Facts of the Day

Buddhist Holidays
Buddha is Sanskrit for "the enlightened one," and he is regarded as the founder of Buddhism. Buddha's given name was Siddhartha, the family name Gautama, and the clan name Shakya or Sakya. Three major events of the Buddha's (c 563-483 BC) life - his birth, Enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana - are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In countries observing the Theravada tradition, the three events are all observed together on Vesak, the full moon day of the sixth lunar month, which usually occurs in May. Among Buddhist holidays, the birthday of the Buddha (Day of Vesak) is the most important.

Barbershop Quartet
Barbershop quartet (or barbershop) is unaccompanied male singing, with three voices harmonizing to the melody of a fourth voice. The voice parts are tenor, lead, baritone, and bass, with the lead normally singing the melody and the tenor harmonizing above. The musical arrangements usually use syncopated ragtime and nostalgic song styles. The exact origin is uncertain, but the style dates from a time when barbershops were an important social/neighborhood and, also, musical center. Barbers through history had a tradition of singing.

Memorial Day
Memorial Day was originally set aside to honor the Civil War dead from the North by decorating their graves with flowers and it at first called "Decoration Day." In 1866, the first commemorations were held in Waterloo, New York, and in Columbus, Mississippi. The American flag was flown at half-staff and a veterans' parade marched to the village cemetery, where patriotic speeches were given. The first national Decoration Day was held on May 30, 1868 by Union Army veterans known as the Grand Army of the Republic. The May 30 date was close to the date of the final surrender of the Confederate Army (May 26, 1865). The Southern states started remembering their soldiers on a Confederate Memorial Day on various dates. After World War I, the American Legion took over the observance, renaming it Memorial Day, setting it for the last Monday in May, and dedicating in honor of all those who died in U.S. wars. Some southern states continue to observe a separate day to honor the Confederate dead.

Copyright
President George Washington signed the first U.S. copyright law in 1790, which gave protection for 14 years to books written by U.S. citizens. Copyright developed out of the same system as royal patent grants, though the purpose of such grants was not to protect authors' or publishers' rights but to give the government revenue and control over the contents of publication. In a major revision of copyright law in 1976, the U.S. Congress specified that copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The general term of copyright protection is now the life of the author plus 70 years. For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire, the term of copyright protection is 95 years from first publication or 120 years from the date of creation of the work, whichever is shorter.

Heimlich maneuver
In the June 1974 issue of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Henry Heimlich published an article outlining a better method for aiding choking victims. The method up to that time had been sharp blows to the back - which actually pushed foreign objects further into the airway. Dr. Heimlich advocated "subdiaphragmatic pressure" to force objects out. Three months later, the method was dubbed "the Heimlich maneuver" by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Heimlich maneuver is used when the victim's airway is totally obstructed and he/she is unable to speak, breathe, or cough the object out.