IOTD

Calendar day; December 13, 2014

Saturday, the 13th of December, 2014 is the 347th day in 2014 and in the 50th calendar week.

General Events:

Violin Day 2014
December 13, 2014 in the World

Violin Day is today. Pick up your stratovarius, and let’s play make some sweet music together. The violin is a classy musical instrument.

The violin, also known as a fiddle, is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola, and the cello. Many people think that the double bass is a member of the violin family, but it is really a member of the viol family.

Someone who plays the violin is called a violinist or a fiddler. The violinist produces sound by drawing a bow across one or more strings, by plucking the strings, or by a variety of other techniques. The violin is played by musicians in a wide variety of musical genres, including Baroque music, classical, jazz, folk music, rock and roll, and Soft rock. The violin has come to be played in cultures all over the world.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

Ice Cream Day 2014
December 13, 2014 in the World

Ice Cream Day is observed on December 13, 2014. Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. The meaning of the phrase “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Phrases such as “frozen custard”, “frozen yogurt”, “sorbet”, “gelato” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients.

Most varieties of ice cream contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to, or instead of, the natural ingredients. The mixture of chosen ingredients is stirred slowly while cooling, in order to incorporate air and to prevent large ice crystals from forming. The result is a smoothly textured semi-solid foam that is malleable and can be scooped.

National Ice Cream Day is observed in the United States on July 20.

Where is Ice Cream Day?
Worldwide

Historical Events on 13th December:

1570 – Sweden/Denmark signs Peace of Stettin

1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around world

1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.

1642 – Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland

1742 – Willem KH Friso tests his mothers potatoes

1889 – Belgium rules on women/child labor law

1902 – British and German ships begin to bombard the Venezuelan forts after President Castro refuses to comply with an ultimatum demanding that he claims for damages caused during his takeover of the government in 1899; Castro asks US President Roosevelt to arbitrate

1903 – Italo Marcioni patents ice cream cone mound (NJ)

1903 – Wright Bros make 1st flight at Kittyhawk

1916 – Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian & Italian troops in 24 hrs in Tyrol

1920 – League of nations establishes Intl Court of Justice in The Hague

1949 – Knesset votes to transfer Israel’s capital to Jerusalem

1950 – James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial

1964 – In El Paso, Tx, LBJ & Mexican Pres Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting Rio Grande, to reshape US-Mexico border

1974 – Malta becomes a republic

1982 – Earthquake hits Northern Yemen; 2,000 die

1990 – South African President De Klerk meets with Nelson Mandela to talk of end of apartheid

1991 – Both Koreas sign an accord calling for reconcilliation

1993 – Deadline for Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, they don’t