Humor
History of Earth Day
HISTORY OF EARTH DAY April 22 is called Earth Day because it commemorates and celebrates the observance of the anniversary of our discovery of planet Earth. By all accounts, there is general agreement that Earth is far superior to the planet from which we came, as we shall recount below. Meanwhile, several companies on Earth…
Read MoreHistory of April 19: Three Reasons Why It’s Significant
HISTORY OF APRIL 19 Many of my Facebook friends have asked me to write an article on the History of April 19th. Why? This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57) and somewhat less likely to occur on…
Read MoreHistory of Tax Day
HISTORY OF TAX DAY This year, in an unprecedented move not seen since last year’s unprecedented move, the Internal Revenue Service has extended the deadline for Federal Income Tax filing for individual tax filers. This year, instead of being due today, April 15, the new deadline for individual tax filers is April 18, but not…
Read MoreHistory of April Fools’ Day
HISTORY OF APRIL FOOLS’ DAY April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, is the name given to the custom of playing practical jokes on friends on that day or sending them on fools’ errands. The origin of this custom has been much disputed; it is in some way a relic of those once universal festivities…
Read MoreHistory of World Backup Day
HISTORY OF WORLD BACKUP DAY There isn’t much history, as the first celebration of this geek holiday was in 2011. World Backup Day is barely a decade old. But the need is real, now more than ever before. Especially in light of this salient fact: April Fools’ Day. March 31, the day before, is an…
Read MoreHistory of St Joseph’s Day: Why not more popular?
HISTORY OF ST JOSEPH Today, March 19, is Saint Joseph’s Day, or the Feast of St Joseph. It is celebrated by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches worldwide. The terms feast and festival are often used interchangeably and often refer to a religious holiday. What is the history of the holiday and Joseph himself?…
Read MoreHistory of the Avocado: The Super Bowl Food
HISTORY OF THE AVOCADO: THE SUPER BOWL FOOD Why are avocados, especially guacamole dip, considered a required food for Super Bowl Parties? What’s the background? Californian Avocados California, which has 60,000 acres of avocado orchards, has an avocado growing season running from March through August… not exactly friendly to the date of the…
Read MoreHistory of the Super Bowl: Just another Religious Holiday?
The Super Bowl™ is a territory acquisition athletic contest played on a fixed agrarian grid using, as a token, an inflated porcine prolate spheroid. Some will say it is the most important holiday of the year in America. While it is ostensibly a secular holiday, others argue it is truly a religious holiday. And there…
Read MoreHistory of February
HISTORY OF FEBRUARY February is the month we love to misspell, or at least mispronounce, but you’re forgiven for dropping the first “r” as dissimilation causes people to do that when there are two “r”s or “l”s in close proximity to each other in a word. The word came from the Latin Februa an ancient Roman…
Read MoreHistory of Australia Day: Ties to the American Revolutionary War?
HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA DAY Did you know that the history of European Australia has ties to the American Revolutionary War? When the 13 American Colonies were part of the British Commonwealth, it was convenient for England to transport its convicts to the Colonies. Indeed, it was considered more humane to “transport” prisoners than to execute…
Read MoreHistory of Holiday Fruitcake
HISTORY OF HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE You may be wondering: “My friendly neighborhood historian is writing an article on fruitcake? Is he as nutty as a fruitcake?” And therein begins our tale… The Phrase “Nutty as a Fruitcake” Nutty as a fruitcake was first recorded in 1935, but the adjective nutty, meaning “crazy or eccentric,”…
Read MoreIs Die Hard Really A Christmas Movie?
IS DIE HARD REALLY A CHRISTMAS MOVIE? Scholars and historians have debated for centuries the question “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” Or at least during the last three decades since the movie was released. This is why readers have turned to me, your friendly neighborhood historian, to wrestle with this age-old question and help…
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