National Tartan Day
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National Tartan Day honors and celebrates Scottish culture and the role it has played in the development of the United States. Canada has been celebrating Tartan Day since 1993 and the U.S. Senate officially passed it into law in 1998. There are three groups of people that came from Scotland to America including the Lowland Scotts, the Highland Scotts, and the Scotch-Irish. Each of these groups have had some type of influence on American culture including passing on Scottish last names, introducing the sport of golf, playing bagpipes, and wearing tartan.
Tartan is a crisscrossed pattern of horizontal and vertical bands woven into cloth. It is made by alternating pre-dyed colored threads as they are woven at right angles to each other. The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to ban the tartan and other aspects of Gaelic culture in order to bring people under tighter government control. The law was repealed in 1782 and tartan became symbolic as the national dress of Scotland. To celebrate National Tartan Day, wear your favorite tartan and celebrate Scottish-American culture and all of their accomplishments!
This week is also National Bake Week
April is National Grilled Cheese Month
On this day in History:
1789 - The first U.S. Congress began regular sessions at the Federal Hall in New York City.
1830 - Joseph Smith and five others organize Mormon Church in Seneca, NY.
1896 - The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece.
1927 - William P. MacCracken, Jr. earned license number ‘1’ when the Department of Commerce issued the first aviator’s license.
1956 - Capitol Tower, the home of Capitol Records in Hollywood, CA, was dedicated. It was the first circular office tower designed in America. It is 13 stories tall and 92 feet in diameter.
1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard took the middleweight title from Marvin Hagler.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) announced that he would retire from the National Hockey League (NHL) following the playoffs of the current season.
1998 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 points for the first time.
Quote of the Day:
The reason there are two senators for each state is so that one can be the designated driver.
- Jay Leno
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