NATIONAL GARFIELD THE CAT DAY Celebrated each year on June 19, it is National Garfield the Cat Day. A fictional character, Garfield is a title protagonist from the comic strip Garfield which was created by Jim Davis. Today is set aside to celebrate him and the entertainment that he brings us. June 19, 1978 was the first publication of Garfield which chronicles the life of lead character, the cat Garfield (named after Jim Davis’s grandfather); Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle: and Jon’s dog, Odie. 2013 – Garfield is syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals and holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip. Set in Muncie, Indiana, common themes in the comic strip include Garfield’s laziness, obsessive eating, love for lasagna and coffee and hatred of Mondays and diets. The focus is mostly upon the interaction between Garfield, Jon and Odie. Garfield was one of the cartoon characters to appear in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. NATIONAL GARFIELD THE CAT DAY HISTORY National Garfield The Cat Day, an “unofficial” National holiday, is celebrated on June 19 in honor of the birth of the Garfield comic strip on June 19, 1978. Our research was unable to find the creator of this day.

Happy 71st birthday Paul McCartney!

Fresh Veggie Day is celebrated on June 16th of each year. The staff at National Whatever Day was unable to discover the origin of Fresh Veggie Day. However, that is no excuse to not enjoy fresh veggies today! The noun vegetable means an edible plant or part of a plant, but usually excludes seeds and most sweet fruit. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant. Some vegetables can be consumed raw, some may be eaten cooked, and some must be cooked in order to be edible. Vegetables are most often cooked in savory or salty dishes. However, a few vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as rhubarb pie and carrot cake. A number of processed food items available on the market contain vegetable ingredients and can be referred to as “vegetable derived” products. These products may or may not maintain the nutritional integrity of the vegetable used to produce them. Examples of vegetable-derived products are ketchup, tomato sauce, and vegetable oils. Vegetables are eaten in a variety of ways, as part of main meals and as snacks. The nutritional content of vegetables varies considerably, though generally they contain little protein or fat, and varying proportions of vitamins such as Vitamin A, Vitamin K and Vitamin B6, provitamins, dietary minerals and carbohydrates. Vegetables contain a great variety of other phytochemicals, some of which have been claimed to have antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticarcinogenic properties. Some vegetables also contain fiber, important for gastrointestinal function. Vegetables contain important nutrients necessary for healthy hair and skin as well. A person who refrains from dairy and meat products, and eats only plants (including vegetables) is known as a vegan. However, vegetables often also contain toxins and antinutrients such as a-solanine, a-chaconine, enzyme inhibitors (of cholinesterase, protease, amylase, etc.), cyanide and cyanide precursors, oxalic acid, and more. Depending on the concentration, such compounds may reduce the edibility, nutritional value, and health benefits of dietary vegetables. Cooking and/or other processing may be necessary to eliminate or reduce them. Diets containing recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables may help lower the risk of heart diseases and type 2 diabetes. These may also protect against some cancers and decrease bone loss. The potassium provided by both fruits and vegetables may hep prevent the formation of kidney stones.

June 12 celebrates National Jerky Day’s second annual day of celebration. National Jerky Day was created to celebrate the rich history, immense popularity and nutritional benefits of dried meat snacks. “In many ways, jerky is an ideal snack. Naturally packed with protein, jerky will keep you satiated between meals; but since it’s low in fat, calories and carbs, it won’t sabotage a healthy diet,” said Jeff LeFever, director of marketing for Jack Link’s® Beef Jerky, the No. 1 U.S. meat snack brand. This nutrient-dense meat has been made lightweight by drying. A pound of meat or poultry will weigh only about four ounces once it is made into jerky and it can be stored for months without refrigeration because most of the moisture has been removed. Salt is added to the meat, before it is dried, to prevent bacteria from developing. “Jerky” is a word derived from the Spanish word charqui, which came from the Quechua (a Native South American language) word ch’arki, which means to burn (meat). Traditional jerky is readily available in nearly every convenience store, gas station, supermarket, and variety shop in the United States. Due to it’s light weight and high level of nutrition, since 1996, jerky has been selected by astronauts as space food several times for space flights.

National German Chocolate Cake Day is celebrated by chocolate lovers annually on June 11. Although the name may sound like the cake originated in Germany, it did not, it’s roots can be traced back to 1852 when American Sam German made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company. Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate’s brand name was named in honor of him. Over 100 years later in 1957, a recipe for “German’s Chocolate Cake” appeared as the “Recipe of the Day” in the Dallas Morning Star. This recipe, created by Mrs. George Clay, used the Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate and it became quite popular. At this time, General Foods owned the Baker’s brand; they liked the recipe and distributed it to other newspapers around the country. In subsequent publications, the (‘s) was dropped from German’s forming “German Chocolate Cake” and that became the name as we know it today. Have a piece or two of German Chocolate Cake today!

National Black Cow Day is celebrated each year on June 10. Are you in the mood for ice cream? We are all familiar with the “Root Beer Float” but did you know that it is also called the “Black Cow”? A “Black Cow” was originally made with root beer and vanilla ice cream. Today it is sometimes made with root beer and chocolate ice cream or cola and vanilla ice cream. Frank J. Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado, gets the credit for inventing the “Black Cow” way back in August of 1893. One night, as Wisner, owner of the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, was staring out the window and thinking about the line of soda waters that was producing for the citizens of Cripple Creek, he came upon an idea. The full moon that night that was shining on the snow capped Cow Mountain reminded him of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. He hurried back to his bar and added a scoop to the children’s favorite flavor of soda, Myers Avenue Red root beer, tried it, liked it and served it the very next day. It was an immediate hit. Wisner named the new creation, “Black Cow Mountain” but the local children shortened the name to “Black Cow“. Sit back, relax and enjoy a Black Cow today!

June 9th is Donald Duck's 79th Birthday He made his first appearance in 1934 For more cartoon & TV pictures, go to: http://cartoongraphics.blogspot.com/