<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Raspberries N’ Cream 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] Love raspberries. Cream is good. Both together, great. Of course, a lot of whipped cream and a cherry on top, would be nice. And, if you have some chopped nuts and ..., OK, I'll stop.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'Purple Heart Day'.
Since August 7 1782 and created by General George Washington. It is
considered to be the first official military combat badge of the United
States Armed Forces. See more in the history section.
* 'National Lighthouse Day'.
Remembers the Congressional Act on August 7 1789 for the 'establishment and
support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers'.
- From Wikipedia ():
'The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of
Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the General
Lighthouse Authority for the United States from the time of its creation in
1910 as the successor of the United States Lighthouse Board until 1939 when
it was merged into the United States Coast Guard. It was responsible for
the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses and lightvessels in the
United States.
In 1789, the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) was created and
operated under the Department of the Treasury. All U.S. lighthouse
ownership was transferred to the government which became the general
lighthouse authority (GLA). In 1792, the Cape Henry Lighthouse was the
first lighthouse built by the USLHE. In 1822, French physicist, Augustin
Fresnel designed the Fresnel lens. In 1841 the Fresnel lens was first used
in the United States and installed on the Navesink Lighthouse. In 1852, The
Lighthouse Board was created. In 1871, the Duxbury Pier Light became the
first caisson lighthouse built in the United States. In 1877, kerosene
became the primary fuel for lighthouses. Prior to this varies fuels
included sperm oil, Colza oil, rapeseed oil, and lard oil. In 1884,
uniforms came into use by all members of the Lighthouse Board. In 1886, the
Statue of Liberty was the first lighthouse to use electricity. In 1898, all
coastal lighthouses were extinguished, for the first time in U.S. history,
as a precaution during the Spanish–American War. In 1904, the Lightship
Nantucket became first U.S. vessel to have radio communication. In 1910,
the Bureau of Lighthouses was created and operated as the United States
Lighthouse Service (USHLS)'.
* 'Sea Serpent Day'.
Remembers the reported Sea Serpent sighting aboard the 'HMS Daedalus' in
1848.
- From Wikipedia (HMS Daedalus (1826)):
'HMS Daedalus was a nineteenth-century warship of the Royal Navy. She was
launched as a fifth-rate frigate of 46 guns of the Modified Leda class in
1826, but never commissioned in that role, being roofed over fore and aft
and then laid up in Ordinary (reserve). After spending 18 years laid up in
reserve, she was raséed (cut down) at Woolwich Dockyard into a corvette,
reduced to 19 guns in 1844.
On 6 August 1848, Captain McQuhae of the Daedalus and several of his
officers and crew (en route to St Helena) saw a sea serpent which was
subsequently reported (and debated) in The Times. The vessel sighted what
they named as an enormous serpent between the Cape of Good Hope and St
Helena. The serpent was witnessed to have been swimming with four feet (1.2
m) of its head above the water and they believed that there was another
sixty feet (18 m) of the creature in the sea. Captain McQuahoe also said
that passed rapidly, but so close under our lee quarter, that had it been
a man of my acquaintance I should have easily have recognised his features
with the naked eye. According to seven members of the crew it remained in
view for around twenty minutes. Another officer wrote that the creature was
more of a lizard than a serpent. Evolutionary biologist Gary J. Galbreath
contends that what the crew of the Daedalus saw was a sei baleen whale.
In 1853 the Daedalus was laid up at Plymouth Dockyard. Between March and
June 1851 she was fitted out as a training ship, and transferred to the
Royal Naval Reserve as a drill ship at Bristol. She was finally paid off
from this role in September 1910, and sold in 1911 at Bristol to take to
pieces'.
[The Hankster says] I wonder if this was the ancestor of Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent. And where was Beany at the time? Kids, ask your parents.
* 'National Friendship Day'.
First Sunday in August. Founded by Hallmark in 1919. In 2011 the United
Nations officially recognized.
- From Wikipedia (International Friendship Day):
'International Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday
of August every year. On this day, people spend time with their friends and
express love for them. The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers,
cards, and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion. In 1935,
the United States Congress proclaimed the 1st Sunday of August as National
Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became
an annual event.
Many other countries around the world adopted the tradition of dedicating a
day to friends. In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the
world's Ambassador of Friendship. Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically
celebrated by many nations'.
[The Hankster says] To all friends, social media, or not, have a good day.
* 'National Sisters Day'.
'National Sisters Day – First Sunday in August' First Sunday in August.
<> Awareness / Observances:
o Health
* 'American Family Day'. First Sunday in August. Started in 1977.
- From Wikipedia (American Family Day):
'American Family Day is the 14th state-recognized holiday in Arizona, Title
1-301. American Family Day, much like Mothers Day or Father's Day is a
non-paid holiday established as a separate day to appreciate family members
by spending time with them. Families are discouraged from buying gifts or
other material items.
Arizona resident, John Makkai, is credited with pushing the holiday through
the Arizona legislation. American Family Day began as a 1-year
proclamation, signed by then Governor Raúl Héctor Castro, declaring August
7, 1977 American Family Day. The following year, American Family Day was
signed into law as an official Arizona holiday by Governor Bruce Babbitt.
The holiday also caught on in several other states, including North
Carolina and Georgia.
From the Georgia Department of Education Parent Engagement Program,
American Family Day- this day brings families together to share their love
and appreciation of one another.
Note: Not to be confused with the commercial company, American Family
Holiday, which popularized on the American Family Day holiday name'.
* 'National EOS Awareness Week'. August 7-13 in Australia, by ausEE Inc.,
concerning eosinophilic disorders.
- From Wikipedia (Eosinophilic esophagitis):
'Eosinophilic esophagitis (eosinophilic oesophagitis), also known as
allergic oesophagitis, is an allergic inflammatory condition of the
esophagus that involves eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. Symptoms
are swallowing difficulty, food impaction, and heartburn.
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) was first described in children but also
occurs in adults. The condition is not well understood, but food allergy
may play a significant role. The treatment may consist of removal of known
or suspected triggers and medication to suppress the immune response. In
severe cases, it may be necessary to stretch the esophagus with an
endoscopy procedure'.
o Animal and Pet:
* 'International Assistance Dog Week (IADW)'.
<> Historical events on August 7
* 'In 1782, George Washington orders the creation of the 'Badge of Military
Merit' to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more
poetic 'Purple Heart'. . 'The Purple Heart is a United States military
decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed
while serving, on or after April 5, 1917, with the U.S. military. With its
forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart
made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still
given to U.S. military members – the only earlier award being the obsolete
Fidelity Medallion. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in
New Windsor, New York.
The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was
established by George Washington – then the commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army – by order from his Newburgh, New York headquarters on
August 7, 1782. The Badge of Military Merit was only awarded to three
Revolutionary War soldiers by Gen. George Washington himself. General
Washington authorized his subordinate officers to issue Badges of Merit as
appropriate. From then on, as its legend grew, so did its appearance.
Although never abolished, the award of the badge was not proposed again
officially until after World War I.
The Commission of Fine Arts solicited plaster models from three leading
sculptors for the medal, selecting that of John R. Sinnock of the
Philadelphia Mint in May 1931. By Executive Order of the President of the
United States, the Purple Heart was revived on the 200th Anniversary of
George Washington's birth, out of respect to his memory and military
achievements, by War Department General Order No. 3, dated February 22,
1932'.
* 'In 1888, Theophilus Van Kannel of Phila patents the revolving door. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Theophilus Van Kannel (1841 – December 24, 1919) was an
American inventor, famous for inventing the revolving door, patented on
August 7, 1888.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Van Kannel, who was
recognized for his invention with the John Scott Medal by the Franklin
Institute in 1889, founded the Van Kannel Revolving Door Company, which
eventually was bought out by the International Steel Company in 1907.
International Steel Company is the parent company of International
Revolving Door Company. Theophilus had no family.
He invented and owned Witching Waves, an amusement ride introduced at Luna
Park, Coney Island, in 1907.
Van Kannel died in New York City of heart failure and was buried in West
Park Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.
A revolving door typically consists of three or four doors that hang on a
central shaft and rotate around a vertical axis within a cylindrical
enclosure. Revolving doors are energy efficient as they prevent drafts (via
acting as an airlock), thus preventing increases in the heating or cooling
required for the building. At the same time, revolving doors allow large
numbers of people to pass in and out'.
* 'In 1927, The Peace Bridge connecting the United States and Canada
(between Buffalo, New York and Fort Erie, Ontario), opened, to celebrate
100 years of peaceful and beneficial relations. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between
Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of
the Niagara River, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) upriver of Niagara Falls.
It connects the City of Buffalo, New York, in the United States to the Town
of Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada. It is operated and maintained by the
binational Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
The Peace Bridge consists of five arched spans the Niagara River and a
Parker through-truss span the Black Rock Canal on the American side of the
river. The total length is 5,800 feet (1,768 m). Material used in the
construction included 3,500 feet (1,067 m) of steelwork, 9,000 tons of
structural steel and 800 tons of reinforcing steel in the concrete
abutments. The Peace Bridge was named to commemorate 100 years of peace
between the United States and Canada. It was constructed as a highway
bridge to address the needs of pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic which
could not be accommodated on the International Railway Bridge, built in
1873'.
* 'In 1942, During World War II, The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the
United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with
landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of
Guadalcanal and code-named Operation Watchtower, originally applying only
to an operation to take the island of Tulagi, by Allied forces, was a
military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and
around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It
was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly United States (US) Marines,
landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern
Solomon Islands, with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to
threaten Allied supply and communication routes between the US, Australia,
and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as
bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major
Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the
outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May
1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named
Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Powerful
American naval forces supported the landings.
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts
between August and November to retake Henderson Field. Three major land
battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two
carrier battles), and continual, almost daily, aerial battles culminated in
the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November, in which the
last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and land with
enough troops to retake it, was defeated. In December, the Japanese
abandoned their efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining
forces by 7 February 1943, in the face of an offensive by the US Army's XIV
Corps.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms Allied
victory in the Pacific theater. The Japanese had reached the peak of their
conquests in the Pacific. The victories at Milne Bay, Buna-Gona, and
Guadalcanal marked the Allied transition from defensive operations to the
strategic initiative in the theater, leading to offensive operations such
as the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that
eventually resulted in Japan's eventual surrender and the end of World War
II'.
* 'In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the
reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres
(4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that
pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft
across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led
by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named
Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom Kon-Tiki was said to
be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book the Academy
Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures and the 2012
dramatised feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film.
Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled
Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki
expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies
available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons
to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some
modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal
knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving
that the raft itself could make the journey.
The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations
of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went
to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the
Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other
native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by
Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and
five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6900 km (4,300 miles)
across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the
Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and
all returned safely.
Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was
published in Norwegian in 1948 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across
the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft.
It appeared with great success in English in 1950, also in many other
languages. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called
Kon-Tiki was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip
notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl
and edited by Olle Nordemar. The voyage was also chronicled in the
documentary TV-series The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor
Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson.
The original Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum at
Bygdøy in Oslo'.
* 'In 1955, The First transistor radios by Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering (later renamed Sony) are sold. .
- From Wikipedia: 'A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver
that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954,
made possible by the invention of the transistor in 1947, they became the
most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions
manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Their pocket size sparked a change
in popular music listening habits, allowing people to listen to music
anywhere they went. Beginning in the 1980s cheap AM transistor radios were
superseded by devices with higher audio quality, portable CD players,
personal audio players, and boom boxes.
In August 1955, while still a small company, Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering Corporation introduced their TR-55 five-transistor radio under
the new brand name Sony. With this radio, Sony became the first company to
manufacture the transistors and other components they used to construct the
radio. The TR-55 was also the first transistor radio to utilize all
miniature components. It is estimated that only 5,000 to 10,000 units were
produced'.
* 'In 1959, The U.S penny (reverse side) design, changes from Sheaves of
Wheat to the Lincoln Memorial. It was discontinued in 2008. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The United States one-cent coin, commonly known as a
penny, is a unit of currency equaling one-hundredth of a United States
dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. Its obverse has featured the profile of
President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of his birth. From
1959 (the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth) to 2008, the reverse
featured the Lincoln Memorial. Four different reverse designs in 2009
honored Lincoln's 200th birthday and a new, permanent reverse – the Union
Shield – was introduced in 2010. The coin is 0.75 inches (19.05 mm) in
diameter and 0.0598 inches (1.52 mm) in thickness. Its weight has varied,
depending upon the composition of metals used in its production.
The U.S. Mint's official name for a penny is cent and the U.S. Treasury's
official name is one cent piece The colloquial term penny derives from the
British coin of the same name, the pre-decimal version of which had a
similar value. In American English, pennies is the plural form. (The plural
form pence—standard in British English—is not used in American English.)
Although the coin's abolition has been proposed because it is now worth
very little, there are currently no firm plans to eliminate the penny. As
of 2015, based on the U.S. Mint Annual Report released for 2014, it costs
the U.S. Mint 1.67 cents (down from 2.41 cents in 2011 and 1.83 cents in
2013) to make one cent because of the cost of materials, production, and
distribution. This figure includes the Mint's fixed components for
distribution and fabrication, as well as Mint overhead allocated to the
penny. Fixed costs and overhead would have to be absorbed by other
circulating coins without the penny. The loss from producing the one cent
coin in the United States for the year of 2013 was $55,000,000. This was a
slight decrease from 2012, the year before, which had a production loss of
$58,000,000'.
* 'In 1964, The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North
Vietnamese attacks on American forces. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Southeast Asia
Resolution, Pub.L. 88–408, 78 Stat. 384, enacted August 10, 1964, was a
joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964,
in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B.
Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for
the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the
resolution authorized the President to do whatever necessary in order to
assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective
Defense Treaty This included involving armed forces.
It was opposed in the Senate only by Senators Wayne Morse (D-OR) and Ernest
Gruening (D-AK). Senator Gruening objected to sending our American boys
into combat in a war in which we have no business, which is not our war,
into which we have been misguidedly drawn, which is steadily being
escalated (Tonkin Gulf debate 1964) The Johnson administration subsequently
relied upon the resolution to begin its rapid escalation of U.S. military
involvement in South Vietnam and open warfare between North Vietnam and the
United States'.
* 'In 1981, The Washington Star closes, ending 128 years of operation. The
assets were purchased by the Washington Post. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington
Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper
published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time,
it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist
Mary McGrory and cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman. On August 7, 1981, after
128 years, the Washington Star ceased publication and filed for bankruptcy.
In the bankruptcy sale, The Washington Post purchased the land and
buildings owned by the Star, including its printing presses'.
* 'In 1987, Lynne Cox becomes first person to swim from the United States
to the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big
Diomede in the Soviet Union. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Lynne Cox (born 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an
American long-distance open-water swimmer and writer. In 1971, she and her
teammates were the first group of teenagers to complete the crossing of the
Catalina Island Channel in California. She has twice held the record for
the fastest crossing of the English Channel from England to France (1972 in
a time of 9h 57 min and 1973 in a time of 9h 36 min). In 1975, Cox became
the first woman to swim the 10 °C (50 °F), 16 km (10 mi) Cook Strait in New
Zealand. In 1976, she was the first person to swim the Straits of Magellan
in Chile, and the first to swim around the Cape of Good Hope in South
Africa.
Cox is perhaps best known for swimming 2h 5 mins in the Bering Strait on 7
August 1987, from the island of Little Diomede in Alaska to Big Diomede,
then part of the Soviet Union, where the water temperature averaged around
43 to 44 °F (6 to 7 °C). At the time people living on the Diomede Islands,
only 3.7 km (2.3 mi) apart, were not permitted to travel between them,
although the Eskimo communities there had been closely linked until the
natives of Big Diomede were moved to the Russian mainland after World War
II. Her accomplishment a few years before the end of the Cold War earned
praise from both US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev'.
No. 1 song
Top movie
Monthly holiday / awareness days in August
Food
National Catfish Month
National Goat Cheese Month
Rye Month
Health
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Children's Vision and Learning Month
National Breastfeeding Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Minority Donor Awareness Month
National Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month
Animal / Pets
Other
American Adventures Month
American Artists Appreciation Month
American Indian Heritage Month
American History Essay Contest
Black Business Month
Boomers Making A Difference Month
Bystander Awareness Month
Child Support Awareness Month
Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
Happiness Happens Month
Motor Sports Awareness Month
National Read A Romance Month
National Traffic Awareness Month
National Truancy Prevention Month
National Water Quality Month
Shop Online For Groceries Month
What Will Be Your Legacy Month
XXXI Summer Olympics: 5-21
August is:
August origin (from Wikipedia): Originally named Sextili (Latin), because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar: under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first month of the year.
"About 700 BC it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus
According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt.
"
August 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