Today is December 12 2014

National Ambrosia Day: More

• National Poinsettia Day: More
  
• National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day: More
  2nd Friday in December
• National Ding-a-Ling Day: More
• Gingerbread House Day: More
• Official Lost and Found Day: More
  Second Friday of December
• Bonza Bottler Day: More

• In 1787, Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, five days after Delaware became the first.
  From Wikipedia: 'Pennsylvania (officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. The commonwealth borders Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east.
  
  Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 6th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's five most populous cities are Philadelphia (1,560,297), Pittsburgh (305,801), Allentown (118,577), Erie (100,671), and Reading (89,893). The state capital is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 51 miles (82 km) of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary.
  
  The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States; it came into being in 1681 as a result of a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the state's namesake. Part of Pennsylvania (along the Delaware River), together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden. It was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12, 1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the state's largest city of Philadelphia. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washington's headquarters during the bitter winter of 1777–78'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1897, The comic strip 'The Katzenjammer Kids' (Hans and Fritz), by Rudolph Dirks, appeared for the first time.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Katzenjammer Kids is an American comic strip created by the German immigrant Rudolph Dirks and drawn by Harold H. Knerr for 37 years (1912 to 1949).It debuted December 12, 1897 in the American Humorist, the Sunday supplement of William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. Dirks was the first cartoonist to express dialogue in comic characters through the use of speech balloons'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter 'S' [...] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
  From Wikipedia: 'At the turn of the 20th century, Marconi began investigating the means to signal completely across the Atlantic in order to compete with the transatlantic telegraph cables. Marconi established a wireless transmitting station at Marconi House, Rosslare Strand, Co. Wexford in 1901 to act as a link between Poldhu in Cornwall, England and Clifden in Co. Galway, Ireland. He soon made the announcement that the message was received at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland (now part of Canada) on 12 December 1901, using a 500-foot (150 m) kite-supported antenna for reception—signals transmitted by the company's new high-power station at Poldhu, Cornwall. The distance between the two points was about 2,200 miles (3,500 km). It was heralded as a great scientific advance, yet there also was—and continues to be—considerable skepticism about this claim. The exact wavelength used is not known, but it is fairly reliably determined to have been in the neighborhood of 350 meters (frequency ˜850 kHz). The tests took place at a time of day during which the entire transatlantic path was in daylight. We now know (although Marconi did not know then) that this was the worst possible choice. At this medium wavelength, long distance transmission in the daytime is not possible because of heavy absorption of the skywave in the ionosphere. It was not a blind test; Marconi knew in advance to listen for a repetitive signal of three clicks, signifying the Morse code letter S. The clicks were reported to have been heard faintly and sporadically. There was no independent confirmation of the reported reception, and the transmissions were difficult to distinguish from atmospheric noise. (A detailed technical review of Marconi's early transatlantic work appears in John S. Belrose's work of 1995.) The Poldhu transmitter was a two-stage circuit'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1915, The first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1, is test flown at Dessau, Germany.
  From Wikipedia: 'Built early in World War I, when aircraft designers relied largely on fabric-covered wooden structures, braced with struts and exposed rigging lines, the Junkers J 1 was a revolutionary development in aircraft design, being built and flown only 12 years after the Wright Brothers had first flown the 'Flyer I' biplane in December 1903'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1917, In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys. From Wikipedia: 'In 1917, a young Irish priest named Father Edward J. Flanagan grew discouraged in his work with homeless men in Omaha, Nebraska. He shifted his attention and in December of that year, borrowed $90 to pay the rent on a boarding house that became Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys. Flanagan welcomed all boys, regardless of their race or religion. By the spring, 100 boys were living at the Home. In 1921, Father Flanagan purchased Overlook Farm on the outskirts of Omaha and moved his Boys’ Home there. In time, the Home became known as the Village of Boys Town. By the 1930s, hundreds of boys lived at the Village which grew to include a school, dormitories and administration buildings. The boys elected their own government which included a mayor, council and commissioners. In 1936, the community became an official village in the state of Nebraska'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
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• In 1925, Arthur Heinman coins the term 'motel' and opens the Motel Inn, San Luis Obispo, Calf. One of his Milestone Motel series.
  From Wikipedia: 'Arthur S. Heineman (1878–1974) was the inventor and primary architect of the world's first motel. It was originally called the Milestone Mo-Tel and is located in San Luis Obispo, California. It opened on December 12, 1925. Although it was planned to be only the first of a chain of eighteen motor courts, Heineman was unable to register the name as a trademark, which allowed competitors to use the name, and his plans to extend the concept himself were scuttled.
  
  He also designed (or co-designed, together with one or both of his brothers) a number of notable houses in Pasadena, California, including the following homes:
  
  The Parson house on East California, built during 1909–10 Bowen Court, at 539 E. Villa St., a large "L"-shaped house built during 1910–12 that is the oldest bungalow court style house in Pasadena (and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places) The house at 674 Elliot Drive, a wood frame house in the American Craftsman style built in 1911 (listed in the National Register of Historic Places) The house at 1186 West 27th St., which is one of only a few houses in the American Craftsman style in its historic neighborhood The house at 1233 Wentworth Ave., a Cotswold style house built in 1917 (listed in the National Register of Historic Places)'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets recorded 'See You Later Alligator', which became a hit in 1956.
  From Wikipedia: '"See You Later, Alligator" is the title of an iconic rock and roll song of the 1950s written and first recorded by Robert Charles Guidry, known as Bobby Charles. The song was a Top Ten hit for Bill Haley and His Comets in 1956 in the U.S
  
  Originally entitled "Later Alligator", the song, based on a 12-bar blues chord structure (141541), was written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and first recorded by him under his professional name "Bobby Charles" in 1955. His recording was released on Chess Records under the title "Later Alligator" as 1609 in November, 1955 backed with "On Bended Knee". Guidry, a Cajun musician, adopted a New Orleans-influenced blues style for the recording. The melody of the song was borrowed from bluesman Guitar Slim's "Later for You Baby" which was recorded in 1954. Guidry also wrote "Walking to New Orleans", which was recorded by Fats Domino.
  
  The song was also recorded by Roy Hall (who'd written and recorded "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" ten weeks before) on December 1, 1955 at a Nashville session.
  
  The most famous recording of the song, however, was that created on December 12, 1955 by Bill Haley and His Comets at a recording session for Decca Records. Unlike most of Haley's recordings for Decca, which were created at the Pythian Temple studio in New York City, "Alligator" and its flip-side, "The Paper Boy (On Main Street U.S.A.)", were recorded at the Decca Building in New York. The song was featured in Rock Around the Clock, a musical film Haley and the Comets began shooting in January 1956. Regarding the claim that Decca records released this disk on February 1, 1956 in both 45 and 78 formats, Billboard had already listed the song as debuting on 14 January 1956 on the Best Sellers in Stores chart at #25 and on the Top 100 at #56. The Decca single peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard and CashBox pop singles chart in 1956'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1957, The U.S. announces the manufacture of Borazon, which is judged harder than diamond.
  From Wikipedia: 'Borazon is a brand name of a cubic form of boron nitride (cBN). Its color ranges from black to brown and gold, depending on the chemical bond. It is one of the hardest known materials, along with various forms of diamond and boron nitride. Borazon is a crystal created by heating equal quantities of boron and nitrogen at temperatures greater than 1800 °C (3300 °F) at 7 GPa (1 million lbf/in2).
  
  Borazon was first produced in 1957 by Robert H. Wentorf, Jr., a physical chemist working for the General Electric Company. In 1969, General Electric adopted the name Borazon as its trademark for the material'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1964, The 'Star Trek' pilot is shown 'The Cage' (shown in 1988 in a two-part episode 'The Menagerie').
  From Wikipedia: '"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of Star Trek. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until late 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, and the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
  
  Much original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the first-season two-parter, "The Menagerie"'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
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Tomorrow's food holiday will be ' National Ambrosia Day'. This one is not the 'food of the Gods', but a delicious fruit salad. There are many mixtures
[The Hankster says] My favorite contains (in equal parts): coconut, mandarin orange segments, drained, crushed pineapple, drained, sour cream, and miniature marshmallows. And some pecans or walnuts.

We have another food holiday of sorts. It will be 'Gingerbread House Day'.
[The Hankster says] I say a food holiday of sorts, since I have seen some instructions that use things I wouldn't want to eat (cardboard, white glue). However, I believe most are eatable, using sugar or flour paste as glue.

Brighten up the room tomorrow. It will be 'National Poinsettia Day'.
[The Hankster says] They were introduced into the U.S. from Mexico by the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico in the 1820's. A sub-tropical Christmas plant, love it.

Tomorrow is 'National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day'.
[The Hankster says] Since it celebrated on the second Friday of December, I suppose this is last years gift. Maybe it is meant as a visual reminder to the giver, not to make the same mistake this year. I wonder if there is such a day for Christmas ties?

Tomorrow will be 'National Ding-a-Ling Day'.
[The Hankster says] No, it is not my birthday. It is just a day to run free and do some weird things and get by with them. Let's be careful out there. There will be other Ding-a-Lings taking advantage of the holiday.

Tomorrow is another 'Bonza Bottler Day', since it is 12/12.

Golda Meir once said 'I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.'
[The Hankster says ] A wise course for the present. We don't have to worry about the mastery of time on this post as we deal with the past, which has mastered itself. So, let us look back to December 12 and see if we can discern any guidelines for our time management, of the here and now..

In 1915, The first all-metal aircraft, the Junkers J-1, is test flown at Dessau, Germany.

In 1917, In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.

In 1925, Arthur Heinman coins the term 'motel' and opens the Motel Inn, San Luis Obispo, Calf. One of his Milestone Motel series.

In 1957, The U.S. announces the manufacture of Borazon, which is judged harder than diamond.

In 1964, Shooting starts on the 'Star Trek' pilot, 'The Cage' (shown in 1988 in a two-part episode 'The Menagerie').

No. 1 song

• Ringo - Lorne Greene: More
  'She's Not There' has been displaced by 'Ringo', which will hold the no. 1 spot until December 19 1964, when 'I Feel Fine (The Beatles)', 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: December 12 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: December 12 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 12th December More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 12th December More
• On-This-day.com history 12th December More
• On-This-day.com music history 12th December More
• Wikipedia.com: History December 12 More

Food:
Buckwheat Month
Tomato and Winter Squash Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
National Egg Nog Month
National Fruit Cake Month
Root Vegetables Month
Other:
World Aids Month
National Write A Business Plan Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
National Tie Month Universal Human Rights Month
National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month
Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month National Tie Month

December is:

December origin (from Wikipedia): ' December gets its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar, which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name. '

' December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. D ecember is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. '

December 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