Tidbits of History

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.

October 11 is:

It’s My Party Day

National Sausage Pizza Day
About 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza every month.
About 350 slices of pizza are consumed every second in the United States.
The most pizzas are delivered (and eaten) on New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve, and Super Bowl Sunday.
The three dots in the Domino’s Pizza logo represent the first three Domino’s Pizza stores.
Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the United States.

Don’t eat blackberries after October 11:
According to The Telegraph
The heat, the rain and a luminous Indian summer have brought forth a rich harvest of blackberry enthusiasm, only slightly tempered by this week’s news that we should not pick them after next Sunday. (Legend has it that Lucifer fell from heaven and landed in a blackberry bush on October 11. Infuriated, he contaminated the bush by either spitting or urinating on it. Thus, blackberries are not safe to eat after that date.)

In 1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis died under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand, about 70 miles southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. Referred to as “undoubtedly the greatest pathfinder this country has ever known”, Thomas Jefferson appointed Lewis as Governor of the Louisiana Territory. Lewis assumed the post in 1808. During his brief time in this office, however, Lewis proved himself a poor administrator. He quarreled with the territorial secretary and local leaders, and failed to keep his superiors in Washington informed of his policies and plans. In September 1809 Lewis set out for the nation’s capital to answer complaints about his actions as governor. While on this trip he died a violent but mysterious death. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Whether he committed suicide, as Jefferson believed, or was murdered, as his family maintained, remains uncertain even today.

Birthday of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884), wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Lady from 1933 to 1945. She served as official United States delegate to the United Nations

In 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright Brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.

1975 Bill Clinton wed Hillary Rodham in Arkansas. Per brides.com, According to the Clinton House Museum, Bill wanted an extravagant wedding bash, whereas Hillary didn’t even want an engagement ring (well, she did get a house out of the deal, so not a bad trade)! The compromise? An engagement party where Hillary met all of Bill’s friends—and then a small, intimate wedding and a big reception party to follow. As far as a wedding dress, it is noted by the historical society that Hillary didn’t even have a gown ready to go the night before, so her (horrified!) mother ran her over to Dillard’s in the Fayetteville Mall—Hillary purchased a $53 Jessica McClintock Victorian lace gown, one of the first that she saw. In contrast, their daughter Chelsea’s wedding is estimated to have cost between $2 million and $5 million.

2002: The U.S. Congress passed a bill (the War Powers Resolution), by a wide margin, granting U.S. President George W. Bush broad authority to use force against Iraq.

October 8 is:

National Fluffernutter Day

A Fluffernutter is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme, usually served on white bread.
Variations of the sandwich include the substitution of wheat bread and the addition of various sweet, salty and savory ingredients.
The term fluffernutter can also be used to describe other food items, primarily desserts, that incorporate peanut butter and marshmallow creme.
The sandwich was first created in the early 20th century after Marshmallow Creme, a sweet marshmallow-like spread, was invented in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Archibald Query of Somerville, Massachusetts, invented a product he called Marshmallow Creme in 1917, and Emma and Amory Curtis of Melrose, Massachusetts, invented Snowflake Marshmallow Creme in 1913.
During World War I, Emma Curtis published a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, which is the earliest known example of a Fluffernutter.

The Erie Canal
In 1823, the Erie Canal was inaugurated at Albany, NY, upon the occasion of the first passage of a boat into the canal, although the entire canal was not yet completed. Cannon were placed on the hill near the mansion of General Ten Broeck and fifty-four rounds were fired in honor of each county in the state. The steamboats and other crafts in the river were trimmed with bunting and decorated gaily. The first boat entered the lock with state and local officials, followed by other boats, one of which was filled with ladies. The masonic fraternity ceremoniously laid the cap stone of the lock. A bottle of sea water, brought by the New York committee, was emptied, and mingled with the waters of the lakes and the river. About 40,000 people were present.

The Erie Canal is a 363-mile waterway that connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River in upstate New York. The channel, which traverses New York state from Albany to Buffalo on Lake Erie, was considered an engineering marvel when it first opened.

Death of Franklin Pierce (October 8, 1869), fourteenth President of the United States. He died at Concord, New Hampshire at age 64 from cirrhosis of the liver.

Fire Prevention Day According to legend, on October 8, 1871 Mrs. O’Leary was in her barn, milking her cow. The cow kicked over a lamp, which started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The fire burned for over 27 hours. When it was over, more than 300 people were killed, 100,000 people were left homeless, and over 17,000 structures were destroyed.
In 1997 the Chicago City Council looked into the evidence, both new and old, and passed a resolution exonerating Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. Many still believe the cow was guilty.

The Great Chicago fire sparked major efforts in fire prevention. Forty years later, the Fire Marshall’s Association of North America(FMANA) held the first Fire Prevention Day. In 1920 , President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Fire Prevention Week.

Capt. E.V. “Eddie” Rickenbacker wearing the Congressional Medal of Honor. (U.S. Air Force photo)

From Today in Science
Permanent wave
In 1906, a German, Karl Ludwig Nessler, demonstrated the first “permanent wave” for hair, in his beauty salon in Oxford Street, London, to an invited audience of hair stylists. The hair was soaked with an alkaline solution and rolled on metal rods which were then heated strongly. However, this method had the disadvantages of being very lengthy (about 5 hours) and expensive for each application. Also the machine was large and cumbersome, and the client was obliged to wear a dozen brass curlers, each weighing 1-3/4 lb. With the outbreak of WW I, he moved to the United States and opened salons in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Palm Beach and Philadelphia with a peak of 500 employees. Nessler also invented artificial eyebrows.

1982: The Polish legislature dissolved the trade union Solidarity, which subsequently became an underground organization and played a key role in ending communist rule in Poland, with its various leaders, notably Lech Wałęsa, later holding important government posts.

2004: American domestic lifestyle innovator Martha Stewart reported to a federal prison in West Virginia to begin her five-month sentence for insider trading.

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October 6 is:

National Noodle Day

Australians consume more than 18 million kilograms of noodles every year – that’s almost one kilogram (2.2 pounds) per person!
In Japan, it is considered good form to loudly slurp your noodles as a way of telling your host that you are enjoying the meal.
Noodles symbolize longevity in China.
Noodles have been created from flour and water since 1000BC and today they are more popular than ever.
Noodles are low in fat and have a very low sodium content.

October 6, 1781 – Americans and French began the siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown; the last battle of American Revolutionary War.

From Today in Science
Birthday of George Westinghouse (October 6, 1846), American engineer, inventor and industrialist who founded his own company to manufacturer his invention, the air brake. The son of a New York agricultural machinery maker, he began at age 21 to work on a new tool he invented to guide derailed train cars back onto the track. Before he died 46 years later, he produced safer rail transportation, steam turbines, gas lighting and heating, and electricity. He founded not only namesakes Westinghouse Air Brake and Westinghouse Electric, but also Union Switch & Signal and the forerunners to Duquesne Light, Equitable Gas and Rockwell International. He was also chiefly responsible for the adoption of alternating current for electric power transmission in the United States, and held 400 patents.

First train robbery in US. The Reno Brothers (also known as the Reno Brothers Gang and The Jackson Thieves) took $13,000) in 1866. The group carried out the first three peacetime train robberies in U.S. history. The gang was broken up by the lynchings of ten of its members including Frank, Simeon, and William Reno by vigilante mobs in 1868.

American inventor Thomas Edison showed his first motion picture in 1889.

Mormon Church outlawed polygamy in 1890. The 1890 Manifesto (also known as the Woodruff Manifesto or the Anti-polygamy Manifesto) is a statement which officially advised against any future plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Issued by church president Wilford Woodruff in September 1890, the Manifesto was a response to mounting anti-polygamy pressure from the United States Congress, which by 1890 had disincorporated the church, escheated its assets to the U.S. federal government, and imprisoned many prominent polygamist Mormons. Upon its issuance, the LDS Church in conference accepted Woodruff’s Manifesto as “authoritative and binding.”

From Today in Science
Birthday of Thor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914), Norwegian ethnologist and adventurer who organized and led the famous Kon-Tiki (28 Apr 1947) and Ra (1969-70) transoceanic scientific expeditions. Both expeditions were intended to prove the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts between distant civilizations and cultures. The Kon Tiki voyage from Peru to Polynesia was a 101-day, 4,300-mile drifting voyage on the 40-sq.ft. raft, a replica of pre-Inca vessels. He wished to show that Polynesia’s first settlers could have come from South America. Few scholars at the time, and almost none today, endorsed the idea. They discount the Heyerdahl hypothesis largely on linguistic, genetic and cultural grounds, all of which point to the settlers having come from the west, not the east.

1927 The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premiered in New York City, introducing the sound era of motion pictures.

The Curse of the Billy Goat: Billy Sianis and his pet billy goat were ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series because the pet goat’s odor was bothering other fans. Billy Sianis was outraged and declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” which has been interpreted to mean that there would never be another World Series game won at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have not won a National League pennant since this incident.

President John F. Kennedy advised Americans to build fallout shelters in 1961.

The Yom Kippur War began as Egypt and Syria launched an attack on Israel in 1973.

President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated at a military parade on October 6, 1981.

October 5 is:

Rocky Mountain Oyster Day* (a delicacy in Colorado)
Rocky Mountain oysters, or mountain oysters, or meat balls, also known as prairie oysters in Canada, is a dish made of bull testicles. The organs are often deep-fried after being skinned, coated in flour, pepper and salt, and sometimes pounded flat.

National Apple Betty Day (a crustless apple pie seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar.)
Foodimentary.com says:
The apple is the fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family (Rosaceae).
It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans.
Apples grow on small, deciduous trees.
The tree originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today.
Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists.

1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, October 5th did not exist in 1582 in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Birthday of Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703), American theologian, philosopher, and college president who has been called “the greatest American mind of the Colonial Period”. He played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening.

1713 Birthday of Denis Diderot , French philosopher. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment.

French Revolution: Women of Paris marched to Versailles in 1789 to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to abolish feudalism, to demand bread, and to have the King and his court moved to Paris.

French Revolution: Christianity was disestablished in France in 1793.

War of 1812: Battle of Thames in Canada; Americans defeated British and kill Shawnee leader, Tecumseh in 1813.

Birthday of Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829), twenty-first President of the United States. He became president upon the death of Garfield. Suffering from poor health, Arthur made only a limited effort to secure the Republican Party’s nomination in 1884, and he retired at the end of his term. Journalist Alexander McClure wrote, “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired… more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe.”

1857 – The City of Anaheim, California was founded by fifty German families. Named for “Ana”, after the Santa Ana River, and “Heim”, the German word for “home”.

1905 – Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes, a world record that stood until 1908.

1902 Ray Kroc was born in Oak Park, Illinois. Ray Kroc sold blenders for milkshakes, and one of his customers was a restaurant in San Bernardino, California owned by Maurice and Richard McDonald. Kroc set up a chain of drive-in restaurants based on their efficient assembly line production kitchen. He opened his first restaurant on April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois. By 1961 he had 228 restaurants and he bought out the McDonald brothers. When he died in 1984 there were over 7,500 McDonald’s restaurants. Today there are over 36,000 restaurants in over 100 countries.

2001: Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke Mark McGwire’s single-season home-run record when he hit his 71st and 72nd home runs of the season and finished the season with 73.

In 2022 – Aaron Judge of the NYY hit his 62nd home run of the season, besting the American League record set by Roger Maris in 1961.

2011: American businessman Steve Jobs, a pioneer of the personal computer era who co-founded Apple and transformed it into one of the world’s most successful companies, died at age 56.

October 4 is:

Crunchy Taco Day

Per foodimentary.com:

Founder, Glenn Bell, first opened a hot dog and taco franchise, ‘Bell’s Drive-In’, in San Bernardino, California in 1948. He then started Taco-Tia’s and El Tacos. He opened the first Taco Bell in 1962.
He was the first to fry his taco shells in advance. Before then, they were fried on demand.
In 1962, a taco only cost 19 cents.

Fun Fact: Taquito is a Spanish word that translates to small taco. It is believed that the word “taco” originally referred to pieces of paper that silver miners in Mexico would wrap around gunpowder and use in holes that were carved into the face of the rock.

From Today in Science
Birthday of James Lind
Born 4 Oct 1716; died 13 Jul 1794 at age 77.
Scottish physician, “founder of naval hygiene in England,” who investigated sickness of sailors. On 20 May 1747, while a ship’s surgeon on the HMS Salisbury, he began an experiment to remedy scurvy. He regulated the diets of the sailors, and especially included lemons and oranges. With a clearly positive outcome, he recommended fresh citrus fruit and lemon juice be incorporated in the diet of seamen on long voyages. When made a requirement by Sir Gilbert Blane, this resulted in the prompt eradication of scurvy from the British Navy. (The Dutch had implemented this practice almost two centuries earlier.) Lind also recommended shipboard delousing procedures and suggested the use of hospital ships for sick sailors in tropical ports. In 1761, he arranged for the shipboard distillation of seawater for drinking water.

The German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. It’s been cancelled this year due to the Coronavirus.

Birthday of Eliza McCardle Johnson (October 4, 1810), wife of Andrew Johnson, first lady 1865-1869. Andrew Johnson, 18, married Eliza McCardle, 16, on May 17, 1827; at 16, Eliza Johnson married at a younger age than any other First Lady. Johnson credited his wife for teaching him to do arithmetic and to write, as he had never attended school.
Aside from two public appearances – one at a reception for Queen Emma of the Sandwich Islands and the other at a birthday party for her husband – Eliza Johnson remained totally out of the public eye due to her poor health from tuberculosis.

Birthday of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822), ninteenth president of the United States. Hayes won the election of 1876 by only one electoral vote. He declined to run for a second term.

1853: The Crimean War began as Ottoman Turks (later joined by England and France) declared war on Russia; the fighting lasted more than two years and ended with Russia’s defeat.

Birthday of Frederic Remington (October 4, 1861), American artist and author famous for his drawings and paintings of frontier life, Indians, and horses.

1923-Birthday of Charlton Heston, actor, former president of the NRA, who won Academy Award for title role of Ben Hur in 1959, starred in The Ten Commandments 1956 and Planet of the Apes 1968.

“Leave It to Beaver,” debuts on CBS in 1957. It ran until 1963.

From Today in Science
Sputnik
In 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union, to the dismay of the United States, launched Sputnik, the first manmade satellite, into orbit around the earth. The craft circled the earth every 95 minutes at almost 20,000 miles per hour 500 miles above the Earth. The Sputnik (meaning “companion” or “fellow traveler”) was launched from Kazakhstan. It stayed in orbit for about three months. Sputnik fell from the sky on 4 Jan 1958. The 184-lb satellite had transmitted a radio signal picked up around the world, and instrumentation for temperature measurement.

1970: American singer Janis Joplin , who was known for her fierce and uninhibited musical style, died of an accidental overdose of heroin. Remembered for her rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee”