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Today is September 14 2016

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Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday
  • National Cream Filled Donut Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Doughnut): 'A doughnut or donut is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. The doughnut is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets. Doughnuts are usually deep-fried from a flour dough, and typically either ring-shaped or without a hole, and often filled. Other types of batters can also be used, and various toppings and flavorings are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate, or maple glazing. In addition to flour, doughnuts may also include such ingredients as water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil/shortening, natural flavors and/or artificial flavors.

    The two most common types are the ring doughnut and the filled doughnut—which is injected with fruit preserves, cream, custard, or other sweet fillings. A small spherical piece of dough may be cooked as a doughnut hole. Once doughnuts have been fried, they may be glazed with a sugar icing, spread with icing or chocolate, or topped with powdered sugar or sprinkles or fruit. Other shapes include rings, balls, and flattened spheres, as well as ear shapes, twists and other forms. Doughnut varieties are also divided into cake and yeast-risen type doughnuts.

    Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests they were invented in North America by Dutch settlers, and in the 19th century, doughnuts were sometimes referred to as one kind of oliekoek (a Dutch word literally meaning "oil cake"), a "sweetened cake fried in fat."

    Hanson Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was 16 years old. Gregory was dissatisfied with the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes and with the raw center of regular doughnuts. He claimed to have punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship's tin pepper box, and to have later taught the technique to his mother. Smithsonian Magazine states that his mother, Elizabeth Gregory, "made a wicked deep-fried dough that cleverly used her son's spice cargo of nutmeg and cinnamon, along with lemon rind," and "put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center, where the dough might not cook through", and called the food 'doughnuts'.

    According to anthropologist Paul R. Mullins, the first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes. By the mid-19th century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today's doughnut, and was viewed as a thoroughly American food'.
  • National Hoagie Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Submarine sandwich): 'A submarine sandwich, also known as a sub, wedge, hoagie, hero, grinder is a type of sandwich that consists of a length of bread or roll split lengthwise and filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments. The sandwich has no standardized name, with over a dozen regional variations used across the U.S.

    The terms submarine and sub are widespread and not assignable to any certain region, though many of the localized terms are clustered in the northeastern United States.

    The sandwich originated in several different Italian American communities in the Northeastern United States from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Portland, Maine claims to be the birthplace of the Italian sandwich and it is considered Maine's signature sandwich. The popularity of this Italian-American cuisine has grown from its origins in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to most parts of the United States, Canada, and with the advent of chain restaurants, is now available in many parts of the world.

    The term hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Bulletin reported, in 1953, that Italians working at the World War I–era shipyard in Philadelphia known as Hog Island, where emergency shipping was produced for the war effort, introduced the sandwich by putting various meats, cheeses, and lettuce between two slices of bread. This became known as the "Hog Island" sandwich; shortened to "Hoggies", then the "hoagie".

    The Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual offers a different explanation, that the sandwich was created by early-twentieth-century street vendors called "hokey-pokey men", who sold antipasto salad, meats, cookies and buns with a cut in it. When Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore opened in Philadelphia in 1879, bakeries produced a long loaf called the pinafore. Entrepreneurial "hokey-pokey men" sliced the loaf in half, stuffed it with antipasto salad, and sold the world's first "hoagie".

    Another explanation is that the word "hoagie" arose in the late 19th to early 20th century, among the Italian community in South Philadelphia, when "on the hoke" was a slang term used to describe a destitute person. Deli owners would give away scraps of cheeses and meats in an Italian bread-roll known as a "hokie", but the Italian immigrants pronounced it "hoagie".

    Shortly after World War II, there were numerous varieties of the term in use throughout Philadelphia. By the 1940s, the spellings "hoagie" and, to a lesser extent, "hoagy" had come to dominate less used variations like "hoogie" and "hoggie". By 1955, restaurants throughout the area were using the term "hoagie". Listings in Pittsburgh show hoagies arriving in 1961 and becoming widespread in that city by 1966'.
Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Walnut Valley National Guitar Flat-Picking Championships Festival: More
    September 14-18 in Winfield, Kansas.
    - From Wikipedia (Walnut Valley Festival): 'The Walnut Valley Festival (generally referred to as "Winfield" by non-residents or simply "Bluegrass" to Winfield locals) is an acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented. The festival is held on the Wednesday through Sunday that includes the third Saturday of September.

    Besides the world-class paid performers, Winfield is known for its instrumental contests. The headline contest is the National Flat-pick Guitar Championship. Other contests include the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, the National Hammer Dulcimer Championship, the National Mountain Dulcimer championship, the International Autoharp Championship, the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, and contests for fiddle and mandolin. The festival is also known for its lively audience, which has at times included the poet and guitarist, Chris Beard'.
Awareness / Observance Days on: September 14
  • Health
    • National Health and Physical Education Day: More
      In Australia by the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
Events in the past on: September 14
  • In 1752, The British Empire adopts Gregorian calendar. It's first day is September 14 (a jump from September 2). There is no September 3 - September 13.
    From Wikipedia: The Gregorian calendar, also called the Western calendar and the Christian calendar, is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582.

    The calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar amounting to a 0.002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the vernal equinox, which set the date for Easter celebrations. Transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe. Protestants and Eastern Orthodox countries continued to use the traditional Julian calendar and adopted the Gregorian reform after a time, for the sake of convenience in international trade. The last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923.

    'Most Western European countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to 1 January in 1600 (this means that 1599 was a short year). England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days) though in England the start of the tax year remained at 25 March (O.S.), 5 April (N.S.) till 1800, when it moved to 6 April. Later in 1752 in September the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

    In some countries, an official decree or law specified that the start of the year should be 1 January. For such countries a specific year when a 1 January-year became the norm can be identified. In other countries the customs varied, and the start of the year moved back and forth as fashion and influence from other countries dictated various customs'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In1868, Golf's 1st recorded hole-in-one (Tom Morris at Prestwick's 8th hole).
    From Wikipedia: Thomas Morris (20 April 1851 – 25 December 1875), known as Young Tom Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history. He won four consecutive titles in the Open Championship, an unmatched feat, and did this by the age of 21.

    'Young Tom won the Open Championship in 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1872 (there was no Open Championship in 1871). No one else has since repeated this feat of four straight Open Championships. All four championships were played at Prestwick Golf Club, the course where he had learned golf as a youth. His 1868 win, at the age of 17, made him the youngest major champion in golf history, a record which still stands. That same year, his father finished second to him, a unique family occurrence in the Championship. In 1869, Young Tom achieved the tournament's first ever hole-in-one by holing out at the 166-yard 8th hole: the scorecard is on display in Prestwick's clubhouse. In keeping with the Rules of the Tournament, Young Tom was allowed to keep the original Championship Belt, made of red Moroccan leather with an engraved golf scene on its front silver buckle and funded by Prestwick's members, after his hat-trick of victories. The famous Claret Jug was purchased for the tournament in 1873, and his became the first name to be engraved on it, as he had won the Open Championship in 1872. During his 1870 win, he began the tournament by scoring a 3 on the first hole of 578 yards, using hickory shafts and a guttie ball, holing a long fairway shot of about 200 yards; given the distances which were possible at that time, this may have been the first-ever albatross (double eagle), assuming a par of 6 for that hole; the term 'par' had not yet been formally invented. His first-round Open score in 1870 of 47 over the 12-hole Prestwick course was the first competitive round anywhere which averaged under four strokes per hole. The Tom Morrises, father and son, frequently competed as partners against all challengers for match stakes, winning most of the time, although their success rate dropped once Old Tom passed 50, as he sometimes struggled with his putting. Young Tom also toured Scotland and parts of England, both on his own and with fellow golfer Davie Strath, playing exhibition matches on their own account, without official sanction; this was the first time this had been done. Young Tom and Strath received some criticism for this, as it challenged the established structure of competition at that time. They were also the first players to insist on receiving money up front before a match was to be held; this was the foundation of appearance money, and prior to this the players were at the mercy of the result and the match's patrons. Morris also bet against members and other takers at St Andrews that he could score below a given standard over the Old Course, and won seven times straight. This form of betting was also an innovation at the time'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1901, U.S. President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
    From Wikipedia: 'The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, was shot and fatally wounded on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was shaking hands with the public when he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. The President died on September 14 from gangrene caused by the bullet wounds. McKinley became the third American president to be assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1927, Gene Austin recorded 'My Blue Heaven'. From Wikipedia: 'it charted for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies becoming one of the best selling singles of all time'.
    From Wikipedia: '"My Blue Heaven" is a popular song written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting. It has become part of various fake book collections.

    In 1928, "My Blue Heaven" became a huge hit on Victor 20964-A for crooner Gene Austin, accompanied by the Victor Orchestra as directed by Nat Shilkret; it charted for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies becoming one of the best selling singles of all time. Victor 20964-A was recorded on September 14, 1927 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978; the recording was reissued as Victor 24573 and has been reissued on several commercially available CDs.

    In 1928, Blue Amberol Records released an instrumental piano version by Muriel Pollock (issue number 5471).

    Austin, unhappy with the Victor Company and "convinced that the best material which he brought to the company’s attention was going to other artists", "gave Nat Shilkret an ultimatum that he wouldn’t do another session unless his interpretation was commercially released. According to Austin, an agreement was reached for "My Blue Heaven" to be coupled with "Are You Thinking of Me Tonight?", the most highly regarded song among those he was planning to record at that time." On the day "My Blue Heaven" was to be recorded, after takes of the other songs had been completed, to Austin's surprise the musicians packed up and left the studio; Shilkret told Austin they had a conflict, but in a scene documented by H. Allen Smith in his A Short History of Fingers, Austin "grabbed an old guy with a cello and talked him into standing by. Then grabbed a song plugger who could play pretty fair piano. And the third fellow got was an agent who could whistle – bird calls and that sort of thing." Austin recorded "My Blue Heaven" with that hastily assembled trio'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1960, Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' hits #1.
    From Wikipedia: '"The Twist" is an American pop song written and originally released in early 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    Chubby Checker's 1960 cover version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and setting a record as the only song to reach number 1 in two different chart runs when it resurfaced and topped the chart again for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962.

    In 1988, "The Twist" again became popular due to a new recording of the song by The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker. This version reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Germany. In 2014, Billboard magazine declared the song the "biggest hit" of the 1960s'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1965, The comedy TV show 'F-Troop' premieres.
    From Wikipedia: 'F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom about U.S. soldiers and American Indians in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was broadcast in black-and-white, the second season in color.

    The series relied heavily on character-based humor; verbal and visual gags, slapstick, physical comedy and burlesque comedy make up the prime ingredients of F Troop. The series played fast and loose with historical events and persons, and often parodied them for comical effect. There were some indirect references made to the culture of the 1960s such as a "Playbrave Club" (a parody of a Playboy Club) and imitations of rock and roll bands (including singing songs written in the 1960s).

    F Troop is set at Fort Courage — a fictional United States Army outpost in the Old West—from just at the end of the American Civil War in 1865 to at least 1867. There is a town of the same name adjacent to the fort. Fort Courage was named for fictitious General Sam Courage (portrayed by Cliff Arquette), who has been in the Army for forty years. The fort itself is in the stockade style stereotypically found in most American westerns'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1978, 'Mork & Mindy' premiered on ABC-TV.
    From Wikipedia: 'Mork and Mindy is an American sitcom broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on ABC. It stars Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-Orkan egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-stars as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate.

    The series is a spin-off of the sitcom Happy Days. The character of Mork is played by a then-unknown Robin Williams, who impressed producer Garry Marshall with his quirky comedic ability as soon as they met. When Williams was asked to take a seat at the audition, Williams immediately sat on his head on the chair and Marshall cast him on the spot, and later wryly commented that Williams was the only alien who auditioned for the role'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1984, Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
    From Wikipedia: 'Joseph William Kittinger II (born July 27, 1928) is a retired Colonel in the United States Air Force and a USAF Command Pilot. Following his initial operational assignment in fighter aircraft, he participated in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior in 1960, setting a world record for the highest skydive from a height greater than 31 kilometres (19 mi). He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

    Kittinger retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in 1978 and initially went to work for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) Corporation in Orlando, Florida. He later became Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, part of the Rosie O'Grady's/Church Street Station entertainment complex in Orlando, prior to the parent company's dissolution.

    Still interested in ballooning, he set a gas balloon world distance record for the AA-06 size class (since broken) of 3,221.23 km in 1983. He then completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic in the 106,000 cubic foot (3,000 m³) Balloon of Peace, from September 14 to September 18, 1984 organized by the Canadian promoter Gaetan Croteau. As an official FAI world aerospace record, it is the longest gas balloon distance flight ever recorded in the AA-10 size category (5,703.03 km). For the second time in his life, he was also the subject of a story in National Geographic Magazine'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
  • In 1984, The MTV Awards were held for the first time.
    From Wikipedia: 'An MTV Video Music Award (commonly abbreviated as a VMA) is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category), the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and colloquially called a "moonman". The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 "Top of the Hour" animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm, Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1985, The Golden Girls a television sitcom premieres on NBC.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning over seven seasons. An ensemble cast, the show stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, as four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television, and Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Harris served as the original executive producers'.

    The Golden Girls received critical acclaim throughout most of its run and won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Each of the four stars received an Emmy Award (from multiple nominations during the series' run), making it one of only three sitcoms in the award's history to achieve this. The series also ranked among the top ten highest-rated programs for six out of its seven seasons. In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Golden Girls number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time. In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time"'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):


* 'National Cream Filled Donut Day'. - From Wikipedia (Doughnut): 'A doughnut or donut is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. The doughnut is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets. Doughnuts are usually deep-fried from a flour dough, and typically either ring-shaped or without a hole, and often filled. Other types of batters can also be used, and various toppings and flavorings are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate, or maple glazing. In addition to flour, doughnuts may also include such ingredients as water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil/shortening, natural flavors and/or artificial flavors.

The two most common types are the ring doughnut and the filled doughnut—which is injected with fruit preserves, cream, custard, or other sweet fillings. A small spherical piece of dough may be cooked as a doughnut hole. Once doughnuts have been fried, they may be glazed with a sugar icing, spread with icing or chocolate, or topped with powdered sugar or sprinkles or fruit. Other shapes include rings, balls, and flattened spheres, as well as ear shapes, twists and other forms. Doughnut varieties are also divided into cake and yeast-risen type doughnuts.

Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests they were invented in North America by Dutch settlers, and in the 19th century, doughnuts were sometimes referred to as one kind of oliekoek (a Dutch word literally meaning oil cake), a sweetened cake fried in fat.

Hanson Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was 16 years old. Gregory was dissatisfied with the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes and with the raw center of regular doughnuts. He claimed to have punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship's tin pepper box, and to have later taught the technique to his mother. Smithsonian Magazine states that his mother, Elizabeth Gregory, made a wicked deep-fried dough that cleverly used her son's spice cargo of nutmeg and cinnamon, along with lemon rind, and put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center, where the dough might not cook through, and called the food 'doughnuts'.

According to anthropologist Paul R. Mullins, the first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes. By the mid-19th century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today's doughnut, and was viewed as a thoroughly American food'. .
[The Hankster says] Yes, I have confirmed (the hard way) that you must whip the cream before piping it into the donut.


* 'National Hoagie Day'. - From Wikipedia (Submarine sandwich): 'A submarine sandwich, also known as a sub, wedge, hoagie, hero, grinder is a type of sandwich that consists of a length of bread or roll split lengthwise and filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments. The sandwich has no standardized name, with over a dozen regional variations used across the U.S.

The terms submarine and sub are widespread and not assignable to any certain region, though many of the localized terms are clustered in the northeastern United States.

The sandwich originated in several different Italian American communities in the Northeastern United States from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Portland, Maine claims to be the birthplace of the Italian sandwich and it is considered Maine's signature sandwich. The popularity of this Italian-American cuisine has grown from its origins in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to most parts of the United States, Canada, and with the advent of chain restaurants, is now available in many parts of the world.

The term hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Bulletin reported, in 1953, that Italians working at the World War I–era shipyard in Philadelphia known as Hog Island, where emergency shipping was produced for the war effort, introduced the sandwich by putting various meats, cheeses, and lettuce between two slices of bread. This became known as the Hog Island sandwich shortened to Hoggies, then the hoagie

The Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual offers a different explanation, that the sandwich was created by early-twentieth-century street vendors called hokey-pokey men, who sold antipasto salad, meats, cookies and buns with a cut in it. When Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore opened in Philadelphia in 1879, bakeries produced a long loaf called the pinafore. Entrepreneurial hokey-pokey men sliced the loaf in half, stuffed it with antipasto salad, and sold the world's first hoagie

Another explanation is that the word hoagie arose in the late 19th to early 20th century, among the Italian community in South Philadelphia, when on the hoke was a slang term used to describe a destitute person. Deli owners would give away scraps of cheeses and meats in an Italian bread-roll known as a hokie, but the Italian immigrants pronounced it hoagie

Shortly after World War II, there were numerous varieties of the term in use throughout Philadelphia. By the 1940s, the spellings hoagie and, to a lesser extent, hoagy had come to dominate less used variations like hoogie and hoggie By 1955, restaurants throughout the area were using the term hoagie Listings in Pittsburgh show hoagies arriving in 1961 and becoming widespread in that city by 1966'. .
[The Hankster says] Call them what you like. It's a meal on the go. A sandwich in one hand and a donut in the other.


<> Other holidays / celebrations


* 'Walnut Valley National Guitar Flat-Picking Championships Festival'. September 14-18 in Winfield, Kansas. - From Wikipedia (Walnut Valley Festival): 'The Walnut Valley Festival (generally referred to as Winfield by non-residents or simply Bluegrass to Winfield locals) is an acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented. The festival is held on the Wednesday through Sunday that includes the third Saturday of September.

Besides the world-class paid performers, Winfield is known for its instrumental contests. The headline contest is the National Flat-pick Guitar Championship. Other contests include the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, the National Hammer Dulcimer Championship, the National Mountain Dulcimer championship, the International Autoharp Championship, the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, and contests for fiddle and mandolin. The festival is also known for its lively audience, which has at times included the poet and guitarist, Chris Beard'.


<> Awareness / Observances:

o Health
* 'National Health and Physical Education Day'. In Australia by the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.


<> Historical events on September 14


* 'In 1752, The British Empire adopts Gregorian calendar. It's first day is September 14 (a jump from September 2). There is no September 3 - September 13. - From Wikipedia: The Gregorian calendar, also called the Western calendar and the Christian calendar, is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582.

The calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar amounting to a 0.002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the vernal equinox, which set the date for Easter celebrations. Transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe. Protestants and Eastern Orthodox countries continued to use the traditional Julian calendar and adopted the Gregorian reform after a time, for the sake of convenience in international trade. The last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923.

'Most Western European countries changed the start of the year to 1 January before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to 1 January in 1600 (this means that 1599 was a short year). England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to 1 January in 1752 (so 1751 was a short year with only 282 days) though in England the start of the tax year remained at 25 March (O.S.), 5 April (N.S.) till 1800, when it moved to 6 April. Later in 1752 in September the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

In some countries, an official decree or law specified that the start of the year should be 1 January. For such countries a specific year when a 1 January-year became the norm can be identified. In other countries the customs varied, and the start of the year moved back and forth as fashion and influence from other countries dictated various customs'.


* 'In1868, Golf's 1st recorded hole-in-one (Tom Morris at Prestwick's 8th hole). . - From Wikipedia: Thomas Morris (20 April 1851 – 25 December 1875), known as Young Tom Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history. He won four consecutive titles in the Open Championship, an unmatched feat, and did this by the age of 21.

'Young Tom won the Open Championship in 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1872 (there was no Open Championship in 1871). No one else has since repeated this feat of four straight Open Championships. All four championships were played at Prestwick Golf Club, the course where he had learned golf as a youth. His 1868 win, at the age of 17, made him the youngest major champion in golf history, a record which still stands. That same year, his father finished second to him, a unique family occurrence in the Championship. In 1869, Young Tom achieved the tournament's first ever hole-in-one by holing out at the 166-yard 8th hole: the scorecard is on display in Prestwick's clubhouse. In keeping with the Rules of the Tournament, Young Tom was allowed to keep the original Championship Belt, made of red Moroccan leather with an engraved golf scene on its front silver buckle and funded by Prestwick's members, after his hat-trick of victories. The famous Claret Jug was purchased for the tournament in 1873, and his became the first name to be engraved on it, as he had won the Open Championship in 1872. During his 1870 win, he began the tournament by scoring a 3 on the first hole of 578 yards, using hickory shafts and a guttie ball, holing a long fairway shot of about 200 yards given the distances which were possible at that time, this may have been the first-ever albatross (double eagle), assuming a par of 6 for that hole the term 'par' had not yet been formally invented. His first-round Open score in 1870 of 47 over the 12-hole Prestwick course was the first competitive round anywhere which averaged under four strokes per hole. The Tom Morrises, father and son, frequently competed as partners against all challengers for match stakes, winning most of the time, although their success rate dropped once Old Tom passed 50, as he sometimes struggled with his putting. Young Tom also toured Scotland and parts of England, both on his own and with fellow golfer Davie Strath, playing exhibition matches on their own account, without official sanction this was the first time this had been done. Young Tom and Strath received some criticism for this, as it challenged the established structure of competition at that time. They were also the first players to insist on receiving money up front before a match was to be held this was the foundation of appearance money, and prior to this the players were at the mercy of the result and the match's patrons. Morris also bet against members and other takers at St Andrews that he could score below a given standard over the Old Course, and won seven times straight. This form of betting was also an innovation at the time'.


* 'In 1901, U.S. President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. . - From Wikipedia: 'The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, was shot and fatally wounded on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was shaking hands with the public when he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. The President died on September 14 from gangrene caused by the bullet wounds. McKinley became the third American president to be assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881'.


* 'In 1927, Gene Austin recorded 'My Blue Heaven'. - From Wikipedia: 'it charted for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies becoming one of the best selling singles of all time'. . - From Wikipedia: 'My Blue Heaven is a popular song written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting. It has become part of various fake book collections.

In 1928, My Blue Heaven became a huge hit on Victor 20964-A for crooner Gene Austin, accompanied by the Victor Orchestra as directed by Nat Shilkret it charted for 26 weeks, stayed at #1 for 13, and sold over five million copies becoming one of the best selling singles of all time. Victor 20964-A was recorded on September 14, 1927 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 the recording was reissued as Victor 24573 and has been reissued on several commercially available CDs.

In 1928, Blue Amberol Records released an instrumental piano version by Muriel Pollock (issue number 5471).

Austin, unhappy with the Victor Company and convinced that the best material which he brought to the company’s attention was going to other artists, gave Nat Shilkret an ultimatum that he wouldn’t do another session unless his interpretation was commercially released. According to Austin, an agreement was reached for My Blue Heaven to be coupled with Are You Thinking of Me Tonight?, the most highly regarded song among those he was planning to record at that time. On the day My Blue Heaven was to be recorded, after takes of the other songs had been completed, to Austin's surprise the musicians packed up and left the studio Shilkret told Austin they had a conflict, but in a scene documented by H. Allen Smith in his A Short History of Fingers, Austin grabbed an old guy with a cello and talked him into standing by. Then grabbed a song plugger who could play pretty fair piano. And the third fellow got was an agent who could whistle – bird calls and that sort of thing. Austin recorded My Blue Heaven with that hastily assembled trio'.


* 'In 1960, Chubby Checker's 'The Twist' hits #1. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Twist is an American pop song written and originally released in early 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to Teardrops on Your Letter Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chubby Checker's 1960 cover version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and setting a record as the only song to reach number 1 in two different chart runs when it resurfaced and topped the chart again for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962.

In 1988, The Twist again became popular due to a new recording of the song by The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker. This version reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Germany. In 2014, Billboard magazine declared the song the biggest hit of the 1960s'.


* 'In 1965, The comedy TV show 'F-Troop' premieres. . - From Wikipedia: 'F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom about U.S. soldiers and American Indians in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was broadcast in black-and-white, the second season in color.

The series relied heavily on character-based humor verbal and visual gags, slapstick, physical comedy and burlesque comedy make up the prime ingredients of F Troop. The series played fast and loose with historical events and persons, and often parodied them for comical effect. There were some indirect references made to the culture of the 1960s such as a Playbrave Club (a parody of a Playboy Club) and imitations of rock and roll bands (including singing songs written in the 1960s).

F Troop is set at Fort Courage — a fictional United States Army outpost in the Old West—from just at the end of the American Civil War in 1865 to at least 1867. There is a town of the same name adjacent to the fort. Fort Courage was named for fictitious General Sam Courage (portrayed by Cliff Arquette), who has been in the Army for forty years. The fort itself is in the stockade style stereotypically found in most American westerns'.


* 'In 1978, 'Mork and Mindy' premiered on ABC-TV. . - From Wikipedia: 'Mork and Mindy is an American sitcom broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on ABC. It stars Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-Orkan egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-stars as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate.

The series is a spin-off of the sitcom Happy Days. The character of Mork is played by a then-unknown Robin Williams, who impressed producer Garry Marshall with his quirky comedic ability as soon as they met. When Williams was asked to take a seat at the audition, Williams immediately sat on his head on the chair and Marshall cast him on the spot, and later wryly commented that Williams was the only alien who auditioned for the role'.


* 'In 1984, Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean. . - From Wikipedia: 'Joseph William Kittinger II (born July 27, 1928) is a retired Colonel in the United States Air Force and a USAF Command Pilot. Following his initial operational assignment in fighter aircraft, he participated in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior in 1960, setting a world record for the highest skydive from a height greater than 31 kilometres (19 mi). He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

Kittinger retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in 1978 and initially went to work for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) Corporation in Orlando, Florida. He later became Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, part of the Rosie O'Grady's/Church Street Station entertainment complex in Orlando, prior to the parent company's dissolution.

Still interested in ballooning, he set a gas balloon world distance record for the AA-06 size class (since broken) of 3,221.23 km in 1983. He then completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic in the 106,000 cubic foot (3,000 m³) Balloon of Peace, from September 14 to September 18, 1984 organized by the Canadian promoter Gaetan Croteau. As an official FAI world aerospace record, it is the longest gas balloon distance flight ever recorded in the AA-10 size category (5,703.03 km). For the second time in his life, he was also the subject of a story in National Geographic Magazine'.


* 'In 1984, The MTV Awards were held for the first time. - From Wikipedia: 'An MTV Video Music Award (commonly abbreviated as a VMA) is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category), the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the Super Bowl for youth, an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and colloquially called a moonman The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 Top of the Hour animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm, Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website'.


* 'In 1985, The Golden Girls a television sitcom premieres on NBC. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning over seven seasons. An ensemble cast, the show stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, as four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television, and Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Harris served as the original executive producers'.

The Golden Girls received critical acclaim throughout most of its run and won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Each of the four stars received an Emmy Award (from multiple nominations during the series' run), making it one of only three sitcoms in the award's history to achieve this. The series also ranked among the top ten highest-rated programs for six out of its seven seasons. In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Golden Girls number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time. In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Sep 10 2016 next Sep 17 2016

No. 1 song

  • Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
    - On YouTube: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    'Sunshine Superman' has been displaced by 'Yellow Submarine', which will hold the no. 1 spot until Sep 17 1966, when 'You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes', takes over.- From Wikipedia: '"Yellow Submarine" is a 1966 song by the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. It was included on the Revolver (1966) album and issued as a single, coupled with "Eleanor Rigby". The single went to number one on every major British chart, remained at number one for four weeks, and charted for 13 weeks. It won an Ivor Novello Award "for the highest certified sales of any single issued in the UK in 1966". In the US, the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the most successful Beatles song to feature Starr as lead vocalist.

    It became the title song of the animated United Artists film, also called Yellow Submarine (1968), and the soundtrack album to the film, released as part of the Beatles' music catalogue. Although intended as a nonsense song for children, "Yellow Submarine" received various social and political interpretations at the time. "'.

Top movie

  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (returns)
    - At Wikipedia:  More
    - On IMDb: More
    - On YouTube (trailer): More
    Having displaced 'Fantastic Voyage', it will be there until the weekend box office of Oct 2 1966 when, 'The Bible: In the Beginning', 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): September 14
   V.
This month September 2016 (updated once a month - last updated - Sep 14 2016)

Monthly holiday / awareness days in September

Food
All American Breakfast Month
Go Wild During California Wild Rice Month
Histiocytosis Awareness Month
Hunger Action Month
National Honey Month
National Mushroom Month
National Organic Harvest Month
National Prime Beef Month
kNational Rice Month
National Shake Month
Whole Grains Month
Wild Rice Month

Health
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month
Atrial Fibrillation Month
888222707Baby Safety Month
Backpack Safety America Month
Blood Cancer Awareness Month
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Cholesterol Education Month
Great American Low-Cholesterol, Low-fat Pizza Bake Month
Gynecology Cancer Awareness Month
ITP Awareness Month
World Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month
Mold Awareness Month
National Campus Safety Awareness Month
National Chicken Month
National Child Awareness Month
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
National DNA, Geonomics and Stem Cell Education Month
National Head Lice Prevention Month
National Infant Mortality Awareness Month
National ITP Awareness Month
National Osteopathic Medicine Month
National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
National Sickle Cell Month
National Pediculosis Prevention Month
National Skin Care Awareness Month
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Pain Awareness Month
Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month
Self Improvement Month
September Is Healthy Aging Month
Sports and Home Eye Health and Safety Month
Superior Relationships Month
Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month
World Alzheimer's Month

Animal / Pets
AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Month
Happy Cat Month
International/National Guide Dogs Month
National Pet Memorial Month
National Save A Tiger Month
National Service Dog Month
Save The Koala Month
World Animal Remembrance Month

Other
Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month
Childrens' Good Manners Month
College Savings Month
Fall Hat Month
International People Skills Month
International Self-Awareness Month
International Speak Out Month
International Strategic Thinking Month
International Square Dancing Month
International Women's Friendship Month
Library Card Sign-up Month
National Coupon Month
National Home Furnishings Month
National Passport Awareness Month
National Sewing Month
National Translators Month
National Piano Month
National Wilderness Month
Shameless Promotion Month
Update Your Resume Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month


September is:

September origin (from Wikipedia): Originally September (Latin septem, "seven") was the seventh of ten months on the oldest known Roman calendar.
September in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of March in the Southern Hemisphere.
After the calendar reform that added January and February to the beginning of the year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. It had 29 days until the Julian reform, which added a day.

September 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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