11/11/26 - Thank You, Veterans!
Wednesday 11/11/26
Air Day
Death/Duty Day
National Metal Day
National Sundae Day
Origami Day
Pocky Day
Singles' Day
Veterans Day.
On November 11, 1918, a cessation of hostilities, or armistice, between the Allied Powers and Germany took place.
It was 1926 Congress passed a concurrent resolution that requested that the President issue a proclamation for the day.
It was 1938 Armistice Day became a legal holiday, and was made "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace." In 1945 veteran Raymond Weeks came up with the idea to expand the day to celebrate all veterans, not just those from World War I. US Representative Ed Rees later presented a bill for this change, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it, and it was approved on June 1, 1954.
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Stacy Keach, one of America's finest stage actors who became best known for playing scruffy private eye Mike Hammer on TV has died at 85.
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This happened this summer-
A museum in Rotterdam has paid tribute to the idiosyncratic character of one of the most influential figures in the Dutch arts by spreading 800lb of peanut butter across the floor of one of its galleries.
The hexagonal floor installation, called Pindakaasvloer (Peanut Butter Floor), is a recreation of a work by Wim T Schippers conceived of in 1962 and first exhibited in 1969.
It is displayed alongside detailed instructions Schippers left behind after his death last month, aged 83. They stipulate that curators should apply 15.6kg of non-chunky peanut butter to every square metre of the floor and spread it as “smoothly and monotonously as possible”. The work should not be stood or lied upon and not be approached “with any educational purpose”.
Food was a popular medium: as well as spreading peanut butter across floors, Schippers also upholstered a chair with canned noodles and covered a table in peas.
To Dutch people, Schippers is best known as the voice of Ernie, Kermit the frog and Count von Count on the Netherlands’ version of Sesame Street.
The museum’s restaurant will have a peanut butter sandwich on its menu during that time, with optional additions of cheese and spicy sambal relish. Kisters said the museum shop would also sell smooth peanut butter, so visitors “can make their own art at home”.
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The United Nations’ annual climate summit, known as the Conference of the Parties or COP, kicked off its 31st gathering this week in Antalya, Turkey.
A European climate monitoring service reported that last month was the warmest October ever recorded. It also marked the third straight month to exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold
By the way, this is the second year we don't have an official federal delegation.
A recent UN report found the US drove one-third of the rise in global emissions last year, outpacing every other major economy.
I hope in 2 years our government comes to it's senses, and becomes part of the world again!
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More names have shifted from boys to girls than the other way around. But in both directions, changes in girls’ naming trends drove most of the movement.
Picture a baby named Leslie, Kelly, or Ashley, and you’ll probably picture a girl. But all three names were once given mostly to boys. Looking at US baby names from 1936 to 2025, Name Daisy found that 42 shifted from mostly boys to mostly girls, while just 12 went the other way.
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Yesterday was Sesame Street's birthday, and Oscar the Grouch is green, right?
In the original designs for Oscar, he was magenta! (and he would have lived in the sewer.)
Magenta didn't film well, so they went with orange (and moved him to a trash can) for the first season.
The in-universe explanation for this was that Oscar had gone on vacation to Swamp Mushy Muddy, and had become covered with slime which had changed him from orange to the green of the swamp.
In an “interview” with the Radio Times, Oscar also drew a connection between his current green color and green in the environmentally conscious sense of the word: “Are you good at recycling? - Do you know who you are talking to? I am GREEN for a reason. I love recycling and composting.”
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Want to improve your reading speed and concentration? Try chewing gum while you read.
Some research suggests that chewing gum may temporarily improve alertness and help certain people stay focused on a task.
While there's no solid evidence that it can double or triple your reading speed, it has been proven to help you stay engaged and avoid distractions.
Give it a try during your next reading session and see whether it helps you get through those pages more comfortably.
Of course, some of you will annoy those around you because you chew gum like a cow!
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The Rockefeller Christmas tree arrived in New York City Saturday, kicking off a tourist season that will see up to an estimated 750,000 people visit daily.
The tradition dates back to 1931, when construction workers at what would become Rockefeller Plaza pooled resources to buy a 20-foot balsam fir tree (. Since then, the tradition has involved larger trees, typically a Norway spruce lit with more than 50,000 LED lights and topped with a roughly 900-pound Swarovski-crystal star. This year’s tree is a 76-foot-tall, 11-ton Norway spruce from West Edmeston, New York, planted around 75 years ago. The tree will be lit from Dec. 2 to Jan. 9, after which the wood will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.
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NASA opens astronaut applications for the first time since 2024, seeking new recruits who would help expand the Artemis program. What are the requirements to become an astronaut?
Have a master’s degree* in a STEM field
A minimum 3 years of related professional experience
Have skills in leadership, teamwork, and communication.
Be able to successfully complete the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical. (which they conveniently don't specify)
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Ask a group of friends to name their favorite childhood sandwich, and chances are peanut butter and jelly will be near the top of the list.
Today’s Useless Fact of the Day -
The first known published recipe combining peanut butter and jelly appeared in 1901 in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science & Domestic Economics. Author Julia Davis Chandler suggested making tiny bread fingers with three thin layers of bread, peanut paste, and currant or crab apple jelly. The dainty sandwiches fit the era’s tea-room and luncheon culture, when peanut butter was still considered something of a specialty food rather than an everyday pantry staple.
World War II helped cement PB&J’s place in American food culture. Both peanut butter and jelly were included in U.S. military food supplies because they were portable, filling, and relatively shelf-stable. Peanut butter also provided protein at a time when meat and other foods were subject to rationing.
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