Today is October 15 2014

National Chicken Cacciatore Day: More

• National I Love Lucy Day: More
  
• National Grouch Day: More
• National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day: More
• National White Cane Safety Day: More
• National Fossil Day: More
  Wednesday of Second Full Week in October
• Hagfish Day : More
  Third Wednesday of October
• International Day of Rural Women: More
• Take Your Parents To Lunch Day: More
• Global Handwashing Day: More
• Information Overload Day: More
  Third Wed. in October

• In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar. It was instituted in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by papal bull Inter gravissimas dated 24 February 1582. The motivation for the adjustment was to bring the date for the celebration of Easter to the time of year in which it was celebrated when it was introduced by the early Church. Although a recommendation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 specified that all Christians should celebrate Easter on the same day, it took almost five centuries before virtually all Christians achieved that objective by adopting the rules of the Church of Alexandria (see Easter for the issues which arose)'.
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• In 1783, The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon (tethered) makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-Fran‡ois Pilƒtre de Rozier. On November 21, 1783, the first free flight by humans was made by Pilƒtre, together with an army officer.
  From Wikipedia: 'With the successful demonstration at Versailles, and again in collaboration with Réveillon, Étienne started building a 60,000-cubic-foot (1,700 m3) balloon for the purpose of making flights with humans. The balloon was about seventy-five feet (23 m) tall and about fifty feet (15 m) in diameter. It had rich decorative touches supplied by Réveillon. The color scheme was gold figures on a deep blue background. Fleur-de-lis, signs of the zodiac, and suns with Louis XVI's face in the center interlaced with the royal monogram in the central section graced the majestic machine. Red and blue drapery and golden eagles were at the base of the balloon. It is fitting that Étienne Montgolfier was the first human to lift off the earth, making at least one tethered flight from the yard of the Réveillon workshop in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. It was most likely on October 15, 1783. A little while later on that same day, Pilâtre de Rozier became the second to ascend into the air, to an altitude of 80 feet (24 m), which was the length of the tether. On 21 November 1783, the first free flight by humans was made by Pilâtre, together with an army officer, the marquis d'Arlandes. The flight began from the grounds of the Château de la Muette (close to the Bois de Boulogne (park)) in the western outskirts of Paris. They flew aloft about 3,000 feet (910 m) above Paris for a distance of nine kilometers. After 25 minutes, the machine landed between the windmills, outside the city ramparts, on the Butte-aux-Cailles. Enough fuel remained on board at the end of the flight to have allowed the balloon to fly four to five times as far. However, burning embers from the fire were scorching the balloon fabric and had to be daubed out with sponges. As it appeared it could destroy the balloon, Pilâtre took off his coat to stop the fire.
  
  The early flights made a sensation. Numerous engravings commemorated the events. Chairs were designed with balloon backs, and mantel clocks were produced in enamel and gilt-bronze replicas set with a dial in the balloon. One could buy crockery decorated with naive pictures of balloons.
  
  In early 1784 the Flesselles balloon (named after the unfortunate Jacques de Flesselles, later to be an early casualty at the Bastille) gave a rough landing to its passengers. In June 1784 the Gustave saw the first (singing) female aeronaut, Élisabeth Thible'.
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• In 1878 - The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.
  From Wikipedia: 'During 1889, Thomas Edison had business interests in many electricity-related companies: Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann and Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for Edison's lighting experiments. In 1889, Drexel, Morgan and Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel, financed Edison's research and helped merge those companies under one corporation to form Edison General Electric Company which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company also acquired Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company in the same year'.
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• In 1928, The airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States.
  From Wikipedia: LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin #127; Registration: D-LZ 127) was a German-built and -operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. When it entered commercial service in 1928, it became the first commercial passenger transatlantic flight service in the world. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a count (Graf) in the German nobility. During its operating life, the airship made 590 flights covering more than 1.7 million kilometers (over 1 million miles). It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers and men. The LZ 127 was the longest rigid airship at the time of its completion and was only surpassed by the USS Akron in 1931. It was scrapped for fighter plane parts in 1940.
  
  'In October 1928 the Graf Zeppelin made its first intercontinental trip, a 9,926 km (6,168 mi), 111-hour crossing from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst with Dr. Eckener in command. Capt. Ernst Lehmann, who would be killed in the crash of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst eight and a half years later, served as First Officer on the flight and U.S. Navy LCDR Charles E. Rosendahl, commander of the ZR-3 USS Los Angeles (ex-LZ 126), made the westward journey during which he also stood watch as a regular ship's officer. Despite encountering heavy headwinds and stormy weather, Eckener had repeated the success of his first transatlantic crossing four years earlier when he delivered the LZ-126 to the U.S. Navy in October 1924 and was welcomed enthusiastically then both with a "ticker tape" parade in New York and a subsequent invitation to the White House'.
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• In 1940. The movie 'The Great Dictator', a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by and starring Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood film-maker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was Chaplin's first true sound film.
  
  Chaplin's film advanced a stirring, controversial condemnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis. At the time of its first release, the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany. Chaplin plays both leading roles: a ruthless fascist dictator, and a persecuted Jewish barber.
  
  The Great Dictator was popular with audiences, becoming Chaplin's most commercially successful film. Modern critics have also praised it as a historically significant film and an important work of satire. The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards - Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score).
  
  In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he could not have made the film if he had known about the true extent of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at the time'.
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• In 1951, Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive.
  From Wikipedia: 'Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas (March 16, 1925 – September 13, 2004) was a Mexican chemist known as the co-inventor of the progestin norethisterone used in one of the first three oral contraceptives.
  
  Miramontes was born at Tepic, Nayarit. He obtained his first Degree in chemical engineering in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He was a founding researcher of the Institute of Chemistry of UNAM, specializing mainly in the area of Organic Chemistry. He was a professor of the Faculty of Chemistry of UNAM, Director and professor of the School of Chemistry at the Universidad Iberoamericana, and deputy Director of Research at the Mexican Institute of Petroleum (IMP). Miramontes was a member of diverse scientific societies, such as the American Chemical Society (Emeritus), the Mexican Institute of Chemical Engineers, the National Institute of Chemical and Chemical Engineers, the Chemical Society of Mexico, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the New York Academy of Sciences.
  
  He died in Mexico City in 2004'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1951, The TV show 'I Love Lucy' premieres. It starred Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Richard Keith. It ran for 6 seasons for 181 ep. from October 15, 1951 - May 6, 1957.
  From Wikipedia: 'I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on CBS. After the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials; it ran from 1957 to 1960. It was first known as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.
  
  The show, which was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35 mm film in front of a studio audience, won five Emmy Awards and received numerous nominations.
  
  I Love Lucy was the most watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings (an accomplishment later matched only by The Andy Griffith Show in 1968 and Seinfeld in 1998). The show is still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world and remains popular with an American audience of 40 million each year. A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted more than 8 million viewers when CBS aired it in prime time in 2013 – 62 years after the show premiered. A second colorized special, featuring the "L.A. At Last!" and "Lucy and Superman" episodes, aired on May 17, 2015, attracting 6.4 million viewers.
  
  I Love Lucy is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history. In 2012, it was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
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• In 1956, Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time.
  From Wikipedia: 'Fortran (formerly FORTRAN, derived from "Formula Translation") is a general-purpose, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Originally developed by IBM in the 1950s for scientific and engineering applications, Fortran came to dominate this area of programming early on and has been in continuous use for over half a century in computationally intensive areas such as numerical weather prediction, finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, computational physics, crystallography and computational chemistry. It is a popular language for high-performance computing and is used for programs that benchmark and rank the world's fastest supercomputers.
  
  Fortran encompasses a lineage of versions, each of which evolved to add extensions to the language while usually retaining compatibility with prior versions. Successive versions have added support for structured programming and processing of character-based data (FORTRAN 77), array programming, modular programming and generic programming (Fortran 90), high performance Fortran (Fortran 95), object-oriented programming (Fortran 2003) and concurrent programming (Fortran 2008)'.
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• In 1959, The TV show 'The Untouchables' premieres.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Untouchables is an American crime drama series that aired for two seasons in syndication, from January 1993 to May 1994. The series portrayed work of the real life Untouchables federal investigative squad in Prohibition-era Chicago and its efforts against Al Capone's attempts to profit from the market in bootleg liquor.
  
  The series features Tom Amandes as Eliot Ness and William Forsythe as Al Capone, and was based on the 1959 series and 1987 film of the same name'.
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• In 1971, Rick Nelson was booed when he performed new material at an oldies show at Madison Square Garden. This prompted his later hit 'Garden Party'.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1972, Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with "Garden Party", a song he wrote in disgust after a Richard Nader Oldies Concert at Madison Square Garden where the audience booed him, because, he felt, he was playing new songs instead of just his old hits. When he performed The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women", he was booed off the stage. He was watching the rest of the performance on a TV monitor backstage and Richard Nader finally convinced Nelson to return to the stage and play his "oldies". He returned to the stage and played his "oldies" and the audience responded with applause, according to Deborah Nader, President of Richard Nader Entertainment. He wanted to record an album featuring original material, but the single was released before the album because Nelson had not completed the entire Garden Party album yet. "Garden Party" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and was certified as a gold single. The second single released from the album was "Palace Guard" which peaked at #65.
  
  Nelson was with MCA at the time, and his comeback was short-lived. Nelson's band soon resigned, and MCA wanted Nelson to have a producer on his next album. His band moved to Aspen and changed their name to "Canyon". Nelson soon put together a new Stone Canyon Band and began to tour for the Garden Party album. Nelson still played nightclubs and bars, but he soon advanced to higher-paying venues because of the success of Garden Party. In 1974 MCA was at odds as to what to do with the former teen idol. Albums like Windfall failed to have an impact. Nelson became an attraction at theme parks like Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland. He also started appearing in minor roles on television shows.
  
  Nelson tried to score another hit but did not have any luck with songs like "Rock and Roll Lady." With seven years to go on his contract, MCA dropped him from the label'.
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• In 1977, The song 'You Light Up My Life',by Debbie Boone goes #1 and stays #1 for 10 weeks.
  From Wikipedia: '"You Light Up My Life" is a ballad written by Joseph "Joe" Brooks, and originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack album to the 1977 film of the same name. The song was lip synched in the film by its lead actress, Didi Conn. The best-known version of the song is a cover by Debby Boone, the daughter of singer Pat Boone, which held the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks in 1977, setting a new record for that time'.
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• In 1997, The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green, 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere.
  From Wikipedia: 'Wing Commander Andy D. Green OBE (born 30 July 1962) is a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot and World Land Speed Record holder.
  
  Green is the current holder of the World Land speed record, and the first person to break the sound barrier on land. On 25 September 1997 in ThrustSSC he beat the previous record in Black Rock Desert, USA, reaching a speed of 714.144 miles per hour (1,149.303 km/h). On October 15, 1997, 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager, Green reached 763.035 miles per hour (1,227.986 km/h), the first supersonic record (Mach 1.016). His call sign was "Dead Dog".
  
  Green is now working with Richard Noble again on their new record attempt to break the 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h) mark with Bloodhound SSC'.
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• In 2003, China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
  From Wikipedia: 'Shenzhou 5 was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (later, Russia) and the United States'.
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Tomorrow's food holiday will be ' National Chicken Cacciatore Day'. The 'Hunters Style' dish, is spaghetti topped with chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and herbs.

You can have that Cacciatore on a TV tray in front of the TV tomorrow, while you watch yet another enjoyable rerun of one of my favorite comedy shows. Tomorrow will be 'National I Love Lucy Day'.

If you spill that chicken on the living room rug, run for it. Tomorrow is 'National Grouch Day'. You can see that the odds are already against you.

Hey, kids, tomorrow is 'Take Your Parents To Lunch Day', and you get to pick the spot. Where, your schools cafeteria. The idea is to make kids, parents and school officials aware of the need for healthy meals. Once again, I would check before you show up.

'National White Cane Safety Day'. 1964 Presidential proclamation. The White Cane is a symbol of the independence of the blind and visually impaired..

We have an animal awareness day tomorrow. It will be 'Hagfish Day'. Even an ugly snake-like fish that excretes vast amounts of slime for predator protection, needs love too. But, you can hug it, not me.

You city ladies will have to wait your turn. Tomorrow is 'International Day of Rural Women'. A 2007 UN resolution that recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”

With all the current news of bacteria and virus and with the flu season coming up, tomorrow's 'Global Handwashing Day', makes a lot of sense.

Feel like the next straw will the the 'Big One Elizabeth' (Red Fox, Sanford and sun, for you youngsters)? Well tomorrow is 'Information Overload Day'. I try to avoid such in this post, by highlighting some things and leaving the 'rest of the story' to links on the web site. I love history, science and trivia, but any and all, in small doses. I would much rather note the major or fun events in history, instead of 'reading chapters 1 -3 and be prepared to recite the birthdays and deaths of the such-and-such, and what they had for supper'.

I saved this holiday for the last. Tomorrow will be 'National Fossil Day'. As I have sometimes found it necessary to do, I will pause for a few seconds while everyone gives out with their best 'old' joke, concerning yours truly ........ There, feel better.?

C.S. Lewis once said "The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. " If time is passing that fast, perhaps today is almost gone. So, lets look into the past at October 15, which is standing dead-still for us:

In 1951 - Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes synthesized the first oral contraceptive.

In 1951 - The TV show 'I Love Lucy' premieres.

In 1959 - The TV show 'The Untouchables' premieres.

In 1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green, 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere

No. 1 song

• Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison: More
  'The House of the Rising Sun' has been displaced by 'Oh, Pretty Woman', which will hold the no. 1 spot until October 17 2014, when 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy', takes over.

Top movie

• Fail-Safe More
  Having displaced 'Cheyenne Autumn', it will be there until the weekend box office of October 18 1964 when, 'Send Me No Flowers', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: October 15 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: October 15 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 15th October More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 15th October More
• On-This-day.com history 15th October More
• On-This-day.com music history 15th October More
• Wikipedia.com: History October 15 More

Food: Apple Month, Rhubarb Month, Sausage Month, Spinach Lovers Month, National Chili Month, National Popcorn Poppin' Month, National Seafood Month Pear and Pineapple Month, , Vegetarian Month
Other
AIDS Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Class Reunion Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Dyslexia Awareness Month, National Book Month, National Dental Hygiene Month, National Down Syndrome Month, National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month

October is:

October origin (from Wikipedia): October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Greek meaning 'eight') after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. "
October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.

October 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