New Years Celebrations... One More Year!

Remember: The merry year is born
Like the bright berry from the naked thorn.
Hartley Coleridge

Remember: Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. - Brooks Atkinson

Did You Know? - Goldfish swallowing was an American school trend starting in the 1920s, where a live goldfish was swallowed. Although it's not clear how the fad emerged, various people have made claims.

A 1963 letter to the New York Times claimed that it was started by a man named Lothrop Withington Jr. Withington was a freshman at Harvard University who aspired to become class president and was willing to do what it took to receive the votes of his classmates.

Because of his previous boasting in regards to swallowing a live goldfish, a student dared him to do the stunt once again.

Allegedly his "campaign managers" encouraged him to do so as a publicity stunt in order to win the election.

The letter to the Times claimed that on March 3, 1939, the freshman students gathered to see the show, and Lothrop didn't disappoint. He grabbed the goldfish, leaned back and with a bit of hesitation, gulped it down.

"Reporters and photographers were inadvertently present in the Harvard Freshman Union when Withington swallowed his live goldfish (with a mashed potato chaser) and started a nationwide fad in the spring of 1939." Before long, other colleges were joining in on the strange trend.

Did You Know? - In gaming, breaking the bank refers to a player winning a critical[clarification needed] sum of money from the casino.

The literal, extremely rare, situation of breaking the bank, is winning more than the house has on hand. The term can also been used for the act of winning more chips than there are at the table.

Another situation of it portrayed in fiction is a situation where a gambler will win more money than the casino owns, forcing the casino out of business, and winning the casino itself as a prize.

Did You Know? - The Stroll was both a slow rock 'n' roll dance (and loosley a line dance) and a song that was popular in the late 1950s. Billboard first reported that "The Stroll" might herald a new dance craze similar to the "Big Apple" in December 1957. "The Stroll" was written by Clyde Otis and Nancy Lee and was recorded by the Canadian group The Diamonds

Did You Know? - A blank expression is a facial expression characterized by neutral positioning of the facial features, implying a lack of strong emotion. It may be caused by a lack of emotion, depression, boredom or slight confusion, such as when someone refers to something which the listener does not understand.

A deliberately-induced blank expression meant to conceal one's emotions is also known as a poker face, referring to the common practice of maintaining one's composure when playing the card game poker.

The term poker face was used outside the game of poker by American sportswriters in the 1920s to describe a competitor who appeared unaffected by stressful situations (an important skill when playing poker for money, to avoid giving an opponent any tells about one's hand). It is similarly used with reference to marketers and salespeople during business negotiations

Did You Know? - The earliest known New Year celebrations were in Mesopotamia and date back to 2000 BC.
The early Romans used March 1 as New Year's Day. Other cultures used the autumn equinox or the winter solstice to mark the new year.