Levi Strauss

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 20th 1873, Levi Strauss began marketing blue jeans with copper rivets.

Born in Buttenheim, Bavaria, in 1829, the young Levi Strauss immigrated to the United States in 1847.

Strauss initially went into business selling dry goods along the East Coast, but in 1852, his brother-in-law encouraged him to relocate to the booming city of San Francisco.

He arrived in San Francisco in 1853 with a load of merchandise that he hoped to sell in the California mining camps.

Unable to sell a large supply of canvas, Strauss hit on the idea of using the durable material to make work pants for miners.

Strauss’ canvas pants were an immediate success among hardworking miners who had long complained that conventional pants wore out too quickly.

In 1872, Strauss received a letter from Jacob Davis, a customer and tailor who worked in the mining town of Reno, Nevada.

Davis reported that he had discovered canvas pants could be improved if the pocket seams and other weak points that tended to tear were strengthened by copper rivets.

Davis’ riveted pants had proven popular in Reno, but he needed a patent to protect his invention. Intrigued by the copper-riveted pants, Strauss and his partners agreed to undertake the necessary legal work for the patent and begin large-scale production of the pants.

Eventually, Strauss switched from using canvas to heavyweight blue denim, and the modern “blue jeans” were born.

Since then, Levi Strauss & Company has sold more than 200 million pairs of copper-riveted jeans. By the turn of the century, people outside of the mining and ranching communities had discovered that “Levi’s” were both comfortable and durable. Eventually, the jeans lost most of their association with the West and came to be simply a standard element of the casual American wardrobe.

As we celebrate how on May 20th 1873, Levi Strauss began marketing blue jeans with copper rivets.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Marilyn Monroe Singing Happy Birthday

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 19th 1962, Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” for U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The event was a fund-raiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Today’s YouTube presentation brought to you by user name, (William Forsche), gives you Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to the president in 1962.

The interesting thing about Peter Lawford giving his introduction to Marilyn Monroe was when he addressed the audience as, ‘the late Marilyn Monroe,’ because on August 1st 1962 she had died, three later after her sultry rendition of singing Happy Birthday to the president.

Afterwards, as an enormous birthday cake was presented to him, President Kennedy came on stage and joked about Monroe’s version of the song, saying, “I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way,” alluding to Marilyn’s delivery, skintight dress, and image as a sex symbol.

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy did not attend the celebration.

President Kennedy’s birthday celebration was held at the third Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, and more than 15,000 people attended, including numerous celebrities. The event was a fundraising gala for the Democratic Party.

Monroe’s dress was noted for being made of a sheer and flesh-colored marquisette fabric, with 2,500 shimmering rhinestones sewn into it.

The dress was so tight-fitting that Monroe had difficulty putting it on; she wore nothing under it. It was designed by Jean Louis.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Tina Fey

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 18th 1970, Tina Fey was born.

Elizabeth Stamatina “Tina” Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (1998-2006), acclaimed for her impression of former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and for creating acclaimed television series 30 Rock.

Fey was born on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

By middle school, she knew she was interested in comedy.

Going by the name of Tina, Fey considered herself a “super nerd” during her high school and college years. She studied drama at the University of Virginia, and after graduating in 1992, she headed to Chicago, the ancestral home of American comedy.

She ended up spending many years at The Second City in Chicago where many SNL cast members first started out. Then in 1995, Saturday Night Live (1975) came to The Second City’s cast, including Fey’s friend, Adam McKay, as a writer, searching for new talent. What they found was Tina Fey.

After a few years, Tina made history by becoming the first female head writer in the show’s history. Tina also made her screen debut as a featured player during the 25th season by co-anchoring Weekend Update with Jimmy Fallon.

Today’s YouTube video brought to you by user name (Saturday Night Live) gives you Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in this comedy skit of Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton, as we celebrate Tina Fey’s birthday today.

Her husband, Jeff Richmond is a Second City director. That’s how they met. He is ten years older than she is.

Tina is close friends with fellow Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member Amy Poehler.

Tina is often compared to Nana Mouskouri, to whom she bears a striking resemblance. This may be due to both women’s common Greek ancestry and the fact that they both have black-rimmed glasses as their trademark, but nothing can be compared to celebrating Tina Fey’s birthday today!

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 17th 2012, Lisa Marie Presley performed her song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” on American Idol’s results show.

“You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” is a 2012 song written by Lisa Marie Presley, with James Bryan McCollum and Sacha Skarbek.

The track was selected as single from her Storm & Grace album, and released as a single on April 10, 2012.

The track was described by the Presley Foundation’s own website as having an “ominous, swampy vibe.”
Today’s YouTube presentation brought to you my user name, (Kerry Fritz II) plays the infamous song Lisa Marie Presley performed her song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” on May 17th 2012.

She may have lived in the shadow of her famous father, Elvis, for much of her life, but Lisa Marie Presley was clearly determined to show she is a singer in her own right.

The 44-year-old put in a sultry performance as she took to the American Idol stage to perform her new single You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.

Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She has been married to Michael Lockwood since January 22, 2006.

They have two children. She was previously married to Nicolas Cage, Michael Jackson and Danny Keough.

Where did Lisa Maria Presley get the idea of her song “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” track?

In April of 2013, Lisa Marie contained words about Scientologist in her song, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” which was released ahead of the album Storm and Grace. ]

Based on those lyrics, it was pretty likely that longstanding rumors were true that Lisa Marie had left the church.

The lyrics to the rest of the album’s songs, and revealed that the words in the song “So Long” no longer left any doubt that Lisa Marie had left Scientology behind, which is how the idea of this track song came about.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Magnetic Tape Recorder

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 16th 1946, Jack Mullin showed the world the first magnetic tape recorder.

Our story begins when John T. “Jack” Mullin joined the Army in 1941.

His background in electrical engineering landed him in the Signal Corps and in 1944 he went to England to help solve radio interference problems caused by the radar installations that blanketed Britain.
Mullin became so intrigued by what he was doing that he would work till two or three in the morning, all the while listening to music on BBC radio broadcasts.

The BBC always signed off the air at midnight. In search of continuing late-night entertainment, Mullin discovered that the German stations were on the air twenty-four hours a day, broadcasting symphony concerts all night that sounded too good to be pre-recorded.

Shortly after the Allies liberated Paris, Mullin’s unit was reassigned there and given the task of evaluating captured German electronic equipment.

In July of 1945, Mullin went to Germany to look into reports that the Germans had been experimenting with high-frequency energy as a means of jamming airplane engines in flight.

While on the mission, Mullin met a British army officer who, after a discussion of music and recording, asked Mullin if he had heard the magnetic tape recorders used by Radio Frankfurt.

The officer raved about the musical quality of these recorders and urged Mullin to go to the station to listen. Mullin had already heard and evaluated the poor-quality, DC-bias tape recorders used by the German Army, and thought, “Either this guy is on to something or he has a tin ear!”

“On the way back to my unit, we came to the proverbial fork in the road,” Mullin recalled. “I could turn right and drive straight back to Paris or turn left to Frankfurt. I chose to turn left. It was the greatest decision of my life.”

Mullin continued, “The radio station was actually in Bad Nauheim, a health resort forty-five miles north of Frankfurt.

The station had been moved into a castle there to escape the bombing of Frankfurt, and it was then being operated by the Armed Forces Radio Service.

In response to my request for a demonstration of their Magnetophon the Sergeant spoke in German to an assistant, who clicked his heels and ran off for a roll of tape.

When he put the tape on the machine, I really flipped. I couldn’t tell whether it was live or playback. There simply was no background noise.”

After rebuilding the Magnetophon, Mullin showed them to audio professionals who were excited by the extremely high-quality sound and the ability to edit a first generation recording with no degradation.

On May 16, 1946 meeting of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE, now IEEE) in San Francisco, Mullin gave the first public demonstration of professional-quality tape recording in America.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Lyman Frank Baum

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 15th 1856, Lyman Frank Baum, author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” was born.

Baum was born in Chittenango, New York in 1856 into a devout Methodist family.

Baum started writing early in life, possibly prompted by his father buying him a cheap printing press. He had always been close to his younger brother Henry (Harry) Clay Baum who helped in the production of The Rose Lawn Home Journal. The brothers published several issues of the journal, which included advertisements; they may have sold issues.

In 1900, Baum and Denslow (with whom he shared the copyright) published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to much critical acclaim and financial success.

The book was the best-selling children’s book for two years after its initial publication. Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz.

In 1905, Baum declared plans for an Oz amusement park. In an interview, he mentioned buying Pedloe Island off the coast of California to turn it into an Oz park.

However, there is no evidence that he purchased such an island, and no one has ever been able to find any island whose name even resembles Pedloe in that area.

Nevertheless, Baum stated to the press that he had discovered a Pedloe Island off the coast of California and that he had purchased it to be “the Marvelous Land of Oz,” intending it to be “a fairy paradise for children.”

However Baum took a liking to the infamous hotel at Coronado Beach.

Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum traveled to Coronado repeatedly between 1904 and 1910, where he usually resided at the Hotel Del Coronado for months at a time.

He wrote at least three books in the Oz series during that period (“Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz” 1908, “The Road to Oz” 1909, and “The Emerald City” 1910), and also is said to have designed the crown chandeliers in the famous Crown Room.

In a 1905 poem about Coronado, Baum wrote: “And every day her loveliness, shines pure, without a flaw; new charms entrance our every glance, and fill our souls with awe!”

I went to the Hotel Del Coronado in the beginning of 2000, to visit a friend to catch up on old times, but during my visit.

Did you know that Coronado is also nicknamed “the Emerald City?”

With its iconic red castle-like turrets and fairy tale setting, The Hotel del Coronado was Baum’s inspiration for the Emerald City.

The Hotel del Coronado’s grand Crown Room is home to four spectacular crown-shaped chandeliers designed by Baum, which visitors can still enjoy seeing today.

L. Frank Baum’s historic Coronado home (1101 Star Park Circle), is a quaint yellow house that he rented during his stays. This is where he wrote three books in the Oz series: “Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz,” “The Emerald City of Oz” and “The Road to Oz.”

If you happen to live in California, want more fascinating facts and interesting tidbits about Coronado and Baum’s time on the island? Book a historic guided walking tour from Coronado Touring.

The tour departs Thursdays and Saturdays from Glorietta Bay inn and travels through downtown Coronado stopping at fun sites along the way.

As we celebrate how on May 15th 1856, Lyman Frank Baum, author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” was born today.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Condensed Milk

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 14th 1853, a fellow by the name of Gail Borden applied his patent for condensed milk.

Who was Gail Borden?

Gail Borden III, was born on November 9, 1801 and died on January 11, 1874, he was a native New Yorker who settled in Texas in 1829, where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and inventor; he is most known as the developer of condensed milk in 1853.

So how did he come up with this idea for condensed milk?

During Borden’s return voyage from the Exhibition in London, a disease infected both cows aboard the ship.

The cows eventually died, along with several children who drank the contaminated milk.

Contamination threatened other supplies of milk across the country. In part, the event inspired Borden’s interest in preserving milk.

The following year in 1853, Borden’s fortunes began to change when he met Jeremiah Milbank, a financier from New York, on a train.

Milbank was impressed by Borden’s enthusiasm for and confidence in condensed milk, and the two became 50/50 partners.

Together, they founded the New York Condensed Milk Company. As a railroad magnate and banker, Milbank understood large-scale finance, which was critical to development of the business and Borden’s success
With the founding of the New York Condensed Milk Company, sales of Borden’s condensed milk began to improve.

The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 soon after created a large demand for condensed milk from the Union Army, as officers purchased several hundred pounds of milk for their soldiers.

In 1861, Borden closed the factory in Burrville, opening the first of what would be many condensed milk factories in upstate New York and Illinois.

How is condensed milk made?

Condensed milk is cow’s milk from which water has been removed. It is most often found in the form of sweetened condensed milk (SCM), with sugar added, and the two terms “condensed milk” and “sweetened condensed milk” are often used synonymously today.

Sweetened condensed milk is a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened. Condensed milk is used in numerous dessert dishes in many countries.

As we celebrate how on May 14th 1853, a fellow by the name of Gail Borden applied his patent for condensed milk.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Navy Nurse Corp

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 13th 1908, the Navy Nurse Corp was established.

Joining the Navy Nurse Corps allows nurses to advance their careers, travel the world and help people in need, all while serving their country.

Since its birth on October 13, 1775, the Navy has been involved with more than ten major wars and countless battles in the effort to bring security, democracy, peace and prosperity to the American people.

Today’s YouTube brought to you by user name, (America’s Navy) gives you a little story of how important Navel Nurses are, as we celebrate how on May 13th 1908, the Navy Nurse Corp was established.

In May of 2015, the Naval Hospital Bremerton staff gathered on May 13 to recognize the 107th Birthday of the Navy Nurse Corps.

It was on May 13, 1908, that then-President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Naval Appropriations Bill that authorized the establishment of the Nurse Corps as a unique staff corps of the Navy.

“The Navy Nurse Corps birthday is a well-earned and deserved event. The Nurse Corps goes everywhere and Navy Medicine follows. Navy Nurses are the backbone.

The Navy Nurse Corps birthday is not just limited to one day, it stretches throughout the entire week and also coincidently happens during National Nurses Week that is annually recognized and celebrated May 6 to May 12, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

The Odometer

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 12TH 1847, a fellow by the name of William Clayton invented the odometer.

What is an odometer?

An odometer or odograph is an instrument that indicates distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or automobile. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two. The noun derives from the Greek words hodós (“path” or “gateway”) and métron (“measure”).

The odometer believe it or not has been around for centuries, from as far back as Alexander the Great.
However William Clayton is credited with inventing a version of the modern odometer, during this trip across the plains from Missouri to Utah, with the help of apostle and mathematician Orson Pratt.

Clayton was assigned to record the number of miles the company traveled each day.

This was accomplished by tying a red flag onto one of the wagon wheels, and counting the revolutions.
After three weeks, Clayton tired of personally counting the revolutions of a wagon wheel and computing the day’s distance by multiplying the count by the wheel’s circumference.

After consulting with Pratt, he developed a design consisting of a set of wooden cog wheels attached to the hub of a wagon wheel, with the mechanism “counting” or recording by position the revolutions of the wheel.

The apparatus was built by the company’s carpenter Appleton Milo Harmon. Clayton’s journal records: “About noon today Brother Appleton Harmon completed the machinery on the wagon called a ‘roadometer’ by adding a wheel to revolve once in ten miles, showing each mile and also each quarter mile we travel, and then casing the whole over so as to secure it from the weather.” The “roadometer” was first used on the morning of May 12, 1847.

Who was William Clayton?

William H. Clayton was born on July 17, 1814 and died on December 4, 1879) he was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and acted as a clerk and scribe to the Mormon religious leader Joseph Smith.

Clayton, born in England, is recognized as an American pioneer journalist, scribe, inventor, lyricist and musician, but is best known for his invention of the odometer.

As we celebrate how on May 12TH 1847, a fellow by the name of William Clayton invented the odometer.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com

Glacier National Park

Today on Days to remember we celebrate how on May 11th 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established.

Come and experience Glacier’s pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a hiker’s paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude.

Relive the days of old through historic chalets, lodges, transportation, and stories of Native Americans. Explore Glacier National Park and discover what awaits you.

Today’s YouTube presentation brought to you by user name, (58National Parks), gives you a little demonstration below of how this park came what it is known today, as we celebrate how on May 11th 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established.

If you live too far away to discover this impressive National Park let me give you some historical information on this place.

According to archeological evidence, Native Americans first arrived in the Glacier area some 10,000 years ago. The earliest occupants with lineage to current tribes were the Flathead (Salish) and Kootenai, Shoshone, and Cheyenne.

The Blackfeet arrived around the beginning of the 18th century and soon dominated the eastern slopes of what later became the park, as well as the Great Plains immediately to the east.

In 1910, under the influence of the Boone and Crockett Club, spearheaded by Club members George Bird Grinnell, Henry L. Stimson, and the railroad, a bill was introduced into the U.S. Congress which redesignated the region from a forest reserve to a national park.

This bill was signed into law by President William Howard Taft on May 11, 1910.

In 1910 George Bird Grinnell wrote, “This Park, the country owes to the Boone and Crockett Club, whose members discovered the region, suggested it being set aside, caused the bill to be introduced into congress and awakened interest in it all over the country.”

How do Glaciers form?

A glacier is formed from compacted layers of snow. When new layers of snow fall, previous layers compress into ice.

In 1850, the area now known as Glacier National Park has over 150 glaciers. There are 25 active glaciers remaining in the park today. Since the ice ages stopped 10,000 years ago, there have been many slight climate shifts causing periods of glacier growth or melt-back.

Based on current trends, however, glacier recession models predict that by 2030, Glacier National Park will be without glaciers.

Most of the park’s glaciers, being of small to moderate size, will likely be gone before then, as many glaciers are retreating faster than their predicted rates.

Written & Designed by JD Mitchell
jdmitchelldesigns@gmail.com