Today is...

[IceWizard]

12 Feb 2017


World Marriage Day



Marriage is a hugely important institution in many parts of the world, and symbolises the formalisation of a relationship between a loving couple. Marriage Day celebrates everything about marriage, and is a great day to propose to your partner, or to get hitched!



And




Lost Penny Day



When you think about it, pennies are a real nuisance. They’re small and seemingly almost worthless, and despite putting them safely in your wallet or purse, they always seem to wind up blocking the filter on your washing machine, slipping down the sides of the cushions on your favourite armchair, or getting sucked up the vacuum cleaner. Nevertheless, on one special day each year we can take the time to gather up those ever-wandering coins and finally do something more useful with them that we usually do by donating them to a charity of our choice. Lost Penny Day is the perfect day to take a moment to recognize that despite the fact that pennies may not seem like they are worth much, they can still be found and used to help those in need to whom each and every penny counts and adds up.

The History of Lost Penny Day

The first penny ever was designed by Benjamin Franklin and minted in 1787. The penny we’re familiar with today, however, adorned with the bust of late American president Abraham Lincoln, was first minted in 1909 and released on February 12th to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The founder of Lost Penny Day, Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith, wrote a log post about her idea, explaining that what she was trying to demonstrate was: “Petty change can make an astounding difference”, which is a positive message indeed, and one we can suspect Honest Abe himself would have supported. In fact, one of Lincoln’s most well-known quotes was, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward”.



And



Darwin Day

We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
– Charles Darwin

There was a pivotal moment in history when we began to look at ourselves, and at life, in a new way. It changed not just how we perceived ourselves, but how we were related to all the other life and species on Earth. We came to realize, along the way, that we were kin, however distant, of every lifeform on Earth, and that moment was both aggrandizing and humbling, all at once. That moment was when Charles Darwin brought the idea of Law of Natural Selection into the limelight of the scientific world, and we began to see with clear eyes how everything, absolutely everything, was connected.

History of Darwin Day

Darwin was absolutely fundamental to the understanding of life and the species of the world as we know it today. Charles Robert Darwin was born in 1809, and grew to become a naturalist and geologist who would come to change the world. He was fascinated by the number and variety of fossils from around the world, and the species in their great diversity, and so set out on a five-year voyage on the Beagle to sail around the world to study life in all its forms.

While his theories were originally rejected by the science of his day, it came to be seen as incontrovertible fact as more and more data was collected and more species were discovered. DNA research pushed it even further, as we started to see the connections between species in the very genes that composed them. It was impossible not to see that some species originated from other species, and that even man itself had a shared ancestor with the primates. Science would never be the same.

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February 12 Birthdays



Abraham Lincoln - (1809 - 1865) (56)



Charles Darwin - (1809 -1882) (73)



Bill Russell - 83



Josh Brolin - 49



Arsenio Hall - 61



Anna Pavlova - (1881 - 1931) (49)






February 12th

2007: The Police held a press conference at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood to announce their reunion tour. The group also held a public rehearsal.

1994: Alice in Chains made history as their EP Jar of Flies became the first EP to reach number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.

1981: Rush released Moving Pictures which went on to become their most commercially successful album in the U.S. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 Album Chart the following month & sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.

1977: The Police recorded their first single “Fall Out” & b-side “Nothing Achieving” at Pathway Studios in London. The cost to record both sides was approximately $250.

1972: Yes released the single “Roundabout” which went on to become their second top 40 single in the U.S., peaking at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart & remains a staple on classic rock radio to this day.

1970: John Lennon performed “Instant Karma!” on a pre-taped appearance on the U.K.’s Top of the Pops, which made Lennon the first Beatle to appear on the show since 1966.

1968: Jimi Hendrix made his live debut in his birthplace of Seattle at the Seattle Arena. Hendrix also received the key to the city & received an honorary diploma from Garfield High School, where he dropped out at 16 years old.

1967: Keith Richards’ home “Redlands” in Sussex, U.K. was raided by 15 police officers with a warrant under the Dangerous Drugs Act. Charges were made against Richards & Mick Jagger.

1966: The Who peaked at number seventy-four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “My Generation” which was their second single to chart in the U.S. The song reached number two on the U.K. Singles Chart the previous November.



Birthdays:

Ray Manzarek - Keyboardist for The Doors born in 1939

Stanley Knight - Guitarist for Black Oak Arkansas born in 1949

Steve Hackett - Guitarist for Genesis born in 1950

Gil Moore - Drummer for Triumph born in 1951

Michael McDonald - Singer for The Doobie Brothers born in 1952