast of Oliver! on The Ed Sullivan Show the night of the Beatles' live American debut). Already appearing in Columbia Pictures productions and recording for the Colpix record label, he had been identified in advance as a potential star for the series.
  
  Texan Michael Nesmith, whose mother Bette Nesmith Graham had invented a correction fluid and founded the company that would become Liquid Paper, had served a brief stint in the U.S. Air Force and had also recorded for Colpix under the name "Michael Blessing." Nesmith was the only one of The Monkees who had come in based on seeing the trade magazine ad. He showed up to the audition with his laundry and impressed Rafelson and Schneider with his laid-back style and droll sense of humor. Nesmith also wore a woolen hat to keep his hair out of his eyes when he rode his motorcycle, leading to early promotional materials which nicknamed him "Wool Hat." The hat remained part of Nesmith's wardrobe, but the name was dropped after the pilot.
  
  Peter Tork was recommended to Rafelson and Schneider by friend Stephen Stills at his own audition. Tork, a skilled multi-instrumentalist, had performed at various Greenwich Village folk clubs before moving west, where he worked as a busboy'.
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• In 1966, 'Family Affair' premiered on CBS television.
  From Wikipedia: 'Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to March 4, 1971 (Repeats were broadcast through September 9.) The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Brian Keith) as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional English gentleman's gentleman, Mr. Giles French (Sebastian Cabot), also had adjustments to make as he became saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) and the 6-year-old twins, Jody (Johnny Whitaker) and Buffy (Anissa Jones).
  
  Family Affair ran for 138 episodes in five seasons. The show was created and produced by Edmund Hartmann and Don Fedderson, also known for My Three Sons and The Millionaire'.
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• In 1970, Luna 16 Launch by the Soviets. It returns (Moon samples to Earth.
  From Wikipedia: 'Luna 16 was an unmanned space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program.
  
  Luna 16 was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth after five unsuccessful similar attempts. The sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and was the third lunar sample return mission overall, following the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions.
  
  The spacecraft consisted of two attached stages, an ascent stage mounted on top of a descent stage. The descent stage was a cylindrical body with four protruding landing legs, fuel tanks, a landing radar, and a dual descent engine complex.
  
  A main descent engine was used to slow the craft until it reached a cutoff point which was determined by the on-board computer based on altitude and velocity. After cutoff a bank of lower thrust jets was used for the final landing. The descent stage also acted as a launch pad for the ascent stage.
  
  The ascent stage was a smaller cylinder with a rounded top. It carried a cylindrical hermetically sealed soil sample container inside a re-entry capsule.
  
  The spacecraft descent stage was equipped with a television camera, radiation and temperature monitors, telecommunications equipment, and an extendable arm with a drilling rig for the collection of a lunar soil sample'.
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• In 1978, Situation comedy 'Taxi' premieres on ABC television.
  From Wikipedia: 'Taxi is an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series—which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series—focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher. Taxi was produced by the John Charles Walters Company, in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed Weinberger.
  
  The show focuses on the employees of the fictional Sunshine Cab Company, and its principal setting is the company's fleet garage in Manhattan. Among the drivers, only Alex Rieger, who is disillusioned with life, considers cab driving his profession. The others view it as a temporary job. Elaine Nardo is a single mother working as a receptionist at an art gallery. Tony Banta is a boxer with a losing record. Bobby Wheeler is a struggling actor. John Burns (written out of the show after the first season) is working his way through college. All take pity on "Reverend Jim" Ignatowski, an aging hippie minister, who is burnt out from drugs, so they help him become a cabbie. The characters also included Latka Gravas, their innocent, wide-eyed mechanic from an unnamed foreign country, and Louie De Palma, the despotic dispatcher.
  
  A number of episodes involve a character having an opportunity to realize his or her dream to move up in the world, only to see it yanked away. Otherwise, the cabbies deal on a daily basis with their unsatisfying lives and with Louie DePalma's abusive behavior and contempt (despite being a former cab driver himself). Louie's assistant, Jeff Bennett, is rarely heard from at first, but his role increases in later seasons.
  
  Despite the zany humor of the show, Taxi often tackled such dramatic issues as racism, drug addiction, single parenthood, blindness, obesity, animal abuse, bisexuality, teenage runaways, divorce, nuclear war, sexual harassment, premenstrual mood disorders, gambling addiction, and the loss of a loved one'.
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• In 2011, The 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City opens to the public.
  From Wikipedia: 'The National September 11 Memorial and Museum (known separately as the 9/11 Memorial and 9/11 Memorial Museum) are the principal memorial and museum, respectively. They commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed 2,977 victims, and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993, which killed six. The memorial is located at the World Trade Center site, the former location of the Twin Towers, which were destroyed during the September 11 attacks. It is operated by a non-profit corporation whose mission is to raise funds for, program, own, and operate the memorial and museum at the World Trade Center site.
  
  A memorial was planned in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and destruction of the World Trade Center for the victims including those involved in rescue operations. The winner of the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was Israeli architect Michael Arad of Handel Architects, a New York- and San Francisco-based firm. Arad worked with landscape-architecture firm Peter Walker and Partners on the design, a forest of trees with two square pools in the center where the Twin Towers stood. In August 2006, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began heavy construction on the memorial and museum. The design is consistent with the original Daniel Libeskind master plan, which called for the memorial to be 30 feet (9.1 m) below street level—originally 70 feet (21 m)—in a plaza, and was the only finalist to disregard Libeskind's requirement that the buildings overhang the footprints of the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation was renamed the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in 2007.
  
  On September 11, 2011, a dedication ceremony commemorating the tenth anniversary of the attacks was held at the memorial. It opened to the public the following day; the museum was dedicated on May 15, 2014 and opened on May 21. Three months after its opening, the memorial had been visited by over a million people. In 2012 the 9/11 Tribute Center collaborated with the 9/11 Memorial to offer private tours, which are hosted by family members of victims, first responders, and survivors'.
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If this mornings Hot Cross Bun, didn't satisfy your sweet tooth, tomorrow will please you. It will be 'National Chocolate Milkshake Day'. Never could figure out why they didn't call them Ice Cream Shakes.

You might throw that shake into a blender with a banana. Tomorrow is 'Banana Day'.

After your tasty lunch, make sure you wash your hands. Tomorrow is also 'National Video Games Day'. A sticky joy-stick can make you go right when you wanted to go left.

Each year the second Friday in September is 'Stand Up To Cancer Day'.

For you people in Maryland. Tomorrow is an official state holiday. 'Defenders Day'. It commemorates the successful defense of the city of Baltimore on September 12, 1814 (War of 1812) .

OK, you residents of Los Angeles, as of September 12 1909, Alice Stebbins Wells, has a badge and arrest authority. tomorrow we celebrate the first US woman police office. Tomorrow is 'National Police Woman Day'.

In 1997, the state of Arkansas's official day for the The Encouragement Foundation at Harding University, was made official by the president as the nations 'National Day of Encouragement'.

Back on September 12 in the past:

In 1846, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning eloped. How can we get away unnoticed, let me count the ways.

In 1972,- Hopalong Cassidy's William Boyd, dies. I never was much of a hoppie fan. I was a Lone Ranger follower.

In 1959, The premiere of Bonanza, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color. More. In 1959, the top 8 of 10 TV shows were westerns.

No. 1 song

• The House of the Rising Sun - The Animals: More
  'Where Did Our Love Go' has been displaced by 'The House of the Rising Sun', which will hold the no. 1 spot until September 26 2014, when 'Oh, Pretty Woman', takes over.

Top movie

• Mary Poppins More
  Having displaced 'A Hard Day's Night', it will be there until the weekend box office of October 4 1964 when, 'Cheyenne Autumn', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: September 12 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: September 12 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 12th September More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 12th September More
• On-This-day.com history 12th September More
• On-This-day.com music history 12th September More
• Wikipedia.com: History September 12 More

Baby Safety Month, Better Breakfast Month, Classical Music Month, Fall Hat Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, International Square Dancing Monthk Little League Month, National Biscuit Month, National Blueberry Popsicle Month, National Chicken Month, National Cholesterol Education Month, National Courtesy Month, National Honey Month, National Mushroom Month, National Organic Harvest Month, National Papaya Month, National Piano Month, National Potato Month, National Rice Month, Self Improvement Month

September is:

September origin (from Wikipedia): Originally September (Latin septem, "seven") was the seventh of ten months on the oldest known Roman calendar.
September in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of March in the Southern Hemisphere.
After the calendar reform that added January and February to the beginning of the year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. It had 29 days until the Julian reform, which added a day.

September 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