<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Pralines Day'.
- From Wikipedia (Praline):
'Praline is a form of confection containing at a minimum nuts and sugar
cream is a common third ingredient.
There are two main types:
French pralines, a firm combination of almonds and caramelized sugar.
American pralines, a softer, creamier combination of syrup and pecans,
hazelnuts or almonds with milk or cream, resembling fudge.
American cream-based pralines
French settlers brought the recipe to Louisiana, where both sugar cane and
pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs
substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and
thus created what became known throughout the American South as the
praline.
Pralines have a creamy consistency, similar to fudge. It is usually made by
combining sugar (often brown), butter, and cream or buttermilk in a pot on
medium-high heat, and stirring constantly, until most of the water has
evaporated and it has reached a thick texture with a brown color. Then it
is usually dropped by spoonfuls onto wax paper or a sheet of aluminum foil
greased with butter, and left to cool. .
[The Hankster says] A Louisiana sweet treat. One of the candies that are so sweet that I can only eat one at a time. When times up. I eat another.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'Fairy Day'.
A celebration of all things fairy. For example, Shakespear's Midsummer
Night's Dream.
- From Wikipedia (Fairy):
'A fairy (also fay, fae, fair folk from faery, faerie, "realm of the
fays") is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European
folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural,
or preternatural.
According to Thomas Keightley, the word "fairy" derives from the
Latin fata, and is from the Old French form faerie, describing
"enchantment". Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal
"fada". In old French romance, "fee" was a woman skilled in
magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs.
Faie became Modern English fay. Faierie became fairy, but with that
spelling now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people,
with the same meaning as fay. The word "fairy" was used to in
represent an illusion, or enchantment the land of the Faes collectively the
inhabitants thereof or an individual such as a fairy knight. Various
folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by names such as wee
folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk (Welsh tylwyth teg), etc.
- From Wikipedia (Midsummer):
'Midsummer, also known as St John's Day, is the period of time centred upon
the summer solstice, and more specifically the Northern European
celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day
between June 19 and June 25 and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary
between different cultures.
'...and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as
St John's Eve. These are commemorated by many Christian denominations. In
Sweden the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been
serious discussions to make the Midsummer's Eve into the National Day of
Sweden, instead of June 6. It may also be referred to as St. Hans Day.
- From Wikipedia (A Midsummer Night's Dream):
'A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare
between 1590 and 1597. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of
Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta. These include the adventures of
four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the
mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit
the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of
Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed
across the world.
[The Hankster says] It may be midsummer in Europe, but we are still running up the heat scale, here in Texas.
* 'Swim a Lap Day'.
[The Hankster says] Take advantage of your local swimming pool.
* 'Celebration of the Senses Day'.
[The Hankster says] Turn off the electronic media and experience the real world. Those roses need smelling.
* 'Museum Comes To Life Day'.
[The Hankster says] You can play with that term any way you like, but I have never been to a museum that didn't enrich my life.
<> Awareness / Observances:
o Health
* 'Wrong Trousers Day'. Wallace and Gromit’s Wrong Trousers Day in Great
Britain. A fund raiser for hospitalized infants and children.
- From Wikipedia (The Wrong Trousers):
'The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 stop-motion animated short film directed by
Nick Park at Aardman Animations, featuring his characters Wallace and
Gromit. It was his second half-hour short featuring the eccentric inventor
Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his silent but intelligent dog Gromit,
following 1989's A Grand Day Out, and preceding 1995's A Close Shave.
As in A Grand Day Out, the 30-minute film uses sight gags and exaggerated
physical comedy and quiet moments, as well as a few subtle film parodies.
The film premiered in the United States on 17 December 1993 and the United
Kingdom on 26 December 1993. It won the 1993 Academy Award for Best
Animated Short Film.
It was highly successful and inspired a charity fundraising day, known as
Wrong Trousers Day, one of several events organised by the charity Wallace
and Gromit's Children's Charity. Wrong Trousers Day falls on the last
Friday in June every year. During the day, participants wear the wrong
trousers to work or school etc. and donate a pound to help sick children in
hospitals and hospices.
* 'Red Nose Day'. In Australia.
- From Wikipedia (Comic Relief):
'In 1988, the Red Nose Day concept was adopted by the SIDS and Kids
organisation to help raise funds for research into sudden infant death
syndrome. Since then, Red Nose Day in Australia is held annually on the
last Friday of June.
An Australian version of Comic Relief, Comic Relief Australia, has also
been set up. It plans to divide the money raised between Australian causes
(at least 40%) and overseas charities largely in Asia Pacific (at least
40%).
Following a campaign encouraging people to buy articles such as red
wristbands, the first telethon-style event was held on 6 November 2005 on
the Seven Network. It followed the established format, with comedy
interspersed with examples of the sorts of charities to benefit. According
to its website, this raised over A$800,000. Another telethon was broadcast
on 27 November 2006 on Seven Network. The 2006 Comic Relief Show was held
under the title '50 Years of Laughs' celebrating 50 years of Television in
Australia. It was hosted by Colin Lane, and featured presenters such as
Amanda Keller, Mikey Robins, Ugly Dave Gray and Derryn Hinch interviewing
Kylie Mole.
o Animal and Pet:
* 'National Take Your Dog to Work Day'. Friday after Father’s Day.
- From Wikipedia:
'Take Your Dog to Work Day (sometimes abbreviated as TYDTWD) was first
started in 1996 in the United Kingdom and June 24, 1999 in the United
States. Created by Pet Sitters International this day celebrates the
companions dogs make and encourages adoptions from local shelters, rescue
groups and humane societies. The day offers a summer Friday for U.S.
employees to introduce their dog to co-workers PSI believes that dog-less
co-workers will be encouraged to adopt when they witness the human-animal
bond. There is also increasing participation in TYDTWD in Canada,
Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
<> Historical events on June 24
* 'In 1916,- Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a
million dollar contract. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979),
known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American motion
picture actress, writer, director and producer. She was co-founder of the
film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Known in her prime as America's Sweetheart and the girl with the curls,
Pickford was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a
significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of
the earliest stars to be billed under her name (film stars up until that
time were usually unbilled), and was one of the most popular actresses of
the 1910s and '20s, earning the nickname Queen of the Movies
Pickford was awarded the second ever Academy Award for Best Actress for her
first sound film role in Coquette (1929) and also received an honorary
Academy Award in 1976. In consideration of her contributions to American
cinema, the American Film Institute ranked Pickford as 24th in its 1999
list of greatest female stars of classic Hollywood Cinema.
Pickford starred in 52 features throughout her career. In 1916, Pickford
signed a new contract with Zukor that granted her full authority over
production of the films in which she starred, and a record-breaking salary
of $10,000 a week. Occasionally, she played a child, in films such as The
Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917),
Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) and Pollyanna (1920). Pickford's fans were devoted
to these Little Girl roles, but they were not typical of her career.
The arrival of sound was her undoing. Pickford underestimated the value of
adding sound to movies, claiming that adding sound to movies would be like
putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo";.
* 'In 1939, The country of Siam is renamed Thailand. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the
centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is
bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and
Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the
west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime
boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and
Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
In 1939, the name of the kingdom, ";Siam";, was changed to
";Thailand";.
* 'In 1949, The first television western, 'Hopalong Cassidy', is aired on
NBC starring William Boyd. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Hopalong Cassidy or Hop-along Cassidy is a fictional
cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a
series of popular short stories and many novels based on the character.
In his early writings, Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous,
and rough-talking. From 1935, the character—as played by movie actor
William Boyd in films adapted from Mulford's books—was transformed into a
clean-cut, sarsparilla-drinking hero. Sixty-six popular films appeared,
only a few of which relied on Mulford's stories. Mulford later revised and
republished his works to be more consistent with the character's screen
persona.
In the first film, Hopalong Cassidy (then spelled Hop-along) got his name
after being shot in the leg. Hopalong's drink of choice was the
nonalcoholic sarsaparilla.
As portrayed on the screen, white-haired Bill Hopalong Cassidy was usually
clad strikingly in black (including his hat, an exception to the western
film stereotype that only villains wore black hats). He was reserved and
well spoken, with a sense of fair play. He was often called upon to
intercede when dishonest characters took advantage of honest citizens.
Hoppy and his white horse, Topper, usually traveled through the west with
two companions—one young and trouble-prone with a weakness for damsels in
distress, the other older, comically awkward and outspoken.
Boyd resumed production in 1946, on lower budgets, and continued through
1948, when B westerns were being phased out. Boyd thought Hopalong Cassidy
might have a future in television, spent $350,000 to obtain the rights to
his old films, and approached the fledgling NBC network. The initial
broadcasts were so successful that NBC could not wait for a television
series to be produced and edited the feature films to broadcast length. On
June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television
series.
The success of the television series made Boyd a star. The Mutual
Broadcasting System began broadcasting a radio version, with Andy Clyde
(later George MacMichael on Walter Brennan's ABC sitcom The Real McCoys) as
the sidekick, in January 1950 at the end of September, the show moved to
CBS Radio, where it ran until 1952.
* 'In 1974, Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' was released. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Sweet Home Alabama is a song by Southern rock band
Lynyrd Skynyrd that first appeared in 1974 on their second album, Second
Helping. It reached #8 on the US charts in 1974 and was the band's second
hit single. The song was written in reply to Southern Man and Alabama by
Neil Young Young is noted by name in the song's lyrics.
* 'In 2012, 'Lonesome George', the last known individual of Chelonoidis
nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Lonesome George (c. 1910 – June 24, 2012) was a male
Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii) and the last known
individual of the subspecies. In his last years, he was known as the rarest
creature in the world. George serves as a potent symbol for conservation
efforts in the Galápagos Islands and throughout the world.
George was first seen on the island of Pinta on 1 November 1971 by
Hungarian malacologist József Vágvölgyi. The island's vegetation had been
devastated by introduced feral goats, and the indigenous C. n. abingdonii
population had been reduced to a single individual. It is thought that he
was named after a character played by American actor George Gobel.
Relocated for his safety to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa
Cruz Island, it was hoped that more Pinta tortoises would be found, either
on Pinta or in one of the world’s zoos, similar to the discovery of the
Espańola male in San Diego. George was then penned with two females of a
different subspecies. Although eggs were produced, none hatched.
Unfortunately, no other Pinta tortoises were found. The Pinta tortoise was
pronounced functionally extinct as George was in captivity.
On 24 June 2012, at 8:00 am local time, Edwin Naula, Director of the
Galápagos National Park, announced that Lonesome George had been found dead
by his caretaker of 40 years, Fausto Llerena. Naula suspects that the cause
of death was heart failure consistent with the end of the natural life
cycle of a tortoise. A necropsy confirmed that he died of old age The body
of Lonesome George was frozen and shipped to the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City to be preserved by taxidermists. The preservation
work was carried out by the museum's taxidermist George Dante, with input
from scientists.
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,
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From this Wikipedia article: More
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