November 4th - Holidays and Observances

(click on the day for details)

• Christian feast day:
  • Charles Borromeo (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Emeric of Hungary
  • Felix of Valois
  • Joannicius the Great
  • Our Lady of Kazan (Russian Orthodox Church)
  • Pierius
  • Blessed Teresa Manganiello
  • Vitalis and Agricola
  • November 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Community Service Day (Dominica)
• Flag Day (Panama)
• National Tonga Day (Tonga)
• National Unity and Armed Forces Day or Giorno dell'Unità Nazionale e Festa delle Forze Armate (Italy)
• Unity Day (Russia)
• Yitzhak Rabin Memorial (unofficial, but widely commemorated)

 

Observances (click on the day or week for details)

Use Your Common Sense Day

Men Make Dinner Day

Project Management Day

Candy Day

 

Fun Observances

International Stout Day

Usually celebrated on the first Thursday of November, International Stout Day pays tribute to the stout, a popular type of beer.

International Stout Day, whose creator is unknown, was first celebrated in 2011. It has gained in popularity over the years, with bars and breweries holding tasting events, brewing classes, and special happy hours with discounted stouts.

Dark and Strong

Historically, stout beer was considered to be a type of porter—a dark beer made from brown malt first introduced in London, England in the 17th century and popular throughout England and Ireland. The stronger and darker porters with more alcohol were called stout porters. Eventually, stout porters gained a faithful following, the word porter was dropped, and the beers came to be known only as stouts.

Stouts are usually made with roasted malt or barley, hops, water, and yeast. They tend to have a higher alcohol content, though not always. Guinness, one of the world's best-known stouts, has about 4.1 to 4.3% alcohol by volume (ABV). Most stouts tend to fall between 5 to 8% ABV.

Variety of Stouts

As this type of beer became popular around the world in the 17th and 18th centuries, brewers started experimenting with fermenting conditions and ingredients to create several different kinds of stouts. For example, Milk or Sweet Stout is made by adding lactose, while Oatmeal Stout is made by adding oatmeal to the ingredient list. Other varieties include Russian Imperial Stout, American Stout, and Dry Stout.

How to Celebrate?

• Gather your loved ones and visit your local brewery or bar to participate in a stout beer tasting.
• If you are a home brewer, why not take the opportunity to make your own signature stout at home? Don't forget to share with friends and family.
• Learn more about the history of beers in general and stouts in particular.

Did You Know…

…that beer enthusiasts use the word zythology to refer to the study of beer and beer making? The word cannot be found in a dictionary but is popular among those who brew and drink the beverage. It comes from the Greek words zythos, meaning beer, and logos, meaning study.

 

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I was in line at a restaurant. In front of me was a mother with her college-age son and his girlfriend. It was the middle of the dinner rush, and many customers were restless at the long wait, but the young couple, holding hands and kissing, were oblivious to everything around them. Although clearly not approving, the mother was silent, until one prolonged kiss when the young man had his face and hands buried in his girlfriend's long, curly locks.

"Do you have to do that here?" the embarrassed mother asked.

"I'm not doing anything, Mom," came her son's muffled voice. "My earring's caught in her hair."  

 

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My five-year-old, Matt, worked with a speech therapist on the ch sound, which came out k. The 
therapist asked him to say chicken. He responded with kitchen.

They tried again and again, but it always came out kitchen.

Undeterred, she pushed him for one more try.

Matt sighed and said, “Why don’t we 
just call it a duck?”

 

***

 

I tried having my mother’s phone disconnected, but the customer-service rep told me that since the account was in my dad’s name, he’d have to be the one to put in the request. The fact that he’d been dead for 40 years didn’t sway her.

Then a solution hit me: “If I stop paying the bill, you can turn off the service, right?”

“Well, yes,” she said reluctantly. “But that would ruin his credit.”

 

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sandrewn