3 July - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Gemstone of the Month

Ruby

Flower of the Month: Larkspur

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!

Have you ever wondered what happened to your savings? I don’t mean what you’ve spent them on when you’ve withdrawn the funds from the bank, but what happens to them when you forget about them. I know that we wouldn’t normally forget about money we’ve worked hard to earn and save, but the money other people have saved and didn’t tell anyone about. They die and it’s gone into the bottomless coffers of the bank! Nomanda would like to know just how much cash over the years the banks have never given back! Billions, I guess! So celebrate the opening of the first US Savings Bank, the Bank of Savings in New York City that opened its doors for business on this day in 1819. Just a ten dollar deposit would be worth quite a lot today, nearly 200 years later! Come on, banks, open up your books and tell us how much you’ve got and who it belonged to and we’ll try and find today’s rightful owners! Some chance!



The population of Britain was celebrating the end of rationing after the end of WWII on this day in 1954. Yes that’s right, 9 years after the end of hostilities! And it wasn’t just food that was rationed, clothes were rationed too. A person would receive 66 clothing points to last a year and when a pair of knickers cost 2 clothing points it doesn’t require great imagination to realise just how bad things were. Anyway, it’s all over now, go out and buy whatever you want, if you can find it!



Back to more modern times it was on this day in 1989 that the movie “Batman” set the record of the fastest earning movie of all time earning a very respectable $100 million in its first 10 days! Not bad for a comic cartoon character! The ding ding ding music theme must be the sound of the cash registers!



Celebrating his birthday today is Vince Clarke (1961) the rock keyboardist of the group Erasure so how about a bit of “Oh l’amour”.




The Hollywood star, Tom Cruise (1962) will be having his birthday bash today!





Our final birthday greetings go to a lady not very well known around the film scene, Yeardley Smith (1964) but when I tell you she is the voice of none other than Lisa Simpson you will understand how she made the cut!



Happy Special Day to one and all!!



If you know someone who is celebrating their birthday, anniversary or a special day today or sometime soon why not send them a nice e-card so they get it as soon as they log on! Even better, why not send this page to your friend!
Don’t know what to get for a present? Think about what your special person enjoys doing and the things they like.


For Girls, I know that flowers and chocolates are a bit cliché but nevertheless they always seem to work! Of course, if your budget stretches that far, jewellery, watches, perfume and fashion items are always appreciated!

For Boys, all boys like toys! It’s just as they get older the toys get more expensive. So gadgets and gimmicky things work. Again, if you have the budget then car accessories, sporting equipment and clothes, and man type jewellery like watches and gold chains will go down very well!

And, if all else fails, you could always send them a gift voucher and they can choose whatever they want!

If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event today I hope you got lots of cards and presents and that there is someone special in your life who will make this day a very happy and special day for you.



Happy celebrations to you from the Happy Special Day Blog!!

12 June - Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Flower of the Month

Rose

Gemstone of the Month: Pearl


First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!

New Yorkers will be happy to celebrate this day in 1665 when the Dutch decided they’d had enough of the place and, encouraged by the English, pulled out. To mark the occasion the English decided to rename the city, previously called New Amsterdam when the Dutch were there, to New York, and the name’s stuck!


If your horse has got a stone stuck in its shoe then the first thing you will reach for is your Swiss Army Knife with its special feature for just this type of emergency. It was on this day in 1897 that Karl Elsener, the owner of a company that made surgical equipment, took out his patent for the well known knife. No Boy Scout or squaddie would be without one ever since! The modern knife boasts the following useful set of tools in addition to the main blade and a smaller second blade, tweezers, toothpick, corkscrew, can opener, bottle opener, slotted/flat-head screwdriver(s), phillips-head screwdriver, nail file, scissors, saw, file, hook, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, fish scaler, hex wrench w/bits, pliers and key chain. Recent technological features include USB flash drives, digital clock, digital altimeter, LED light, laser pointer, and MP3 player. What more could you ask for. Nomanda’s going to buy one for all his friends!


If you suffer from diabetes then celebrate this day in 1922 when Frederick Banting took out his patent for insulin and vitually overnight gave life and hope to all diabetes sufferers. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in medecine for his work the following year.



Making his fellow senators suffer was the Senator from Louisiana appropriatley named Huey Long. Renowned for upholding the rights of the poor and underpriveleged, he delivered his 15 hour speech of 150,000 words on this day in 1935. Not everybody enjoyed it as he was assassinated a few months later. However, records like this are bound to be broken and the current holder of this dubious title is J Strom Thurmond who delivered a fillibusting 24 hour and 18 minute speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Blah Blah Blah!


Bank robbers normally wouldn’t attract Nomanda’s attention except for today. It was on this day in 1962 that three convicted bank robbers, serving their sentences at the infamous Alcatraz prison, dug their way out using just metal spoons. My guess is they would have got out a lot quicker if the prison authorities had provided Swiss Army Knifes as standard issue! They then escaped from the island on a makeshift raft. Their escapade was subsequently immortalised by Clint Eastwood in his film made on location at the prison, “Escape From Alcatraz”.


Not escaping, but returning on this day in 1992 was the super hero “Batman”.



Another new twist on an old theme reaching its #17 spot in the charts on this day in 1993 was the song ”Three Little Pigs” by Green Jelly. And there’s me thinking that the traditional accompaniment to green jelly was a little lambie!



Taking up dangerous sports much too late for a lot of his fans it was on this day in 2004 that former President George H. W. Bush celebrated his 80th birthday by skydiving. Well, he’s still going strong and maybe his son will follow in his fathers’ wings soon! After all, when you’ve had two terms of the Presidency what else is there to get up for in the morning? According to his wife he doesn’t get up very early anyway!


Birthday celebrities today start with the author Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875). His best known works of “Hereward the Wake”, “Westward Ho!” and “The Water Babies” are classics.




Claiming that she was born on this day in 1953 is the actress and singer Grace Jones. She sings, she models and does a bit of acting too! Her performance in the James Bond movie “A View to a Kill” is one of her best! Wouldn’t want to bump into her in a dark alley, though!



The impressionist and comedian Jim Morris was born on this day in 1957. Nomanda loves his impressions of two of our favourite American politicians Ronald Reagan and George Bush.




Final birthday wished go to the lovely Brazilian model Adriana Lima who was born on this day in 1981. No matter how much I use I have to admit that “Maybelline” just doesn’t do it for Nomanda!



Happy Special Day to one and all!!


If you know someone who is celebrating their birthday, anniversary or a special day today or sometime soon why not send them a nice e-card so they get it as soon as they log on! Even better, why not send this page to your friend!
Don’t know what to get for a present? Think about what your special person enjoys doing and the things they like.


For Girls, I know that flowers and chocolates are a bit cliché but nevertheless they always seem to work! Of course, if your budget stretches that far, jewellery, watches, perfume and fashion items are always appreciated!

For Boys, all boys like toys! It’s just as they get older the toys get more expensive. So gadgets and gimmicky things work. Again, if you have the budget then car accessories, sporting equipment and clothes, and man type jewellery like watches and gold chains will go down very well!

And, if all else fails, you could always send them a gift voucher and they can choose whatever they want!

If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event today I hope you got lots of cards and presents and that there is someone special in your life who will make this day a very happy and special day for you.



Happy celebrations to you from the Happy Special Day Blog!!

20 February Historical Events and Special Celebrations

Flower of the Month

Violet

Gemstone of the Month: Amethyst

First of all Nomanda would like to thank all our new readers! We have been getting more and more of you every day and we really appreciate you! If you are enjoying Nomanda’s blog please pass it on to your friends. And if you would like to make a comment or get your own special mention on your own special day just send us the details through the comments section and we’ll make sure we don’t forget you!

Nomanda’s Happy Special Day blog is a celebration of events and anniversaries that have touched our lives. If today is your special day join us in looking at a few other events that have occurred on your day. Enjoy!



This day in 1872 was a hot day for inventors, art lovers and people who like to pick their teeth!


Cyrus Baldwin patented the hydraulic electric elevator which is very handy for those living on anything higher than the first two stories of a building!




Luther Crowell patented a machine that manufactured paper bags which are very handy when you’ve got loads of shopping to carry and not enough hands and arms!




Silas Noble and J P Cooley put their heads together and came up and patented a machine that manufactures tooth picks which are very handy when you’ve got a bit of something stuck between your teeth! I cannot believe that it was a very complicated bit of machinery, more like an automated very small pencil sharpener that whizzed round on the end of a drill and shaped the ends of the pick!


And art lovers celebrated the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, or the “Met” as the locals call it!

What a day!


The religious community didn’t show very much community spirit in South Carolina on this day in 1927 when a number of golfers were arrested for playing on the Sabbath! I don’t know how you get a Sunday 4-ball together without playing on Sunday! I bet those kill joys couldn’t answer that one!



The comic strip “Batman and Robin” made its first newspaper appearance on this day in 1944. I know that it’s not quite the same but my favourite Batman and Robin moment is this one with “Dell Boy” and “Rodney” from “Only Fools and Horses” on their way to a fancy dress party that turned out to be a wake!



Just because he’s not popular doesn’t mean that the Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown (1951) shouldn’t get a birthday mention today. Despite living in No. 10 all the time that his mate Tony was PM he obviously wanted the main job and after years of moaning and bickering at Tony to pass over the reins he eventually got it. In the meantime as Chancellor of the Exchequer he had set the country up for the fruits being reaped today. If there’s enough money left to print ballot papers for the next General Election he and his Labour Party will not get re-elected and we’ll all be in for a decade of seeing how the Conservatives will cock up the economy! Enjoy your day and time whilst you can, Gordon, because it won’t last much longer! The sad thing is having brought the country to its knees he will fade away with a luvvly jubbly pension plan and make a fortune from after dinner speeches and writing his memoirs!


On a happier note let’s send our birthday wishes to Cindy Crawford (1966) who has been on the front of more magazine covers than I’ve had hot dinners! She’s pretty cool in this Pepsi ad but it won’t change Nomanda’s mind on which Coke is best!



Our final birthday greetings go to Brian Littrell (1975) from the group Backstreet Boys and here is one of Nomanda’s favourites!





Happy Special Day to one and all!!


If you know someone who is celebrating their birthday, anniversary or a special day today or sometime soon why not send them a nice e-card so they get it as soon as they log on! Even better, why not send this page to your friend!
Don’t know what to get for a present? Think about what your special person enjoys doing and the things they like.


For Girls, I know that flowers and chocolates are a bit cliché but nevertheless they always seem to work! Of course, if your budget stretches that far, jewellery, watches, perfume and fashion items are always appreciated!

For Boys, all boys like toys! It’s just as they get older the toys get more expensive. So gadgets and gimmicky things work. Again, if you have the budget then car accessories, sporting equipment and clothes, and man type jewellery like watches and gold chains will go down very well!

And, if all else fails, you could always send them a gift voucher and they can choose whatever they want!

If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event today I hope you got lots of cards and presents and that there is someone special in your life who will make this day a very happy and special day for you.



Happy celebrations to you from the Happy Special Day Blog!!