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September 4, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in Today's Reasons To Celebrate | Leave a comment

Good morning newspaper subscribers. Today is Sunday, September 4th. Today’s holidays are:

Newspaper Carrier Day

National Newspaper Carrier Day commemorates the hiring of the first newspaper delivery boy on this date in 1833. Benjamin Day, the publisher of The New York Sun, hired Barney Flaherty, age 10, to deliver papers for his penny press. Newspaper Carrier Day is always celebrated on September 4th. This holiday also honors everyone  who is now, or once was, a newspaper carrier. The list includes thousands, if not millions, of people, and if you delivered newspapers as a child, you’re in good company. Such notable people as James Cagney, Albert Einstein, even Isaac Asimov and Martin Luther King Jr.  started out delivering the local paper. There’s even a Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame that was created in 1960 acknowledging some of history’s most famous newspaper carriers, including those previously mentioned and the likes of Warren Buffett and John Wayne as well.
Delivering newspapers was primarily done by children aged between 10 to about 15 as a way to pick up a little spending money. In small towns across America, the tradition of using children continues as the primary way to deliver newspapers to your home, although in many metropolitan areas, this job is now handled by adults who often use their cars to deliver the papers in bulk to newsstands. National Newspaper Carrier Day recognizes the importance of newspaper carriers in getting the newspaper into the hands of millions of readers every day. This holiday honors carriers all over the world, as they deliver the paper diligently in all kinds of weather.

Pet Rock Day

Pet Rock Day offers the perfect opportunity to pamper and spoil the special stone in your life. Pet Rocks became a fad in the mid-1970’s.
The pet rock phenomenon was created in 1975 by Gary Dahl, an advertising executive who, while in a bar listening to his friends complain about their pets, posited that a rock would be the perfect pet. A while later,  Dahl took the idea one step further and decided to market rocks as pets. For a mere $3.95 people could adopt their very own rock, supplied on a bed of hay in a well-ventilated box. He even included a 32-page “instruction manual” titled “The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock”. It was full of puns, gags, and plays on words that referred to the rock as an actual pet.
Pet rocks are the antithesis to living pets who need regular care and attention. Pet rocks require no food or water, no costly visits to a veterinary, no exercise, no grooming, no unsanitary litter box or newspapers on the floor, and will live forever. Owners find that potty-training a pet rock is fairly simple, because they are, in fact, rocks, therefore having no need to eliminate waste byproducts from their bodies.
Pet rocks are obedient and unless there is an earthquake, hurricane, or a tornado, they will not damage the contents your house while you’re away. Pet rocks are easily trained. They have an innate prowess for commands such as “sit,” “stay,” and “play dead.” Commands like “Roll over” and “attack” can be taught, but usually require assistance from the owner. “Come,” “sit up,” and “shake hands” proved nearly impossible to teach. There is one trick that certain pet rocks can do that no other pet can. Have you ever tried to “skip” your dog or cat across a huge puddle? How did that work out for you? If your pet rock is flat enough, it can accomplish this trick with ease…again with assistance from you.
Like all things, pet rocks are more expensive these days, but you always have the option to catch one in the wild for free – just remember that feral rocks may be more difficult to handle and may require some initial scrubbing to get them ready for your home.

National Wildlife Day 

, was founded in 2005 in memory of animal lover and conservationist Steve Irwin who died on this date in a deadly encounter with a, normally docile, a stingray while filming a documentary film, ironically titled,” Ocean’s Deadliest.”
National Wildlife Day reminds us that the world’s animals are a precious resource, and if we don’t start taking care of them now, many species will be gone forever. Once an animal has gone extinct, they are forever lost, and it’s our responsibility as humans to prevent that. Many zoos, sanctuaries, conservatories, and organizations work together every year to help preserve wildlife for future generations.  It is also an opportunity to raise awareness about the many species already endangered in this country and around the world. National Wildlife Day is a celebration of all the amazing creatures in nature.
To celebrate this holiday, visit your local zoo, adopt a pet, donate to your favorite animal shelter, or volunteer to help in any way you can.

National Macadamia Nut Day 

National Macadamia Nut Day is observed annually on September 4th and celebrates the rich and buttery macadamia nut, arguably the supreme leader of the nut world. They are named after Australian physician and chemist, John Macadam, who first encouraged the commercial cultivation of the nuts in Australia. Macadamia nuts grow on trees resembling large evergreens and grow to 30 to 40 ft. high.
Although they weren’t known by that name at the time, macadamia nuts are believed to have originated in the rainforests of eastern Australia thousands of years ago, and cultivation was begun by the Aborigines. A single macadamia tree produces nuts for over 100 years. Macadamia trees require a very specific climate to thrive. They are ideally suited to a mild, frost-free climate with abundant rainfall distributed throughout the year.
Today, most of the world’s macadamia nut supply is grown in Hawaii. Macadamia trees were introduced into Hawaii in the late 19th century and were initially used as an ornamental and for reforestation. They were first cultivated commercially there in 1921. In California, two seedling macadamia trees imported from Hawaii were planted in the early 1880’s and are still standing on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. Macadamia nuts are also commercially important in Australia, South Africa, and Central America.
Today, macadamia nuts are  widely popular and enjoyed by people across the globe. They are very nutritious and are known for their many health benefits. Like many nuts, macadamia nuts are a rich source of energy, high in dietary fiber, gluten-free, high in mono-unsaturated fat, an excellent source of minerals and contain many important B-complex vitamins. They are high in protein and carbohydrates and contain calcium, iron, and potassium. Macadamia nut oil is also found in cosmetics and other skin care products because of its oxidative stability.
To celebrate this holiday, enjoy some macadamia nuts today.
Author’s Note: Do not feed macadamia nuts to Fido or Petunia. They can be extremely toxic to dogs.

Eat an Extra Dessert Day

Eat an Extra Dessert Day has to be the best holiday ever. I don’t know who created this holiday, or when, where, why, or how it was created, and frankly, I don’t care. I’m just glad that they did. In my humble opinion, the creator(s) of this holiday should be Canonized.
To celebrate this holiday, save room for two desserts tonight. Bonus points if one or both contains macadamia nuts.

On this date in:

• 1609 – English navigator Henry Hudson began exploring the island of Manhattan.
• 1781 – Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Spanish settlers. The original name was “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula,” which translates as “The Town of the Queen of Angels.”
• 1825 – New York Governor Clinton ceremoniously emptied a barrel of Lake Erie water in the Atlantic Ocean to consummate the “Marriage of the Waters” of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.
• 1882 – Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street electric power station began operations in New York City. It was the first display of a practical electrical lighting system.
• 1885 – The Exchange Buffet opened in New York City. It was the first self-service cafeteria in the United States.
• 1886 – Geronimo, and the Apache Indians he led, surrendered in Skeleton Canyon in Arizona to Gen. Nelson Miles.
• 1888 – George Eastman registered the name “Kodak” and patented his roll-film camera. The camera took 100 exposures per roll.
• 1899 – An 8.3 earthquake hit Yakutat Bar, Alaska.
• 1917 – The American expeditionary force in France suffered its first fatalities in World War I.
• 1921 – The first police broadcast was made by radio station WIL in St. Louis, MO.
• 1949 – The longest pro tennis match in history was played when Pancho Gonzales and Ted Schroeder played 67 games in five sets.
• 1953 – The New York Yankees became the first baseball team to win five consecutive American League championships.
• 1957 – The Arkansas National Guard was ordered by Governor Orval Faubus to keep nine black students from going into Little Rock’s Central High School.
• 1957 – The Ford Motor Company began selling the Edsel. The car was so unpopular that it was taken off the market after only two years.
• 1971 – “The Lawrence Welk Show” was seen for the last time on ABC-TV.
• 1972 – Swimmer Mark Spitz captured his seventh Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay event at Munich, Germany. Spitz was the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.
• 1993 – Pope John Paul II started his first visit to the former Soviet Union.
• 1993 – Jim Abbott (New York Yankees) pitched a no-hitter. Abbott was born without a right hand.
• 1998 – While in Ireland, President Clinton said the words “I’m sorry” for the first time about his affair with Monica Lewinsky and described his behavior as indefensible.
• 1999 – The United Nations announced that the residents of East Timor had overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum held on August 30. In Dili, the Capitol of East Timor, pro-Indonesian militias attacked independence supporters, burned buildings, blew up bridges and destroyed telecommunication facilities.
• 2002 – The Oakland Athletics won their AL-record 20th straight game. The A’s gave up an 11-run lead during the game and then won the game on a Scott Hatteberg home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
• 2003 – Keegan Reilly, 22, became the first paraplegic climber to reach the peak of Japan’s Mount Fuji.

Celebrity Birthdays:

• Richard Wright 1908 – Author.
• Henry Ford II 1917 – Industrialist.
• Paul Harvey 1918 – Broadcaster.
• Howard Morris 1919 – Actor.
• Dick York 1928 – Actor.
• Mitzi Gaynor 1931 – Actress, singer, dancer.
• Raymond Floyd 1942 – Golfer.
• Tom Watson 1949 – Golfer.
• Judith Ivey 1951 – Actress.
• Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs 1953 – Actor.
• Khandi Alexander 1960 – Actress.
• Damon Wayans 1960 – Comedian.
• Mike Piazza 1968 – Baseball player.
• Ione Skye 1971 – Actress.
• Wes Bentley 1978 – Actor.
• Beyoncé Knowles 1981 – Singer.