Today is November 27 2014

National Bavarian Cream Pie Day: More

• Thanksgiving: More
  
• National Day of Mourning: More
  Thanksgiving Day
• Pins And Needles Day: More
• National Family Health History Day: More
  An awareness day, established by the U.S. Surgeon General.

• In 1895, At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1888 Alfred's brother Ludvig died while visiting Cannes and a French newspaper erroneously published Alfred's obituary. It condemned him for his invention of dynamite and is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead") and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Alfred (who never had a wife or children) was disappointed with what he read and concerned with how he would be remembered.
  
  On 27 November 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality. After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets, 31,225,000 Swedish kronor, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. This converted to £1,687,837 (GBP) at the time. In 2012, the capital was worth around SEK 3.1 billion (USD 472 million, EUR 337 million), which is almost twice the amount of the initial capital, taking inflation into account.
  
  The first three of these prizes are awarded for eminence in physical science, in chemistry and in medical science or physiology; the fourth is for literary work "in an ideal direction" and the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.
  
  The formulation for the literary prize being given for a work "in an ideal direction" (i idealisk riktning in Swedish), is cryptic and has caused much confusion. For many years, the Swedish Academy interpreted "ideal" as "idealistic" (idealistisk) and used it as a reason not to give the prize to important but less romantic authors, such as Henrik Ibsen and Leo Tolstoy. This interpretation has since been revised, and the prize has been awarded to, for example, Dario Fo and José Saramago, who do not belong to the camp of literary idealism.
  
  There was room for interpretation by the bodies he had named for deciding on the physical sciences and chemistry prizes, given that he had not consulted them before making the will. In his one-page testament, he stipulated that the money go to discoveries or inventions in the physical sciences and to discoveries or improvements in chemistry. He had opened the door to technological awards, but had not left instructions on how to deal with the distinction between science and technology. Since the deciding bodies he had chosen were more concerned with the former, the prizes went to scientists more often than engineers, technicians or other inventors.
  
  In 2001, Alfred Nobel's great-great-nephew, Peter Nobel (b. 1931), asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. This request added to the controversy over whether the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is actually a legitimate "Nobel Prize"'.
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• In 1910, Penn Station opens in NY. The largest train station at the time.
  From Wikipedia: 'Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City. Serving more than 600,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers a day, it is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere. Penn Station is in the midtown area of Manhattan, close to Herald Square, the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and the Macy's department store. Entirely underground, it sits beneath Madison Square Garden, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st and 34th Streets.
  
  Penn Station has 21 tracks fed by seven tunnels (the Hudson River Tunnels, the East River Tunnels, and the Empire Connection tunnel). It is at the center of the Northeast Corridor, a passenger rail line that connects New York City with Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and intermediate points. Intercity trains are operated by Amtrak, which owns the station, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and New Jersey Transit. Connections are available within the complex to the New York City Subway, and buses. Another important possible connection could be there with the PATH (rail system), if the old Hilton Corridor was re=opened.
  
  The original Pennsylvania Station was built from 1901-1910 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and featured an ornate marble and granite station house and train shed inspired by the Gare d'Orsay in Paris (the world's first electrified rail terminal). After a decline in passenger usage during the 1950s, the original station was demolished and reconstructed from 1963 to 1969, resulting in the current station. Future plans for Penn Station include the Gateway Project and the possibility of shifting some trains to the adjacent Farley Post Office, a building designed by the same architects as the original 1910 station.
  
  Pennsylvania Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original tenant, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The current facility is the substantially remodeled underground remnant of a significantly more ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and completed in 1910. The original Pennsylvania Station was considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style, but was demolished in 1963. The station was moved fully underground, beneath the newly constructed Pennsylvania Plaza complex and Madison Square Garden arena completed in 1968'.
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• In 1924, The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.
  
  In the 1920s, many of Macy's department store employees were first-generation European immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.
  
  In 1924, the annual Thanksgiving parade started by Louis Bamberger in Newark, New Jersey at the Bamberger's store was transferred to New York City by Macy's. In New York, the employees marched to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes. There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square. At this first parade, however, the Jolly Old Elf was enthroned on the Macy's balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then "crowned" "King of the Kiddies." With an audience of over 250,000 people, the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event.
  
  Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg loved to work with marionettes from an early age. After moving to London to start his own marionette business, Sarg moved to New York City to perform with his puppets on the street. Macy's heard about Sarg's talents and asked him to design a window display of a parade for the store. Sarg's large animal-shaped balloons, produced by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, replaced the live animals in 1927. A popular belief was that a balloon version Felix the Cat balloon was the first ever character balloon in the parade back in 1937, with Macy's also claiming that too, but Felix actually made his first appearance in 1931.
  
  At the finale of the 1928 parade, the balloons were released into the sky, where they unexpectedly burst. The following year, they were redesigned with safety valves to allow them to float for a few days. Address labels were sewn into them, so that whoever found and mailed back the discarded balloon received a gift from Macy's.
  
  Through the 1930s, the Parade continued to grow, with crowds of over one million people lining the parade route in 1933. The first Mickey Mouse balloon entered the parade in 1934. The annual festivities were broadcast on local radio stations in New York City from 1932 to 1941, and resumed in 1945, running through 1951.
  
  The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 as a result of World War II, owing to the need for rubber and helium in the war effort. The parade resumed in 1945 using the route that it followed until 2008. The parade became known nationwide after being prominently featured in the 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street, which included footage of the 1946 festivities. The event was first broadcast on network television in 1948. By this point the event, and Macy's sponsorship of it, were sufficiently well-known to give rise to the colloquialism "Macy's Day Parade". Since 1984, the balloons have been made by Raven Aerostar (a division of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries).
  
  Macy's also sponsored the smaller Celebrate the Season Parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is held two days after the main event, from 2006 to 2013. Other American cities also have parades held on Thanksgiving, none of which are run by Macy's. The nation's oldest Thanksgiving parade (the Gimbels parade, which has had many sponsors over the years, and is now known as the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade) was first held in Philadelphia in 1920. Other cities with parades on the holiday include the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, Illinois and parades in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and Fountain Hills, Arizona. A parade is also held at the two Disney theme parks, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. There is also a second Thanksgiving balloon parade within the New York metropolitan area, the UBS balloon parade in Stamford, Connecticut, located 30 miles (48 km) away; that parade is held the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so as to not compete with the parade in New York City and usually does not duplicate any balloon characters.
  
  The classic "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" logo was, with one exception, last used in 2005. For 2006, a special variant of the logo was used. Every year since then, a new logo has been used for each parade. The logos however are seen rarely, if at all, on television as NBC has used its own logo with the word "Macy's" in a script typeface and "Thanksgiving Day Parade" in a bold font. The logos are assumed to be for use by Macy's only, such as on the Grandstand tickets and the ID badges worn by parade staff. The Jackets worn by parade staff still bear the original classic parade logo, this being the only place where that logo can be found.
  
  New safety measures were incorporated in 2006 to prevent accidents and balloon-related injuries. One measure taken was the installation of wind measurement devices to alert parade organizers to any unsafe conditions that could cause the balloons to behave erratically. In addition, parade officials implemented a measure to keep the balloons closer to the ground during windy conditions. If wind speeds are forecast to be higher than 34 miles per hour (55 km/h), all balloons are removed from the parade.
  
  In 2007, the journal Puppetry International published a first person account of being a balloon handler'.
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• In 1960, The Shotgun formation is used for the first time in football as Red Hickey implements it.
  From Wikipedia: 'The shotgun formation is a formation used by the offensive team in American and Canadian football. This formation is used mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. In the shotgun, instead of the quarterback receiving the snap from center at the line of scrimmage, he stands farther behind the line of scrimmage, often five to seven yards back. Sometimes the quarterback will have a back on one or both sides before the snap, while other times he will be the lone player in the backfield with everyone spread out as receivers.
  
  The shotgun formation can offer certain advantages. The offensive linemen have more room to maneuver behind the scrimmage line and form a tighter, more cohesive oval “pocket” in which the quarterback is protected from “blitzing” by the defense. If the quarterback has speed, mobility or both, he can use this formation to scramble before his pass; or, to run to an open field position in the defensive secondary or to the sideline, usually gaining first-down yardage. The formation also has weaknesses. The defense knows a pass is more than likely coming up (although some running plays can be run effectively from the shotgun) and there is a higher risk of a botched snap than in a simple center/quarterback exchange. If the defense is planning a pass rush, this formation gives fast defensive players more open and exposed targets in the offensive backfield, with less cluttered “blitzing” routes to the quarterback and any other halfback in the offensive backfield.
  
  Combining elements of the short punt and spread formations ("spread" in that it had receivers spread widely instead of close to or behind the interior line players), it was said to be like a "shotgun" in spraying receivers around the field. (The alignment of the players also suggests the shape of an actual shotgun.) Formations similar or identical to the shotgun used decades previously would be called names such as "spread double wing". Short punt formations (so called because the distance between the snapper and the ostensible punter is shorter than in long punt formation) do not usually have as much emphasis on wide receivers.
  
  The shotgun evolved from the single wing and the similar double-wing spread; famed triple threat man Sammy Baugh has claimed that the shotgun was effectively the same as the version of the double-wing he ran at Texas Christian University in the 1930s.
  
  In the latter part of the 1940s, the Philadelphia Eagles, under Hall of Fame Coach Earl "Greasy" Neale, implemented the shotgun formation in their offensive attack with quarterback Tommy Thompson.
  
  The formation was named by the man who actually devised it, San Francisco 49ers coach Red Hickey, in 1960. John Brodie was the first NFL shotgun quarterback, beating out former starter Y. A. Tittle largely because he was mobile enough to effectively run the formation.
  
  The New York Jets briefly experimented with the shotgun during the middle of the Joe Namath era to give the bad-kneed and often immobile quarterback more time to set up plays by placing him deeper in the backfield. But the formation was not used on a regular basis until the 1975 season, and then only by the Dallas Cowboys, who used the shotgun frequently with Roger Staubach at quarterback. The Cowboy shotgun differed from the 49er shotgun as Staubach generally had a back next to him in the backfield (making runs possible), where Brodie was normally alone in the backfield.
  
  Since no other NFL teams used the formation during this time, some believed it had been invented by Tom Landry. Instead, Landry simply dusted off the old innovation to address a pressing problem: keeping Staubach protected while an unusually young and inexperienced squad (12 rookies made the 1975 Cowboys roster) jelled. However, three years before Staubach ushered in the modern era of the shotgun to the NFL, Joe Theismann of the Toronto Argonauts regularly employed the formation north of the border in the CFL. The Cowboys ended up in the Super Bowl that season, in no small part due to its new use of the old formation. The shotgun became a "signature" formation for the Cowboys, especially during third down situations.
  
  The shotgun was adopted by more teams throughout the 1980s, and was part of almost every team's offense in the pass-happy 1990s'.
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• In 2005, The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.
  From Wikipedia: 'A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or part of a person's face using tissue from a cadaver. The world's first partial face transplant on a living human was carried out in France in 2005. The world's first full face transplant was completed in Spain in 2010. Turkey, France, the United States and Spain (in order of total number of successful face transplants performed) are considered the leading countries in the research into the procedure'.
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• In 2008, The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) was taken out of service after more than 30 years. The ship was launched on September 20, 1967.
  From Wikipedia: 'Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as QE2, is an ocean liner built for the Cunard Line which was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. She was designed for the transatlantic service from her home port of Southampton, UK, to New York, and was named after the earlier Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth. She served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Designed in Cunard's then headquarters and regional offices in Liverpool and Southampton respectively, and built in Clydebank, Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners until the construction of the Queen Mary 2 was announced.
  
  Before she was refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986/87, QE2 was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service. During almost forty years of service, Queen Elizabeth 2 undertook regular world cruises and later operated predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England. QE2 had no running mate and never ran a year-round weekly transatlantic express service to New York. QE2 did, however, continue the Cunard tradition of regular scheduled transatlantic crossings every year of her service life. QE2 was never given a Royal Mail Ship designation, instead carrying the SS and later MV or MS prefixes in official documents.
  
  QE2 retired from active Cunard service on 27 November 2008. She was acquired by Istithmar, the private equity arm of Dubai World, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai. The 2008 financial crisis however intervened and the ship remains laid up at Port Rashid. Subsequent conversion plans were announced by Istithmar in 2012 and by the Oceanic Group in 2013 but these both stalled. As of January 2016 the ship remains laid up in Dubai while the port operator claimed that there were future plans for the ship and no intent to scrap her'.
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Tomorrow's food holiday will be 'National Bavarian Cream Pie Day'.
[The Hankster says] Yes, I am wondering also, why it is not Pumpkin Pie.

And of course, tomorrow is ''Thanksgiving'. BTW, the Pilgrims did not dress in those stiff Puritan uniforms and they had little or no sugar after their long trip, so most likely no pies and such. There is a record of several men who were sent to hunt for fouls. No record of Turkey by name.
[The Hankster says] A day of food, games and friendship was had by all. At days end, Black Friday trading bargains were discussed with the Indians There was some talk of making deals over the newly created discovered communications medium called Smoke Signals, but all the wood was too wet.

Tomorrow also has it protest day. It is also 'National Day of Mourning' This is in the same sympathy with some Native Americans, as the anti Columbus Day events. It wants to tell the other side of the story as to what the Europeanization of the New World meant to the original inhabitants.

Another protest day of sorts. It will be 'Pins And Needles Day'. It commemorates the theatrical play of the same name, with a pro labor movement emphasis in sympathy with the Garment Workers strike of the period.

An awareness day tomorrow. 'National Family Health History Day' It is an awareness day, established by the U.S. Surgeon General. It emphasizes the sharing of family medical history among family members. Thanksgiving is a good time, when many family members are together.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said 'Pick my left pocket of its silver dime, but spare the right — it holds my golden time! '
[The Hankster says] A timepiece may be stolen and time may steal away, bit I'm not sure time itself can be stolen. If time is not spent well, it is wasted, not purloined and we ourselves are the thieves. We can, however, perform a little C.S.I. work and see if others have misspent their daily allotment of time. Let us look at November 27 in the past.

\ In 1910, Penn Station opens in NY. The largest train station at the time.

In 1924, The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.

In 1960, The 'Shotgun' formation is used for the first time in a football game. It was implemented by Red Hickey.

No. 1 song

• Baby Love - The Supremes: More
  'Last Kiss' has been displaced by 'Baby Love', which will hold the no. 1 spot until November 28 1964, when 'Leader of the Pack', takes over.

Top movie

• Roustabout More
  Having displaced 'Kitten with a Whip', it will be there until the weekend box office of December 13 1964 when, 'Father Goose', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: November 27 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: November 27 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 27th November More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 27th November More
• On-This-day.com history 27th November More
• On-This-day.com music history 27th November More
• Wikipedia.com: History November 27 More

Food:
National Peanut Butter Lover's Month
National Georgia Pecan Month
National Pepper Month
Other:
National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month
National American Indian Heritage Month
National Bladder Health Awareness Month
National Candle Month
National Child Mental Health Month
National Diabetes Awareness Month
National Epilepsy Awareness Month
National Family Caregivers Month
National Fragrance Month
National Healthy Skin Month
National Home Care Month
National Lifewriting Month
National Long Term Care Awareness Month
National Marrow Awareness Month
National Military Family Month
National Native American Heritage Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Pet Awareness Month
National Scholarship Month
National Senior Pet Month

November is:

November origin (from Wikipedia): 'November is the eleventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar. November retained its name (from the Latin novem meaning 'nine') when January and February were added to the Roman calendar. '

'November is a month of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, November in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of May in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.'

November 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