“I can't cook. I use a smoke alarm as a timer.”
Carol Siskind, American Comedianne.
Today is:
~ National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day
1478 George Plantagenet, duke of Clarence died. Brother of Edward IV whom he was accused of plotting against. He was thrown into prison and secretly executed in the Tower of London. The rumor is that he was drowned in a butt (large cask) of malmsey wine.
1871 Harry Brearley was born. Brearley was an English metallurgist who invented stainless steel in 1912.
1901 Hubert Cecil Booth patented the vacuum cleaner. Because of its large size, he mounted the machine on a horse carriage, with a long hose to reach inside a house, and offered cleaning services.
1930 At the St. Louis International Air Exposition, a cow supposedly flew in an airplane for the first time, and this same cow became the first cow to be milked while flying. Most likely the first true flying cow dung also.
DID YOU KNOW?
BABY RUTH CANDY BAR
According to company statements, the Baby Ruth candy bar was named for the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, who was born while he was living in the White House. It was not named for Babe Ruth. (When Babe Ruth wanted to bring out a candy bar of his own, he was prevented by a court order).
There is some suspicion that the company was not entirely truthful about the real origin of the name.
As a promotional stunt in 1923, Otto Schnering, founder of Curtiss Candy Co., had Baby Ruth candy bars dropped from airplanes in cities around the country, with tiny parachutes attached to each candy bar.
When Standard Brands Company, owner of Curtiss Candy Company, was acquired by Nabisco in 1981, they realized they had somehow lost the original recipes for the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars. No one at the old Curtiss factory remembered how to make the candy bars, and Nabisco had to develop new recipes that customers would accept.
