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Today is July 8 2016

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   I.
Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday
  • National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Chocolate-covered almonds): 'In 1742, William Parks printed a copy of Eliza Smith's cookbook, The Compleat Housewife. "Chocolate almonds" was the only chocolate recipe it contained despite the popularity of chocolate among the wealthy at the time.

    Many places on the internet claim that July 8 is (American) National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day, while November 7 is National Bitter Chocolate with Almonds Day'.
Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Collector Car Appreciation Day: More
    Vy the SEMA Action Network (SAN) since 2009 July 8 2016 this year.
    - From Wikipedia: 'Collector Car Appreciation Day (CCAD) is an annual celebration to raise awareness of the role automotive restoration and collection plays in American society. The day was first recognized on July 9, 2010 due, in part, to U.S. Senate resolution S. Res 513, sponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Richard Burr (R-NC).

    Hundreds of events were staged nationwide to celebrate the first CCAD. Thousands attended events ranging from car cruises and shows to small-business open houses and “drive your car to work” displays. The effort was organized by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and its Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO) and Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) Councils, acknowledged the importance of the automobile in American culture as the inspiration for much music, literature, photography, cinema, fashion and other artistic pursuits.

    The SEMA Action Network (SAN), SEMA’s grassroots enthusiast network maintains a list of scheduled events to commemorate Collector Car Appreciation Day'.
  • SCUD Day: More
    Self improvement day, by Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama.
  • Math 2.0 Day: More
    Since 2009. Have fun with math.
Awareness / Observance Days on: July 8 None
Events in the past on: July 8
  • In 1776, The Liberty Bell tolls to announce the Declaration of Independence, ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
    From Wikipedia: The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years, the Liberty Bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations.

    'No immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence, and thus the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, at least not for any reason related to that vote. Bells were rung to mark th reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung. After American independence was secured, it fell into relative obscurity for some years. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the "Liberty Bell."

    The bell acquired its distinctive large crack sometime in the early 19th century—a widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. The bell became famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged bell-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. Despite the fact that the bell did not ring for independence on that July 4, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia, which owns the bell, allowed it to go to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The bell attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last such journey occurred in 1915, after which the city refused further requests.

    After World War II, the city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the bell, while retaining ownership. The bell was used as a symbol of freedom during the Cold War and was a popular site for protests in the 1960s. It was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a nearby glass pavilion on Independence Mall in 1976, and then to the larger Liberty Bell Center adjacent to the pavilion in 2003. The bell has been featured on coins and stamps, and its name and image have been widely used by corporations'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1800, Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox
    From Wikipedia: Benjamin Waterhouse (March 4, 1754, Newport, Rhode Island – October 2, 1846, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a physician, co-founder and professor of Harvard Medical School. He is most well known for being the first doctor to test the smallpox vaccine in the United States, which he carried out on his own family.

    'After returning to the United States in 1782, Waterhouse joined the faculty of the new medical school at Harvard as one of three professors, including John Warren and Aaron Dexter, in the area of Theory and Practice of Physic. He was also elected that same year as a Fellow at Rhode Island College (now "Brown University"). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1795. In 1814, Waterhouse resigned his Harvard professorship after opposing a plan to establish the Medical School in Boston and attempting to found a rival medical school.

    Waterhouse first wrote to then-President John Adams, his former roommate, hoping to spread the word about cowpox vaccinations preventing smallpox. When he found President Adams unresponsive, he wrote a letter to Vice President Thomas Jefferson entitled "A prospect of exterminating the smallpox."

    Jefferson replied with a letter dated Christmas Day, 1800, and soon offered his support. Once Jefferson became President the following year, Waterhouse introduced Edward Jenner's method of cowpox vaccination in the United States. He attempted to maintain a monopoly over the cowpox vaccine, for both financial reasons and to protect the vaccine from incompetent or fraudulent physicians. Waterhouse made the first vaccinations in the United States on four of his children. He commissioned a controlled experiment at the Boston Board of Health in which 19 vaccinated and 2 unvaccinated boys were exposed to the smallpox virus. The vaccinated boys demonstrated immunity and the 2 unvaccinated boys succumbed to the disease'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1889, The Wall Street Journal publishes its first issue.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Wall Street Journal is a business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal is published six days a week by Dow Jones and Company, a division of News Corp, along with its Asian and European editions. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format.

    The Wall Street Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Journal had a circulation of about 2.4 million copies (including nearly 900,000 digital subscriptions) as of March 2013, compared with USA Today's 1.7 million.

    The newspaper has won 39 Pulitzer Prizes through 2015 and derives its name from Wall Street in the heart of the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The Journal has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser.

    The first products of Dow Jones and Company, the publisher of the Journal, were brief news bulletins hand-delivered throughout the day to traders at the stock exchange in the early 1880s. They were later aggregated in a printed daily summary called the Customers' Afternoon Letter. Reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser converted this into The Wall Street Journal, which was published for the first time on July 8, 1889, and began delivery of the Dow Jones News Service via telegraph. In 1896, The "Dow Jones Industrial Average" was officially launched. It was the first of several indices of stock and bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1899, the Journal's Review and Outlook column, which still runs today, appeared for the first time, initially written by Charles Dow'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Constructed by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985, Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J from 3 to 7 October 1985.

    Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit. Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011.

    By the end of its final mission, Atlantis had orbited the Earth a total of 4,848 times, traveling nearly 126,000,000 mi (203,000,000 km) or more than 525 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

    Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):


* 'National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day'. - From Wikipedia (Chocolate-covered almonds): 'In 1742, William Parks printed a copy of Eliza Smith's cookbook, The Compleat Housewife. Chocolate almonds was the only chocolate recipe it contained despite the popularity of chocolate among the wealthy at the time.

Many places on the internet claim that July 8 is (American) National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day, while November 7 is National Bitter Chocolate with Almonds Day'.
[The Hankster says] Mounds of chocolate on almonds. Sounds like an idea for a candy bar.


<> Other holidays / celebrations


* 'Collector Car Appreciation Day'. Vy the SEMA Action Network (SAN) since 2009 July 8 2016 this year. . - From Wikipedia: 'Collector Car Appreciation Day (CCAD) is an annual celebration to raise awareness of the role automotive restoration and collection plays in American society. The day was first recognized on July 9, 2010 due, in part, to U.S. Senate resolution S. Res 513, sponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Richard Burr (R-NC).

Hundreds of events were staged nationwide to celebrate the first CCAD. Thousands attended events ranging from car cruises and shows to small-business open houses and “drive your car to work” displays. The effort was organized by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and its Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO) and Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) Councils, acknowledged the importance of the automobile in American culture as the inspiration for much music, literature, photography, cinema, fashion and other artistic pursuits.

The SEMA Action Network (SAN), SEMA’s grassroots enthusiast network maintains a list of scheduled events to commemorate Collector Car Appreciation Day'.
[The Hankster says] I appreciated my car any time it decided to run.


* 'SCUD Day'. Self improvement day, by Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama.
[The Hankster says] No, it is not Duck and Cover Day. Drama? what is that. My life is so uneventful, that the hectic day of a dried stick is more eventful


* 'Math 2.0 Day'. Since 2009. Have fun with math.
[The Hankster says] I can remember when it had just turned 1, but math and I have always been just casual acquaintances.


<> Awareness / Observances:None.


<> Historical events on July 8


* 'In 1776, The Liberty Bell tolls to announce the Declaration of Independence, ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. . - From Wikipedia: The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752, and was cast with the lettering Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof, a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years, the Liberty Bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations.

'No immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence, and thus the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, at least not for any reason related to that vote. Bells were rung to mark th reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung. After American independence was secured, it fell into relative obscurity for some years. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the Liberty Bell.

The bell acquired its distinctive large crack sometime in the early 19th century—a widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. The bell became famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged bell-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. Despite the fact that the bell did not ring for independence on that July 4, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia, which owns the bell, allowed it to go to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The bell attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last such journey occurred in 1915, after which the city refused further requests.

After World War II, the city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the bell, while retaining ownership. The bell was used as a symbol of freedom during the Cold War and was a popular site for protests in the 1960s. It was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a nearby glass pavilion on Independence Mall in 1976, and then to the larger Liberty Bell Center adjacent to the pavilion in 2003. The bell has been featured on coins and stamps, and its name and image have been widely used by corporations'.


* 'In 1800, Dr Benjamin Waterhouse gives 1st cowpox vaccination in the US to his son to prevent smallpox . - From Wikipedia: Benjamin Waterhouse (March 4, 1754, Newport, Rhode Island – October 2, 1846, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a physician, co-founder and professor of Harvard Medical School. He is most well known for being the first doctor to test the smallpox vaccine in the United States, which he carried out on his own family.

'After returning to the United States in 1782, Waterhouse joined the faculty of the new medical school at Harvard as one of three professors, including John Warren and Aaron Dexter, in the area of Theory and Practice of Physic. He was also elected that same year as a Fellow at Rhode Island College (now Brown University). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1795. In 1814, Waterhouse resigned his Harvard professorship after opposing a plan to establish the Medical School in Boston and attempting to found a rival medical school.

Waterhouse first wrote to then-President John Adams, his former roommate, hoping to spread the word about cowpox vaccinations preventing smallpox. When he found President Adams unresponsive, he wrote a letter to Vice President Thomas Jefferson entitled A prospect of exterminating the smallpox.

Jefferson replied with a letter dated Christmas Day, 1800, and soon offered his support. Once Jefferson became President the following year, Waterhouse introduced Edward Jenner's method of cowpox vaccination in the United States. He attempted to maintain a monopoly over the cowpox vaccine, for both financial reasons and to protect the vaccine from incompetent or fraudulent physicians. Waterhouse made the first vaccinations in the United States on four of his children. He commissioned a controlled experiment at the Boston Board of Health in which 19 vaccinated and 2 unvaccinated boys were exposed to the smallpox virus. The vaccinated boys demonstrated immunity and the 2 unvaccinated boys succumbed to the disease'.


* 'In 1889, The Wall Street Journal publishes its first issue. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Wall Street Journal is a business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal is published six days a week by Dow Jones and Company, a division of News Corp, along with its Asian and European editions. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format.

The Wall Street Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Journal had a circulation of about 2.4 million copies (including nearly 900,000 digital subscriptions) as of March 2013, compared with USA Today's 1.7 million.

The newspaper has won 39 Pulitzer Prizes through 2015 and derives its name from Wall Street in the heart of the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The Journal has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser.

The first products of Dow Jones and Company, the publisher of the Journal, were brief news bulletins hand-delivered throughout the day to traders at the stock exchange in the early 1880s. They were later aggregated in a printed daily summary called the Customers' Afternoon Letter. Reporters Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser converted this into The Wall Street Journal, which was published for the first time on July 8, 1889, and began delivery of the Dow Jones News Service via telegraph. In 1896, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was officially launched. It was the first of several indices of stock and bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1899, the Journal's Review and Outlook column, which still runs today, appeared for the first time, initially written by Charles Dow'.


* 'In 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Constructed by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985, Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J from 3 to 7 October 1985.

Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit. Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011.

By the end of its final mission, Atlantis had orbited the Earth a total of 4,848 times, traveling nearly 126,000,000 mi (203,000,000 km) or more than 525 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated July 3 2016 next July 9 2016

No. 1 song

  • Paperback Writer - The Beatles
    - On YouTube: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    'Strangers in the Night' has been displaced by 'Paperback Writer', which will hold the no. 1 spot until July 9 1966, when 'Hanky Panky - Tommy James and the Shonde', takes over.
    From Wikipedia: '"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by the Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single. The single went to the number one spot in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. On the US Billboard Hot 100, the song was at number one for two non-consecutive weeks, being interrupted by Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night".

    "Paperback Writer" was the last new song by the Beatles to be featured on their final tour in 1966.

Top movie

  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    - At Wikipedia:  More
    - On IMDb: More
    - On YouTube (trailer): More
    Having displaced 'Around the World Under the Sea', it will be there until the weekend box office of July 10 1966 when, 'Three on a Couch', takes over.- From Wikipedia: 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American black comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as George, with George Segal as Nick and Sandy Dennis as Honey.

    The film was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mike Nichols, and is one of only two films to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards (the other being Cimarron). All of the film's four main actors were nominated in their respective acting categories.

    The film won five awards, including a second Academy Award for Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Sandy Dennis. However, the film lost to A Man for All Seasons for the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay awards, and both Richard Burton and George Segal failed to win in their categories.

    In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"'.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): July 8
   V.
This month July 2016 (updated once a month - last updated - Jul 8 2016)

Monthly holiday / awareness days in July

Food
National Blueberries Month
National Grilling Month
National Honey Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Horseradish Month
National Hot Dog Month
Wheat Month

Health
Alopecia Month for Women
Bereaved Parents Awareness Month
Eye Injury Prevention Month
Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness Month
International Group B Strep Awareness Month
International Women with Alopecia Month
International Zine Month
Juvenille Arthritis Awareness Month
National Black Family Month
National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month
National Cord Blood Awareness Month
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
Social Wellness Month

Animal / Pets
National 'Doghouse Repairs' Month

Other
Bioterrorism/Disaster Education and Awareness Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Family Golf Month
Independent Retailer Month
National Child-Centered Divorce Month
National Make A Difference to Children Month
National Parks and Recreation Month
National Vacation Rental Month
Smart Irrigation Month
Tour de France Month
Women's Motorcycle Month


July is:

July origin (from Wikipedia): Named by the Roman Senate in honor of Julius Caesar.
"is the seventh month of the year (between June and August) in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honor of the Roman general, Julius Caesar, it being the month of his birth. Prior to that, it was called Quintilis. It is, on average, the warmest month in most of the Northern hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer) and the coldest month in much of the Southern hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter). The second half of the year commences in July. In the Southern hemisphere, July is the seasonal equivalent of January in the Northern hemisphere."

July at Wikipedia: More

  VI.
TV fifty years ago 1966 (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2016)

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

 VII.
Best selling books fifty years ago (updated yearly - last updated Jan. 1 2016)

Best selling books of 1966 More

VIII.
Fun (Last link added October 1 2014, but content on each site may change daily)
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
  • NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
  • Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
  • NASA TV: (video feed) More
    NASA TV schedule: More
  • Public Domain eBook Links

    Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

  • Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  • Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
    Home page: More
    RSS: More
  IX.
Other Holiday Sites (Last link added October 1 2014. Link content changes yearly)

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.


US Government Holidays

  • 2016 Postal Holidays More
  • 2016 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

  • List of holidays by country More
  • Holidays and Observances around the World More
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