Smokey the Bear’s Birthday
August 9
Smokey the Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service. He was made to teach people that forest fires are dangerous and how people can prevent them. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was started in 1944 with the slogan, “Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires”. Smokey Bear’s later slogan, “Remember… Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires”, was made in 1947 by the Ad Council. In April 2001, the message was changed to “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” According to the Ad Council, Smokey Bear and his message are recognized by 95% of adults and 77% of children in the U.S.
National Book Lover’s Day
August 9
According to Google, 129,864,880 million books had been published as of 2010. That number is obviously a lot higher now. The most expensive book ever purchased was sold for $30.8 million. It was Codex Leicester by Leonardo Da Vinci. The longest sentence ever printed is 823 words and was inVictor Hugo’s Les Misérables. The first book ever written using a typewriter was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The three most read books in the world are The Holy Bible, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, and Harry Potter. Illiteracy is still a huge problem throughout the world. One in five adults around the world can’t read or write, with the highest rates in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Whitney Houston – Actress & Singer – born in Newark, New Jersey
Bob Cousey – Boston Celtics, Hall of Fame – born in Manhattan, New York
