Today is...

National Hard Candy Day

Celebrate National Hard Candy Day! Who doesn't love a piece of hard candy now and again? Its sweet, sugary taste literally causes your mouth to water. Today is a celebration of all types of hard candies—everything from lollipops to candy canes to caramels. It's no wonder that hard candy has remained so popular all these years!

Hard candy can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, Arabia, and China. Archaeologists in all of these regions have found traces of “candied” fruits and nuts that had been dipped in honey, which is a preservative. There is also evidence that people stuck sticks into their candy treats to keep their hands from getting sticky as they ate them, just like our modern lollipops!

Did you know that the world's largest lollipop weighs 6,514 pounds? Ashrita Furman and members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre made it in August of 2009 to break the Guinness World Record. To celebrate National Hard Candy Day, enjoy a piece (or two) of your favorite hard candies!

December is National Fruit Cake Month & National Egg Nog Month

images and text courtesy of MyPunchbowl.com" -- http://www.mypunchbowl.com/

History for December 19   1562 - The Battle of Dreux was fought between the Huguenots and the Catholics, beginning the French Wars of Religion. 1843 - Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published in England. 1871 - Corrugated paper was patented by Albert L. Jones. 1917 - The first games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league 1959 - Walter Williams died in Houston, TX, at the age of 117. He was said to be the last surviving veteran of the U.S. Civil War. 1980 - The film "9 to 5," with Dolly Parton, opened. 1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997. 1997 - "Titanic," the highest grossing film ever made, opened in American movie theaters. ________________________________________________________ "If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'” --Martin Luther King, Jr.