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March 16th is National Artichoke Hearts Day.
Artichokes are one of the oldest foods known to man. The plant originated in the Mediterranean region and is part of the sunflower family. According to Greek mythology, Zeus turned his mistress Cynara into the first artichoke plant when he caught her sneaking away from Olympia. Although we usually refer to it as a vegetable, the produce we eat is actually the flower bud of the artichoke plant. If you let the flower blossom, it turns a beautiful violet-blue color. People enjoy artichokes boiled, baked, steamed, grilled, deep fried, and stuffed with all sorts of yummy fillings.
The town of Castroville, California crowned its first “Artichoke Queen” in 1947? The winner was a young actress named Norma Jean Mortenson who later changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.
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I recently read a sentence written by Martin S. Pribble: "Eventually, a human that only drinks salt water will die." After thinking about this for a microsecond or so, I accepted it as being true. Of course, also true is the statement: "Eventually, a human that only drinks pure spring water will die."
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HISTORICAL CLIP
On March 16, 1802, the United States Military Academy -- the first military school in the United States -- was founded by Congress for the purpose of educating and training young men in the theory and practice of military science. Located at West Point, New York, the U.S. Military Academy is often simply known as West Point.
In 1780, General Benedict Arnold, the commander of the fort, agreed to surrender West Point to the British in exchange for 6,000 pounds. It seems government corruption was rife then as now. However, the plot was uncovered before it fell into British hands, and Arnold fled to the British for protection.
In 1870, the first African-American cadet was admitted into the U.S. Military Academy, and in 1976, the first female cadets. The academy is now under the general direction and supervision of the department of the U.S. Army and has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students.
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WORD FOR TODAY
rife
Adjective
Of common occurrence; widespread.
Adverb
In an unchecked or widespread manner.
Synonyms
common - prevalent - widespread
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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Born Mar 16, 1926
Age: 86 years old
Age: 86 years old
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the duo's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures.
Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
Born March 16, 1912
Died: June 22, 1993
Died: June 22, 1993
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974.
Born Mar 16, 1932
Age: 80 years old
Age: 80 years old
Ronnie Walter Cunningham, known as Walt Cunningham, is a retired American astronaut. In 1968, he was the Lunar Module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission. He was NASA's third civilian astronaut (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See), and has also been a fighter pilot, physicist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author of The All-American Boys, lecturer, and host of the radio show Lift-off to Logic.
On October 11, 1968, he occupied the lunar module pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo 7. Although the flight carried no lunar module, Cunningham was kept busy with the myriad system tests aboard this first launch of a manned Apollo mission. Because Schirra, Cunningham, and Eisele ran afoul of NASA management during the flight, none of them were assigned to future missions.
Cunningham has been an advocate against the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). In 2010, he published a pamphlet titled "Global Warming: Facts versus Faith" in which he states: "The current debate is not unlike Galileo's historic disagreement with the Catholic Church, or the battle over evolution versus creationism. In all three cases, facts are pitted against faith and science against religion. The conflict over global warming has deteriorated into a religious war between true believers in AGW and non-believers, the so-called "skeptics".
This report was published by the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank engaged in "dispelling myths about global warming".
Born March 16, 1906
Died: Feb. 24, 1998
Died: Feb. 24, 1998
Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire. His best known one-liner was "Take my wife... please."
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“If absolute power corrupts absolutely, where does that leave God?”
--George Deacon
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