December 12 is:
National Ambrosia Day Ambrosia is a fruit salad made with a variety of fruit, marshmallows, coconut, nuts, and whipped topping.
Foodimentary.com
Ambrosia is a good type of apple for kids and older people to digest because of its low acid content.
Ambrosia need to be stored in the refrigerator to retain its crisp texture.
Ambrosia is known as “The food of the gods” in classical Greek mythology.
In the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, “Ambrosia is a dessert made from fruits, sugar and grated coconut, most popular in the South.”
National Popcorn String Day
National Ding-a-Ling Day
Poinsettia Day
Birthday of John Jay, New York (December 12, 1745), American statesman, 1st US Chief Justice, co-author of the Federalist Papers.
Publication of Federalist Paper #21: Other Defects of the Present Confederation written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton further discusses the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, particularly in the areas of enforcement of laws and protection of the states. The federal government had no authority to enforce laws or regulate contributions or revenues from the States. The national debt was increasing. Also, if a state were overrun by a faction, by another state, or by a foreign power, the federal government had no authority to send in soldiers to help fight for that state.
Pennsylvania Admission day (1787), second state to ratify the U. S. Constitution
- Capital: Harrisburg
- Nickname: Keystone State
- Bird: Ruffled grouse
- Flower: Mountain laurel
- Tree: Hemlock
- Motto: Virtue, Liberty, and Independence
See our page Pennsylvania for more interesting facts and trivia about Pennsylvania.
“The Katzenjammer Kids,” (Hans and Fritz) the pioneering comic strip by Rudolph Dirks, debuted in the New York Journal on 1897. Dirks was the first cartoonist to express dialogue in comic characters through the use of speech balloons.
Birthday of Frank Sinatra (December 12, 1915), American singer and actor. Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer, actor and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founded Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys in 1917. It began with five boys. Boys Town has grown over the years, providing care to children and families across the country. There are nine sites across the United States, in Central Florida, North Florida, South Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Iowa, New England, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.
The first motel, the Motel Inn, opened, in San Luis Obispo, California in 1925.
December 12, 2000, the United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore. The decision allowed Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris’s previous certification of George W. Bush as the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes to stand. Florida’s votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral votes, one more than the required 270 electoral votes to win the Electoral College and defeat Democratic candidate Al Gore, who received 266 electoral votes (a District of Columbia elector abstained). Media organizations subsequently analyzed the ballots, and under the strategy that Al Gore pursued at the beginning of the Florida recount — filing suit to force hand recounts in four predominantly Democratic counties — Bush would have kept his lead, according to the ballot review conducted by the consortium.
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:
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
Tidbits of History, December 11
December 11 is:
National “Have a Bagel” Day
Foodimentary.com
The bagel originated in Poland and it was designed for Lent.
Its name derives from the Yiddish word ‘bengal’, meaning ‘ring’ or ‘bracelet’.
The hole in the center of the bagel is for multiple bagels to be threaded onto a dowel, which allows bakers to transport the bagel more easily.
National Noodle Ring Day
Scaling Day or L’Escalade:
L’Escalade, or Fête de l’Escalade (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls) is an annual festival held in December in Geneva, Switzerland, celebrating the defeat of the surprise attack by troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy during the night of 11–12 December 1602. The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 12 December or the closest weekend.
Publication of Federalist Paper #20: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by James Madison in 1787. Federalist Paper #20 is the third written by Madison on the subject of the inadequacy of the Articles of Confederation. In his previous papers he outlined the problems of confederacy which hampered ancient Greece, Germany, Poland, and the Swiss Cantons. In this paper he describes the system in the Netherlands. He concludes that a government under the Articles leads to “imbecility in the government, discord among the States, foreign influence and indignities; a precarious existence in peace and peculiar calamities from war”.
French Revolution : King Louis XVI of France was put on trial for treason by the National Convention in 1792.
Indiana Admission Day (1816) nineteenth state
- Capital: Indianapolis
- Nickname: Hoosier State
- Bird: Cardinal
- Flower: Peony
- Tree: Tulip Tree
- Motto: The crossroads of America
See our page Indiana for more interesting facts and trivia about Indiana.
Marconi sent first transatlantic radio signal, Cornwall to Newfoundland in 1901.
On December 11, 1919, the citizens of Enterprise, Alabama, erected a monument to the Boll Weevil, the pest that devastated their fields but forced residents to end their dependence on cotton and to pursue mixed farming and manufacturing. Measuring an average length of six millimeters (one-quarter inch), the insect entered the United States via Mexico in the 1890s and reached southeastern Alabama in 1915. It remained the most destructive cotton pest in North America for much of the twentieth century.
A congressional report of 2002 found that intelligence agencies before Sept. 11, 2001, were poorly organized, poorly equipped and slow to pursue clues that might have prevented that day’s terrorist attacks.
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:
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
Tidbits of History, December 10
December 10 is:
Nobel Prize Day
Human Rights Day
Thailand Constitution Day:
National Lager Day
Per Foodimentary.com:
Lager is a type of beer that is fermented at low temperatures and generally takes longer to ferment out than ales.
Most lager has a light color and crispy tasting.
The first US lager was brewed in 1840 by John Wagner in Philadelphia.
Lager beer is the most popular beer style throughout the world except in UK, where ale is dominant.
Besides pale lager, there are also dark lagers, such as Dunkel and Schwarzbier.
Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication on December 10, 1520.
Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham were executed on this date in 1541 for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
Mississippi admission day (1817), 20th state
- Capital: Jackson
- Nickname: Magnolia State
- Bird: Mockingbird
- Flower: Magnolia
- Tree: Magnolia
- Motto: By valor and arms
See our page Mississippi for more interesting facts and trivia about Mississippi.
Birthday of Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830), American poet. One of her best-known poems was
Because I could not stop for Death.
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
The first traffic lights were installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London in 1868. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and were illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884. This book is in the public domain and can be read at our site “nextdoorestore.com”
December 10, 1898, Spanish-American War ended; US acquired Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication in 1936. Edward was the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. He became king following his father’s death on 20 January 1936. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, who chose the regnal name George VI. Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second. Her divorce became final on May 3, 1937 and Edward and Wallis Simpson married on June 3, 1937.
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:
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
Tidbits of History, December 9
December 9 is:
Christmas Card Day
Weary Willie Day from the birthday of Emmett Kelly, American clown who created “Weary Willie”
National Pastry Day
Birthday of John Milton, (December 9, 1608) poet, author of Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained.
Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captured San Antonio, Texas in 1835. The Battle of the Alamo took place the following year (February 23 – March 6, 1836).
Ten years later, on December 9, 1845, President James K Polk sent a special message:
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I communicate herewith a letter received from the President of the existing Government of the State of Texas, transmitting duplicate copies of the constitution formed by the deputies of the people of Texas in convention assembled, accompanied by official information that the said constitution had been ratified, confirmed, and adopted by the people of Texas themselves, in accordance with the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, and in order that Texas might be admitted as one of the States of that Union.
From: James K. Polk: “Special Message,” December 9, 1845. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England in 1854 about the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. Includes:
“Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.”
Statistician Herman Hollerith installed his computing device at the United States War Department in 1888.
From Free Dictionary.com
Tanzania Independence Day
Tanzania Independence Day is a celebration of independence from the British in 1961 of Tanganyika, which merged with Zanzibar in 1964 to become Tanzania. The day is a national holiday celebrated with parades, youth leagues marching before the president at the stadium in Dar es Salaam, school games, cultural dances, and aerobatics by the air force.
The Petrified Forest National Park was established in Arizona in 1962. Petrified Forest National Park is known for its fossils, especially of fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, about 225 million years ago. During this period, the region that is now the park was near the equator on the southwestern edge of the supercontinent Pangaea, and its climate was humid and sub-tropical. What later became northeastern Arizona was a low plain flanked by mountains to the south and southeast and a sea to the west. Streams flowing across the plain from the highlands deposited inorganic sediment and organic matter, including trees as well as other plants and animals that had entered or fallen into the water. Although most organic matter decays rapidly or is eaten by other organisms, some is buried so quickly that it remains intact and may become fossilized.
A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuted on CBS in 1965.
Phoenix Arizona, got 3 inches of snow in 1985.
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:
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, also known as simply “Let It Snow”, is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. The song was first recorded that fall by Vaughn Monroe, was released just after Thanksgiving, and became a hit by Christmas.
“Despite the lyrics making no mention of any holiday, the song has come to be regarded as a Christmas song worldwide due to its winter theme, and is often played on radio stations during the Christmas and holiday season, and having often been covered by various artists on Christmas-themed albums.”
Tidbits of History, December 8
December 8 is:
National Chocolate Brownie Day
Bodhi Day is a holiday celebrated by Buddhists. It commemorates the day that Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) achieved enlightenment. Traditionally the day is celebrated with meditation, chanting, or performing acts of kindness to others. See How to Celebrate Bodhi Day for suggestions such as “colored lights are strung about the home to recognize the day of enlightenment.”
Beach Day or Blessing of the Water Day in Uruguay.
Sometimes called “Beach Day,” this Uruguayan holiday involves a contest: Religious leaders send a cross into the ocean, and whoever gets to it first is guaranteed a year’s worth of good fortune. Read the full text here: Offbeat Holidays
Take it in the Ear Day A day to listen to others.
Feast day of Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, was the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her mother’s womb, free from original sin.
Birthday of Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765), born in Westboro, MA. Whitney invented the cotton gin and developed the concept of mass-production of interchangeable parts.
Publication of Federalist Paper #19: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by Alexander Hamilton and/or James Madison in 1787. In Paper #18 Madison spoke of the failure of ancient Greek confederacies. In this Paper #19 he considers several existing confederacies – German, Polish, and Swiss. He speaks of conflicts between the members or from foreign powers. He is using these examples to demonstrate the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South in 1863.
Even before the war ended, President Lincoln began the task of restoration. Motivated by a desire to build a strong Republican party in the South and to end the bitterness engendered by war, he issued (Dec. 8, 1863) a proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction for those areas of the Confederacy occupied by Union armies. It offered pardon, with certain exceptions, to any Confederate who would swear to support the Constitution and the Union. Once a group in any conquered state equal in number to one tenth of that state’s total vote in the presidential election of 1860 took the prescribed oath and organized a government that abolished slavery, he would grant that government executive recognition.
Read more: Reconstruction: Lincoln’s Plan | Infoplease.com
1886-12-08 – American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president.
1940 – According to History.com, Bears beat Redskins 73-0 in an NFL Championship Game, the largest margin of defeat in NFL history.
The Bears, coached by George Halas, brought a 6-2 record to their regular-season meeting with the Redskins in Washington on November 17, 1940. After Chicago lost 3-7, the Redskins coach, George Preston Marshall, told reporters that Halas and his team were “quitters” and “cry babies.” Halas used Marshall’s words to galvanize his players, and the Bears scored 78 points in their next two games to set up a showdown with the Redskins in the league’s championship game on December 8, also in Washington.
Less than a minute into the game, the Bears’ running back Bill Osmanski ran 68 yards to score the first touchdown. After the Redskins narrowly missed an opportunity to tie the game, the Bears clamped down and began to dominate, leaving the field at halftime with a 28-0 lead. Things only got worse for the Redskins, and by the end of the second half officials were asking Halas not to let his team kick for extra points, as they were running out of footballs after too many had been kicked into the stands.
On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota Apartments in New York City in 1980.
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 7
December 7 is:
International Civil Aviation Day
Letter Writing Day
National Cotton Candy Day
Pearl Harbor Day – 1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine Air Forces at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. A day that President F.D.Roosevelt called “a date which will live in infamy”.
All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one (Arizona) were later raised, and six of the eight battleships were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.
Publication of Federalist Paper #18: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by James Madison in 1787. Federalist #18 continues the subject of the insufficiencies of the Articles of Confederation. Madison continues the discussion begun by Hamilton in Federalist #15. This paper describes two Greek confederacies of antiquity that were similar to the current confederacy and how they failed. He concludes that political organizations like that formed under the Articles dissolve because of conflict among the States not from conflicts with the national governing body.
Delaware admission day (1787) first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution
- Capital: Dover
- Nickname: Diamond State/First State
- Bird: Blue hen chicken
- Flower: Peach blossom
- Tree: American Holly
- Motto: Liberty and Independence
See our page Delaware for more interesting facts and trivia about Delaware.
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri in 1869.
Instant replay makes its debut during an American Army–Navy football game on December 7, 1963.
1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, was launched. The crew took the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they left the Earth.
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 6
December 6 is the 341st day of the year.
St. Nicholas Day Children in families who celebrate St Nicholas’ Day receive treats – including candy, cookies, small toys, or fruit – in stockings, socks, shoes or bags on December 6. The legendary figure of St. Nicholas is derived from Nicholas of Myra who officiated as a bishop in 4th century Greece. During his lifetime he developed a reputation for gift-giving by putting coins into other people’s shoes, which accounts for many of today’s Christmas traditions that involve leaving gifts in shoes or boots. {In my family, St. Nicholas filled up stockings on December 6. We didn’t have stockings on Christmas Day.}
In the 16th Century in Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas had become very unpopular. But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the UK, he became ‘Father Christmas’, a character from old children’s stories; in France, he was then known as ‘Père Nöel’; in Germany, the ‘Christ Kind’. In the early USA his name was ‘Kris Kringle’. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle became ‘Sinterklaas’ or as we now say ‘Santa Claus’! It is from St. Nicholas that Santa Claus is sometimes referred to as “Old St. Nick”.
Mitten Tree Day
National Gazpacho Day
The city of Quito in Ecuador was founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar in 1534. Celebrated on December 6th as Founder’s Day in Ecuador.
The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was published on this date in 1768.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially abolished slavery in America, and was ratified on December 6, 1865, after the conclusion of the American Civil War. The amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., was completed in 1884.
From History.com
Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.–a fitting tribute to the man known as the “Father of His Country.”
On this date in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt articulated his “Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
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:
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
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 5
December 5 is:
Repeal (of Prohibition) Day
National Sacher Torte Day It consists of two layers of dense chocolate cake with apricot preserves between the layers, chocolate icing, and whipped cream. This cake is the pride of Vienna.
Comfort Food Day
Bathtub Party Day
International Ninja Day
London auctioneers Christie’s held their first sale December 5, 1766.
Publication of Federalist Paper #17: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton addresses the issue of possible encroachment by the federal government on the powers of the states. He says that the states have more direct power over the citizens, especially in criminal and civil justice and that the nature of man dictates that citizens will be more attached to their own state governments than to a federal government.
Birthday of Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782), eighth President of the United States.
The term “O.K.” was popularized because Van Buren was from Kinderhook, New York, sometimes referred to as “Old Kinderhook” in speeches and print. O.K. Clubs formed to support Van Buren’s campaign. “O.K.” later came to mean all right.
- Van Buren was the first president born a citizen of the United States.
- Van Buren was the only president who spoke English as a second language.
- His autobiography does not mention his wife once. A gentleman of that day would not shame a lady by public references
- Van Buren took $100,000, the sum of his salary as president over four years, in a lump sum at the end of his term.
- Martin Van Buren said that the two happiest days of his life were his entrance into the office of President and his surrender of the office.
- Van Buren made three unsuccessful bids for reelection.
- It has been reported that Van Buren enjoyed the night life and was known to imbibe, often staying up until the wee hours of the morning. As a result, he was not easy to rouse out of bed. This presented a problem when Van Buren was Vice President. He once lay in bed so late that he could not reach the Senate by noon in order to call that body to order.
- Van Buren was only about five foot six inches tall and very fussy about his appearance.
California Gold Rush of 1849: In a message to the U.S. Congress in 1848, U.S. President James K. Polk confirmed that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California, leading to the Gold Rush of 1849.
1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste was found by the British brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged. None of those on board were ever seen or heard from again.
Birthday of Walt Disney, (Dec. 5, 1901), the pioneer of animated cartoon films and founder of the Disney theme parks.
Prohibition in the United States ended in 1933: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment. (This overturned the 18th Amendment which had made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal in the United States.)
TV series “Dragnet” premiered in 1951. Starred Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday and Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon.
On December 5, 2008, human remains previously found in 1991 were finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov) who had been executed along with his entire family on 17 July 1918. Pictured (left to right): Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana.
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:
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
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)
Brenda Lee made this song popular in 1958 when she was 13 years old. In 2019, Lee’s recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2024 it was declared the first Official Holiday Song of Tennessee. You can listen to it at You Tube
Tidbits of History, December 4
December 4 is:
National Cookie Day
Cookies were invented during the seventh century in Persia. Right around the time that sugar became a common resource in that region.
Santas’ List Day – “He’s making a list and checking it twice!”
Wear Brown Shoes Day
In 1674, Father Jacques Marquette founded a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek. (The mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois.)
Publication of Federalist Paper #16: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787. Hamilton continues to push for a strong central government. In this article Hamilton speaks of states or groups of states resisting general authority and how that would lead to civil war and the disbanding of the Union. He makes a distinction between noncompliance and active resistance to federal mandates. He says the laws set forth by the federal government should not require the intervention of the state legislatures but directly apply to the people.
Peter Gaillard patented the power mower in 1812.
North Carolina ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
William Magear Tweed , the “Boss” of New York City’s Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled to Spain from the U.S. in 1875. He was returned to custody in 1876. He died of pneumonia in the Ludlow Street Jail in 1878. Tweed was convicted for stealing an amount estimated by an aldermen’s committee in 1877 at between $25 million and $45 million from New York City taxpayers through political corruption, although later estimates ranged as high as $200 million.
1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sailed for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approved United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
1954 – The first Burger King opened in Miami, Florida. At the end of fiscal year 2013, Burger King reported it had over 13,000 outlets in 79 countries; of these, 66 percent are in the United States.
Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco’s first woman mayor when she was named to replace George Moscone, who had been assassinated in 1978.
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 3
December 3 is:
National Peppermint Latte Day
Make a Gift Day
National Roof over Your Head Day
First Sunday of Advent, the first season of the Christian church year which leads up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from the Latin phrase
“Adventus Domini”, meaning arrival of the Lord.
In 2023the four Advent Sundays are December 3, December 10, December 17, and December 24th.
Traditionally Advent is commemorated by means of an Advent calendar or the lighting of the Advent wreath.
Anniversary of the First Text Message
On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a 22 year old Canadian test engineer sent the first text message over the Vodafone GSM network to the cellphone of his colleague Richard Jarvis who was enjoying a staff Christmas party. The message simply read “Merry Christmas”.
Illinois Admission Day, Illinois became the 21st U. S. State in 1818
- Capital: Springfield
- Nickname: Land of Lincoln/Prairie State
- Bird: Cardinal
- Flower: Violet
- Tree: White Oak
- Motto: State sovereignty, national union
See our page Illinois for more interesting facts and trivia about Illinois.
In a State of the Union message of 1901, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt asked Congress to curb the power of trusts “within reasonable limits”.
Modern neon lighting was first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show in 1910.
December 3, Laurel and Hardy Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, was released in 1927
The musical Camelot debuted at the Majestic Theater on Broadway in 1960. Cast included Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Roddy McDowall and Robert Goulet. Music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.
1967 – At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carried out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky). He survived 18 days.
1992 – UN Security Council Resolution 794 was unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, with the task of establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid was distributed in Somalia.
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)