NOVEMBER 19 - Today in Food History• [World Toilet Day] Today, 3.6 billion people are still living with poor quality toilets that ruin their health and pollute their environment. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. • National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day • National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week (Nov 17-23, 2024 - week before Thanksgiving) [National Coalition for the Homeless] A time to share our compassion with our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. • UK: National Baking Week (always Oct 14-20)
On this day in:1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Puerto Rico on his 2nd voyage to the New World. The island was populated by as many as 50,000 Taíno or Arawak Indians. He originally named the island San Juan Bautista, for St. John the Baptist. 1600 Charles I, king of England, Scotland and Ireland was born. Ice cream is said to have come from France when he married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri IV, and sister of Louis XIII. 1833 Cyrus Hall McCormick received U.S. Patent 7,819X for a Self-sharpening, horizontal plow. 1895 Fredrick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received 1st U.S. patent (No. 549,952) for a paper pencil (paper-wrapped crayons or marking lead with a pull-string to reveal more lead). 1955 'Autumn Leaves' by Roger Williams was number 1 on the music charts. 1959 The last Edsel rolled off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company. 1961 Michael Rockefeller, son of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared, and was presumed eaten by the cannibals of New Guinea. 1966 Rocco DiSpirito was born. American celebrity chef and cookbook author. Host of TV shows 'Now Eat This' and 'Restaurant Divided' 1967 Casimir Funk died (born Feb 23, 1884). Funk was a Polish-American biochemist who came up with the word 'vitamine' later changed to 'vitamin.' 1977 A record albacore that weighed 88 pounds was caught off the Canary Islands. (Albacore Trivia & Facts) 1980 Bill and his wife T.J. Palmer opened the first Applebee's restaurant, T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, in Atlanta, Georgia. 2007 Dick Wilson died (born July 30, 1916). Actor who played the role of Mr Whipple in Charmin toilet paper TV commercials - "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." 2009 Nestle, one of the largest producers of canned pumpkin products, reports there may be a shortage of its products because heavy rains interrupted the pumpkin harvest. (Pumpkin Trivia & Facts) 2009 Sugarcane stems in hands, thousands of farmers staged a massive demonstration in New Delhi, India to pressure the government to increase sugarcane prices. 2020 Canada: Officials of Jasper National Park in Alberta province have put up digital road signs “Do not let moose lick your car.” Moose need salt in their diet and have found the road salt that splashes on cars irresistible - a practice dangerous to cars, drivers and the moose.
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