Root Beer was invented on this day in 1866 by Charles Elmer Hires.

Root beer was a traditional beverage and herbal medicine. The beverage was often alcoholic, usually around 2%. As a medicine it was used for treating cough and mouth sores. Commercially prepared root beer was developed by Charles Elmer Hires on May 16, 1866. He presented root tea powder at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial exhibition.

In 1893 Hires began selling bottled carbonated root beer. There was a dramatic increase in the popularity of root beer in the United States during the period of prohibition in the early 20th Century.  Local breweries resorted to brewing root beer since other, alcoholic, beverages were outlawed.

The first Tai Chi & Qigong event began in 1999.  The first event inspired the global event that was held in Kansas City, Missouri in 1998. The Kansas City Tai Chi Club held a mass Tai Chi exhibition and teach-in involving nearly two-hundred people.  CNN Headline News covered the event.
 
The mission of this day is to expose people to the growing body of medical research related to traditional Chinese medicine and direct them to teachers in their home towns.

Origin of Tai Chi & Qigong Day: As specified above.

Garlic Day promotes the many uses of Garlic. Garlic is both a vegetable and an herb. It is used in recipes around the world.

Garlic was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, chewed by Greek Olympian athletes, and thought to drive vampires away. It's also good for keeping your heart healthy and warding off colds. With all of these benefits, who's going to worry about a little bad breath!

As a medicinal herb, garlic is said to do the following:

•    Helps fight off colds and flu.
•    Lowers blood cholesterol levels.
•    Phytochemicals in garlic provide protection against heart disease and cancer. (Specifically, stomach and colorectal cancers.)
•    Reduces the buildup of plaque in arteries.
•    Helps treat acne and warts.
•    Helps soothe toothaches

Celebrate National Garlic Day by using it heavily in your meals and snacks today. Spend some time researching its medical benefits. You might find you want to add more garlic to your menu every day.

Did you know?  We all have fears. As a matter of fact, there are so many phobias, that psychologists can hardly keep track of them all. Alliumphobia is the fear of garlic.

Origin of Garlic Day:  Bizarre Food Holidays proclaims these special days on their website.

Celebrate today with a cheese ball.

 Pineapple Cheese Ball Recipe

•    1 (16 Oz.) Package Cream Cheese, Softened
•    1 (8 1/2 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple, Well Drained
•    2 Cups Chopped Pecans
•    1 Teaspoon Salt
•    1/4 Cup Green Pepper, Chopped
•    2 Tablespoons Green Onion, Chopped

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl only 1 cup of the nuts.

Shape into a ball and roll in the rest of the nuts (use a cookie sheet or waxed paper).

Cover in plastic wrap or foil. Chill overnight and serve with your favorite crackers.

 Origin of Cheese Ball Day:  Bizarre Food Holidays proclaims this special day on their website.

RELAX!!!Today is Stress Awareness Day. This is your opportunity to recognize that there is plenty of stress in your life ... as if you didn't already know.

Today is an opportunity to learn and to do something about the stress.

April is also designated as Stress Awareness Month.

Origin of Stress Awareness Day: Stress Awareness Day and Stress Awareness Month are sponsored by the Health Resource Network (HRN). They started this holiday in 1992 to increase public awareness of the causes and cures of stress.

Do you suppose that April 16 was also designated as Stress Awareness Day because it is the day after taxes are due?

Pecan Day is a day to celebrate and enjoy popular, tasty pecans.

 Apparently, someone thought that it was such a great nut, that they created two days to celebrate Pecans. One day is in March and the other day is in April.

Pecan trees are the only nut trees native to North America.

Celebrate Pecan Day by eating a few pecan nuts or have some pecan pie.

Origin of Pecan Day:  Bizarre Food Holidays proclaims these special days on their website.

"It's fitting that April 14 is Pecan Day because today, we recognize nuts. And tomorrow, on April 15, we pay our taxes to support them." - Craig Ferguson

The history of aspirin (also known as acetylsalicylic acid or ASA) and the medical use of it and related substances stretches back to antiquity, though pure ASA has only been manufactured and marketed since 1899. Medicines made from willow and other salicylate-rich plants date back at least to 400 BCE, and were part of the pharmacopoeia of Western medicine in Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. Willow bark extract became recognized for its specific effects on fever, pain and inflammation in the mid-eighteenth century. Lewis and Clark allegedly used willow bark tea in 1803-1806 as a remedy for fever for members of the famous expedition. By the nineteenth century pharmacists were experimenting with and prescribing a variety of chemicals related to salicylic acid, the active component of willow extract.

In 1853, chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt reacted acetyl chloride with sodium salicylate to produce acetylsalicylic acid for the first time; in the second half of the nineteenth century, other academic chemists established the compound's chemical structure and devised more efficient methods of synthesis. In 1897, scientists at the drug and dye firm Bayer began investigating acetylsalicylic acid as a less-irritating replacement for standard common salicylate medicines. By 1899, Bayer had dubbed this drug Aspirin and was selling it around the world. The word Aspirin was Bayer's brand name, rather than the generic name of the drug; however, Bayer's rights to the trademark were lost or sold in many countries.[1] Aspirin's popularity grew over the first half of the twentieth century, spurred by its effectiveness in the wake of Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and aspirin's profitability led to fierce competition and the proliferation of aspirin brands and products. Some of the 1918 flu deaths were probably due to Aspirin poisoning.

Aspirin's popularity declined after the development of acetaminophen/paracetamol in 1956 and ibuprofen in 1962. In the 1960s and 1970s, John Vane and others discovered the basic mechanism of aspirin's effects, while clinical trials and other studies from the 1960s to the 1980s established aspirin's efficacy as an anti-clotting agent that reduces the risk of clotting diseases. Aspirin sales revived considerably in the last decades of the twentieth century, and remain strong in the twenty-first with widespread use as a preventive treatment for heart attacks and strokes.

Freezing is a very efficient method of preserving the nutritional value, texture and flavor of many vegetables. Most vitamins will keep well in frozen vegetables. Carotene (a compound that is converted to vitamin A in the body) may actually be better preserved in frozen produce because packaging keeps the vegetables away from light (which destroys carotene).
For example, frozen peas typically have about 60% more carotene than 'fresh' peas (that have been exposed to light during their trip to the market and while awaiting sale).

Some losses of vitamin C and folate (also known as folic acid) occur during commercial freezing.  However, the vitamin losses associated with blanching and the thawing/cooking process are similar to those that occur during normal cooking of fresh vegetables. This means that, provided they have been stored and then cooked properly, frozen vegetables provide similar levels of nutrition to fresh vegetables. It is also worth noting that for cooking both frozen and fresh vegetables, microwave cooking and steaming are both superior (in terms of retaining nutritional value) than boiling in a large volume of water.
Other vitamins are generally fairly heat stable and are largely retained during the blanching process and subsequent period of frozen storage, or are not found in significant quantities in vegetables anyway. Nutrients other than vitamins are not significantly affected by the freezing process.

Collect your frozen foods last at the super-market and take them home in insulated containers.
Put frozen food in the freezer as soon as you arrive home.
Frozen storage for no more than about six months is recommended for most vegetables.
Steam or microwave frozen (and fresh) vegetables to retain a high proportion of the vitamins. If cooking frozen food in boiling water, the food should be taken directly from the freezer and placed in water that has already come to the boil.

Boil vigorously until ready, and then serve immediately (ie, do not leave the food 'simmering' for long periods). Do not use saucepans or other utensils made from copper or brass.Cooking utensils made from glass, stainless steel, aluminium or enamel do not affect the nutritional content.

Source: Nutrition Australia