December 11 is:
National “Have a Bagel” Day
Foodimentary.com
The bagel originated in Poland and it was designed for Lent.
Its name derives from the Yiddish word ‘bengal’, meaning ‘ring’ or ‘bracelet’.
The hole in the center of the bagel is for multiple bagels to be threaded onto a dowel, which allows bakers to transport the bagel more easily.
National Noodle Ring Day
Scaling Day or L’Escalade:
L’Escalade, or Fête de l’Escalade (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls) is an annual festival held in December in Geneva, Switzerland, celebrating the defeat of the surprise attack by troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy during the night of 11–12 December 1602. The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 12 December or the closest weekend.
Publication of Federalist Paper #20: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by James Madison in 1787. Federalist Paper #20 is the third written by Madison on the subject of the inadequacy of the Articles of Confederation. In his previous papers he outlined the problems of confederacy which hampered ancient Greece, Germany, Poland, and the Swiss Cantons. In this paper he describes the system in the Netherlands. He concludes that a government under the Articles leads to “imbecility in the government, discord among the States, foreign influence and indignities; a precarious existence in peace and peculiar calamities from war”.
French Revolution : King Louis XVI of France was put on trial for treason by the National Convention in 1792.
Indiana Admission Day (1816) nineteenth state
- Capital: Indianapolis
- Nickname: Hoosier State
- Bird: Cardinal
- Flower: Peony
- Tree: Tulip Tree
- Motto: The crossroads of America
See our page Indiana for more interesting facts and trivia about Indiana.
Marconi sent first transatlantic radio signal, Cornwall to Newfoundland in 1901.
On December 11, 1919, the citizens of Enterprise, Alabama, erected a monument to the Boll Weevil, the pest that devastated their fields but forced residents to end their dependence on cotton and to pursue mixed farming and manufacturing. Measuring an average length of six millimeters (one-quarter inch), the insect entered the United States via Mexico in the 1890s and reached southeastern Alabama in 1915. It remained the most destructive cotton pest in North America for much of the twentieth century.
A congressional report of 2002 found that intelligence agencies before Sept. 11, 2001, were poorly organized, poorly equipped and slow to pursue clues that might have prevented that day’s terrorist attacks.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
Tidbits of History, December 10
December 10 is:
Nobel Prize Day
Human Rights Day
Thailand Constitution Day:
National Lager Day
Per Foodimentary.com:
Lager is a type of beer that is fermented at low temperatures and generally takes longer to ferment out than ales.
Most lager has a light color and crispy tasting.
The first US lager was brewed in 1840 by John Wagner in Philadelphia.
Lager beer is the most popular beer style throughout the world except in UK, where ale is dominant.
Besides pale lager, there are also dark lagers, such as Dunkel and Schwarzbier.
Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication on December 10, 1520.
Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham were executed on this date in 1541 for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
Mississippi admission day (1817), 20th state
- Capital: Jackson
- Nickname: Magnolia State
- Bird: Mockingbird
- Flower: Magnolia
- Tree: Magnolia
- Motto: By valor and arms
See our page Mississippi for more interesting facts and trivia about Mississippi.
Birthday of Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830), American poet. One of her best-known poems was
Because I could not stop for Death.
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
The first traffic lights were installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London in 1868. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and were illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884. This book is in the public domain and can be read at our site “nextdoorestore.com”
December 10, 1898, Spanish-American War ended; US acquired Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication in 1936. Edward was the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. He became king following his father’s death on 20 January 1936. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, who chose the regnal name George VI. Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second. Her divorce became final on May 3, 1937 and Edward and Wallis Simpson married on June 3, 1937.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
Tidbits of History, December 9
December 9 is:
Christmas Card Day
Weary Willie Day from the birthday of Emmett Kelly, American clown who created “Weary Willie”
National Pastry Day
Birthday of John Milton, (December 9, 1608) poet, author of Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained.
Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captured San Antonio, Texas in 1835. The Battle of the Alamo took place the following year (February 23 – March 6, 1836).
Ten years later, on December 9, 1845, President James K Polk sent a special message:
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I communicate herewith a letter received from the President of the existing Government of the State of Texas, transmitting duplicate copies of the constitution formed by the deputies of the people of Texas in convention assembled, accompanied by official information that the said constitution had been ratified, confirmed, and adopted by the people of Texas themselves, in accordance with the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, and in order that Texas might be admitted as one of the States of that Union.
From: James K. Polk: “Special Message,” December 9, 1845. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England in 1854 about the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. Includes:
“Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.”
Statistician Herman Hollerith installed his computing device at the United States War Department in 1888.
From Free Dictionary.com
Tanzania Independence Day
Tanzania Independence Day is a celebration of independence from the British in 1961 of Tanganyika, which merged with Zanzibar in 1964 to become Tanzania. The day is a national holiday celebrated with parades, youth leagues marching before the president at the stadium in Dar es Salaam, school games, cultural dances, and aerobatics by the air force.
The Petrified Forest National Park was established in Arizona in 1962. Petrified Forest National Park is known for its fossils, especially of fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, about 225 million years ago. During this period, the region that is now the park was near the equator on the southwestern edge of the supercontinent Pangaea, and its climate was humid and sub-tropical. What later became northeastern Arizona was a low plain flanked by mountains to the south and southeast and a sea to the west. Streams flowing across the plain from the highlands deposited inorganic sediment and organic matter, including trees as well as other plants and animals that had entered or fallen into the water. Although most organic matter decays rapidly or is eaten by other organisms, some is buried so quickly that it remains intact and may become fossilized.
A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuted on CBS in 1965.
Phoenix Arizona, got 3 inches of snow in 1985.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.) No music has been embedded.
(Sorry, the Windows Media Player icon button no longer works)
Per Wikipedia:
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, also known as simply “Let It Snow”, is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. The song was first recorded that fall by Vaughn Monroe, was released just after Thanksgiving, and became a hit by Christmas.
“Despite the lyrics making no mention of any holiday, the song has come to be regarded as a Christmas song worldwide due to its winter theme, and is often played on radio stations during the Christmas and holiday season, and having often been covered by various artists on Christmas-themed albums.”
Tidbits of History, December 7
December 7 is:
International Civil Aviation Day
Letter Writing Day
National Cotton Candy Day
Pearl Harbor Day – 1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine Air Forces at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. A day that President F.D.Roosevelt called “a date which will live in infamy”.
All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one (Arizona) were later raised, and six of the eight battleships were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.
Publication of Federalist Paper #18: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by James Madison in 1787. Federalist #18 continues the subject of the insufficiencies of the Articles of Confederation. Madison continues the discussion begun by Hamilton in Federalist #15. This paper describes two Greek confederacies of antiquity that were similar to the current confederacy and how they failed. He concludes that political organizations like that formed under the Articles dissolve because of conflict among the States not from conflicts with the national governing body.
Delaware admission day (1787) first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution
- Capital: Dover
- Nickname: Diamond State/First State
- Bird: Blue hen chicken
- Flower: Peach blossom
- Tree: American Holly
- Motto: Liberty and Independence
See our page Delaware for more interesting facts and trivia about Delaware.
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri in 1869.
Instant replay makes its debut during an American Army–Navy football game on December 7, 1963.
1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, was launched. The crew took the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they left the Earth.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.) No music has been embedded.
(Sorry, the Windows Media Player icon button no longer works)
Tidbits of History, December 3
December 3 is:
National Peppermint Latte Day
Make a Gift Day
National Roof over Your Head Day
First Sunday of Advent, the first season of the Christian church year which leads up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin phrase
“Adventus Domini”, meaning arrival of the Lord.
In 2023the four Advent Sundays are December 3, December 10, December 17, and December 24th.
Traditionally Advent is commemorated by means of an Advent calendar or the lighting of the Advent wreath.
Anniversary of the First Text Message
On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a 22 year old Canadian test engineer sent the first text message over the Vodafone GSM network to the cellphone of his colleague Richard Jarvis who was enjoying a staff Christmas party. The message simply read “Merry Christmas”.
Illinois Admission Day, Illinois became the 21st U. S. State in 1818
- Capital: Springfield
- Nickname: Land of Lincoln/Prairie State
- Bird: Cardinal
- Flower: Violet
- Tree: White Oak
- Motto: State sovereignty, national union
See our page Illinois for more interesting facts and trivia about Illinois.
In a State of the Union message of 1901, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt asked Congress to curb the power of trusts “within reasonable limits”.
Modern neon lighting was first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show in 1910.
December 3, Laurel and Hardy Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, was released in 1927
The musical Camelot debuted at the Majestic Theater on Broadway in 1960. Cast included Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Roddy McDowall and Robert Goulet. Music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.
1967 – At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carried out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky). He survived 18 days.
1992 – UN Security Council Resolution 794 was unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, with the task of establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid was distributed in Somalia.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.) No music has been embedded.
(Sorry, the Windows Media Player icon button no longer works)
Tidbits of History, November 26
November 26 is:
National Cake Day
In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook became the first European to visit Maui in 1778. He was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
First streetcar railway in America starts operating (NYC) (12 cent fare) in 1832.
West Virginia was created in 1861 as a result of dispute over slavery with Virginia. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the war. West Virginia was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, the first to separate from any state since Maine separated from Massachusetts and was one of two states admitted to the Union during the American Civil War (the other being Nevada).
“Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll was published in 1865.
The tomb of Tutankhamun was entered on November 26, 1922. Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
Birthday of Charles Schulz (November 26, 1922), American cartoonist and creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip.
100 of his thought provoking quotes can be found here.
A classic Thanksgiving tradition!
“Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York on this date in 1942.
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified Republican George W. Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in the state’s 2000 presidential balloting by 537 votes.
Tidbits of History, November 21
November 21 is:
National Adoption Day
World Television Day
164 BC – Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restored the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
Birthday of Jean Francois Marie Arouet (Voltaire), (November 21, 1694) French Enlightenment author, historian and philosopher. Author of “Candide”. Known for his wit and attacks on the established Church. He was a key figure in the European intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment.
North Carolina became the twelfth state in 1789:
- Capital: Raleigh
- Nickname: Tar Heel State
- Bird: Cardinal
- Flower: Flowering dogwood
- Tree:Pine
- Motto: To be rather than to seem
The State of North Carolina has 42 official state emblems including the state insect (European honey bee), gemstone (emerald), beverage (milk), dog (Plott hound) , vegetable (sweet potato), fruit (Scuppernong grape), folk dance (clogging), and sport (Nascar).
See our page North Carolina for more interesting facts and trivia about North Carolina.
In 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia took the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator.
Former First Lady Florence Harding died of renal failure on November 21, 1924, at Marion, Ohio, U.S., wife of President Warren G. Harding.
1942 – Tweety Bird, aka Tweety Pie, debuted in “Tale of Two Kitties”
On Nov. 21, 1995, the Presidents of three rival Balkan states (Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) agreed to make peace in Bosnia, (the Dayton Agreement) ending nearly four years of terror and ethnic bloodletting that left a quarter of a million people dead in the worst war in Europe since World War II.
Tidbits of History, November 16
November 16 is:
National Fast Food Day
During the early 1900s, the hamburger was thought to be polluted, unsafe to eat, and food for the poor. Street carts, not restaurants, typically served them.
There are more than 300,000 fast food restaurants in the U.S. alone
From Today in Science
In 1620, the first corn (maize) found in the U.S. by British settlers was discovered in Provincetown, Mass., by sixteen desperately hungry Pilgrims led by Myles Standish, William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins, and Edward Tilley at a place they named Corn Hill. The food came from a previously harvested cache belonging to a local Indian tribe. This corn provided a much needed supply of food which saw the Pilgrims through their first winter in the New World. A commemorative plaque placed on Corn Hill quotes in part “And sure it was God’s good providence that we found this corn for else we know not how we should have done.”
1849 – A Russian court sentenced writer Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group. At the last moment, a note from Tsar Nicholas I was delivered to the scene of the firing squad, commuting the sentence to ten years’ hard labor in Siberia. Dostoevsky’s seizures, which may have started in 1839, increased in frequency in Siberia, and he was diagnosed with epilepsy. On his release, he was forced to serve as a soldier, before being discharged on grounds of ill health. He survived until 1881. Dostoevsky was the author of Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.
Oklahoma became the United States 46th state on November 16, 1907
- Capital: Oklahoma City
- Nickname: Sooner State
- Bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher
- Flower: Mistletoe
- Tree: Redbud
See our page Oklahoma for more interesting facts and trivia about Oklahoma.
Trivia:: Although the film, Oklahoma, was initially to have been shot on location in the title state, the producers opted to shoot elsewhere, apparently because the oil wells would be a distraction for exterior scenes. Location shooting was done mostly in Nogales, Arizona. The corn field in the opening number as well as the reprise song, “Surrey With the Fringe On Top” was shot at the historic Canoa Ranch in Green Valley, Arizona. The train station used in the “Kansas City” routine was located in Elgin, Arizona.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway in 1959.
In 2010, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel was convicted on 11 of 13 charges related to financial misconduct, prompting fellow lawmakers to censure the 80-year-old New York Democrat. Despite the ethics violations, Rangel was re-elected in 2012 and 2014.
Tidbits of History, November 11
Nov 11 is:
Young Readers Day
National Sundae Day
November 11 – At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The Allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead and continue to do so by marking a 1–2 minute silence at 11 am on November 11 each year. The time of the remembrance is also known as the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
End of World War I related observances:
Armistice Day (New Zealand, France, Belgium and Serbia)
Independence Day, commemorates the anniversary of Poland’s assumption of independent statehood in 1918 (Poland)
Remembrance Day (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, including Australia and Canada)
Veterans Day, called Armistice Day until 1954, when the holiday was rededicated to be in honor of American military, naval, and Air Force, veterans. (United States)
Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a “body politick” in 1620.
Birthday of Abigail Smith Adams (November 11, 1744), wife of John Adams, second President of the United States; first lady from 1797-1801. Mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States. John Adams was a prolific writer of letters. He exchanged more than 1100 letters with his wife, Abigail. Most have been preserved in archives.
Birthday of Fyodor Dostoyevsky (November 11, 1821) , Russian novelist famed for “The Brothers Karamazov” and “Crime and Punishment”
Former slave Nat Turner, who had led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va. in 1831.
Birthday of George Patton, (Nov. 11, 1885), the famous World War II American military officer.
Washington State Day, 1889, forty-second state
- Capital: Olympia
- Nickname: Evergreen State
- Bird: Willow goldfinch
- Flower: Coast rhododendron
- Tree:Western Hemlock
- Unofficial Motto: “Al-ki”, meaning “by and by” in Chinook Jargon
See our page on Washington for more interesting facts and trivia about the state of Washington.
Anniversary of the burial of the Unknown Soldier at the Tomb of the Unknowns in 1921 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The tomb is guarded by soldiers of the United States Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment. The first 24-hour guard was posted on midnight, July 2, 1937. The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since that time. Inclement weather, terrorist attacks, etc, do not cause the watch to cease.
Everything the guards do is a series of 21, which alludes to the 21-gun salute.
The Sentinel does not execute an about face, rather they stop on the 21st step, then turn and face the Tomb for 21 seconds. They then turn to face back down the mat, change the weapon to the outside shoulder, mentally count off 21 seconds, then step off for another 21 step walk down the mat. They face the Tomb at each end of the 21 step walk for 21 seconds. The Sentinel then repeats this over and over until the Guard Change ceremony begins.
The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese army, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War in 1972.
Tidbits of History, November 8
November 8 is:
Mid-term Election Day in 2022.
National Cappuccino Day
International Day of Radiology
Book Lovers Day. Put aside your Kindle or Nook…read a real book!
Dunce Day, the anniversary of the November 8, 1308 death of Duns Scotus, medieval scholar. He is generally considered to be one of the three most important philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages; the others being Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham. Later philosophers in the sixteenth century were less complimentary about his work, and accused him of sophistry. This led to his name, “dunce” (which developed from the name “Dunse” given to his followers in the 1500s) to become synonymous for “somebody who is incapable of scholarship”.
Birthday of Edmund Halley (November 8, 1656), English astronomer for whom Halley’s comet is named.
1887 –John Henry “Doc” Holliday, who fought on the side of the Earp brothers during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 6 years earlier, died of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Montana Admission Day, 1889 forty-first state
- Capital: Helena
- Nickname: Treasure State
- Bird: Western meadowlark
- Flower: Bitterroot
- Animal: Grizzly Bear
- Tree: Ponderosa Pine
- Motto: Gold and silver
See our page Montana for more interesting facts and trivia about Montana.
1892
Former President Grover Cleveland beat incumbent Benjamin Harrison, becoming the first president to win non-consecutive terms. The second was Donald Trump just a few days ago. Grover Cleveland was President #22 and #24. Donald Trump is #45 and #47.
While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the X-ray in 1895.
Birthday of Margaret Mitchell (November 8 1900), American novelist, author of “Gone With the Wind”. She died at age 49 after being stuck by a drunk driver while crossing Peachtree Street in Atlanta.