Today is November 17 2015

- Homemade Bread Day: More

- National Baklava Day: More
From Wikipedia: 'Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and is also found in Central and Southwest.

• Take A Hike Day: More
  
• National Unfriend Day: More
  Social media unfriend parody day.
• Electronic Greeting Card Day: More

• Health
  • World Prematurity Day: More
    Begun in 2009, it is designated as WPD since 2011. Supported by the National Premmmie Foundation and other organizations. It focuses on the global problem of preterm birth.
    From Wikipedia: 'Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at less than 37 weeks gestational age.[1] These babies are known as preemies or premmies'.
    'Preterm birth is the most common cause of death among infants worldwide.[1] About 15 million babies are preterm each year (5% to 18% of all deliveries).'.
  • Coffee Morning for World Prematurity Day: More
    In Ireland. Since 2010 by the Foundation of Irish Premature Babies.
  • National Entrepreneurs’ Day: More
    It has it's roots in National Entrepreneurship Month. The day was declared by presidential proclamation in 2012 as a one time event. Efforts are underway to make November 17 an annual observance in the U.S.
  • CTEPH Awareness Day: More
    CTEPH, Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension is a form of P Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) caused by old blood clots in the lungs. From Wikipedia:
    'Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an increase of blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, or pulmonary capillaries, together known as the lung vasculature, leading to shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, leg swelling and other symptoms'.
  • Lung Force Giving Day: More
    An American Lung Association awareness event.
• Animal and Pets
  • Black Cat Day in Italy: More
    Since 2007 by the Italian Association for the Protection of Animals and the Environment (AIDAA). In the U.S. a similar day is held in October. In some countries, black cats are still shunned or killed for superstitious reasons.
• Other
  • International Students' Day: More
    From Wikipedia: 'International Students' Day is an international observance of student community, held annually on November 17. Originally commemorating the Nazi German storming of Czech universities in 1939 and the subsequent killing and sending of students to concentration camps, a number of universities now mark it, sometimes on a day other than November 17, for a nonpolitical celebration of the multiculturalism of their international students'.

• In 1869, The Suez Canal opens connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Suez Canal (Egyptian Arabic: Kanat El Sewes) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869. After 10 years of construction, it was officially opened on November 17, 1869. The canal offers watercraft a shorter journey between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas by avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans, in turn reducing the journey by approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi). It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi), including its northern and southern access channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal (47 per day).
  
  The canal is a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks system, with seawater flowing freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez.
  
  The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag."
  
  In August 2014, construction was launched to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km (22 mi) to speed the canal's transit time. The expansion was planned to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day. At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities and individuals. The "New Suez Canal", as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015. On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel. This side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, will serve East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal anytime of day and night. East Container Terminal is located in the Suez Canal itself; before constructing the new side channel, as long as the Suez Canal convoy was running, there was no chance for vessels to berth or unberth at East Terminal'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1933, The Marx brothers film 'Duck Soup' starring the Marx Brothers is released in the U.S.
  From Wikipedia: 'Duck Soup is a 1933 Marx Brothers anarchic comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, and directed by Leo McCarey. First released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it starred what were then billed as the "Four Marx Brothers" (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) and also featured Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern and Edgar Kennedy. It was the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo, and the last of five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount.
  
  Compared to the Marx Brothers' previous Paramount films, Duck Soup was a box-office disappointment, although it was not a "flop" as is sometimes reported. The film opened to mixed reviews, although this by itself did not end the group's business with Paramount. Bitter contract disputes, including a threatened walk-out by the Marxes, crippled relationships between them and Paramount just as Duck Soup went into production. After the film fulfilled their five-picture contract with the studio, the Marxes and Paramount agreed to part ways.
  
  While contemporaneous critics of Duck Soup felt it did not quite meet the standards of its predecessors, critical opinion has evolved and the film has since achieved the status of a classic. Duck Soup is now widely considered among critics to be a masterpiece of comedy, and the Marx Brothers' finest film.
  
  In 1990 the United States Library of Congress deemed Duck Soup "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1970, Douglas Engelbart gets a patent for the first computer mouse.
  From Wikipedia: 'Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's Law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.
  
  In the early 1950s, he decided that instead of "having a steady job" – such as his position at NASA's Ames Research Center – he would focus on making the world a better place. He reasoned that because the complexity of the world's problems were increasing, and that any effort to improve the world would require the coordination of groups of people, the most effective way to solve problems was to augment human intelligence and develop ways of building collective intelligence. He believed that the computer, which was at the time thought of only as a tool for automation, would be an essential tool for future knowledge workers to solve such problems. He was a committed, vocal proponent of the development and use of computers and computer networks to help cope with the world’s increasingly urgent and complex problems. Engelbart embedded a set of organizing principles in his lab, which he termed "bootstrapping". His belief was that when human systems and tool systems were aligned, such that workers spent time "improving their tools for improving their tools" it would lead to an accelerating rate of progress.
  
  Engelbart applied for a patent in 1967 and received it in 1970, for the wooden shell with two metal wheels (computer mouse – U.S. Patent 3,541,541), which he had developed with Bill English, his lead engineer, a few years earlier. In the patent application it is described as an "X-Y position indicator for a display system". Engelbart later revealed that it was nicknamed the "mouse" because the tail came out the end. His group also called the on-screen cursor a "bug", but this term was not widely adopted.
  
  He never received any royalties for his mouse invention. During an interview, he said "SRI patented the mouse, but they really had no idea of its value. Some years later it was learned that they had licensed it to Apple Computer for something like $40,000." Engelbart showcased the chorded keyboard and many more of his and ARC's inventions in 1968 at The Mother of All Demos'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1967, Surveyor 6 becomes the first man-made object to lift off the Moon. It went up 12 feet and successfully lands again.
  From Wikipedia: 'Surveyor 6 was the sixth lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program that reached the surface of the Moon. Surveyor 6 landed on the Sinus Medii. A total of 30,027 images were transmitted to Earth.
  
  This spacecraft was the fourth of the Surveyor series to successfully achieve a soft landing on the moon, obtain post landing television pictures, determine the abundance of the chemical elements in the lunar soil, obtain touchdown dynamics data, obtain thermal and radar reflectivity data, and conduct a Vernier engine erosion experiment. Virtually identical to Surveyor 5, this spacecraft carried a television camera, a small bar magnet attached to one footpad, and an alpha-scattering instrument as well as the necessary engineering equipment. It landed on November 10, 1967, in Sinus Medii, 0.49 deg in latitude and 1.40 deg w longitude (selenographic coordinates)–the center of the moon's visible hemisphere. The spacecraft accomplished all planned objectives. The successful completion of this mission satisfied the Surveyor program's obligation to the Apollo project. On November 24, 1967, the spacecraft was shut down for the two-week lunar night. Contact was made on December 14, 1967, but no useful data was obtained.
  
  Lunar soil surveys were completed using photographic and alpha particle backscattering methods. A similar instrument, the APXS, was used onboard several Mars missions.
  
  In a further test of space technology, Surveyor 6's engines were restarted and burned for 2.5 seconds in the first lunar liftoff on November 17 at 10:32 UTC. This created 150 lbf (700 N) of thrust and lifted the vehicle 12 feet (4 m) from the lunar surface. After moving west 8 feet, (2.5 m) the spacecraft once again successfully soft landed and continued functioning as designed'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1970, The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Two food holidays for tomorrow:
- 'Homemade Bread Day'.
[The Hankster says] I've been pretty successful at making bread at home. Even if the bread isn't quite up to par, the smell is worth the effort, unless you burn it.

- National Baklava Day'. From Wikipedia: 'Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and is also found in Central and Southwest.More Other celebrations/observances today:
[The Hankster says] I could say that it is a honey of a dessert, but I won't or did I just do that, will I didn't mean to, OK never mind.


Tomorrow is 'Take A Hike Day'.
[The Hankster says] There are two ways to look at this. It mostly likely concerns the benefits of walking in nature for health benefits. Another view that I saw expressed is a day to tell that annoying person, to take to their feet. Indications of direction are optional. I'm going with a walk in the woods.

Tired of reading posts like mine. Tomorrow is 'National Unfriend Day'. Social media unfriend parody day.
[The Hankster says] You did understand that this is a parody day didn't you? Wait, wait, where did you go?

It is 'Electronic Greeting Card Day' tomorrow.
[The Hankster says] Lots of free sites out there. You just have to put up with the advertisements.


Awareness / Observance Days on: November 17
o Health
- 'World Prematurity Day'. Begun in 2009, it is designated as WPD since 2011. Supported by the National Premmmie Foundation and other organizations. It focuses on the global problem of preterm birth. From Wikipedia: 'Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at less than 37 weeks gestational age.[1] These babies are known as preemies or premmies'. 'Preterm birth is the most common cause of death among infants worldwide.[1] About 15 million babies are preterm each year (5% to 18% of all deliveries).'.

- 'Coffee Morning for World Prematurity Day'. In Ireland. Since 2010 by the Foundation of Irish Premature Babies.

- 'National Entrepreneurs’ Day'. It has it's roots in National Entrepreneurship Month. The day was declared by presidential proclamation in 2012 as a one time event. Efforts are underway to make November 17 an annual observance in the U.S.

- 'CTEPH Awareness Day'. CTEPH, Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension is a form of P Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) caused by old blood clots in the lungs. From Wikipedia: 'Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an increase of blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, or pulmonary capillaries, together known as the lung vasculature, leading to shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, leg swelling and other symptoms'.

- 'Lung Force Giving Day'. An American Lung Association awareness event.

o Animal and Pets
- 'Black Cat Day in Italy'. Since 2007 by the Italian Association for the Protection of Animals and the Environment (AIDAA). In the U.S. a similar day is held in October. In some countries, black cats are still shunned or killed for superstitious reasons.

o Other
- 'International Students' Day'. From Wikipedia: 'International Students' Day is an international observance of student community, held annually on November 17. Originally commemorating the Nazi German storming of Czech universities in 1939 and the subsequent killing and sending of students to concentration camps, a number of universities now mark it, sometimes on a day other than November 17, for a nonpolitical celebration of the multiculturalism of their international students'.


Historical events in the past on: November 17

In 1869, The Suez Canal opens connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1933, The Marx brothers film 'Duck Soup' starring the Marx Brothers is released in the U.S.

In 1970, Douglas Engelbart gets a patent for the first computer mouse.

In 1967, Surveyor 6 becomes the first man-made object to lift off the Moon. It went up 12 feet and successfully lands again.

In 1970, The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.

No. 1 song

• Get Off of My Cloud - The Rolling Stones: More
  'Yesterday' has been displaced by 'Get Off of My Cloud', which will hold the no. 1 spot until November 20 1965, when 'I Hear a Symphony - The Supremes', takes over.

Top movie

• The Cincinnati Kid More
  Having displaced 'King Rat', it will be there until the weekend box office of November 28 1965 when, 'Harum Scarum', takes over.

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

Monthly holiday / awareness days in November

Food
Banana Pudding Lovers Month
National Georgia Pecan Month
National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
National Pomegranate Month
Sweet Potato Awareness Month
Teff and Millet Month
Vegan Month

Animal / Pet
Adopt A Senior Pet Month
Adopt A Turkey Month
Manatee Awareness Month
National Adoption Month
National Pet Cancer Awareness Month
Pet Diabetes Month

Health
American and National Diabetes Month
Diabetic Eye Disease Month
Epilepsy Awareness Month
Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Movember (Mens Health)
National PPSI AIDS Awareness Month
National Alzheimer's Disease Month
National COPD Month
National Diabetes Month
National Family Caregivers Month
National Healthy Skin Month
National Home Care and Hospice Month
National Impotency Month
National Long-term Care Awareness Month
National Marrow Awareness Month
National Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Awareness and Appreciation Month
National PPSI Aids Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Prematurity Awareness Month
PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month
Stomach Cancer Awareness Month

Other
American Indian Heritage Month
Aviation History Month
Family Stories Month
Historic Bridge Awareness Month
MADD's Tie One On For Safety Holiday Campaign (11/16-12/31)
Military Family Appreciation Month
National Entrepreneurship Month
National Inspirational Role Models Month
National Memoir Writing Month
National Native American Heritage Month
National Family Literacy Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Runaway Prevention Month
National Scholarship Month
Picture Book Month
Worldwide Bereaved Siblings Month
World Sponge Month

November is:

November origin (from Wikipedia): 'November is the eleventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar. November retained its name (from the Latin novem meaning 'nine') when January and February were added to the Roman calendar. '

'November is a month of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, November in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of May in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.'

November 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