June 6 – National Yo-yo Day

Posted on June 6, 2015

Although two fellows in Ohio were awarded a patent in November of 1866 for the invention of the bandelore (what we now call yo-yo, from the Tagalog langauge), the basic idea of a toy that can travel up and down a string has been invented and reinvented since 500 B.C. (or B.C.E.) at least! 

Instead of celebrating the anniversary of that patent, National Yo-yo Day is celebrated in early June, when people in the Northern Hemisphere are starting to play outside more, and are gearing up for summer. Actually, this date was chosen because June 6 is the birthday of the Duncan yo-yo guy, Donald F. Duncan, Sr.

If yo-yos are your thing, you can probably find an event or a sale today! If it's not, maybe you should check out these experts – it's pretty cool! 

Doing tricks with yo-yos looks pretty hard – even when this four year old kid does it! 

Seriously, do not miss this video:

If you only have time to watch one yo-yo video today, watch this one. 

(The speech comes first, and at minute 3:30, the performance starts.)

Also on this date:

Anniversary of the release of Tetris

Drawing Day

 







Anniversary of the invention of the electric iron 

Anniversary of the opening of the Ashmolean

Anniversary of the opening of the first drive-in movie theater

Anniversary of the volcanic eruption of its century

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• June holidays
• June birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in June

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• July holidays
• July birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in July

November 20, 2009

Countdown to turkey! (U.S. meat-eaters)

AND Happy “Happy Inventions” Day

First, the inventions. Two fun things got US patents on the same day—November 20, 1866. One was the rotary-crank bicycle (patented by Pierre Lallemont of Paris, France), and the other was the yo-yo (James L. Haven and Charles Hittrick of Cincinnati, Ohio).

They weren't patented under these familiar names, however. Instead, they were patented under the names velocipede (the name bicycle was also invented in the 1860s) and bandelore (yo-yo was a Filipino term, probably from the Ilokano and Tagalog languages, and was brought to the U.S. by Filipino-American Pedro Flores in 1928).

By the way, that doesn't mean that bikes and yo-yos were entirely invented for the first time on that day in 1866. Bicycles had been invented and reinvented and improved upon since at least 1817—and of course continue to be improved upon today. And yo-yos have been around since at least 500 B.C.!

Now let's talk turkey. In about a week many families in U.S. and its territories will be celebrating Thanksgiving, many by eating traditional meal of roasted, stuffed turkey (or deep-fried turkey, turducken, or some other turkey-based meal). Here's a few turkey activities to get you ready:

Create a pine-cone turkey. Use a twist of paper or a sewn, stuffed bit of cloth to make a head; attach the head to a pine cone “body.” Or draw a turkey head on paper, and glue the “chips” or “petals” of a pine cone in fan shapes behind to make the body and tail.

How's your turkey talk? Fill in the letters to spell out these turkey terms:

LETTER BOX:

A A A A A B B E E E E E H H K L L L M N O O O O R R R S T T T T U W

1. a male turkey T ___ ___
2. a female turkey H ___ ___
3. a young turkey P ___ ___ L ___
4. a turkey's “speech” G ___ ___ ___ ___ E
5. a turkey's covering F ___ ___ T ___ ___ ___ ___
6. a turkey's neck skin W ___ ___ ___ L ___
7. a turkey's foot C ___ ___ ___
8. where they're born H ___ ___ C ___ ___ ___ Y
9. where they're raised F ___ ___ M
10. a group of turkeys F ___ ___ C ___

Answers:

1.TOM 2.HEN 3.POULT 4.GOBBLE 5. FEATHERS 6.WATTLE 7. CLAW 8.HATCHERY 9.FARM 10.FLOCK

November 14, 2009

On this date in 1889, newspaper reporter Nellie Bly left Hoboken, New Jersey, (part of greater New York City) to travel AROUND THE WORLD. She wanted to set a new world record and to mimic the journey described by Jules Verne in his fiction book Around the World in 80 Days.
Nellie Bly traveled through England, France, Italy, the Suez Canal, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, traveling the 24,899 miles by rail and steamer. She arrived back in New York on January 25, 1890—seventy-two days, six hours, eleven minutes and fourteen seconds after she had left! Crowds of cheering men and women greeted her, and Bly was a celebrity. She had set a new world's record! And she had beat Verne's fictional 80-day circuit. However, Nellie Bly's record was bettered just a few months later by a man (a man named Train!), who traveled around the world in 67 days. Of course, with airplanes and rocket ships, lots and lots of people have since then surpassed these nineteenth century records!

What's in a Name? Nellie Bly is actually a pen name. The intrepid reporter's real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. Because her mom christened her in a bright pink gown, as a child she was nicknamed “Pink” (sometimes “Pinky”).

Seriously speaking... Nellie Bly was a serious reporter who often dealt with serious issues. She pioneered an entirely new kind of reporting, now known as investigative journalism but then sometimes bitterly referred to as “stunt reporting.” Perhaps Bly's most famous article resulted from a ten-day undercover visit to an insane asylum, during which she posed as a mad person. The article Bly wrote about the mistreatment she and other patients received shocked her audience and caused much-needed reforms.

Nellie's trip was featured in a board game, "Around the World with Nellie Bly," and on numerous Victorian trade cards.

Modern “Around the World” games are available here.

Around the World with Matt I love-love-love the videos of Matt dancing badly all over the world! The video entitled “Dancing 2005” is my favorite, because it was Matt's first and he did it without having a following or knowing his videos would take off in popularity. But, then again, the video “Dancing 2006” is my favorite, because he films even cooler places, like the bottom of the ocean and on top of a very scary rock in Norway. But the video “Dancing 2008' is ALSO my favorite because there are, not just cool places, but also lots of people. Also, I was invited by Matt to be in this video when he filmed my neck of the woods. (I was too busy to go. Boohoo.) In other words, ALL three of the videos are my top #1 favorites! [Note: The website is called “Where the Hell is Matt?” But there is no other inappropriate language in the videos. They are awesome and kid-friendly.]
Try doing “Around the World” with a yo-yo. How about holding an "Around the World" party? Have an "Around-the-World" dinner. Get recipes here.