Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Presidents That Established National Holidays

Presidents can’t just create a new national holiday on their own. Most of the time, it starts with pressure from the public, activists, states, or members of Congress. Then a bill has to pass through both the House and Senate before it reaches the president’s desk. If the president signs it, that holiday becomes part of federal law.

That process has shaped some of the most familiar days on the American calendar. 

Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law in 1894 after years of organizing by the labor movement. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the law that fixed Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November in 1941, decades after Abraham Lincoln helped turn it into a national tradition during the Civil War. 

Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, which moved several holidays to Mondays and helped create the long weekend system Americans still know today.

More recent holidays went through the same system, but only after long political fights. 

Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law in 1983, fifteen years after King was assassinated. 

Joe Biden signed Juneteenth into law in 2021, making it the first new federal holiday since MLK Day. 

Each one started as a cause, became a bill, survived the politics, and ended with a president’s signature.


















From Instagram historyistimeless

Thursday, October 30, 2025

CRAZY FUNNY!!


Most of us had no idea that 
the world was about to end!!!






Any MEN want to post this phone number??!!



 

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Inspiring 4th of July Quotes

Patriotic 4th of July Quotes

“Liberty and independence forever.”
Davy Crockett

“The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.”
Carrie Jones

“The legacy of brave men and women who have fought and died for their country is the freedom we enjoy as Americans.”
Lucian Adams

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration of Independence, 1776

“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
John F. Kennedy

“It’s a party in the U.S.A.”

Miley Cyrus, “Party in the U.S.A.”

“He who is brave is free.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“America is a tune. It must be sung together.”
Gerald Stanley Lee

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.”
Marsha P. Johnson

“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.”
Albert Camus

“Liberty is the breath of life to nations.”
George Bernard Shaw

“I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American!”
Daniel Webster

“Only in America
Where we dream in red, white and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to.”

Brooks & Dunn, “Only in America”

“The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; she is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, of honesty, of tolerance, and quality and of peaceful liberty.”
Marquis de Lafayette

“Happy 4th of July! This country of immigrants, religious refugees, outcasts and dreamers has come a long way. Let’s keep going.”

Ellen DeGeneres

“Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry, and frugality are necessary to make us a great and happy people.”
George Washington

“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.” 
Woodrow Wilson

“Liberty has been planted here; and the more it is attacked, the more it grows and flourishes.”
Samuel Sherwood

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”
Arthur Ashe

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln




Funny 4th of July Quotes

“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
George Orwell

“Americans will put up with anything, provided it doesn’t block traffic.”
Dan Rather

“America’s a family. We all yell at each other. It all works out.”
Louis C. K.

“Today is the 4th of July, when we honor the day that Uncle Sam chopped down Benedict Arnold at the Alamo. Happy hot dogs!”
Stephen Colbert

“Let’s kick the tires and light the fires, big daddy!”

Captain Jimmy Wilder, “Independence Day”

“Just found out that every Fourth of July, the British celebrate, ‘We Dodged a Bullet Day.’”
Conan O’Brien

“Oh my gosh, you look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad.” 
Paulette Parcelle, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde”



Short Fourth of July Quotes

“We shall go wild with fireworks ... And they will plunge into the sky and shatter the darkness.”
Natsuki Takaya

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation, evermore!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes

“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”
Peter Marshall

“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

Nathan Hale

“Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”

Ayn Rand, “The Fountainhead”

“Liberty has been planted here; and the more it is attacked, the more it grows and flourishes.”
Samuel Sherwood

“America is another name for opportunity.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”
Ronald Reagan

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
Elmer Davis

“Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can’t go hand in hand, I don’t want to go.”
Hazel Scott

“It is impossible to conquer a nation determined to be free!”
Thomas Paine


Inspirational 4th of July Quotes

“Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”
George Washington

“We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something — for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to. And we have good reason to be hopeful and optimistic.”
Ronald Reagan

“Find a moment, just a simple moment, to close your eyes and think of the men and women who protect the freedoms you enjoy. It’s a privilege, not a right.”
Matthew Lillard





“History is entirely created by the person who tells the story.”
Lin Manuel Miranda

“Independence Day: freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

“In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you.”
Amy Tan, “The Joy Luck Club”

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”

Harry Truman

“Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’”
Eleanor Roosevelt

“When Freedom from her mountain height 
Unfurled her standard to the air 
She tore the azure robe of night 
And set the star of glory there.”
Joseph Rodman Drake,  “The American Flag”

“The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; she is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, of honesty, of tolerance, and quality and of peaceful liberty.”
Marquis de Lafayette

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”

John Milton, “Areopagitica”

“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

“Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will be America’s heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.”

John Quincy Adams




“Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.”
Marquis de Lafayette

“Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.”

James Bryce

“Happy 4th of July! As you take this day to honor America, ask yourself, “Why am I not honoring America on the other 364 days? Shame on me.”
Stephen Colbert


From THIS website

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Really Easy Cute/Beautiful Christmas Craft Ideas

 I found this on Instagram, and I soooo wish I could have found it on youtube so you could just click on the video - but I looked and there are A LOT of them!

But I liked this on the most - so pretty and easy, too.



SUPER DUPER EASY FLOWER
Of course can use any occasion napkins and/or paper


Toilet paper roll SNOWFLAKE

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO





SUPER DUPER SUPER EASY

STAR

Click Here For Video



Easy Origami Ornament


  

   






EASU DIY Advent Calendar

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO






Thursday, November 30, 2023

Thanksgiving Quiz - Test Your Turkey Day Knowledge

1.  The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was delivered by which president?
A.  George Washington
B.  Franklin D. Roosevelt
C.  Harry Truman

2.  How many calories does the average American consume on Thanksgiving?
A. 2,500
B. 3,500
C. 4,500

3.  Which state produces the most cranberries?
A.  Massachusetts
B.  Wisconsin
C.  California

4. In the cartoon, 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,' which characters prepare the holiday meal?
A.  Snoopy & Woodstock
B.  Linus & Lucy
C.  Franklin & Shermy

5.  Which current NFL franchise (2006) has never played on Thanksgiving Day?
A.  Atlanta Falcons
B.  Jacksonville Jaguars
C.  Carolina Panthers

6. Which of these dishes was not served at the Plymouth Thanksgiving in 1621?
A.  Eel
B. Potatoes
C. Passenger pigeon

7.  The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade included an appearance by...
A.  The Easter bunny, for some reason
B.  A giant Felix the Cat balloon
C.  Animals from the Central Park Zoo

8.  Which Thanksgiving side dish did Dorcas Reilly invent?
A.  Green bean casserole
B.  Cranberry sauce
C.  Yams with marshmallows

9. Which utensil was missing from the first Thanksgiving?
A.  Spoon
B.  Fork
C.  Knife

10.  Which of these food products may be the result of a Thanksgiving mix-up?
A.  Chex Mix
B.  Tofurkey
C.  TV dinners




ANSWERS:
1. George Washington 

The nation's first president formally declared Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer in his speech. However, it wasn't until 1863 that President Lincoln officially declared Thanksgiving a national holiday after much persuasion from writer Sarah Josepha Hale.

2.   C  -  4,500
Research from the Calorie Control Council indicates that Americans consume 4,500 calories—and 229 grams of fat—on Thanksgiving. Though caloric needs vary by individual weight, size, and height, we're going to skip that extra slice of pie. Maybe.

3. B.  Wisconsin
Turns out the sand and peat marshes in central and northern Wisconsin are the perfect growing conditions for cranberries—which also happen to be the state's official fruit. The Midwestern state harvests more than 60 percent of the country's crop.

4.   A.  Snoopy & Woodstock
Snoopy's Thanksgiving repast for Charlie and his friends includes jelly beans, popcorn, pretzels, and toast. Traditional? No. But impressive for a dog. Even Snoopy's pal Woodstock helps out in the 1973 TV special.

5.  B. Jacksonville Jaguars
Even with the NFL adding a third Thanksgiving game in 2006, the Jags (who entered the league in 1995) haven't played on Turkey Day. Every other team has played at least once. Maybe next year, Jags fans.

6.  B.  Potatoes
Neither white potatoes, originating from South America, nor sweet potatoes, originating in the Caribbean, had been introduced in North America in 1621. But eel and pigeon were definitely on the menu in 1621.

7.  C.  Animals from the Central Park Zoo
At the inaugural version of the parade, in 1924, residents of the zoo were part of the cavalcade. Giant balloons of cartoon characters were added three years later. However, the parade has always included an appearance from Santa Claus.

8.  A.  Green bean casserole
Reilly worked for Campbell's Soup Company, and in 1955 was tasked with creating a side dish using green beans and Cream of Mushroom Soup. Her creation became immensely popular in the following decades.

9.  B.  Fork
Guests at that legendary meal ate using knives, spoons, and their fingers. Forks weren't introduced to the Pilgrims until 10 years later and didn't become a popular utensil until the 18th century.

10.  C.  TV dinners
Most sources say that in 1953, the Swanson company ordered too many Thanksgiving turkeys. To use the excess food, workers filled aluminum trays with the turkey and side dishes, creating a mass-marketed frozen dinner. Other sources say the Swanson brothers came up with the idea on purpose. Just another thing to argue about around the Thanksgiving table.


Trivia:

The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States. President George Washington declared Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a day of public…

Most Americans don’t. Formerly a person living under the tyranny of the King of England, George Washington found himself the first elected leader in a land of liberty and justice for all.

The first President’s Thanksgiving Proclamation emanates a reverent gratitude and recognition for all that God had done, and would do, for the new nation.

It’s been nearly four centuries since the first Thanksgiving in 1621, but it wasn’t until the midst of the Civil War that it was made a national holiday.

The ritual of issuing official Thanksgiving Proclamations is deeply ingrained in the laws and traditions of the United States of America.





A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is the tenth prime-time animated television special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz.
It originally aired on the CBS network on November 20, 1973, and won an Emmy Award the following year.[1] It was the third holiday special after A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 1966.[2]





The first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the Pilgrims’ first autumn harvest in 1621. They shared a feast with their Native American neighbors, who had helped them survive and plant crops. The meal likely included local vegetables such as onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots and peas 1.

However, there is no definitive record of what was served at the first Thanksgiving meal. Some historians believe that the meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, different from today’s traditional Thanksgiving feast 2.

The story of the first Thanksgiving is often portrayed inaccurately as a peaceful event, but it also involved tensions and conflicts between the colonists and the natives 1.




Dorcas Reilly was a Campbell’s test kitchen supervisor who created the six-ingredient green bean casserole recipe in 1955 1. The recipe uses Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, milk, green beans, soy sauce, black pepper, and French fried onions 1. The dish was originally conceived as a way to sell Campbell’s products, but the fact that it uses prepared, shelf-stable ingredients helped make it a hit 1.

Her job involved developing dishes that featured the company’s ready-made soup products as star ingredients. Hundreds of her creations were printed on the backs of soup cans, but none had the same level of impact as her vehicle for green beans and condensed mushroom soup 1.

Reilly’s green bean casserole recipe doesn’t call for any fancy techniques or hard-to-source ingredients. It consists of one can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, half a cup of milk, four cups of green beans, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a dash of black pepper, and one and one-third cups of French fried onions 1.

After setting aside half of the onions for a topping, the other components get mixed together in a casserole dish and baked for 25 minutes in a 350°F oven. The remaining onions are then sprinkled on top, and the casserole goes back in the oven for five minutes until the inside is hot and bubbly and the top is brown and crisp 1.

Her original casserole is still a cherished part of Thanksgiving dinners today 1.




The fork did not become popular in North America until near the time of the American Revolution. The standard four-tine design became current in the early 19th century.

Thereafter the fork disappeared from the table for nearly 300 years. In England the fork was slow to gain acceptance because it was considered a feminine utensil.

In fact, it wasn’t until Italians popularized their use in the 16th century that the use of forks became widespread and began their journey in dining rooms the world over.





The first ever TV dinners were created by Maxson Food Systems, Inc. They were called Strato-Plates and sold to airline staff and passengers beginning in 1945  1   However, the company’s founder died soon after and the company ran into financial issues, so Strato-Plates were never offered in supermarkets1.

The original TV dinner that was marketed to the public was created in 1954 by two brothers, Gilbert C. and W. Clarke Swanson, who aptly named the meal “Swanson’s TV Dinners.” It included packaged turkey, cornbread stuffing, peas, and sweet potatoes2. These meals were priced at 98 cents and were an immediate success3.

TV dinner portions became significantly larger when, in 1973, Swanson debuted their Hungry Man meals and Banquet introduced their Man Pleaser dinners1.
In the 1980s, advertising moved away from images of harried housewives to show more tranquil, relaxed diners enjoying their meals without any stress1.


Saturday, November 24, 2018

Five Myths About Turkeys

Americans will eat more than 40 million turkeys for Thanksgiving this year. Most will be roasted, some deep-fried, a few spatchcocked and nearly all turned into sandwiches the day after. At least one lucky bird will receive a presidential pardon. But between the iconic 1621 meal that we honor and Thursday’s dinner table, the turkey has earned its place in our nation’s mythology.


MYTH NO. 1
Ben Franklin almost made the turkey the national bird.


In “The Egg,” a song from the Tony-winning 1969 musical “1776,” adapted for the big screen in 1972, Benjamin Franklin whimsically makes the case that the turkey should be the fledgling republic’s national emblem, because it is “the truly noble bird: native American, source of sustenance of our original settlers, an incredibly brave fellow who will not flinch at attacking a regiment of Englishmen, single-handedly.” In 2009, the Houston Chronicle published an article headlined “The turkey was almost our national bird,” attributing the near miss to Franklin.

Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson made up the first committee charged with designing the national seal, Harvard’s Declaration Resources Project confirms, but Franklin’s suggestion had nothing to do with turkeys — it was a proposal to depict Moses parting the Red Sea. Eventually, after several design committees had been assembled and disbanded, America got the bald eagle in 1782.

Franklin’s turkey remarks came later. In a 1784 satirical letter to his daughter, he maligned the eagle’s “bad moral character”: He’s “too lazy to fish for himself” and instead waits for other, more industrious birds to do the work, then steals the catch. The turkey is a “more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America,” Franklin wrote.

MYTH NO. 2
Stuffing turkey is a recipe for food poisoning.


Two years ago, Self magazine ran the article “Cooking Stuffing Inside a Turkey Is Actually Dangerous,” urging readers to “cook your stuffing separately!” The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website, EatRight.org, warns, “For maximum safety, cook stuffing in a casserole” dish.

Yes, it’s important to take precautions when cooking poultry, but you can safely stuff a turkey — generations of Americans wouldn’t have risked dying for the sake of a more flavorful side dish. The key is proper temperature. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, your turkey, and what’s inside it, must be cooked to a temperature of 165 degrees.

To achieve this: (1) Stuff your raw turkey just after you’ve cooked your stuffing and it’s still hot. Don’t make your stuffing ahead of time and refrigerate it. That way, it takes less time for the stuffing to reach 165. (2) Don’t overstuff. A loosely stuffed bird heats more quickly. Leftover stuffing can go in a separate casserole that your guests will raid for seconds. (3) Measure the temperature. Make sure your culinary thermometer reaches the interior of the stuffing, either through the meat or through the cavity entrance. And don’t trust the pop-up thermometer that comes with the turkey you buy. When Consumer Reports tested them, it found some popped up at temperatures over 165 (making for an overcooked, dry bird) and some popped up at well under 165 (increasing the risk of food poisoning).

MYTH NO. 3
Basting is better.


Basting “adds flavor and helps create a golden crust,” wrote Bon Appétit’s Rochelle Bilow in 2015. Baste “with a mixture of butter and wine for an unconventional, buttery gobbler with a tangy kick,” recommends TV chef Rachael Ray.

Not so fast, says Meathead Goldwyn, the force behind AmazingRibs.com and the author of “Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling.” The problem is that basting prolongs cooking times. “Think of it like sweat after a long workout,” Goldwyn told me via email, “it cools you off.” If a long cooking time is what you’re after (as with pork shoulder, which has lots of connective tissue that has to break down), that’s a good thing. But not with a lean turkey. And basting may moisten the bird, “but not a lot,” says Goldwyn. The reason turkey dries out in the first place is that the moisture evaporates out of the meat as it cooks. But if you baste, the liquid doesn’t penetrate the flesh.

When Cook’s Illustrated put the competing methods to the test, it found that basting improved moisture a tiny bit, but it “prolongs the cooking time and requires more hands-on work.” The verdict: Not worth it.


MYTH NO. 4
Thanksgiving turkey makes you sleepy.


Urban Dictionary’s first entry for “turkey coma” defines it as “the inevitable and unavoidable nap that occurs about 45 minutes after gorging one’s self on a Thanksgiving Day turkey feast.” In one famous “Seinfeld” episode, Jerry’s girlfriend asks over a turkey dinner, “What is that stuff in turkey that makes you sleepy?” Jerry and George answer in unison: “Tryptophan,” the amino acid that’s plentiful in turkey meat. A few scenes later, she’s asleep at the table.

But tryptophan doesn’t necessarily induce sleep, and it’s doubtful that turkey’s the culprit for your post-Thanksgiving-dinner nap.

The human body uses tryptophan to make serotonin and melatonin, both of which play a role in sleep, and there’s some evidence that tryptophan intake is associated with sleep duration. But to make you drowsy, it has to cross the blood-brain barrier. And to do that, it competes with other amino acids vying to do the same. Since turkey contains different amino acids, very little tryptophan is likely to get through. Also, as HowStuffWorks put it, “nutritionists and other experts say that the tryptophan in turkey probably won’t trigger the body to produce more serotonin because tryptophan works best on an empty stomach.” Popular Science notes that “free-flowing booze combined with a load of carbohydrates followed by plenty more booze” is a likelier cause of sleepiness.

Besides, the USDA’s National Nutrient Database says turkey doesn’t have any more tryptophan than other things you’re likely to eat for dinner. It’s got 0.31 grams per 100 grams of meat, while chicken has 0.34 grams and a beef filet has 0.35.

MYTH NO. 5
Turkey was Thanksgiving's first entree.


Any grade-schooler will tell you: Turkey was the centerpiece at the first Thanksgiving. It’s a detail perpetuated in pop-culture holiday retellings, including a 1968 televised special, “The Mouse on the Mayflower,” wherein the narrator exclaims, “Oh, there was turkey!” The cover of one children’s book, “The Story of the First Thanksgiving,” depicts settlers and Native Americans gathered around a table, preparing to eat, with a golden-brown turkey in the middle as the main dish.

In 2011, though, Smithsonian magazine’s Megan Gambino reported that turkey wasn’t necessarily the main course in 1621. Kathleen Wall, a culinarian at Plimouth Plantation , a history museum that re-creates the original Plymouth colony, told Smithsonian, “Wildfowl was there . . . venison was there,” water birds like goose or duck were likely candidates, and passenger pigeons were plentiful game at the time. But turkey probably wasn’t the featured dish.

Turkey was popularized as the go-to entree by Sarah Josepha Hale , editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, a women’s magazine published in the mid-1800s. She advocated for Thanksgiving to be made a national holiday (President Abraham Lincoln obliged in 1863), describing the ideal dinner in 1827’s “Northwood: Or Life North and South, Showing the True Character of Both ”: “The roasted turkey took precedence on this occasion, being placed at the head of the table.”





Tamar HaspelTamar Haspel writes Unearthed, a monthly commentary in pursuit of a more constructive conversation on divisive food-policy issues. She farms oysters on Cape Cod. Find out more about her at www.tamarhaspel.com. Follow