<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Escargot Day'.
- From Wikipedia: The escargot (plural escargots, French for snail Catalan: caragol
Portuguese and Spanish: caracol) is a cooked land snail. Escargots are usually served as a starter in Portugal, Spain and in France, and are a typical dish in the Catalan region of Spain. The word escargot is also sometimes applied to the living snails of those species which are commonly eaten in this way.
May 24th has been designated "National Escargot Day" in the United States.'
'Not all species of land snail are edible, and many are too small to make it worthwhile to prepare and cook them. Even among the edible species, the palatability of the flesh varies from species to species.
In France, the species Helix pomatia is most often eaten. The "petit- dgris" Cornu aspersa is also eaten, as is Helix lucorum. Several additional species, such as Elona quimperiana, are popular in Europe see heliciculture.'
'In French culture, the snails are typically purged, killed, removed from their shells, and cooked (usually with garlic butter, chicken soup or wine), and then placed back into the shells with the butter and sauce for serving. Additional ingredients may be added, such as garlic, thyme, parsley and pine nuts. Special snail tongs (for holding the shell) and snail forks (for extracting the meat) are also normally provided, and they are served on indented metal trays with places for six or 12 snails'.
[The Hankster says] Well we eat seafood that seems to be a semi gelatinous mass before cooking (shrimp) and lots of things in shells, but still I don't know. Maybe, if I can, like Lucy, put ketchup on them.
* 'Asparagus Day'.
- From Wikipedia: Asparagus, or garden asparagus, scientific name Asparagus officinalis, is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial plant species in the genus Asparagu
It was once classified in the lily family, like the related Allium species, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and is widely cultivated as a
vegetable crop.
Asparagus has been used as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour, diuretic properties, and more. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 BC. In ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in Spain. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter Romans even froze it high in the Alps, for the Feast of Epicurus. Emperor Augustus created the "Asparagus Fleet" for hauling the vegetable, and coined the expression "faster than
cooking asparagus" for quick action. A recipe for cooking asparagus is in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third-century AD De re coquinaria, Book III.
White asparagus is the result of applying a blanching technique while the asparagus shoots are growing. To cultivate white asparagus, the shoots are covered with soil as they grow, i.e. earthed up without exposure to sunlight, no photosynthesis starts, and the shoots remain white.'
Only young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open ("ferning out"), the shoots quickly turn woody.
Water makes up 93% of asparagus's composition. Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fibre, protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus,
potassium, copper, manganese, and selenium, as well as chromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, as the asparagus plant is relatively rich in this compound'.
[The Hankster says] Good stuff. I wonder if snails, excuse me, Escargot, eat Asparagus.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'National Scavenger Hunt Day'.
- From Wikipedia: A scavenger hunt is a party game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, which the participants – individuals or teams – seek to gather all items on the list – usually without purchasing them – or perform tasks or take photographs of the items, as specified. The goal is usually to be the first to complete the list, although in a variation on the game players can also be challenged to complete the tasks on the list in the most creative manner.
According to game scholar Markus Montola, scavenger hunts evolved from ancient folk games. Gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell popularized scavenger hunts in the United States with a series of exclusive New York parties starting in the early 1930s. The scavenger-hunt craze among New York's elite was satirized in the 1936 film My Man Godfrey, where one of the items socialite players are trying to collect
is a homeless man.
* 'Aviation Maintenance Technician Day'.
- From Wikipedia: Aviation Maintenance Technician Day is a United States day of
recognition, observed on May 24, that recognizes the efforts of aviation maintenance professionals as well as the achievements of Charles Edward Taylor, the man who built the engine used to power the airplane of the Wright Brothers. The date May 24 was selected to honor the birth date of Taylor. The day of recognition is currently observed by 45 states in the United States. On May 24, 2007, a United States House of Representatives resolution supporting the goals and ideals of a National
Aviation Maintenance Technician Day was introduced. Congressman Bob
Filner of California was the sponsor of the resolution. On April 30,
2008 the resolution passed by a voice vote.' - From Wikipedia: Charles Edward Taylor (May 24, 1868 – January 30, 1956) was an American inventor, mechanic and machinist. He built the first aircraft engine used by the Wright brothers and was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright engines and airplanes.'
'When it became clear that an off-the-shelf engine with the required power-to-weight ratio was not available in the U.S. for their first engine-driven Flyer, the Wrights turned to Taylor for the job. He designed and built the aluminum water-cooled engine in nly six weeks, based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights. The cast aluminum block and crankcase weighed 152 pounds (69 kg) and were produced at
either Miami Brass Foundry or the Buckeye Iron and Brass Works, near Dayton, Ohio. The Wrights needed an engine with at least 8 horsepower (6.0 kW). The engine that Taylor built produced 12.
The FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award is named in his honor. The Charles Taylor Aviation Maintenance Science Department at Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University is named for him.
Aviation Maintenance Technician Day is observed in 45 U.S. States on May
24 ...'.
<> Awareness / Observances:
- None today.
<> Historical events on May 24
* In 1607, One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first English colony in America.
- From Wikipedia:
'The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first
permanent English settlement in the Americas. William Kelso writes that
Jamestown "is where the British Empire began ... this was the first
colony in the British Empire." Jamestown was established by the
Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 (O.S., May 14,
1607 N.S.),(and was considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610.
It followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony
of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years,
moved quickly to establish a presence in the New World, other European
countries moved more slowly. Not until many decades after the explorations
of John Cabot did the English attempt to found colonies. Early efforts
were failures, most notably the Roanoke Colony, which vanished about
1590.
Late in 1606, English entrepreneurs set sail with a charter from the
Virginia Company of London to establish a colony in the New World. The
fleet consisted of the three ships, named Susan Constant, Discovery, and
Godspeed, under Captain Christopher Newport. After a particularly long
voyage of four months including a stop in Puerto Rico, they finally
departed for the American mainland on April 10, 1607. The expedition made landfall on April 26,
1607 at a place they named Cape Henry. Under orders to select a more
secure location, they set about exploring what is now Hampton Roads and
an outlet into the Chesapeake Bay they named the James River in honor of
their king, James I of England.
In addition to the marsh the settlers arrived too late in the year to get
crops planted. Many in the group were gentlemen unused to work, or
their manservants, equally unaccustomed to the hard labor demanded
In a few months, 80% of the party were dead; some of the survivors were
deserting to the Indians whose land they had colonized. Virginia
Native Americans had already established settlements long before the
English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000
While the Third Supply was stranded in Bermuda, the colony at Jamestown
was in even worse shape. In the "Starving Time" of 1609–1610, the
Jamestown settlers faced rampant starvation for want of additional
provisions. Only 60 of the original 214 settlers at Jamestown survived.
There is scientific evidence that the settlers at Jamestown had turned
to cannibalism during the starving time.
The ships from Bermuda arrived in Jamestown on 23 May 1610. Many of the
surviving colonists were near death, and Jamestown was judged to be
unviable. Everyone was boarded onto the Deliverance and Patience, which
set sail for England.
However, on June 10, 1610, the timely arrival of another relief fleet,
bearing Governor Baron De La Warr (who would eventually give his name to
the colony of Delaware), which met the two ships as they descended the
James River, granted Jamestown a reprieve. The Colonists called this The
Day of Providence. The fleet brought supplies, but also additional
settlers. All the settlers returned to the colony, though there was
still a critical shortage of food.
Relations between the colonists and the Powhatans quickly deteriorated
after De La Warr's arrival, eventually leading to conflict. The
Anglo-Powhatan War lasted until Samuel Argall captured Wahunsenacawh's
daughter Matoaka, better known by her nickname Pocahontas, after which
the chief accepted a treaty of peace'." .
* In 1830, 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' is published.
- From Wikipedia:
'"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is an English language nursery rhyme of
nineteenth-century American origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 7622.
The nursery rhyme was first published by the Boston publishing firm
Marsh, Capen and Lyon, as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May
24, 1830, and was inspired by an actual incident.
As a young girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb that
she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion
naturally ensued. Mary recalled: "Visiting school that morning was a
young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel
Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for
students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose
Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much
pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across
the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a
slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of
the poem...".
There are two competing theories on the origin of this poem. One holds
that Roulstone wrote the first four lines and that the final twelve
lines, less childlike than the first, were composed by Sarah Josepha
Hale; the other is that Hale was responsible for the entire poem'." .
* In 1883, The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- From Wikipedia:
'The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New
York City and is one of the oldest bridges of either type in the United
States. Completed in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and
Brooklyn by spanning the East River. It has a main span of 1,595.5 feet
(486.3 m), and was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed.'
'The bridge—originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge
and as the East River Bridge was opened for use on May
24, 1883. The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people
and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President
Chester A. Arthur and Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to
celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low
when they reached the
Brooklyn-side tower." .
* In 1844, Samuel Morse sends the first official message from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
- From Wikipedia:
'Morse made his last trip to Washington, D.C., in December 1842,
stringing "wires between two committee rooms in the Capitol, and sent
messages back and forth" to demonstrate his telegraph system.
Congress appropriated $30,000 in 1843 for construction of an experimental
38-mile (61 km) telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore
along the right-of-way of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. An impressive demonstration occurred on May 1, 1844, when news of the Whig Party's nomination of Henry Clay for U.S. President was telegraphed from the party's convention in Baltimore to the Capitol
Building in Washington.
On May 24, 1844, the line was officially opened as Morse sent the
now-famous words, "What hath God wrought," from the Supreme Court
chamber in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington,
D.C., to the B&O's Mount Clare Station in Baltimore. Annie
Ellsworth chose these words from the Bible
(Numbers 23:23); her father, U.S. Patent Commissioner Henry Leavitt
Ellsworth, had championed Morse's invention and secured early funding
for it. His telegraph could transmit thirty characters per minute.
In May 1845 the Magnetic Telegraph Company was formed in order to
build telegraph lines from New York City toward Philadelphia, Boston,
Buffalo, New York and the Mississippi.
Morse at one time adopted Wheatstone and Carl August von Steinheil's
idea of broadcasting an electrical telegraph signal through a body of
water or down steel railroad tracks or anything conductive. He went to
great lengths to win a lawsuit for the right to be called "inventor of
the telegraph", and promoted himself as being an inventor. But, Alfred
Vail also played an important role in the development of the Morse code,
which was based on earlier codes for the electromagnetic telegraph'." .
* In 1940, Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- From Wikipedia:
'Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), was a
Russian American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing
aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine
fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner,
Ilya Muromets, in 1914.
founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed
the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in
the 1930s.
In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the
first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor
configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky modified
the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's
first mass-produced helicopter in 1942.
His design plans eventually culminated in the first (tethered) flight
of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 on September 14, 1939, with the first
free flight occurring eight months later on May 24, 1940. Sikorsky's
success with the VS-300 led to the R-4, which became the world's
first mass-produced helicopter in 1942. Sikorsky's final VS-300 rotor
configuration, comprising a single main rotor and a single
antitorque tail rotor, has proven to be one of the most popular
helicopter configurations, being used in most helicopters produced
today'." .
* In 1959, The first house with a built-in bomb shelter is exhibited in Pleasant Hills, PA.
* In 1967, The Elvis Presley movie 'Double Trouble' premiered.
- From Wikipedia:
'Double Trouble is a 1967 American musical film starring Elvis Presley.
The comedic plot concerns an American singer who crosses paths with
criminals in Europe. The movie was #58 on the year end list of the
top-grossing films of 1967.
Elvis was paid $750,000 plus 40% of the profits." .
* In 1974, Last episode of the 'Dean Martin Show'.
- From Wikipedia:
'The Dean Martin Show, not to be confused with the The Dean Martin
Variety Show (1959-1960), is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from
1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by
entertainer Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit
"Everybody Loves Somebody".
Martin was initially reluctant to do the show, partially because he did
not want to turn down movie and nightclub performances. His terms were
deliberately outrageous: he demanded a high salary and that he need only
show up for the actual taping of the show. To his surprise the network
agreed. As daughter Deana Martin recalled after meeting the network and
making his demands Martin returned home and
announced to his family, "They went for it. So now I have to do it."
(Contrary to his stated concerns, Martin's commitment to the program
ultimately did not prevent him from appearing in a series of Matt Helm
films concurrent with the show's run, as well as other projects such as
a co-starring role in the first Airport film in 1970.)
Martin believed that an important key to his popularity was that he did
not put on airs. His act was that of a drunken, work-shy playboy,
although the ever-present old-fashioned glass in his hand often only
had apple juice in it. The show was heavy on physical comedy rather
than just quips (he made his weekly entrance by sliding down a
fireman's pole onto the stage.) Martin read his dialogue directly
from cue
cards. If he flubbed a line or forgot a lyric, Martin would not do
a retake, and the mistake — and his recovery from it — went straight
to tape and onto the air." .
* In 1976, Concorde service between London and Washington, D.C. begins - the Concorde is the first supersonic passenger airliner.
- From Wikipedia:
'Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde /'k??k??rd/ is a turbojet-powered supersonic
passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over
twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise
altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969,
Concorde entered
service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of
only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the
other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which was operated for a much
shorter period of time.
Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the
British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty.
Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the co-operation
on the project between the United Kingdom and
France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as
"Concorde", without an article. Twenty aircraft were built including
six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British
Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft. The research and development
failed to make a profit and the two then state-owned airlines bought
the aircraft at a huge discount.
Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights
from London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York-JFK,
Washington Dulles and Barbados; it flew these routes in less than half
the time of other airliners. Over time,
the aircraft became profitable when it found a customer base willing to
pay for flights on what was for most of its career the fastest commercial
airliner in the world. The aircraft is regarded by many as an aviation
icon and an engineering marvelwhile it was also criticised for being
uneconomical, and lacking a credible market.
Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial
aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the September 11
attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale
and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support'.
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.
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