December 2 is:
National Fritters Day The Spanish created this fried food technique, but today almost every culture has its own version of fritters. Sometimes they’re sweet, sometimes they’re savory.
December 2, 1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag was hoisted by John Paul Jones.
At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
Monroe Doctrine: In the State of the Union message of 1823, U.S. President James Monroe proclaimed American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announced to Congress in 1845 that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
Militant abolitionist leader John Brown was hanged for his October 16, 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.
1865 – Alabama ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina then Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wed second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, in London in 1886. He would become the 26th U. S. President in 1901. Roosevelt’s first wife had died Feb 14, 1884 of kidney disease, only eleven hours after the death of his mother from typhoid fever.
Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Ford Model A in 1927 as its new automobile.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency began operations on December 2, 1970. In 2013 the EPA had 15,913 employees and an annual budget of $7.9 billion.
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 1
December 1 is:
Eat a Red Apple Day The phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” was coined by J. T. Sinson at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis to promote apples as a healthy snack.
National Fried Pie Day
Per Foodimentary.com:
Fried apple pies were first introduced in McDonald’s in 1968, originally fried in lard.
New Hampshire fried pies were the favorite dessert of U.S. president Franklin Pierce.
National French Fried Clam Day
National Handwashing Awareness week
World Aids Awareness Day
If the arm of King Henry I (born c 1068; died December 1, 1135) of England had been forty-two inches long, the unit of measure of a “foot” today would be fourteen inches. But his arm happened to be thirty-six inches long and he decreed that the standard “foot” should be one-third that length – twelve inches.
From Asimov, Isaac. Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts. New York, Bell Publishing Company, 1981
Birthday of Marie Tussaud (December 1, 1761), French-born artist who became known for her wax sculptures and the wax museum that she founded in London.
Publication of Federalist Paper #15: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. In Paper #15 Hamilton opens the subject of the insuffiencies of the Articles of Confederation. This subject is discussed in this and following Papers. Under the Articles, the federal government could pass laws requisitioning men and money but had no authority over the individual citizens of the States to raise either. The national government could not enforce its laws because the states cannot be thrown in jail. He says “we must extend the authority of the union to the persons of the citizens, the only proper objects of government”.
United States presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In February, 1825, John Quincy Adams was declared to be president-elect.
1885 – First serving of the soft drink Dr Pepper at a drug store in Waco, Texas. It was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new kind of soda pop, made with 23 flavors. Its introduction in 1885 preceded the introduction of Coca-Cola by one year. Like many early sodas, the drink was marketed as a brain tonic and energizing pick-me-up, so one theory holds that it was named for the pep it supposedly gave to users.
Birthday of Rex Stout (December 1, 1886), American author best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective, Nero Wolfe. The Nero Wolfe stories are narrated by Wolfe’s assistant, Archie Goodwin, who is presented as having recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).
1955 – American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and was arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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:
“We Need a Little Christmas” is a popular Christmas song originating from Jerry Herman’s Broadway musical Mame, and first performed by Angela Lansbury in that 1966 production.
“In the musical, the song is performed after Mame has lost her fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and decides that she, her young nephew Patrick, and her two household servants “need a little Christmas now” to cheer them up.”
Tidbits of History, The month of December
The month of December is the twelfth and last month in the Gregorian calendar. It was the tenth month in the ancient Roman calendar and its name comes from the Latin word decem, meaning “ten”. It is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
December is the most festive month of the year. It is the month when people all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ, and many activities are carried out in preparation of that great day. The season of preparation, which is called “Advent” in the Christian calendar, begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
It is a month of happy traditions. Many people keep up customs that have been in their families for generations. They cook special dishes that originated with their forefathers, such as the English plum pudding or the Swedish lutefisk and other delicacies. December is the month for the singing of Christmas carols, the trimming of the tree, the writing of Christmas cards, and the selection of gifts for Christmas giving.
This is the month of Santa Claus in the United States and the month of Saint Nicholas in the countries of Europe. St. Nicholas has a feast day on the 6th, and on that day he brings fruit and cakes to children who have been good.
The last day of the month closes the year. In Japan it is a time of stocktaking and the payment of debts. December 31 is called “Hogmanay Day” in Scotland and it is a day when adults exchange presents and give cakes to children. It is also Saint Sylvester’s Day, which is observed in Germany and Belgium, with customs that anticipate the New Year. In Belgium, the last child out of bed on the morning of December 31 is a “Sylvester”, a lazy one who has to pay a tribute to early risers. In the United States the last hours of the month and the year constitute New Year’s Eve, a time of merrymaking for adults and Watch Night parties for young people.
The poinsettia has come to be the flower that is symbolic of December. Holly and mistletoe are also special floral decorations used at Christmas time.
This month has two birthstones, the turquoise and the zircon.
December is also:
Bingo Month
Write a Friend Month
National Egg Nog Month
National Fruit Cake Month
From Holiday Insights.com
Did you know? There are occasional “Leap Seconds” added to the official year. We will spare you the detail on those, except to say it helps to correct minor variations. A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to keep its time of day close to the mean solar time, or UT1. Without such a correction, time reckoned by Earth’s rotation drifts away from atomic time because of irregularities in the Earth’s rate of rotation. Since this system of correction was implemented in 1972, 27 leap seconds have been inserted, the most recent on December 31, 2016, at 23:59:60 UTC.
On December 7, 1787 Delaware ratified the Constitution, becoming the 1st state.
On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania joined the union as the 2nd state.
On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the 3rd state.
On December 11, 1816 Indiana became the 19th state
On December 10, 1817 Mississippi became the 20th state.
On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.
On December 14, 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state.
On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state.
On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state.
Tidbits of History, November 30
November 30 is:
National Mousse Day
The word mousse is French and translates as “froth” or “foam.”
Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day
Birthday of Jonathan Swift (1667) , English clergyman, poet, satirist remembered for “Gulliver’s Travels” and A Modest Proposal.
Publication of Federalist Paper #14: Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered written by James Madison. This article is the last to address the issue of the benefits of having one united country vs several smaller unions. Madison answers the arguments that the United States would be too big to be governed successfully by one central authority.
In New Orleans in 1803, Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transferred the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
Birthday of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835), American author. Wrote “Tom Sawyer”, “Huckleberry Finn”, “Life on the Mississippi”, and many more. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in the public domain and is available at our other site, Nextdoorestore.com.
From Today in Science
In 1858, John Landis Mason received a U.S. patent for his invention known by his name – the Mason jar (No. 22,186). Although hundreds of men and women obtained patents for fruit jars, probably the most well known in the industry has been the Mason jar. It has become a common term for the preserved food jar. Mason developed and patented a shoulder-seal jar with a zinc screw cap. The “Mason jar” had a threaded neck which fit with the threads in a metal cap to screw down to the shoulder of the jar and in this way form a seal. In 1869, a top seal above the threads and under a glass lid was introduced to the jar, thus effecting an excellent seal.
Birthday of Sir Winston Churchill (1874), British statesman, prime minister. One of only eight “Honorary citizens of the U. S.”
1902-11-30 – American Old West: Second-in-command of 
Fort Worth’s Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor. In the picture, the two men standing are William “News” Carver and Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan. The three sitting are Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka “Sundance Kid”; Ben Kilpatrick, aka “Tall Texan”; and Robert Leroy Parker, aka “Butch Cassidy”.
Birthday of “American Bandstand” producer and host, Dick Clark, (November 30, 1929) in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Dubbed “America’s oldest teenager”.
Lucille Ball married Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut on this date in 1940.
On this date in 2018, ex-President George H. W. Bush died at Houston, Texas of Vascular Parkinson’s disease. (See heavy.com for information about this form of atypical Parkinsonism)
Tidbits of History, November 29
November 29 is:
Square Dance Day The square dance is the official dance of nineteen American states. Square Dance is a fun, simple, and healthy form of dance and it has roots in normal English, Irish and Scottish folk dance.
National Lemon Cream Pie Day
Lemon cream pie is a Southern specialty which was first made in the 1920s.
National Rice Cake Day
Soft forms of rice cakes have been popular in Japan for hundreds of years.
National Chocolates Day
Per Foodimentary.com
Chocolate comes from the Aztec word “xocolatl” which means “bitter water”.
In 1777, San Jose, California, was founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It was the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
Birthday of Louisa May Alcott (November 28, 1832), author of “Little Women” and many more. Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in Colorado on November 29, 1864, when a militia led by Colonel John Chivington, killed at least 400 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who had surrendered and had been given permission to camp.
Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time in 1877.
Birthday of C.S.(Clive Staples) Lewis (November 29, 1898), a British writer and lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain
U.N. General Assembly partitioned Palestine between Arabs and Jews in 1947.
“Kukla, Fran, and Ollie” debuted on NBC in 1948.
President-elect Eisenhower visited Korea to assess war in 1952, fulfilling a campaign promise.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson set up Warren Commission in 1963 to investigate assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Roman Catholic Church in U.S. replaced Latin with English in 1964.
Atari announced the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game in 1972.
1975 – Bill Gates adopted the name Microsoft for the company he and Paul Allen had formed to write the BASIC computer language for the Altair.
Tidbits of History, November 28
November 28 is:
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
See our page at Thanksgiving for tidbits of history about Thanksgiving!
National French Toast Day
French toast was not invented in France. In fact, French toast was around long before France even existed as a country.
The earliest reference to French toast dates all the way back to 4th century Rome.The name for French toast in France is “pain perdu”, which means “lost bread.”
November 28, 1520 – The first navigation of the Magellan Strait, to the south of mainland South America, was completed by Ferdinand Magellan and his crew.
Birthday of William Blake, (November 28, 1757), English poet, painter and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.
Second Continental Congress formally established U.S. Navy in 1775.
Publication of Federalist Paper #13: Advantage of the Union in Respect to Economy in Government written by Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton looks at the cost of supporting several confederacies vs the economy of supporting one federal government. He speculates that, if the states should form their own unions, there would be two – North and South based on geographical and commercial considerations. Each would have to support its own defense and bureaucracy.
Olympia formed as capital of Washington Territory in 1853.
1861 – Confederate Congress officially admitted Missouri to Confederacy
1925 – The Grand Ole Opry began broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee, as the WSM Barn Dance.
1942 Fire destroyed the Coconut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing nearly 500 people.
1943 – World War II: Tehran Conference – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met in Tehran, Iran, to discuss war strategy.
“Hopalong Cassidy” premiered on TV in 1948.
Red Planet Day to commemorate the first launch in 1964 of Mariner 4, the first spacecraft to obtain and transmit close range images of Mars.
1972 – Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison. The chief executioner was André Obrecht. Buffet was already serving a life sentence in prison. During a prison riot, Buffet and Bontems slit the throats of two hostages. (Bontems had been found innocent of murder, but as Buffet’s accomplice was condemned to death anyway).
Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn were made Honorary Citizens of the United States on November 28, 1984.
Tidbits of History, November 27
November 27 is:
Pins and Needles Day According to Days of the Year.com the original Pins and Needles Day started up in 1937 to commemorate the opening of the pro-Labor musical play of the same name on Broadway. The cast of the original production was made up of sewing machine workers, cutters and basters who simply wanted to do something a little creative in their free time.
National Bavarian Cream Pie Day
Before the advent of refrigeration, Bavarian cream represented a culinary triumph. In order to set the dish, the Bavarian cream would have had to be chilled in an ice-filled bowl.
Publication of Federalist Paper #12: The Utility of the Union In Respect to Revenue written by Alexander Hamilton. In this article Hamilton discusses the issues of taxation. At that time the only taxes collected were on imports and excise taxes on manufactured products. Personal property or income were not yet taxed.
1826 – John Walker invents the first friction match in England. He sold about 164 boxes of 50 matches which included a piece of sandpaper. Because of the danger of fire, the matches were banned in France and Germany.
1835 – James Pratt and John Smith were hanged in London. They were the last two to be executed for sodomy in England. The magistrate, Hensleigh Wedgwood, who had committed the three men to trial, subsequently wrote to the Home Secretary, Lord John Russel, arguing for the commutation of the death sentences, stating:
“It is the only crime where there is no injury done to any individual and in consequence it requires a very small expense to commit it in so private a manner and to take such precautions as shall render conviction impossible. It is also the only capital crime that is committed by rich men but owing to the circumstances I have mentioned they are never convicted.”
Wedgwood described the men as “degraded creatures” in another letter. Nevertheless, he argued that the law was unfair in their case in that wealthy men who wished to have sex could afford a private space in which to do it with little chance of discovery. Pratt and Smith were only condemned because they could only afford to use a room in a lodging house, in which they were easily spied upon.
New York Times dubs baseball “The National Game” in 1870.
1895 – Alfred Nobel’s will established the Nobel Prizes
NY’s Penn Station opened as world’s largest railway terminal in 1910.
In New York City, the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1924.
Bank robber Baby Face Nelson (Lester Joseph Gillis) died in a shoot-out with the FBI in 1934. Nelson was responsible for killing more FBI agents than any other person. He was a member of the gang of John Dillinger. His death is called The Battle of Barrington. In the shoot-out, Nelson was shot nine times. Two FBI agents were killed.
Jannetje Johanna Schaft was a Dutch communist resistance fighter during World War II. She became known as “the girl with the red hair”. Her secret name in the resistance movement was Hannie. She was killed on April 17, 1945. After the war, on November 27, 1945, she was reburied at the honorary cemetery at the dunes in Overveen, a ceremony attended by Princess Juliana and her husband, Prince Bernard, of the Netherlands.
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 25
November 25 is:
National “Eat with a Friend” Day
National Parfait Day
Per /Foodimentary.com
Parfait is a French word that means perfect.
It is often served in a tall, clear glass and topping creation with whipped cream and fruit.
The oldest recipe with the name parfait comes from a French cookbook dated 1869. It was a frozen coffee-flavoured French ice dessert constructed in parfait-shaped (tall and thin) ice cream moulds.
French style parfait is served on decorated plates instead of tall, thin glassware.
The unique texture of parfait is because the fat, sugar, and air interfere with the formation of water crystals, which would otherwise cause an oily texture in your mouth.
1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh.
Delmonico’s, one of NY’s finest restaurants, provides a meal of soup, steak, coffee & half a pie for 12 cents in 1834.
Birthday of Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835). He led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He became a leading philanthropist in the United States and in the British Empire.
Birthday of Carrie Nation (November 25, 1846), American temperance leader who used a hatchet to implement her campaign against saloons.
Woody Woodpecker debuts with release of Walter Lantz’s “Knock Knock” in 1940.
1947 Movie studio executives agreed to blacklist the Hollywood 10, who were jailed a day earlier for contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.
On Nov. 25, 1963, the funeral of President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery.
1979 – Pat Summerall and John Madden broadcast a game together for the first time, a pairing that would last 22 years and become one of the most well-known partnerships in TV sportscasting history.
Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida in 1999.
President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security in 2002. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management. As of 2018 DHS employs 240,000 people and has a budget of $51.672 billion.
Tidbits of History, November 24
November 24 is:
National Espresso Day
National Sardines Day
Sardines are the most plentiful, edible fish in the world.
Sardines, also referred to as pilchards, are a group of small, oily fish that were once found in great abundance around the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean. The sardine is a member of the Clupeidae family, which also includes herring, and there are at least 18 different species classified as sardines or pilchards.
Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va. on November 24, 1784. Taylor was President from 1849-1850. He officiated at the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850, and became ill from the heat. He died five days later, possibly from dysentery. Points of interest about Taylor include:
- Taylor refused all postage due correspondences. Because of this, he didn’t receive notification of his nomination for president until several days later.
- November 7, 1848 was the first time a presidential election was held on the same day in every state.
- Visitors to the White House would take souvenir horse hairs from Whitey, Taylor’s old Army horse that he kept on the White House lawn.
- Taylor was the first president who had not previously held public office.
- Taylor was the last southerner elected President until Lyndon Johnson, 116 years later.
Taylor was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.
In 1835 – The Texas Provincial Government authorized the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).
On November 24, 1859 – Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, the anniversary of which is sometimes called “Evolution Day”. He was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science.
Birthday of Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868), an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the King of Ragtime. During his brief career, he wrote over 100 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas.
Birthday of Dale Carnegie, (November 24, 1888), an American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, a bestseller that remains popular today.
From Today in Science:
In 1903, the first U.S. patent for an automobile electric self-starter was issued to Clyde J. Coleman of New York City (No. 745,157). He invented the self-starter in 1899, but the invention was impractical. The license was purchased by the Delco Company, which was taken over by the General Motors Corporation. Charles Kettering at General Motors perfected the self-starter, which was first installed on Cadillac cars in 1911. This was a response to the death of a friend, who had died from injuries suffered when a car hand-crank recoiled against him. Having eliminated the dangerous job of cranking the engine, it put women behind the wheel in greater numbers.
1954 – Air Force One, first US Presidential airplane, was christened.
November 24, 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald, presumed assassin of President John F Kennedy, was shot and killed by Jack Ruby.