February 1, 2015 – NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY – NATIONAL BAKED ALASKA DAY – NATIONAL SERPENT DAY

 

                                          NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY

National Freedom Day, always observed on February 1st, celebrates freedom from slavery.  It also recognizes that America is a symbol for freedom.  It honors the signing by Abraham Lincoln of a joint House and Senate resolution that later became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution   President Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865.  It was not ratified by the states however, until December 18, 1865.
On this day many towns have festivals and celebrations.  Others  reflect on the freedoms that the United States honors as well as reflect on and appreciate the goodwill of the United States.  For many years, wreath laying at the Liberty Bell has also been a tradition to mark National Freedom Day.  LET FREEDOM RING.
NATIONAL FREEDOM DAY HISTORY
A former slave by the name of Major Richard Robert Wright Sr. created National Freedom Day.  Major Wright was looked upon as a great leader in the community.  It was believed by Major Wright that this day needed to be celebrated.
Because of Abraham Lincoln’s signing the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865, February 1st was chosen as the day for National Freedom Day.  On June 30, 1948, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming February 1st as the first official National Freedom Day in the United States.

National Baked Alaska Day – February 1

NATIONAL BAKED ALASKA DAY

National Baked Alaska Day is celebrated annually on February 1st.
According to Wikipedia,  the dish is made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for a brief time, long enough to firm the meringue.  The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.
The name “Baked Alaska” was coined at Delmonico’s Restaurant by their chef-de-cuisine Charles Ranhofer in 1876 to honor the recently acquired American territory.  Both the names “Baked Alaska” and “omelette à la norvégienne”/”Norwegian omelette” come from the low temperatures of Alaska and Norway.
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baked_Alaska

National Serpent Day – February 1

NATIONAL SERPENT DAY

National Serpent Day is observed  annually on February 1st.  Serpent is a synonym for snake.
According to wikipedia, snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads with their highly mobile jaws. To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes’ paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca.
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake