<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Strawberry Shortcake Day'.
- From Wikipedia ():
'Shortcake is a sweet cake or biscuit (in the American sense: that is, a
crumbly bread that has been leavened with baking powder or baking soda).
Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt,
butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. The dry ingredients are blended,
and then the butter is cut in until the mixture resembles cornmeal. The
liquid ingredients are then mixed in just until moistened, resulting in a
shortened dough. The dough is then dropped in spoonfuls onto a baking
sheet, rolled and cut like baking powder biscuits, or poured into a cake
pan, depending on how wet the dough is and the baker's preferences. Then it
is baked at a relatively high temperature until set.'
The most famous dessert made with shortcake is strawberry shortcake. Sliced
strawberries are mixed with sugar and allowed to sit an hour or so, until
the strawberries have surrendered a great deal of their juices (macerated).
The shortcakes are split and the bottoms are covered with a layer of
strawberries, juice, and whipped cream, typically flavored with sugar and
vanilla. The top is replaced, and more strawberries and whipped cream are
added onto the top. Some convenience versions of shortcake are not made
with a shortcake (i.e. biscuit) at all, but instead use a base of sponge
cake or sometimes a corn muffin. Japanese-style strawberry shortcakes use a
sponge cake base, and are a popular Christmas treat in Japan.
The largest strawberry shortcake ever made was in the town of La Trinidad,
Benguet in the Philippines on March 20, 2004. It weighed 21,213.40 lb
(9622.23 kg.)
Though strawberry is the most widely known shortcake dessert, peach
shortcake, blueberry shortcake, chocolate shortcake and other similar
desserts are made along similar lines. It is also common to see recipes
where the shortcake itself is flavored coconut is a common addition.
Though today's shortcakes are usually of the biscuit or sponge-cake
variety, earlier American recipes called for pie crust in rounds or
broken-up pieces, which was a variety still being enjoyed in the 21st
century, particularly in the South. The first strawberry shortcake recipe
appeared in an English cookbook as early as 1588, according to Driscoll's
berry growers. By 1850, strawberry shortcake was a well-known biscuit and
fruit dessert served hot with butter and sweetened cream. In the United
States, strawberry shortcake parties were held as celebrations of the
summer fruit harvest. This tradition is upheld in some parts of the United
States on June 14, which is Strawberry Shortcake Day. It wasn't until 1910
that French pastry chefs replaced the topping with heavy whipped cream.
[The Hankster says] Cool, I get to test my architectural skills by seeing how tall I can build a mound of berries and whipped cream.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'Flag Day / National Flag Day'.
During National Flag Week in the U.S.A
- From Wikipedia (Flag Day (United States)):
'In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates
the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on June 14th
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially
established June 14 as Flag Day in August 1949, National Flag Day was
established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal
holiday. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, CHAPTER 1,
§ 110 is the official statute on Flag Day however, it is at the President's
discretion to officially proclaim the observance. On June 14, 1937,
Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state
holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdale. New York Statutes designate
the second Sunday in June as Flag Day, a state holiday.
The National Flag Day Foundation holds an annual observance for Flag Day on
the second Sunday in June. The program includes a ceremonial raising of the
national flag, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the singing of
the national anthem, a parade and other events.
The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore, Maryland birth place of
the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen his famous poem, has
celebrated Flag Day since the inception of a museum on the property in
1927. The annual celebration commemorates the Star-Spangled Banner and its
creator Mary Pickersgill.
The Betsy Ross House has long been the site of Philadelphia's observance of
Flag Day.
[The Hankster says] Show 'um if you got 'um. Get one if you don't.
* 'The 241th United States Army's Birthday'.
The US Army's birth on June 14 1775. See more in the history section for
1775.
* 'Honor America Days'.
From June 14 (Flag Day) through July 4th (Independence Day) in the U.S.A.
- From Wikipedia (Honor America Days):
'Honor America Days are a United States Federal Observance observed June 14
to July 4. According to 36 U.S.C. § 112, the 21 days from Flag Day through
Independence Day is a period to honor the United States. On these days,
U.S. Congress declares that there be public gatherings and activities
during that period at which the people of the United States can celebrate
and honor their country in an appropriate way.
* 'National Pop Goes the Weasel Day'.
Can't identify a specific event for the song/rhyme. Not surprising, since
the origin of the words to the song itself are obscure.
- From Wikipedia (Pop Goes the Weasel):
'“Pop! Goes the Weasel” is an English nursery rhyme and singing game. It
has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 5249. The jack-in-the-box children’s
toy often plays the melody.
The tune appears to have begun as dance music, to which words were later
added. A music sheet acquired by the British Library in 1853 describes a
dance, "Pop! Goes the Weasel", as "An Old English Dance, as
performed at Her Majesty's and The Nobilities Balls, with the Original
Music". It had a tune very similar to that used today but only the words
"Pop! Goes the Weasel". The dance became extremely popular, and
featured on stage as well as in dance-halls. By September of the same year
the title was being used as a scornful riposte and soon words were added to
an already well-known tune. The song is mentioned in November, 1855 in a
Church of England pamphlet where it is described as a universally popular
song played in the streets on barrel organs, but with "senseless
lyrics": the use of alternative, more wholesome words is suggested. The
following verse had been written by 1856 when it was quoted in a
performance at the Theatre Royal:
Up and down the City Road
In and out the Eagle
That’s the way the money goes
Pop! goes the weasel.
Note: In cloth making, the machine that wound the yarn was called the
weasel. Every 1,000 yards, the machine made a popping sound, thus "Pop!
goes the weasel." Another folk origin is the pop! of the hunter’s trap.
Additional verses related to both traditions are:
My mother taught me how to sew,
And how to thread the needle,
Every time my finger slips,
Pop! goes the weasel.
You may try to sew and sew,
And never make something regal,
So roll it up and let it go,
Pop! goes the weasel.
I went a-hunting in the woods,
It wasn’t very legal,
The dog and I were caught with the goods,
Pop! goes the weasel.
I said I didn’t hunt or sport,
The warden looked at my beagle,
He said to tell it to the court,
Pop! goes the weasel. '
'The song seems to have crossed the Atlantic in the 1850s where U.S.
newspapers soon afterwards call it "the latest English dance", and
the phrase "Pop! goes the weasel" soon took hold. The remaining words
were still unstable in Britain, and as a result some of the U.S. lyrics are
significantly different and may have an entirely different source, but use
the same tune'.
[The Hankster says] I still jump when the Jack 'n the Box pops open, even when I know it is coming. The words I remember were:
All around the Mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The the monkey thought it was all in fun
Pop! goes the weasel.
<> Awareness / Observances:o Health
* 'World Blood Donor Day'. A World Health Organization (WHO) observance.
- From Wikipedia:
'Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood
Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness
of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors
for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.
World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health
campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World
Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria
Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day.
<> Historical events on June 14
* 'In 1775, During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army is
established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United
States Army. . -
- From Wikipedia: 'The U.S. Army was founded on 14 June 1775, when the
Continental Congress authorized enlistment of riflemen to serve the United
Colonies for one year.
The 14 June date is when Congress adopted the American continental army
after reaching a consensus position in The Committee of the Whole. This
procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the
official journal entries for the day. The record indicates only that
Congress undertook to raise ten companies of riflemen, approved an
enlistment form for them, and appointed a committee (including Washington
and Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations for the government of the
army. The delegates' correspondence, diaries, and subsequent actions make
it clear that they really did much more. They also accepted responsibility
for the existing New England troops and forces requested for the defense of
the various points in New York. The former were believed to total 10,000
men the latter, both New Yorkers and Connecticut men, another 5,000.
* 'In 1777, 'The Stars and Stripes' is adopted by Congress as the Flag of
the United States. .
- From Wikipedia: 'On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed
the Flag Resolution which stated: Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen
United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white that the union
be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.
Flag Day is now observed on June 14 of each year. While scholars still
argue about this, tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in
June 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment.
The first official U.S. flag flown during battle was on August 3, 1777, at
Fort Schuyler (Fort Stanwix) during the Siege of Fort Stanwix.
Massachusetts reinforcements brought news of the adoption by Congress of
the official flag to Fort Schuyler. Soldiers cut up their shirts to make
the white stripes scarlet material to form the red was secured from red
flannel petticoats of officers' wives, while material for the blue union
was secured from Capt. Abraham Swartwout's blue cloth coat. A voucher is
extant that Capt. Swartwout of Dutchess County was paid by Congress for his
coat for the flag.
The 1777 resolution was most probably meant to define a naval ensign. In
the late 18th century, the notion of a national flag did not yet exist, or
was only nascent. The flag resolution appears between other resolutions
from the Marine Committee. On May 10, 1779, Secretary of the Board of War
Richard Peters expressed concern it is not yet settled what is the Standard
of the United States. However, the term, Standard, referred to a national
standard for the Army of the United States. Each regiment was to carry the
national standard in addition to its regimental standard. The national
standard was not a reference to the national or naval flag.
The Flag Resolution did not specify any particular arrangement, number of
points, nor orientation for the stars and the arrangement or whether the
flag had to have seven red stripes and six white ones or vice versa. The
appearance was up to the maker of the flag. Some flag makers arranged the
stars into one big star, in a circle or in rows and some replaced a state's
star with its initial. One arrangement features 13 five-pointed stars
arranged in a circle, with the stars arranged pointing outwards from the
circle (as opposed to up), the so-called Betsy Ross flag. This flag,
however, is more likely a flag used for celebrations of anniversaries of
the nation's birthday. Experts have dated the earliest known example of
this flag to be 1792 in a painting by John Trumbull.
Despite the 1777 resolution, the early years of American independence
featured many different flags. Most were individually crafted rather than
mass-produced. While there are many examples of 13-star arrangements, some
of those flags included blue stripes as well as red and white. Benjamin
Franklin and John Adams, in a letter dated October 3, 1778, to the King of
the Two Sicilies, described the American flag as consisting of 13 stripes,
alternately red, white, and blue, a small square in the upper angle, next
the flag staff, is a blue field, with 13 white stars, denoting a new
Constellation. John Paul Jones used a variety of 13-star flags on his U.S.
Navy ships including the well-documented 1779 flags of the Serapis and the
Alliance. The Serapis flag had three rows of eight-pointed stars with
stripes that were red, white, and blue. The flag for the Alliance, however,
had five rows of eight-pointed stars with 13 red and white stripes, and the
white stripes were on the outer edges. Both flags were documented by the
Dutch government in October 1779, making them two of the earliest known
flags of 13 stars.
The origin of the stars and stripes design has been muddled by a story
disseminated by the descendants of Betsy Ross. The apocryphal story credits
Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch handed to her by
George Washington. No evidence for this exists either in the diaries of
George Washington nor in the records of the Continental Congress. Indeed,
nearly a century passed before Ross' grandson, William Canby, first
publicly suggested the story in 1870. By her family's own admission, Ross
ran an upholstery business, and she had never made a flag as of the
supposed visit in June 1776. Furthermore, her grandson admitted that his
own search through the Journals of Congress and other official records
failed to find corroboration of his grandmother's story.
The family of Rebecca Young claimed that she sewed the first flag. Young's
daughter was Mary Pickersgill, who made the Star Spangled Banner Flag.
According to rumor, the Washington family coat of arms, shown in a
15th-century window of Selby Abbey, was the origin of the stars and
stripes.
* 'In 1789, The HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh
and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an
open boat. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty occurred
in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by Acting
Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their
captain Lieutenant William Bligh and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the
ship's open launch. The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on
Pitcairn Island. Bligh meanwhile completed a voyage of more than 3,500
nautical miles (6,500 km 4,000 mi) in the launch to reach safety, and began
the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.
Bounty had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport
breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. A five-month layover in
Tahiti, during which many of the men lived ashore and formed relationships
with native Polynesians, proved harmful to discipline. Relations between
Bligh and his crew deteriorated after he began handing out increasingly
harsh punishments, criticism and abuse, Christian being a particular
target. After three weeks back at sea, Christian and others forced Bligh
from the ship. Twenty-five men remained on board afterwards, including
loyalists held against their will and others for whom there was no room in
the launch.
Bligh reached England in April 1790, whereupon the Admiralty despatched HMS
Pandora to apprehend the mutineers. Fourteen were captured in Tahiti and
imprisoned on board Pandora, which then searched without success for
Christian's party that had hidden on Pitcairn Island. After turning back
toward England, Pandora ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef, with the
loss of 31 crew and 4 prisoners from Bounty. The 10 surviving detainees
reached England in June 1792 and were court martialled 4 were acquitted, 3
were pardoned, and 3 were hanged.
Christian's group remained undiscovered on Pitcairn until 1808, by which
time only one mutineer, John Adams, remained alive. Almost all his fellow
mutineers, including Christian, had been killed, either by each other or by
their Polynesian companions. No action was taken against Adams descendants
of the mutineers and their Tahitian consorts live on Pitcairn into the 21st
century. The generally accepted view of Bligh as an overbearing monster and
Christian as a tragic victim of circumstances, as depicted in well-known
film accounts, has been challenged by late 20th- and 21st-century
historians from whom a more sympathetic picture of Bligh has emerged'.
* 'In 1946, Nat King Cole records 'The Christmas Song' (Chestnuts Roasting
on an Open Fire, originally Merry Christmas to You) for the first time. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Christmas Song (commonly subtitled Chestnuts
Roasting on an Open Fire or, as it was originally subtitled, Merry
Christmas to You) is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells
and Mel Tormé.
The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's
behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second
recording was made later the same year utilizing a small string section,
this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R and B charts.
Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a
full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in
1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph
Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in
2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while the
original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974'.
* 'In 1951, 1st commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, enters service at Census
Bureau .
- From Wikipedia: 'The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was the
first commercial computer produced in the United States. It was designed
principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the
ENIAC. Design work was started by their company, Eckert–Mauchly Computer
Corporation, and was completed after the company had been acquired by
Remington Rand (which later became part of Sperry, now Unisys). In the
years before successor models of the UNIVAC I appeared, the machine was
simply known as the UNIVAC
The first Univac was accepted by the United States Census Bureau on March
31, 1951, and was dedicated on June 14 that year. The fifth machine (built
for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission) was used by CBS to predict the
result of the 1952 presidential election. With a sample of just 1% of the
voting population it famously predicted an Eisenhower landslide while the
conventional wisdom favored Stevenson.
The UNIVAC I was the first American computer designed at the outset for
business and administrative use with fast execution of relatively simple
arithmetic and data transport operations, as opposed to the complex
numerical calculations required of scientific computers. As such the UNIVAC
competed directly against punch-card machines, though the UNIVAC originally
could neither read nor punch cards. That shortcoming hindered sales to
companies concerned about the high cost of manually converting large
quantities of existing data stored on cards. This was corrected by adding
offline card processing equipment, the UNIVAC Card to Tape converter and
the UNIVAC Tape to Card converter, to transfer data between cards and
UNIVAC magnetic tapes. However, the early market share of the UNIVAC I was
lower than the Remington Rand Company wished. To promote sales, the company
joined with CBS to have UNIVAC I predict the result of the 1952
Presidential election. UNIVAC I predicted Eisenhower would have a landslide
victory over Adlai Stevenson whom the pollsters favored. The result was a
greater public awareness of computing technology'.
* 'In 2002, Near Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles
(121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the
Moon. .
- From Wikipedia: '2002 MN is the provisional name given to a 73-meter
Apollo near-Earth asteroid that on June 14, 2002 missed the Earth by only
120,000 km (75,000 mi), about one third the distance to the Moon (0.3 LD).
The close approach was second only to the Earth approach by the 10-meter
asteroid 1994 XM1. 2002 MN was discovered on June 17, 2002 three days after
closest approach. Its mass and relative velocity were in the same general
range as the object ascribed to the Tunguska event of 1908, which leveled
over 2,100 km2 (800 sq mi) of trees in Siberia. 2002 MN has an observation
arc of 53 days with an uncertainty parameter of 6. There is a cumulative 1
in 50,000 chance that the asteroid could impact Earth sometime after 2100
and a 1 in 50,000 chance of impact on 16 June 2100'.
No. 1 song
Top movie
Monthly holiday / awareness days in June
Food
Country Cooking Month
Dairy Alternatives Month
Georgia Blueberry Month
Dairy Month
National Candy Month
National Ice Tea Month
National Soul Food Month
National Steakhouse Month
Health
Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month
Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome Awareness Month (APS)
Beautiful in Your Skin Month
Cancer From The Sun Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Child Vision Awareness Month
Children's Awareness Month
Fireworks Safety Month
International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
International Men's Month
Mens Health Education and Awareness Month
Migraine Awareness Month
National Aphasia Awareness Month
National Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month
National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
National Safety Month
National Scoliosis Awareness Month
National Smile Month
Pharmacists Declare War on Alcoholism Month
Potty Training Awareness Month
Professional Wellness Month
PTSD Awareness Month
Student Safety Month
Vision Research Month
World Infertility Month
Animal / Pets
Adopt-A-Cat Month
Adopt A Shelter Cat Month
National Pet Preparedness Month
National Zoo and Aquarium Month
Other
African-American Music Appreciation Month
Audio Book Appreciation Month
Black Music Month
Caribbean-American Heritage Month
Effective Communications Month
Fashion in Colonial Virginia Month
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
Great Outdoors Month
International Surf Music Month
National Bathroom Reading Month
National Camping Month
National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
National Oceans Month
National Rivers Month
National Rose Month
Skyscraper Month
Sports America Kids Month
Women's Golf Month
June is:
June origin (from Wikipedia): Perhaps to honor goddess Juno, or from the Latin word iuniores (younger ones).
"is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is 1 June. In the Southern hemisphere, the
beginning of the meteorological winter is 1 June."
June 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