<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Cocoa Day'.
- From Wikipedia (Hot chocolate):
'Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa, drinking chocolate or just cocoa
is a heated beverage consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or
cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and often sugar. Hot chocolate made
with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized
by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.
The first chocolate beverage is believed to have been created by the Aztecs
around 2,000 years ago, and a cocoa beverage was an essential part of Aztec
culture by 1400 AD. The beverage became popular in Europe after being
introduced from Mexico in the New World and has undergone multiple changes
since then. Until the 19th century, hot chocolate was even used medicinally
to treat ailments such as liver and stomach diseases. Today, hot chocolate
is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations,
including the spiced chocolate para mesa of Latin America, the very thick
cioccolata densa served in Italy and chocolate a la taza served in Spain,
and the thinner hot cocoa consumed in the United States. In 2012 Andrew
'Freddie' Flintoff broke the world record for the fastest time to drink a
hot chocolate (5.45 seconds)'. .
[The Hankster says] The right drink for this time of year. My only problem is deciding which cookie I want to dunk.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'National Violin Day'.
- From Wikipedia (Violin):
'The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. It is the
smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use.
Smaller violin-type instruments are known, including the violino piccolo
and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused in the 2010s. The violin
typically has four strings tuned in perfect fifths, and is most commonly
played by drawing a bow across its strings, though it can also be played by
plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato). Violins are important
instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in
the Western classical tradition and in many varieties of folk music. They
are also frequently used in genres of folk including country music and
bluegrass music and in jazz. Electric violins are used in some forms of
rock music further, the violin has come to be played in many non-Western
music cultures, including Indian music and Iranian music. The violin is
sometimes informally called a fiddle, particularly in bluegrass, but this
nickname is also used regardless of the type of music played on it.
The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with some further
modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Europe it served
as the basis for stringed instruments used in western classical music, the
viola and the violin. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the
instruments made by the Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the
16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in
Austria. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has
defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed.
Great numbers of instruments have come from the hands of less famous
makers, as well as still greater numbers of mass-produced commercial trade
violins coming from cottage industries in places such as Saxony, Bohemia,
and Mirecourt. Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears,
Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers.
A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker.
The parts of a violin are usually made from different types of wood
(although electric violins may not be made of wood at all, since their
sound may not be dependent on specific acoustic characteristics of the
instrument's construction) and on the use of a pickup and an amplifier and
speaker). Violins can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, or
steel strings'.
[The Hankster says] My favorite musical instrument.
* 'US National Guard Birthday'.
See more in the history section for 1636.
[The Hankster says] Happy Birthday.
<> Awareness / Observances:
o Animal and Pet:
* 'National Day Of The Horse'. Since 2004 by the United Senate Resolution
452.
- From Wikipedia (Horse):
'The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus
ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family
Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a
small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of
today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their
domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the
subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated
populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are
not true wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have
never been domesticated, such as the endangered Przewalski's horse, a
separate subspecies, and the only remaining true wild horse. There is an
extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts,
covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings,
breeds, locomotion, and behavior.
Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and
they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight
response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an
unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down.
Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months,
and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following
birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness
between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age
five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.
Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general
temperament: spirited hot bloods with speed and endurance cold bloods, such
as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work and
warmbloods, developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods,
often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes,
particularly in Europe. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the
world today, developed for many different uses.
Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sport competitions and
non-competitive recreational pursuits, as well as in working activities
such as police work, agriculture, entertainment, and therapy. Horses were
historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and
driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and
methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat,
milk, hide, hair, bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of
pregnant mares. Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and
shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and
farriers'.
<> Historical events on December 13
* 'In 1636, The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments
to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is
recognized today as the founding of the National Guard of the United
States. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The National Guard of the United States, part of the
reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, is a reserve military
force, composed of National Guard military members or units of each state
and the territories of Guam, of the Virgin Islands, and of Puerto Rico, as
well as of the District of Columbia, for a total of 54 separate
organizations. All members of the National Guard of the United States are
also members of the militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. §
311. National Guard units are under the dual control of the state and the
federal government.
The majority of National Guard soldiers and airmen hold a civilian job
full-time while serving part-time as a National Guard member. These
part-time guardsmen are augmented by a full-time cadre of Active Guard abd
Reserve (AGR) personnel in both the Army National Guard and Air National
Guard, plus Army Reserve Technicians in the Army National Guard and Air
Reserve Technicians (ART) in the Air National Guard.
The National Guard is a joint activity of the United States Department of
Defense (DoD) composed of reserve components of the United States Army and
the United States Air Force: the Army National Guard of the United States
and the Air National Guard of the United States respectively.
Local militias were formed from the earliest English colonization of the
Americas in 1607. The first colony-wide militia was formed by Massachusetts
in 1636 by merging small older local units, and several National Guard
units can be traced back to this militia. The various colonial militias
became state militias when the United States became independent. The title
National Guard was used from 1824 by some New York State militia units,
named after the French National Guard in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette.
National Guard became a standard nationwide militia title in 1903, and
specifically indicated reserve forces under mixed state and federal control
from 1933'.
* 'In 1903, Italo Marcioni patents a mold for making ice cream cones. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Edible cones were mentioned in French cooking books as
early as 1825, when Julien Archambault described how one could roll a cone
from little waffles Another printed reference to an edible cone is in Mrs
A. B. Marshall's Cookery Book, written in 1888 by Agnes B. Marshall
(1855–1905) of England. Her recipe for Cornet with Cream said that the
cornets were made with almonds and baked in the oven, not pressed between
irons
Edible cones were patented by two entrepreneurs separately in the years
1902 and 1903. Antonio Valvona, an ice cream merchant from Manchester, UK,
patented a biscuit cup producing machine in 1902, and in 1903, Italo
Marchiony, an ice cream salesman from New York filed for the patent of a
machine which made ice cream containers. Abe Doumar and the Doumar family
can also claim credit for the ice cream cone.
At the age of 16 Doumar began to sell paperweights and other items. One
night, he bought a waffle from another vendor transplanted to Norfolk,
Virginia from Ghent in Belgium, Leonidas Kestekidès. Doumar proceeded to
roll up the waffle and place a scoop of ice cream on top. He then began
selling the cones at the St. Louis Exposition. His cones were such a
success that he designed a four-iron baking machine and had a foundry make
it for him. At the Jamestown Exposition in 1907, he and his brothers sold
nearly twenty-three thousand cones. After that, Abe bought a semiautomatic
36-iron machine, which produced 20 cones per minute and opened Doumar's
Drive In in Norfolk, Virginia, which still operates at the same location
over 100 years later'.
* 'In 1950, James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi
commercial. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Dean's first television appearance was in a Pepsi Cola
commercial. He quit college to act full-time and was cast in his first
speaking part, as John the Beloved Disciple, in Hill Number One, an Easter
television special dramatizing the resurrection of Jesus. Dean worked at
the widely filmed Iverson Movie Ranch in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles
during production of the program, for which a replica of the tomb of Jesus
was built on location at the ranch. Dean subsequently obtained three
walk-on roles in movies: as a soldier in Fixed Bayonets!, a boxing
cornerman in Sailor Beware, and a youth in Has Anybody Seen My Gal?'
* 'In 1961, Jimmy Dean's, Big Bad John, album is country musics 1st million
dollar seller. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Big Bad John is a country song originally performed by
Jimmy Dean, who wrote and composed in collaboration with Roy Acuff.
Released in September 1961, by the beginning of November it went to number
one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Dean the 1962 Grammy Award for Best
Country and Western Recording. The song and its sequels tell a story
typical of American folklore, reminiscent of Paul Bunyan or John Henry. Big
Bad John was also the title of a 1990 television movie starring Dean'.
* 'In 1962, NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications
satellite is placed in orbit.
- From Wikipedia: 'The Relay program consisted of Relay 1 and Relay 2, two
early American satellites. Both were primarily experimental communications
satellites funded by NASA and developed by RCA. As of September 12, 2009,
both satellites were still in orbit. Relay 1 provided the first television
transmissions across the Pacific Ocean'. .
No. 1 song
Top movie
Monthly holiday / awareness days in December
Food
Buckwheat Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
Health
Aids Awareness Month
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
National Impaired Driving Prevention Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Animal and Pet
Operation Santa Paws
Other
National Tie Month
National Write A Business Plan Month
Universal Human Rights Month
Youngsters on The Air Month
December is:
December origin (from Wikipedia): '
December gets its name from the Latin word decem (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar, which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month. Later, the months of January and February were created out of the monthless period and added to the beginning of the calendar, but December retained its name.
'
'
December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern
Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent
to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. D
ecember is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the
Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the
Southern Hemisphere.
'
December 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