Tuesday, January 31, 2017

DAY 31 - This day in legal and military history

January 31
 

NATIONAL Inspire your Heart with Art Day
 

NATIONAL Backwards Day
 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1865 General Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies
 

1990 The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens in Moscow.

2004 The Mars rover Opportunity rolled off its landing pad onto the surface of Mars

Monday, January 30, 2017

DAY 30 - This day in legal and military history

January 30
 

NATIONAL Croissant Day
 

NATIONAL Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day [last Monday in January]

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history 

1781 Articles of Confederation go into effect, establishing a perpetual union of "The United States of America"
 

1939 Hitler calls for extermination of Jews
 

1968 North Vietnamese forces launched attacks against the South Vietnamese - The Tet Offensive
 

1976 George HW Bush becomes director of the CIA
 

2008 United States District Court Judge Stanwood Duval dismisses a class action suit against the US Army Corps of Engineers over flooding from a levee breach in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina
 

2014 US Attorney General Eric Holder announces that federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Sunday, January 29, 2017

DAY 29 - This day in legal and military history

January 29

NATIONAL Puzzle Day

NATIONAL Corn Chip Day 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1802 John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress. He was paid $2 a day.
 

1813 Jane Austin publishes Pride and Prejudice.
 

1845 Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven was published.
 

1861 Kansas admitted to the US as the 34th state.
 

1904 New York subway opens

Saturday, January 28, 2017

DAY 28 - This day in legal and military history

January 28
 

NATIONAL Have Fun at Work Day [does anyone else find it odd that this day is a Saturday?]
 

NATIONAL Data Privacy Day
 

NATIONAL Blueberry Pancake Day
 

NATIONAL Kazoo Day [bless you]
 

NATIONAL Seed Swap Day [last Saturday in January]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1909 US troops leave Cuba, ending direct control of that country, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
 

1915 Congress passed legislation creating the US Coast Guard.
 

1916 The first Jewish Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis, was appointed.
 

1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes 72 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe [I worked in aerospace at this time.  My entire company watched the launch, then sat in stunned silence and stared at the explosion.]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reagan_Space_Shuttle_Challenger_Speech.ogv

The Challenger astronauts 



Friday, January 27, 2017

DAY 27 - This day in legal and military history

January 27
 

NATIONAL Chocolate Cake Day 

NATIONAL e-Day
 

NATIONAL Big Wig Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1825 Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears.”
 

1880 Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
 

1945 Russian troops liberate the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.   At Stalag IXA, near Ziegenhain, when the Germans try to identify the Jewish men among the American prisoners, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds says, "We are all Jews."
 

1959 NASA selects 110 candidates for the first US space flight.
 

1967 The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, DC, banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

DAY 26 - This day in legal and military history

January 26
 

NATIONAL Spouses Day
 

NATIONAL Green Juice Day
 

NATIONAL Peanut Brittle Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1784 In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the turkey.

1788 A fleet of ships carrying convicts from England lands at Sydney Cove in Australia. The day is since known as Australia’s national day.
 

1802 Congress passed an act calling for establishment of a library within the US Capitol.
 

1837 Michigan admitted to the US as the 26th state.
 

1861 Louisiana is the sixth state to secede from the Union.
 

1870 Virginia rejoins the Union.
 

1871 US income tax repealed.
 

2005 Condoleezza Rice is appointed as secretary of state. The post makes her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a US presidential cabinet.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

DAY 25 - This day in legal and military history

January 25
 

NATIONAL Opposite Day
 

NATIONAL Irish Coffee Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1787 Shay’s Rebellion - Small farmers in Springfield, Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, revolt against tax laws.
 

1924 The first Winter Olympic games opened at Chamonix, France.

1961 President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.
 

1972 Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to US Congress, announces candidacy for president.
 

2004 NASA’s Opportunity rover sent its first pictures of Mars to Earth, just hours after it bounced to a landing on the opposite side of Mars from its twin rover, Spirit.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

DAY 24 - This day in legal and military history

January 24
 

NATIONAL Beer Can Appreciation Day

NATIONAL Compliment Day
 

NATIONAL Macintosh Computer Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1848 James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, beginning the California Gold Rush
 

1908 Boy Scouts movement begins in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys.  Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.
 

1933 The 20th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
 

1958 After warming to 100,000,000 degrees, two light atoms were bashed together to create a heavier atom, resulting in the first man-made nuclear fusion.
 

1961 A B-52 breaks up over the North Carolina coast, losing two H-bombs, one of which is still missing.
 

1972 Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was discovered hiding in the jungles of Guam, having spent 28 years thinking World War II was still going on.
 

1986 The Voyager 2 space probe swept within 50,679 miles of Uranus.

Monday, January 23, 2017

DAY 23 - This day in legal and military history

January 23

NATIONAL Handwriting Day [John Hancock's birthday]

NATIONAL Pie Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1556 The deadliest earthquake on record killed 830,000 in Shansi, China.
 

1845 US Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
 

1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman physician in the US.
 

1964 The 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified.
 

1973 President Nixon announced that an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.
 

1977 Alex Haley’s Roots begins a record-breaking eight-night broadcast on ABC.
 

2004 US District Judge in LA, Aubrey Collins, ruled that a part of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime to give expert advice to foreign terrorist organizations, was unconstitutional.
 

2013 The US Armed Forces overturns its ban on women serving in combat, reversing a 1994 rule and potentially clearing the way for women to serve in front-line units and elite commando forces. 

Sunday, January 22, 2017

DAY 22 - This day in legal and military history

January 22
 

NATIONAL Hot Sauce Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

2004 NASA lost contact with the Mars Spirit rover
 


1997 The US Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state

Saturday, January 21, 2017

DAY 21 - This day in legal and military history

January 21
 

NATIONAL Squirrel Appreciation Day
 

NATIONAL Granola Bar Day
 

NATIONAL Hugging Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1790 Joseph Guillotine proposes a new, “more humane” method of execution: a machine designed to cut off the condemned person’s head as painlessly as possible

1903 The "Dick Act" creates the modern National Guard
 

1903 The US and Columbia sign the Hay-Herran Treaty, giving the US a 99 year lease and sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone
 

1950 Former State Department official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury
 

1974 The US Supreme Court decides that pregnant teachers can no longer be forced to take long leaves of absence
 

1977 President Carter urges 65 degrees as the maximum heat in homes to ease the energy crisis
 

1977 President Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders as long as they had not been involved in violent acts
 

2010 In a 5-4 decision that reversed previous decisions, the US Supreme Court rules in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations for political campaigns

Friday, January 20, 2017

DAY 20 - This day in legal and military history

January 20
 

NATIONAL Penguin Awareness Day 

NATIONAL Buttercrunch Day
 

NATIONAL Cheese Lover's Day
 

NATIONAL Disc Jockey Day
 

NATIONAL US Presidential Inauguration Day [Donald Trump officially becomes President of the US today]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1841 China cedes Hong Kong to the British [who return it in 1997]
 

1946 President Truman creates the Central Intelligence Group, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
 

1964 The Beatles released their first album in the United States, "Meet the Beatles"
 

1981 President Reagan became the oldest president to take office (69 years and 349 days)
 

1981 After 444 days, 52 Americans held hostage by Iran are finally released
 

2009 Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th and first African-American President of the United States

Thursday, January 19, 2017

DAY 19 - This day in legal and military history

January 19

NATIONAL Popcorn Day 


NATIONAL Tin Can Day
 

NATIONAL Get to Know Your Customers Day [third Thursday of each quarter]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1861 Georgia is the fifth state to secede from the Union
 

1920 The Senate rejects American membership in the League of Nations
 

1953 Lucy Ricardo gave birth to baby Ricky on "I Love Lucy". More people watch this show than the inauguration of President Eisenhower.
 

1980 President Jimmy Carter announces the US boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow [Back in the 80s, I once wrote a “letter to the editor” of Newsweek Magazine on this topic, and it was printed!]
 

1986 The first IBM PC computer virus is released
 

2001 President Clinton admitted he made false statements under oath about Monica Lewinsky

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

DAY 18 - This day in legal and military history

January 18
 

NATIONAL Winnie the Pooh Day
 


NATIONAL Thesaurus Day
 

NATIONAL Peking Duck Day 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1775 The Continental Congress presents its petitions to the British Parliament
 

1915 The US Revenue Marine is renamed the US Coast Guard
 

1943 A wartime ban is introduced on the sale of pre-sliced bread in the United States, to save metal parts in slicing machines
 

1957 Three US Air Force jets complete a nonstop around-the-world flight, averaging over 500 miles per hour
 

1962 The United States begins spraying foliage with herbicides in South Vietnam, in order to reveal the whereabouts of Vietcong guerrillas
 

2014 NASA scientists beam a picture of the Mona Lisa to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft orbiting the Moon, marking a first in laser communication

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

DAY 17 - This day in legal and military history

January 17
 

NATIONAL Ditch New Year's Resolutions Day
 


NATIONAL Kid Inventors Day
 

NATIONAL Bootlegger's Day
 

NATIONAL Hot Buttered Rum Day 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1893 Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii is overthrown by a group of American sugar planters led by Sanford Dole
 

1977 Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reintroduced
 

1985 A jury in New Jersey rules that terminally ill patients have the right to starve themselves
 

1998 President Clinton became the first sitting US president to testify as a defendant in a criminal or civil suit
 

2007 President George W. Bush announces that the NSA is now required to obtain warrants for wiretapping and domestic surveillance


Monday, January 16, 2017

DAY 16 - This day in legal and military history

January 16

Martin Luther King Jr Day [third Monday in January]
 

NATIONAL Nothing Day
 

NATIONAL Fig Newton Day
 

NATIONAL Religious Freedom Day
 

NATIONAL Without a Scalpel Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1909 One of Ernest Shackleton‘s polar exploration teams reaches the Magnetic South Pole
 


1920 National Prohibition under the 18th Amendment goes into effect [repealed in 1933]
 

1945 Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker for 105 days until he commits suicide
 

1991 The Persian Gulf War begins with Operation Desert Storm

Sunday, January 15, 2017

DAY 15 - This day in legal and military history

January 15
 

NATIONAL Hat Day
 

NATIONAL Strawberry Ice Cream Day


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1870 The Donkey was first used as a symbol for the Democratic party
 


1920 Prohibition began in the US
 

1943 The Pentagon was completed
 

1974 First women enlisted in the US Coast Guard
 

2001 Wikipedia goes online
 

2009 Pilot Chesley B Sullenberger successfully landed the disabled Flight 1549 in the Hudson River

Saturday, January 14, 2017

DAY 14 - This day in legal and military history

January 14
 

NATIONAL Dress Up Your Pet Day
 


NATIONAL Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
 

NATIONAL Organize Your Home Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1784 The US ratified a treaty with England to end the Revolutionary War
 

1867 Alfred Nobel makes the first public demonstration of dynamite
 

1943 Franklin D Roosevelt becomes the first US president to fly by airplane while in office
 

1960 Elvis Presley promoted to Sergeant in the US Army
 

1973 The Miami Dolphins have a perfect, undefeated season
 

1990 The Simpsons premiered on television
 

2005 Huygens probe lands on Saturn's moon Titan
 

2008 Messenger, a NASA spacecraft, flies by Mercury

Friday, January 13, 2017

DAY 13 - This day in legal and military history

January 13
 

NATIONAL Rubber Ducky Day
 


NATIONAL Sticker Day
 

NATIONAL Blame Someone Else Day [first Friday the 13th of the year]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1919 California votes to ratify prohibition amendment
 

1927 First woman sits on the NY Stock Exchange
 

1990 Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the first black elected governor

Thursday, January 12, 2017

DAY 12 - This day in legal and military history

January 12 

NATIONAL Pharmacist Day

NATIONAL Curried Chicken Day 
[Did that say curried chicken?  I thought it said CARRIED chicken.  Sorry.  My bad.]


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1863 Jefferson Davis delivers “State of the Confederacy” address
 

1915 The US House of Representatives rejected a proposal to allow women to vote
 

1932 Hattie W. Caraway [D-Arkansas] became the first woman elected to the US Senate
 

1991 A divided Congress allowed President Bush to enter the Persian Gulf War
 

2010 A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastates Haiti

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

DAY 11 - This day in legal and military history

January 11 

NATIONAL Milk Day
 

NATIONAL Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day
 


NATIONAL Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day
-.. . -. .- / .--. .- .-- .-.. .. -. --.
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/translator.html




Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1785 The Continental Congress convenes in NY   
 

1861 Alabama secedes from the US
 

1940 Benjamin O Davis Sr becomes the first black US Army general
 

1964 US Surgeon General issued the first report that cigarette smoking was dangerous
 

1973 Baseball's American League adopted the “designated hitter” to hit for the pitcher

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

DAY 10 - This day in legal and military history

January 10
 

NATIONAL Bittersweet Chocolate Day
 


NATIONAL Cut Your Energy Costs Day
 

NATIONAL Peculiar People Day [I qualify as this.]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1776 Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
 

1861 Florida secedes from the US

Monday, January 9, 2017

DAY 9 - This day in legal and military history

January 9
 

NATIONAL Static Electricity Day
 
NATIONAL Word Nerd Day [I qualify as this.]
 

NATIONAL Clean Off Your Desk Day [second Monday in January]
 




Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1788 Connecticut admitted to the US as the 5th state
 

1861 Mississippi is the second state to secede from the US, first shot of the US Civil War
 

1968 Surveyor 7, the last US unmanned probe, lands on the moon
 

2007 Steve Jobs announces first iPhone

Sunday, January 8, 2017

DAY 8 - This day in legal and military history

January 8

NATIONAL Bubble Bath Day
 
NATIONAL Earth's Rotation Day [It doesn't rotate the other days?]
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 
1790 George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address
 
1835 The US National Debt was zero for the first and only time

Saturday, January 7, 2017

DAY 7 - This day in legal and military history

January 7
 

NATIONAL Bobblehead Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1914 First ship crossed the Panama Canal
 

1927 Transatlantic commercial telephone service began between NYC and London
 

1990 Safety concerns force the closure of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
1999 Senate trial to impeach President Bill Clinton begins

Friday, January 6, 2017

DAY 6 - This day in legal and military history

January 6
 

NATIONAL Cuddle Up Day [of course I had to include a cute kitty photo at least once!]
 


NATIONAL Shortbread Day
 

NATIONAL Technology Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1838 Samuel Morse gave the first public demonstration of the telegraph
 

1912 New Mexico admitted to the US as the 47th state

Thursday, January 5, 2017

DAY 5 - This day in legal and military history

January 5

NATIONAL Screenwriter's Day


NATIONAL Whipped Cream Day



Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1914 Henry Ford astounds the world by announcing he will pay a minimum wage of $5 per day 


1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor of a state – Wyoming
 

1940 FM radio first demonstrated to FCC
 

1972 President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program
 

2000 INS Commissioner Doris Meissner ruled that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez must be returned to Cuba

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

DAY 4 - This day in legal and military history

January 4
 

NATIONAL Spaghetti Day
 

NATIONAL Trivia Day
 


Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1896 Utah admitted to the US as the 45th state
 

1980 President Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
 

1999 The euro goes into effect as currency in Europe
 

2004 NASA spacecraft Spirit landed on Mars
 
Spirit/Opportunity    Sojourner            Curiosity

2007 Nancy Pelosi [D-California] becomes the first female Speaker of the House

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

DAY 3 - This day in legal and military history

January 3
 

NATIONAL Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
 

NATIONAL Drinking Straw Day
 

NATIONAL Fruitcake Toss Day [who keeps them this long?]
 

NATIONAL Festival of Sleep Day [now here's a holiday I can get into!]




Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1521 Martin Luther excommunicated from Catholic Church
 

1920 NY Yankees acquired Babe Ruth
 

1947 Proceedings of US Congress are televised for the first time
 

1958 Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole
 

1959 Alaska admitted to the US as the 49th state
 

1962 Fidel Castro excommunicated from Catholic Church
 

1977 Apple Computers incorporates
 

1996 First mobile flip phone goes on sale
 

1999 Mars Polar Lander launched
 

2000 The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published after a 50-year run

Monday, January 2, 2017

DAY 2 - This day in legal and military history

January 2
 

NATIONAL Science Fiction Day
 

NATIONAL Thank God It's Monday Day [first Monday of the year]
 

NATIONAL Run it Up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day 


 

Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history
 

1788 Georgia admitted to the US as the 4th state
 

1839 Photographer Louis Daguerre takes the first photograph of the moon.  [I wonder if he found any cheese.]
 

1870 Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge
 

2017 Rose Parade on January 2 because of a long-ago agreement to never hold it on Sunday, to avoid spooking horses tethered outside churches.  We take down our Christmas tree and decorations while watching the parade, which is broadcast live and then re-runs ALL day in SoCal.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

DAY 1 - This day in legal and military history

New for 2017!  This year my goal is to post something every day – This day in legal and military history.  Obscure national days.  Occasional personal info.  Let's see how far into the year I can get before I self-destruct.


January 1 


New Year's Day
 

NATIONAL Hangover Day [very aptly named]
 

NATIONAL Polar Bear Plunge Day [I'm cold just thinking about this.  Time for a hot shower.]
 



Today in legal and military [and occasional oddities] history

1863 Emancipation Proclamation frees all US slaves
 

1946 An American soldier stationed in the Philippines accepts the surrender of 20 Japanese soldiers who learned that the war ended back in September 1945 by reading about it in a newspaper
 

1950 US Navy commissions its first female doctor, Mary T Sproul
 

1959 Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba
 

1962 US Navy SEALS begin
 

1983 The ARPANET officially changed to using Internet Protocol, creating the internet [sorry Dan Quayle]
 

2000 The arrival of Y2K did not result in the end of the world.  It did, however, result in my computer-programmer husband being laid off later that year.  The week before Christmas.  Ouch.