Tidbits of History, December 18

December 18 is:

Bake Cookies Day

National Roast Suckling Pig Day
A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother’s milk. In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks.

National “I Love Honey” Day
From Foodimentary.com
Greeks and Roman referred to honey as a food fit for the gods.
A honey wine was developed, and largely consumed by many. Its given name was mead.
Honey was so in demand in the eleventh century that it was a stipulation for German peasants to offer their feudal lords payment in honey and beeswax.
Have allergies? Take a teaspoon a day of a honey made from the region where you reside and it will aid in developing resistance to pollen thereby reducing your allergies.
Have chapped lips? Apply honey!

author of Federalist PaperPublication of Federalist Paper #23: Other Defects of the Present Confederation written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton discusses the responsibilities of the federal government and what powers are needed to fulfill their objective. He rejects the notion that the government be given authority without the means to exercise it.

Header New JerseyNew Jersey Admission Day (1787), third state

  • Capital: Trenton
  • Nickname: Garden state
  • Bird: Eastern goldfinch
  • Flower: Violet
  • Animal: Horse
  • Fruit: Blueberry
  • Insect: Honeybee
  • Tree: Red Oak
  • Motto: Liberty and prosperity

See our page New Jersey for more interesting facts and trivia about New Jersey.

Thirteenth Amendment ratified, slavery abolished December 18, 1865.

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1892.

The Panama Canal Zone was acquired ‘in perpetuity’ by the U.S. for an annual rent in 1903. The Torrijos–Carter Treaties, signed on 7 September 1977 by U. S. President Jimmy Carter and Commander of Panama’s National Guard, General Omar Torrijos. superseded the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999.

Edith Wilson, married December 18, 19151915 President Woodrow Wilson , widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt. Following Wilson’s stroke in 1919, Edith Wilson took over the “stewardship” of the presidency.

1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ended when German forces under Chief of Staff Erich Von Falkenhayn were defeated by the French and British, and suffered 337,000 casualties.

“To Tell the Truth” debuted on CBS-TV in 1956.

The Grinch1966 – Dr Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” aired for first time on CBS. Directed by Chuck Jones, of Warner Bros cartoon fame, it became an immediate classic.

Capitol Reef National Park was established in Utah in 1971.

HTML 4.0 was published by the World Wide Web Consortium on December 18, 1997.

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:

I'll be Home for Christmas
I’ll Be Home for Christmas

(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.)

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