Conversation – 37

😎🎈

NATIONAL GARFIELD THE CAT DAY

June 19 is National Garfield the Cat Day to honor the fictional cartoon character, Garfield. Jim Davis created the comic strip Garfield and the title’s protagonist, a tabby cat by the same name. The observance celebrates Garfield and the entertainment he brings us.

Garfield launched on June 19, 1978. The strip chronicled the life of the lead character, the cat Garfield (named after Jim Davis ’s grandfather). It also introduced Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle and Jon’s dog, Odie. The publication became syndicated in 2013 in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals and holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.

WEAR BLUE DAY

Men’s health is the focus of Wear BLUE Day on Friday before Father’s Day. By wearing blue, you are saying you support the men in your life to lead a healthy lifestyle, and you care about their well-being.

NATIONAL FreeBSD DAY

National FreeBSD Day on June 19 commemorates the launch date of an innovative technology that many of us use every day. Join us as we explain more about this free and open-sourced program that allows us to use our electronics.

The open-source operating system called FreeBSD developed out of the University of California at Berkley in 1993. Billions of people around the globe use FreeBSD to teach operating system concepts in universities. Companies also develop products on FreeBSD, and universities use it as a research platform.

While you may not be familiar with FreeBSD, there’s a good chance you’re already using at least some code derived from it in your everyday life. For example, do you stream movies via Netflix? How about chat with friends on WhatsApp? Maybe you play the latest PlayStation 4 game sensation is found in web applications, servers, operating systems, and even software.

As a pioneer in open-source technology, users can modify and redesign FreeBSD to meet their needs, free of charge within the guidelines of the license. Through a network of users, the software keeps pace with today’s technology and prepares us for what’s ahead.

NATIONAL WATCH DAY

On June 19 we learn about National Watch Day and recognize an industry that has been around for more than 500 years and still steadily evolving.

The history of watches date back to the 15th and 16th centuries with watches during this time period featuring only the hour hand. It wasn’t until the 17th century that minutes and seconds were added to the features of watches. Created initially for women, the design of wrist watches were typically elegant pieces of jewelry and strictly worn by women. Men preferred to carry a pocket watch because of the symbolism of being sophisticated and well-to-do. Wrist watches began to transition towards men during WWI, specifically soldiers, because the pocket watch was an impractical item for those wearing uniforms.

JUNETEENTH

Each year on June 19, we celebrate Juneteenth to commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

The story of Juneteenth begins in Texas when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, with announcement that slavery has ended. As the community listened to the reading of General Orders, Number 3, the people of Galveston learned for the first time that the Civil War was over. After more than a century of slavery and years of war, it was official. All slaves were now freedmen.

News traveled slowly, even stubbornly during and after the War between the States. Over two years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Only two months before Major General Granger arrived in Galveston, General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. In addition, the country was already mourning the assassination of President Lincoln. Just weeks before Granger arrived, the official final surrender took place. And yet, this community in the west remained the last to know of their freedom. They required word, official word, to feel the effects of what was already happening in the rest of the country.

😎