Today is July 8 2015

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day: More
Ice Cream Sundae Day: More
Celebrating the 1881 Two Rivers Wisconsin version as the original creation day of the Sundae.

• Video Games Day: More
  There is is also a National Video Games Day on Sept. 12
• SCUD Day: More
  Self improvement day, by Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama.
• Math 2.0 Day: More
  Have fun with math plus technology.

• In 1776, The Liberty Bell tolls to announce the Declaration of Independence, ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
  From Wikipedia: The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years, the Liberty Bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations.
  
  'No immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence, and thus the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, at least not for any reason related to that vote. Bells were rung to mark th reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung. After American independence was secured, it fell into relative obscurity for some years. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the "Liberty Bell."
  
  The bell acquired its distinctive large crack sometime in the early 19th century—a widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. The bell became famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged bell-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. Despite the fact that the bell did not ring for independence on that July 4, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia, which owns the bell, allowed it to go to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The bell attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last such journey occurred in 1915, after which the city refused further requests.
  
  After World War II, the city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the bell, while retaining ownership. The bell was used as a symbol of freedom during the Cold War and was a popular site for protests in the 1960s. It was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a nearby glass pavilion on Independence Mall in 1976, and then to the larger Liberty Bell Center adjacent to the pavilion in 2003. The bell has been featured on coins and stamps, and its name and image have been widely used by corporations'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1800, Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox
  From Wikipedia: Benjamin Waterhouse (March 4, 1754, Newport, Rhode Island – October 2, 1846, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a physician, co-founder and professor of Harvard Medical School. He is most well known for being the first doctor to test the smallpox vaccine in the United States, which he carried out on his own family.
  
  'After returning to the United States in 1782, Waterhouse joined the faculty of the new medical school at Harvard as one of three professors, including John Warren and Aaron Dexter, in the area of Theory and Practice of Physic. He was also elected that same year as a Fellow at Rhode Island College (now "Brown University"). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1795. In 1814, Waterhouse resigned his Harvard professorship after opposing a plan to establish the Medical School in Boston and attempting to found a rival medical school.
  
  Waterhouse first wrote to then-President John Adams, his former roommate, hoping to spread the word about cowpox vaccinations preventing smallpox. When he found President Adams unresponsive, he wrote a letter to Vice President Thomas Jefferson entitled "A prospect of exterminating the smallpox."
  
  Jefferson replied with a letter dated Christmas Day, 1800, and soon offered his support. Once Jefferson became President the following year, Waterhouse introduced Edward Jenner's method of cowpox vaccination in the United States. He attempted to maintain a monopoly over the cowpox vaccine, for both financial reasons and to protect the vaccine from incompetent or fraudulent physicians. Waterhouse made the first vaccinations in the United States on four of his children. He commissioned a controlled experiment at the Boston Board of Health in which 19 vaccinated and 2 unvaccinated boys were exposed to the smallpox virus. The vaccinated boys demonstrated immunity and the 2 unvaccinated boys succumbed to the disease'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1889, The Wall Street Journal publishes its first issue.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Wall Street Journal is a business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal is published six days a week by Dow Jones and Company, a division of News Corp, along with its Asian and European editions. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format.
  
  The Wall Street Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Journal had a circulation of about 2.4 million copies (including nearly 900,000 digital subscriptions) as of March 2013, compared with USA Today's 1.7 million.
  
  The newspaper has won 39 Pulitzer Prizes through 2015 and derives its name from Wall Street in the heart of the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The Journal has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser.
  
  The first products of Dow Jones and Company, the publisher of the Journal, were brief news bulletins hand-delivered throughout the day to traders at the stock exchange in the early 1880s. They were later aggregated in a printed daily summary called the Customers' Afternoon Letter. Reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser converted this into The Wall Street Journal, which was published for the first time on July 8, 1889, and began delivery of the Dow Jones News Service via telegraph. In 1896, The "Dow Jones Industrial Average" was officially launched. It was the first of several indices of stock and bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1899, the Journal's Review and Outlook column, which still runs today, appeared for the first time, initially written by Charles Dow'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Constructed by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985, Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J from 3 to 7 October 1985.
  
  Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit. Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011.
  
  By the end of its final mission, Atlantis had orbited the Earth a total of 4,848 times, traveling nearly 126,000,000 mi (203,000,000 km) or more than 525 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
  
  Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Tomorrow we have two food holidays:
- 'National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day'.
[The Hankster says] Some references have this as National Chocolate with Almonds Day. I guess they always feel like a nut but prefer dark chocolate.

- 'Ice Cream Sundae Day'. Celebrating the 1881 Two Rivers Wisconsin version as the original creation date of the Sundae. Several other cities make the same claim.
[The Hankster says] It seems that until this time, chocolate syrup was used just to make chocolate milkshakes. On this day it was poured over the ice cream. But, the Hot Fudge Sundae has it's own day on July 25. And of course, today is National Strawberry Sundae Day.


Tomorrow is 'Video Games Day'. There is is also a National Video Games Day on Sept. 12

Another self improvement day tomorrow. It will be 'SCUD Day'. That would be Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama.

If you can't SCUD tomorrow, maybe tomorrow is for you. It will be 'Math 2.0 Day'. Have fun with math plus technology.


Historical events in the past on: July 8

In 1776, The Liberty Bell tolls to announce the Declaration of Independence, ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

In 1800, Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives the first cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox.

In 1889, The Wall Street Journal publishes its first issue.

In 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program.

No. 1 song

• Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds: More
  'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)' has been displaced by 'Mr. Tambourine Man', which will hold the no. 1 spot until July 31 1965, when '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones', takes over.

Top movie

• Tickle Me More
  Having displaced 'Von Ryan's Express', it will be there until the weekend box office of July 11 1965 when, 'Cat Ballou', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: July 8 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: July 8 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 8th July More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 8th July More
• On-This-day.com history 8th July More
• On-This-day.com music history 8th July More
• Wikipedia.com: History July 8 More

Monthly holiday / awareness days in

Food
Eggplant Month
Garlic Month
Lettuce Month
Melon Month
National Baked Bean Month
National Blueberries Month
National Bison Month
National Culinary Arts Month
National Grilling Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Horseradish Month
National Hot Dog Month
National July Belongs to Blueberries
Nectarine Month
Sandwich Generation Month
Wheat Month

Health and Well-being
Alopecia Month for WomebnHealth and Well-Being
Bereaved Parents Awareness Month
Eye Injury Prevention Month Link
Fragile X Awareness Month
Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness Month
Herbal / Prescription Interaction Awareness Month
International Group B Strep Awareness Month
International Women with Alopecia Month
Juvenille Arthritis Awareness Month
National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month
National Cord Blood Awareness Month
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
National Outdoor Month
National Picnic Month
National Recreation and Parks Month
National Share a Sunset with Your Lover Month
Social Wellness Month
Worldwide Bereaved Parents Month

Animal and Pets
Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
National 'Doghouse Repairs Month

Other
Air-Conditioning Appreciation
Anti Boredom Month
Bioterrorism/Disaster Education and Awareness Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Dog Days
Family Golf Month
Family Reunion Month
Fireworks Safety Month
Independent Retailer Month
International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
International Zine Month
National Black Family Month
National Child-Centered Divorce Month
National Make A Difference to Children Month
National Parks and Recreation Month
National Vacation Rental Month
National Wheelchair Beautification Month
Smart Irrigation Month
Tennis Month
Tour de France Month
UV Safety Month
Women's Motorcycle Month

July is:

July origin (from Wikipedia): Named by the Roman Senate in honor of Julius Caesar.
"is the seventh month of the year (between June and August) in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honor of the Roman general, Julius Caesar, it being the month of his birth. Prior to that, it was called Quintilis. It is, on average, the warmest month in most of the Northern hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer) and the coldest month in much of the Southern hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter). The second half of the year commences in July. In the Southern hemisphere, July is the seasonal equivalent of January in the Northern hemisphere."

July 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