Today is day 95 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Setting Orange, Discord 22, 3187 YOLD And let us not forget 13.0.8.7.7 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)
Dandelion Day One helluva plant, as it turns out. The English is a mispronunciation of the French dent de lion or "lions tooth", though sometimes (folkish) piss-a-bed, pee-a-bed or wet-a-bed, from the strong diuretic properties of the root. It has been used for food and in folk medicine in various cultures since antiquity and was brought over on the Mayflower just in case there wasn't any already here. As it turns out, at least one species was already here, but now there were more. There appear to be a metric boatload of subspecies world wide, with at least a couple of imperial tons in Britain alone, which, oddly enough, is sort of where Britain is these days. Zo, the full taxonomy is full of clades*, a whole newfangled thing brought about by the endless march of science, but the old school bottom end is:
Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Subfamily: Cichorioideae Tribe: Cichorieae Subtribe: Crepidinae Genus: Taraxacum
- from da wiki, of course
The two most common species globally are T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, both of which were introduced from Europe (natch). Taraxacum officinale is, it would seem, the "official" dandelion. All parts are edible (I've actually seen the leaves at retail grocers and farmers' merkets) and chock full of vitamins, minerals and other good stuff like inulin (a prebiotic) and lutein a carotenoid.
Beyond that, I refer you to da wiki, 'cause who is gonna take the trouble to lie about dandelions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum
* Clade is a whole newfangled taxonomic category not to be confused with clave an Afro-Cuban rhythm best known as The Bo Diddley Beat, which, though seemingly first popularly recorded by Johnny Otis (Willie and the Hand Jive), was, per Mr. Otis himself something he had already heard twice, first by some latin group and second by Bo.
OK, back to Dandelions ---
On this day in history:
1242 – Prince Alexander Nevsky and a mixed force of Novgorodians and Russians stopped the Crusaders and the Teutonic Knights, defeating them so thoroughly as to put an end to the Northern Crusades. The Battle on The Ice was dramatized and celebrated in Sergei Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky which everybody should see at once in their lives.
1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, forced themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and presented the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.
1609 – Daimyo Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in Japan, completed his successful invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa.
1710 – The Statute of Anne received the royal assent and thereby created the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
1722 – Jacob Roggeveen "discovered" Easter Island. and its then 2,000-3,000 inhabitants. 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discovered a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they called Linear B.
1910 – The Transandine Railway connecting Chile and Argentina was inaugurated.
1922 – The American Birth Control League, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood, was incorporated.
1933 – FDR signed executive order 6101 creating the Civilian Conservation Corps, and executive order 6102 "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates" by U.S. citizens.
1956 – Fidel Castro declared himself at war with our close ally and dear friend Fulgencio Batista.
1969 – Massive antiwar demonstrations occurred in many U.S. cities to no avail.
1976 – China's April Fifth Movement led to the Tiananmen Incident.
1977 – The US Supreme Court ruled that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people's reservation thereby destroyed the tribe's jurisdictional authority over the area regardless of the fact that it was a blatant treaty violation. (Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip)
1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolved the Peruvian congress by military force making him an obvious ally and dear friend of the US warranting our aid and support.
1998 – The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest bridge span in the world, opened to traffic .
Born this day in:
It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.
~~ Thomas Hobbes 1279 – Al-Nuwayri, historian 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, philosopher 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, mathematician, astronomer, and physicist 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, painter and etcher 1752 – Sébastien Érard, instrument maker 1761 – Sybil Ludington, heroine of the American Revolutionary War 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, as in "Anchor Hardy, Anchor!" 1811 – Jules Dupré, painter 1827 – Joseph Lister, surgeon and academic 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet, playwright, novelist, and critic 1839 – Robert Smalls, ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician 1842 – Hans Hildebrand, archaeologist 1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, engineer and cartoonist 1856 – Booker T. Washington, educator, essayist and historian 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, microbiologist and chemist 1882 – Song Jiaoren, revolutionary 1899 – Alfred Blalock, surgeon and academic 1904 – Richard Eberhart, poet and academic 1922 – Gale Storm, actress and singer 1923 – Ernest Mandel, Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist 1925 – Janet Rowley, human geneticist 1928 – Tony Williams, singer 1929 – Joe Meek, songwriter and producer 1931 – Jack Clement, singer, songwriter, and producer 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, saxophonist and composer 1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, astrophysicist and astronomer 1938 – Nancy Holt, sculptor and painter 1939 – Ronald White, singer and songwriter 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, singer, songwriter, and fiddler 1942 – Allan Clarke, singer and songwriter 1944 – Evan Parker, musician 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, singer, songwriter, and producer 1952 – John C. Dvorak, author and editor 1960 – Larry McCray, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, theoretical physicist 1973 – Pharrell Williams, singer, songwriter, and rapper
Died this day in:
We must make Boogie Music an essential factor in the life of all. In presenting this song to the world, we must then explain and justify our position by formulating a definition of Boogie Music and setting forth its main principles in such a way that all may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, and every relation with every other human being in every circumstance depends on Boogie Music and the right comprehension and right application thereof
~~ Bob Hite 1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Ipainter 1612 – Diana Scultori, engraver 1900 – Joseph Bertrand, mathematician, economist, and academic 1921 – Sophie Elkan, writer and translator 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, archaeologist and businessman 1932 – María Blanchard, painter 1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, novelist and playwright 1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, painter 1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, artist 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, geneticist and academic 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, painter 1981 – Bob Hite, singer and songwriter 1994 – Kurt Cobain, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist 1995 – Emilio Greco, sculptor and engraver 1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, poet 2005 – Saul Bellow, novelist, essayist and short story writer, 2006 – Gene Pitney, singer and songwriter 2012 – Barney McKenna, musician
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Piano Day Dingus Day Sweet Potato Day National Caramel Day Dandelion Day First contact Day National Flash Drive Day
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)
Tony Williams
Joe Meek
Stanley Turrentine
Ronald White
Dave Swarbrick
Allan Clarke
Agnetha Fältskog
Larry McCray
Pharrell Williams
George Herbert
Bob Hite
Gene Pitney
Well, I tried to avoid this, up above, but just can't, so here's some bonus Refried Boogie
It's an open thread, so do your thing, got it? Below this point this is a public forum, your forum, nothing is off topic, so go for it
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com