Tomorrow's food holiday is
'National Truffle Day'. The chocolate candy, not the fungus.
From Wikipedia: 'A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre coated in chocolate, cocoa powder or chopped toasted nuts (typically hazelnuts, almonds or coconut), usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape.
Their name derives from their traditional shape, which resembles the truffle, an edible part of the tuber fungus.
[The Hankster says] OK, Truffles are candy and Turtles are candy. It's a conspiracy. Now, I am questioning the true ancestry of my chocolate bunny.
Other celebrations/observances tomorrow:
- 'National Life Insurance Day'. Anniversary of first American Life Insurance company. It was created in 1759 as the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers.
From Wikipedia: 'The sale of life insurance in the U.S. began in the late 1760s. The Presbyterian Synods in Philadelphia and New York founded the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers in 1759; Episcopalian priests created a comparable relief fund in 1769. Between 1787 and 1837 more than two dozen life insurance companies were started, but fewer than half a dozen survived'.
Awareness / Observance Days on: May 2
o Health
- 'Melanoma Monday'. By American Academy of Dermatology .
From Wikipedia: 'Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye. In women they most commonly occur on the legs, while in men they are most common on the back. Sometimes they develop from a mole with concerning changes including an increase in size, irregular edges, change in color, itchiness, or skin breakdown.
The primary cause of melanoma is ultraviolet light (UV) exposure in those with low levels of skin pigment. The UV light may be from either the sun or from tanning devices. About 25% develop from moles. Those with many moles, a history of affected family members, and who have poor immune function are at greater risk. A number of rare genetic defects such as xeroderma pigmentosum also increase risk. Diagnosis is by biopsy of any concerning skin lesion.
Avoiding UV light and the use of sunscreen may prevent melanoma. Treatment is typically removal by surgery. In those with slightly larger cancers, nearby lymph nodes may be tested for spread. Most people are cured if spread has not occurred. In those in whom melanoma has spread, immunotherapy, biologic therapy, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy may improve survival. With treatment the five-year survival rates in the United States is 98% among those with localized disease and 17% among those in
whom shas occurred. The likelihood that it will come back or spread depends how thick the melanoma is, how fast the cells are dividing, and whether or not the overlying skin has broken down.
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Globally, in 2012, it occurred in 232,000 people and resulted in 55,000 deaths. Australia and New Zealand have the highest rates of melanoma in the world. There are also high rates in Europe and North America while it is less common in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Melanoma is more common in men than women.Melanoma has become more common since the 1960s in areas that are mostly Caucasian'.
- 'Dystonia Awareness Week'. May 2-6 in Great Britain. By The Dystonia Society.
From Wikipedia: 'Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The movements may resemble a tremor. Dystonia is often initiated or worsened by voluntary movements, and symptoms may "overflow" into adjacent muscles.
The disorder may be hereditary or caused by other factors such as
birth-related or other physical trauma, infection, poisoning (e.g., lead
poisoning) or reaction to pharmaceutical drugs, particularly neuroleptics
and certain flu drugs. Treatment must be highly customized to the needs of the individual and
may include oral medications, botulinum neurotoxin injections, physical
therapy and/or other supportive therapies, and/or surgical procedures
s deep brain stimulation'.
- 'National Thrombosis Week'. May 2-6 in Great Britain. By Thrombosis UK.
From Wikipedia: 'Thrombosis (Greek: ???µß?s??) is the formation of a blood clot (thrombus; Greek: ???µß??) inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fibrin to form a blood clot to prevent blood loss. Even when a blood vessel is not injured, blood clots may form in the body under certain conditions. A clot that breaks free and begins to travel around the body is known as an embolus.
Thromboembolism is the combination of thrombosis and its main complication, embolism'.
- 'Deaf Awareness Week'. May 2-8 in Great Britain. 2016 theme 'Common Purpose'.
o Other
- 'Air Quality Awareness Week'. May 2-6.
History events in the past on: May 2
- In 1853, Franconi’s Hippodrome (for animals, races add circus ) opened at Broadway and 23rd Street in New York City. The later New York Hippodrome was built in 1905.
From Wikipedia: 'The site that would become the Fifth Avenue Hotel was once the location of "Madison Cottage", a frame structure with a eighteenth-century core that had served as a stagecoach stop for passengers headed north from the city. From 1853 to 1856 it was replaced by Franconi's Hippodrome, a tent-like structure of canvas and wood which could accommodate up to 10,000 spectators who watched chariot races and other "Amusesments of the Ancient Greeks and Romans". It was this structure that was torn dow
n to make way for the hotel.
- In 1885, Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time.
From Wikipedia: 'Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval"'.
'Good Housekeeping was founded May 2, 1885 by Clark W. Bryan in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
The magazine achieved a circulation of 300,000 by 1911, at which time it was bought by the Hearst Corporation. It topped one million in the mid-1920s, and continued to rise, even during the Great Depression and its aftermath. In 1938, a year in which the magazine advertising dropped 22 percent, Good Housekeeping showed an operating profit of $2,583,202, more than three times the profit of Hearst's other eight magazines combined, and probably the most profitable monthly of its time. Circulation topped
2,500,000 in 1943, 3,500,000 in the mid-1950s, 5,000,000 in 1962, and 5,500,000 per month in 1966. 1959 profits were more than $11 million.
- In 1902, The French silent film 'A Trip to the Moon', the first science fiction film was released. It was created by magician George Melies.
From Wikipedia: 'A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's novels From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon' s surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive Selenite. It features an ensemble cast of French theatrical performers,
ledby Méliès himself in the main role of Professor Barbenfouillis, and is filmed in the overtly theatrical style for which Méliès became famous.
The film was an internationally popular success on its release, and was extensively pirated by other studios, especially in the United States. Its unusual length, lavish production values, innovative special effects, and emphasis on storytelling were markedly influential on other film- makers and ultimately on the development of narrative film as a whole. Scholars have commented upon the film's extensive use of pataphysical and anti-imperialist satire, as well as on its wide influence on later film-makers
and its artistic significance within the French theatrical féerie tradition. Though the film disappeared into obscurity after Méliès's retirement from the film industry, it was rediscovered around 1930, when Méliès's importance to the history of cinema was beginning to be recognized by film devotees. An original hand-colored print was discovered in 1993 and restored in 2011.
A Trip to the Moon was named one of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice, ranked 84th. The film remains the best-known of the hundreds of films made by Méliès, and the moment in which the capsule lands in the Moon's eye remains one of the most iconic and frequently referenced images in the history of cinema. It is widely regarded as the earliest example of the science fiction film genre and, more generally, as one of the most influential films in cinema history'.
- In 1918, General Motors purchases the Delaware based, Chevrolet Motor Company.
From Wikipedia: 'Chevrolet, loquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918 and propelled
himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose," would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929.
- In 1932, Comedian Jack Benny's first radio show premieres on the NBC Blue Network.
From Wikipedia: 'The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.
'Jack Benny first appeared on radio as a guest of Ed Sullivan in 1932.
He was then given his own show later that year, with Canada Dry Ginger
Ale as a sponsor —The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program, beginning May 2, 1932,
on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26,
moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny
stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933.
Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with The General Tire Revue for the rest of that season, and in the fall of 1934, for General Foods as The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny (1934–42) and, when sales of Jell-O were affected by sugar rationing during World War II, The Grape Nuts Flakes Program Starring Jack Benny (Later the Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes Program) (1942–44). On October 1, 1944, the show became The Lucky Strike Program
Starring Jack Benny, when American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes took over as his radio sponsor, through the mid-1950s. By that time, the practice of using the sponsor's name as the title began to fade.
The show returned to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president
William S. Paley's notorious "raid" of NBC talent in 1948-49. There it
stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955.
CBS aired repeats of previous 1953-55 radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as
The Best of Benny for State Farm Insurance, who later sponsored his
television program from 1960 through 1965'.
- In 1952, The world's first jet airliner passenger service begins with a BOAC Comet.
From Wikipedia: 'The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first production commercial jetliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, the Comet 1 prototype first flew on 27 July 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wings, a pressurised fuselage, and large square windows. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and
showed signs of being a commercial success at its 1952 debut.
A year after entering commercial service the Comets began suffering problems, with three of them breaking up during mid-flight in well- publicised accidents. This was later found to be due to catastrophic metal fatigue in the airframes, not well understood at the time. The Comet was withdrawn from service and extensively tested to discover the cause; the first incident had been incorrectly blamed on adverse weather. Design flaws, including dangerous stresses at the corners of the square windows and
installation methods, were ultimately identified. As a result, the Comet was extensively redesigned with oval windows, structural reinforcement, and other changes. Rival manufacturers meanwhile heeded the lessons learned from the Comet while developing their own aircraft'.
- In 2000, Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access is no longer restricted to only the military.
From Wikipedia: 'The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The system provides critical capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world. The United States government created the system, maintains it, and makes it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.'
'Initially, the highest quality signal was reserved for military use, and the signal available for civilian use was intentionally degraded (Selective Availability). This changed with President Bill Clinton signing a policy directive in 1996 to turn off Selective Availability in May 2000 to provide the same precision to civilians that was afforded to the military. The directive was proposed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Perry, because of the widespread growth of differential GPS services to
improve civilian accuracy and eliminate the U.S. military advantage. Moreover, the U.S. military was actively developing technologies to deny GPS service to potential adversaries on a regional basis'.
Since its deployment, the U.S. has implemented several improvements to the GPS service including new signals for civil use and increased accuracy and integrity for all users, all the while maintaining compatibility with existing GPS equipment. Modernization of the satellite system has been an ongoing initiative by the U.S. Department of Defense through a series of satellite acquisitions to meet the growing needs of the military, civilians, and the commercial market'.
No. 1 song
Top movie
Monthly holiday / awareness days in May
Food
Aramanth Month - Grain of the month
Gifts From The Garden Month
International Mediterranean Diet Month
National Barbeque Month
National Egg Month
National Hamburger Month
National Mediterranean Diet Month
National Salad Month
National Salsa Month
National Sweet Vidalia Onions Month
National Vinegar Month
Health
ALS Awareness Month - (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease)
APS Awareness Month - Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome
Arthritis Awareness Month
Asthma Awareness Month
Better Hearing and Speech Month
Borderline Personality Disorder Month
Brain Tumor Awareness Month
Celiac Awareness Month
Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month
EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) Awareness Month
Family Wellness Month
Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month
Food Allergy Action Month
Global Health and Fitness Month
Heal the Children Month
Healthy Vision Month
Huntington's Disease Awareness Month
Lupus Awareness Month
Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month
National Better Hearing Month
National Hepatitis Awareness Month
National High Blood Pressure Education Month
National Meditation Month
National Mental Health Month
National Osteoporosis Prevention Month
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
National Physiotherapy Month
National Stroke Awareness Month
National Toddler Immunization Month
National Tuberous Sclerosis Month
National Water Safety Month
National Youth Traffic Safety Month
Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month
Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month
Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month
Preeclampsia Awareness Month
Skin Cancer Awareness Month
Spiritual Literacy Month
Strike Out Strokes Month
Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month
Tourettes Syndrome Awareness Month
Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month
Ultra-violet Awareness Month
Women's Health Care Month
World Lyme Disease Awareness Month
Animal / Pet
Chip Your Pet Month
Gardening for Wildlife Month
Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month
National Guide Dog Month
National Pet Month
National Service Dog Eye Examination Month
Pet Cancer Awareness Month
Other
American Wetlands Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Building Safety Month
Clean Air Month
Creative Beginnings Month
Family Reunion Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Global Civility Awareness Month
Golf Month
Haitian Heritage Month
Home Schooling Awareness Month
International Audit Month
International Business Image Improvement Month
International Victorious Woman Month
Jewish-American Heritage Month
Latino Books Month
Motorcycle Safety Month
Mystery Month
National Bike Month
National Foster Care Month
National Good Car Keeping Month
National Inventors Month
National Photo Month
National Smile Month
Personal History Month
Social Security Education Awareness Month
Tennis Month
Textile Month
Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month
May is:
May origin (from Wikipedia):
The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified
with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was
held in May. Conversely, the Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology,
in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for
'elders,' and that the following month (June) is named for the iuniores, or 'young people'
May
'
is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.
May is a month of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Summer in Europe). Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.
'
May 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 1966 More
Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More