December 22nd is

Date Nut Bread Day

Anne & Samantha Day *

National Re-Gifting Day *

National Cookie Exchange Day

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MORE! Giacomo Puccini, ‘Lady Bird’ Johnson, and  Samantha Smith, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Pakistan – Kalasha Valleys: Chaumos
(harvest celebration – goat sacrifice)

United States – Plymouth MA:
Forefather’s Day

Zimbabwe – National Unity Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

1622 – Bucaramanga, Colombia is founded

1639 – Jean Racine born, major French dramatist, known for his use of Classical themes and stories, La Thébaïde, Iphigénie, Phèdre

1666 – Guru Gobind Singh born, Indian Sikh warrior, guru and poet

1696 – James Oglethorpe born, English general and politician, first Colonial Governor of Georgia

1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel born, German viol player and composer

1715 – James Stuart, the “Old Pretender” lands at Petershead after his exile in France

1775 – A Continental naval fleet is organized in the rebellious American colonies under the command of Ezek Hopkins

1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with European nations during the Napoleonic Wars, is passed by Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson in an attempt to stem violations of U.S. neutrality by American merchants, and push Great Britain and France toward making peace

1808 – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor first performed for Prince Lobkotwitz

1851 – India’s first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India

1853 – Teresa Carreño born, Venezuelan-American pianist-conductor-composer

1858 – Giacomo Puccini born, major Italian composer

1864 – During the American Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln from Georgia, which read, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah”

1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson born, American poet, winner of three Pulitzers

1877 – The “American Bicycling Journal” went on sale for the first time

1883 – Edgard Varèse born, French-American composer

1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia is the first asteroid discovered using photography

1894 – The United States Golf Association was formed in New York City

1894 – French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated

1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen made the first X-ray, of his wife’s hand

1905 – Kenneth Rexroth born, American poet

1910 – U.S. Postal savings stamps were issued for the first time, but they were discontinued in 1914

1912 – Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson born, First Lady (1963-69), National Chair of Head Start, led “Beautification” efforts for environmentalism, conservation, and anti-pollution

1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City

1939 – Gloria Jacobs, aged 17, becomes the first girl to hold a world pistol record when she shot 299 out of a possible 300 points

1944 – Barry Jenkins born, English drummer for The Animals

1949 – Brothers Maurice and Robin Gibb born, British singers-songwriters-producers, the Bee Gees

1956 – At the Columbus, Ohio zoo, Colo is born, the first gorilla born in captivity

1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California

1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time

1968 – Cultural Revolution: People’s Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that it is “The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty”

1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros, but Mayotte remains under French administration

1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform

1989 – Romania’s hard-line Communist ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu, was overthrown in a popular uprising

1990 – Lech Walesa was sworn in as Poland’s first popularly elected president

2001 – Hamid Karzai becomes the head of the post-Taliban government in Afghanistan, along with 30 other Afghans, including two women, as part of the interim government

2008 – National Re-Gifting Day * is made official by Colorado governor, Bill Ritter, Jr.

2010 – Anne & Samantha Days * are celebrated bi-annually on the summer and winter solstices, to honor Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, two girls whose writing touched the world. Anne Frank’s diary has been translated into over 70 languages and read by millions. Samantha Smith at age 10 wrote a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov because she wanted to know if  the Soviet Union was going to use its nuclear arsenal against the United States. She became “America’s youngest ambassador” when she accepted Andropov’s invitation to visit his country

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Visuals

• Packages wrapped for re-gifting
• Cookies for cookie exchange
• International flags
• General Sherman’s note to President Lincoln
• Edwin Arlington Robinson, painted by Lilla Cabot Perry –1916, with kindergarten quote
• Kenneth Rexroth with ruin of the world quote
• SR-71 ‘Blackbird’
• Anne Frank and Samantha Smith

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