Fun Facts for Friday, December 19, 2014

Oatmeal Muffin Day

Fun Facts for Friday, December 19, 2014

The 353 day of the year

12 days left in the year

THIS WEEK IS 

• Gluten-free Baking Week
• Christmas Bird Count Week
• Posadas (16-24)
• Chanukah (17-24) 

TODAY IS

• Underdog Day
• National Hard Candy Day
• National Oatmeal Muffin Day

ON THIS DATE...

1154: Henry II was crowned king of England.

1732: Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."  He did so under the name Richard Saunders. 

1776: Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay.  
1777 - General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter. Nearly 3000 died during the very severe winter

1871: Corrugated paper was patented by Albert L. Jones of New York.


1903: the Williamsburg Bridge was opened in New York City.  It was America's first major suspension bridge.  
1917: the National Hockey League made its debut.  The original members of the league were the Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. 

1918: Robert Ripley began his "Believe It or Not" column in the "New York Globe." 
1955: Carl Perkins recorded his hit song "Blue Suede Shoes" in Memphis, Tennessee. 

1957: Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man" opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York City. 

1958: the first radio voice broadcast from space took place.  The U.S. satellite Atlas, which had been launched from Cape Canaveral on December 18th, transmitted a 58-word recorded Christmas greeting from President Eisenhower which said, "to all mankind America's wish for peace and goodwill toward men everywhere." 

1959: Walter Williams died at the age of 117.  He was believed to be the last surviving veteran of the Civil War. 

1973: "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson told his nationwide audience that toilet paper was disappearing from supermarket shelves around the country.  The gag caused a scare which made toilet paper a scarce item in many areas of the United States. 

1985: kicker Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the National Football League.  He holds the record for most career field goals with 373. 

1985: ABC Sports announced it was releasing announcer Howard Cosell from all television commitments. 
1986:  the war movie "Platoon" opened in theaters across the U.S..  
1996: in a decision that set off a firestorm of controversy, the Oakland, California school board voted to recognize Black English, also known as "Ebonics."  The board later reversed its stance. 
1997: the epic film "Titanic" opened in theaters across the U.S..  The film went on to become the highest grossing film in history.  
1998: President Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House on perjury and obstruction of justice articles.  The 42nd chief executive became only the second in history to be ordered to stand trial in the Senate, where, like Andrew Johnson before him, he was acquitted. 
2001: the blockbuster fantasy film "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring" opened in theaters around the country.  The film was based on J.R.R Tolkien's classic series of novels.  

2004: "Time" magazine named President George W. Bush its "Person of Year."  "Time" said Bush received the credit for reshaping the rules of politics to, quote, "fit his ten-gallon-hat leadership style." 





HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

President Clinton impeached (Taken from Link) 

After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term.



QUICK TRIVIA 

The film "Titanic" was released on this date in 1997 (Taken from Link) 

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster film directed, written, co-produced, co-edited and partly financed by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.
Cameron's inspiration for the film was predicated on his fascination with shipwrecks; he wanted to convey the emotional message of the tragedy and felt that a love story interspersed with the human loss would be essential to achieving this. Production on the film began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the wreck. A reconstruction of the Titanic built at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California, scale models, and computer-generated imagery were used to recreate the sinking. The film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, and, at the time, was the most expensive film ever made, with an estimated budget of $200 million.




WORD FOR THE DAY

yuletide  [yool-tahyd]

noun

1. the Christmas season.

adjective
2. of or pertaining to the Christmas season.

"Jimmy was so excited for the fact that the yuletime season was finally here"



INTRIGUING BIBLE FACT 

Although it's celebrated as tradition, the Bible does not specifically mention that any animals were present at Jesus' birth. The Bible simply mentions the "manger" or feeding trough. 



WORD FROM THE WORD

The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. —1 Timothy 1:14


Read today's "Our Daily Bread"