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Today is July 19 2016

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   I.
Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday
  • National Raspberry Cake Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Raspberry): 'The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves.

    Raspberries are perennial with woody stems.

    The aggregate fruit structure contributes to raspberry's nutritional value, as it increases the proportion of dietary fiber, which is among the highest known in whole foods, up to 6% fiber per total weight. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, with 26 mg per 100 g serving (32% Daily Value), manganese (32% Daily Value) and dietary fiber (26% Daily Value). Raspberries are a low-glycemic index food, with total sugar content of only 4% and no starch.

    Raspberries contain anthocyanin pigments, ellagic acid (from ellagotannins, see for instance the polyphenol ellagitannin), quercetin, gallic acid, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Yellow raspberries and others with pale-colored fruits are lower in anthocyanins. Both yellow and red raspberries contain carotenoids, mostly lutein esters, but these are masked by anthocyanins in red raspberries'.
Other celebrations/observances today:
  • National Flitch Day: More
    There is some controversy on the date, origin and there is both a National Flitch Day and a Flitch Day. It seems to be on June 19, July 19 or even every four years. Today a flitch ob bacon, is called a or slab or side of bacon.
    Regardless of the date, the theme is the same.
    - From Wikipedia (Flitch of bacon custom): 'The awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples who can swear to not having regretted their marriage for a year and a day is an old tradition, the remnants of which still survive in some pockets in England. The tradition was maintained at Wychnoure until at least the eighteenth century but now remains only as a carving over the fireplace. At Little Dunmow in Essex a similar ceremony also survived into the eighteenth century. The tradition can be traced back to at least the fourteenth century at both sites and the Dunmow flitch is referred to in Chaucer. The awarding of a flitch at both sites seems to have been an exceedingly rare event.

    The Dunmow tradition was revived in Victorian times, largely inspired by a book (The Flitch of Bacon) by William Harrison Ainsworth. Flitch trials are still held in modern times at Great Dunmow. A counsel is employed to cross-examine the nominated couples and attempt to show they are undeserving of the award.

    There is evidence that the flitch of bacon tradition existed outside Britain in mainland Europe and some would push its origins back as far as Saxon times. Historian Hélène Adeline Guerber associates the origins of the flitch of bacon ceremony with the Yule feast of Norse tradition in which boar meat is eaten in honour of the god Freyr'.
Awareness / Observance Days on: July 19 None.
Events in the past on: July 19
  • In 1843, Brunel's steamship, the SS Great Britain is launched. It became the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and also becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.
    From Wikipedia: 'SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship, which was advanced for her time. She was the longest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic, which she did in 1845, in the time of 14 days.

    The ship is 322 ft (98 m) in length and has a 3,400-ton displacement. She was powered by two inclined 2 cylinder engines of the direct-acting type, with twin 88 in (220 cm) bore, 6-foot (1.8 m) stroke cylinders. She was also provided with secondary sail power. The four decks provided accommodation for a crew of 120, plus 360 passengers who were provided with cabins and dining and promenade saloons.

    When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 having spent all their funds re-floating the ship after she was run aground at Dundrum Bay after a navigational error. In 1852 she was sold for salvage and repaired. Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia from 1852 until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937.

    In 1970, following a cash donation by Sir Jack Hayward that paid for the vessel to be towed back to the UK, Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was built. Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, she is an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour, with between 150,000 and 200,000 visitors annually'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1941, The first US Army flying school for black cadets was dedicated at Moton Field in Tuskegee Ala. Their fame mostly resides as American bomber escort fighter in there P-51 Mustangs. The tail of the plane had a red stripe on the tail. The German fighter pilots branded them 'The Red Tailed Devils', due to their tenacity in dog fights.
    From Wikipedia: 'Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African American airmen in World War II. Moton Field was the site of primary flight training for the pioneering pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, and is now operated by the National Park Service to interpret their history and achievements. It was constructed in 1941 as a new training base. The field was named after former Tuskegee Institute principal Robert Russa Moton, who died the previous year.

    Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

    "Tuskegee Airmen" refers to all who were involved in the so-called "Tuskegee Experiment," the Army Air Corps program to train African Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

    The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a climate for year-round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation during World War II.

    The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1954, Elvis Presley's first single was released by Sun Records. It was 'That's All Right' (recorded July 5) b/w 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'.
    From Wikipedia: '"That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. It is best known as the first single recorded and released by Elvis Presley. Presley's version was recorded on July 5, 1954, and released on July 19, 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side. It is #113 on the 2010 Rolling Stone magazine list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

    In July 2004, exactly 50 years after its first issuing, the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where it debuted and peaked at Number 3.

    The song was written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and originally recorded by him in Chicago on September 6, 1946, as "That's All Right". Some of the lyrics are traditional blues verses first recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926. Crudup's recording was released as a single on RCA Victor 20-2205, but was less successful than some of his previous recordings. At the same session, he recorded a virtually identical tune with different lyrics, "I Don't Know It", which was also released as a single (RCA Victor 20-2307). In early March 1949, the song was rereleased under the title, "That's All Right, Mama" (RCA Victor 50-0000), which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on their new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.

    Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954. Its catalogue number was Sun 209. The label reads "That's All Right" (omitting "Mama" from the original title), and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill. Arthur Crudup was credited as the composer on the label of Presley's single, but Crudup had to wait until the 1960s when he received an estimated $60,000 in back royalties. Crudup used lines in his song that had been present in earlier blues recordings, including Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 song "That Black Snake Moan".

    A country music version by Marty Robbins peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1955'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1963, Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention. Yuri Gagarin (Russian) was in April 12 1961. American, Alan Shepard was May 5 1961.
    From Wikipedia: 'Joseph Albert "Joe" Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) flew the world's first two spaceplane flights in 1963, thereby becoming the United States' seventh astronaut. Walker was a Captain in the United States Air Force, an American World War II pilot, an experimental physicist, a NASA test pilot, and a member of the U.S. Air Force Man In Space Soonest spaceflight program. His two X-15 experimental rocket aircraft flights in 1963 that exceeded the Kármán line – the altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles), generally considered to mark the threshold of outer space – qualified him as an astronaut under the rules of the U.S. Air Force and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

    In 1958, Walker was one of the pilots selected for the U.S. Air Force's Man In Space Soonest (MISS) project, but that project never came to fruition. That same year, NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and in 1960, Walker became the first NASA pilot to fly the X-15, and the second X-15 pilot, following Scott Crossfield, the manufacturer's test pilot. On his first X-15 flight, Walker did not realize how much power its rocket engines had, and he was crushed backward into the pilot's seat, screaming, "Oh, my God!". Then, a flight controller jokingly replied "Yes? You called?" Walker would go on to fly the X-15 24 times, including the only two flights that exceeded 100 kilometres (62 miles) in altitude, Flight 90 (on 19 July 1963: 106 km (66 mi)) and Flight 91 (on 22 August 1963: 108 km (67 mi)). Walker was the first American civilian to make any spaceflight, and the second civilian overall, preceded only by the Soviet Union's cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova one month earlier. Flights 90 and 91 made Walker the first human to make multiple spaceflights.

    Walker flew at the fastest speed in the X-15A-1: 4,104 mph (6,605 km/h) (Mach 5.92) during a flight on 27 June 1962 (the fastest flight in any of the three X-15s was about 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h) (Mach 6.7) flown by William J. Knight in 1967)'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1969, Apollo 11 (launched July 16) goes into Moon orbit.
    From Wikipedia: 'A Saturn V launched Apollo 11 from Launch Pad 39A, part of the Launch Complex 39 site at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 a.m. EDT local time). It entered Earth orbit, at an altitude of 100.4 nautical miles (185.9 km) by 98.9 nautical miles (183.2 km), twelve minutes later. After one and a half orbits, the S-IVB third-stage engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later the command/service module pair separated from this last remaining Saturn V stage and docked with the Lunar Module still nestled in the Lunar Module Adaptor. After the Lunar Module was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the third stage booster flew on a trajectory past the Moon and into orbit around the Sun.

    On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis) about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the crater Sabine D (0.67408N, 23.47297E). The landing site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers along with the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft and unlikely to present major landing or extravehicular activity (EVA) challenges'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1980, Billy Joel earned his first gold record with "It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me".
    From Wikipedia: '"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song is an examination of the themes of a musician's degrading fame and public tastes that were expressed in his 1975 hit "The Entertainer".

    The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1983, The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published. As computer rendering of such scans was a while off, the used CAD to render the image.
    From Wikipedia: 'Michael W. Vannier (born January 12, 1949) is a radiologist in Chicago.

    On July 19, 1983, M. Vannier (Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis) and his co-workers J. Marsh (Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Deformities Institute, St. Louis Children's Hospital) and J. Warren (McDonnell Aircraft Company) published the first three-dimensional reconstruction of single CT slices of the human head. This was a quantum leap for further three-dimensional imaging and surgical planning in Oral and maxillofacial surgery, Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology'.
    - 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 Raspberry Cake Day'. - From Wikipedia (Raspberry): 'The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus the name also applies to these plants themselves.

Raspberries are perennial with woody stems.

The aggregate fruit structure contributes to raspberry's nutritional value, as it increases the proportion of dietary fiber, which is among the highest known in whole foods, up to 6% fiber per total weight. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, with 26 mg per 100 g serving (32% Daily Value), manganese (32% Daily Value) and dietary fiber (26% Daily Value). Raspberries are a low-glycemic index food, with total sugar content of only 4% and no starch.

Raspberries contain anthocyanin pigments, ellagic acid (from ellagotannins, see for instance the polyphenol ellagitannin), quercetin, gallic acid, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Yellow raspberries and others with pale-colored fruits are lower in anthocyanins. Both yellow and red raspberries contain carotenoids, mostly lutein esters, but these are masked by anthocyanins in red raspberries'.
[The Hankster says] Can't get any better, except if it was sitting on top a raspberry pie.


<> Other holidays / celebrations


* 'National Flitch Day'. There is some controversy on the date, origin and there is both a National Flitch Day and a Flitch Day. It seems to be on June 19, July 19 or even every four years. Today a flitch ob bacon, is called a or slab or side of bacon. Regardless of the date, the theme is the same. - From Wikipedia (Flitch of bacon custom): 'The awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples who can swear to not having regretted their marriage for a year and a day is an old tradition, the remnants of which still survive in some pockets in England. The tradition was maintained at Wychnoure until at least the eighteenth century but now remains only as a carving over the fireplace. At Little Dunmow in Essex a similar ceremony also survived into the eighteenth century. The tradition can be traced back to at least the fourteenth century at both sites and the Dunmow flitch is referred to in Chaucer. The awarding of a flitch at both sites seems to have been an exceedingly rare event.

The Dunmow tradition was revived in Victorian times, largely inspired by a book (The Flitch of Bacon) by William Harrison Ainsworth. Flitch trials are still held in modern times at Great Dunmow. A counsel is employed to cross-examine the nominated couples and attempt to show they are undeserving of the award.

There is evidence that the flitch of bacon tradition existed outside Britain in mainland Europe and some would push its origins back as far as Saxon times. Historian Hélène Adeline Guerber associates the origins of the flitch of bacon ceremony with the Yule feast of Norse tradition in which boar meat is eaten in honour of the god Freyr'.
[The Hankster says] It was kinda like our modern day newly wed type TV game shows. Probably caused more breakups than couples it rewarded.


<> Awareness / Observances:


<> Historical events on July 19


* 'In 1843, Brunel's steamship, the SS Great Britain is launched. It became the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull or screw propeller and also becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world. . - From Wikipedia: 'SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship, which was advanced for her time. She was the longest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic, which she did in 1845, in the time of 14 days.

The ship is 322 ft (98 m) in length and has a 3,400-ton displacement. She was powered by two inclined 2 cylinder engines of the direct-acting type, with twin 88 in (220 cm) bore, 6-foot (1.8 m) stroke cylinders. She was also provided with secondary sail power. The four decks provided accommodation for a crew of 120, plus 360 passengers who were provided with cabins and dining and promenade saloons.

When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 having spent all their funds re-floating the ship after she was run aground at Dundrum Bay after a navigational error. In 1852 she was sold for salvage and repaired. Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia from 1852 until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937.

In 1970, following a cash donation by Sir Jack Hayward that paid for the vessel to be towed back to the UK, Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was built. Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, she is an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour, with between 150,000 and 200,000 visitors annually'.


* 'In 1941, The first US Army flying school for black cadets was dedicated at Moton Field in Tuskegee Ala. Their fame mostly resides as American bomber escort fighter in there P-51 Mustangs. The tail of the plane had a red stripe on the tail. The German fighter pilots branded them 'The Red Tailed Devils', due to their tenacity in dog fights. . - From Wikipedia: 'Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, commemorates the contributions of African American airmen in World War II. Moton Field was the site of primary flight training for the pioneering pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, and is now operated by the National Park Service to interpret their history and achievements. It was constructed in 1941 as a new training base. The field was named after former Tuskegee Institute principal Robert Russa Moton, who died the previous year.

Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Tuskegee Airmen refers to all who were involved in the so-called Tuskegee Experiment, the Army Air Corps program to train African Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a climate for year-round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation during World War II.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military'.


* 'In 1954, Elvis Presley's first single was released by Sun Records. It was 'That's All Right' (recorded July 5) b/w 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'. . - From Wikipedia: 'That's All Right is a song written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. It is best known as the first single recorded and released by Elvis Presley. Presley's version was recorded on July 5, 1954, and released on July 19, 1954 with Blue Moon of Kentucky as the B-side. It is #113 on the 2010 Rolling Stone magazine list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

In July 2004, exactly 50 years after its first issuing, the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom, where it debuted and peaked at Number 3.

The song was written by Arthur Big Boy Crudup, and originally recorded by him in Chicago on September 6, 1946, as That's All Right Some of the lyrics are traditional blues verses first recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926. Crudup's recording was released as a single on RCA Victor 20-2205, but was less successful than some of his previous recordings. At the same session, he recorded a virtually identical tune with different lyrics, I Don't Know It, which was also released as a single (RCA Victor 20-2307). In early March 1949, the song was rereleased under the title, That's All Right, Mama (RCA Victor 50-0000), which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and blues record on their new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.

Elvis Presley's version was recorded in July 1954. Its catalogue number was Sun 209. The label reads That's All Right (omitting Mama from the original title), and names the performers as Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill. Arthur Crudup was credited as the composer on the label of Presley's single, but Crudup had to wait until the 1960s when he received an estimated $60,000 in back royalties. Crudup used lines in his song that had been present in earlier blues recordings, including Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 song That Black Snake Moan

A country music version by Marty Robbins peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1955'.


* 'In 1963, Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention. Yuri Gagarin (Russian) was in April 12 1961. American, Alan Shepard was May 5 1961. . - From Wikipedia: 'Joseph Albert Joe Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) flew the world's first two spaceplane flights in 1963, thereby becoming the United States' seventh astronaut. Walker was a Captain in the United States Air Force, an American World War II pilot, an experimental physicist, a NASA test pilot, and a member of the U.S. Air Force Man In Space Soonest spaceflight program. His two X-15 experimental rocket aircraft flights in 1963 that exceeded the Kármán line – the altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles), generally considered to mark the threshold of outer space – qualified him as an astronaut under the rules of the U.S. Air Force and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

In 1958, Walker was one of the pilots selected for the U.S. Air Force's Man In Space Soonest (MISS) project, but that project never came to fruition. That same year, NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and in 1960, Walker became the first NASA pilot to fly the X-15, and the second X-15 pilot, following Scott Crossfield, the manufacturer's test pilot. On his first X-15 flight, Walker did not realize how much power its rocket engines had, and he was crushed backward into the pilot's seat, screaming, Oh, my God! Then, a flight controller jokingly replied Yes? You called? Walker would go on to fly the X-15 24 times, including the only two flights that exceeded 100 kilometres (62 miles) in altitude, Flight 90 (on 19 July 1963: 106 km (66 mi)) and Flight 91 (on 22 August 1963: 108 km (67 mi)). Walker was the first American civilian to make any spaceflight, and the second civilian overall, preceded only by the Soviet Union's cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova one month earlier. Flights 90 and 91 made Walker the first human to make multiple spaceflights.

Walker flew at the fastest speed in the X-15A-1: 4,104 mph (6,605 km/h) (Mach 5.92) during a flight on 27 June 1962 (the fastest flight in any of the three X-15s was about 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h) (Mach 6.7) flown by William J. Knight in 1967)'.


* 'In 1969, Apollo 11 (launched July 16) goes into Moon orbit. - From Wikipedia: 'A Saturn V launched Apollo 11 from Launch Pad 39A, part of the Launch Complex 39 site at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 a.m. EDT local time). It entered Earth orbit, at an altitude of 100.4 nautical miles (185.9 km) by 98.9 nautical miles (183.2 km), twelve minutes later. After one and a half orbits, the S-IVB third-stage engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later the command/service module pair separated from this last remaining Saturn V stage and docked with the Lunar Module still nestled in the Lunar Module Adaptor. After the Lunar Module was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the third stage booster flew on a trajectory past the Moon and into orbit around the Sun.

On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis) about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the crater Sabine D (0.67408N, 23.47297E). The landing site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers along with the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft and unlikely to present major landing or extravehicular activity (EVA) challenges'.


* 'In 1980, Billy Joel earned his first gold record with It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me . - From Wikipedia: 'It's Still Rock and Roll to Me is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song is an examination of the themes of a musician's degrading fame and public tastes that were expressed in his 1975 hit The Entertainer

The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 2 million copies in the United States'.


* 'In 1983, The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published. As computer rendering of such scans was a while off, the used CAD to render the image. . - From Wikipedia: 'Michael W. Vannier (born January 12, 1949) is a radiologist in Chicago.

On July 19, 1983, M. Vannier (Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis) and his co-workers J. Marsh (Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Deformities Institute, St. Louis Children's Hospital) and J. Warren (McDonnell Aircraft Company) published the first three-dimensional reconstruction of single CT slices of the human head. This was a quantum leap for further three-dimensional imaging and surgical planning in Oral and maxillofacial surgery, Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated July 17 2016 next July 23 2016

No. 1 song

  • Hanky Panky - Tommy James and the Shonde
    - On YouTube: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    'Strangers in the Night' has been displaced by 'Hanky Panky', which will hold the no. 1 spot until July 23 1966, when 'Wild Thing - The Troggs', takes over.
    - From Wikipedia: '"Hanky Panky" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, The Raindrops. It was famously remade by rock group Tommy James and the Shondells, who took it to No. 1 in the United States in 1966.

    James' version was recorded at a local radio station, WNIL in Niles, Michigan, and released on local Snap Records, selling well in the tri-state area of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. However, lacking national distribution, the single quickly disappeared. James moved on, breaking up The Shondells, and finishing high school.

    In 1965, an unemployed James was contacted by Pittsburgh disc jockey "Mad Mike" Metro. Metro had begun playing The Shondells' version of "Hanky Panky", and the single had become popular in that area. James then decided to re-release the song, traveling to Pittsburgh where he hired the first decent local band he ran into, The Raconteurs, to be the new Shondells (the original members having declined to re-form).

    After appearances on TV and in clubs in the city, James took a master of "Hanky Panky" to New York, where he sold it to Roulette Records. "The amazing thing is we did not re-record the song," James told Bronson, "I don't think anybody can record a song that bad and make it sound good. It had to sound amateurish like that. I think if we'd fooled with it too much we'd have fouled it up." It was released promptly and took the top position of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July 1966.

    Bob Rivers parodied the song as "Newt Gingrich Does the Hanky Panky"'.

Top movie

  • Torn Curtain
    - At Wikipedia:  More
    - On IMDb: More
    - On YouTube (trailer): More
    Having displaced 'Three on a Couch', it will be there until the weekend box office of July 24 1966 when, 'Batman', takes over.- From Wikipedia: 'Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. Written by Brian Moore, the film is set in the Cold War. It is about an American scientist who pretends to defect behind the Iron Curtain to East Germany as part of a clandestine mission to obtain the solution of a formula and escape back to the United States'.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): July 19
   V.
This month July 2016 (updated once a month - last updated - Jul 19 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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