AUGUST 12
Today in Food History• National Toasted Almond (Ice Cream) Bar Day
(Almond Trivia) • National Julienne Fries Day
(Julienne Trivia -- French Fries Trivia & Facts) • UK: [Afternoon Tea Week] (Aug 12-18, 2024) A celebration of the great British tradition of Afternoon Tea • Opening of the grouse season in Britain
(Grouse Trivia & Facts) On this day in:1737 Antoine Augustin Parmentier was born (died Dec 13, 1813). French agronomist. Promoted the potato as a food source and instrumental in gaining its acceptance in France. (Potato Trivia -- Potato History) 1759 Thomas Andrew Knight was born. British horticulturist and botanist who experimented with geotropism, phototropism and heliotropism. (We all know our tropisms, don't we?). 1801 John Cadbury was born. Founder of Cadbury Chocolate Company. 1851 Isaac M. Singer of New York City received U.S. patent No. 8,294 for the first sewing machine with a rocking treadle. Sewing machines had already been patented, but Singer's machine was revolutionary, having a rocking treadle design, continuous feed, and a straight, vertical needle like modern machines. 1856 James Buchanan ('Diamond Jim') Brady was born. American financier and philanthropist Diamond Jim Brady was known for his collection of diamond jewelry, and for his gargantuan appetite. He was known to eat 6 or 7 giant lobsters, dozens of oysters, clams and crabs, 2 ducks, steak and desserts at a single sitting. He would also mix a pound of caviar into a baked potato. George Rector, a New York restaurateur said he was 'the best twenty-five customers I ever had.' 1865 Sir William Jackson Hooker died (born July 6, 1785). English botanist, established the Royal Botanical Institution of Glasgow, and in 1841 became the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, near London. He expanded the gardens from 11 to 300 acres, and established Kew as a national botanic garden. 1883 The quagga, a zebra-like mammal of southern Africa became extinct when the last mare at Amsterdam Zoo died. They had been hunted to extinction. 1898 Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States (see also Aug 21, 1959). 1902 C.H. McCormick & Bros. merged with Deering Harvester Co., Plano Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee Harvester Company, Warder, Bushnell and Glessner, to form International Harvester Company. 1908 Henry Ford's first Model T, the "Tin Lizzie," rolled off assembly line in Detroit, Michigan. It seated two and sold for $825 (see also May 26, 1927). 1913 The National Biscuit Co. (Nabisco) registered the "Oreo" trademark (introduced in 1912).
(Nabisco Food Trivia and Facts) 1930 Clarence Birdseye received a patent for a method to preparing food products by quick freezing them.
(Clarence Birdseye short Biography) 1955 The U.S. minimum wage was raised from 75 cents to $1.00 1981 IBM introduced its Personal Computer (PC) and PC-DOS 1.0 1990 B. (Barnard) Kliban died. A satirical cartoonist, best known for his cat cartoons. A few of his cartoon book titles: 'Never Eat Anything Larger Than Your Head', 'The Biggest Tongue in Tunisia'. 2008 The U.S. Navy agreed to restrict loud sonar blasts from anti-submarine vessels in large areas of the world's oceans to protect whales and other vulnerable creatures. 2013 Less than a month after ad-firm Renew began anonymously collecting information about people walking past their Wi-Fi-enabled trash cans, the City of London demanded the company put a stop to the practice. 2016 The animated comedy film 'Sausage Party' opened in U.S. theaters. A sausage tries to discover the truth about his existence.
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