<> Tomorrow's food holidays(s):
* 'National Chocolate Candy Day'.
- From Wikipedia (Candy - Definition and classification):
'Chocolate is sometimes treated as a separate branch of confectionery. In
this model, chocolate candies like chocolate candy bars and chocolate
truffles are included. Hot chocolate or other cocoa-based drinks are
excluded, as is candy made from white chocolate. However, when chocolate is
treated as a separate branch, it also includes confections whose
classification is otherwise difficult, being neither exactly candies nor
exactly baked goods, like chocolate-dipped foods, tarts with chocolate
shells, and chocolate-coated cookies.
Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the Persians, followed by the
Greeks, discovered the people in India and their reeds that produce honey
without bees They adopted and then spread sugar and sugarcane agriculture.
Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical South and Southeast Asia, while the
word sugar is derived from the Sanskrit word Sharkara. Pieces of sugar were
produced by boiling sugarcane juice in ancient India and consumed as
Khanda, dubbed as the original candy.
Before sugar was readily available, candy was based on honey. Honey was
used in Ancient China, Middle East, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire to
coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create forms of candy. Candy
is still served in this form today, though now it is more typically seen as
a type of garnish.
Before the Industrial Revolution, candy was often considered a form of
medicine, either used to calm the digestive system or cool a sore throat.
In the Middle Ages candy appeared on the tables of only the most wealthy at
first. At that time, it began as a combination of spices and sugar that was
used as an aid to digestive problems. Digestive problems were very common
during this time due to the constant consumption of food that was neither
fresh nor well balanced. Banquet hosts would typically serve these types of
'candies' at banquets for their guests. One of these candies, sometimes
called chamber spice, was made with cloves, ginger, aniseed, juniper
berries, almonds and pine kernels dipped in melted sugar.
The Middle English word candy began to be used in the late 13th century.
The first candy came to America in the early 18th century from Britain and
France. Only a few of the early colonists were proficient in sugar work and
were able to provide the sugary treats for the very wealthy. Rock candy,
made from crystallized sugar, was the simplest form of candy, but even this
basic form of sugar was considered a luxury and was only attainable by the
rich'.
[The Hankster says] Yes, please. I'll take one of each and let you know which I like best. Yes, it is a sacrifice, but someone has to do it.
<> Other holidays / celebrations
* 'Pledge of Allegiance Day'.
The U.S. Congress formally recognized the Pledge of Allegiance on December
28, 1945.
- From Wikipedia (Pledge of Allegiance):
'The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of
allegiance to the Flag of the United States and the republic of the United
States of America, originally composed by Colonel George Balch in 1887,
later revised by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress
as the pledge in 1942. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was
adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the
words under God were added'.
* 'Card Playing Day'.
[The Hankster says] No batteries needed.
<> Awareness / Observances:
<> Historical events on December 28
* 'In 1846, Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States,
bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and
the Big Sioux River on the west. Surrounding states include Wisconsin and
Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska and South Dakota to
the west, and Minnesota to the north.
In colonial times, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish
Louisiana its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the
Louisiana Purchase, people laid the foundation for an agriculture-based
economy in the heart of the Corn Belt.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy made
the transition to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing,
processing, financial services, information technology, biotechnology, and
green energy production. Iowa is the 26th most extensive in land area and
the 30th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest
city by population is Des Moines. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest
states in which to live. Its nickname is the Hawkeye State'.
* 'In 1849, M Jolly-Bellin discovers dry-cleaning, He accidentally upsets a
lamp containing turpentine and oil. He sees the cleaning effect.
- From Wikipedia: 'Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and
textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. It is used to clean
fabrics that degrade in water, and delicate fabrics that cannot withstand
the rough and tumble of a washing machine and clothes dryer. It can
eliminate labor-intensive hand washing.
Unlike what its name implies, dry cleaning is not actually a 'dry' process.
Clothes are soaked in a different solvent other than water. The solvent
used is typically toxic tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), which the
industry calls PCE. PCE is the most widely used solvent across the world,
although new solvents have become more popular in the United States and
Europe, including hydrocarbons, Green Earth, and Solvon K4 .
Modern dry cleaning use of non-water-based solvents to remove soil and
stains from clothes was reported in 1855. The potential for using
petroleum-based solvents such as gasoline and kerosene was recognized by
French dye-works operator Jean Baptiste Jolly, who offered a new service
that became known as nettoyage à sec—i.e., dry cleaning. Flammability
concerns led William Joseph Stoddard, a dry cleaner from Atlanta, to
develop Stoddard solvent (white spirit) as a slightly less flammable
alternative to gasoline-based solvents. The use of highly flammable
petroleum solvents caused many fires and explosions, resulting in
government regulation of dry cleaners. After World War I, dry cleaners
began using chlorinated solvents. These solvents were much less flammable
than petroleum solvents and had improved cleaning power.
On March 3, 1821, Thomas L. Jennings became the first African-American to
be granted a United States patent, for his cleaning process called dry
scouring, which was the precursor to dry cleaning'.
* 'In 1869, William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, patents chewing
gum.
- From Wikipedia: 'William Finley Semple (1832-1923) was a dentist from
Mount Vernon, Ohio, commonly referred to as the first person anywhere to
patent a chewing gum. On December 28, 1869, Semple filed Patent No. 98,304
with the U.S. Commissioner of Patents. However, Amos Tyler of Toledo, Ohio,
patented his chewing gum on July 27 of the same year. John B. Curtis
successfully sold his 'State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum' in 1848, though he
did not patent it. Semple's gum was intended to clean the teeth and
strengthen the chewer's jaw. It was not a sweet treat ingredients included
chalk and powdered licorice root. Charcoal was also suggested as a
'suitable' ingredient in the patent'. .
* 'In 1895, The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at
the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
- From Wikipedia: 'The Lumières held their first private screening of
projected motion pictures in 1895. The American Woodville Latham had
screened works of film seven months earlier, but the first public screening
of films at which admission was charged was held on December 28, 1895, at
Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. This history-making presentation
featured ten short films, including their first film, Sortie des Usines
Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). Each film is 17
meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, runs
approximately 50 seconds'.
* 'In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a
new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
- From Wikipedia: 'During 1895 Röntgen was investigating the external
effects from the various types of vacuum tube equipment — apparatuses from
Heinrich Hertz, Johann Hittorf, William Crookes, Nikola Tesla and Philipp
von Lenard — when an electrical discharge is passed through them. In early
November, he was repeating an experiment with one of Lenard's tubes in
which a thin aluminium window had been added to permit the cathode rays to
exit the tube but a cardboard covering was added to protect the aluminium
from damage by the strong electrostatic field that is necessary to produce
the cathode rays. He knew the cardboard covering prevented light from
escaping, yet Röntgen observed that the invisible cathode rays caused a
fluorescent effect on a small cardboard screen painted with barium
platinocyanide when it was placed close to the aluminium window. It
occurred to Röntgen that the Hittorf-Crookes tube, which had a much thicker
glass wall than the Lenard tube, might also cause this fluorescent effect.
In the late afternoon of 8 November 1895, Röntgen was determined to test
his idea. He carefully constructed a black cardboard covering similar to
the one he had used on the Lenard tube. He covered the Hittorf-Crookes tube
with the cardboard and attached electrodes to a Ruhmkorff coil to generate
an electrostatic charge. Before setting up the barium platinocyanide screen
to test his idea, Röntgen darkened the room to test the opacity of his
cardboard cover. As he passed the Ruhmkorff coil charge through the tube,
he determined that the cover was light-tight and turned to prepare the next
step of the experiment. It was at this point that Röntgen noticed a faint
shimmering from a bench a few feet away from the tube. To be sure, he tried
several more discharges and saw the same shimmering each time. Striking a
match, he discovered the shimmering had come from the location of the
barium platinocyanide screen he had been intending to use next.
Röntgen speculated that a new kind of ray might be responsible. 8 November
was a Friday, so he took advantage of the weekend to repeat his experiments
and make his first notes. In the following weeks he ate and slept in his
laboratory as he investigated many properties of the new rays he
temporarily termed X-rays, using the mathematical designation (X) for
something unknown. The new rays came to bear his name in many languages as
Röntgen Rays (and the associated X-ray radiograms as Röntgenograms).
At one point while he was investigating the ability of various materials to
stop the rays, Röntgen brought a small piece of lead into position while a
discharge was occurring. Röntgen thus saw the first radiographic image, his
own flickering ghostly skeleton on the barium platinocyanide screen. He
later reported that it was at this point that he determined to continue his
experiments in secrecy, because he feared for his professional reputation
if his observations were in error.
Nearly two weeks after his discovery, he took the very first picture using
X-rays of his wife Anna Bertha's hand. When she saw her skeleton she
exclaimed I have seen my death!
Röntgen's original paper, On A New Kind Of Rays (Über eine neue Art von
Strahlen), was published on 28 December 1895. On 5 January 1896, an
Austrian newspaper reported Röntgen's discovery of a new type of radiation.
Röntgen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from the
University of Würzburg after his discovery. He published a total of three
papers on X-rays between 1895 and 1897. Today, Röntgen is considered the
father of diagnostic radiology, the medical speciality which uses imaging
to diagnose disease.
A collection of his papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in
Bethesda, Maryland'.
* 'In 1905, The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of US, is founded. It
became the NCAA in 1910.
- From Wikipedia: 'The NCAA dates its formation to two White House
conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt to encourage reforms
to college football practices in the early 20th century, which had resulted
in repeated injuries and deaths and prompted many college and universities
to discontinue the sport. Following those White House meetings, Chancellor
Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges
and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules at a
follow-on meeting on December 28, 1905 in New York, 62 higher-education
institutions became charter members of the Intercollegiate Athletic
Association of the United States (IAAUS).The IAAUS was officially
established on March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in
1910'.
* 'In 1912, The first 'municipally owned' street cars (cable cars) become
operational in San Francisco, California, they would become an iconic part
of the city. The cable car had been patented in 1871 and there were
previous privately owned routes.. .
* 'In 1944, Leonard Bernstein's, On the Town, introducing the hit song, New
York, New York, premieres on Broadway. .
- From Wikipedia: 'On the Town is a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein
and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on Jerome
Robbins' idea for his 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to
Bernstein's music. The musical introduced several popular and classic
songs, among them New York, New York, Lonely Town, I Can Cook, Too (for
which Bernstein also wrote the lyrics), and Some Other Time The story
concerns three American sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City
during wartime 1944. Each of the three sailors meets and quickly connects
with a woman.
On the Town was first produced on Broadway in 1944 and was made into a film
in 1949, although the film replaced all but three of the original Broadway
songs with Hollywood-written substitutes. The show has enjoyed a number of
major revivals. The musical integrates dance into its storytelling: Robbins
made a number of ballets and extended dance sequences for the show,
including the Imaginary Coney Island ballet'.
* 'In 1956, Miss Frances (Horwich), hosts the last TV show of, Ding Dong
School.
- From Wikipedia: 'Ding Dong School, billed as 'the nursery school of the
air', was a half-hour children's TV show which began on WNBQ-TV (now
WMAQ-TV) in Chicago, Illinois a few months before its four-year run on NBC
(albeit still produced in the WNBQ studios). The program was presented from
a child's point of view. A 1953 magazine article reported, 'Low-angled
cameras see everything at Lilliputian eye-level, stories and activities are
paced at the slow rate just right for small ears and hands'. .
* 'In 1968, The Beatles' 'Beatles-The White Album,' goes #1 and stays #1
for 9 weeks. .
- From Wikipedia: 'The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth
studio album by English rock group the Beatles, released on 22 November
1968. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other
than the band's name embossed, which was intended as a direct contrast to
the vivid cover artwork of the band's earlier Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band. Although no singles were issued from The Beatles in Britain and
the United States, the songs Hey Jude and Revolution originated from the
same recording sessions and were issued on a single in August 1968. The
album's songs range in style from British blues and ska to tracks
influenced by Chuck Berry and by Karlheinz Stockhausen.
On release, The Beatles received favourable reviews from the majority of
music critics. Other commentators found its satirical songs unimportant and
apolitical, however, amid the turbulent political and social climate of
1968. The band and Martin have since debated whether the group should have
released a single album instead. Nonetheless, The Beatles reached number
one on the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States and has
since been viewed by some critics as one of the greatest albums of all
time'.
* 'In 1973, The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
- From Wikipedia: 'The ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon
on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled
species from extinction as a 'consequence of economic growth and
development untempered by adequate concern and conservation'. The U.S.
Supreme Court found that 'the plain intent of Congress in enacting' the ESA
'was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the
cost'. The ddAct is administered by two federal agencies, the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)'. .
* 'In 2000, U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of
business after 128 years. .
- From Wikipedia: 'Meanwhile, throughout the 1950s, the company was slow to
respond to the general movement of the American middle class to suburbia.
While its former rivals Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, Gimbels, and Dillard's
established new anchor outlets in the growing number of suburban shopping
malls, Avery and succeeding top executives had been reluctant to pursue
such expansion. They stuck to their downtown and main street stores until
the company had lost too much market share to compete with its rivals.
After Avery's departure in 1955 it took two years before the first new
store since the 1930s was opened in 1957. Wards tried to become more
aggressive with store opening but it was too late. Competition had already
taken the best locations. As the existing stores looked worn and
disheveled, often malls would not entertain allowing Wards to build there.
Its catalog business had begun to slip by the 1960s. In 1968, it merged
with Container Corporation of America to become Marcor Inc.
By the 1990s, however, even its rivals began to lose ground to low-price
competition from Kmart, Wal-Mart, and especially Target, which eroded even
more of Montgomery Ward's traditional customer base. In 1997, it filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging from protection by the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 1999 as a
wholly owned subsidiary of GE Capital, which was by then its largest
shareholder. As part of a last-ditch effort to remain competitive, the
company closed 250 retail locations in 30 U.S. states (including all the
Lechmere stores), abandoned the specialty store strategy, renamed and
rebranded the chain as simply Wards (although unrelated, Wards was the
original name for the now-defunct Circuit City), and spent millions of
dollars to renovate its remaining outlets to be flashier and more
consumer-friendly. But GE reneged on promises of further financial support
of Montgomery Ward's restructuring plans'.
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