It’s finally February!

I’m so glad its February

Hello and welcome once again to the wonderful month of February. The second month takes its name from the Latin word Februa which was a purification festival in Ancient Rome. This month celebrates many holidays including Groundhog Day; The Day the Music Died, when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in 1959; Valentines Day; Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday; Presidents Day; George Washington’s Birthday and the rarest of all the holidays, Leap Day.
February as a month also concerns itself with American Heart Health; An Affair to Remember; Black History; Canned Food; Creative Romance; Great American Pies; Cherries; Children’s Dental Health; Grapefruits, and Weddings. Who knew that the shortest month of the year contained so many holidays and concerns? Mostly I thought about Groundhog Day and Valentines Day. But after you have endured the long, cold months of winter you are concerned with whether or not the winter is going to last another 6 weeks. Plus my favorite color is red so any holiday that features it and has such a happy tone to it can easily win me over.

To learn more about February visit these sites:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_February_mean, and http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/february.htm

This day in history

Today in 1848 Gold was first discovered in Sutter’s Mill, California. When President Polk announced the news in December, the gold rush officially began. First we have the wonderful state of California as our setting for this exciting event. California was first sighted by in 1542 by a Spanish navigator, but the first Spanish mission at San Diego was not established until 1769. In 1847 it became a U.S. territory when Mexico surrendered it to John C. Fremont. On January 24th, 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, thereby starting the California Gold Rush.

For more information, please check out these informative links:

“California: History, Geography, Population, & State Facts.” Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
24 Jan. 2012 <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108187.html&gt;.

“gold rush.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.
© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
24 Jan. 2012 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0821194.html&gt;.

“James Knox Polk.” Infoplease.
© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.
24 Jan. 2012 <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760596.html&gt;.