Today, June 1, is the birthday of Norma Jean Mortenson aka Marilyn Monroe.  She was born in 1926 and died in 1962. The song, Candle in the Wind, by Elton John was a tribute to her.  When I researched the song, I found an interesting article on Songfacts detailing many things I didn’t know about the song that I loved so much including the fact that the song wasn’t so much a tribute to only Monroe, but more a statement on how fame impacts people. Elton John rededicated the song a few times since he wrote it.

From Songfacts:

This song is a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, a famous actress and sex symbol who died of a drug overdose in 1962. The “candle in the wind” represents her short, but eventful life.

The song makes various references to the press coverage of Monroe. The famous opening line, “Goodbye Norma Jeane,” refers to her birth name: Norma Jeane Mortenson, and how she gave up both her name and her privacy for the sake of celebrity.

The lyrics were written by Elton’s writing partner, Bernie Taupin, who got the idea for the title from a quote he read about Janis Joplin. According to Taupin, the song is more of a take on fame and celebrity than an ode to Marilyn Monroe. Said Taupin: “I think the biggest misconception about ‘Candle In The Wind’ is that I was this rabid Marilyn Monroe fanatic, which really couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not that I didn’t have a respect for her. It’s just that the song could just as easily have been about James Dean or Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain. I mean, it could have been about Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf. I mean, basically, anybody, any writer, actor, actress, or musician who died young and sort of became this iconic picture of Dorian Gray, that thing where they simply stopped aging. It’s a beauty frozen in time.

In a way, I’m fascinated with that concept. So it’s really about how fame affects the man or woman in the street, that whole adulation thing and the fanaticism of fandom. It’s pretty freaky how people really believe these people are somehow different from us. It’s a theme that’s figured prominently in a lot of our songs, and I think it’ll probably continue to do so.”

When Elton got the lyrics, he had no trouble writing the music. He understood the stress caused by constant media attention, and felt Monroe must have been in terrible pain her whole life.

From Songfacts:

On April 7, 1990 Elton dedicated this to Ryan White, one of the first high-profile AIDS patients, when he performed it at Farm Aid 4. White, who got the disease from a blood transfusion, died the next night at age 18.

He rededicated it again in 1997 to Princess Diana, calling it Goodbye England’s Rose.

From Songfacts: Elton’s lyricist, Bernie Taupin, rewrote the lyrics to this song after Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident on August 31, 1997. The 36-year-old princess had divorced Prince Charles, but remained a beloved celebrity, revered for her humanitarian efforts and grace. Diana was friends with Elton John and also a big fan – she identified with the sentiment in “Candle In The Wind,” especially the lyrics, “They made you change your name, never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in” and “even when you died, the press still hounded you.”

With the song rewritten, most notably with the first line changed from “Goodbye Norma Jeane” to “Goodbye England’s Rose,” Elton played it at Princess Diana’s funeral on September 6. The global TV audience for the funeral was estimated at 2.5 billion, and Elton’s heartfelt performance provoked an outpouring of support for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The new version of the song, which was produced by Sir George Martin of Beatles fame, was released as a single as “Candle In The Wind ’97,” this time dedicated to Princess Diana and with proceeds going to the fund.

(snip)

After performing the song at Diana’s funeral, Elton never again sang it with those lyrics. When the song fell off the charts, most radio stations also retired it, going back to the original version of “Candle In The Wind.”

SOURCE: SONGFACTS

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh, the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Goodbye, Norma Jeane
From the young man in the twenty second row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

This song, by Billy Joel, was one of my favorites back then.  The lyrics and explanation of the origins of the song are from the GENIUS website. It reminds me that the world has always been in turmoil.

From GENIUS:

This monster hit of a song was created in 1989, when Joel turned 40. The idea spawned from a conversation he had with a friend of Sean Lennon. The friend just turned 21 and was complaining about how crazy it was to be living in his era, therefore undermining any other time before his. This encouraged Joel to write a song that would prove that any time is filled with extremes.

Starting from 1949 (the year in which he was born), he chronicled the major events that occurred during that time in a rapid fire delivery of names, places, and cultural works.

These are his words on the subject:

I started doing that as a mental exercise. I had turned forty. It was 1989, and I said, “Okay, what’s happened in my life? I wrote down the year 1949… It was kind of a mind game. [It’s] one of the few times I’ve written the lyrics first, which should be obvious to why I usually prefer to write the music first, because the melody is horrendous. It’s like a mosquito droning. It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.

Passage taken from the book, In Their Own Words by Bill DeMain (Chapter 14) where he interviewed Joel about his thoughts on the song.

The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a radio mainstay.

We Didn’t Start the Fire

Harry Truman, Doris Day
Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific
Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon
Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea
Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb
Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I,
And The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine
England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace
Santayana goodbye

[Chorus]
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov
Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella
Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron
Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, “Rock Around the Clock”
Einstein, James Dean
Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan
Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place
Trouble in the Suez

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak
Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou En-lai
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle
California baseball
Starkweather Homicide
Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur
Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro
Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee
Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho
Belgians in the Congo

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann
Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin
Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia
British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn
Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X
British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away
What else do I have to say?

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh
Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock
Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine
Terror on the airline
Ayatollahs in Iran
Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride
Heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets
AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores
China’s under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars
I can’t take it anymore

SOURCE: GENIUS

Reader’s Digest bills this article, written by Elizabeth Yuko as 125 random interesting facts to share with your friends. Because of it’s length, I decided to break into 5 monthly parts.

From the article:

Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years

It was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.

Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust

Here’s an interesting science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 percent.

Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world

Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.

Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal

Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitti’s hog-nosed bat—is the smallest mammal in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. To see this tiny bat for yourself, you’d have to visit one of a select few limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi Province of southwest Thailand.

Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long

If a child’s entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries, and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, according to the Franklin Institute. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies have become home to approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels.

Fact: There are parts of Africa in all four hemispheres

For people whose education was largely focused on the Western world, it may be surprising to find out exactly how huge the continent of Africa is. For instance, it spans all four hemispheres and covers nearly 12 million square miles.

Fact: The cornea is one of only two parts of the human body without blood vessels

The cornea is the clear part of the eye that covers the pupil and other parts of the eye. Cartilage and the cornea are the only types tissue in the human body that do not contain blood vessels, according to scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology’s Schepens Eye Research Institute.

Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina

Even if you know a lot of Disney trivia, you might assume that the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings and had a running time of 70 minutes, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fact: German chocolate cake was invented in Texas

The “German” part of German chocolate cake comes from an American man—not a European country. Specifically, it’s named after Sam German, who in 1852 created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company, which was subsequently named Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. Fast-forward to June 13, 1957. The Dallas Morning Star published the recipe for the cake, invented and submitted by a reader identified as Mrs. George Clay, according to What’s Cooking America.

Fact: Marla Gibbs continued to work as a flight attendant for two years after being cast on a hit TV show

Prior to taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played the housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family). In a 2015 interview, Gibbs told the Washington Post that despite it appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job as a flight attendant for American Airlines for two more years—just to be safe.

Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands

The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.

Fact: A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing 3,901 bridges

Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but it’s also the longest one in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.

Fact: The Golden Girls was supposed to have a different theme song

That’s right: Instead of Andrew Gold’s iconic “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the show’s producers wanted to use Bette Midler’s song “Friends,” according to Jim Colucci, author of the book Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. But the rights to the Divine Miss M’s song were too expensive, and the rest is sitcom history.

Fact: There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet

Turns out, there’s quite a bit of gold on—or, really, in—our planet: 99 percent of the precious metal can be found in the Earth’s core, Discover Magazine reports. How much is there? Enough to coat the entire surface of the Earth in 1.5 feet of gold.

Fact: Cleveland was once the country’s fifth-largest city

Data from the 1920 U.S. census indicates that Cleveland, Ohio, was one of the most heavily populated cities in the country, behind only Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.

Fact: Human beings can use only a small fraction of Earth’s water

In school, we were taught that most (specifically, 71 percent) of the planet’s surface is covered in water. While that’s true, humans can use only 0.007 percent of that water, according to National Geographic. That’s because only about 2.5 percent of Earth’s water is fresh water, and only 1 percent of that is accessible. The rest makes up glaciers and snowfields.

Fact: Wally Amos is responsible for making more than just cookies famous

You may be familiar with Wally “Famous” Amos, thanks to his packaged chocolate chip cookies. But before he worked his magic on the sweet treats, he was in the business of making people famous, Biography reports. He discovered and signed folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and was a talent rep for acts like Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye.

Fact: The brand name Spam is a combination of “spice” and “ham”

This is one of those interesting facts you probably thought you knew but actually didn’t. Contrary to American mythology, Spam is not an acronym for “Scientifically Processed Animal Matter” or “Shoulder of Pork and Ham,” Eater reports.

Fact: It takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the entire Mississippi River

Spanning 2,340 miles, the Mississippi River is the third-largest watershed in the world. That’s one long stretch of water. So long, in fact, that it takes one drop of water approximately 90 days to travel its entire length.

Fact: People once ate arsenic to improve their skin

You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favorite cosmetics were riddled with arsenic, but it gets worse. There were also products on the market in the late 19th century, like Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers, that were meant to be eaten. They claimed to get rid of freckles, blackheads, and other “facial disfigurements.” Admit it: That’s one of the most interesting facts you’ve learned in a while.

Fact: The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first passenger to disembark at Ellis Island on its opening day. She had traveled to the United States with her two younger brothers aboard the SS Nevada after departing from Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh).

Fact: Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people

Japan is thought to have one of the highest densities of vending machines in the world, with one for every 40 people in the country. While most sell various types of beverages, others feature ice cream, noodles, and disposable cameras.

Fact: Lemons float, but limes sink

Because limes are denser than lemons, they drop to the bottom of a glass, while lemons float at the top. Out of all these random fun facts, this one’s been in front of our faces (or rather, in our glasses) this whole time!

Fact: Professional athletes used to perform in vaudeville during the off-season

Before today’s big-league salaries, professional baseball and football players often had to take on jobs during the off-season, The Atlantic reports. Some of them took advantage of their name recognition and hit the vaudeville circuits, doing everything from comedy routines to reciting poems. Babe Ruth even sang—if you could call it that. Frankly, many of the athletes had no business being on stage, but it’s not like it was against the rules.

Fact: The first time the word “period” was used on TV in reference to menstruation was 1985

It came via a line in a Tampax commercial: “Feeling cleaner is more comfortable. It can actually change the way you feel about your period.” And the actor who made pop culture history was Courtney Cox of Friends fame.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

Spot the 10 differences.

Find 15 differences–answers are upside down at the bottom if you ge stuck!

Spot 10 differences.

Word Scramble

Find the misspelled word.

ENJOY!

Today is one of my favorite actress’s birthday—Katharine Hepburn.  She was born May 12, 1907 and passed away on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96.  I’ve enjoyed (and have on dvds) many of her films: Desk Set, The Philadelphia Story, and The Lion in Winter to name just a few.  I found an article on Mental Floss listing 11 things we may not have known about this wonderful actress.

From Mental Floss:

1. Katharine Hepburn was a tomboy from an early age.

Aside from her acting career, Katharine Houghton Hepburn—who was born on May 12, 1907—was also famous for her commitment to wearing pants at a time when the rest of Hollywood’s female stars virtually never strayed from skirts and dresses. In 1986, the Council of Fashion Designers of America even honored Hepburn with a lifetime achievement award.

Hepburn, whose mother was a suffragette and early advocate of birth control, was raised to be confident, independent, and individualistic, and her aversion to forced femininity began at a young age. For one memorable summer during her childhood in Connecticut, she sported a short haircut and started going by “Jimmy.” “I thought being a girl was really the bunk,” Hepburn later explained in an interview. “But there’s no bunk about Jimmy.”

Though she stuck with her birth name after that, she never warmed to the idea of long, flowy clothing. “I realized long ago that skirts are hopeless,” Hepburn said in 1993. “Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say: ‘Try one. Try a skirt.’”

2. Hepburn found her brother dead when she was 13 years old.

While Hepburn’s upbringing was privileged in some ways, it wasn’t without tragedy. In 1921, when she was 13 years old, she found her 15-year-old brother Tom hanging from the rafters, having strangled himself to death. Her family maintained that it was the result of a magic trick gone awry, since Tom had tried a mock-hanging stunt at least once before, but it cast a dark shadow over the rest of Hepburn’s childhood and added to an already-established legacy of suicide in the family: Two uncles, a great-uncle, and her grandfather all took their own lives.

3. She bought out her contract for The Lake rather than finish the run.

Hepburn made her Broadway debut in 1930’s Art and Mrs. Bottle and graced the stage again in 1932’s The Warrior’s Husband. Her third play, 1933’s The Lake, garnered abysmal reviews, including Dorothy Parker’s alleged observation that Hepburn “ran the gamut of emotion from A to B.” Not long into the run, 26-year-old Hepburn was so miserable—and treated so poorly by director Jed Harris—that she bought out her contract and simply walked away.

4. The Lake was the original source of one of her most memorable lines.

One line from the ill-fated play, however, followed Hepburn out that stage door and right into another one. In 1937’s Stage Door, Hepburn portrayed an aspiring actress competing with other boarding house tenants for parts in a play, and director Gregory La Cava gave her the line “The calla lilies are in bloom again,” which he had borrowed from The Lake. Delivered several times throughout the film in Hepburn’s trademark Mid-Atlantic drawl, the line became one of her most iconic, and it’s been referenced in various programs over the years, including an episode of I Love Lucy and the 1988 comedy Big Top Pee-Wee.

5. She once dumped a cup of water on co-star Ginger Rogers.

On the set of Stage Door, Ginger Rogers was flaunting a new mink coat when Hepburn appeared and poured her cup of water on it, explaining that if the coat was, in fact, real mink, it wouldn’t shrink. The media speculated that the behavior was brought on by jealousy, since Hepburn’s then-beau Howard Hughes had reportedly shown interest in Fred Astaire’s legendary dancing partner. But Rogers herself wouldn’t play into the rumors. “Don’t ask me, I haven’t the foggiest notion why [she did it],” Rogers later said in an interview.

6. For a while, Hepburn was considered “box office poison.”

Hepburn followed her film debut in 1932’s A Bill of Divorcement with an Oscar-winning performance in 1933’s Morning Glory and another acclaimed appearance in Little Women that same year. But she also had enough commercial flops—including Spitfire (1934), Mary of Scotland (1936), and the now-beloved screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938)—in the mid-to-late 1930s that she landed on a 1938 list of actors labeled “box office poison” by the Independent Theater Owners’ Association of New York.

Hepburn was unabashed. “Look, they say I’m a has-been,” she told the Daily News with a chuckle, “Yet Bringing Up Baby already has clicked to the tune of $2 million gross, while Stage Door has grossed better than $2,500,000. If I weren’t laughing so hard, I might cry, but why should I?”

7. The Philadelphia Story was a turning point in her career.

As it turns out, Hepburn was right not to dwell on the poisonous criticism. In 1938, she accepted a starring role—which playwright Philip Barry had actually written for her—in the Broadway comedy The Philadelphia Story, and Howard Hughes bought her the rights so that she could reprise her role in a film adaptation. The MGM-produced 1940 film, which co-starred Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, was a box office smash, and it planted Hepburn right back on her path to greatness.

8. She had a decades-long affair with Spencer Tracy.

Hepburn wed Philadelphia businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith soon after graduating from Bryn Mawr in 1928, but they divorced after six years. Much more significant was her affair with fellow actor Spencer Tracy, with whom she lived for 27 years (though Tracy, who was Catholic, never actually divorced his wife). Over the course of their relationship, Hepburn and Tracy starred in nine films together, including 1942’s Woman of the Year, 1949’s Adam’s Rib, and 1952’s Pat and Mike. They wrapped production on their last one, 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, just a few weeks before Tracy died of a heart attack at age 67.

9. Whisky was Hepburn’s drink of choice.

Though Hepburn didn’t drink much during her years with Tracy (who was an alcoholic), she was known to regularly indulge in a glass of whisky in later life, which she said helped with the head tremor she had inherited from her grandfather. “I discovered that whisky helps stop the shaking,” she said in the 1993 documentary All About Me. “Problem is, if you’re not careful, it stops the rest of you, too.”

But based on what she told fellow cast member Brian Blessed while filming 1971’s The Trojan Women, it seems like she also just really loved whisky, all favorable side effects aside. “When I smell whisky, I go absolutely out of my mind. Whisky is beauuuuuutiful. I smell whisky in a glass and I want it,” she said, according to Blessed’s autobiography. “I’d drink whisky morning, noon, and night until it killed me.”

10. Her brownie recipe broke up a marriage.

Hepburn may have balked at certain societal restrictions on women, but that didn’t mean she had anything against spending time in the kitchen. She was especially particular about brownies, which, in her opinion, should be moist. After The New York Times published her signature recipe online in 2015, a woman named Sydne Newberry revealed in the comments section that Hepburn’s deliciously fudgy dessert had inadvertently ended her marriage. As Newberry told The Cut, she had brought the brownies on a trip to visit her husband while he was stationed at an Air Force base in Germany in the 1980s. While there, she shared the dessert with his friend and his friend’s wife, “a gorgeous Italian woman who was very proud of her cooking and was a real food snob.”

Her new baking buddy loved the brownies, and the two kept up correspondence over the next few years while the woman tried to get the recipe right. After repeated failures, she implied that Newberry had intentionally omitted something. Then, while visiting Newberry in the states, the woman began an affair with Newberry’s husband, who eventually left his wife for her, apparently undeterred by her lack of success on the brownie front. “If you want to steal somebody’s husband,” Newberry told NPR, “You should screw up a brownie recipe.”

11. Hepburn held the record for most Academy Award nominations … until Meryl Streep came along.

With her Best Actress nomination for On Golden Pond in 1981, Hepburn set a new record for most nominations ever earned by an actor: 12. The record went unchallenged until 2002, when Meryl Streep clinched her 13th for a supporting role in Adaptation (since then, Streep’s nomination count has risen to a staggering 21). When it comes to actual wins, however, Hepburn comes out on top: Streep has three, while Hepburn has four.

SOURCE: MENTAL FLOSS

(I have Hepburn’s brownie recipe in a post on the 14^th.)

1) Where did the American custom of Mother’s Day begin?

2) What flower is associated with Mother’s Day?

3) Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for _____.

4) What is the average age for first-time moms in the United States?

5) What percentage of moms in the U.S. are single parents?

6) How do children in Serbia celebrate Mother’s Day?

7) What ancient Roman festival is considered a forerunner of Mother’s Day?

8) What year was the first Mother’s Day celebrated in the United States?

9) Which U.S. president made Mother’s Day a national holiday?

10) How many diapers does the average mom change during the first three months of motherhood?

ANSWERS:

1. West Virginia: While some countries have a multi-century history of celebrating mothers, the modern American version of the holiday didn’t begin until the early 20th century when Anna Jarvis organized the first Mother’s Day service of worship and celebration at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which serves as the International Mother’s Day Shrine today.

2. Carnations: Everyone knows that giving flowers on Mother’s Day is a time-honored tradition, but did you know that carnations are the official Mother’s Day flower? Pink carnations represent gratitude and love. Dark red carnations signify love and affection. And white carnations are traditional flowers to wear in remembrance of a mother who is no longer living.

3. Restaurants: According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother’s Day is the most popular day of the year to eat in a restaurant. In a survey conducted by the association, 51 percent of mothers said they prefer to eat out on the holiday because they do most of the cooking at home and dining out gives them a much-needed break.

4. 27 years old: The average age of first-time mothers has risen dramatically since 1972, when it was 21. Today, the average first-time mother is 27 years old.

5. 24%: According to Pew Research Center data, about one in four, or roughly 24 percent of mothers in the U.S. are raising kids without a spouse or partner.

6. Tying Mother up: Serbia has what is probably one of the most unusual Mother’s Day customs. Children creep into their mother’s bedroom first thing in the morning and tie her up! In order to be released, it is customary for mothers to bribe their children with treats. However, it should be noted that mothers aren’t the only ones tied up on their special day. A week earlier, on Children’s Day, children are tied up and must agree to behave before they are released.

7. Hilaria: The Romans celebrated Hilaria on March 25 in honor of Cybele, an Anatolian mother goddess known as Magna Mater (“Great Mother”). The manner of celebration during the time of the republic is unknown, except that Valerius Maximus mentions games in honor of the mother of the gods. At the time of the empire, there was a solemn procession, followed by all kinds of games and amusements, including a masquerade.

8. 1907: Ann Reeves Jarvis was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. She and Julia Ward Howe (author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) spent years campaigning for the creation of a “Mother’s Day For Peace” where mothers would ask that their husbands and sons were no longer killed in wars. After Ann’s death in 1905, her daughter took up the fight, and the first American Mother’s Day was celebrated in 1907 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church.

9. Woodrow Wilson: In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law’s Day”. But just six years later, in 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating that Mother’s Day be held on the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers.

10. 700: In the first month of life, newborns average up to 8 to 10 diaper changes per day. And over the first three months (the newborn stage), babies go through about 700 diapers.

So…how did you do?

SOURCE: usefultrivia.com

REMEMBER: Moms are cool…but GRANDMAS RULE!

Today is George’s birthday—born May 6, 1961—and I had a whole post about him with some interesting facts about his life, because I respected George’s attitude on aging as a movie star.  He didn’t want to dye his hair or get plastic surgery, because people always look a little off when they try to recapture their youth, he said. 

Then just recently I read this article where George makes the comment that it might be time to FORCE JAB people with the vaccine.  Suddenly an individual making their own choices was not a good option for George.  Sad.

The time has come to force-jab every unvaccinated person in the United States, according to Hollywood actor George Clooney who declared his support for “mandatory vaccines, period” during a red carpet interview.

George Clooney Says It’s Time To Force-Jab Every Unvaccinated Person In America

Today is Carol Burnett’s birthday (born April 26, 1933) and I found an article on Glamour.com detailing 10 things we may not know about this famous comedienne. 

From Glamour:

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Carol Burnett

Jim Carrey wrote Carol a fan letter when he was 10 years old. Kristin Chenoweth wrote her one as well, but she didn’t send it!

Carol admitted to not watching much network television but being obsessed with cable TV. In fact, what is Carol watching right now? “Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards on Netflix. The Newsroom also.”

One of Bob Mackie’s most memorable designs from The Carol Burnett Show—the Scarlett O’Hara curtain dress—is in the Smithsonian. As for the other costumes? Carol has some of the sequined jackets in her closet. Oh, and how’s this for size? Mackie designed upwards of 60 to 70 costumes a week!

Carol wanted her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to be in front of the theater she used to be an usher at.

She hates to shop! When Kristin Chenoweth asked her where she got her outfit, Carol replied, “Oh, I don’t know! I think it’s like 40 years old!”

Carol’s signature send-off is tugging her ear at the end of every performance. So how did that get started? “It was for my grandmother, who always wanted me to say hi to her [on TV].”

Carol was not the typical show-off kid. “I was very shy and didn’t really get started until I got to UCLA.”

In fact, guess what Carol wanted to be. “I wanted to be a cartoonist, actually, and have my own comic strip!” I don’t doubt that would have been funny, but I’m sure glad she ended up on the path she did!

Carol keeps her incredible shape (at 80 years old, no less!) by doing Pilates twice a week, swimming, and “not eating a lot. But what I eat is good.” Whatever she does, it works. Her legs are incredible!

Her own mother didn’t think Carol had a future in the business. According to Carol, “I think I knew I was funny when I was playing with my best friends. Then I would make all these faces in the mirror all the time. My mother would say, ‘I don’t know why you’re doing that. Nothing is going to ever come of it.'” Sorry, Mom.

SOURCE: GLAMOUR.COM By Jessica Radloff

Today is National Look-A -Like Day!  I guess if we’re celebrating an obvious made up day, we can post some obvious made up photos as well…LOL (Are these really actual owners of these dogs?  DISCLAIMER: NO IDEA!)

Some examples:

Enjoy your day!

Montana

The temperature in Loma once climbed from -54 degrees F to 49 degrees within 24 hours—the largest one-day hike ever recorded.

Nebraska

About 80 percent of the world’s sandhill crane population alights on Nebraska’s Platte River during the cranes’ annual spring migration, bringing with them thousands of bird-watchers.

Nevada

From 1951 to 1992, a swath of land about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas was used for hundreds of nuclear weapons tests.

New Hampshire

This state’s license plates—bearing the slogan “Live Free or Die”—are made by prison inmates.

New Jersey

When it comes to the Garden State, remember two things: horses and divorces. New Jersey has more horses per square mile than any other state, including Kentucky, and the lowest divorce rate in the country.

New Mexico

According to New Mexico state law, “idiots” are not allowed to vote. The statute doesn’t give a clear definition of who fits that description.

New York

Twice a year, the setting sun aligns perfectly with the Manhattan street grid, illuminating the borough’s east-west streets with an orange glow.

North Carolina

The Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, is the largest privately-owned home in the country, with more than four acres of floor space and 250 rooms (including 35 bedrooms and 43 bathrooms).

North Dakota

In 2007, North Dakota nabbed the Guinness World Record for Most People Making Snow Angels Simultaneously. The State Historical Society of North Dakota organized the event and rounded up 8,962 people on the Capitol’s lawn to participate.

Ohio

Half of the presidents who died in office were from Ohio: William Harrison, James Garfield, William McKinley, and Warren G. Harding.

Oklahoma

It appears to serve up the only official state meal: a heaping plateful of fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken-fried steak, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas.

Oregon

It boasts the nation’s fastest talkers, according to an analysis of consumer phone calls placed to businesses across the country.

Pennsylvania

This state’s name is spelled Pensylvania on the Liberty Bell. The Constitution uses one n in one section and two n’s in another.

Rhode Island

The smallest state in the country shares a state water border with New York.

South Carolina

The Angel Oak Tree, located near Charleston, is estimated to be one of the oldest living things in the country. It produces a shadow that covers about 17,000 square feet.

South Dakota

Catching some z’s must be easier in South Dakota, which one survey found is the least sleep-deprived state in the country.

Tennessee

On a clear day, seven states are visible from Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga. But you don’t have to look further than Chattanooga for the largest freshwater aquarium in the world.

Texas

The phrase “Don’t mess with Texas” originated in 1985 as the slogan for a campaign meant to combat littering. It has gone on to be a very famous line within the state and even appears on the crest of the USS Texas submarine.

Utah

The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry holds the highest concentration of Jurassic-era remains ever found. More than 12,000 dinosaur bones (and one egg!) have been excavated since the 1920s.

Vermont

Don’t visit the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line unless you’re prepped for travel. The stage is in Canada, while the fans watch from Vermont; the entrance is in the U.S., while the stacks are in lumberjack country.

Virginia

Virginia ranks number one in patriotism among the 50 states, according to one WalletHub survey, which based its list on factors like military and civic engagement.

Washington

The world’s largest building by volume—Boeing’s final assembly factory in Everett—spans 98.3 acres and 472 million cubic feet. Seventy-five football fields could fit inside.

West Virginia

In 1776, a group of residents asked the Continental Congress to create a 14th colony called Westylvania, including parts of West Virginia and surrounding areas; the plea was ignored.

Wisconsin

When the state dance is the polka, it’s awfully convenient that A World of Accordions, a museum with more than 1,000 types of squeeze-boxes, is also found in the state.

Wyoming

There are only two sets of escalators in the entire state.

SOURCE: READER’S DIGEST