Today Is... 📆

Harumph!

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This was my favourite place to visit whilst I lived in the UK

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Thank you. You are not uncultured swine!

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:wave: Good morning! :sunny:

It is Wednesday, 19 May 2021
(W20 | D139 | 226 rem)

Today is: :star: Numeracy Day

Something from the Brits today for a change - Numeracy Day.

KPMG and National Numeracy started National Numeracy Day together in 2018.

National Numeracy Day has been celebrated in the United Kingdom every year since 2018. It’s about recognising the large part that numbers play in our lives. People are encouraged to try and build confidence in their numeracy skills, even if they’re not maths-orientated people.

This day is celebrated to try and show that you don’t have to be super smart to love numeracy, everyone can learn how to be better with numbers.

Numeracy Day tries to highlight how much numbers are used in our lives, every day. This can range from the sports people watch, the books that people read and in the shops when using money. Not everyone’s great with numbers or interested in numeracy, but that doesn’t have to stop you getting involved with them, especially on Numeracy Day.

Supporters, educators, individuals and employers are all encouraged to take part in Numeracy Day. There are lots of numeracy day activities that you can do. Plus, it’s not just about improving your own numeracy skills, it’s about helping other people improve theirs too.

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Numeracy Day was created to try and make people of all ages explore and be more curious about numbers.

A brilliant way to celebrate is by recognising the way numbers are part of our lives. Here are a few uses of numbers that we have in our daily lives:

  • Money: Whether you’re buying vegetables or sweets, money plays a big part in everyone’s lives.
  • Weight: If you’re weighing yourself or fruit in the supermarket, it’s impossible to avoid numbers.
  • Television: Numbers are all over our TV’s, this can be from the channel number or even when you’re changing the volume.
  • Phone numbers: It might seem a bit old-school to be remembering phone numbers, but they’re still important. They pop up whenever you need to phone a company or service, or when you’re ordering a delicious pizza.
  • Cooking: Speaking of food, if you’re baking or cooking you’ve got to work with numbers.

There are so many different ways that we use numbers in our daily lives. You don’t have to be a maths genius to use numbers either. As long as you’re celebrating numeracy at any level, you’re taking part in National Numeracy Day.

Once you’ve checked the temperature, calculated the distance to travel, and factored in the amount of time you need to get through your day, I hope it all adds up to a great Wednesday, my Dudes! :heavy_plus_sign::frog::grinning::+1:


Know more:

https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/numeracyday


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The Brits you say?

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:wave: Good morning! :sunny:

It is Thursday, 20 May 2021
(W20 | D140 | 225 rem)

Today is: :star: World Bee Day :honeybee:

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World Bee Day :honeybee: is celebrated on May 20. On this day Anton JanĹĄa, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734. The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.

Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.

Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity.

To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.

The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

We all depend on pollinators and it is, therefore, crucial to monitor their decline and halt the loss of biodiversity.

We can all help by…

  • planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year;
  • buying raw honey from local farmers;
  • buying products from sustainable agricultural practices;
  • avoiding pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in our gardens;
  • protecting wild bee colonies when possible;
  • sponsoring a hive;
  • making a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl outside;
  • helping sustaining forest ecosystems;
  • raising awareness around us by sharing this information within our communities and networks; The decline of bees affects us all!

Bee engaged, bee happy, and have yourself a buzzing Thursday! :honeybee::grinning::+1:


Know more:


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:wave: Good morning! :partly_sunny:

It is Friday, 21 May 2021
(W20 | D141 | 224 rem)

Today is: :star: Pizza Party Day :pizza:

If there’s one thing that makes any day better it’s a hot slice of pizza shared among friends. Pizza Party Day was created to give people an excuse (like we needed one) to get together with a group of people we love and enjoy the rich cheesy taste of pizza.

For thousands of years, people have been gathering around to enjoy this delicious food. Of course, all those years ago it may not have looked quite like we see it today.

The first people to make something like the pizza we know were the Greeks, who started by covering bread with bread, herbs, oil, and cheese. Another version was enjoyed by the Romans, who covered a dough sheet with honey and cheese and seasoned it with bay leaves.

Pizza first started looking like we’re familiar with as Neapolitan Flatbread in Italy, a dish made with mozzarella cheese from buffalo around Naples. Over time new ingredients were added and it spread across the globe.

In 1905 pizza found its way to America in a little pizzeria in Little Italy in New York City.

Today cheese for pizza is produced in quantities of over 2 billion pounds every year and is one of America’s favorite foods.

With so much history behind this incredible dish, it’s not surprising that it finally got its own holiday.

One of the challenges when organizing a pizza party is that not everyone agrees on what toppings should go on a pizza.

Some people fiercely believe that pineapple has no place on a pizza, while others think that anchovies do. The great thing about a Pizza Party is you can order enough variety for everyone (or, like some talented MEWbs, make your own)!

In an ode to Pizza Party Day, let’s take a look at some fun pizza trivia:

  • Western Europe is the biggest pizza market in the world, worth $54.4 billion, followed closely by America at $50.7 billion. You then have Latin and South America at $16.8 billion.
  • Americans order 350 slices of pizza every second!
  • The world’s most expensive pizza costs $9,200 and it can be found in Salerno, Sicily.
  • 61 percent of people prefer thin-crust pizzas.
  • Women are twice as likely to order vegetarian toppings on their pizza compared to men.
  • Saturday is the most popular night to eat pizza. But, there’s never really a bad night for eating pizza, right?
  • Pizza Hut became the first restaurant to deliver a pizza to space, rocketing a pizza to an astronaut at the International Space Station. The pizza was topped with salami and extra spices because tastebuds are dulled in space.
  • Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping! The least popular are anchovies, chicken, and pineapple.

What are your favourite pizza toppings then? Answers on a slice, delivered to the Redd Keep, in under 20 minutes please.

Thick crust, thin crust, pineapple or not, it doesn’t matter - it’s pizza! Eat and enjoy, ideally with family and friends, and have the perfect pizza party Friday! :pizza::grinning::+1:


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We need more notice on days like this. My favourite crust recipe is a 3+ day cold ferment!

I actually planned to make pizza this weekend, I just need white bread flour. Guess I’ll have to use whole wheat, which is fine by me.

Checkers seems to be the only place I can find decent pepperoni, but it’s nothing compared to Pizza Hut’s.

I worked at a Pizza Hut for 4 years. There’s a reason I don’t eat mushrooms.

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Im glad we had ours already - we wont be able to make this especially this weekend

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Well that seals it, pizza from Village Bicycle tonight

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Does pizza made with bread count (minus the cheese, sauces and toppings)?

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I hope you’re not referring to a family member there…

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Time to make some sauce.

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:wave: Good morning! :partly_sunny:

It is Saturday, 22 May 2021
(W20 | D142 | 223 rem)

Today is: :star: Sherlock Holmes Day :mag:

World-renowned detective. Most portrayed character in history. Icon. Who are we speaking of? Why, Sherlock Holmes, of course! Any self-respecting amateur detective would guess that!

The ultimate detective archetype, the character of Sherlock Holmes has been a hero to millions since his creation well over a century ago. So can all agree he more than deserves his very own day? Of course, elementary my dear Watson!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was born on 22 May, which is why today is the day dedicated to celebrating his most famous character.

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Doyle said the character was originally inspired by Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for whom Doyle had worked as an assistant. Like Holmes, Bell was famous for his ability to draw broad conclusions from minute observations.

Francis “Tanky” Smith, a policeman and master of disguise who was Leicester’s first private detective, is also thought to have influenced the character.

Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes story first appeared in print in 1887 and continued to be published for the next forty years, until shortly before the author’s death. During this time, the detective had countless adventures, usually accompanied by his loyal friend and assistant, Dr. Watson.

With there being so very many different versions of the iconic character, the ways of celebrating this day are virtually unlimited. If you enjoy reading and have somehow never read these wonderful stories (gasp!) it is high time you did.

If you’ve already read them or feel like giving your eyes a bit of a break, how about watching one of the many shows or movies made about Holmes? There are many!

Here are 10 interesting tidbits about the greatest detective who never lived.

Sherlock Wasn’t Always Sherlock
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle dreamed up his detective, his name was originally “Sherrinford.” Eventually, though, Doyle changed the name to “Sherlock,” which was also the name of a famous cricket player (Doyle was a huge fan of cricket and even played himself).

Dr. Watson Wasn’t Always Dr. Watson
When Doyle came up with the idea of Sherlock’s assistant, Watson, his name was actually Ormond Sacker, which appears in early drafts of the stories.

In The Novels, Sherlock Never Wore That Famous Cap
The cap we most associate with Sherlock is the deerstalker, but in Doyle’s works, he never wears it. The image of the detective in the famous cap actually came from illustrations that appeared with the short stories in Strand magazine in the late 1800s. Artist Sidney Paget drew Sherlock in the cap and those illustrations stayed in the minds of readers: to this day, that’s how fans envision the character.

Sherlock Never Said, “Elementary, My Dear Watson” In Doyle’s Stories
Although it’s the most quoted line attributed to the detective, Sherlock never actually said it. He did say, “Elementary” several times and “My dear Watson” at other times, but the full phrase never actually appeared until 1915 when P.G. Wodehouse wrote it in Psmith, Journalist.

The First Sherlock Holmes Movie Premiered In 1900
The first movie adaptation of the character happened at the turn of the century with a film that only lasted 30 seconds, Sherlock Holmes Baffled. Not much else is known about this movie, not even the name of the actor who portrayed the detective.

The First Sherlock Holmes Novel Flopped
Doyle’s first novel about Sherlock was A Study in Scarlet, written in 1887. That novel got rejected by many publishers, although it eventually appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, which still didn’t sell well.

Oscar Wilde Is The Reason There Was A Second Novel
A Study in Scarlet, though, did have one fan: editor Joseph Stoddart from Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. At a dinner party hosted by Wilde, Stoddart pushed Doyle to write a second novel about the detective for his magazine, which became The Sign of the Four.

Sherlock Holmes Is Not The Most-Filmed Fictional Character
Although Sherlock is the most-filmed human character of all time and has appeared in more than 226 movies, the most-filmed fictional character award goes to the non-human Dracula for 239 appearances on film.

Mycroft Only Appeared In Two Sherlock Holmes Stories
Fans of the BBC’s Sherlock series are very familiar with Mycroft, the famous detective’s brother. But in the original tales, Mycroft was really not that important: he only appeared in two storie, The Greek Interpreter and The Bruce-Partington Plans. He does briefly get mentioned in two others, though.

Dr. Watson Doesn’t Narrate All Of Sherlock’s Stories
Although many readers assume that Watson narrates all the Holmes stories, there are four that Doyle told from a different point of view. Two stories occur in the third person, while Doyle wrote the other two from Holmes’ own perspective.

It’s an elementary deduction - you can have a most excellent Saturday today! :mag::grinning::+1:


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This show was my first introduction to Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Hound!

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