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Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

ice cream for breakfast dayToday is Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, a holiday invented in 1966 by a mother desperate to amuse her children while they were snowed in during a blizzard in Rochester, NY. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit. Since then, its popularity has grown exponentially, circling the globe.

As Florence Rappaport explained to the Washington Post in 2004, “It was cold and snowy and the kids were complaining that it was too cold to do anything. So I just said, ‘Let’s have ice cream for breakfast.'” The next year, they reminded her of the day and the tradition was born.

When her kids grew up, they continued to celebrate with parties at college and word of the holiday spread. Later, their children carried the message while traveling the world. Since then, Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day has been observed in Canada, Peru, Switzerland and Costa Rica.

In 2009, it was featured in the Chinese edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on it, first in Hebrew in 2013, then in English in 2014. No matter where it occurs, the holiday’s rules are simple.

  1. Eat ice cream
  2. For breakfast
  3. On the first Saturday in February

If you still need inspiration, consider this quote from playwright Thornton Wilder:

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.

What are you waiting for? Grab a spoon and eat ice cream for breakfast! (Have we mentioned that it’s always breakfast time somewhere and even McDonald’s serves breakfast all day? Breakfast is whenever you decide it is!)

Happy Ice Cream for Breakfast Day!

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

January 19 is Tin Can Day

tin can day

Today is Tin Can Day. On this date in 1825, the first U.S. patent for the invention of the tin can was awarded to  Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett. Like many things, the story of the tin can is not without intrigue. (Tintrigue?) A little history:

France

Paris confectioner Nicolas Appert invented a method of sealing foods in glass jars, then placing them in boiling water, effectively sterilizing them, decades before Louis Pasteur demonstrated that heat killed bacteria.

In 1810, Appert entered a competition sponsored by the French military. He won a cash prize in exchange for making his findings public. The preserved goods were a boon to the armed forces, especially the French navy, which had no fresh food for long stretches while at sea. Appert is considered by many to be the “father of canning,” despite never using cans.

England

There were drawbacks to Appert’s system: glass was heavy, fragile and prone to rupture from internal pressure. Later in 1810, British merchant Peter Durand received a patent from King George III to preserve foods in tinplated cans.

Durand is well-known as the inventor of the tin can but his patent application reveals it was “an invention communicated to him by a certain foreigner residing abroad.” Evidence suggests that Frenchman Philippe de Girard came to London and used Durand as an agent to patent his own creation.

On January 28, 1811, Sir Charles Blagden, a fellow of the Royal Society, wrote of Girard’s frequent visits to test his canned foods on the members. “M Girard came and brought his preserved foods…The broth had been kept since August last, he said. The milk and beef six weeks…His patent is taken out in the name of Durand.”

Why not file in France? Girard had recently designed a flax-spinning loom for which Napoleon promised a reward of one million francs but never paid. But there’s no record of Durand paying him for the rights.

In any case, Durand sold the British patent to Bryan Donkin for one thousand pounds. In 1818, Durand received a U.S. patent for the same design he’d sold in England. Perhaps Durand should be hailed, not as an inventor, but as a recycler. (Girard continued to innovate, without much financial success, until his death in 1844.)

United States

Until America won its independence in 1783, the power to grant patents was that of the British crown. The United States Constitution of 1787 first included provision for the Congress to issue patents:

The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

The first Patent Act, “An Act to promote the progress of useful arts,” was enacted in 1790 and enabled any two of the secretary of state, the secretary of war, and the attorney general to grant patents lasting 14 years for new inventions and innovations that were “useful and important.”

We have finally arrived at our stated destination. Daggett and Kensett received their patent for the process of “preserving animal substances” on January 19, 1825. More than 4,000 patents had been granted in the United States by that time, one of them Durand’s.

So who should we credit for the tin can? We’re not sure but one person we should all thank is Ezra J. Warner, who patented the first can opener —decades later—on January 5, 1858.

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

January 6 is National Bean Day

Today is National Bean Day. With over forty thousand varieties, the hardworking bean deserves its own day. Why is it celebrated on January 6th? No one knows for sure, but we have a couple of ideas and a suggestion.national bean day

Some claim it commemorates the death of renowned geneticist, Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk who experimented with pea plants to test his theories of inheritance. He has been called the father of modern genetics. He died on January 6, 1884.

A number of holiday sites assert that Paula Bowen originated Bean Day because January is a bleak month with very few holidays to celebrate. She also wanted to honor her father, a pinto bean farmer. Consequently, she grew up eating a lot of beans.

We have been unable to confirm either theory. We know that Gregor Mendel existed but can’t say the same about Paula Bowen. We can find no source material and, frankly, it would take too long to contact every Paula Bowen in the United States. (Ms. Bowen, we’d love to hear from you.)

Beans are an excellent source of protein, iron and fiber. A British fellow named Gary Watkinson claims it’s all he eats. His girlfriend Beth says, “It’s a nightmare.” Maybe we should inaugurate International Bean Day and dedicate it to him?

national bean day

Happy National and International Bean Day!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

December 30 is National Bicarbonate of Soda Day

national bicarbonate of soda dayIt’s National Bicarbonate of Soda Day! Yes, that’s right: baking soda has its own day. As we shall see, this hardworking substance earns at least one holiday’s worth of celebration.

Sodium bicarbonate is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. A component of the mineral natron, it is a white, odorless, water-soluble crystalline solid that is found dissolved in many mineral springs.

Ancient Egyptians used natron as a cleanser. In 1791, French chemist Nicolas Leblanc introduced sodium bicarbonate in its modern form. Fifty-five years later, two New York bakers, John Dwight and Austin Church, began to manufacture and sell the compound we know as baking soda today under the name John Dwight and Co.

In 1867, the company became Church and Co. and debuted its Arm & Hammer packaging, depicting the hammer-wielding arm of Vulcan, Roman god of fire. It was marketed mainly as a leavening agent for use in baking until 1925, when the company published a booklet called A Friend in Need, touting baking soda as a “proven medical agent.”

Modern quack science makes extraordinary claims regarding baking soda. A Google search for “sodium bicarbonate cures cancer” returns 82,600 results; 7 of 10 on its first page advocate the treatment. As a thought experiment, ask this: if one (or many) doses of baking soda can “alkalinize” our blood and that in turn can cure cancer, what would the acid in a glass of orange juice do to our blood? Surely, adding a shot of vodka would be a death sentence, wouldn’t it?

While baking soda cannot differentiate between normal and cancer cells in our bodies, it can treat indigestion and make our laundry smell fresh, relieve insect bites, polish silverware, clean crayon stains from walls, remove grease from pans and oil from garage floors. It also kills ants and roaches, whitens teeth, freshens breath and exfoliates skin.

Here are five more uses:

  1. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to the vase.
  2. Make a paste with water or add to bath to relieve the pain of sunburn.
  3. Add a teaspoon to the water when you soak beans to neutralize their gassy effects.
  4. Throw onto small grease or electrical fires to extinguish them. Do not use on fires in deep fryers; the sudden release of carbon dioxide may cause the grease to splatter.
  5. Unclog a drain by pouring in 1/2 to 1 cup of baking soda, and then 1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar. Let sit for five minutes—covered, if possible. Follow with a gallon of boiling water.

There are hundreds of uses for this amazing product. Discover a few more and have a happy National Bicarbonate of Soda Day!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

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