AUGUST 30 - Today in Food History• National Toasted Marshmallow Day
(Marshmallow Trivia & Facts) • St. Fiacre, patron of gardeners, florists, and box makers.
On this day in:1812 Agoston Haraszthy de Mokcsa was born. Mokcsa imported 1,400 varieties of grapevines to California in 1862 and planted the first large vineyard in California in the Sonoma Valley. After the devastating blight destroyed much of Europe’s vineyards, some of these same vines, now on resistant root stock, helped rescue the French and German wine industries.
(Phylloxera vastatrix, Deadly Vine Disease) 1822 Rowland H. Macy was born (died March 29, 1877). Founder of Macy's department store October 27, 1858. 1890 President Benjamin Harrison signed the first law requiring inspection of meat products. It required the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) through the Bureau of Animal Industry, to inspect salted pork and bacon intended for export. In 1891, this law was amended to require the inspection and certification of all live cattle and beef intended for export. 1901 Hubert Cecil Booth filed for a UK patent for a vacuum cleaner (issued U.K. No. 17,433). Because of its large size, he mounted the machine on a horse carriage, with a long hose to reach inside a house, and offered cleaning services. 1939 The first Wheaties commercial (live) aired when host Red Barbar promoted it during a Brooklyn Dodgers game (‘Variety’, August 30, 1939). Later the Dodgers did a promotion dressed in street clothes saying 'Yum, Yum Stuff!' (Variety, April 24, 1940).
(Wheaties Trivia and Facts) 1979 President Jimmy Carter was supposedly attacked by a rabbit while on a canoe trip in Georgia. He beat it away with a paddle. 1989 'Hotel queen' Leona Helmsley was found guilty of mail fraud and income tax evasion. She eventually served 18 months in a federal penitentiary. 2007 Michael Jackson, a leading beer critic, died at age 65. He was the author of 'The World Guide to Beer' (1977), and wrote articles for various newspapers and food magazines, etc.
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