Saturday, September 6, 2008

What's Special About This Week--Sept. 8-12

September 8, 1973--Eviel Knievel jumped over the Snake River in Idaho on his motorcycle. What kind of a Montanan would I be if I did not mention this event? Eviel (also sometimes spelled Evel) was born in Butte, Montana, in 1938 and, with his motorcycle, became one of the state's most famous showmen. I am not so sure that Montana should be proud of his foolishness and loud mouth, but he sure was hard to ignore.



September 8--Merixtell
This is a national day celebrated in the small European country of Andorra to honor the Virgin Mary. Families travel to the visit statues honoring the patron saint of the Andorra.



September 9--Hot Dog Day
There seems to be no definite date for the "invention" of the hot dog as a sausage in a bun, but that does not stop folks from making up lots of stories. One day is as good as another for enjoying a good hot dog, whether at the ball park or in the back yard.



September 9--Party Party Day
When the number of the month matches the number of the day (as in 9/9) some people take that as being a good enough reason to have a party. You could serve hot dogs and celebrate two holidays at once.



September 10, 1966--The Road Runner Show premiered on CBS
While the characters of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote have been around since they 1940's it was on this date that they began a regular airing on televisions throughout the country.



September 10--Swap Ideas Day
That is why there are blogs and classrooms and any place that two or more people meet for more than a few minutes.



September 11, 1955--First televised Miss America pageant
While the Miss America pageant began in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1921, it did not use the title of Miss America until 1951. Lee Merriweather, who went on to be a TV actress, was the winner in 1955.

September 11--American Short Story Day
There are many books of short stories in the library. Check one out or write a short story of your own. If you want to be frightened try The Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack. If a good laugh is more your style you may enjoy Never Cry "Arp" by Patrick F. McManus

September 12, 1964--Canyonlands National Park established
This beautiful park full of unusual geological formations is located in Utah.

Video Game Day
The first video game was invented in 1951 but things have changed a lot since that first tic tac toe type game played on what would be a giant computer. Celebrate by playing a video game or, if you play video games every day, by not even touching a video game all day long.

1 comment:

Jaya said...

September 8 is the Virgin Mary's birthday, according to the Roman calendar. There are several local festivities all over the world (including the feast of Our Lady of Meritxell) on the 8th for this very reason.