Good afternoon--March certainly came in like a lion! We were socked with another six inches of snow! Hope you all had a nice weekend despite the weather. We have a lot of exciting things happening this month, and we start off with Women's History Month and the celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday.
We celebrate Women's History Month in March to recognize the achievements and contributions of women to American society. Its beginnings trace back to the first International Women's Day, which was held in Europe in 1911, This observance was initially held in remembrance of the 1908 garment workers' strike with demonstrations over sex discrimination and equal rights for women. During the 1960s and 1970s, with the growing women's liberation movement, many felt the role of women in history was not prominent enough in textbooks and lessons. Many colleges began to include women's history in their course catalogs. In 1978, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women initiated a "Women's History Week," which coincided with the March 8th observance of International Women's Day. As a result of the conference, many schools began to focus on projects and exhibitions honoring women in history. Congress expanded the observance to the entire month of March in 1987.
If you'd like to read inspirational quotes by influential women, see today's article in the International Business Times.
For a biographical list of notable women. along with a women's suffrage timeline, check out the Women's History section of About.com.
A must-read for all children, especially young girls, is an upcoming book by Kate Schatz called Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future! All schoolchildren should learn about the amazing things women have accomplished throughout history.
Check your local library, schools, or cultural institutions for Women's History Month events in your area.
Today is National Read Across America day, which also marks the 111th birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss, is best known for his books featuring elaborate rhymes and whimsical drawings, includingAnd to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street (his first, in 1936), Horton Hears a Who (1956), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), The Cat in the Hat (1957), and Green Eggs and Ham (1960). Many of these books were made into TV specials and/or movies.
Geisel began using the pen name "Seuss" when he was caught drinking in his room and banned from all extracurricular activities, including writing for the college humor magazine, which he eventually edited. After a brief stint at Oxford to study education, he was encourage to continue illustration and returned to the U.S. He began to submit his work to magazines, ad agencies, and book publishers. Among his clients were The Saturday Evening Post, NBC, Standard Oil (now Exxon), and
General Electric. Dr. Seuss also created several posters and wrote films to support the U.S. war effort. His film series Our Job in Japan and Private Snafu were well received by the U.S. Army and he was awarded the Legion of Merit.
Although Seuss was married twice (to Helen Palmer then Audrey Stone), he never had any children of his own. He died of oral cancer in 1991. His honors include two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for outstanding contributions to children's literature. This year Random House (Seuss's publisher) announced it will publish a recently discovered manuscript called What Pet Should I Get? It is scheduled to be published at the end of July.
Dr. Seuss-themed birthday parties are very popular with young children. Adults seem to like dressing as the Cat in the Hat or Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the book. From Tiny Oranges, here is a great example of a Dr. Seuss-themed birthday party. Among the foods served were red fish and blue fish-shaped cookies and a Cat-in-the-Hat cake. You can find many Dr. Suess-themed party supplies from online shops such as Birthday Express.
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| Grace Hopper |
Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: For each day this month, we will include a fun fact related to American women's history. Today's fun fact is about women in technology, In the late 1950s, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper created COBOL (COmmonBusiness-Oriented Language), one of the first computer programming languages. Hopper was also credited for popularizing the terms "computer bug" and "debugging."
Today's Birthdays: Nathalie Emmanuel (26), Robert Iler (30), Daniel Craig (57), Larry Stewart (56), John Cowsill (59), Jay Osmond (60), Laraine Newman (63), Cassie Yates (64), John Irving (73), Tom Wolfe (85), and John Collum (85).
Holidaze: Today's other Holidaze include National Old Stuff Day and National Banana Cream Pie Day.
Sometimes, you may think you're in a rut with the same old dull routine. On National Old Stuff Day, you recognize the things that you do each day and think of creative ways to change them. You may want to try a new route to work, a new exercise, get a new hairstyle, sample some new food, or buy a new cologne.
Banana Cream Pies date back to the late 19th century and was the favorite dessert with the soldiers of our armed forces during the 1950s. A typical recipe calls for a box of banana-flavored pudding, graham crackers, whipped cream. and cream cheese. flour, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Tomorrow, we continue our coverage of Kids' Parties and I will unveil a couple of new games from the shop.
Have a PRINTASTIC day!
Kathy
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