July 5 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
July 5 History Highlights |
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Mechanical Pencil Day |
A pencil is a writing instrument typically made from graphite, wood, or synthetic material. Pencils were created around the time that graphite deposits were being discovered in Europe during the early 16th century by Conrad Gesner who lived and worked as an author, naturalist, bibliographer among other things throughout Switzerland. His first primitive design of what we now know to be called “a pencil,” was invented in 1565 which consisted of wrapping its lead with string and later designing them out of wood so they could be sharpened. The first mechanical pencil that had tools to move the lead instead of manually sharpening it was patented in 1822 by Sampson Mordan and John Isaac Hawkins. Starting from there, multiple companies began mass producing these so-called “mechanical” pencils. A mechanical pencil is also called a clutch pencil, microtip pencil, automatic pencil, drafting pencil, technical pencil, click pencil, pump pen, pump pencil, leadholder, pacer, propelling pencil, pen pencil, and lead pencil. |
July 5 is… |
| Bikini Day Mechanical Pencil Day National Apple Turnover Day National Graham Cracker Day |
July 5 Birthday Quotes |
“Beware how you trifle with your marvelous inheritance, this great land of ordered liberty, for if we stumble and fall, freedom and civilization everywhere will go down in ruin.” “I love the idea of having a kid who says, ‘Yeah, of course I knew about Billie Holiday and Johnny Cash when I was nine years old.'” “One must not mistake majority for truth.” “The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.” “Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.” “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” “We need to have a taste factor in our life. It isn’t about what’s popular; it’s about what’s really good.” |
July 5 Birthdays |
| 1586 – Thomas Hooker, English-born founder of the Colony of Connecticut (died in 1647) 1675 – Mary Walcott, American accuser and witness at the Salem witch trials (died in 1719) 1810 – P.T. ‘Phineas Taylor’ Barnum, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (died in 1891) 1867 – A. E. Douglass, American astronomer (died in 1962) 1889 – Jean Cocteau, French novelist, poet, and playwright (died in 1963) 1902 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American colonel and politician 1913 – Smiley Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 1966) 1928 – Warren Oates, American actor (died in 1982) 1936 – Shirley Knight, American actress (died in 2020) 1943 – Robbie Robertson, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor 1945 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (died in 2015) 1958 – Bill Watterson, American author and illustrator (Calvin and Hobbs) 1959 – Marc Cohn, American singer-songwriter 1960 – Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor 1963 – Edie Falco, American actress 1965 – Kathryn Erbe, American actress 1968 – Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Canadian singer-songwriter 1969 – RZA, American rapper 1970 – Mac Dre, American rapper and producer 1984 – Danay Garcia, Cuban actress 1986 – Adam ‘Owl City’ Young, American singer- songwriter and composer |
July 5 History |
| 1687 – Isaac Newton published Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. (Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica) 1841 – Thomas Cook organized the first package excursion (planned vacation tour), from Leicester to Loughborough. 1865 – William Booth and his wife Catherine establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army (1878). 1921 – Chicago White Sox players were accused of “throwing” (lose intentionally) the World Series. 1935 – The National Labor Relations Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1937 – Spam (the luncheon meat, not the internet junk) was introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation. 1946 – French designer Louis Reard introduced the Bikini in Paris. He could not find a “respectable” Model to wear his creation so he had to hire a local Nude Dancer. 1950 – The Knesset passed the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel. 1952 – #1 Hit July 5, 1952 – July 11, 1952: Percy Faith – Delicado 1954 – The BBC broadcasted its first television news bulletin. 1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the American voting age from 21 to 18 years, was formally certified by President Richard Nixon. 1986 – #1 Hit July 5, 1986 – July 11, 1986: Billy Ocean – There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) 1996 – Dolly the sheep was born – the first mammal cloned from an adult cell (she actually had three monthers) 2008 – #1 Hit July 5, 2008 – August 22, 2008: Katy Perry – I Kissed a Girl 2012 – The Shard in London was inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 1,020 ft. |
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts |
| George Burns – Real Name: Nathan Birnbaum Good writers ruminate, bad ones regurgitate. (found online) “A guy who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down.” #songlyrics An ancient megalake existed beneath what is now the Sahara Desert at one point covering over 42,000 square miles. George Bernard Shaw is the only person to ever win a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award. A group of Buzzards is called a Wake. “You can’t fool me. There ain’t no Sanity Clause!” – Fiorello (Chico Marx) #moviequotes The ancient sanction of Zaleucus: If someone proposes a change to the law that is rejected, that person gets strangled. The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929. Canada has more Costco locations per capita than any country in the world except Iceland, which has one Costco. Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zedmore were the original Ghostbusters. Though I’ve seen the commercials my entire life, I’ve never actually met anyone with a Chia Pet. Since I’m the only person who rated my local Mcdonald’s it is now a 5-star restaurant. The only truly unrealistic thing about sci-fi movie technology is the lack of pop-ups and advertisements obscuring 60% of the holoscreen. A ‘ton’ of people is really only about 15 of them. |
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