APRIL 23, 2014 – NATIONAL LOST DOG AWARENESS DAY – NATIONAL PICNIC DAY – NATIONAL TAKE A CHANCE DAY – TALK LIKE SHAKESPEARE DAY – NATIONAL CHERRY CHEESECAKE DAY

               NATIONAL LOST DOG AWARENESS DAY

The first annual National Lost Dog Awareness Day (NLDAD) is being celebrated today, April 23, 2014.   NLDAD was created a day to bring attention to all of the dogs that are lost each year and to celebrate the thousands of dogs that had been lost and successfully  reunited with their families.
For complete information regarding National Lost Dog Awareness Day, see:
http://www.lostdogsillinois.org/lost-dogs-of-america-announces-the-first-annual-national-lost-dog-awareness-day/
NATIONAL LOST DOG AWARENESS DAY HISTORY
National Lost Dog Awareness Day is an “unofficial” national holiday.
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NATIONAL PICNIC DAY

National Picnic Day is celebrated on April 23.   There is something special about having a picnic and on National Picnic Day it is the time to have one.  For many people in the United States, it might be the first picnic of the year.  If you live in a climate where the weather does not allow for an outdoor picnic, an indoor picnic will be an okay substitute.
The word “picnic” dates back to 1692 where “piquenique” was used in reference to a group of people eating together and bringing their own wine.  The word picnic did not enter the English language until 1748.  The concept of a picnic long retained the concept of a meal to which everyone contributed something.
People have been eating picnics outdoors for centuries.  Thomas Cole’s, 1846 “The Pic-Nic” , is an early American illustration of  a picnic.  The Brooklyn Museum of Art is home to this painting in which a guitarist serenades the genteel social group in the Hudson River Valley with the Catskills visible in the distance.  ”Cole’s well-dressed young picnickers having finished their repast, served from splint baskets on blue-and-white china, stroll about in the woodland and boat on the lake.”
It may be that the most famous depiction of a picnic is Edouard Manet’s 1862 painting: Le dejeuner sur l’herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass).
In the United States, The 4th of July celebration of American independence is a popular day of picnicking       

Enjoy a fun picnic on National Picnic Day!
NATIONAL PICNIC DAY HISTORY
Our research was unable to find the creator of National Picnic Day, an “unofficial” national holiday.
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NATIONAL TAKE A CHANCE DAY

Each year, April 23 celebrates National Take A Chance Day.  On this day, take a chance on your dreams and your goals.

As quoted by Mark Twain:   ”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

One can not attain a goal or experience a dream unless they take a chance and get started.

NATIONAL TAKE A CHANCE DAY HISTORY

Our research was unable to find the creator and origin of National Take a Chance Day, an “unofficial” national holiday.

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NATIONAL TALK LIKE SHAKESPEARE DAY

Celebrated annually on April 23, it is National Talk Like Shakespeare Day.  April 23 is the accepted birth and the death anniversary of English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.
Born in 1564, Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52.  This year, 2014, celebrates his 450th birthday.  On National Talk Like Shakespeare Day, everyone is encouraged to talk, in Shakespeare-like dialogue. for the day.
William Shakespeare was regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and also called England’s national poet.  His plays have been translated into every major living language and they are preformed more often than the plays of any other playwright.
Hamlet,  King Lear,  Othello and  Macbeth are considered some of the Shakespeare’s finest works in the English language with Romeo and Juliet to A Midsummer Night’s Dream as classics.
Today talk with some: thee’s, thou’s and ye’s and for an example:
“methoughts I lay”  or “leaning toward the nayward”

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/
NATIONAL TALK LIKE SHAKESPEARE DAY HISTORY
National Talk Like Shakespeare Day, an “unofficial” national holiday, is sponsored by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater as a day on which everyone is encouraged to express themselves through the incorporation of Shakespearean language and dialect.
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NATIONAL CHERRY CHEESECAKE DAY

April 23 celebrates National Cherry Cheesecake Day, an annual food holiday.   The perfect way to finish off a nice dinner would be with a delicious piece of cherry cheesecake.

There is a large variety of recipes for cherry cheesecake that can be found on-line and in recipe books.  The main ingredient is cream cheese and the crust is usually made of graham cracker crumbs.  Some cherry cheesecake recipes call for the cherries to be mixed within the batter where other’s place the cherries on top.  You will find the use of fresh cherries, frozen cherries or canned cherries as well as cherry pie filling.

Which ever recipe you choose to make, enjoy each bite and make sure to share!

Following is a link for a quick and easy Cherry Cheesecake:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cherry-cheesecake/