October 13 is:
International Skeptics Day
National M&M Day
National Peanut Festival
- Nuts are healthier in their raw form. The reason is that over 15% of the healthy oils are lost in the roasting process.
- Studies show that people who eat nuts regularly live 2-3 years longer than those who don’t.
- The nut allergy is among the most common food allergies.
- Roasted nutshells were used as a coffee substitute during the civil war.
- Half of the world’s nuts are inedible or poisonous to humans.
The many peanut classes grown around the United States are Spanish, Runner, Virginia, and Valencia. Peanut production is divided into three major areas: the southeastern United States region which includes Alabama, Georgia, and Florida; the southwestern United States region which includes New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; and the third region in the general eastern United States which includes Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th U. S. President (from 1977 to 1981), had a family peanut-growing business in his home state of Georgia.
54 – Roman Emperor Claudius was poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeded him to the Roman throne.
1775 – The United States Continental Congress ordered the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).
1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) was laid.
From Today in Science
Greenwich prime meridian
In 1884, Greenwich was adopted as the universal meridian. At the behest of the U.S. President Chester Arthur, 41 delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, DC, for the International Meridian Conference. At the Conference several important principles were established: a single world meridian passing through the principal Transit Instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich; that all longitude would be calculated both east and west from this meridian up to 180°; a universal day; and studies of the decimal system to the division of time and space. Resolution 2, fixing the Meridian at Greenwich was passed 22-1 (San Domingo voted against, France & Brazil abstained). Greenwich lies on the River Thames, a few miles from central London.
1925 Birthday of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain 1979-1990.
Paddington Bear, a classic character from English children’s literature, made his debut October 13, 1958.