Today is August 17 2015

National Vanilla Custard Day: More
Made with milk or cream, egg yolks, and sugar.

• National Thrift Shop Day: More
  
• National I LOVE My Feet Day!: More
• National Meaning of 'is' Day: More
  Bill Clinton's famous Grand Jury statement: It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is.'. Looks simple to me. ' third person singular present of be.'

• Health
  • Brain Injury Awareness Week: More
    Third week of August, 17-23 in 2015..
  • Bangonabeanie: More
    The Bangonabeanie campaign is a fund raiser (purchase a blue beanie)to support Brain Injury Awareness Wek, August 17-23 in Australia.
• Animal and Pets
  • Black Cat Appreciation Day: More
  • Cupcake Day: More
    A fund raiser in Austtkua by the RSPCA to fight animal cruelty.

• In 1585, A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Ralegh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Roanoke Colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was established on Roanoke Island in what is today's Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It was a late 16th-century attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a permanent English settlement. The colony was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh.
  
  The colonists disappeared during the Anglo-Spanish War, three years after the last shipment of supplies from England. Their disappearance gave rise to the nickname "The Lost Colony." There has been no conclusive evidence as to what happened to the colonists'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1807, The first commercial steamboat service begins with Fulton's North River Steamboat.
  From Wikipedia: 'The North River Steamboat or North River (often erroneously referred to as Clermont) is widely regarded as the world's first vessel to demonstrate the viability of using steam propulsion for commercial water transportation. Built in 1807, the North River Steamboat operated on the Hudson River (at that time often known as the North River) between New York and Albany. She was built by the wealthy investor and politician Robert Livingston and inventor and entrepreneur Robert Fulton (1765–1815).
  
  Livingston had obtained from the New York legislature the exclusive right to steam navigation on the Hudson River. In 1803, while Livingston was Minister to France, Fulton built a small steamboat and tested it on the Seine. With this success, Livingston then contracted with Fulton to take advantage of his Hudson River monopoly and build a larger version for commercial service.
  
  Their larger steamer was built at the Charles Browne shipyard in New York and was fitted with Fulton's innovative steam engine design, manufactured for Livingston and Fulton by Boulton and Watt in Birmingham, England. Before she was later widened, the vessel's original dimensions were 150 feet (46 m) long × 12 feet (3.7 m) wide × 7 feet (2.1 m) deep; she drew a little more than 2 feet (60 cm) of water when launched. The steamer was equipped with two paddle wheels, one each to a side, each paddle wheel assembly was equipped with two sets of eight spokes. She also carried two masts with spars, rigging, and sails, likely a foremast with square sail and a mizzen mast with fore-and-aft sail (spanker), with the steam engine placed amidships, directly behind the paddle wheel's drive gear machinery'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In, 1896, Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, London, the UK's first pedestrian motoring fatality.
  From Wikipedia: 'Bridget Driscoll (1851 – 17 August 1896) was the first pedestrian victim of an automobile collision in Great Britain. As she and her teenage daughter May and her friend Elizabeth Murphy crossed Dolphin Terrace in the grounds of the Crystal Palace in London, Driscoll was struck by an automobile belonging to the Anglo-French Motor Carriage Company that was being used to give demonstration rides. One witness described the car as travelling at "a reckless pace, in fact, like a fire engine".
  
  Although the car's maximum speed was 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) it had been limited deliberately to 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), the speed at which the driver, Arthur James Edsall of Upper Norwood, claimed to have been travelling. His passenger, Alice Standing of Forest Hill, alleged he modified the engine to allow the car to go faster, but another taxicab driver examined the car and said it was incapable of exceeding 4.5 miles per hour (7.2 km/h) because of a low-speed engine belt. The accident happened just a few weeks after a new Act of Parliament had increased the speed limit for cars to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h), from 2 miles per hour in towns and 4 miles per hour in the countryside.
  
  The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death" after an inquest enduring some six hours, and no prosecution was made. The coroner, Percy Morrison, (Croydon division of Surrey) said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again." The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimate 550,000 people had been killed on UK roads by 2010'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1908 First animated cartoon, 'Fantasmagorie' is shown in France.
  From Wikipedia: 'Fantasmagorie is a 1908 French animated film by Émile Cohl. It is one of the earliest examples of traditional (hand-drawn) animation, and considered by film historians to be the first animated cartoon.
  
  The film largely consists of a stick man moving about and encountering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle that transforms into a flower. There were also sections of live action where the animator’s hands would enter the scene. The main character is drawn by the artist's hand on camera, and the main characters are a clown and a gentleman.
  
  The film, in all of its wild transformations, is a direct tribute to the by-then forgotten Incoherent movement. The title is a reference to the "fantasmograph", a mid-Nineteenth Century variant of the magic lantern that projected ghostly images that floated across the walls.
  
  Cohl worked on "Fantasmagorie" from February to either May or June 1908. Despite the short running time, the piece was packed with material devised in a "stream of consciousness" style. The film was released on August 17, 1908.
  
  The film was created by drawing each frame on paper and then shooting each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard look. It was made up of 700 drawings, each of which was exposed twice (animated "on twos"), leading to a running time of almost two minutes. It borrowed from J. Stuart Blackton, the "chalk-line effect"; filming black lines on white paper, then reversing the negative to make it look like white chalk on a black chalkboard. Blackton and Cohl also borrowed some techniques from Georges Méliès, such as the stop trick'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1915, Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 MPH.
  From Wikipedia: 'The 1915 Galveston hurricane was a deadly hurricane that struck Leeward Islands, Hispaniola, Cuba and Texas, in mid August of the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season. Striking Galveston, Texas, 15 years after the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, its 21-ft (6.4-m) waves were slowed by the new Galveston Seawall but changed the beach structure: on August 17, the entire 300-ft (91.5–m) beach was eroded to become an offshore sandbar, later returning partially, but never the same. The 1915 storm caused a great deal of destruction in its path, leaving 275-400 people dead and $50 million (1915 USD, $921 million 2005 USD) in damage'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube (1900 and 1915): More
• In 1958, Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.
  From Wikipedia: 'Pioneer 0 (also known as Thor-Able 1) was a failed United States space probe that was designed to go into orbit around the Moon, carrying a television camera, a micrometeorite detector and a magnetometer, as part of the first International Geophysical Year (IGY) science payload. It was designed by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the first satellite in the Pioneer program and was one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country, but the rocket failed shortly after launch. The probe was intended to be called Pioneer (or Pioneer 1), but the launch failure precluded that name.
  
  Pioneer 0 was launched on Thor missile number 127 at 12:18:00 UTC on August 17, 1958 by the United States Air Force, only 4 minutes after the scheduled launch time. It was destroyed by an explosion of the first stage of the Thor booster, 73.6 seconds after lift-off at 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) altitude, 16 km downrange over the Atlantic Ocean. The failure was suspected to be due to a turbopump bearing that came loose, causing the liquid oxygen pump to stop. The abrupt loss of thrust caused the Thor to lose attitude control and pitch downward, which caused the LOX tank to rupture from aerodynamic loads and resulting in complete destruction of the launch vehicle. Erratic telemetry signals were received from the payload and upper stages for 123 seconds after the explosion, and the upper stages were tracked to impact in the ocean. The original plan was for the spacecraft to travel for 2.6 days to the Moon at which time a TX-8-6 solid propellant motor would fire to put it into a 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) lunar orbit which was to nominally last for about two weeks. Air Force officials stated that they were not surprised at the failure, adding that "it would have been more of a shock had the mission succeeded".
  
  It was the only mission in the Pioneer program carried out by the United States Air Force, as subsequent missions were conducted by NASA'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1959, 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.
  From Wikipedia: 'Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released on August 17, 1959, by Columbia Records. It was recorded earlier that year on March 2 and April 22 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City. The recording sessions featured Davis's ensemble sextet, consisting of pianist Bill Evans, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, together with pianist Wynton Kelly on one track.
  
  After the entry of Evans into his sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones (1958) by basing Kind of Blue entirely on modality, in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz.
  
  Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue has been described by many music writers not only as Davis's best-selling album, but as the best-selling jazz record of all time. On October 7, 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
  
  Kind of Blue has been regarded by many critics as jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. Kind of Blue was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003, it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1969, Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast with 175 MPH and above (wind detector destroyed) killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage. .
  From Wikipedia: 'Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century (the others being 1935's Labor Day hurricane and 1992's Hurricane Andrew), which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River on the night of August 17. Camille was the second strongest U.S. landfalling hurricane in recorded history in terms of atmospheric pressure, second only to the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935.
  
  The storm formed on 14 August and rapidly deepened. It scraped the western edge of Cuba at Category 2 intensity. Camille rapidly deepened once again over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall with a pressure of 900 mbar (hPa; 26.58 inHg), estimated sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a peak official storm surge of 24 feet (7.3 m). The hurricane flattened nearly everything along the coast of the U.S. state of Mississippi, and caused additional flooding and deaths inland while crossing the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. In total, Camille killed 259 people and caused $1.42 billion (1969 USD, $9.16 billion 2016 USD) in damages. To date, a complete understanding of the reasons for the system's power, extremely rapid intensification over open water and strength at landfall has not been achieved'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1970, 'Venera 7' launched. Becomes first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
  From Wikipedia: 'The Venera 7 (meaning Venus 7) (manufacturer's designation: 3V (V-70)) was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface, it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and first to transmit data from there back to Earth.
  
  The probe was launched from Earth on August 17, 1970, at 05:38 UTC. It consisted of an interplanetary bus based on the 3MV system and a lander. During the flight to Venus two in-course corrections were made using the bus's on-board KDU-414 engine.
  
  It entered the atmosphere of Venus on December 15, 1970. The lander remained attached to the interplanetary bus during the initial stages of atmospheric entry to allow the bus to cool the lander to -8 °C for as long as possible. The lander was ejected once atmospheric buffeting broke the interplanetary bus's lock-on with Earth. The parachute opened at a height of 60 km and atmospheric testing began with results showing the atmosphere to be 97% carbon dioxide. The parachute appeared to fail during the descent, resulting in a descent more rapid than planned. As a result the lander struck the surface of Venus at about 16.5 metres per second (54 ft/s) at 05:37:10 UTC. Landing coordinates are 5°S 351°E .
  
  The probe appeared to go silent on impact but recording tapes kept rolling. A few weeks later, upon a review of the tapes, another 23 minutes of very weak signals were found on them. The spacecraft had landed on Venus and probably bounced onto its side, leaving the medium gain antenna not aimed correctly for strong signal transmission to Earth.
  
  The probe transmitted information to Earth for 53 minutes, which included 20 minutes from the surface. It was found that the temperature at the surface of Venus was 475 °C (887 °F) ° ± 20 ° C and the pressure was 90 ± 15 atmospheres. The pressure corresponded to approximately 900 m below sea level. The probe provided information about the surface of Venus, which could not be seen through a thick veil of atmosphere. The spacecraft definitively confirmed that on the surface of Venus man is not able to survive and excluded the possibility that there is any liquid water on Venus'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1979, Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' premieres.
  From Wikipedia: 'Monty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British religious satire comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It was also directed by Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Chapman), a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.
  
  The film contains themes of religious satire that were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy, and protests from some religious groups. Thirty-nine local authorities in the UK either imposed an outright ban, or imposed an X (18 years) certificate, effectively preventing the film from being shown, since the distributors said it could not be shown unless it was unedited and carried the original AA (14) certificate. Some countries, including Ireland and Norway, banned its showing, with a few of these bans lasting decades. The filmmakers used such notoriety to benefit their marketing campaign, with posters in Sweden reading, "So funny, it was banned in Norway!"
  
  The film was a box-office success, the fourth-highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom in 1979, and highest grosser of any British film in the United States that year. It has remained popular, receiving positive reviews. The film was named "greatest comedy film of all time" by several magazines and television networks, and it would later receive a 96% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus, "One of the more cutting-edge films of the 1970s, this religious farce from the classic comedy troupe is as poignant as it is funny and satirical'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1977, The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
  From Wikipedia: 'NS Arktika is a retired nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Soviet (now Russian) Arktika class. In service from 1975 to 2008, she was the first surface ship to reach the North Pole, on August 17, 1977. Arktika required refuelling every three and a half years. Do not confuse this with the eponymous LK-60Ya-class icebreaker.
  
  Construction of the ship began in the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad on July 3, 1971. Sea trials completed successfully on December 17, 1975. For further information on the ship's design, construction and propulsion system, see Arktika
  
  After 33 years of reliable icebreaking, having become the first surface ship to reach the North Pole in 1977, and the first civilian ship to spend more than a year at sea without making port in 2000, and covering more than a million nautical miles by 2005, Arktika was retired in October 2008. She is docked at Atomflot, the nuclear base and dock in Murmansk, 1 ½ km (0.9 miles) away from the main docks, where she will remain until policies can be drawn up to dismantle her. In the meantime, she is a subject of important research, focused mainly on how to further extend the service life of the other Arktika-class icebreakers. There have been calls for the ship to be converted to a museum, either in Murmansk or St. Petersburg. An earlier Soviet nuclear icebreaker, Lenin, is already a museum ship in Murmansk'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1978, The 'Double Eagle II' becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
  From Wikipedia: 'Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
  
  It can be regarded as a successful crossing at the point that the Double Eagle II crossed the Irish coast, on the evening of 16 August, an event that Shannon Airport notified the crew about when it happened. Newman originally intended to hang glide from the balloon to a landing, while Anderson and Abruzzo continued to fly, but the hang-glider had to be dropped as ballast earlier on 16 August.
  
  While flying over France, they heard by radio that authorities had closed Le Bourget Airfield, where Charles Lindbergh had landed, for them. The crew declined the offer as they were running out of ballast and it would be too risky (to themselves and anyone below) to pass over the suburbs of Paris. They landed in a field of barley, owned by Roger and Rachel Coquerel, in Miserey, 60 mi (97 km) northwest of Paris. Television images showed a highway nearby, its shoulders and outer lanes crowded with stopped cars, people sweeping across the farm field to the landing spot. The gondola was protected, but most of the logs and charts were stolen by souvenir hunters.
  
  The flight, the fourteenth known attempt, was the culmination of more than a century of previous attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean by balloon. Some of the people who had attempted it were never found'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1982, The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.
  From Wikipedia: Compact Disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format, co-developed by Philips and Sony. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings but was later adapted for storage of data (CD-ROM). Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video Compact Disc (VCD), Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD), Photo CD, PictureCD, CD-i, and Enhanced Music CD. Audio CD players have been commercially available since October 1982, when the first commercially available CD player was released in Japan.
  
  The first commercial compact disc was produced on 17 August 1982. It was a recording from 1979 of Claudio Arrau performing Chopin waltzes (Philips 400 025-2). Arrau was invited to the Langenhagen plant to press the start button.'
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Tomorrow's food holiday will be 'National Vanilla Custard Day'. Made with milk or cream, egg yolks, and sugar.
[The Hankster says] Careful, they get over cooked very easily.


Bargain hunters beware. Tomorrow is 'National Thrift Shop Day'.
[The Hankster says] No need for coupons, just good shopping skills

Tomorrow is 'National I LOVE My Feet Day!'.
[The Hankster says] A 'treat your feet' right day.

Say what? Tomorrow is 'National Meaning of 'is' Day'. Bill Clinton's famous Grand Jury statement: It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is.'.
[The Hankster says] Looks simple to me. ' third person singular present of 'be'.


Awareness / Observance Days on: August 17 br />o Health br />- 'Brain Injury Awareness Week'. Third week of August, 17-23 in 2015. br /> br />- 'Bangonabeanie'. The Bangonabeanie campaign is a fund raiser (purchase a blue beanie)to support Brain Injury Awareness Week, August 17-23 in Australia. br /> br />o Animal and Pets br />- 'Black Cat Appreciation Day'. br /> br />- 'Cupcake Day'. A fund raiser in Australia by the RSPCA to fight animal cruelty.


Historical events in the past on: August 17

In 1585, A first group of colonists sent by Sir Walter Ralegh under the charge of Ralph Lane lands in the New World to create Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.

In 1807, The first commercial steamboat service begins with Fulton's North River Steamboat.

In, 1896, Bridget Driscoll is run over by a Benz car in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, London, the UK's first pedestrian motoring fatality.

In 1908 First animated cartoon, 'Fantasmagorie' is shown in France.

In 1915, Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas with winds at 135 MPH.

In 1958, Pioneer 0, America's first attempt at lunar orbit, is launched using the first Thor-Able rocket and fails. Notable as one of the first attempted launches beyond Earth orbit by any country.

In 1959, 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, the much acclaimed and highly influential best selling jazz recording of all time, is released.

In 1969, Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the U.S. Gulf Coast with 175 MPH and above (wind detector destroyed) killing 256 and causing $1.42 billion in damage. .

In 1970, 'Venera 7' launched. Becomes first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).

In 1979, Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' premieres.

In 1977, The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.

In 1978, The 'Double Eagle II' becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

In 1982, The first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany.

No. 1 song

• I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher: More
  'I'm Henry VIII, I Am' has been displaced by 'I Got You Babe', which will hold the no. 1 spot until August 28 1965, when 'Help! - The Beatles', takes over.

Top movie

• A Very Special Favor More
  Having displaced 'Ship of Fools', it will be there until the weekend box office of Aug. 29 1965 when, 'Morituri', takes over.

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

Monthly holiday / awareness days in August

Food
National Catfish Month
National Goat Cheese Month
National Panini Month
Shop Online For Groceries Month
Rye Month

Health and Well-being
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Children's Vision and Learning Month
National Breastfeeding Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Minority Donor Awareness Month
National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
National Win With Civility Month
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month

Animal and Pets
World Mutt-i-grees Rescue Month

Other
American Artists Appreciation Month
American Adventures Month
American Indian Heritage Month - also Nov.
Black Business Month
LBoomers Making A Difference Month
LBystander Awareness Month
LChild Support Awareness Month
LGet Ready for Kindergarten Month
Happiness Happens Month
Motor Sports Awareness Month
National Read A Romance Month
National Traffic Awareness Month
National Truancy Prevention Month
National Water Quality Month
Tomboy Tools Month
What Will Be Your Legacy Month

August is:

August origin (from Wikipedia): Originally named Sextili (Latin), because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar: under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year.
"About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. "

August 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