Today is National Champagne Day -

It is obviously observed on December 31st (although I've seen it listed as being celebrated on October 18th.)



Ringing in the New Year is the perfect opportunity each year to celebrate National Champagne Day.


It's the Seventh day of Christmas. Today's gift count (84 gifts): you currently have Seven Swans a' swimming, 12 geese a' laying, 15 golden rings, 16 calling birds, 15 French hens, 12 turtledoves and 7 partridges in their respective pear trees.



I can't begin to imagine the amount of bird waste you are removing at the point. But keep shoveling, you don't want the EPA on your tail (so to speak.) You may want to consider contacting your local garden store: fresh guano can garner a pretty price.


For those playing the home version -

Tonight's the Sixth night of Kwanzaa.


Somehow it has become the last page of the calendar.

It's taken me many years not to think of this as the middle of the year and think of summer break as one long New Years Eve.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.


December 31, 1923 -
On New Year's Eve, 1923, BBC engineer AG Dryland climbed onto a roof opposite the Houses of Parliament with a microphone to record the chimes of Big Ben. The sound he captured has been broadcast on BBC radio ever since.

From February 17th, 1924, the bell of Big Ben could regularly be heard on BBC radio, along with the Greenwich 'pips'.


December 31, 1969 -
Walt Disney through its Buena Vista Distribution Company released The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, starring Kurt Russell, and Cesar Romero on this date.



It’s the first motion picture to use the word “computer” in its title.


December 31, 1995 –
Cartoonist Bill Watterson ends his Calvin and Hobbes comic strip on this date.

Calvin and Hobbes debuted in 1985 and featured the adventures of Calvin, a hyperactive, overly imaginative, bratty six-year-old, and his best friend, the stuffed tiger Hobbes (who is also an actual tiger.)


Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.'


Today in History:
December 31, 1907 -
For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the New Year on this date.

The New Year’s Eve Ball first descended from a flagpole at One Times Square, constructed with iron and wood materials with 100 25-watt bulbs weighing 700 pounds and measuring 5 feet in diameter.


December 31, 1909 -
The Manhattan Bridge, the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, was opened to traffic on this date (although not officially completed until 1912.)

This must have made it quite an interesting crossing.


December 31, 1935 –
Charles Darrow of Pennsylvania was issued the patent (# 2,026,082) was issued for the game of Monopoly on this date; he assigned the patent to Parker Brothers.

Since that day, it has been translated into 37 languages and evolved into over 200 licensed and localized editions for 103 countries across the world.


December 31, 1936 -
Dr. Rolla Harger, a professor of biochemistry and toxicology, patented the Drunkometer, a balloon-like device into which people would breathe to determine whether they were inebriated in 1936. Just in time for New Year's Eve, the first practical use of the device in the field by Indianapolis police was conducted on this day.

The Drunkometer worked by having the person blow into a balloon. The balloon would be attached  to a tube of purple liquid - a  weak solution of potassium permanganate in sulphuric acid.. The darker the result, the more alcohol the person had in their system. In 1954, Robert Borkenstein, a colleague of Dr. Harger, invented a more portable tool called the Breathalyzer.


December 31, 1958 -
Rebels forces lead by Fidel Castro, marched triumphantly into Havana, Cuba on this date. Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country with 180 of his supporters and personal fortune of more than $300 million dollars amassed through graft and payoffs.



Meanwhile, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the head and gives a kiss, telling him "I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart." Michael appeals to his brother to join him in leaving the country, but Fredo runs away, frightened.



But that's another story ...


December 31, 1999 -
The large Ferris wheel, the London Eye (also called the Millennium Wheel), was built in celebration of the change of millinia, opened on this date.



It went on to become a famous London landmark, and attracts thousands of tourists a year.


ACME would like to wish everyone the Happiest and Healthiest New Year. Hope you all have wonderful plans for this evening. The only advice I can give you is worth repeating - Drink til you drop and drop where you drink - Don't drink and drive.



Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians played Auld Lang Syne as a New Year’s Eve song for the first time on this date in 1929.

This has been a tough year for most of us - hopefully the upcoming one will be a better one for us all.

The Death Of The Old Year - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,
And the winter winds are wearily sighing:
Toll ye the church bell sad and slow,
And tread softly and speak low,
For the old year lies a-dying.
Old year you must not die;
You came to us so readily,
You lived with us so steadily,
Old year you shall not die.

He lieth still: he doth not move:
He will not see the dawn of day.
He hath no other life above.
He gave me a friend and a true truelove
And the New-year will take 'em away.
Old year you must not go;
So long you have been with us,
Such joy as you have seen with us,
Old year, you shall not go.

He froth'd his bumpers to the brim;
A jollier year we shall not see.
But tho' his eyes are waxing dim,
And tho' his foes speak ill of him,
He was a friend to me.
Old year, you shall not die;
We did so laugh and cry with you,
I've half a mind to die with you,
Old year, if you must die.

He was full of joke and jest,
But all his merry quips are o'er.
To see him die across the waste
His son and heir doth ride post-haste,
But he'll be dead before.
Every one for his own.
The night is starry and cold, my friend,
And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend,
Comes up to take his own.

How hard he breathes! over the snow
I heard just now the crowing cock.
The shadows flicker to and fro:
The cricket chirps: the light burns low:
'Tis nearly twelve o'clock.
Shake hands, before you die.
Old year, we'll dearly rue for you:
What is it we can do for you?
Speak out before you die.

His face is growing sharp and thin.
Alack! our friend is gone,
Close up his eyes: tie up his chin:
Step from the corpse, and let him in
That standeth there alone,
And waiteth at the door.
There's a new foot on the floor, my friend,
And a new face at the door, my friend,
A new face at the door.

And so it goes


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