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Today is March 28 2015

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   I.
Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday

National Black Forest Cake Day: More
National Something on a Stick Day: More

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • National Weed Appreciation Day: More
    Celebration of the edible, nutritious and medicinal weeds.
  • Respect Your Cat Day: More
  • Earth Hour: More
    From Wikipedia: The event is held worldwide annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March,
Events in the past on: March 28
  • In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented a washing machine.
    From Wikipedia: 'Clothes washer technology developed as a way to reduce the manual labor spent, providing an open basin or sealed container with paddles or fingers to automatically agitate the clothing. The earliest machines were hand-operated and constructed from wood, while later machines made of metal permitted a fire to burn below the washtub, keeping the water warm throughout the day's washing.

    The earliest special-purpose mechanical washing device was the washboard, invented in 1797 by Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire. By the mid-1850s steam-driven commercial laundry machinery were on sale in the UK and US. Technological advances in machinery for commercial and institutional washers proceeded faster than domestic washer design for several decades, especially in the UK. In the United States there was more emphasis on developing machines for washing at home, though machines for commercial laundry services were widely used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rotary washing machine was patented by Hamilton Smith in 1858. As electricity was not commonly available until at least 1930, some early washing machines were operated by a low-speed, single-cylinder hit-and-miss gasoline engine'.
    - At FamousDaily.com: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1881, PT Barnum and James A Bailey merge and form the Barnum and Bailey Circus. A third merger in 1919 produced the 'Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus'.
    From Wikipedia: 'In 1875, Dan Castello and William Cameron Coup persuaded P. T. Barnum to lend his name and financial backing to the circus they had already created in Delavan, Wisconsin. It was called "P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome". The moniker "Greatest Show on Earth" was added later

    Independently of Castello and Coup, James Anthony Bailey had teamed up with James E. Cooper to create the Cooper and Bailey Circus in the 1860s. The Cooper and Bailey Circus became the chief competitor, then they started looking at "Columbia," the first baby elephant born in the United States, in March 1880 in Philadelphia, to "Babe" and " Mandarin". Barnum attempted to buy the elephant. They eventually agreed to combine their shows on March 28, 1881. In 1882, the combined "Barnum and Bailey Circus" was successful with acts such as Jumbo, advertised as the world's largest elephant. Barnum died in 1891 and Bailey then purchased the circus from his widow. Bailey continued touring the eastern United States until he took his circus to Europe. That tour started on December 27, 1897 and lasted until 1902'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1910, Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
    From Wikipedia: 'On 28 March 1910, Frenchman Henri Fabre flew the first successful powered seaplane, the Gnome Omega-powered hydravion, a trimaran floatplane. Fabre's first successful take off and landing by a powered seaplane inspired other aviators, and he designed floats for several other flyers. The first hydro-aeroplane competition was held in Monaco in March 1912, featuring aircraft using floats from Fabre, Curtiss, Tellier and Farman. This led to the first scheduled seaplane passenger services, at Aix-les-Bains, using a five-seat Sanchez-Besa from 1 August 1912. The French Navy ordered its first floatplane in 1912'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1939, Hal Kemp and his orchestra recorded 'Three Little Fishies'.
    From Wikipedia: '"Three Little Fishies" is a song, recorded by Kay Kyser and His Band, with words by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins and music by Saxie Dowell. The song tells the story of three fishes, who defy their mother' s command of swimming only in a meadow, by swimming over a dam and on out to sea, where they encounter a shark, which the fish describe as a whale. They flee for their lives and return to the meadow in safety. The song was a US No. 1 hit in 1939. It was released in the UK as a 78 by British comedian Frankie Howerd, on the short-lived Harmony label, in 1949. The recording was re-issued as a single in the 1980s. It was revived in 2012 by Ray Stevens for inclusion in his 108-song box set, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1958, Eddie Cochran recorded 'Summertime Blues'.
    From Wikipedia: '"Summertime Blues" is a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 29, 1958 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. It has been covered by many artists, including being a number-one hit for country music artist Alan Jackson, and scoring notable hits in versions by The Who and Blue Cheer. Jimi Hendrix performed it in concert'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1966, Gary Lewis and the Playboys recorded 'Green Grass'.
    From Wikipedia: '"Green Grass" is a song written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway and was recorded by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The song reached #8 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1966'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1967, Van Morrison recorded 'Brown Eyed Girl'.
    From Wikipedia: '"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June 1967 on the Bang label, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It featured the Sweet Inspirations singing back-up vocals and is considered to be Van Morrison's signature song. "Brown Eyed Girl" has remained a staple on classic rock radio, and has been covered by hundreds of bands over the decades'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1972, Elvis Presley recorded 'Burning Love'. It was his last major hit.
    From Wikipedia: '"Burning Love" is a song written by Dennis Linde and originally recorded by country soul artist Arthur Alexander, who included it on his 1972 self-titled album. It was soon covered and brought to fame by Elvis Presley, becoming his biggest hit single in the United States since "Suspicious Minds" in 1969 and his last Top 10 hit in the American Hot 100 or pop charts'. '
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1977, At the 49th Academy Awards:
    From Wikipedia: More
    Best Picture is, Rocky
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actor is Peter Finch for 'Network'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- At Internet Movie Database IMDb: More
    -- On YouTube: More
    Best Actress is Faye Dunaway for 'Network'
    Best Supporting Actor is Jason Robards for 'All the President's Men'
    Best Supporting Actress is Beatrice Straight for 'Network'
    Best Song is Evergreen from 'A Star Is Born'
    -- At Wikipedia: More
    -- On YouTube: More
  • In 1979, The 'Three Mile Island' nuclear reactor incident occurs.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Three Mile Island accident was a nuclear meltdown that occurred on March 28, 1979, in reactor number 2 of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI-2) in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. The incident was rated a five on the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale: Accident With Wider Consequences.

    The accident began with failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve in the primary system, which allowed large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant to escape. The mechanical failures were compounded by the initial failure of plant operators to recognize the situation as a loss-of-coolant accident due to inadequate training and human factors, such as human-computer interaction design oversights relating to ambiguous control room indicators in the power plant's user interface. In particular, a hidden indicator light led to an operator manually overriding the automatic emergency cooling system of the reactor because the operator mistakenly believed that there was too much coolant water present in the reactor and causing the steam pressure release.

    The accident crystallized anti-nuclear safety concerns among activists and the general public, resulted in new regulations for the nuclear industry, and has been cited as a contributor to the decline of a new reactor construction program that was already underway in the 1970s. The partial meltdown resulted in the release of unknown amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. Worries were expressed by anti-nuclear movement activists; however, epidemiological studies analyzing the rate of cancer in and around the area since the accident, determined there was a small statistically non-significant increase in the rate and thus no causal connection linking the accident with these cancers has been substantiated. Cleanup started in August 1979, and officially ended in December 1993, with a total cleanup cost of about $1 billion'.
    - At FamousDaily.com: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

Two food holidays tomorrow.
- 'National Black Forest Cake Day'. Thin layers of chocolate cake with wipped cream and cherries between each layer.
[The Hankster says] I would call that heavenly cake, instead.
- 'National Something on a Stick Day'.
[The Hankster says] Corndogs, ice cream, sausage and such. Food with a handle for on the go. You know, kind-of-a uni-chopstick.

Tomorrow is 'National Weed Appreciation Day'. Celebration of the edible, nutritious and medicinal weeds.
[The Hankster says] I no longer have weeds in my yard. I refer to them as specialized grasses. However, the Home Owners Assoc, still wants me to take um' up.

An Animal awareness day tomorrow. It will be 'Respect Your Cat Day'.

A pretty much everything awareness day tomorrow. 'Earth Hour'> From Wikipedia: The event is held worldwide annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March,
[The Hanksters says] Not Earth Day.

H. P. Lovecraft once wrote 'Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.'
[The Hankster says] Much has been written to compare time and the sea. The waves, the tide, ships passing in the night thoughts floating over the water and so forth. The ocean only seems endless when you are caught in the middle of it's vast reaches. Let us see if on March 28 in the past, we can find those who found there bearings and finished the voyage. We can do that, we have recorded history.

In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented a washing machine.

In 1881, PT Barnum and James A Bailey merge and form the Barnum and Bailey Circus. A third merger in 1919 produced the 'Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus '.

In 1910 - Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.

In 1930, The city of Constantinople is changed (in name) to Istanbul.

In 1939, Hal Kemp and his orchestra recorded 'Three Little Fishies'.

In 1958, Eddie Cochran recorded 'Summertime Blues'.

In 1966, Gary Lewis and the Playboys recorded 'Green Grass'.

In 1967, Van Morrison recorded 'Brown Eyed Girl'.

In 1972, Elvis Presley recorded 'Burning Love'. It was his last major hit.

In 1977, At the 49th Academy Awards,
- Best Picture is 'Rocky'.
- Best Actor is Peter Finch for 'Network'.
- Best Actress is Faye Dunaway for 'Network'.
- Best Supporting Actor is Jason Robards for 'All the President's Men'.
- Best Supporting Actress is Beatrice Straight for 'Network'.
- Best Original Song is 'Evergreen' from 'A Star Is Born'.

In 1979, The 'Three Mile Island' nuclear reactor incident occurs.

In 1993, At the 13th Golden Raspberry Awards,
- Worst Picture is 'Shining Through'.
- Worst Actor is Sylvester Stallone in 'Stop!'.
- Worst Actress is Melanie Griffith in 'Shining Through' and 'A Stranger Among Us'.
- Worst Original Song is 'High Times, Hard Times' from 'Newsies'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Mar 27 2015 next Apr 3 2015

No. 1 song

  • Stop! In the Name of Love - The Supremes: More
    'Eight Days a Week' has been displaced by 'Stop! In the Name of Love', which will hold the no. 1 spot until Apr 3 1965, when 'Can't You Hear My Heartbeat', takes over.

Top movie

  • The Sound of Music More
    Having displaced 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', it will be there until the weekend box office of April 11 1965 when, 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VadngOGKlP0', takes over.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): March 28
   V.
This month March 2015 (updated once a month - last updated - March 1 2015)

Food Holiday:
Bell Peppers and Broccoli Month
Berries and Cherries Month
Exotic Winter Fruit and Leeks and Green Onions Month
National Celery Month
National Flour Month
National Frozen Food Month
National Noodle Month
National Nutrition Month
National Peanut Month
National Sauce Month

Other:
American Diabetes Alert Month
American Red Cross Month
Brain Injury Awareness Month
Child Life Month
Colic Awareness Month
Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Awareness Month
Dolphin Awareness Month
Expanding Girls' Horizons in Science and Engineering Month
Hemophilia Month
Honor Society Awareness Month
Humorists are Artists Month
International Listening Awareness Month
International Mirth Month
Irish-American Heritage Month
Kidney Month
Malignant Hyperthermia Awareness and Training Month
Music in our Schools Month
National Athletic Trainers Month
National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month
National Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Month
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
National Craft Month
National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
National Endometriosis Awareness Month
National Essential Tremor Awareness Month
National Ethics Awareness Month
National Eye Donor Month
National Flower Month
National Kidney Month
National March Into Literacy Month
National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
National Poison Prevention Awareness Month
National Problem Gambling Awareness Month
National Professional Social Worker's Month
National Social Work Month
National Women's History Month
Red Cross Month
Rosacea Awareness Month
Save Your Vision Month
Trisomy Awareness Month


March is:

March origin (from Wikipedia):
'The name of March comes from Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named for Mars, the Roman god of war who was also regarded as a guardian of agriculture and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus. '

March 'is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is one of seven months that are 31 days long. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20th or 21st marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where September is the seasonal equivalent of the Northern Hemisphere's March. '

March at Wikipedia: More

  VI.
TV fifty years ago 1965 (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2015)

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

 VII.
Best selling books fifty years ago (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2015)

Best selling books of 1965 More

VIII.
Fun (Last link added October 1 2014, but content on each site may change daily)
  • 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
  IX.
Other Holiday Sites (Last link added October 1 2014. Link content changes yearly)

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.


US Government Holidays

  • 2015 Postal Holidays More
  • 2015 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

  • List of holidays by country More
  • Holidays and Observances around the World More
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