As
we get close to the end of February 2016, I'm sure all of us in the upper parts
of North America are ready to bid it adieu, if only for the reason that we are
sick of snow and below freezing temperatures.
March is definitely a more optimistic month - if for no other reason
than the fact that we get more daylight in the day thanks to Daylight Savings
Time.
But
there's still enough time in the month for us to have one more Tuesday Timeline at least. And I guarantee you
that the subject for this topic is going to be a sweet one!
For
now, let's take a look at what happened on this date in history.
1455 - Listed as the traditional date for the
publication of the Gutenberg Bible - the first book printed in the West with
movable type
1836 - The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio,
Texas
1861 - After an alleged assassination attempt in
Baltimore, Maryland, Abraham Lincoln arrives in Washington D.C. in secrecy
1870 - Mississippi is readmitted into the United States
five years after the end of the American Civil War
1886 - Charles Martin Hall produces the first samples of
man-made aluminum
1889 - American director Victor Fleming (d. 1949) is
born in La Canada Flintridge, California
1898 - Emile Zola is imprisoned following his writing of
the "J'Accuse" letter that accused the French government of
antisemetic beliefs
1905 - The Rotary Club is founded in Chicago
1927 - Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress that
establishes the Federal Radio Commission
1941 - Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg produces and isolates the
element of plutonium
1944 - Singer-songwriter Johnny Winter (d. 2014) is born
in Beaumont, Texas
1945 - U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman
reach the summit of Mount Suribachi and are photographed raising the American
flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima
1954 - The first inoculations of children with the Salk
vaccine - a vaccine designed to combat polio - is administered in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demands another $4
million in ransom money to release Patty Hearst
1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declares that Iran's
parliament will decide the fate of the hostages taken during the Iran Hostage
Crisis
1991 - Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border into
Iraq beginning the ground phase of the Gulf War
1998 - An outbreak of tornadoes in Florida kill 42
people and damages over 2,600 structures
1999 - Gaitur, Austria is destroyed by an avalanche; 31
people lose their lives
2010 - Criminals dump nearly 2.5 million liters of
diesel oil into Italy's Lambro River, sparking an environmental disaster
And
celebrating a birthday this 23rd of February are the following people; Hans Herrmann, Linda Cristal, Peter Fonda, Ron Hunt, Doug Moench, Marc Garneau, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Patricia Richardson, Brad Whitford, Howard Jones, David Sylvian, Chris Vrenna, Daymond John, Niecy Nash, Paul Anthony Stewart, Rondell White, Michael Cornacchia, Kelly Macdonald, Adam Hann-Byrd, Aziz Ansari, Emily Blunt, Skylar Grey, Samara Weaving, and Dakota Fanning.
Okay,
so what date will we be going back in time to this week? Well, hold on to your hats because we're
going back in time at least one hundred years plus a bit!
Yep,
you're not reading that date wrong. We
are taking a look back at February 23, 1896!
You
know, I can't say for sure that I know what the year 1896 was like because I
missed it by eighty-five years! But I
imagine it was a simpler time with simple pleasures. And one of those pleasures just happened to be invented on this
very date.
You
remember how the last entry that I wrote before this one talked about
commercial mascots and spokespeople, and I talked about the behind the scenes
stories about them? Well, while trying
to come up with ideas for the topic, I was reminded of a commercial that used
to air on television when I was a kid that I absolutely loved. In fact, I'll post it below.
I'm
fairly sure that it takes a lot more than three licks to get to the middle of a
Tootsie Roll pop - though nobody I know has ever taken the test to find out for
sure. I know I attempted to do it once,
but lost interest after lick #176.
But
the topic is not about the delicious candy confection known as the Tootsie Roll
Pop. Those things didn't come out until
1931.
It
was what was inside the pop that will serve to be our main topic. That morsel of chocolate flavoured taffy
like substance that has caused great divide amongst confection connoisseurs
such as myself. Some absolutely love it
for its classic taste and history, while others can't stomach it.
Myself? I like it...but I like the fruit flavoured
version better.
Love
it or hate it, the Tootsie Roll celebrates its 120th
birthday today!
First
manufactured on February 23, 1896, the founder of the Tootsie Roll, Leo
Hirshfield, had a goal in mind when coming up with the design and flavour. He wanted to come up with a candy that
tasted like chocolate (likely inspired by the fact that the Hershey bar had
been created just two years prior), but could withstand the heat of the hot sun
during the summer months. He achieved
this by making the Tootsie Roll have the same composition and texture as a
piece of taffy or a caramel. He made it
this way so that the shipments from warehouse to store would arrive without
melting.
And
as of 2016, it is estimated that over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are made daily
in the United States. Not bad for a
little chocolate candy, huh?
Here
are a few more pieces of trivia about this delightful treat.
Did
you know that the Tootsie Roll was the very first penny candy to come
individually wrapped? It's true,
although the only Tootsie Rolls that were available for a cent at that time
were the little tiny ones, also affectionately known as "Midgees".
Did
you know that Tootsie Rolls come in other flavours other than chocolate? It's true! There are standard Tootsie Fruit Rolls that are available for
purchase right around Halloween (and may be available at some supermarket
checkout counters), and they come in flavours such as vanilla, lime, orange, cherry,
and lemon? I actually am one who prefers
the fruit flavoured ones over the original chocolate flavour, though I will eat
both. I'm partial to the lime and
vanilla ones.
Did
you know that Tootsie Rolls were certified kosher in 2009? That means that people can have Tootsie
Rolls for Hanukkah and other Jewish celebrations!
Did
you know what the ingredients of a standard Tootsie Roll are? Well, the current list includes sugar, corn
syrup, hydrogenated soybean oil, condensed skim milk, whey, cocoa, soy lechtin,
as well as natural and artificial favouring.
Okay, so it's not quite all natural, but as long as you don't eat too
many, you won't get a belly ache.
Did
you know that several people have attempted to come up with the definitive
answer for how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll
Pop? The answers range from 200 to
almost 3,500 licks! I guess we really
are no closer to finding out the answer, though YouTube sensation Ryan Higa
filmed a video of himself trying to figure it out and claims that it is
700. For me, I gave up after 176 licks,
so he could very well be right!
Did
you know that twenty million Tootsie Roll Pops are manufactured each year? That's a lot of chances to find out what the
answer is in regards to the Tootsie Roll pop question!
Did
you know that the company actually reuses some of the previous day's batch of
Tootsie Rolls to make new batches the following day? Now that's recycling!
Did
you know that during the Korean War, the U.S. Marine Corps were accidentally
sent crates of Tootsie Rolls instead of ammunition? It's true! I have to
wonder how they fared in combat. I
suppose the confusion comes from the fact that at that time, "tootsie
roll" was code for mortar rounds.
Did
you know that Tootsie Rolls once had a comic mascot named Captain Tootsie? The comic strip was printed in newspapers
until at least the 1950s. Not quite the
success that Bazooka Joe comics were, but a good try, nonetheless.
Finally,
did you know that Tootsie Roll had its very own jingle, sung by a couple of
kids? It's true, and here's the proof!
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