World War II History- Declaration that the fourth anniversary of the tragic invasion of Poland will be observed as Polish Day.

Mysterious Origins- Pink Flamingo Day / 23 June

 

Pink Flamingo Day

Pink Flamingo Day was declared in 2007 by Dean Mazzaralla, the mayor of Leominster, MA to honour the work of Don Featherstone, creator of the plastic lawn flamingo. Show your love for pink flamingos on Pink Flamingo Day! Decorate your front yard on June 23 each year with pink plastic flamingos in celebration. A minimum of four flamingos is required to have a decent size flock.

http://savetheflamingos.org/pink-flamingo-day

Pop Culture History- Dairy Queen opened its first restaurant on 22 June 1940 /Happy Birthday Dairy Queen!

The first Dairy Queen® opened on this day in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois.

Mysterious Origins- "The Ferris Wheel" / 21 June 1893 the Ferris Wheel opened to the public.

June 21 is the birthday of the Ferris Wheel

The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such structures, and Ferris wheels are now the most common type of carnival ride at state fairs in the US.

 

George Ferris was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder. He began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.

The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5-foot axle comprising what was at that time the world's largest hollow forging, manufactured in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company and weighing 89,320 pounds, together with two 16-foot-diameter (4.9 m) cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds.

There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160.  The wheel carried some 38,000 passengers daily and took 20 minutes to complete two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents.


The Exposition ended in October 1893, and the wheel closed in April 1894 and was dismantled and stored until the following year. It was then rebuilt on Chicago's North Side, near Lincoln Park, next to an exclusive neighborhood. This prompted William D. Boyce, then a local resident, to file a Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel to have it removed, but without success. It operated there from October 1895 until 1903, when it was again dismantled, then transported by rail to St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair and finally destroyed by controlled demolition using dynamite on May 11, 1906.

Since the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel, there have been eight subsequent world's tallest-ever Ferris wheels. The current record holder is the 165-metre (541 ft) Singapore Flyer, which opened to the public in March 2008.

 For More Information: See Wikipedia

Mysterious Origins- World Oceans Day / 8 June

June 8th is World Oceans Day

The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now officially recognized by the UN as June 8th each year.

Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

A petition to the United Nations urging them to officially recognize World Oceans Day was developed and widely circulated. With help from Partner organizations, tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world signed online or paper copies of the petition.

Designation of World Oceans Day provides an important boost to those organizations and individuals who have been deeply committed to ocean conservation. Official UN designation is another important step toward improving the health of our world’s ocean.
 
People around the world depend on a healthy, clean ocean in order to survive and thrive. World Oceans Day is the official UN-designated international day of ocean celebration. On June 8^th each year, celebrate the ocean, its importance in our lives, and how we can protect it.

WorldOceansDay.org aims to help you make a difference in your life, community, and world by taking action to protect our ocean—for present and future generations. Despite the huge challenges facing the world’s ocean, by working together we can achieve a healthy ocean that provides for the billions of humans, plants and animals which depend on it every day.

Source: WorldOceansDay.org

Observations From Around the World- Arlington National Cemetery / In Honor of Memorial Day

 

Music Video: "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan / 26 May is National Bob Day- Pay tribute to one of your favorite "Bobs"

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you ?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but know you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?
You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

Music Video: "Prove Me Wrong" by David Pack - Scene from the movie White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Greorgy Hines. 25 May is National Tap Dance Day

Living in the darkness
Sleeping in the light of day
Waiting on the bad luck to pass
When there ain't no other way
Some would carry on
While the weak get trampled down
Only way to know yourself is when the hard times comes around
Though I maybe down and out but you best not believe
I could fall down twenty flights and still and land on my feet

Hay
Yeah yeah
Alright
Just prove me wrong.
You've got to prove me wrong
Hey
You can't tie me down to one place
There's fire in my feet
Till I find my home again
Anywhere on the streets
Take what freedom from me put me where I don't belong
I will come back twice a strong
Just prove me wrong
Yeah
Just prove me wrong
Hay

Oh wake up on the morning
There are things look bad for me
I'm gonna find a place that I can live
On my own terms and my own way
Raised up from this restraints I'm under
The way things have to be
I will raise up above this wall that stands in front of me

Hey
Yeah yeah oh
Just prove me wrong
Yeah
Lead me to the edge of everything that I desire
Let the passion burn in me
Like flames of fire
Throw me in the deepest and try to hold me down to long I will come back twice as strong

Yeah
Got to prove me wrong
Oh
Prove me wrong
Well
Prove me prove me wrong
Ah
Prove me wrong

Happy Hour: Brooklyn Bridge Cocktail / 24 May is Brooklyn Bridge Day

2 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon puree
½ oz. simple syrup
1 oz. Lillet Blanc (if you can't find it, use a sweet wine)
2 oz. Pinot Noir

Get your handy shaker, combine everything with ice, except for the wine! Shake, strain into a tall glass that's been filled with ice. Then carefully pour the sweet wine so it floats on top of the drink. Decorate with a lemon, lime, whatever you feel like!


http://www.luuux.com/food/brooklyn-bridge-cocktail

23 May is National Lucky Penny Day

Find a penny
Pick it up
All day long
You'll have good luck

Mysterious Origins- National Maritime Day- 22 May

National Maritime Day is a United States holiday created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed on May 22, the date that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933.

 Source: Wikipedia

On May 22, 1819, the SS Savannah left its home port of Savannah, Georgia on its way to Liverpool, England. The ship "put to sea with steam and sails" and reached Liverpool in 29 days and four hours, becoming the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. While the steam engine performed faultlessly, it was not the only means of propulsion; historians have estimated that the Savannah was under sail 80% of the time. Nonetheless, it was an impressive achievement, one that signaled the beginning of the era of steam, and American technological leadership.

1933: Congress Declares May 22 to be National Maritime Day

By a Joint Resolution passed on May 20, 1933, Congress declared May 22nd to be National Maritime Day. This is the text of the resolution:

Whereas on May 22, 1819, the steamship The Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia, on the first successful transoceanic voyage under steam propulsion, thus making a material contribution to the advancement of ocean transportation: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That May 22 of each year shall hereafter be designated and known as National Maritime Day, and the President is authorized and requested annually to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such National Maritime Day by displaying the flag at their homes or other suitable places and Government officials to display the flag on all Government buildings on May 22 of each year.

Presidential proclamations and other recognitions of National Maritime Day may be found at this site: http://www.usmm.org/md/maritprocs.html.

World War II

The merchant marine and American shipyards were crucial to victory in World War II. Then, as now, the United States Armed Forces could not fight a war overseas without the merchant marine and commercial ships to carry the tanks and torpedoes, the bullets and the beans.  In World War II the ships also carried troops across the ocean. Merchant mariners and their shipmates of the Navy Armed Guard sailed across the Atlantic, the Pacific, through the Indian Ocean, across the Arctic Circle to Murmansk. They carried nearly 270-billion long tons of cargo--the average rate of delivery in 1945 was 17-million pounds of cargo every hour. They had been the first to go to war; merchant ships were being captured and sunk even before the United States officially entered the war. And they were the last to return; it was ships sailed by merchant mariners that brought the GIs home.

None of them had to go sea. They were all civilians, and they could have had other jobs in the booming wartime economy. Yet they went. Some were in their seventies, some were in their teens.

It was dangerous work. Nearly one in 30 of those who served in the merchant marine did not return. More than 6,000 American seafarers and more than 700 U.S. merchant ships fell to enemy action. No branch of the Armed Forces, save the Marines, suffered a higher casualty rate.  None suffered a higher death rate. There are many good sources of information on the role of the merchant marine in World War II. One such web site is http://www.usmm.org/.

National Maritime Day Becomes the Merchant Marine Memorial Day

In spite of their service and their sacrifices, merchant mariners were not accorded veterans' benefits, and for many years were excluded from celebrations of Veterans' Day, Memorial Day, and other days recognizing members of the Armed Forces. One merchant marine veteran who felt the exclusion very keenly was Walter Oates, who became Public Affairs Officer at the Maritime Administration. The Maritime Administration is the successor agency to the War Shipping Administration, which oversaw the shipbuilding and merchant marine operations in World War II. Mr. Oates was a wartime graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, the only one of the federal service academies to send its students into war before graduation. One hundred forty-two of those students were killed in the war, and one of them had been Mr. Oates's roommate.

In 1970, at the instigation of Mr. Oates, the Maritime Administration sponsored an observance of Maritime Day, a solemn ceremony honoring veterans of the merchant marine, and those who gave their lives in service to the United States. That observance has been held every year since then.

After a long court battle, merchant marine veterans were accorded some rights and privileges of veterans on January 19, 1988. Ten years after that, in 1998, in recognizing veterans from the Persian Gulf War, Congress included more rights and privileges for veterans of the merchant marine. The U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1987, integrates recognition of the U.S. Merchant Marine: www.navymemorial.org.  At the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2004, Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert represented the merchant marine as chief of service. The flags at the entrance of the World War II Memorial have on them the seals of five services: the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Army Air Corps, and the United States Merchant Marine. More about the National World War II Memorial may be found at http://www.wwiimemorial.com.

Maritime Day Today

Today, Maritime Day is observed in a variety of ways. Many ports have open houses and special celebrations. Propeller Clubs all over the United States hold special luncheons. At Merchant Marine Memorials, such as the one in New York City, and the one in San Pedro, California, memorial observances are held. In November 2005, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to make National Maritime Day a Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Seafarers and People of the Sea. National Maritime Day is a day to pay special tribute to the merchant marine and to the benefits that the maritime industry provides this country and to all who live here.

Source: Maritime Day History

Myterious Origins- The American Red Cross- Founded 21 May 1881

As one of the nation’s premier humanitarian organizations, the American Red Cross is dedicated to helping people in need throughout the United States and, in association with other Red Cross networks, throughout the world. The American Red Cross depends on the many generous contributions of time, blood, and money from the American public to support lifesaving services and programs. 

Clara Barton and a circle of her acquaintances founded the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881. Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired global Red Cross network while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war-injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.

Barton led the Red Cross for 23 years, during which time she conducted the first domestic and overseas disaster relief efforts, aided the United States military during the Spanish-American War, and campaigned successfully for the inclusion of peacetime relief work as part of the global Red Cross network–the so-called “American Amendment” that initially met with some resistance in Europe. 

The Red Cross received its first congressional charter in 1900 and a second in 1905, the year after Barton resigned from the organization. This charter–which remains in effect today–sets forth the purposes of the organization which include giving relief to and serving as a medium of communication between members of the American armed forces and their families and providing national and international disaster relief and mitigation. 

Prior to the First World War, the Red Cross introduced its first aid, water safety, and public health nursing programs. With the outbreak of war, the organization experienced phenomenal growth. The number of local chapters jumped from 107 in 1914 to 3,864 in 1918 and membership grew from 17,000 to over 20 million adult and 11 million Junior Red Cross members. The public contributed $400 million in funds and material to support Red Cross programs, including those for American and Allied forces and civilian refugees. The Red Cross staffed hospitals and ambulance companies and recruited 20,000 registered nurses to serve the military. Additional Red Cross nurses came forward to combat the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918. 

After the war, the Red Cross focused on service to veterans and enhanced its programs in safety training, accident prevention, home care for the sick, and nutrition education. It also provided relief for victims of such major disasters as the Mississippi River floods in 1927 and severe drought and the Depression during the 1930s.

The Second World War called upon the Red Cross to provide extensive services once again to the U.S. military, Allies, and civilian war victims. The Red Cross enrolled more than 104,000 nurses for military service, prepared 27 million packages for American and Allied prisoners of war, and shipped over 300,000 tons of supplies overseas. At the military’s request, the Red Cross also initiated a national blood program that collected 13.3 million pints of blood for use by the armed forces. 

After World War II, the Red Cross introduced the first nationwide civilian blood program that now supplies more than 40 percent of the blood and blood products in this country. During the 1990s, it engineered a massive modernization of its blood services operations to improve the safety of  blood products. The Red Cross continued to provide services to members of the armed forces and their families, including during the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars. The Red Cross also expanded its services into such fields as civil defense, CPR/AED training, HIV/AIDS education, and the provision of emotional care and support in the wake of disasters. Since 2006, the Red Cross and FEMA have worked together helping government agencies and community organizations plan, coordinate and provide feeding, sheltering and family reunification services for people affected by disasters. 

Today, the supporters, volunteers and employees of the American Red Cross provide compassionate care in five critical areas:

• People affected by disasters in America
• Support for members of the military and their families
• Blood collection, processing and distribution
• Health and safety education and training
• International relief and development 

Source: American Red Cross

History in Pictures- The first Norman Rockwell cover appeared on "The Saturday Evening Post" on 20 May 1916 / 20 May is Norman Rockwell Day

Mysterious Origins- Victoria Day

Victoria Day (in French: Fête de la Reine) is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized. It is sometimes informally considered as marking the beginning of the summer season in Canada, analogous to how the timing of the holiday Memorial Day is regarded in the United States.

The holiday has been observed since before Canada was formed, originally falling on the sovereign's actual birthday, and continues to be celebrated in various fashions across the country on the fixed date; the holiday has always been a distinctly Canadian observance.  It is a statutory holiday federally, as well as in six of Canada's ten provinces and all three of its territories. In Quebec, the same day was, since the Quiet Revolution, unofficially known as Fête de Dollard until 2003, when provincial legislation officially named the same date as Victoria Day the National Patriots' Day.

Victoria Day, 1854; crowds gather outside Government House in Toronto, Canada West (now Ontario)

The birthday of Queen Victoria was a day for celebration in Canada long before Confederation, with the first legislation regarding the event being in 1845 passed by the parliament of the Province of Canada to officially recognize May 24 as the Queen's birthday. It was noted that on that date in 1854, the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria, some 5,000 residents of Canada West gathered in front of Government House (near present day King and Simcoe Streets in Toronto) to "give cheers to their queen."  On May 24, 1866, the town of Omemee, also in Canada West, mounted a day-long fête to mark the occasion, including a gun salute at midnight, pre-dawn serenades, picnics, athletic competitions, a display of illuminations, and a torch-light procession; such events were common around the colony and, by the 1890s, the day had become a "patriotic holiday".

Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, May 24 was made by law to be known as Victoria Day, a date to remember the late queen, who was deemed the "Mother of Confederation", and, in 1904, the same date was by imperial decree made Empire Day throughout the British Empire. Over the ensuing decades, the official date in Canada of the reigning sovereign's birthday changed through various royal proclamations until the haphazard format was abandoned in 1952. That year, both Empire Day and Victoria Day were, by order-in-council and statutory amendment, respectively, moved to the Monday before May 25 and the monarch's official birthday in Canada was by regular viceregal proclamations made to fall on this same date every year between 1953 and January 31, 1957, when the link was made permanent by royal proclamation. The following year, Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day and in 1977 it was moved to the second Monday in March, leaving the Monday before May 25 only as both Victoria Day and the Queen's Birthday.

Source: Wikipedia

Drive-in: "Barney Bear's Victory Garden" Cartoon / 19 May is National "Plant Something Day"

Mysterious Origins- Armed Forces Day - Thank you to those who served and are serving our country today.

In the United States, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May. It falls near the end of Armed Forces Week, which begins on the second Saturday of May and ends on the third Sunday of May.

First observed on 20 May 1950, the day was created on 31 August 1949, to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches – the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the military services in the U.S. Department of Defense. It was intended to replace the separate Army-, Navy-, Air Force-, Marine Corps- and Coast Guard Days, but the separate days are still observed, especially within the respective services.

The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated by parades, open houses, receptions and air shows. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy established Armed Forces Day as an official holiday. The United States' longest running city-sponsored Armed Forces Day Parade is held in Bremerton, Washington.

Source: Wikipedia

History in Pictures- The first annual Kentucky Derby was held on 17 May 1875 / 17 May is Kentucky Derby Day

The Kentucky Derby is the longest continuously held sporting event in the United States.

Pop Culture History- Sea Monkeys / 16 May is National Sea Monkey Day

Observations From Around the World- Windmills in Holland / 11 May is International Windmill Day

Satire and Humor: Mother's Day