<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Coq Au Vin Day'.
- From Wikipedia: Coq au vin, (French: "rooster/cock with wine") is a French dish of
chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic. A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local varietals, such as coq au vin jaune (Jura), coq au Riesling (Alsace), coq au pourpre or coq au violet (Beaujolais nouveau), coq au Champagne, etc.
Various legends trace coq au vin to ancient Gaul and Julius Caesar, but the recipe was not documented until the early 20th century it is generally accepted that it existed as a rustic dish long before that. A somewhat similar recipe, poulet au vin blanc, appeared in an 1864 cookbook.
Although the word "coq" in French means "rooster" or "cock", and tough birds with lots of connective tissue benefit from braising, most modern coq au vin recipes call for capon or generic "chicken".
Standard recipes call for red wine (often Burgundy) for braising, lardons (salt pork or bacon), button mushrooms, onions, often garlic, and sometimes brandy. Recipes with vin jaune may specify morels instead of white mushrooms. The preparation is similar in many respects to beef bourguignon. The chicken is seasoned, sometimes floured, seared in fat and slowly simmered in wine until tender. The usual seasonings
are salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and bay leaf, usually in the form of a bouquet garni. The juices are thickened either with a roux or by adding blood at the end'.
[The Hankster says] Most likely created by a chef that was woken too early from his sleep.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'National Paperclip Day'.
[The Hankster says] Can't find any association with May 29 and the paper clip, but multiple web sites insist it is always on May 29. And who am I to distrust the Internet. The paperclip has been around since the 1800's as we know them.
* 'Learn About Composting Day'. An annual event that focuses on the benefits and how-to's for best composting.
[The Hankster says] I do some, but not enough.
* 'Put A Pillow On Your Fridge Day'. A modern day replacement for the ancient
superstition of placing cloth in the larder (food pantry)
[The Hankster says] With or without a pillow case? For how long? Does the color matter? Idle minds want to know.
* 'Indianapolis 500'.
- From Wikipedia: The Indianapolis 500 is an automobile race held annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is held over Memorial Day (originally Decoration Day) weekend, which is typically the last weekend in May. It is contested as
part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the top level of American Championship Car racing, an open-wheel formula colloquially known as "Indy Car Racing". The name of the race is often shortened to Indy 500
The inaugural running was won by Ray Harroun in 1911. The race celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running will be held in 2016. Juan Pablo Montoya is the defending champion. The most successful drivers are A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears, each of whom have won the race four times. The active driver with the most victories is Hélio Castroneves, with three. Rick Mears holds the record for most career pole positions with six. The most successful car owner is Roger Penske, owner of Tea
m Penske, which has 16 total wins and 17 poles.
The Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
a 2.5 mile oval circuit. Drivers race 200 laps, counterclockwise around
the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles. Since its inception in 1911, the race has always been scheduled on or around Memorial Day. Since 1974, the race has been scheduled for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Practice and time trials are held in the two weeks leading up to the
race.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a smattering of small events, including ones for motorcycles. The first long distance event, in "fearful conditions", was the 100-lap Prest-O-Lite Trophy in 1909, won by Bob Burman in a Buick. Breakup of the asphalt led to two fatal accidents in the first two long-distance events (a 250 mi (400 km) and 300 mi (480 km), which was shortened to 235 mi (378 km) after two severe wrecks).
That these spectacles had attracted 15,000 paying customers (and crowds of up to 40,000) persuaded principal owner Carl G. Fisher to spend US$155,000 on repaving the track with 3.2 million bricks he also added a 2 ft 9 in (0.84 m) concrete wall around the track's circumference. During the 1910 Decoration Day weekend, the first events on the newly paved circuit drew 60,000 spectators Ray Harroun won the 200 mi (320 km) Wheeler-Schebler Trophy in a Marmon.
The crowds grew progressively smaller for the rest of the season, however, so the track owners chose to focus on a single race. They considered a 24-hour contest, in the fashion of Le Mans, or a 1,000 mi (1,600 km). They instead chose a 500 mi (800 km) contest, and offered a spectacular purse of US $25,000, equivalent to 37.615 kilograms (82.93 lb) of pure gold. The combination allowed the track to
rapidly acquire a privileged status for automobile races.
The first "500" was held at the Speedway on Decoration Day (as
Memorial Day was known from its inception in 1868 to 1967 when
Federal Law made Memorial Day the official name), May 30, 1911,
run to a 600 cu in (9,800 cc) maximum engine size formula. It saw
a field of 40 starters, with Harroun piloting a Marmon Model 32-based
Wasp racer — outfitted with his invention, the rear view mirror.
Harroun (with relief from Cyrus Patschke) was declared the winner,
although Ralph Mulford protested the official result. 80,000 spectators
were in attendance, and an annual tradition had been established. Many
considered Harroun to be a hazard during the race, as he was the only
driver in the race driving without a riding mechanic, who checked the
oil pressure and let the driver know when traffic was coming
In 1912, the purse was raised to US$50,000. The field was limited
to 33 (where it remains) and a riding mechanic was made mandatory.
This second event was won by Joe Dawson in a National, after Ralph
de Palma's Mercedes broke'.
[The Hankster says] I wonder if it is not "Persons, start your engines' now, in order to be politically correct.
<> Awareness / Observances:
o Health
* 'World Digestive Health Day'. By World Gastroenterology Organisation.
* 'White Wreath Day'. In Australia. The focus is on suicide related issues.
* 'Arthritis Awareness Week'. May 29 - June 4 in Australia, by Arthritis Australia.
o Other:
* 'International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers'.
- From Wikipedia: The "International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers", May 29, is "a day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and
continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their
high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor
the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace"'.
<> Historical events on May 29
* In 1790. Rhode Island becomes the last of the original United States' colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th U.S. state.
- From Wikipedia:
'Rhode Island officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States. Rhode Island is the smallest in
area, the eighth least populous, and the second most densely populated, following New Jersey, of the 50 U.S. states. Its official name is also the longest of any state in the Union. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean (via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound) to the south.
On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first of the Thirteen Colonies
to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, and on February 9,
1778 was the fourth to ratify the Articles of Confederation among the
newly sovereign states. It boycotted the 1787 convention that
drew up the United States Constitution, and initially refused to
ratify it. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the 13th and last
state to ratify the Constitution.
Rhode Island's official nickname is "The Ocean State", a reference to
the fact that the state has several large bays and inlets that amount
to about 14% of its total area. Rhode Island covers 1,241 square
miles (3,210 km2), of which 1,045 square miles (2,710 km2) are land'." .
* In 1848, Wisconsin is admitted into the United States becoming the 30th state.
- From Wikipedia:
'Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the
north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.
It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest,
Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the
northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the
23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous.
The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is
Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
The state is divided into 72 counties.
Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland" because it is one of the
nation's leading dairy producers, particularly famous for cheese.
Manufacturing, especially paper products, information technology (IT), and tourism are also major contributors to the state's economy.
The Erie Canal facilitated the travel of both Yankee settlers and
European immigrants to Wisconsin Territory. Yankees from New England
and upstate New York seized a dominant position in law and politics,
enacting policies that marginalized the region's earlier Native American
and French-Canadian residents. Yankees also speculated in real
estate, platted towns such as Racine, Beloit, Burlington, and Janesville,
and established schools, civic institutions, and Congregationalist
churches. At the same time, many Germans, Irish, Norwegians and other
immigrants also settled in towns and farms across the territory,
establishing Catholic and Lutheran institutions. The growing population
allowed Wisconsin to gain statehood as the 30th state on May 29, 1848.
Between 1840 and 1850, Wisconsin's non-Indian population had swollen
from 31,000 to 305,000. Over a third of residents (110,500) were foreign
born, including 38,000 Germans, 28,000 British immigrants from England,Scotland and Wales, and 21,000 Irish. Another third (103,000) were Yankees from New England and western New York state. Only about 63,000 residents in 1850 had been born in Wisconsin'.
* In 1919, Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin.
- From Wikipedia:
'During World War I, Eddington was Secretary of the Royal Astronomical
Society, which meant he was the first to receive a series of letters and
papers from Willem de Sitter regarding Einstein’s theory of general
relativity. Eddington was fortunate in being not only one of the few
astronomers with the mathematical skills to understand general relativity,
but owing to his internationalist and pacifist views inspired by his
Quaker religious beliefs, one of the few at the time who was
still interested in pursuing a theory developed by a German physicist.
He quickly became the chief supporter and expositor of relativity in
Britain. He and Astronomer Royal Frank Watson Dyson organized two
expeditions to observe a solar eclipse in 1919 to make the first
empirical test of Einstein’s theory: the measurement of the deflection
of light by the sun's gravitational field. In fact, Dyson’s argument
for the indispensability of Eddington’s expertise in this test was what
prevented Eddington from eventually having to enter military service.
After the war, Eddington traveled to the island of Príncipe near Africa
to watch the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919. During the eclipse, he took
pictures of the stars (several stars in the Hyades cluster include Kappa
Tauri of the
constellation Taurus) in the region around the Sun. According to the
theory of general relativity, stars with light rays that passed near the
Sun would appear to have been slightly shifted because their light had
been curved by its gravitational field. This effect is noticeable only
during eclipses, since otherwise the Sun's brightness obscures the
affected stars. Eddington showed that Newtonian gravitation could be
interpreted to predict half the shift predicted by Einstein.
Eddington's observations published the next year confirmed Einstein's
theory, and were hailed at the time as a conclusive proof of general
relativity over the Newtonian model. The news was reported in newspapers
all over the world as a major story. Afterward, Eddington embarked on a
campaign to popularize relativity and the expedition as landmarks both
in scientific development and international scientific relations'." .
* In 1940, The first flight of the WW II fighter airplane, Vought F4U Corsair occurs.
- From Wikipedia:
'The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service
primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft
soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production
by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and
Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the
U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U
Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the
longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history
(1942–53).
The Corsair was designed as a carrier-based aircraft but its difficult
carrier landing performance rendered it unsuitable for Navy use until the
carrier landing issues were overcome by the British Fleet Air Arm.
The Corsair thus came to and retained prominence in its area of greatest
deployment: land based use by the U.S. Marines. The role of the
dominant U.S. carrier based fighter in the second part of the war was
thus filled by the Grumman F6F Hellcat, powered by the same Double Wasp
engine first flown on the Corsair's first prototype in 1940.
After the carrier landing issues had been tackled, it quickly became
the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II.
The Corsair served almost exclusively as a fighter-bomber throughout the
Korean War and during the French colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria'." .
* In 1942, Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra record Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas', the best-selling single in history.
- From Wikipedia:
'"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an
old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness World
Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single
of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 100 million copies
worldwide. Other versions of the song, along with Crosby's, have
sold over 150 million copies.
The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his
NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941; a copy of
the recording from the radio program is owned by Crosby's estate and
was loaned to CBS News Sunday Morning for their December 25, 2011,
program. He subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott
Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby
Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it
was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm discs from
the musical film Holiday Inn. At first, Crosby did not see anything
special about the song. He just said "I don't think we have any problems
with that one, Irving." The song established and solidified the fact
that there could be commercially successful secular Christmas songs - in this case, written by a Jewish-American songwriter, who also wrote "God Bless America".
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. It has often
been noted that the mix of melancholy — "just like the ones I used to
know" — with comforting images of home — "where the treetops
glisten" — resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War
II. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song. The
recording is noted for Crosby's whistling during the second chorus.
The version most often heard today on radio during the Christmas season
is the 1947 re-recording. The 1942 master was damaged due to frequent
use. Crosby re-recorded the track on March 19, 1947, accompanied again
by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers, with every effort made
to reproduce the original recording session. The re-recording is
recognizable by the addition of flutes and celesta in the beginning'." .
* In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's (adopted) 39th birthday.
- From Wikipedia:
'In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to
Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit.
The first pair (Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans) came within 100 m (330
ft) of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into
oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking
trail and their caches of extra oxygen
were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition
made its second and final assault on the summit with its second climbing
pair, the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali
sherpa climber from Darjeeling, India. They reached the summit at 11:30
am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col Route. At the time, both
acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending'." .
* In 1971, The Rolling Stones' single 'Brown Sugar' hits #1 in the U.S.
- From Wikipedia:
'"Brown Sugar" is a song by The Rolling Stones. It is the opening track
and lead single from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Rolling Stone
magazine ranked it No. 495 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of
All Time and at No. 5 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs
of All Time." .
* In 2004, The WWII Memorial dedicated in Wash., DC. - From Wikipedia:
'The World War II Memorial is a memorial of national significance dedicated
to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during
World War II. Consisting of 56 pillars and a pair of small triumphal arches
surrounding a plaza and fountain, it sits on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C., on the former site of the
the Rainbow Pool at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between
the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
Opened on April 29, 2004, it was dedicated by President George W. Bush
on May 29. The memorial is administered by the National Park Service
under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. As of 2009, more
than 4.4 million people visit the memorial each year'.
The memorial consists of 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet (5 m) tall,
arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two 43-foot (13 m) triumphal
arches on opposite sides. Two-thirds of the 7.4-acre (30,000 m2) site is
landscaping and water. Each pillar is inscribed with the name of one of
the 48 U.S. states of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the
Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. The northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic"; the southern
one, "Pacific." The plaza is 337 ft, 10 in (103.0 m) long and 240 feet,
2 inches (73.2 m) wide, is sunk 6 feet (1.8 m) below grade, and contains
a pool that is 246 feet 9 inches by 147 feet 8 inches (75.2 × 45.0
m).
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