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Today is December 25 2015

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

- National Pumpkin Pie Day: More
From Wikipedia: 'The pumpkin is native to the continent of North America. The pumpkin was an early export to France; from there it was introduced to Tudor England, and the flesh of the “pompion” was quickly accepted as pie filler. During the seventeenth century, pumpkin pie recipes could be found in English cookbooks, such as Hannah Woolley's The Gentlewoman's Companion, which was published in 1675. The recipes did not appear in American cookbooks until the early nineteenth century. Pumpkin pie did not become a common addition to the Thanksgiving dinner until the early nineteenth century. The Pilgrims brought the pumpkin pie back to New England, while the English method of cooking the pumpkin took a different course. In the 19th century, the English pumpkin pie was prepared by stuffing the pumpkin with apples, spices, and sugar and then baking it whole'.

- Christmas Pudding Day: More
From Wikipedia: 'Christmas pudding is a type of pudding traditionally served as part of the Christmas dinner in Britain, Ireland and in some other countries where it has been brought by British emigrants. It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or just 'pud', though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit. Despite the name 'plum pudding,' the pudding contains no actual plums due to the pre-Victorian use of the word 'plums' as a term for raisins. The pudding is composed of many dried fruits held together by egg and suet, sometimes moistened by treacle or molasses and flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and other spices. The pudding is aged for a month, months, or even a year; the high alcohol content of the pudding prevents it from spoiling during this time'. My note: Def: suet: the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods including puddings, pastry, and mincemeat. Def: treacle: 'British term for molasses.'.

Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Christmas: More
  • A’Phabet Day or No “L” Day: More
    A parody day. Try writing today and using No 'L's in your words.
Events in the past on: December 25
  • In 1937, Arturo Toscanini conducts first live concert broadcast for NBC radio.
    From Wikipedia: 'Arturo Toscanini (Italian: ; March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and of the 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory. He was at various times the music director of La Scala Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Later in his career he was appointed the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–54), and this led to his becoming a household name (especially in the United States) through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire.

    Toscanini returned to the United States where the NBC Symphony Orchestra was created for him in 1937. He conducted his first NBC broadcast concert on December 25, 1937, in NBC Studio 8-H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The acoustics of the specially built studio were very dry; some remodeling in 1942 for Leopold Stokowski added a bit more reverberation. (In 1950, 8-H was converted into a television studio. It has been home to NBC's Saturday Night Live since 1975. In 1980, Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra began a series of special televised NBC concerts called Live From Studio 8H, the first one being a tribute to Toscanini, punctuated by clips from his television concerts.)

    The NBC broadcasts were initially preserved on large 16-inch transcription discs recorded at 33-1/3 rpm, until NBC began using magnetic tape in 1949. NBC employed special RCA high fidelity microphones for the broadcasts, and they can be seen in some photographs of Toscanini and the orchestra. Some of Toscanini's recording sessions for RCA Victor were mastered on sound film in a process developed about 1930, as detailed by RCA producer Charles O'Connell in his memoirs, On and Off The Record. In addition, hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals with the NBC were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at The New York Public Library'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
  • In 1939, Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph as the 9th reindeer.
    From Wikipedia: ' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer, created by Robert Lewis May, usually depicted as a young calf who barely has antlers, with a glowing red nose, popularly known as "Santa's ninth reindeer". When depicted, he is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through inclement winter weather.

    Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward, the department store.

    The story is owned by The Rudolph Company, LP and has been adapted in numerous forms including a popular song, the iconic television special and sequels, and a feature film and sequel. Character Arts, LLC manages the licensing for the Rudolph Company, LP. In many countries, Rudolph has become a figure of Christmas folklore. 2014 marked the 75th anniversary of the character and the 50th anniversary of the television special. A series of postage stamps featuring Rudolph was issued by the United States Postal Service on November 6, 2014.

    Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939, as an assignment for Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money. Rudolph was supposed to be a moose but that was changed because a reindeer seemed friendly. May considered naming the reindeer "Rollo" or "Reginald" before deciding upon using the name "Rudolph". In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward had distributed 2.5 million copies of Rudolph's story. The story is written as a poem in anapestic tetrameter, the same meter as "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Publication and reprint rights for the book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are controlled by Pearson PLC.

    Of note is the change in the cultural significance of a red nose. In popular culture, a bright red nose was then closely associated with chronic alcoholism and drunkards, and so the story idea was initially rejected. May asked his illustrator friend at Montgomery Ward, Denver Gillen, to draw "cute reindeer", using zoo deer as models. The alert, bouncy character Gillen developed convinced management to support the idea.

    Maxton Books published the first mass-market edition of Rudolph and a sequel, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again, in 1954. In 1991, Applewood Books published Rudolph's Second Christmas, an unpublished sequel that Robert May wrote in 1947. In 2003, Penguin Books issued a reprint version of the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with new artwork by Lisa Papp. Penguin also reprinted May's sequels, Rudolph Shines Again and Rudolph's Second Christmas (now retitled Rudolph to the Rescue)'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1941, The song 'White Christmas', by Bing Crosby is introduced. From Wikipedia: 'The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941'. 'The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn's first hit song: 'Be Careful, It's My Heart'. By the end of October 1942, 'White Christmas' topped the 'Your Hit Parade' chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year' Holiday Inn, was a Bing Crosby Christmas movie, in which the song was also performed.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1962, The movie 'To Kill a Mockingbird', starring Gregory Peck, is released. From Wikipedia: 'The film, widely considered to be one of the greatest ever made, earned an overwhelmingly positive response from critics. A box office success, it earned more than 10 times its budget. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1963, The Walt Disney movie 'The Sword in the Stone' is released. From Wikipedia: 'The film is based on the novel of the same name, first published in 1938 as a single novel. It was later republished in 1958 as the first book of T. H. White's tetralogy The Once and Future King'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1990, The first successful trial run of the World Wide Web is completed.
    From Wikipedia: 'The World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or the Web) is an information space where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the Internet. English scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989. He wrote the first web browser computer programme in 1990 while employed at CERN in Switzerland.

    The proposal was modelled after the SGML reader Dynatext by Electronic Book Technology, a spin-off from the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship at Brown University. The Dynatext system, licensed by CERN, was a key player in the extension of SGML ISO 8879:1986 to Hypermedia within HyTime, but it was considered too expensive and had an inappropriate licensing policy for use in the general high energy physics community, namely a fee for each document and each document alteration. A NeXT Computer was used by Berners-Lee as the world's first web server and also to write the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, in 1990. By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web: the first web browser (which was a web editor as well) and the first web server. The first web site, which described the project itself, was published on 20 December 1990'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 2004, The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. From Wikipedia: The combined Cassini–Huygens spacecraft was launched from Earth on October 15, 1997. Huygens separated from the Cassini orbiter on December 25, 2004, and landed on Titan on January 14, 2005 near the Xanadu region. This was the first and, so far, only landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System. It touched down on land, although the possibility that it would touch down in an ocean was also taken into account in its design. The probe was designed to gather data for a few hours in the atmosphere, and possibly a short time at the surface. It continued to send data for about 90 minutes after touchdown. It remains the most distant landing of any human-made craft'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

Two food holidays for tomorrow:
- National Pumpkin Pie Day'. From Wikipedia: 'The pumpkin is native to the continent of North America. The pumpkin was an early export to France; from there it was introduced to Tudor England, and the flesh of the “pompion” was quickly accepted as pie filler. During the seventeenth century, pumpkin pie recipes could be found in English cookbooks, such as Hannah Woolley's The Gentlewoman's Companion, which was published in 1675. The recipes did not appear in American cookbooks until the early nineteenth century. Pumpkin pie did not become a common addition to the Thanksgiving dinner until the early nineteenth century. The Pilgrims brought the pumpkin pie back to New England, while the English method of cooking the pumpkin took a different course. In the 19th century, the English pumpkin pie was prepared by stuffing the pumpkin with apples, spices, and sugar and then baking it whole'. [The Hankster says. ] With a mound of whipped cream on top and a tall glass of cold milk.

- Christmas Pudding Day'. From Wikipedia: 'Christmas pudding is a type of pudding traditionally served as part of the Christmas dinner in Britain, Ireland and in some other countries where it has been brought by British emigrants. It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or just 'pud', though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit. Despite the name 'plum pudding,' the pudding contains no actual plums due to the pre-Victorian use of the word 'plums' as a term for raisins. The pudding is composed of many dried fruits held together by egg and suet, sometimes moistened by treacle or molasses and flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and other spices. The pudding is aged for a month, months, or even a year; the high alcohol content of the pudding prevents it from spoiling during this time'. My note: Def: suet: the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods including puddings, pastry, and mincemeat. Def: treacle: 'British term for molasses.'. [The Hankster says] I'm confused. How could Little Jack Horner stick his thumb in his Christmas pie and pull out a plumb if it is really a raisin. Scoop it out maybe, but in the nursery books I was brought up with, the picture always showed him spearing a large plumb with his thumb. I can only guess that they didn't have Wikipedia back then.


Tomorrow is 'Christmas'. [The Hankster says] I know if you celebrate this day, then I don't need to explain it. If you do, Merry Christmas. If you don't Happy Holidays.

Tomorrow is a designated typo day, of sorts. It will be 'A’Phabet Day or No “L” Day'. A parody day. Try writing today and using No 'L's in your words.


Historical events in the past on: December 25

In 1937, Arturo Toscanini conducts first live concert broadcast for NBC radio.

In 1939, Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph as the 9th reindeer. From Wikipedia Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a male reindeer, usually depicted as a young calf who barely has antlers, with a glowing red nose, popularly known as Santa's Ninth Reindeer. When depicted, he is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through inclement winter weather. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May a nd published by Montgomery Ward'.

In 1941, The song 'White Christmas', by Bing Crosby is introduced. From Wikipedia: 'The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941'. 'The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn's first hit song: 'Be Careful, It's My Heart'. By the end of October 1942, 'White Christmas' topped the 'Your Hit Parade' chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year' Holiday Inn, was a Bing Crosby Christmas movie, in which the song was also performed.

In 1962, The movie 'To Kill a Mockingbird', starring Gregory Peck, is released. From Wikipedia: 'The film, widely considered to be one of the greatest ever made, earned an overwhelmingly positive response from critics. A box office success, it earned more than 10 times its budget. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture'.

In 1963, The Walt Disney movie 'The Sword in the Stone' is released. From Wikipedia: 'The film is based on the novel of the same name, first published in 1938 as a single novel. It was later republished in 1958 as the first book of T. H. White's tetralogy The Once and Future King'.

In 1990, The first successful trial run of the World Wide Web is completed.

In 2004, The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. From Wikipedia: The combined Cassini–Huygens spacecraft was launched from Earth on October 15, 1997. Huygens separated from the Cassini orbiter on December 25, 2004, and landed on Titan on January 14, 2005 near the Xanadu region. This was the first and, so far, only landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System. It touched down on land, although the possibility that it would touchdown in an ocean was also taken into account in its design. The probe was designed to gather data for a few hours in the atmosphere, and possibly a short time at the surface. It continued to send data for about 90 minutes after touchdown. It remains the most distant landing of any human-made craft'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Dec 25 2015 next Dec 26 2015

No. 1 song

  • Over and Over - The Dave Clark Five: More
    'Taste of Honey' has been displaced by 'Over and Over', which will hold the no. 1 spot until January 1 1965, when 'We Can Work It Out - The Beatles', 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 25
   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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