February 29, leap year 2020 has passed. For those who have survived, I salute you. Your survival was probably due to the diligence you spent preparing for this apocalyptic event. If you are like me you are hidden deep in your bunker, waiting for the chaos of the Leap Year 2020...or LY2 for those of you who can't get enough of catchy acronyms...to subside. Your bunker is well stocked with canned peaches and sardines, enough for four years, which should get us past all the craziness. Hopefully there will never be another such tragedy!
The following observances occur on March 3:
National Anthem Day
National Cold Cuts Day
National I Want You to be Happy Day
National Mulled Wine Day
Soup It Forward Day
I think it would be inappropriate to take a light-hearted look at National Anthem Day...I mean, I am not a football player. So I will somberly move on to a look at National Cold Cuts Day. National Cold Cuts Day celebrates one of the following:
A. lunch meats
B. Disney's Frozen movies
C. OJ Simpson's refrigerated knife collection
D. The opening of the first South Pole Supercuts
The answer of course is that nobody really knows what we are celebrating on National Cold Cuts Day. I would suggest making a sandwich with some bologna or roast beef while thinking about it.
National I Want You to be Happy Day is also celebrated on March 3. I was really stressing about how to celebrate this day, and then my wife played me this song. God bless her!
It is also National Mulled Wine Day. Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is a beverage usually made with red wine along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins. It is served hot or warm and is alcoholic, although there are non-alcoholic versions of it. If you are celebrating I Want You to be Happy Day I would suggest using the alcohol version of the wine.
This leads us to Soup it Forward Day. This day is dedicated to making some soup and giving it to someone. You can find some good soup recipes here. If your favorite person happens to be Canadian, you could use these recipes. For Mexican soups click here.
Now, finally, lets get back to our National Anthem.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.
After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.
The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.
So that is why March 3 is National Anthem Day.
Thanks for reading the Wannaskan Almanac. Have a souper day!
The following observances occur on March 3:
National Anthem Day
National Cold Cuts Day
National I Want You to be Happy Day
National Mulled Wine Day
Soup It Forward Day
I think it would be inappropriate to take a light-hearted look at National Anthem Day...I mean, I am not a football player. So I will somberly move on to a look at National Cold Cuts Day. National Cold Cuts Day celebrates one of the following:
A. lunch meats
B. Disney's Frozen movies
C. OJ Simpson's refrigerated knife collection
D. The opening of the first South Pole Supercuts
The answer of course is that nobody really knows what we are celebrating on National Cold Cuts Day. I would suggest making a sandwich with some bologna or roast beef while thinking about it.
National I Want You to be Happy Day is also celebrated on March 3. I was really stressing about how to celebrate this day, and then my wife played me this song. God bless her!
It is also National Mulled Wine Day. Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is a beverage usually made with red wine along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins. It is served hot or warm and is alcoholic, although there are non-alcoholic versions of it. If you are celebrating I Want You to be Happy Day I would suggest using the alcohol version of the wine.
This leads us to Soup it Forward Day. This day is dedicated to making some soup and giving it to someone. You can find some good soup recipes here. If your favorite person happens to be Canadian, you could use these recipes. For Mexican soups click here.
Now, finally, lets get back to our National Anthem.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.
After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.
The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.
So that is why March 3 is National Anthem Day.
Thanks for reading the Wannaskan Almanac. Have a souper day!
The soups at Cafe 89 today are Potato and Bean & Ham.
ReplyDeleteWannaskaWriter has another photograph featured on today's Wiktel home page, so check that out, too.
Your wife is brilliant! I tickled that 'song' in your story and although my wife had gone back to bed for awhile, played it on my new amplified sound system here -- a Lepai Stereo Digital Audio Amplifier and re-awoke her, if but pleasantly. I've always enjoyed that tune, very whistleable. <<Spellcheck doesn't accept that word, but "Don't Worry, Be Happy."
ReplyDeleteI see you've employed your scholarly ways in this one, educating the masses and all. Very thorough. Thanks for that.
And, if I may, I'll use this platform to explain the Wiktel home page image I was awarded, that Joe Wednesday included in his post, above. We have a large expanse of uninterrupted eastern sky devoid of overhead wires and tall buildings outside our rural home here near Wannaska, and, as it was the morning of Saturday, February 29, it is often eye-catching.
When I saw these very unusual clouds, I grabbed my camera and took several images before it changed. Had I seen them in July, I would've been on the alert for storms in the vicinity. I don't know their meteorological name, but to me they suggest high altitude winds. Our regional phone company, Wiktel Telephone Co, offers its customers a contest of sorts to win a spot on its homepage. Us Wannaskan Almanac writers compete for the honor i.e., weekly bragging rights. Thanks for the heads-up Joe!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what Key was doing aboard a British ship if he was rooting for the Americans. Too bad he didn’t have a camera. He might have gotten on the Wiktel homepage.
Nice image WW!