MAY 20 - Today in Food History
- National Quiche Lorraine Day
- St. Bernadine of Siena, patron of advertisers.
1506 Christopher Columbus, explorer, died.
1799 Honore de Balzac Born. French author. Balzac would lock himself away during creative bursts, drinking coffee and eating only fruit and eggs. When he finally took a break, he was known to consume huge quantities of food. One report recalls that at the Véry restaurant he ate "a hundred Ostend oysters, twelve cutlets of salt-meadow mutton, a duck with turnips, two partridges and a Normandy sole," not to mention the desserts, fruit and liqueurs he also consumed.
1810 On this day Dolly Madison, wife of president James Madison, supposedly served the first ice cream at the White House, for a reception.
1862 President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. It opened millions of acres Western land to settlers.
1874 Jeans with copper rivets are patented by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis.
1875 The International Bureau of Weights and Measures was created.
1884 L. Blue patented a hand corn sheller.
1892 George Sampson received a patent for a clothes dryer.
1913 William Hewlett was born. Founder with David Packard of Hewlett Packard Company. Before they became famous for computers and printers etc., some of their early inventions were an automatic urinal flusher and a weight loss shock machine!
1961 The record Jewfish weighed 680 pounds and was caught in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
1993 The last episode of 'Cheers' aired on TV.
2005 Governor Jeb Bush signed a bill making the orange the official State Fruit of Florida. The orange blossom and orange juice have been previously declared the official state flower and official state beverage.
2009 Hot Dog Wars: Sara Lee (Ball Park Franks) sued Kraft Foods (Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks) over claims that Oscar Mayer franks are better than Ball Park Franks.
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