March 11, 2016

National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day

  March 11, 2016

The 71 day of the year

295 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• Girl Scout Week
• National Consumer Protection Week
• National Dental Assistants Recognition Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Schools Social Work Week
• National Sleep Awareness Week
• Professional Pet Sitters Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Return The Borrowed Books Week
• Save Your Vision Week
• Teen Tech Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week

TODAY IS

• National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day (Recipe)
• Dream 2016 Day
• Johnny Appleseed Day
• Middle Name Pride Day
• World Plumbing Day 
• World Sleep Day
• National Promposal Day 
• National Worship of Tools Day

ON THIS DATE...

1302: the title characters -- Romeo and Juliet -- were married this day according to William Shakespeare. 

1702: "the Daily Courant" -- the first regular English newspaper was published. 
1779: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was established.

1810: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte married Marie Louise, the 18-year-old daughter of the Emperor of Austria.  The bride had never seen the groom - and didn't see him at the wedding either, because Bonaparte sent a stand-in. 
1847: John Chapman - better known as "Johnny Appleseed"  --  died in Allen County, Indiana. This day became known as "Johnny Appleseed Day." 

1867: in Hawaii, the volcano Great Mauna Loa erupted (Read more). 


1888: The famous "Blizzard of '88" hit the northeastern United States with approximately 40 inches of snow; around 400 people died.
1901: U.S. Steel was formed when industrialist J.P. Morgan purchased Carnegie Steep Corp. The event made Andrew Carnegie the world's richest man. 

1927: Samuel Roxy Rothafel opened the famous Roxy Theatre in New York City.  It cost $10 million to build and seated 6:214: becoming the world's largest movie theater. It opened with Gloria Swanson in "The Love of Sunya" shown on an 18 by 22 foot screen. 
1927: the Flatheads Gang stole $104,250 in the first armored-car robbery near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
1930: William Howard Taft became the first U.S. President to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

1956: Sir Laurence Olivier starred in the three-hour afternoon NBC-TV special, Shakespeare's "Richard III".  The network reportedly paid $500:000 for the rights to the program. 
1969: Levi-Strauss started selling bell-bottomed jeans. 

1986: Popsicle announced its plan to end the traditional twin-stick frozen treat for a one-stick model. 

1989: "COPS", debuted on FOX-TV as a regular series. 
1997: an explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant caused 35 workers to be exposed to low levels of radioactivity.  The incident was the worst in Japan's history. 
1998: the International Astronomical Union issued an alert that said that a mile-wide asteroid could come very close to, and possibly hit, Earth on Oct. 26: 2028.  The next day NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that there was no chance the asteroid would hit Earth. 

2004: Vancouver Canucks hockey player Todd Bertuzzi was penalized with a season-long suspension for a vicious hit during a hockey game.  Bertuzzi struck Steve Moore of the Colorado Avalanche from behind, driving Moore's face to the ice and dragging it.  Moore's neck was broken.  
2011: an 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked northern Japan, leaving hundreds dead in the wake of the devastation.  The quake triggered a 30-foot tsunami that hit the city of Sendai, sweeping away homes and vehicles.  Tsunami waves swept across the Pacific Ocean hitting Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States where a number of harbors were damaged.  



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

Johnny Appleseed Day (Source) 

One of America’s fondest legends is that of Johnny Appleseed, a folk hero and pioneer apple farmer in the 1800’s. There really was a Johnny Appleseed and his real name was John Chapman. He was born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774. His dream was to produce so many apples that no one would ever go hungry. Although legend paints a picture of Johnny as a dreamy wanderer, planting apple seeds throughout the countryside, research reveal him to be a careful, organized businessman, who over a period of nearly fifty years, bought and sold tracts of land and developed thousands of productive apple trees.



QUICK TRIVIA 

A growing number of Americans are working from home.  Whether they are self-employed entrepreneurs running small accounting services, or telecommuting for multinational consulting firms, some 30 million of us work from a home office at least once a week. And that number is expected to increase by 63% in the next five years, according to a study by the Telework Research Network. (Link)


WORD OF THE DAY 

Didactic
[dahy-dak-tik] –adjective 
1. intended for instruction; instructive
2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much: a boring, didactic speaker. 
3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson. 

"The speaker was heralded as being comedic; however, in practice he was somewhat didactic"



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, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.--Hebrews 12:1-2



Read today's "Our Daily Bread" 

March 10, 2016

Pack Your Lunch Day

  Thursday, March 10, 2016

The 70 day of the year

296 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• Girl Scout Week
• National Consumer Protection Week
• National Dental Assistants Recognition Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Schools Social Work Week
• National Sleep Awareness Week
• Professional Pet Sitters Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Return The Borrowed Books Week
• Save Your Vision Week
• Teen Tech Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week

TODAY IS

• International Bagpipe Day
• International Day of Awesomeness 
• Land Line Telephone Day
• Mario Day
• Nametag Day
• Salvation Army Day (See History Spotlight) 
• US Paper Money Day
• Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 
• World Kidney Day
• National Mario Day
• National Blueberry Popover Day
• National Pack Your Lunch Day

ON THIS DATE...

1791: John Stone patented the pile driver



1849: Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, IL applied for a patent for a device to lift vessels over shoals by means of inflated cylinders. Lincoln received the patent in May, 1849. 
1785: Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin (Read more). 
1862: the United States government issued its first paper money.  The denominations were $5: $10 and $20 (See Quick Trivia) 

1876: Alexander Graham Bell sent the first clear telephone message.  The first words spoken into his new invention were quote, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you" (Read more)


1880: The Salvation Army arrived in the United States from England.

1913: social reformer Harriet Tubman died (Link).  


1937: Benny Goodman earned the nickname "The King of Swing" following a performance at New York's Paramount Theatre. 
1941: The Brooklyn Dodgers announced that their players would wear batting helmets during the 1941 baseball season. General Manager Larry MacPhail (he started the Dodger dynasty in the thirties) predicted that all baseball players would soon be wearing the new devices
1947: Ronald Reagan became president of the Screen Actors Guild. 

1956: 23-year-old Julie Andrews made her television debut in "High Tor." 


1965: Neil Simon's play, "The Odd Couple," opened at the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway.  The successful show starred Walter Matthau and Art Carney as Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. 
1969: James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder. 

1978: "The Incredible Hulk" debuted on CBS (Show Open). 


1980: Willard Scott became the weather forecaster for NBC's "Today" show. 
1988: pop singer Andy Gibb died at the age of 30.  

1995: after sitting out the 1993-1994 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball with the Chicago White Sox, basketball superstar Michael Jordan announced his retirement from baseball.  He returned to basketball later in the year (Read more). 


2007: 75 days after his death, legendary soul singer James Brown was finally laid to rest.  "The Godfather of Soul" was entombed at an undisclosed location. Brown's body had been kept in a temperature-controlled room at his home in South Carolina in the bronze and gold-plated coffin used for his funeral in Augusta, Georgia.  The soul music legend died on Christmas Day 2006 at the age of 73. 

2006: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars (Read more). 




HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

The Salvation Army (Source) 

William Booth embarked upon his ministerial career in 1852, desiring to win the lost multitudes of England to Christ. He walked the streets of London to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the destitute.
Booth abandoned the conventional concept of a church and a pulpit, instead taking his message to the people. His fervor led to disagreement with church leaders in London, who preferred traditional methods. As a result, he withdrew from the church and traveled throughout England, conducting evangelistic meetings. His wife, Catherine, could accurately be called a cofounder of The Salvation Army.



QUICK TRIVIA 

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing redeems partially destroyed or badly damaged currency as a free public service.

Every year the U.S. Treasury handles approximately 30,000 claims and redeems mutilated currency valued at over $30 million. (Link) 



WORD OF THE DAY 

Sagacious [shu GAY shuhs]

Adjective 

having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd:

“At the business meeting, everyone wanted to know what Mr. Jones had to say because everyone recognized that he was sagacious” 




WORD FROM THE WORD 

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.--Hebrews 11:10

Read today's "Our Daily Bread"  

  

March 9, 2016

National Meatball Day

  Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The 69 day of the year

297 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• National Agriculture Week
• Girl Scout Week
• National Consumer Protection Week
• National Dental Assistants Recognition Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Schools Social Work Week
• National Sleep Awareness Week
• Professional Pet Sitters Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Return The Borrowed Books Week
• Save Your Vision Week
• Teen Tech Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week

TODAY IS

• 
  
• Barbie Day (See History Spotlight) 
• Discover What Your Name Means Day (Link) 
• Get Over It Day 
• Joe Franklin Day
• Panic Day
• Registered Dietitian Day (Link) 
• National Crabmeat Day
• National Meatball Day

ON THIS DATE...

1822: Charles M. Graham of New York City received a patent for artificial teeth (Read more)


1855: the first Great Western Railway train crossed the Niagara Falls suspension bridge, the world's first wire cable suspension bridge, from Ontario to the United States.

1864: General Ulysses Grant was appointed commander-in-chief of the Union forces (Link).

1953: the census bureau revealed 239-thousand farmers quit planting crops over the past two years. 
1954: The first color television commercial was broadcast, for Castro Decorators of New York City.

1954: Edward R. Murrow devoted time on his CBS television show "See It Now" to criticize Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communism campaign.  The program put an end to McCarthy's reign of terror.  The show also established television as a powerful medium to influence public opinion (Video). 

1959: the Barbie doll was first launched on this date.  According to Mattel, her full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin.  The first Barbie dolls cost $3 dollars. 
1962: the Beatles performed for the first time on BBC television in Great Britain.  

1964: the first Ford Mustang was produced (Link).  


1969: Sly and the Family Stone were at the top of the charts with their hit "Everyday People." 

1975:  Work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.

1981: Dan Rather made his debut as principal anchorman of the "The CBS Evening News." 

1984: Ron Howard's film, "Splash," opened in theaters (See trailer). 


1985: the Internal Revenue Service announced more than 407-thousand Americans were millionaires.  The figure more than doubled the total given five years earlier. 

1985: REO Speedwagon topped the pop singles chart with "Can't Fight This Feeling" (Song)


1985: "Gone With The Wind" was released on video.  The tape cost consumers 90-dollars.  

1996: legendary Hall-of-Fame actor, comedian George Burns died at the age of 100 (Bio).  

1996: Mariah Carey and Boyz To Men topped the pop singles chart for the 15th consecutive week with "One Sweet Day."  The 15-week streak broke the record for most consecutive weeks at number one. 
1997: rapper Christopher Wallace, known as the Notorious B.I.G., was killed in a driveby shooting in Los Angeles.  Wallace was 24-years-old.  
2011: Space Shuttle Discovery made its final landing after 39 flights. 



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

Barbie makes her debut (Source) 

On this day in 1959, the first Barbie doll made its debut at the American Toy Fair in New York City. Barbie was the idea of Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, Inc.. In 1945, after seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls to play make-believe with paper dolls of adult women, Handler and her husband realized there was an important niche in the market for a toy helped little girls live out their dreams. Barbie’s appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German comic strip character. 



QUICK TRIVIA 

The stapler (Source) 

The first stapler in recorded history was from the 18th century France. The first handmade stapling machines or fasteners are attributed to having been developed for King Louis XIV of France in the 1700s. Each staple was inscribed with the insignia of the royal court, as required



WORD OF THE DAY 

pique [peek]  

verb (used with object), piqued, piquing.
1. to affect with sharp irritation and resentment, especially by some wound to pride:
2.  to wound (the pride, vanity, etc.).
3. to excite (interest, curiosity, etc.):

verb (used without object), piqued, piquing.
to arouse pique in someone:

"Although Juan wasn't interested in the broccoli, the pecan torte did pique his interest" 



WORD FROM THE WORD 

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.--Hebrews 10:22

Read today's "Our Daily Bread"  

March 8, 2016

Tuesday, March, 8, 2016

The 68 day of the year

298 days left to go

THIS WEEK IS

• Girl Scout Week
• National Consumer Protection Week
• National Dental Assistants Recognition Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Schools Social Work Week
• National Sleep Awareness Week
• Professional Pet Sitters Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Return The Borrowed Books Week
• Save Your Vision Week
• Teen Tech Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week

TODAY IS

• National Pancake Day – IHOP (Link)
• Girls Write Now Day
• International Working Women's Day
• Middle Name Pride Day
• National Proof Reading Day
• National Peanut Cluster Day (a no-bake recipe)
• The Bikini Bottom Free (Crabcakes) Day
• Check Your Batteries Day
• Day for Women's Rights & International Peace
• Organize Your Home Office Day
• Unique Names Day

ON THIS DATE...
1775: An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slavery in America", the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery (See History Spotlight)
1817: The New York Stock Exchange is founded.

1862: American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia (Learn more).

1894: A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York, a first in the U.S.
1911: 1st International Woman's Day
1913: Internal Revenue Service begins to levy and collect income taxes.

1934: Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars
1936: Daytona Beach Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.

1970: In Framingham, Massachusetts, singer Diana Ross performed her first solo concert after leaving The Supremes (Video). 

1971: A new undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion was crowned, as "Smokin" Joe Frazier of Philadelphia won a decision over Muhammad Ali, who was previously undefeated. 

1975: In the season's final episode of TV's "All in the Family," Mike and Gloria decided to rent the Jeffersons' vacant house next door to the Bunkers.

1985: John McPherson of Newcastle, England, set a Guinness World Record by kissing 4,444 women in eight hours.
1997: A piece of mold sold for $34,500 at a London auction. It was part of the growth that led to Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928.
1998: Surgeons in Chongqing, China, removed two of a 32-year-old farmer’s three tongues to allow him to speak and eat normally for the first time in 20 years. The man had grown a second tongue at age five and a third by age 12.

2004: Vancouver Canuck Todd Bertuzzi slugged Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore during a game, leaving Moore with a broken neck, a concussion and facial cuts. Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to criminal assault and was sentenced to probation and community service.
2005: Harvard Business School announced rejection of 119 would-be students accused of hacking into a Web site to learn early if they were accepted before official notification. The school's dean called the behavior unethical.
2006: Three Alabama college students were arrested on charges they set fire to nine rural Baptist churches.

2014 Malaysia Airlines flight vanishes with more than 200 people aboard. Investigators have failed to find any trace of the aircraft or determine why it vanished.



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT 

"African Slavery In America" published (Source) 

On March 8, 1775, “African Slavery In America,” the first known essay advocating the abolition of slavery in America, was published anonymously in the Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser. Thomas Paine is believed to be the author. The first anti-slavery society was formed in Philadelphia weeks after publication, and Paine was a founding member.

QUICK TRIVIA

National Pancake Day (Source) 

Since beginning its National Pancake Day celebration in 2006, IHOP restaurants have raised nearly 20 million to support charities in the communities in which they operate. On March 8, 2016, from 7 AM to 7 PM, guests from around the country will celebrate the eleventh annual National Pancake Day at participating IHOP restaurants and enjoy a free short stack of Buttermilk pancakes. In return for the free pancakes, guests will be asked to consider leaving a donation for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals or other designated local charities. The goal this year is 3.4 million. 


WORD OF THE DAY

sallow \SAL-oh\, adjective:
having a sickly, yellowish color


Elisha would have tried the dessert, but she just couldn't get past the sallow color. 









WORD FROM THE WORD

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.--Psalm 36:8



Read "Our Daily Bread"

March 7, 2016

Cereal Day

Monday, March 7, 2016

The 67 day of the year

299 days left to go 

THIS WEEK IS

• Girl Scout Week
• National Consumer Protection Week
• National Dental Assistants Recognition Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Schools Social Work Week
• National Sleep Awareness Week
• Professional Pet Sitters Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Return The Borrowed Books Week
• Save Your Vision Week
• Teen Tech Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week

TODAY IS

• Casimir Pulaski Day (Learn more)
• Cereal Day
• Fun Facts About Names Day
• National Be Heard Day
• National Crown of Roast Pork Day (Recipe)

ON THIS DATE...

1854: Charles Miller received a patent for the sewing machine that stitches buttonholes (Learn more)


1876: Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. 

1897: Dr. John Kellogg served the world's first corn flakes to his patients at a Battle Creek, Michigan, mental hospital.  The cereal was put on sale several years later. 

1926: The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London.
1939: Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians recorded the classic "Auld Lang Syne." 

1955: comedienne Phyllis Diller made her debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, California (bio). 

1965: state troopers broke up a march by civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama.  Because of the casualties resulting from the clash, the event became known as "Bloody Sunday"  (See history spotlight) 

1970: Simon and Garfunkel topped the album charts with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Song)

1985: the song, "We Are The World," was played on the radio for the first time.  It was the product of a collaboration of 45 of the top stars in pop music (Song).  

1987: Mike Tyson beat James "Bonecrusher" Smith to claim the World Boxing Council heavyweight title.  By doing so, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.  

2011: Warner Bros. announced it had terminated its services with actor Charlie Sheen for work on the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men."  Shortly after the announcement, Sheen climbed to the roof of an office building in Beverly Hills, California where he waved a machete and declared himself "free at last."  



HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

Bloody Sunday (Source) 

On March 7, 1965, about 600 people attempted a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. It was planned as a peaceful demonstration. 
At that time, many African Americans were still facing barriers which either prevented or made it very difficult for them to register to vote. In Selma, African Americans made up almost half the population, but only two percent were registered voters. Discrimination and intimidation tactics aimed at blacks kept them from registering and voting. The demonstrators marched to demand fairness in voter registration.
John Lewis was a key organizer of the march. The 25-year-old son of an Alabama sharecropper was the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an organization dedicated to ending segregation and to registering black voters. 
The peaceful demonstrators were tear-gassed, clubbed, spat on, whipped, trampled by horses, and jeered by others for demanding the right to register to vote. Television and newspapers carried pictures of the event that became known as "Bloody Sunday." 
The images sickened, outraged, and electrified people throughout the country. Within 48 hours, demonstrations in support of the marchers were held in 80 cities. Many of the nation's religious and lay leaders, including Martin Luther King, flew to Selma. After one more failed attempt, King led a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery. Congress responded to these events by enacting the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
John Lewis went on to serve as Director of the Voter Education Project (VEP), a program which added nearly four million minorities to the voter rolls.

QUICK TRIVIA 

Cereal Facts (Source) 

• Cereal was invented when colonial housewives started serving up popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast.  Yum!
• Of the more than 294 million people in the U.S, 49% start their day with a bowl of cereal. 
• The word cereal comes from Cerealia, the name of ancient Roman ceremonies that honored Ceres, the goddess of grain. 
• One bushel of wheat will make 53 boxes of cereal. 
• 85% of all protein consumed throughout the world is provided by grains such as wheat, corn, rice, millet, rye, barley, and sorghum – those that are often found in cereal. 
• The first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal was invented in 1863 by James C. Jackson. It was a form of whole grain flour dough baked into dry leaves, broken into chunks and baked again, and then ground into still smaller chunks. 
• U.S. and Israeli researchers have just found strong evidence that humans refined wheat and barley into cereal 23,000 years ago. If true, the discovery suggests humans were processing grains long before hunter-gather societies developed agriculture. 
• Astronauts from Apollo 11 boosted their brain power while in space with a cereal breakfast. The cereal was mixed with fruit and pressed into cubes since the lack of gravity kept the astronauts from pouring it into a bowl with milk. 

WORD OF THE DAY 

belligerent   [buh-lij-er-uhnt]  –adjective 

1. warlike; given to waging war.
2. of warlike character; aggressively hostile
3. waging war; engaged in war:

"The morning show host became uncharacteristically belligerent after someone ate the last donut"




WORD FROM THE WORD 

Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.--Ezra 5:17


Read today's "Our Daily Bread"