National Chess Day
October 9
Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 square grid. Played by millions of people worldwide, chess is believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga sometime before the 7th century. The first generally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886. Since 1948, the World Championship has been regulated by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, the game’s international governing body. FIDE also awards life-time master titles to skilled players, the highest of which is Grandmaster. The longest chess game theoretically has a possible 5,949 moves. The word “Checkmate” in Chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is dead.” About six hundred million people know how to play chess worldwide!
World Egg Day
October 9
The chicken probably was domesticated for its eggs before 7500 BCE. Chickens were brought to Sumer and Egypt by 1500 BCE, and arrived in Greece around 800 BCE, where the quail had been the primary source of eggs. Harriet, a hen from the United Kingdom, laid the world’s largest egg in 2010. Her astonishing egg measured 9.1 inches in diameter. It takes a hen between 24 and 26 hours to develop an egg. Once she lays an egg, the development of a new egg normally starts within 30 minutes. Chickens don’t produce one egg at a time. Instead, producing hens normally have several eggs in various stages of development. Eggshell colors have nothing to do with flavor or nutritional value of the egg. Brown, white and even blue and green eggshells are simply indicative of the breed of hen. The hen’s diet determines the color of the yolk. Some producers feed natural supplements like marigold petals so that their hens lay eggs with brighter yolks.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
John Lennon – Singer & Musician, The Beatles – born in Liverpool, England
Mike Singletary – Football Hall of Fame – born in Houston, Texas
