Tomorrow's food holiday is 'National Chinese Almond Cookie Day'.
From Wikipedia: 'A Chinese almond biscuit (or cookie) is a type of Chinese pastry that is made with ground almonds. The biscuit is one of the most standard pastries in Canton, Hong Kong, Macau, and in some overseas Chinese bakeries. They are small, containing no filling. In addition, they are very crumbly.
[The Hankster says] I guess I would prefer finding some almonds instead of an ancient piece of wisdom in my cookie. Anyway, I'm sure that person who is being held in the cookie factory has managed to escape by now, so my help won't be needed. Besides, I bet you passed along the information to the authorities already.
Other celebrations/observances tomorrow:
- 'National Cherish an Antique Day'.
[The Hankster says] Learn the history of that family antique and document it for those to come.
- 'National Name Yourself Day'.
[The Hankster says] Choose a new name for a day. My new names have always been chosen fro me: Hank, Ratman (obvious), Hankster (thank you Donnie), Raid (for my skill at finding computer program bugs), Mr. Tedious (for the slow methodical way I found those bugs), and a few I won't mention. As the old saying goes, and it should, "you can call me anything but late for dinner".
- 'National Winston Churchill Day'. The day Winston Churchill was made an honorary citizen of the United States.
From Wikipedia: 'Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer (as Winston S. Churchill), and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.'
'In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy, acting under authorisation granted by an Act of Congress, proclaimed him an Honorary Citizen of the United States, but he was unable to attend the White House ceremony'.
- 'Unicorn Day'.
From Wikipedia: 'The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian. The Bible also describes an animal, the re'em, which some translations have erroneously rendered with the word
unicorn.'
In European folklore, the unicorn is often depicted as a white horse-like or goat-like animal with a long horn and cloven hooves (sometimes a goat's beard). In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was commonly described as an extremely wild woodland creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. In the encyclopedias its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness. In medieval and Renaissance times, the tusk of the narwhal
was sometimes sold as unicorn horn.
[The Hankster says] If I spend my time searching for mythological beings, I will
look for Leprechauns, not Unicorns. Leprechauns leave a pot of gold, Unicorns leave, well let's not go there.
- 'Slow Art Day'. On the second Saturday in April. Slow down and really see/understand works of art. Many cities have events.
[The Hankster says] If you like it, why? If you don't, why not? You will never know unless you take a good long look.
- 'Jenkins' Ear Day'.
From Wikipedia: 'The War of Jenkins' Ear (known as Guerra del Asiento in Spain) was a conflict between Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, a captain of a British merchant ship and acknowledged smuggler. The severed ear was subsequently exhibited before the British Parliament.
The seeds of conflict began with the separation of an ear from Jenkins following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, eight years before the war began. Popular response to the incident was tepid until several years later when opposition politicians and the British South Sea Company hoped to spur outrage against Spain, believing that a victorious war would improve Britain’s trading opportunities in the Caribbean. Also ostensibly providing the impetus to war against the Spanish
Empire was a desire to pressure the Spanish not to renege on the lucrative asiento contract, which gave British slavers permission to sell slaves in Spanish America'.
Awareness / Observance Days on: April 9
o Health
- 'National Dental Hygienist Week'. April 9-15 in Canada. By the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA).
o Other
- 'Vimy Ridge Day in Canada'. A memorial day since 2003. It commemorates the death of Canadian Corps soldiers during the World War I Battle of Vimy Ridge.
From Wikipedia: 'The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military engagement fought primarily as part of the Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the Canadian Corps, of four divisions, against three divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle, which took place from 9 to 12 April 1917, was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras, a diversionary attack for the French Nivelle Offensive.
The objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground along an escarpment at the northernmost end of the Arras Offensive.
Historians attribute the success of the Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge to a mixture of technical and tactical innovation, meticulous planning, powerful artillery support and extensive training, as well as the failure of the German Sixth Army to properly apply the new German defensive doctrine. The battle was the first occasion when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle together and thus became a Canadian nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice.
A 100 ha (250 acres) portion of the former battleground serves as a preserved memorial park and site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Canadian casualties: 3,598 dead, 7,004 wounded. German: unknown, 4,000 captured,
- 'National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day in the USA'. Annually by presidential proclamation. Honors veterans of any US war who returned from being prisoners of war.
The April 9th day was chosen as it was the date in 1942 when U.S. forces surrendered to the Japanese Army on the Bataan Peninsula, beginning the Bataan Death March.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed on the third Friday of September.
See 1942 in the historical events for the Bataan Death March.
Historical events in the past on: April 9
- In 1838, The National Gallery of London, largest public collection of important paintings, opens its doors.
From Wikipedia: 'The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the main collection is free of charge. It is among the most visited art museums in the
world, after the Musée du Louvre, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art'.
- In 1860, On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice.
From Wikipedia:
'Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (25 April 1817 – 26 April 1879) was a French printer and bookseller who lived in Paris. He invented the earliest known sound recording device, the phonautograph, which was patented in France on 25 March 1857.'
'From 1853 he became fascinated in a mechanical means of transcribing vocal sounds. While proofreading some engravings for a physics textbook he came across drawings of auditory anatomy. He sought to mimic the working in a mechanical device, substituting an elastic membrane for the tympanum, a series of levers for the ossicle, which moved a stylus he proposed would press on a paper, wood, or glass surface covered in lampblack. On 26 January 1857, he delivered his design in a sealed envelope to the
French Academy. On 25 March 1857, he received French patent #17,897/31,470 for the phonautograp.
The phonautograph used a horn to collect sound, attached to a diaphragm which vibrated a stiff bristle which inscribed an image on a lamp black coated, hand-cranked cylinder. Scott built several devices with the help of acoustic instrument maker Rudolph Koenig. Unlike Edison's later invention of 1877, the phonograph, the phonautograph only created visual images of the sound and did not have the ability to play back its recordings. Scott de Martinville's device was used only for scientific investigation
of sound waves.s
'In 2008, The New York Times reported the playback of a phonautogram recorded on 9 April 1860. The recording was converted from "squiggles on paper" to a playable digital audio file by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The phonautogram was one of several deposited by Leon Scott in two archives in Paris and only recently brought to light.
The recording, of part of the French folk song Au clair de la lune, was initially played at a speed that produced what seemed to be a 10-second recording of the voice of a woman or child singing at an ordinary musical tempo. The researchers leading the project later found that a misunderstanding about an included reference frequency had resulted in a doubling of the correct playback speed, and that it was actually a 20-second recording of a man, probably Scott himself, singing the song very slowly. It
is now the earliest known recording of singing in existence, predating, by 28 years, several 1888 Edison wax cylinder phonograph recordings of a massed chorus performing Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt.
A phonautogram by Scott containing the opening lines of Torquato Tasso's pastoral drama Aminta, in Italian, has also been found. Recorded around 1860, probably after the recording of Au clair de la lune, this phonautogram is now the earliest known recording of intelligible human speech. Recordings of Scott's voice made in 1857 have also survived, but they are only unintelligible snippets'.
- In 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
From Wikipedia: 'Initially, Lee did not intend to surrender, but planned to regroup at the village of Appomattox Court House, where supplies were to be waiting, and then continue the war. Grant chased Lee and got in front of him, so that when Lee's army reached Appomattox Court House, they were surrounded. After an initial battle, Lee decided that the fight was now hopeless, and surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at the McLean House. In an untraditional gesture and as a sign of
Gran
t's respect and anticipation of peacefully restoring Confederate states to the Union, Lee was permitted to keep his sword and his horse, Traveller. On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Southern sympathizer. Lincoln died early the next morning, and Andrew Johnson became the president. Meanwhile, Confederate forces across the South surrendered as news of Lee's surrender reached them. President Johnson officially declared a virtual end to the insurrection on May 9, 1865;
President Jefferson Davis was captured the following day. On June 2, Kirby Smith officially surrendered his troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department. On June 23, Cherokee leader Stand Watie became the last Confederate General to surrender his forces'.
- In 1928, Mae West opens her risque, but hit Broadway play 'Diamond Lil'.
From Wikipedia: 'Diamond Lil is a 1928 play by sultry American actress and playwright Mae West. Prior to Diamond Lil, she had written a number of plays that were closed down due to either poor ticket sales or censorship issues with the establishments of the time, despite the fact that many high-ranking officials attended these plays. Diamond Lil, about a racy woman in the 1890s, was her first major Broadway success, and was the basis for her character Lady Lou in her 1933 film She Done Him Wrong.
- In 1942, During World War II: The Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March: United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the island's east coast.
From Wikipedia: 'The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer from Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war which began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. About 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination. The reported death tolls vary, especially among Filipino POWs, because historians
cannot determine how many prisoners blended in with the civilian population and escaped. The march went from Mariveles, Bataan, to San Fernando, Pampanga. From San Fernando, survivors were loaded to a box train and were brought to Camp O'Donnell in Capas, Tarlac.'
'The 60 mi (97 km) march was characterized by occasional severe physical abuse. It was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.'
'In December 1943, (General) Masaharu Homma was selected as the minister of information for the incoming prime minister, Kuniaki Koiso. In September 1945, he was arrested by Allied troops and indicted for war crimes. Homma was charged with 43 different counts of crimes against humanity. The court found that Homma had permitted his troops to commit "brutal atrocities and other high crimes". The general, who had been absorbed in his efforts to capture Corregidor after the fall of Bataan, claimed in his
defense that he remained ignorant of the high death toll of the death march until two months after the event. On February 26, 1946, he was sentenced to death by firing squad. He was executed on April 3, 1946, outside Manila.
Also in Japan, Generals Hideki Tojo (later Prime Minister), Kenji Doihara, Seishiro Itagaki, Heitaro Kimura, Iwane Matsui, and Akira Muto, along with Baron Koki Hirota, were found guilty and responsible for the brutal maltreatment of American and Filipino POWs, and were executed by hanging at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro on December 23, 1948. Several others were sentenced to imprisonment between 7 and 22 years.
- In 1953, Warner Brothers premieres the first 3-D film, entitled 'House of Wax'.
From Wikipedia: 'House of Wax is a 1953 American 3-D horror film about a disfigured sculptor who repopulates his destroyed wax museum by murdering people and using their wax-coated corpses as displays. It stars Vincent Price and was directed by André de Toth. It is a remake of Warner Bros.' Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), without the comic relief featured in the earlier film. In 2005, Warner Bros. distributed a new film also called House of Wax, but its plot is very different from the one used in
the twoearlier films.'
- In 1959, NASA announces the selection of the United States first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the 'Mercury Seven'.
From Wikipedia: 'The Mercury Seven were the group of seven Mercury astronauts announced by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven or Astronaut Group 1. They piloted the manned spaceflights of the Mercury program from May 1961 to May 1963. These seven original American astronauts were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton'.
- In 1962, At the 34th Academy Awards,
-- Best Motion Picture is 'West Side Story'.
-- Best Actor is Maximilian Schell for 'Judgment at Nuremberg'.
-- Best Actress is Sophia Loren for 'Two Women'.
-- Best Supporting Actor is George Chakiris for 'West Side Story'.
-- Best Supporting Actress is Rita Moreno for 'West Side Story'.
-- Best Original Song is 'Moon River' from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.
- In 1965, Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played.
From Wikipedia: 'The Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome, and officially named the NRG Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, USA. It served as the second home to the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB) from its opening in 1965 until 1999, and the home to the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 until 1996, and also the part-time home of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association
(NBA) from 1971 until 1975. Additionally, the Astrodome was the primary venue of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo from 1966 until 2002. When opened, it was named the Harris County Domed Stadium and was nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World.'
'On Opening Day, April 9, 1965, a sold-out crowd of 47,879 watched an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird were in attendance, as well as Texas Governor John Connally and Houston Mayor Louie Welch. Governor Connally tossed out the first ball for the first game ever played indoors. Dick "Turk" Farrell of the Astros threw the first pitch. Mickey Mantle had both the first hit (a single) and the first home run in the
Astrodome. The Astros beat the Yankees that night, 2-1'.
- In 1979, At the 51st Academy Awards,
-- Best Picture is 'The Deer Hunter'.
-- Best Actor is Jon Voight for 'Coming Home'.
-- Best Actress is Jane Fonda for 'Coming Home'.
-- Best Supporting Actor is Christopher Walken for 'The Deer Hunter'.
-- Best Supporting Actress is Maggie Smith for 'California Suite'.
-- Best Original Song is 'Last Dance' from 'Thank God It's Friday'.
- In 1984, At the 56th Academy Awards,
-- Best Picture is 'Terms of Endearment'.
-- Best Actor is Robert Duvall for 'Tender Mercies'.
-- Best Actress is Shirley MacLaine for 'Terms of Endearment'.
-- Best Supporting Actor is Jack Nicholson for 'Terms of Endearment'.
-- Best Supporting Actress is Linda Hunt – The Year of Living Dangerously'.
-- Best Original Song is 'Flashdance... What a Feeling' from 'Flashdance'.
- In 2012, The Lion King becomes the highest grossing Broadway show after overtaking The Phantom of the Opera.
From Wikipedia: 'The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions.
The musical debuted July 8, 1997, in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre, and was an instant success before premiering on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater on October 15, 1997, in previews with the official opening on November 13, 1997. On June 13, 2006, the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the musical version of Mary Poppins, where it is still running after more than 6,700 performances. It is Broadway's third longest-running show in history and the highest
grossing Broadway production of all time, having grossed more than $1 billion'.
No. 1 song
Top movie
Monthly holiday / awareness days in April
Food
Fresh Florida Tomatoes Month
National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month
National Licorice Month
National Pecan Month
Soy Foods Month
Health
Alcohol Awareness Month
Autism Awareness Month
Cancer Control Month
Child Abuse Prevention Month
Cesarean Awareness Month
Defeat Diabetes Month
Emotional Overeating Awareness Month
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Month
National Autism Awareness Month
National Cancer Control Month
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
National Multiple Birth Awareness Month
National Parkinson's Awareness Month
National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month Note: Sarcoidosis Day is August 29
Nationally Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Month
Stress Awareness Month
Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
Women's Eye Health and Safety Month
Women Helping Women Heal Month
Animal / Pet
Adopt A Greyhound Month
ASPCA Month
Frog Month
National Heartworm Awareness Month
National Pet Month
Pet First Aid Awareness Month
Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month
Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month
Other
Arab American Heritage Month
Amateur Radio Month
Car Care Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
Community Spirit Days (1-30)
Couple Appreciation Month
Fair Housing Month
Financial Literacy Month
Global Astronomy Month
Informed Women Month
International Customer Loyalty Month
International Guitar Month
Jazz Appreciation Month
Keep America Beautiful
Math Awareness Month
National African American Women's Fitness Month
National Garden Month
National Humor Month
National Kite Month
National Landscape Architecture Month
National Poetry Month
National Safe Digging Month
National Youth Sports Safety Month
World Habitat Awareness Month
April is:
April origin (from Wikipedia):
'The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis but the derivation of
this name is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the verb aperire,
'to open', in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin
to 'open', which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of
(anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named
in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her
Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that
April was the second month of the earliest Roman calendar, before
Ianuarius and Februarius were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC.
It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve
months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about
450 BC, when it also was given 29 days. The 30th day was added during
the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC,
which produced the Julian calendar.'
April
'is commonly associated with the season of spring in parts of the
Northern Hemisphere and autumn in parts of the Southern Hemisphere,
where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the
Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.'
April at Wikipedia: More
If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago,
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Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More