Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Tin Can Day. Peter Durand patented the perfect way to store food for years, in 1810. Ask your grandparents, how to play Kick the Can. It’s also World Quark Day, but it’s not about sub-atomic particles. Quark is a superfood similar to yogurt or sour cream. It’s a high-protein, low-fat creamy cheese.

Pop. Pop. Pop, pop, pop-pop-pop-pop! It’s National Popcorn Day! In the 16th century, popcorn was used in Aztec headdresses in Mexico. It became a popular food in the United States in the 19th century. Charles Cretors developed a steam popper, and sold popcorn on horse-drawn wagons. You can even pop corn on the cob!

Miners in Uruguay, recently found an incredible rock formation. They split a chunk of ordinary looking basalt, and discovered a geode inside. A geode is a rock with a hollow cavity, filled with crystals. This geode was the shape of a perfect heart, and filled with purple amethyst crystals. It’s Mother Earth’s Valentine!

Last week, NASA announced that 2020 was Earth’s hottest year on record. Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, said 2016 still held the record for hottest year. Either way, the planet is warming enough that the last 7 years, were the 7 hottest years ever, causing more severe hurricanes, floods, heat waves, tornadoes, and wildfires.

You might use a cellulose sponge to clean the dishes, but natural sponges are creatures that live in the ocean. Researchers just discovered 3 new species, of carnivorous sea sponges. Deep underwater off the coast of Australia, the meat-eating sponges catch small crustaceans on hooks, and absorb the nutrients through their many holes.

It’s Winnie the Pooh Day! A-A Milne’s books about the lovable bear, Piglet, Tigger, and friends, were inspired by a black bear at the London Zoo named Winnie. Christopher Robin, the author’s son, loved to visit him! It’s also Thesaurus Day, a wonderful, fantastic, magnificent, phenomenal, terrific tool to give you synonyms for words.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day. Dr King was a minister, activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He used non-violent civil disobedience, marches and sit-ins to try to create racial equality in the United States. He was assassinated in 1968, but still inspires us to fight racism.

SpaceX is preparing for another test, of its latest unmanned Starship prototype. They will launch the 16-story spaceship thousands of feet into the air, then return it safely to the ground. The 8th ship exploded because it fell back to Earth too quickly. SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, hopes Number 9 can stick the landing.

The Cabazon Dinosaurs in California, love holidays. If you missed the giant T-rex dressed as Santa Claus, don’t worry. He and all his dinosaur friends, are decked out for Valentine’s Day. There’s also a gift shop in the massive dino Dinny’s belly, and a Wafflesaurus truck to feed your dinosaur-sized appetite!

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco California, you know the hills are very, very, very steep. Before cars were invented, horses often fell over, trying to pull carriages up the streets. 150 years ago, Andrew Smith Hallidie patented cable cars. The cars run on a railway, pulled by ropes overhead. Happy Cable Car Day!