July 31 History, Trivia and Fun Facts |
July 31 History Highlights |
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National Jump for Jelly Beans Day |
In the Middle East, a delicacy called lokum has been around since biblical times. It’s known as Turkish Delight in English-speaking countries and it is made of sugar syrup boiled with gelatin or pectin which spreads into thin sheets when cool enough to handle. This jelly candy was an inspiration for Jelly beans but they were actually based on Jordan almonds that are coated in powdered sugar by shaking them about inside a container until their outside becomes hard like our favorite chewy sweets. The earliest known reference of a Jelly Bean was an 1861 advertisement for William Schrafft of Boston that promoted the sending of jelly beans to soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War. Jelly Beans were also mentioned in the Chicago Daily News in 1905. Jelly beans became associated with the Easter holiday in the 1930s, due to their egg-shaped appearance. They grew in popularity from the 1960s through the 1980s, thanks to famous devotees like John Lennon and President Ronald Reagan. But it was really Harry Potter that made them a staple of our lives today; the Jelly Belly company created flavors inspired by the Potter books and films. With over 100 flavors today, Jelly Belly® Jelly Beans were introduced that year only eight flavors: Root Beer, Green Apple, Licorice, Cream Soda, Lemon, Tangerine, Very Cherry, and Grape. |
July 31 is… |
| National Avocado Day National Cotton Candy Day National Jump for Jelly Beans Day |
July 31 Birthday Quotes |
| “Always wake up with a smile knowing that today you are going to have fun accomplishing what others are too afraid to do.” – Mark Cuban “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.” “I never took myself too seriously.” “There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.” “Every man is our brother, and every man’s burden is our own. Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reins, all are unequal.” “It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing.” “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” “The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.” |
July 31 Birthdays |
| 1858 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948) 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animation producer (d. 1965) 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006) 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006) 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971) 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006) 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979) 1943 – Lobo (Roland Kent LaVoie), American singer-songwriter 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor 1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter 1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter 1981 – M. Shadows, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold |
July 31 History |
| 781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan. 1492 1790 1897 1930 1931 1948 1954 1961 1971 1980 1989 1995 1999 2003 2006 2010 2015 2015 2012 |
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts |
| “So, when you divide the world into music lovers, music fans and then those people who are just very casual about their music, it’s wallpaper to them, it’s elevator music, it’s just the thing that’s playing in the background that helps them through their day.” – Michael Stipe The Capital of Mexico is Mexico City You can’t have a depressing scene in a movie without extreme close-ups and rain. The biggest film of 1949: Samson and Delilah (Drama) earned ~ $29,000,000 Clark Kent (Superman) is the male movie counterpart to the girl who takes off her glasses, and everyone realizes she’s pretty. #movies Alan Napier, the actor who played Alfred in the 1960s version of Batman, was the show’s only cast member who had never heard of Batman and had no idea who the character was before the show began filming. The Capital of Mauritius is Port Louis I think Freud would have something to say about all of the people who upload pictures of their attractive mothers onto Facebook. “I suggest you not underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State, and show up two hours in advance.” – Ticket Lady #moviequotes There are 18 different animal shapes in the animal cracker zoo. TV Quotes… “Up your nose with a rubber hose” (Vinnie Barbarino) on “Welcome Back, Kotter” Helen Keller was once a pupil of Alexander Graham Bell at his school for the deaf. |
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