APRIL 1, 2014 – SAAM DAY OF ACTION – NATIONAL ONE CENT DAY – NATIONAL SOURDOUGH BREAD DAY – APRIL FOOLS DAY

 

              SAAM DAY OF ACTION

Nationally recognized in the United States, celebrated annually and as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM),
SAAM Day of Action provides a day to focus awareness on
sexual violence prevention.

For complete information regarding SAAM Day of Action, see:
http://www.nsvrc.org/saam/sexual-assault-awareness-month-home
http://www.nsvrc.org/saam/current-campaign/day-of-action
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          NATIONAL ONE CENT DAY

National One Cent Day is celebrated each year on April 1.  This day is all about the one cent piece (the penny).
The Lincoln cent is the current one cent coin of the U.S. dollar.  Adopted in 1909, it replaced the Indian Head cent.  From 1959  to 2008, the reverse side featured the Lincoln Memorial. Four different reverse designs in 2009 honored Lincoln’s 200th birthday and a new, permanent reverse – the Union Shield – was introduced in 2010.
The U.S. Mint’s official name for a penny is “cent” and the official name by the U.S. Treasury is “one cent piece”.  In American English, pennies is the plural form, other plural forms pence and pee (standard use in British English) are not used.
“As of 2012, it costs the U.S. Mint 2.00 cents to make a cent because of the cost of materials and production.  This figure includes the Mint’s fixed components for distribution and fabrication, estimated at $13 million in FY 2011. It also includes Mint overhead allocated to the penny, which was $17.7 million for 2011. Fixed costs and overhead would have to be absorbed by other circulating coins without the penny.  The loss in profitability due to producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2012 was $58,000,000. This was a slight decrease from 2011, the year before, which had a production loss of $60,200,000.” (Wikipedia)
On National One Cent Day,  you can research the history of the penny and also learn about saving your cents.  Each cent saved accumulates over time.
NATIONAL ONE CENT DAY HISTORY
Our research was unable to find the origin or the creator of National One Cent Day, an “unofficial” national holiday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NATIONAL SOURDOUGH BREAD DAY

Annually celebrated on April 1, it is National Sourdough Bread Day.
“Sourdough is a bread product made by a long fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeasts. In comparison with breads made quickly with cultivated yeast, it usually has a mildly sour taste because of the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.” (Wikipedia)
Most likely the first form of leavening available to bakers, sourdough likely originated in Ancient Egyptian times around 1500 BC.  It did remain the usual form of leavening into the European Middle Ages.
During the California Gold Rush, sourdough was the main bread made in Northern California and is still a part of the culture of San Francisco today.  The bread was so common at that time that “sourdough” became a nickname for the gold prospectors.
In The Yukon and Alaska, a “sourdough” is also a nickname given to someone who has spent an entire winter north of the Arctic Circle and it refers to their tradition of protecting their Sourdough during the coldest months by keeping it close to their body.
The sourdough tradition was also carried into Alaska and western Canadian territories during the Klondike Gold Rush.
San Francisco sourdough is the most famous sourdough bread made in the U.S. today.  In contrast to sourdough production in other areas of the country, the San Francisco variety has remained in continuous production since 1849, with some bakeries able to trace their starters back to California’s Gold Rush period. Many restaurant chains keep it as a menu staple.
Sourdough bread is a great side to your soup or stew or toasted with your morning cereal.
NATIONAL SOURDOUGH BREAD DAY
We were unable to find the origin or the creator of National Sourdough Bread Day, an “unofficial” national holiday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

APRIL FOOLS DAY

Did you call the office this morning saying you were going to be an hour late for work because your car would not start and then walk in a minute later and say “April Fools!” or did you put a rubber band around the faucet so the next person to turn it on gets sprayed all over??
April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st of each year. Sometimes referred to as ‘All Fools’ Day, it is not a national holiday.  April Fools Day is widely recognized and celebrated, by many, as a day when people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other.
Here is a little April Fools History:   (There are different theories as to the beginning of April Fools Day.)
“The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392).  In the 1392 writings by Chaucer,Canterbury Tales, the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is set March thirty days and two.  Modern scholars believe that there was a copying error in the manuscripts and that Chaucer actually meant 32 days after April, i.e. May 2. (the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia).  The readers misunderstood it to mean March 32, i.e. April 1.  In Chaucer’s tale, the vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox.
Many writers suggest that the restoration, in 1582,  of January 1 by Pope Gregory XIII as New Year’s Day of the Gregorian Calendar in the 16th century was responsible for the birth of the holiday.    With New Year’s Day moved to January 1, not all people  were aware of this news, or refused to accept it, and celebrated the new year on April 1st, as in the past.  These people were then labeled “fools”  and were subject to ridicule and practical jokes.
1508 – French poet, Eloy d’Amerval referred to a poissond’avril (April fool, literally April fish) a possible reference to the April Fool holiday.
1539 – Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1.
1686 – John Aubrey referred to April Fools Day as Fools holy day, the first British reference.
1686 – On April 1, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to “see the Lions washed”

HAPPY - APRIL -  FOOLS  - DAY