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Today is December 19 2016

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   I.
Today's Holidays and Historical Events (updated daily)
Today's Food Holiday
  • National Hard Candy Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Hard candy): 'A hard candy, or boiled sweet, is a sugar candy prepared from one or more sugar-based syrups that is boiled to a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F) to make candy. Among the many hard candy varieties are stick candy (such as the candy cane), lollipops, aniseed twists, and bêtises de Cambrai.

    Hard candy is nearly 100% sugar by weight; Recipes for hard candy may use syrups of sucrose, glucose, fructose or other sugars. Sugar-free versions have also been created.

    Once the syrup blend reaches the target temperature, the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant extract, essential oil, or flavorant. The syrup concoction, which is now very thick, can be poured into a mold or tray to cool. When the syrup is cool enough to handle, it can be folded, rolled, or molded into the shapes desired. After the boiled syrup cools, it is called hard candy, since it becomes stiff and brittle as it approaches room temperature.

    Chemically, sugar candies are broadly divided into two groups: crystalline candies and amorphous candies. Crystalline candies are not as hard as crystals of the mineral variety, but derive their name and their texture from their microscopically organized sugar structure, formed through a process of crystallization, which makes them easy to bite or cut into. Amorphous candies have a disorganized crystalline structure. Hard candies are non-crystalline, amorphous candies containing about 98% (or more) solid sugar.

    Hard candies and throat lozenges prepared without sugar employ isomalt as a sugar substitute, and are sweetened further by the addition of an artificial sweetener, such as aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, or a sugar alcohol, such as xylitol'.
  • National Oatmeal Muffin Day: More
    - From Wikipedia (Muffin): 'Muffins in the United States are similar to cupcakes in size and cooking methods, the main difference being that cupcakes tend to be sweet desserts using cake batter and which are often topped with sugar frosting. Muffins are available in both savory varieties, such as cornmeal and cheese muffins, or sweet varieties such as blueberry, chocolate chip or banana flavours. Muffins are often eaten as a breakfast food. Coffee may be served to accompany muffins. Fresh baked muffins are sold by bakeries, donut shops and some fast food restaurants and coffeehouses. Factory baked muffins are sold at grocery stores and convenience stores and they are also served in some coffee shops and cafeterias.

    Outside the United Kingdom, an English muffin is a flatter disk-shaped, typically unsweetened bread of English origin. These muffins are popular in Commonwealth countries and the United States. English muffins are often served toasted for breakfast. English muffins may be served with butter or margarine. English muffins may be topped with sweet toppings, such as jam or honey, or savoury toppings (e.g., round sausage, cooked egg, cheese or bacon). English muffins are typically eaten as a breakfast food.

    Recipes for quick bread muffins are common in 19th-century American cookbooks. Recipes for yeast-based muffins, which were sometimes called "common muffins" or "wheat muffins" in 19th-century American cookbooks, can be found in much older cookbooks. In her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Fannie Farmer gave recipes for both types of muffins, both those that used yeast to raise the dough and those that used a quick bread method, using muffin rings to shape the English muffins. Farmer indicated that stove top "baking", as is done with yeast dough, was a useful method when baking in an oven was not practical.

    The name is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin; it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake, or possibly with some connection to the Old French moufflet meaning soft as said of bread'.
Other celebrations/observances today:
  • Look for an Evergreen Day: More
    Get your tree for the holidays.
    - From Wikipedia (Evergreen): 'In botany, an 'evergreen is a plant that has leaves throughout the year, always green. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season. There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs. Evergreens include:

    most species of conifers (e.g., pine, hemlock, blue spruce, red cedar, and white/scots/jack pine), but not all (e.g., larch)

    live oak, holly, and "ancient" gymnosperms such as cycads

    most angiosperms from frost-free climates, such as eucalypts and rainforest trees

    clubmosses and relatives

    The Latin binomial term sempervirens, meaning "always green", refers to the evergreen nature of the plant, for instance

    Cupressus sempervirens (a cypress)

    Lonicera sempervirens (a honeysuckle)

    Sequoia sempervirens (a sequoia)

    Leaf persistence in evergreen plants varies from a few months to several decades (over thirty years in the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine)'.
Awareness / Observance Days on: December 19 None.Dec 10 2016
Events in the past on: December 19
  • In 1732, Benjamin Franklin under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of 'Poor Richard's Almanack'.
    From Wikipediaa: 'Poor Richard's Almanack (sometimes Almanac) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of Poor Richard or Richard Saunders for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. It was a best seller for a pamphlet published in the American colonies; print runs reached 10,000 per year'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1918, Robert Ripley began his Believe It or Not feature in The New York Globe.
    From Wikipedia: 'Ripley first called his cartoon feature, originally involving sports feats, Champs and Chumps, and it premiered on December 19, 1918, in the New York Globe. Ripley began adding items unrelated to sports, and in October 1919, he changed the title to Believe It or Not. When the Globe folded in 1923, Ripley moved to the New York Evening Post. That same year, Ripley hired Norbert Pearlroth as his researcher, and Pearlroth spent the next 52 years of his life in the New York Public Library, working ten hours a day and six days a week in order to find unusual facts for Ripley'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube (1930 short): More
  • In 1924, The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England. Production began in 1906.
    From Wikipedia: 'The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost name refers both to a car model and one specific car from that series.

    Originally named the "40/50 h.p." the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving to Derby in July 1908, and also, between 1921 and 1926, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Chassis no. 60551, registered AX 201, was the car that was originally given the name "Silver Ghost." Other 40/50 hp cars were also given names, but the Silver Ghost title was taken up by the press, and soon all 40/50s were called by the name, a fact not officially recognised by Rolls-Royce until 1925, when the Phantom range was launched.

    The Silver Ghost was the origin of Rolls-Royce's claim of making the "Best car in the world" – a phrase coined not by themselves, but by the prestigious publication Autocar in 1907.

    The chassis and engine were also used as the basis of a range of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1928, The first autogyro flight is made in the U.S.
    From Wikipedia: 'An autogyro (from Greek a’?t?? + ?????, self-turning), also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's rotor must have air flowing through the rotor disc to generate rotation.'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    On YouTube: More
  • In 1962, Transit 5A1, 1st operational navigational satellite, launched.
    From Wikipedia: 'The TRANSIT system, also known as NAVSAT or NNSS (for Navy Navigation Satellite System), was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The system was primarily used by the U.S. Navy to provide accurate location information to its Polaris ballistic missile submarines, and it was also used as a navigation system by the Navy's surface ships, as well as for hydrographic survey and geodetic surveying. '.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1971, CBS airs 'Homecoming A Christmas Story,' (introducing the Waltons).
    From Wikipedia: 'The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show is centered on a family in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.

    The series pilot aired as a television movie entitled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and was broadcast on December 19, 1971. Beginning in September 1972, the series originally aired on CBS for a total of nine seasons. After the series was canceled by CBS in 1981, NBC aired three television movie sequels in 1982, with three more in the 1990s on CBS. The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1971, Stanley Kubrick's, A Clockwork Orange, movie premieres.
    From Wikipedia: 'A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange. It employs disturbing, violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian near-future Britain.

    Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the main character, is a charismatic, sociopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and what is termed "ultra-violence". He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian word "friend," "buddy"). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured adolescent slang composed of Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

    The soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange features mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos (then known as Walter Carlos). The artwork for the now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange was created by Philip Castle with the layout by designer Bill Gold'.
    - At FamousDaily: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  • In 1972, Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
    From Wikipedia: 'Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the enterprise that landed the first humans on the Moon. Launched at 12:33 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, it was the last use of Apollo hardware for its original purpose; after Apollo 17, extra Apollo spacecraft were used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs.

    Apollo 17 was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V rocket. It was a "J-type mission" which included three days on the lunar surface, extended scientific capability, and the third Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). While Evans remained in lunar orbit in the Command/Service Module (CSM), Cernan and Schmitt spent just over three days on the moon in the Taurus–Littrow valley and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. Evans took scientific measurements and photographs from orbit using a Scientific Instruments Module mounted in the Service Module.

    The landing site was chosen with the primary objectives of Apollo 17 in mind: to sample lunar highland material older than the impact that formed Mare Imbrium, and investigate the possibility of relatively new volcanic activity in the same area. Cernan, Evans and Schmitt returned to Earth on December 19 after a 12-day mission.

    Apollo 17 is the most recent manned Moon landing and was the last time humans travelled beyond low Earth orbit. It was also the first mission to be commanded by a person with no background as a test pilot, and the first to have no one on board who had been a test pilot; X-15 test pilot Joe Engle lost the lunar module pilot assignment to Schmitt, a scientist. The mission broke several records: the longest moon landing, longest total extravehicular activities (moonwalks), largest lunar sample, and longest time in lunar orbit'.
    - At Wikipedia: More
    - On YouTube: More
  II.
Henry's Heads Up! - previous days social media post (updated daily)

<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):


* 'National Hard Candy Day'. - From Wikipedia (Hard candy): 'A hard candy, or boiled sweet, is a sugar candy prepared from one or more sugar-based syrups that is boiled to a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F) to make candy. Among the many hard candy varieties are stick candy (such as the candy cane), lollipops, aniseed twists, and bêtises de Cambrai.

Hard candy is nearly 100% sugar by weight Recipes for hard candy may use syrups of sucrose, glucose, fructose or other sugars. Sugar-free versions have also been created.

Once the syrup blend reaches the target temperature, the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant extract, essential oil, or flavorant. The syrup concoction, which is now very thick, can be poured into a mold or tray to cool. When the syrup is cool enough to handle, it can be folded, rolled, or molded into the shapes desired. After the boiled syrup cools, it is called hard candy, since it becomes stiff and brittle as it approaches room temperature.

Chemically, sugar candies are broadly divided into two groups: crystalline candies and amorphous candies. Crystalline candies are not as hard as crystals of the mineral variety, but derive their name and their texture from their microscopically organized sugar structure, formed through a process of crystallization, which makes them easy to bite or cut into. Amorphous candies have a disorganized crystalline structure. Hard candies are non-crystalline, amorphous candies containing about 98% (or more) solid sugar.

Hard candies and throat lozenges prepared without sugar employ isomalt as a sugar substitute, and are sweetened further by the addition of an artificial sweetener, such as aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, or a sugar alcohol, such as xylitol'.
[The Hankster says] The only kind of hard candy I don't like is the candy that's hard to get. Cherry, that's my favorite.


* 'National Oatmeal Muffin Day'. - From Wikipedia (Muffin): 'Muffins in the United States are similar to cupcakes in size and cooking methods, the main difference being that cupcakes tend to be sweet desserts using cake batter and which are often topped with sugar frosting. Muffins are available in both savory varieties, such as cornmeal and cheese muffins, or sweet varieties such as blueberry, chocolate chip or banana flavours. Muffins are often eaten as a breakfast food. Coffee may be served to accompany muffins. Fresh baked muffins are sold by bakeries, donut shops and some fast food restaurants and coffeehouses. Factory baked muffins are sold at grocery stores and convenience stores and they are also served in some coffee shops and cafeterias.

Outside the United Kingdom, an English muffin is a flatter disk-shaped, typically unsweetened bread of English origin. These muffins are popular in Commonwealth countries and the United States. English muffins are often served toasted for breakfast. English muffins may be served with butter or margarine. English muffins may be topped with sweet toppings, such as jam or honey, or savoury toppings (e.g., round sausage, cooked egg, cheese or bacon). English muffins are typically eaten as a breakfast food.

Recipes for quick bread muffins are common in 19th-century American cookbooks. Recipes for yeast-based muffins, which were sometimes called common muffins or wheat muffins in 19th-century American cookbooks, can be found in much older cookbooks. In her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Fannie Farmer gave recipes for both types of muffins, both those that used yeast to raise the dough and those that used a quick bread method, using muffin rings to shape the English muffins. Farmer indicated that stove top baking, as is done with yeast dough, was a useful method when baking in an oven was not practical.

The name is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake, or possibly with some connection to the Old French moufflet meaning soft as said of bread'.
[The Hankster says] I'll have mine hot, with raisins and nuts, please. The tall glass of cold milk is not optional.


<> Other holidays / celebrations


* 'Look for an Evergreen Day'. Get your tree for the holidays. - From Wikipedia (Evergreen): 'In botany, an 'evergreen is a plant that has leaves throughout the year, always green. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season. There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs. Evergreens include:

most species of conifers (e.g., pine, hemlock, blue spruce, red cedar, and white/scots/jack pine), but not all (e.g., larch)

live oak, holly, and ancient gymnosperms such as cycads

most angiosperms from frost-free climates, such as eucalypts and rainforest trees

clubmosses and relatives

The Latin binomial term sempervirens, meaning always green, refers to the evergreen nature of the plant, for instance

Cupressus sempervirens (a cypress)

Lonicera sempervirens (a honeysuckle)

Sequoia sempervirens (a sequoia)

Leaf persistence in evergreen plants varies from a few months to several decades (over thirty years in the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine)'.
[The Hankster says] I may have to settle for an evergreen this year. I' can't find an aluminum tree farm anywhere.


<> Awareness / Observances:


<> Historical events on December 19


* 'In 1732, Benjamin Franklin under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of 'Poor Richard's Almanack'. - From Wikipediaa: 'Poor Richard's Almanack (sometimes Almanac) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of Poor Richard or Richard Saunders for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. It was a best seller for a pamphlet published in the American colonies print runs reached 10,000 per year'. .


* 'In 1918, Robert Ripley began his Believe It or Not feature in The New York Globe. - From Wikipedia: 'Ripley first called his cartoon feature, originally involving sports feats, Champs and Chumps, and it premiered on December 19, 1918, in the New York Globe. Ripley began adding items unrelated to sports, and in October 1919, he changed the title to Believe It or Not. When the Globe folded in 1923, Ripley moved to the New York Evening Post. That same year, Ripley hired Norbert Pearlroth as his researcher, and Pearlroth spent the next 52 years of his life in the New York Public Library, working ten hours a day and six days a week in order to find unusual facts for Ripley'. .


* 'In 1924, The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England. Production began in 1906. . - From Wikipedia: 'The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost name refers both to a car model and one specific car from that series.

Originally named the 40/50 h.p. the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving to Derby in July 1908, and also, between 1921 and 1926, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Chassis no. 60551, registered AX 201, was the car that was originally given the name Silver Ghost. Other 40/50 hp cars were also given names, but the Silver Ghost title was taken up by the press, and soon all 40/50s were called by the name, a fact not officially recognised by Rolls-Royce until 1925, when the Phantom range was launched.

The Silver Ghost was the origin of Rolls-Royce's claim of making the Best car in the world – a phrase coined not by themselves, but by the prestigious publication Autocar in 1907.

The chassis and engine were also used as the basis of a range of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars'.


* 'In 1928, The first autogyro flight is made in the U.S. - From Wikipedia: 'An autogyro (from Greek a’?t?? + ?????, self-turning), also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's rotor must have air flowing through the rotor disc to generate rotation.'. .


* 'In 1962, Transit 5A1, 1st operational navigational satellite, launched. - From Wikipedia: 'The TRANSIT system, also known as NAVSAT or NNSS (for Navy Navigation Satellite System), was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The system was primarily used by the U.S. Navy to provide accurate location information to its Polaris ballistic missile submarines, and it was also used as a navigation system by the Navy's surface ships, as well as for hydrographic survey and geodetic surveying. '. .


* 'In 1971, CBS airs 'Homecoming A Christmas Story,' (introducing the Waltons). . - From Wikipedia: 'The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show is centered on a family in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.

The series pilot aired as a television movie entitled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and was broadcast on December 19, 1971. Beginning in September 1972, the series originally aired on CBS for a total of nine seasons. After the series was canceled by CBS in 1981, NBC aired three television movie sequels in 1982, with three more in the 1990s on CBS. The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication'.


* 'In 1971, Stanley Kubrick's, A Clockwork Orange, movie premieres. . - From Wikipedia: 'A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange. It employs disturbing, violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian near-future Britain.

Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the main character, is a charismatic, sociopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and what is termed ultra-violence He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian word friend, buddy). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured adolescent slang composed of Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

The soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange features mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos (then known as Walter Carlos). The artwork for the now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange was created by Philip Castle with the layout by designer Bill Gold'.


* 'In 1972, Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth. . - From Wikipedia: 'Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the enterprise that landed the first humans on the Moon. Launched at 12:33 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7, 1972, with a crew made up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, it was the last use of Apollo hardware for its original purpose after Apollo 17, extra Apollo spacecraft were used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs.

Apollo 17 was the first night launch of a U.S. human spaceflight and the final manned launch of a Saturn V rocket. It was a J-type mission which included three days on the lunar surface, extended scientific capability, and the third Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). While Evans remained in lunar orbit in the Command/Service Module (CSM), Cernan and Schmitt spent just over three days on the moon in the Taurus–Littrow valley and completed three moonwalks, taking lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. Evans took scientific measurements and photographs from orbit using a Scientific Instruments Module mounted in the Service Module.

The landing site was chosen with the primary objectives of Apollo 17 in mind: to sample lunar highland material older than the impact that formed Mare Imbrium, and investigate the possibility of relatively new volcanic activity in the same area. Cernan, Evans and Schmitt returned to Earth on December 19 after a 12-day mission.

Apollo 17 is the most recent manned Moon landing and was the last time humans travelled beyond low Earth orbit. It was also the first mission to be commanded by a person with no background as a test pilot, and the first to have no one on board who had been a test pilot X-15 test pilot Joe Engle lost the lunar module pilot assignment to Schmitt, a scientist. The mission broke several records: the longest moon landing, longest total extravehicular activities (moonwalks), largest lunar sample, and longest time in lunar orbit'.

 III.
Top Song & Movie 50 years ago today (last updated Dec 10 2016 next Dec 26 2016

No. 1 song

  • Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band
    - On YouTube: More
    - At Wikipedia: More
    'You Keep Me Hangin' On' has been displaced by 'Winchester Cathedral', which will hold the no. 1 spot until Dec 24 26 1966, when 'I'm a Believer - The Monkees', takes over.- From Wikipedia: '"Winchester Cathedral" is a song released in late 1966 by Fontana Records, whereupon it shot to the #1 spot in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles charts and shortly thereafter in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released by The New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call "vaudeville"), so he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike (John Carter) singing through his hands to imitate a megaphone sound. Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The recording is one of the few charting songs to feature a bassoon. The band toured extensively under the tutelage of Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin'.

Top movie

  • The Bible: In the Beginning
    - At Wikipedia:  More
    - On IMDb: More
    - On YouTube (trailer): More
    Having displaced 'Penelope', it will be there until the weekend box office of Dec 18 27 1966 when, 'A Man for All Seasons', takes over.- From Wikipedia: 'The Bible: In the Beginning... is a 1966 American-Italian religious epic film produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Huston. It recounts the first 22 chapters of the biblical Book of Genesis, covering the stories from Adam and Eve to the binding of Isaac. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film was photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno in Dimension 150 (color by DeLuxe Color), a variant of the 70mm Todd-AO format. It stars Michael Parks as Adam, Ulla Bergryd as Eve, Richard Harris as Cain, John Huston as Noah, Stephen Boyd as Nimrod, George C. Scott as Abraham, Ava Gardner as Sarah, and Peter O'Toole as the Three Angels.

    In 1967, the film's score by Toshiro Mayuzumi was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures included the film in its "Top Ten Films" list of 1966. De Laurentiis and Huston won David di Donatello Awards for Best Producer and Best Foreign Director, respectively'.
  IV.
Today in the Past (reference sites): December 19
   V.
This month December 2016 (updated once a month - last updated - Dec 19 2016)

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

  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
Contact: If you wish to make comment, please do so by writing to this: Email address