Today is...

[IceWizard]

Tuesday 14 June 2016

National Bourbon Day



You may have heard the saying that all bourbons are whiskey, but not all are bourbon. For a whiskey to classify as bourbon it must be made in the U.S. While any state will do, most are made in Kentucky.

In addition, its mash which is that mix of grains from which bourbon is distilled must comprise at least 51 per cent and no more than 79 per cent Indian corn. Most recipes use about 70 per cent corn, which gives it its nickname corn whiskey.

Besides corn, the other grains used in the making of bourbon include malted barley and either rye or wheat. Some Kentucky bourbon makers say the limestone spring water in that area of the state lends bourbon its distinctive flavor.

Bourbon must be aged at least two years in a new, charred oak barrel made from American White Oak. But many types of bourbon are aged four years or longer. Bourbon gains its color and much of its flavor from barrel aging. The charred wood provides caramelized sugars that add flavor to the whiskey.

The barrels can only be used once for bourbon so many become furniture or firewood. Others are used for aging soy sauce, while most end up in the United Kingdom for their Scotch whiskies.

Bourbon barrels are stored in large, multi- storey warehouses called rick houses. The wood barrels expand and contract based on the weather outside which eventually penetrates these rick houses. Hot weather causes the pores of the wood to open up more and impart their flavor. The result is barrels on the top floor will have a slightly different flavor than those on lower floors.

Most distillers make their bourbon between 80 and 100 proof. This means it contains 40 to 50 percent alcohol by volume.

And

World Blood Donor Day



Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year by the people in many countries around the world on 14 June. World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on the day of birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on 14 June in 1868.

World Blood Donor Day celebration brings a precious opportunity to all donors for celebrating it on national and global level as well as to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the Karl Landsteiner (a great scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his great discovery of the ABO blood group system).

And Last but not Least

National Flag Day
(Recognized by America only)




Flag Day Celebrated June 14, 1777

Today is Flag Day! On May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14.

Many Americans celebrate Flag Day by displaying the Red, White and Blue in front of homes and businesses. The day commemorates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States.

Get More About the US Flag Here



Finally.... Bourbon Day! I think that I can really get into this particular 'special' day

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The 166 day of the year 200 days left to go.

1642: Massachusetts passed the first compulsory education law in the colonies.

1775: The Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.

1777: The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.

1789: Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.

1834: Isaac Fischer, Jr. of Vermont patented sandpaper.

1846: A group of American settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.

1900: Hawaii becomes a United States territory.

1937: Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.

1943: The Supreme Court ruled schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the U.S. flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs.

1954: U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

1965: Paul McCartney recorded "Yesterday," a song he affectionately called "Scrambled Eggs".

1976: The Gong Show debuted on NBC. Host Chuck Barris introduced amateur acts, the worst of which were "gonged" by a panel of judges.

1989: Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was arrested in Beverly Hills for slapping a motorcycle patrolman.

1996: Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,216th straight game with Baltimore, breaking an endurance record set by Japan’s Sachio Kinugasa. The Orioles beat the Royals 6-1.

1997: A 1939 comic book that featured the debut of Batman was auctioned in New York for $68,500.

2005: A woman searching for aluminum cans in a trash bin in Framingham, Massachusetts, was dumped into the back of a garbage truck after the driver emptied the bin without realizing she was inside. The 38-year-old woman avoided major injury after a worker installing carpet nearby heard her screams and alerted the truck driver, who was about to press the compacting button.