Today is May 17 2015

National Cherry Cobbler Day: More
National Walnut Day More
World Baking day More

• National Pack Rat Day: More
  
• Stepmother's Day: More
• Bay to Breakers: More
  Foot race (7.46 miles (12.01 km) long) in San Francisco. Basically from the bar to the breakers at the ocean. Now 'Zappos.com Bay to Breakers'. Until 2010 it was the worlds oldest footrace. It is still the oldest American footrace.

• Health
  • International AIDS Candlelight Memorial: More
    From the web site: 'On the third Sunday in May each year, millions of people light candles to honor those who died of AIDS and demonstrate their solidarity with people living with HIV. Since 2011, International AIDS Candlelight Memorial has been coordinated by GNP+'.
  • World Hypertension Day: More
    From the web site: 'Each year since 2006 on May 17th, the World Hypertension League (WHL), in close partnership with the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and other organizations, has hosted World Hypertension Day (WHD). For the five-year period 2013-2018, the theme of WHD will be ‘Know Your Numbers’ with the goal of increasing high blood pressure awareness in all populations around the world. '
  • Dementia Awareness Week: More
    May 17-23 event in Great Britain by Alzheimer's Society. From the web site: 'Dementia can happen to anyone and there's currently no cure. It can strip you of your memory, your relationships and your connection to the world you love, leaving you feeling isolated and alone'.
  • National EMS Week: More
    May 17-23 event by National EMS Week 2015 - Presented by ACEP in partnership with the National Association of EMT's (NAEMT). 2015 there 'EMS STRONG'.
  • National Epilepsy Week: More
    May 17-23 event in Great Britain. From the web site: 'This National Epilepsy Week, continuing our work empowering people to Seize Control of their epilepsy, demand better care and access to relevant treatments.'
• Other
  • International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia: More
    From Wikipedia: 'The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights'
  • Mother's Day in Kyrgyzstan: More
    Since 2010 on the third Sunday in May.
  • Father's Day in Tonga: More
    One week after Mother's Day.
  • Memorial Day for the War Dead in Finland: More
    Third Sunday in May.
  • World Telecommunication and Information Society Day: More
    From the web site: 'World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (originally named World Telecommunication Day) is an annual celebration held on May 17. It was officially proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in November 2005.
    World Telecommunication Day was instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 1973 to commemorate the formation of the Union on May 17, 1865 (as the International Telegraph Convention)'.

• In 1792, The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
  From Wikipedia: 'The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement. Previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco. On May 17, 1792 twenty four brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement which set a floor commission rate charged to clients and bound the signers to give preference to the other signers in securities sales. The earliest securities traded were mostly governmental securities such as War Bonds from the Revolutionary War and First Bank of the United States stock, although Bank of New York stock was a non-governmental security traded in the early days.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1902, Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient 'mechanical analog computer'.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient analog computer designed to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendrical and astrological purposes, as well as the Olympiads, the cycles of the ancient Olympic Games.
  
  Found housed in a 340 mm × 180 mm × 90 mm wooden box, the device is a complex clockwork mechanism composed of at least 30 meshing bronze gears. Its remains were found as one lump, later separated in three main fragments, which are now divided into 82 separate fragments after conservation works. Four of these fragments contain gears, while inscriptions are found on many others. The largest gear is approximately 140 mm in diameter and originally had 223 teeth.
  
  The artifact was recovered probably in July 1901 from the Antikythera shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. Believed to have been designed and constructed by Greek scientists, the instrument has been dated either between 150 and 100 BC, or, according to a more recent view, at 205 BC.
  
  After the knowledge of this technology was lost at some point in Antiquity, technological artifacts approaching its complexity and workmanship did not appear again until the development of mechanical astronomical clocks in Europe in the fourteenth century.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1938, Radio quiz show 'Information Please!' debuts on NBC Blue Network.
  From Wikipedia: 'Information Please was an American radio quiz show, created by Dan Golenpaul, which aired on NBC from May 17, 1938 to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operators what was then called "information" but is now called "directory assistance".
  
  The series was moderated by Clifton Fadiman. A panel of experts would attempt to answer questions submitted by listeners. For the first few shows, a listener was paid two dollars for a question that was used, and five dollars more if the experts could not answer it correctly. When the show got its first sponsor (Canada Dry), the total amounts were increased to five and ten dollars respectively. A complete Encyclopædia Britannica was later added to the prize for questions that stumped the panel. The amounts went up to ten and twenty-five dollars when Lucky Strike took over sponsorship of the program'.
  
  Information Please went to television from June 29 to September 21, 1952 on CBS Television on Sundays at 9:30 PM as a summer replacement for The Fred Waring Show, a musical variety series. Adams and Kieran returned to the show, with Fadiman again as host and two guest celebrities. On August 17, Fadiman was replaced by John McCaffery for the rest of the show's run.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1943, The U.S. army partners with the University of Pennsylvania's Moor School to create ENIAC, the world's first computer.
  From Wikipedia: 'ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) was the first electronic general-purpose computer. It was Turing-complete, digital, and could solve "a large class of numerical problems" through reprogramming.
  
  Although ENIAC was designed and primarily used to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory, its first programs included a study of the feasibility of the thermonuclear weapon.
  
  When ENIAC was announced in 1946, it was heralded as a "Giant Brain" by the press. It had a speed on the order of one thousand (103) times faster than that of electro-mechanical machines; this computational power, coupled with general-purpose programmability, excited scientists and industrialists alike.
  
  ENIAC's design and construction was financed by the United States Army, Ordnance Corps, Research and Development Command, led by Major General Gladeon M. Barnes. The construction contract was signed on June 5, 1943; work on the computer began in secret at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering the following month, under the code name "Project PX", with John Grist Brainerd as principal investigator.
  
  By the end of its operation in 1955, ENIAC contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7200 crystal diodes, 1500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and approximately 5,000,000 hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 30 short tons (27 t), was roughly 2.4m × 0.9m × 30m (8 × 3 × 100 feet) in size, occupied 167m2 (1800 ft2) and consumed 150 kW of electricity. This power requirement led to the rumor that whenever the computer was switched on, lights in Philadelphia dimmed. Input was possible from an IBM card reader; an IBM card punch was used for output. These cards could be used to produce printed output offline using an IBM accounting machine, such as the IBM 405.
  
  Several tubes burned out almost every day, leaving it nonfunctional about half the time. Special high-reliability tubes were not available until 1948. Most of these failures, however, occurred during the warm-up and cool-down periods, when the tube heaters and cathodes were under the most thermal stress. Engineers reduced ENIAC's tube failures to the more acceptable rate of one tube every two days. According to a 1989 interview with Eckert, "We had a tube fail about every two days and we could locate the problem within 15 minutes." In 1954, the longest continuous period of operation without a failure was 116 hours—close to five days.
  
  ENIAC could be programmed to perform complex sequences of operations, including loops, branches, and subroutines. However, instead of the stored program computers that exist today, ENIAC was just a large collection of arithmetic machines, which had programs hard coded into the machines with function tables that each contained 1200 ten way switches. The task of taking a problem and mapping it it onto the machine was complex, and usually took weeks. Due to the complexity of mapping programs onto the machine, programs were only changed after huge numbers of tests of the current program. After the program was figured out on paper, the process of getting the program into ENIAC by manipulating its switches and cables could take days. This was followed by a period of verification and debugging, aided by the ability to execute the program step by step.
  
  The completed machine was announced to the public the evening of February 14, 1946 and formally dedicated the next day at the University of Pennsylvania. The original contract amount was $61,700; the final cost was almost $500,000 (approximately $6,100,000 today). It was formally accepted by the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps in July 1946. ENIAC was shut down on November 9, 1946 for a refurbishment and a memory upgrade, and was transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in 1947. There, on July 29, 1947, it was turned on and was in continuous operation until 11:45 p.m. on October 2, 1955.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1954, The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
  From Wikipedia: 'Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1973, The Watergate hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Senate Watergate Committee was a special committee convened by the United States Senate to investigate the Watergate scandal after it was learned that in 1972, the Watergate burglars had been directed to break into and wiretap the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) by the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign fund raising organization. The formal, official name of the committee was the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.
  
  The Committee played a pivotal role in gathering evidence that would lead to the indictment of forty administration officials and the conviction of several of Nixon's aides for obstruction of justice and other crimes. Its revelations prompted the introduction of articles of impeachment against the President in the House of Representatives, which led to Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974.
  
  'Hearings opened on May 17, 1973, and the Committee issued its seven-volume, 1,250-page report on June 27, 1974, entitled Report on Presidential Campaign Activities. The first weeks of the committee's hearings were a national politico-cultural event. They were broadcast live during the day on commercial television; at the start, CBS, NBC, and ABC covered them simultaneously, and then later on a rotation basis, while PBS replayed the hearings at night. Some 319 hours were broadcast overall, and 85% of U.S. households watched some portion of them. The audio feed also was broadcast gavel-to-gavel on scores of National Public Radio stations, making the hearings available to people in their cars and workplaces, and giving a major boost to the fledgling broadcast organization'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Tomorrow we have three food holidays:
- ' National Cherry Cobbler Day'.
[The Hankster says] Let us just remember to poke a lot of steam holes in the top to let the calories out. What? It is a well known fact that calories are lighter than water vapor and rise with the steam as it exits. Isn't it? Please say that it is.
- 'World Baking day'.
[The Hankster says] I love when two days validate each other.
- 'National Walnut Day'.
[The Hankster says] Good for you. Might even have some on the cobbler.

Tomorrow is 'National Pack Rat Day'.
[The Hankster says] Isn't that every day?

This third Sunday in May will be 'Stepmother's Day'.

Get them running shoes on. Tomorrow is the 'Bay to Breakers'. Foot race (7.46 miles (12.01 km) long) in San Francisco. Basically from the bay to the breakers at the ocean. Now 'Zapposes.com Bay to Breakers'. Until 2010 it was the worlds oldest footrace. It is still the oldest American footrace.


Awareness / Observance Days on: May 17
o Health
- 'International AIDS Candlelight Memorial'. From the web site: 'On the third Sunday in May each year, millions of people light candles to honor those who died of AIDS and demonstrate their solidarity with people living with HIV. Since 2011, International AIDS Candlelight Memorial has been coordinated by GNP+'.

- 'World Hypertension Day'. From the web site: 'Each year since 2006 on May 17th, the World Hypertension League (WHL), in close partnership with the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and other organizations, has hosted World Hypertension Day (WHD). For the five-year period 2013-2018, the theme of WHD will be ‘Know Your Numbers’ with the goal of increasing high blood pressure awareness in all populations around the world. '

- 'Dementia Awareness Week'. May 17-23 Event in Great Britain by Alzheimer's Society. From the web site: 'Dementia can happen to anyone and there's currently no cure. It can strip you of your memory, your relationships and your connection to the world you love, leaving you feeling isolated and alone'.

- 'National EMS Week'. May 17-23 event by National EMS Week 2015 - Presented by ACEP in partnership with the National Association of EMT's (NAEMT). 2015 there 'EMS STRONG'.

- 'National Epilepsy Week'. May 17-23 event in Great Britain. From the web site: 'This National Epilepsy Week, continuing our work empowering people to Seize Control of their epilepsy, demand better care and access to relevant treatments.'

o Other
- 'International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia'. From Wikipedia: 'The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights'

- 'Mother's Day in Kyrgyzstan'. Since 2010 on the third Sunday in May.

- 'Father's Day in Tonga'. One week after Mother's Day.

- 'Memorial Day for the War Dead in Finland'. Third Sunday in May.

- 'World Telecommunication and Information Society Day'. From the web site: 'World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (originally named World Telecommunication Day) is an annual celebration held on May 17. It was officially proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in November 2005. World Telecommunication Day was instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 1973 to commemorate the formation of the Union on May 17, 1865 (as the International Telegraph Convention)'.


Marcus Aurelius once said 'Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.'
[The Hankster says] Looks like the right idea has been around a long time. I wonder why it has only, sometimes, been applied. Well, I don't really wonder, I just hope. Let us see if we can find the right stuff, back on May 17 in the past.

n 1792, The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.

In 1902, Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient 'mechanical analog computer'.

In 1938, The radio quiz show 'Information Please!' debuts on NBC Blue Network.

In 1943, The U.S. army partners with the University of Pennsylvania's Moor School to create ENIAC, the world's first computer.

In 1943, During World War II, the 'Dambuster Raids' by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams occurs. These bombs had to be dropped then skip along the water until they hit the side of the dam. Direct overhead bobs were ineffective.

In 1954, The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. From Wikipedia: 'Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional'.

In 1973, The Watergate hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.

No. 1 song

• Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman's Hermits: More
  'Game of Love' has been displaced by 'Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter', which will hold the no. 1 spot until May 29 1965, when 'Ticket to Ride - The Beatles', takes over.

Top movie

• The Sound of Music (reclaims the top again and) More
  Having displaced 'Brainstorm', it will be there until the weekend box office of June 6 1965 when, 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: May 17 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: May 17 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 17th May More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 17th May More
• On-This-day.com history 17th May More
• On-This-day.com music history 17th May More
• Wikipedia.com: History May 17 More

Monthly holiday / awareness days in May

Food
Aramanth May Grain of the Month
Gifts From The Garden Month
International / National Mediterranean Diet Month
National Barbeque Month
National Egg Month
National Hamburger Month
National Salsa Month
National Sweet Vidalia Onions Month
National Vinegar Month
National Youth Traffic Safety Month

Health and Well-Being
Descriptions are simple dictionary definitions and are not meant to be a full medical description.
ALS Awareness Month (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
Arthritis Awareness Month
Asthma Awareness Month
Better Hearing and Speech Month (communication disorders)
Borderline Personality Disorder Month
Brain Tumor Awareness Month
Celiac Awareness Month (gluten sensitivity)
Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month
EDS Awareness Month ((Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - inherited disorder affecting connective tissues)
Family Wellness Month
Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month (musculoskeletal pain, fatigue,)
Global Civility Awareness Month
Global Health and Fitness Month
Heal the Children Month (provides critical medical care to children all around the world)
Healthy Vision Month
Huntington's Disease Awareness Month (hereditary disease marked by degeneration of the brain cells)
Lupus Awareness Month (chronic, autoimmune disease effecting skin, joints, organs)
Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month
National Better Hearing Month
National Hepatitis Awareness Month (inflammation of the liver)
National High Blood Pressure Education Month
Neurofibromatosis / NF Awareness Month (gentic disorder, most concerned with tumors of the nerves)
Lyme Disease Awareness Month (inflammatory disease transmitted by bacteria via ticks)
National Mental Health Month
National Osteoporosis Prevention Month ( brittle and fragile bone disease)
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
National Physiotherapy Month
National Stroke Awareness Month
National Toddler Immunization Month
National Tuberous Sclerosis Month
National Water Safety Month
Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month (genetic condition of Infants, slow growth, weakness)
Preeclampsia Awareness Month (a condition in pregnancy)
Strike Out Strokes Month
Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month (progressive deterioration of nerve cells )
Tourettes Syndrome Awareness (neurological disorder characterized by involuntary tics)
Women's Health Care Month

Environmental
American Wetlands Month
Clean Air Month
Gardening for Wildlife Month

Other
APS Awareness Month (American Physical Society)
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Building Safety Month
Creative Beginnings Month
Drum Month (music)
Get Caught Reading Month
Golf Month
Haitian Heritage Month
International Audit Month
International Business Image Improvement Month
Latino Books Month
Motorcycle Safety Month
National Bike Month
National Foster Care Month
National Good Car Keeping Month
National Inventors Month
National Military Appreciation Month
National Photo Month
National Preservation Month (by The National Register of Historic Places)
National Smile Month
Older Americans Month
Personal History Month
Social Security Education Awareness Month
Tennis Month
Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month

Pets
Chip Your Pet Month
Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month
National Pet Month
National Service Dog Eye Examination Month
Pet Cancer Awareness Month

May is:

May origin (from Wikipedia):
The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Conversely, the Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for 'elders,' and that the following month (June) is named for the iuniores, or 'young people'

May ' is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.
May is a month of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Summer in Europe). Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. '

May 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 1965 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

• 2015 Postal Holidays More
• 2015 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

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