Tidbits of History, December 21

December 21 is:

National French Fried Shrimp Day
From Fodimentary.com

Every shrimp is born male, then some mature into females.
It takes 2 pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of farmed shrimp.
Shrimp is the favorite seafood of Americans.
The “Pistol Shrimp” can fire water like a bullet from its claw, producing an incredibly loud pop.
The “Ghost Shrimp” is transparent, and therefore practically invisible in the water.

National Hamburger Day
Forefather’s Day
Humbug Day
National Flashlight Day
Look on the Bright Side Day

In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the shortest day of the year and is sometimes regarded as the first day of winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the longest day of the year.

The winter solstice is celebrated around the world.

• Soyal is a ceremony performed by the Zuni and Hopi peoples to celebrate the beginning of a new year. The ceremony lasts nine days and marks the arrival of the kachinas – benevolent spirit beings that remain with the group until the summer solstice.
• Pancha Ganapati is a 5-day Hindu festival celebrating Lord Ganesha. The festival focuses on mending past mistakes and offers a chance at a new beginning. Each of the five days focuses on creating love and harmony in relationships or bringing forth love and harmony from the world. Each morning, children dress a statue in the home of Lord Genesh in a different color. (Golden Yellow on Dec 21, Royal Blue on the 22nd, Ruby Red on the 23rd, Emerald Green on the 24th, and Brilliant Orange on Dec. 25.) The children are given gifts each day, which they place in front of the statue. On the fifth day, the children are allowed to open the presents.
• Yule was a midwinter festival practiced by Germanic tribes. Many Yule traditions have made their way intact into the modern holiday season. Most people are familiar with the tradition of burning a Yule log, but the tradition of a Christmas ham likely originates from the sacrifice and feast of the Yule boar, and Christmas caroling is likely descended from the Yule festival as well.
• Yalda is a Persian winter celebration that marked the birth of Mithra, a sun god. It has become an occasion for family to reunite and hold a feast, staying up past midnight. Foods served during the feast often have magical implications for those who consume them – for instance, watermelon will ensure health during the coming summer, pomegranate protects against scorpions and garlic soothes joint pain.
• Koleda was a Slavic pagan festival. During Koleda, families would light a fire in their hearth and worship their personal gods. Children would don disguises and go singing door to door in their villages for which they would receive treats and gifts in return.
• Beiwe Festival was celebrated by the Saami-a Finno-Ugric people who originated in what is now Scandinavia. During the winter solstice, the Saami would honor Beiwe – the sun goddess-by sacrificing a white female reindeer and smearing butter (which melts in sunshine) onto their doorposts in order to provide sustenance to the goddess.
• Dongzhi Festival is a Chinese celebration marking the winter solstice and heralding the arrival of winter. Throughout China the festival is a time for family get-togethers, during which Tangyuan-brightly colored balls made from rice flour are served. The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos

1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Publication of Federalist Paper #25: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. This article continues to examine the issue of raising armies in peace time. Hamilton argues that a federal military is preferable to individual state militias. If an army is not available during peace time, it would need to be raised only if the country were attacked and invaded. Could state militias protect the entire country?

1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declared their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion. Some historians consider the Fredonian Rebellion to be the beginning of the Texas Revolution.

On Dec. 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin, the Soviet statesman who was leader of the Communist Party and dictator of the Soviet Union for 25 years , was born in Gori, Georgia. By some estimates, he was responsible for the deaths of 20 million people during his brutal rule.

Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium in 1898.

Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World in 1913. An interesting side-note was that Wynne also played violin in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

December 21, 1937 – “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, the world’s first full-length animated feature, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater, Los Angeles (Hollywood), California. The Dwarfs were named Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey. Among the songs in the film are: Someday My Prince Will Come, I’m Wishing, Whistle While You Work, and Heigh-Ho!

1959 – Tom Landry accepted coaching job with Dallas Cowboys December 21, 1959. He stayed until 1988.

Apollo program: Apollo 8 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first to reach the Moon, orbit it, and return. Its three-astronaut crew — Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders — were the first humans to fly to the Moon, to witness and photograph an Earthrise, and to escape the gravity of a celestial body.

Elvis Presley met with President Richard M. Nixon in the Oval Office to discuss fighting drugs on December 21, 1970.

Eleven of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991.