JANUARY 3
Today in Food History• National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
(Cherry Facts & trivia) • Drinking Straw Day (see 1888 below)
• National Fruitcake Toss Day (some sources list 1st Sat in Jan) (Fruitcake Trivia) • Diet Resolution Week (Jan 1-7)
(Healthy Diets & Dieting Articles)
On this day in:1795 Josiah Wedgwood died. English inventor, artist and world renowned pottery designer and manufacturer. His daughter, Susannah, was the mother of Charles Darwin.
1870 Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge, the longest suspension bridge at the time.
(see also May 24, 1883) 1871 Henry Bradley of Binghamton, New York was issued U.S. Patent No. 110,626 for oleomargarine, "improvment in compounds for culinary use."
(see also Margarine Trivia & Facts) 1875 Pierre Athanase Larousse died (born Oct 23, 1817). French educator and publisher. Published many outstanding reference works including the encyclopedic 15 volume Grand Dictionnaire. In 1938 the Larousse publishing house published an encyclopedia of gastronomy, 'Larousse Gastronomique' edited by Prosper Montagne. 1888 The first patent for wax coated paper drinking straws (made by a spiral winding process) was issued to Marvin C. Stone of Washington, D.C. (Straw Trivia) 1892 John Ronald Reuel Tolkein was born. Author of 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Food and hospitality play important roles in both. 1916 Elizabeth Mary ('Betty') Furness was born (died April 2, 1994). Actress and spokesperson for Westinghouse Electric consumer appliances. Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs (1967-1969) under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Board member of Consumers Union, publisher of 'Consumer Reports', Executive Director of NY State Consumer Protection Board, consumer reporter for NBC in New York. 1921 Studebaker announced that it would stop making farm wagons. Studebaker began making horse drawn wagons in 1852, and started experimenting with the new 'horseless carriage' in 1897. (See also Feb 16, 1852). 1957 Hamilton Watch Co. introduced the world's first electric watch (battery powered).
1959 Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
(Alaska Food Trivia) 1977 Apple Computer incorporates.
1979 Conrad Nicholson Hilton died (born Dec 25, 1887). Founder of one of the most well known and largest hotel chains. It all began when he and his father turned their large New Mexico house into an inn for traveling salesmen. 1980 Joy Adamson died. Naturalist and author of 'Born Free' about Elsa, a lion cub. She had also researched culinary and medicinal uses of various plants in Kenya. 2000 Charles Schulz created his last 'Peanuts' comic strip.
2002 Alfred Heineken died. Grandson of Gerard Adriaan Heineken, the founder of Heineken Brewery. Alfred was president of the company from 1964 to 1989.
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