Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20181213022315

December 13: National Guard Birthday, National Cocoa Day, National Violin Day, and National Day Of The Horse.

🍁🇺🇸🛥National Guard Birthday! On December 13, 1636, a direct declaration by the Massachusetts General Court established for the first time in the American Colonies an official militia. The resolution required that all able-bodied men from age 16 to 60 were expected to join. While less-organized militia existed at the time, this legal document brought them together under a formal establishment. This organization today is known as the National Guard. The Massachusetts Bay Colony established three regiments designated East, South, and North. Older than the United States itself, the National Guard maintains roots in Massachusetts with the 101st Engineer Battalion (formerly East Regiment), the 101st Field Artillery (South Regiment), and the 181st Infantry and the 182nd Infantry Regiments (North Regiment). After the United States was formed and the country grew, each state established its own militia. The term National Guard was not the official name until 1933. While National Guard was used by some states before this time, individual state militia had various titles ranging from Mississippi’s State Guard to Indiana Legion. After World War II, the Air National Guard was created as a component of the newly established United States Airforce. Today you join the National Guard just like you do any other branch of the military and also go through basic training. The National Guard is primarily composed of citizen soldiers who hold down full-time, civilian jobs, attend school or as is often the case, both. National Guard Soldiers serve both community and country. Their versatility enables them to respond to domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions, counter-drug efforts, reconstruction missions and more. Each U.S. state, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the territories of Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands maintain both an Army National Guard and an Air National Guard. The Guard always responds with speed, strength and efficiency, helping to defend American freedom and ideals. Today, approximately 350,000 men and women serve in the National Guard and the Air National Guard, 39% of the Army’s operational force.

🍫National Cocoa Day! The terms hot chocolate and hot cocoa are often used interchangeably by Americans causing a bit of confusion. To make hot chocolate, we use ground chocolate which contains cocoa butter and it is mixed with hot milk and is actually a drinking chocolate. Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder. Through the fermentation, drying, roasting and grinding process of cocoa beans a paste called chocolate liquor is produced. Through another method, the cocoa butter is separated leaving cocoa powder. It is this cocoa powder that we use to make hot cocoa. It has very little fat and calories and is mixed with either hot milk or water. Both are enjoyed in a variety of combinations, topped with whipped cream or marshmallows. Sometimes a sprinkle of cinnamon or a dash of peppermint makes the chocolate extra special. In the United States, an instant form of the drink is popular. It is made with hot water or milk and a packet containing mostly cocoa powder, sugar, and dry milk. It is believed that 2000 years ago the first chocolate beverage was created by the Mayas and a cocoa beverage was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. Europe popularized the drink after it was introduced from Mexico in the New World and it has undergone multiple changes since then. Up until the 19th century, hot chocolate was used medicinally to treat ailments such as stomach diseases. There are health benefits to drinking hot cocoa. Cocoa contains significant amounts of antioxidants that may help prevent cancer. It has also been shown that the cocoa beans help with digestion. The flavonoids that are found in the cocoa also have a positive effect on arterial health.

🎻National Violin Day honors that bowed string instrument, which is also known as the fiddle. “Violin” comes from the Medieval Latin work “vitula” which means stringed instrument. The person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier. It is believed that Turkic and Mongolian horseman from Inner Asia were the world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles were strung with horsehair strings. They played them with horsehair bows and often featured a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck. The violins that we play today, (also the violas and cellos) and whose bows are still strung with horsehair, are a legacy of the nomads. Although having ancient origins, the violin got most of its modern characteristics in Italy during the 16th century with further modifications in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is supposed that the oldest documented four string violin, like the modern violins, was constructed by Andrea Amati in 1555.The record dollar amount paid for a Stradivari violin, when the “Lady Blunt” was sold on an online auction on June 20, 2011, was $15.9 million.Violins made by Stradivari are one of the most sought-after instruments by both collectors and musicians alike. By drawing the bow across the strings, the violinist manipulates the sound in several ways providing a broad range of music. Violinists have demonstrated over the generations the versatility of the violin by the extensive use in many genres such as baroque music, classical, jazz, folk music, rock and roll and soft rock.

🐎National Day of the Horse encourages people of the United States to be mindful of the contribution of horses to the economy, history and character of the United States. The domesticated horse we know today, also known as Equus caballus was introduced into North America by Spanish explorers. Escaped horses eventually spread across the American Great Plains. Interestingly, there is a debate about the origin of E. caballus. There have been recent mitochondrial studies of an ancient horse called Equus lamei. E. lamei once populated North America and died out more than 11,000 years ago. The studies suggest it is genetically equivalent to what we know as the modern, domesticated horse. This could mean that E. caballus is technically a native species and its evolutionary origin is North America. Aside from the anthropological debate, the horse has contributed greatly to the advancement of civilization in North America. From clearing forests for farmland and a form of travel bringing pioneers to the west to diversifying Native American’s hunting habits and rounding up livestock on ranches, the horse is embedded in American history and legend. On November 18, 2004, United States Senate Resolution 452 recognized December 13 as the National Day of the Horse.

Happy Birthday National Guard! Thank you for all you do. I did not know there was a difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa. Either way yum! My violin playing would make dogs laugh instead of howling. Yay the horse gets it's own day.

Get ready state day up next.

Sending be kind to my ears hugs!🐶💕🎄💕