April 16 is National Eggs Benedict Day – From days of the year.com
History of Eggs Benedict Day
The actual origin of Eggs Benedict is one shrouded in myth and mystery. There are those that profess that it was the favorite breakfast of the notorious betrayer Benedict Arnold, and became a favorite of the British after his defection from the American Revolutionary forces. Others say that its origins are far more recent, being the result of a hangover remedy ordered by one Lemuel Bendict, a Stock Broker who celebrated a bit too hard the night before. While the original order in this case is rumored to be “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of Hollandaise”, and the maître d’hotel was so impressed with it that he made a couple modifications and added it to the menu.
Another, purportedly older origin story speaks of Pope Benedict XIII and a bit of an obsession with a particular egg dish. Every day he would order this specific meal when the opportunity presented itself, and so it was that it became deeply associated with him. It also was rumored that there was something going on with his health that made eggs be something of a craving as it helped to assuage the effects.
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1818 – The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
April 16, 1862 – Emancipation Day (Washington, DC) celebrates the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 enslaved persons in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves. The act, which set aside $1 million, immediately emancipated slaves in Washington, D.C., giving Union slaveholders up to $300 per freed slave. An additional $100,000 allocated by the law was used to pay each newly freed slave $100 if he or she chose to leave the United States and colonize in places such as Haiti or Liberia.
Birthday of Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867), American pioneer aviator who, with his brother Orville (born August, 1871), invented the first powered airplane, Flyer, capable of sustained, controlled flight (17 Dec 1903). Orville made the first flight, airborn for 12-sec. Wilbur took the second flight, covering 853-ft (260-m) in 59 seconds. Wilbur died of typhoid in 1912.
1900 – The first book of postage stamps was issued. The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
In 1908 the Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.
Bernard Baruch, an American financier, stock investor, philanthropist, statesman, and political consultant, coined the term “Cold War” in 1947 to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1968 – Major league baseball’s longest night game was played when the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 1-0. The 24 innings took six hours, six minutes to play.
Cambodian Khmer Rouge occupy Phnom Penh in 1975.
2003 – The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union – Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia.