Tidbits of History

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”

October 2 is:

National Custodial Worker Day
International Day of Non-Violence, birthday of Mahatma Gandhi

World Farm Animals Day
      Pig insulin is used to control diabetes.
      Goats and sheep don’t have teeth on their upper jaw. They have a hard palate that helps them grind their food.
      The chicken is the closest living relative to the T-Rex.
      Geese are faithful, mate for life, and mourn when their partner dies.
      Cows have a memory of about three years.

Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named “The Country of Canadas” after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island).

1789 – George Washington sent the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.

The Texas Revolution began in 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales: Mexican soldiers attempted to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, but encountered stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.

Birthday of Paul von Hindenburg (October 2, 1847), Polish-German field marshal and politician, second President of Germany (d. 1934)

Birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869- Jan 30, 1948), Hindu statesman and spiritual leader. He was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

1889 – In Colorado, Nicholas Creede struck it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West. He was an American prospector famous for discovering the Holy Moses Amethyst vein and other mining properties near Creede, Colorado in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

Birthday of Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890), American comedian, actor, and singer (d. 1977)

Birthday of Bud Abbott (October 2, 1895), American actor and singer (d. 1974) Partnered with Lou Costello, their patter routine “Who’s on First?” is one of the best-known comedy routines of all time.

In 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.

Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz was first published in 1950.

1957: The British-American war classic The Bridge on the River Kwai had its world premiere, and it later won the Academy Award for best picture.

1959: The science-fiction anthology TV series The Twilight Zone debuted and became hugely popular, known for its unexpected plot twists and moral lessons; the show was created by Rod Serling.

Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court in 1967.

1985: American actor Rock Hudson died, becoming one of the first Hollywood celebrities known to succumb to AIDS-related complications; the extensive publicity surrounding his death drew attention to the disease.

October 1 is:

International Day of Older Persons
World Vegetarian Day

National Pumpkin Spice Day

• The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
• The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
• In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
• Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
• The chemicals in the pumpkin seed cause an increase in urination (diuretic effect), which helps relieve bladder and prostate discomfort. Some chemicals might also reduce inflammation in the prostate.

Birthday of James Lawrence (October 1, 1781), naval hero during the War of 1812; he commanded USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon commanded by Philip Broke. He is probably best known today for his last words or “dying command” “Don’t give up the ship!”, which is still a popular naval battle cry.

Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty, the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800.

Birthday of Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (October 1, 1832), first wife of Benjamin Harrison, first lady 1889-1892. She secured $35,000 in appropriations from Congress to renovate the White House; and she oversaw an extensive project making up-to-date improvements. In 1891 she had electricity installed but was too frightened to handle the switches. She left the lights on all night and a building engineer turned them off each morning. Harrison was nominated for a second term in 1892. A few days prior to the election, First Lady Caroline Harrison died of tuberculosis.

Karl Marx‘ “Das Kapital, Volume I”, also called “Capital. A Critique of Political Economy” published in 1867. Volumes II and III were completed by Engels from the notes of Marx. Marx is also well-known for writing the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto. Marx died in 1883.

1903 – First baseball World Series, Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League vs Boston Americans of the American League. Pittsburgh pitcher, Sam Leever, injured his shoulder while trap-shooting, so his teammate, Deacon Phillippe, pitched five complete games, winning three of them. In Game 1, Phillippe set a World Series record by striking out ten Boston batters.

In Game 2, Boston pitcher Bill Dinneen broke that record, striking out eleven batters.
He and pitcher Cy Young led Boston to victory, coming back from a 3 game to 1 deficit, winning the final four games to win the World Series.

Henry Ford introduced the Model T car (costs $825) in 1908.
1908 The Model T Ford was introduced at a price of $825. Due to efficient mass production, by 1925 the price of a 2 door Model T was only $260.

1913 A monument to honor sea gulls was erected in Salt Lake City, Utah. The gulls had eaten the plague of grasshoppers that threatened the Mormon settlers crops in 1848.

The Black Sox Scandal took place during the play of the 1919 World Series. The Chicago White Sox lost the series to the Cincinnati Reds, and eight White Sox players were later accused of intentionally losing games in exchange for money from gamblers. The players were acquitted in court, but nevertheless, they were all banned for life from baseball.

Birthday of Jimmy Carter (October 1, 1924), thirty-ninth President of the United States. Jimmy Carter’s one-term presidency is remembered for the events that overwhelmed it—inflation, energy crisis, war in Afghanistan, and hostages in Iran. After one term in office, voters strongly rejected Jimmy Carter’s gloomy outlook in favor of Ronald Reagan’s optimism.

Birthday of William Rehnquist, (October 1, 1924), Supreme Court (1972-86) Chief Justice (1987-2005)

Birthday of Julie Andrews (October 1, 1935), Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, actress/singer (Sound of Music, Mary Poppins)

September 28 is:

Drink Beer Day

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day
This light-as-air pie has sweetened cream cheese, fresh whipped cream, and plenty of strawberries piled high on a graham cracker crust. Strawberries are one of the few fruits with seeds on the outside.

Believed to be the Birthday of Confucius about 551 B.C. Some quotes:

• “The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”
• “Silence is the true friend that never betrays.”
• “Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.”
• “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”
• “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

(Good King) Saint Wenceslas was murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia on September 28, 935.

In 1779, American Revolution: Samuel Huntington was elected President of the Continental Congress. While not known for extensive learning or brilliant speech, Huntington’s steady hard work and unfailing calm manner earned him the respect of his fellow delegates. As a result, when John Jay left to become minister to Spain, Huntington was elected to succeed him as President of the Continental Congress on September 28, 1779 which is one reason why he is sometimes considered the first president.

Napoleon Bonaparte (16) graduated from the military academy in Paris in 1785 (42nd in a class of 51).

1850 – The U.S. Navy abolished flogging as a form of punishment.

1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore named Brigham Young the first governor of the Utah territory. In 1857, U.S. President James Buchanan removed Young from the position.

1889 – The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defined the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.

King Camp Gillette (Jan 5, 1855-July 9, 1932, and William Emery Nickerson invented the safety razor. Their innovation was the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel. Gillette is widely credited with inventing the so-called razor and blades business model, where razors are sold cheaply to increase the market for blades, but in fact he only adopted this model after his competitors did.
To sell the product, Gillette founded the American Safety Razor Company on September 28, 1901 (changing the company’s name to Gillette Safety Razor Company in July 1902). Gillette obtained a trademark registration (0056921) for his portrait and signature on the packaging. Production began in 1903, when he sold a total of 51 razors and 168 blades. By 1910, King Gillette was a millionaire. His portrait was printed on every package of blades, which gained him great celebrity. Sadly, Gillette lost most of his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929.

He said “If I had been technically trained, I would have quit.” He spent eight frustrating years striving to invent and introduce his safety razor.

From Asimov, Isaac. Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts. New York, Bell Publishing Company, 1981

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming noticed a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.

1937 – FDR dedicated Bonneville Dam on Columbia River (Oregon). Bonneville Lock & Dam, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was the first federal lock and dam on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The project’s first powerhouse, spillway and original navigation lock were completed in 1938 to improve navigation on Columbia River and provide hydropower to the Pacific Northwest.