Browsing: September

A Brief History On September 30, 2024, we celebrated another National Chewing Gum Day, which brings us the question, “Who invented chewing gum?”  Who do we have to thank for this tasty treat? Digging Deeper The answer is not so simple.  While we generally think of chewing gum as a product of chicle from Latin America, the predecessors of modern chewing gum go back thousands of years in a wide variety of resins, saps, plants and other concoctions people used to satisfy their need to chew.  Ancient Finns and Ancient Greeks chewed tree products that they flavored, while the Aztecs…

A Brief History On September 29, 1758 (New Style Calendar), one of the greatest naval heroes of all time was born, Horatio Nelson, the man that would become Vice Admiral and 1st Viscount Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar.  Nelson’s career was one of consistent valor which cost him most of the sight in one eye and his right arm, before he was killed in action at Trafalgar, truly a masculine, “manly” man in the traditional sense. Digging Deeper Today, in the 21st Century, the thousands of years of human evolution to value strong, brave, “manly” men is being called “toxic…

A Brief History On September 29, 2024, we celebrate another National Coffee Day, reveling in our appreciation for that “Cup of Joe,” “Shot of Caffeine,” “Java,” “Go Juice,” or whatever you want to call it.  Hot or cold, coffee keeps America going to the tune of 400 million cups a day! Digging Deeper Nearly half of all Americans drink coffee, and the US is the largest consumer of coffee among all countries.  On the other hand, per capita coffee consumption leaves the US back at #25, while Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden lead the per capita race,…

A Brief History On September 28, 1941, Ted Williams, the “Splendid Splinter” of the Boston Red Sox, managed the feat of batting .406 for the season, the last time any major league hitter has batted over .400 for a season. Digging Deeper As incredibly hard as it may be to bat with such a high average, in the years since Williams’ feat, a few batters have come close.  In 1994, Tony Gwynn posted a .394 average, and in 1980, George Brett managed a sterling .390.  The only other batters to come even close were Williams himself in 1957 and Rod…

A Brief History On September 27, 1941, the first of 2,710 “Liberty” ships rolled off the assembly line, the SS Patrick Henry, built in Baltimore.  While it may be naïve to think a single weapon or machine of war can be said to have “won the war,” items such as the Liberty and Victory ships made huge contributions to victory without being weapons. Digging Deeper Liberty ships were mass produced cargo vessels uniquely suited to moving many tons of war materiel across the oceans, especially the Atlantic, to keep Russia and the UK in the war, while also moving American…