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Today is December 23 2015

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

National Pfeffernusse Day: More
From Wikipedia: 'Pfeffernüsse are tiny spice cookies, popular as a holiday treat in Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands, as well as among ethnic Mennonites in North America. They are called pepernoten in Dutch (plural), päpanät in Plautdietsch, pfeffernuesse or peppernuts in English, and pebernødder in Danish'. 'Though recipes differ, all contain aromatic spices - most commonly cinnamon, cloves, and anise. Some variations are dusted with powdered sugar, though that is not a traditional ingredient. Molasses and honey are also used to sweeten the cookies'. For the dough, most versions still use 19th century ingredients such as potash (potassium carbonate) and ammonium carbonate as leavening agents to get the sticky and dense consistency of the original mixture'.

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Festivus: More
    Created in a 1997 episode of, Seinfeld. The character Frank Costanza invented Festivus in response to the commercialism of Christmas and his strict upbringing with a father who paid little attention to the meaning of Christmas. Its slogan is 'A Festivus for the rest of us.
    On YouTube: More
  • National Roots Day: More
    When family is around for the holidays, it is a good time to discover and document your roots.
Events in the past on: December 23
  • In 1823, The story 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', aka 'The Night Before Christmas', is published anonymously.
    From Wikipedia: 'A Visit from St. Nicholas, more commonly known as, The Night Before Christmas, and Twas the Night Before Christmas, from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823, and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who acknowledged authorship in 1837'. 'The poem, which has been called 'arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American', is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, and has had a massive impact on the history of Christmas gift giving. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1912, The first 'Keystone Kops' silent film, 'Hoffmeyer's Legacy' premiers.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Keystone Cops (often spelled, Keystone Kops) were fictional incompetent policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    On YouTube: More
    Some consider The Bangville Police to be the first major appearance: On YouTube:More
    From Wikipedia: 'Hoffmeyer's Legacy is a 1912 comedy short directed by Mack Sennett and notable for being the first Keystone Cops comedy. However, many consider the first real Keystone Cop comedy to be The Bangville Police (1913'.
  • In 1947, The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
    From Wikipedia: 'The thermionic triode, a vacuum tube invented in 1907, enabled amplified radio technology and long-distance telephony. The triode, however, was a fragile device that consumed a lot of power. Physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld filed a patent for a field-effect transistor (FET) in Canada in 1925, which was intended to be a solid-state replacement for the triode. Lilienfeld also filed identical patents in the United States in 1926 and 1928. However, Lilienfeld did not publish any research articles about his devices nor did his patents cite any specific examples of a working prototype. Because the production of high-quality semiconductor materials was still decades away, Lilienfeld's solid-state amplifier ideas would not have found practical use in the 1920s and 1930s, even if such a device had been built. In 1934, German inventor Oskar Heil patented a similar device in Europe.

    From November 17, 1947 to December 23, 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at AT and T's Bell Labs in the United States performed experiments and observed that when two gold point contacts were applied to a crystal of germanium, a signal was produced with the output power greater than the input. Solid State Physics Group leader William Shockley saw the potential in this, and over the next few months worked to greatly expand the knowledge of semiconductors. The term transistor was coined by John R. Pierce as a contraction of the term transresistance. According to Lillian Hoddeson and Vicki Daitch, authors of a biography of John Bardeen, Shockley had proposed that Bell Labs' first patent for a transistor should be based on the field-effect and that he be named as the inventor. Having unearthed Lilienfeld’s patents that went into obscurity years earlier, lawyers at Bell Labs advised against Shockley's proposal because the idea of a field-effect transistor that used an electric field as a "grid" was not new. Instead, what Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented in 1947 was the first point-contact transistor. In acknowledgement of this accomplishment, Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect"'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1954, The first human kidney transplant is performed.
    From Wikipedia: Kidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ. Living-donor renal transplants are further characterized as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient. Exchanges and chains are a novel approach to expand the living donor pool. In February 2012, this novel approach to expand the living donor pool was featured on the front page of the New York Times in a story covering the largest chain in the world involving 60 participants organized by the National Kidney Registry. In 2014 the record for the largest chain was broken again by a swap involving 70 participants, covered by ABC News.

    'The first kidney transplants between living patients were undertaken in 1952 at the Necker hospital in Paris by Jean Hamburger although the kidney failed after 3 weeks of good function and later in 1954 in Boston. The Boston transplantation, performed on December 23, 1954, at Brigham Hospital was performed by Joseph Murray, J. Hartwell Harrison, John P. Merrill and others. The procedure was done between identical twins Ronald and Richard Herrick to eliminate any problems of an immune reaction. For this and later work, Dr. Murray received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1990. The recipient, Richard Herrick, died eight years after the transplantation'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1986, Voyager is the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world.
    From Wikipedia: 'The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot (4,600 m) long runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. '.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

Tomorrow's food holiday will be 'National Pfeffernusse Day'. From Wikipedia: 'Pfeffernüsse are tiny spice cookies, popular as a holiday treat in Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands, as well as among ethnic Mennonites in North America. They are called pepernotenIn Dutch (plural), päpanät in Plautdietsch, pfeffernuesse or peppernuts in English, and pebernødder in Danish'. 'Though recipes differ, all contain aromatic spices - most commonly cinnamon, cloves, and anise. Some variations are dusted with powdered sugar, though that is not a traditional ingredient. Molasses and honey are also used to sweeten the cookies'. For the dough, most versions still use 19th century ingredients such as potash (potassium carbonate) and ammonium carbonate as leavening agents to get the sticky and dense consistency of the original mixture'.
[The Hankster says] Pop in your mouth cookies and (all together now) with a tall glass of cold milk. I like the anise flavor, which is a little like licorice.


Tomorrow is 'Festivus'. Created in a 1997 episode of, Seinfeld. The character Frank Costanza invented Festivus in response to the commercialism of Christmas and his strict upbringing with a father who paid little attention to the meaning of Christmas and conducted it's celebration 'on the cheap'.
[The Hankster says] The slogan is 'A Festivus for the rest of us'.

You have another chance tomorrow, to collect that family history when relatives are near on the holidays. Tomorrow will be 'National Roots Day'. When family is around for the holidays, it is a good time to discover and document your roots.
[The Hankster says] You will thank yourself if you do.


Historical events in the past on: December 23

In 1823, The story 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', aka 'The Night Before Christmas', is published anonymously. From Wikipedia: 'A Visit from St. Nicholas, more commonly known as, The Night Before Christmas, and Twas the Night Before Christmas, from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823, and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who acknowledged authorship in 1837'. 'The poem, which has been called 'arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American', is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, and has had a massive impact on the history of Christmas gift giving. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably'.

In 1912, The first 'Keystone Kops' silent film, 'Hoffmeyer's Legacy' premiers. From Wikipedia: 'The Keystone Cops (often spelled, Keystone Kops) were fictional incompetent policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917'. Some consider The Bangville Police to be the first major appearance'.

In 1947, The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.

In 1954, The first human kidney transplant is performed. From Wikipedia: 'Upon completion of the surgical procedures, the transplanted kidney immediately assumed normal function in the recipient; the transplant recipient survived for eight years and died in 1962 of complications from his original chronic nephritis. The donor died in December 2010 of unrelated causes'.

In 1986, Voyager is the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world. From Wikipedia: 'The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot (4,600 m) long runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. '.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Dec 18 2015 next Dec 25 2015

No. 1 song

  • Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass: More
    'Let's Hang On!' has been displaced by 'Taste of Honey', which will hold the no. 1 spot until December 25 1965, when 'Over and Over - The Dave Clark Five', takes over.

Top movie

  • A Patch of Blue More
    Having displaced 'That Darn Cat!', it will be there until the weekend box office of Dec 26 1965 when, 'Thunderball', takes over.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): December 23
   V.
This month December 2015 (updated once a month - last updated - December 1 2015)

Monthly holiday / awareness days in December

Food
Buckwheat Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month

Health
Aids Awareness Month
Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking (TANYRSS) (12/17 - 2/7)

Other
Bingo's Birthday Month
National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month
National Impaired Driving Prevention Month
National Tie Month
National Write A Business Plan Month
Operation Santa Paws (1-19)
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Universal Human Rights Month


December is:

December origin (from Wikipedia): ' December gets its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar, which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name. '

' December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. D ecember is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. '

December 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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