February 20, 2016

National Cherry Pie Day

Saturday, February 20, 2015

The 51 day of the year

314 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• National Nestbox Week
• NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week
• Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week
• Build A Better Trade Show Image Week
• Through With The Chew
• National Date (fruit) Week
• National Pancake Week
• National Justice for Animals Week

TODAY IS

• Love Your Pet Day 
• Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day
• World Day for Social Justice
• National Cherry Pie Day (Link)

ON THIS DATE...
1792: President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act.
1809: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.
1811: Austria declared itself bankrupt.

1872: The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York City. 

1895: abolitionist and educator Frederick Douglass died on this date in Washington, D.C.. 

1944: the "Batman and Robin" comic strip appeared in newspapers for the first time. (Link)




1952: Emmett L. Ashford, became the first black umpire in organized baseball on this date.  Ashford was authorized to be a substitute in the Southwestern International League. 

1962: astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth (Read more).


1974: Cher filed for separation from her husband Sonny Bono. 
1974: hockey legend Gordie Howe came out of retirement and signed a contract to play for the Houston Aeros.  This gave Howe an opportunity to play professional hockey with his sons, Mark and Marty.

1987: David Hartman left his position at "Good Morning America" after eleven years.  Charles Gibson took over as co-host. 

1991: Quincy Jones' album "Back On The Block" was named Album Of The Year at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.  
1992: actor Dick York, who played the first Darrin Stephens, in the 1960s TV series "Bewitched," died on this date at the age of 63. 
1996: rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg and his former bodyguard were acquitted of the 1993 murder of an alleged gang member.  

1998: 15-year-old Tara Lipinski became the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics when she captured the top prize in women's figure skating in Nagano, Japan (Bio)

1999: famed movie critic Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert fame, died at the age of 53.   
2003: actor David Hasselhoff and his wife Pamela suffered multiple injuries in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.   
2003: at least 96 people were killed after the West Warwick, Rhode Island nightclub the Station, burst into flames after a pyrotechnics stunt orchestrated by the heavy metal band Great White went awry.

2009: late night talk show host Conan O'Brien hosted his final "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" show on NBC.  Guests included Conan's former sidekick Andy Richter and musical guests the White Stripes.  Conan would move on to replace Jay Leno as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show."  Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jimmy Fallon replaced Conan in the "Late Night" hosting position. 

2011: at age 20: rookie racecar driver Trevor Bayne became the youngest winner of the 53-year history of the Daytona 500 and just the second youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup race.  Carl Edwards finished second after Bayne held off his last minute charge (Link). 



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

The Postal Act of 1792 (Source)

The Postal Act of February 20, 1792 allowed newspapers to be mailed at low rates to promote the spread of information across the states. To ensure the sanctity and privacy of the mails, postal officials were forbidden to open any letters in their charge unless they were undeliverable. 



QUICK TRIVIA 

Swan Lake Ballet Premieres (Source)

On February 20, 1877, the ballet Swan Lake, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, made its debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia. Today, Swan Lake is a standard in both classical music and ballet repertoires. In particular, the leading ballerina’s dual characters of the “White Swan” and “Black Swan” is one of the most demanding roles in dance.




WORD OF THE DAY 

nyctophobia (nik-tuh-foh-bee-uh)

— noun

an abnormal dread of night or darkness

"At seven years of age, Bryan was fearless; however, after his brother told him a scary story, he he did suffer from a short stent of nyctophobia"




WORD FROM THE WORD 

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. —Hebrews 12:1


Read today's "Our Daily Bread"