JULY 3 - Today in Food History• International Plastic Bag Free Day Dedicated to spreading the word that a plastic bag free world is possible and that sound environmental alternatives to single use plastic bags are available. • National Fried Clam Day (see 1916 below)
(Fried Clams Recipe --- Clam Trivia --- Clam Quotes) • National Chocolate Wafer Day • National Eat Beans Day (Bean Recipes -- Bean Trivia)
(Bean Quotes) • Canada’s National Fishing Week (July 1-9, 2023)
[Canadian National Sportfishing Foundation] • UK: [Great British Pea Week] (July 3-9, 2023)
On this day in:1608 In Canada, the city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain. 1806 Michael Keens presented the first cultivated strawberry combining flavor and appearance, at the Royal Horticultural Society. ".... I have for a considerable time employed myself in raising new varieties from seed, which has been not only a source of great amusement to me, but also very profitable in my profession."
(Strawberry Trivia & Facts) 1844 The last pair of Great Auks was killed near Iceland. They had been hunted to extinction for food and bait. Great Auks (Garefowl) were almost 3 feet tall, with short wings, similar to penguins. They were flightless, which made them vulnerable to hunters. 1857 Anna Maria Russell, 7th Duchess of Bedford died (born Sept. 3, 1783). Originator of British Afternoon Tea during the late 1830s. [AfternoonTea.co.uk] 1890 Idaho became the 43rd state, the Potato State.
(Idaho Trivia & Facts -- Idaho Food Festivals) 1908 M.F.K. Fisher (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher) was born (died June 22, 1992). Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was an American food critic and writer and the author of various articles, essays and books about food. She also translated Brillat-Savarin's 'The Physiology of Taste' in 1949. 1916 Lawrence ‘Chubby’ Woodman is said to have invented the fried clam at his concession stand in Essex, Massachusetts. A local fisherman who liked Woodman's homedmade potato chips, suggested he fry up some of his clams.
[see [New England Historical Society website] for details]. 1922 ‘Fruit Garden & Home Magazine' was founded. Two years later it was renamed ‘Better Homes & Gardens’. 1924 Clarence Birdseye, with the financial backing of W. Hodges, W. Gamage, B. Jones, I.L. Rice and J.J. Barry, founded the General Seafood Corporation. The birth of the frozen food industry. See also March 6, 1930.
(Clarence Birdseye Bio) 1929 Unusual uses for kitchen appliances: Foam rubber was developed at Dunlop Laboratories. British scientist E.A. Murphy used a kitchen mixer to whip natural latex rubber. 1985 The honey bee was designated the official state insect of Missouri on July 3, 1985. (Honeybee Trivia)
(Missouri Trivia & Facts -- Missouri Food Festivals) 2004 An Estonian couple won the World Wife-Carrying Championships in the remote village of Sonkajarvi in Finland. The prize includes the wife's weight in beer and a portable sauna. [Sonkajarvi website] 2005 Gaylord Nelson died (born June 4, 1916) Former senator and governor of Wisconsin. He was the founder of Earth Day in 1970, and helped spawn modern environmental activism. (see Earth Day: April 22). 2009 The movie 'I Hate Valentine’s Day' opened in U.S. theaters. 2019 Frankfort, Kentucky: A Jim Beam warehouse with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon was destroyed by a massive fire. Firefighters from four counties responded.. No injuries were reported. The whiskey destroyed represented only about 1% of Jim Beam's bourbon inventory. (Bourbon Trivia & Facts) 2020 Coronavirus: Walmart converting 160 of its parking lots into Drive-In Movie Theaters.
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