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August 27:

August 27: National Banana Lover’s Day

The average American consumes 28 pounds of bananas per year! And worldwide, bananas are the fourth largest fruit crop.

Bananas are high in fiber and potassium. These properties can help prevent calcium loss, ulcers, high blood pressure, and certain kinds of cancer.

Though bananas are often shown as growing on trees, the banana “tree” is actually an herb. The banana is the fruit of this herb.

The cluster of bananas sold in supermarkets is a "hand" of bananas, while the individual bananas on the hand are called fingers.

The strings that go up and down the length of bananas are called Phloem Bundles. They help distribute nutrients to every part of the growing bananas.

It is believed by many experts that bananas were the first fruit cultivated by humans.

Alexander the Great first came across bananas in India in 327 B.C.

Bananas were introduced to the United States at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Celebration, where they were sold wrapped in foil for 10 cents each.

The banana peel is edible, though perhaps not very palatable unless cooked.

About 50 percent of people who are allergic to latex are often also allergic to bananas.

India is the #1 banana producer in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tou8-Cz8is&feature=related

August 26:

August 26: National Cherry Popsicle Day

In 1905, the “popsicle” was invented by eleven-year-old Frank Epperson who originally named it Epsicle.  During the winter, he had left his fruit flavored soda outside on the porch with a stir stick in it. The drink froze to the stick and tasted good.

It took 18 more years (in 1923) for Epperson to apply for a patent for a "frozen ice on a stick" called the Epsicle ice pop, which his children re-named the Popsicle.

In 1925, Frank Epperson sold his famous Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company of New York. Good Humor now owns the rights to the Popsicle.

Twin Popsicles (two popsicles sticks together) were invented during the Great Depression.

Popsicle sticks were first made from Birch wood.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpopsicle.htm

What’s your favorite Popsicle flavor?

August 25:

August 25: Wizard of Oz debuts

On this day in 1939, The Wizard of Oz debuted.

Based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, the film starred Judy Garland as the young Kansas farm girl Dorothy, who, after being knocked unconscious in a tornado, dreams about following a yellow brick road, alongside her dog Toto, to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard of Oz. Along the way, Dorothy encounters a cast of characters, including the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West. Though the scenes in Kansas were shot in traditional black and white, Oz appears in vivid Technicolor, a relatively new film process at the time.

Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category, The Wizard of Oz lost to the Civil War-era epic Gone With the Wind. The Wizard of Oz won a Best Song Oscar for “Over the Rainbow,” which became one of Garland’s signature hits.

A modest box-office success when it was first released, but The Wizard of Oz’s popularity continued to grow after it was televised for the first time in 1956. An estimated 45 million people watched that inaugural broadcast.

The Wizard of Oz was one of the first 25 films to be put on the National Film Registry, which is reserved for culturally or historically significant movies.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wizard-of-oz-debuts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU

August 24:

August 24: National Waffle Day

August 24^th is the anniversary of the first U.S. patent for a waffle iron. Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York received his patent for a "device to bake waffles" in 1869. His early waffle iron was used in conjunction with coal stoves, consisted of a griddle and a cover and required flipping of the device to cook both sides of the waffle.

13th Century A.C. - Ancient Greeks cook flat cakes between two metal plates. These early waffles were called obleios and were primarily savory in nature, prepared with cheeses and herbs.

1620 - The pilgrims bring Dutch "wafles" to America.

1735 - The word "waffle" - with two "f"s - appears in English print for the first time.

Late 1800's - Thomas Jefferson returns to the U.S. from France with a long handled, patterned waffle iron.

1869 - Cornelius Swarthout patents the first U.S. Waffle Iron.

1953 - Frank Dorsa's Eggo Frozen Waffles are sold in supermarkets for the first time.

1964-65 - Brussels restaurateur Maurice Vermersch brings his wife's Brussels Waffle recipe to the World's Fair in New York. The fluffy yeast-infused waffle becomes a huge hit and becomes known as the Belgium waffle.

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/article.asp?articleid=19

August 23:

August 23: National Sponge Cake Day

A sponge cake is a light-textured cake made of eggs, sugar and flour; there is no fat or leavening, but it is critical to beat air in at key stages of preparation.

It is baked in cake pans, tube pans or sheet pans; after it is baked, the airy cake is still flexible, and can be used to make rolled cakes such including Bûche de Noël. The basic sponge cake recipe is also used to make ladyfingers and madeleine; slices are also used instead of biscuits to make strawberry shortcake.

Since sponge cakes are not leavened with yeast, they are often enjoyed during Passover, made with matzo meal instead of wheat flour.

Sponge cake is very versatile cake and can be variously flavored and filled.

http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/cookies/cakes/glossary7.asp#sponge

What is your favorite sponge cake filling?

August 22:

August 22: Liquid Soap patented

William Shepphard first patented liquid soap on August 22, 1865.

In 1980, the Minnetonka Corporation introduced the first modern liquid soap called SOFT SOAP brand liquid soap. Minnetonka cornered the liquid soap market by buying up the entire supply of the plastic pumps needed for the liquid soap dispensers.

In 1987, the Colgate Company acquired the liquid soap business from Minnetonka.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsoap.htm

August 21:

August 21: National Senior Citizen’s Day

In 1988, National Senior Citizens Day was established by President Ronald Reagan.

"Throughout our history, older people have achieved much for our families, our communities, and our country. That remains true today, and gives us ample reason this year to reserve a special day in honor of the senior citizens who mean so much to our land," Reagan said in Proclamation 5847.

The oldest verifiable person to ever live was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who was born on Feb. 21, 1875 and died on Aug. 4, 1997, making her lifespan an amazing 122 years. Calment credited her resiliency to wine, olive oil, and having a sense of humor.

Proving that you are never too old to go back to school, Nola Ochs, a Kansas woman, became the world's oldest American to graduate from college at the age of 95 in 2007 (a 96-year-old Taiwan man broke the world's record in 2009.) In 2010, Ochs, at 98, received her master's degree in liberal studies, with a concentration on history, from Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

Min Bahadur Sherchan, a Nepalese man who climbed Mt. Everest at age 76, holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to scale the world's highest peak. He accomplished this amazing feat on his first attempt.

Gladys Burrill set the Guinness World Record for being the oldest woman to run a marathon when she finished the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 12, 2010 at the age of 92 with a time of 9 hours, 53 minutes. Burrill, also known as the "Gladyator," ran her very first marathon at the age of 86.

http://mansfield.patch.com/articles/august-21-2011-national-senior-citizens-day-2

For information on activities scheduled at the Fairmont, Mannington and Fairview Senior Centers, visit http://marionseniors.org/

At what age do you consider a person a “senior citizen”?

August 20:

August 20: National Lemonade Day

When life gives you lemons . . . .

The lemon, or “citrus limon,” may have originated in northwestern India. It was introduced in Italy around 200 A.D. and was cultivated by the year 700 in Egypt and Iraq. It continued to spread and by the 12th century was widely known and used, being prized for its medicinal value in Egypt and Syria. Lemons started being grown in California and Florida in the 1700s.

Egyptians created lemonade more than 1,500 years ago. This popular drink was called “qatarmizat” and was consumed between the 10th and 13th centuries. Toward the end of the 12th century, the physician to the Muslim leader Saladin wrote a treatise on the lemon. In the 14th century, Egyptians drank a wine made from honey, lemons, and dates.

Lemon works as an antiseptic and can prevent disease while cleansing the body of toxins. Lemon aids in digestion, relieving heartburn, bloating, and belching. It also helps the colon work better, which will control diarrhea and constipation. If you suffer from gout, rheumatism, rickets, or tuberculosis, lemon would be beneficial.

http://www.2020site.org/history/history-of-lemonade.html

Do you know which president established National Aviation Day in 1939?

Franklin D. Roosevelt