Life Day 24197: National Face Your Fears Day

October 11, 2013 at 12:01 am | Posted in Today's Reasons To Celebrate | Leave a comment

Today is Friday, October 11, 2013.
Good morning everyone. The first holiday today is National Face Your Fears Day. Celebrated annually on the second Tuesday in October, National Face Your Fears Day is all about going for it, and encouraging others to do the same. Everyone is afraid of something. Today is the day to confront whatever it is that scares you and try to overcome your fear. If you’re successful, it will make your life easier. If not, at least you tried, and it might be easier to overcome your fear next time.

The rest of today’s holidays are either too silly to cover in detail, or gender specific holidays that will interest only a small portion of my readers.
It’s My Party Day.
Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day.
National Coming Out Day.
International Day of The Girl.

The first food-related holiday today is World Egg Day. World Egg Day is celebrated each year on the second Tuesday in October. This holiday is a unique opportunity to help raise awareness of the benefits of the incredible, edible egg. It seem that every few years, research contradicts itself about eggs. They’re good for you. They’re bad for you. Only the egg whites are healthy. Jeez! How are we, as consumers, supposed to make an informed decision if scientists can’t agree?
I think that, like most foods, eggs are healthy if eaten in moderation. So, have an egg for breakfast today. It won’t kill you.

The next food-related holiday today is Southern Food Heritage Day. Fried chicken, real barbecue, cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, sweet tea, peach cobbler; are you hungry yet? Southern Food Heritage Day celebrates these culinary treasures and many more. So, why not treat your family to some good ole southern-style country cookin’ tonight.

The last food-related holiday today is National Sausage Pizza Day. While we think of pizza as a quintessential Italian food, food historians credit the idea of using bread as a “plate” for an assortment of toppings and seasonings to the Greeks, who ate flat round bread topped by stews, thick broth, meats, vegetables and fruits. Just as it is today, it was a thrifty, convenient and tasty meal for the working man and his family, requiring no additional plates or utensils. One can think of pizza originating as an “edible plate”—a true convenience food.
With the constant traffic between the worlds of Greece and Rome, these flatbreads made their way to what is now Italy, where it became known as pizza. The word “pizza” may have derived from the Latin word “pinsa,” which means flatbread. Pizza became popular street food, sold from open-air stands by vendors, typically young boys who would walk around the city with small tin stoves on their heads, calling out to “hawk their wares” to customers. The pizzas of the time were simple but tasty, topped with olive oil and fresh herbs, not unlike focaccia. Sometimes, some grated sheep’s cheese was added.
To celebrate this holiday, have some sausage pizza today.

On this date in 1776 – During the American Revolution the first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought. The forces under Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses.
1811 – The Juliana, the first steam-powered ferryboat, was put into operation by the inventor John Stevens. The ferry went between New York City, NY, and Hoboken, NJ.
1869 – Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his first invention. The electric machine was used for counting votes for the U.S. Congress, however the Congress did not buy it.
1881 – David Henderson Houston patented the first roll film for cameras.
1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, DC.
1929 – J. C. Penney opened a store in Milford, DE, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 states.
1932 – In New York, the first telecast of a political campaign was aired.
1939 – President Franklin Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly.
1968 – Apollo 7 was launched by the U.S. The first manned Apollo mission was the first in which live television broadcasts were received from orbit. Wally Schirra, Don Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham were the astronauts aboard.
1975 – “Saturday Night Live” was broadcast for the first time. George Carlin was the guest host.
1983 – The last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service. The 440 telephone customers of Bryant Pond, ME, were switched to direct-dial service.
1984 – American Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first female astronaut to space walk. She was aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
And, in 1994 – The Colorado Supreme Court declared that the anti-gay rights measure in the state was unconstitutional.

If you were born on this date, you share a birthday with the following prominent people.
Parson Mason Weems 1759 – Author.
Henry Heinz 1884 – Entrepreneur.
Eleanor Roosevelt 1884 – Former First Lady.
Willie Hoppe 1887 – Pocket billiards champion.
Charles Revson 1906 – Entrepreneur.
Jerome Robbins 1918 – Producer, director.
Linda Stirling 1921 – Actress.
Elmore Leonard 1925 – Author.
Dottie West 1932 – Singer, songwriter.
Ron Leibman 1937 – Actor.
Gene Watson 1943 – Singer.
Daryl Hall 1948 – Singer.
David Morse 1953 – Actor.
Paulette Carlson 1953 – Singer.
Steve Young 1961 – Football quarterback.
Joan Cusack 1962 – Actress.
Sean Patrick Flanery 1965 – Actor.
Luke Perry 1966 – Actor.
Jane Kradowski 1968 – Actress.
Michelle Trachtenberg 1985 – Actress.