Fact checking and Myth Busting the Holiday of President's Day and Presidential Myths

First of all - the actual name for the holiday we're celebrating today is NOT President's Day; it is, and has been Washington's Birthday (born February 22nd, 1732 in colonial Virginia) since 1885 when little known President Chester Arthur signed the date as a holiday into law.  For a fascinating history of the holiday, I refer you to this intriguing bit of research by Snopes.com.  The Snopes piece also corrects the myth that we celebrate Presidents Day, celebrating all Presidents, because of executive order 11582 by Richard Nixon that was part of creating three day holidays for federal employees, but that executive order actually still affects the celebration of Washington's Birthday, the notion that it was a name change or a change of who we celebrate actually comes from a newspaper spoof of the time, and is not fact.

While many states have separately celebrated Lincoln's birthday, it has NEVER been a federal holiday!

Top Ten Myths about George Washington - for more details, please see this excellent link:

1. George Washington cut down a cherry tree with his hatchet as a boy, and then told the truth about his action.   False.  It is an historic myth. and the link has the details of how it became a widely circulated story.

Fact checking Valentine's Day

A happy Valentine's Day to Penigma readers.  As our valentine to you, I thought it would be fun to fact-check the day, and some of the symbols associated with it.  Beginning with the classic heart image found in heart shaped boxes of chocolates, jewelry, cards, etc (from Wikipedia).:

"The heart (♥) has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul, and stylized depictions of hearts are used as prevalent symbols representing love."

Thanksgiving Today, not next week

This came into my private email today.

I want to pass it on to our Penigma readers, hoping you will all join me in saying thanks to our service men and women, in time for the official Thanksgiving Holiday next Thursday.  While the email I received was set to help us thank yous from residents of Minnesota, I have reset the link to the national USO Thank You page instead.  So if you are not from Minnesota - this still works for YOU to say thank you!  Wherever you are - please take advantage of this opportunity.  And if you can make a donation in support of our troops, please do that as well.

Coming Out, Out, Out, Wherever They Are

UPDATE: GOP Candidate for Governor of New York, Carl Paladino, who's homophobic statements are linked below, and who did multiple television appearances after making them, took an intransigent position to criticism.  Now, he has flip-flopped, appearing to change his previous adamant position against the LGBT community.

Wishing all of our Penigma readers a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

In celebration of the holiday, here is a Labor Day trivia quiz, the holiday zone.

On the Shoulders of Giants

If you haven't read it recently, this is a good time to revisit this document.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

What Do You Know? A 4th of July Weekend Quiz - 30 Questions

http://www.americanrevolutioncenter.org/node/198

A special thank you to the AmericanRevolutionCenter.org

as the source for this quiz.

What do you know about the American Revolution?

The American Revolution and Its Enduring Legacy:

1.Is the Bill of Rights part of:
A.the U.S. Constitution
B.the Declaration of Independence
C.the Gettysburg Address
D.the Articles of Confederation
E.Don’t know

To our Canadian Readers, we at Penigma wish you a very safe and happy celebration on this Dominion Day, July 1st, 2010.