On This Day:
Saturday December 28, 2013 This is the 362nd day of the year, with 3 days remaining in 2013. Fact of the Day: M & M's The double M in M & M's stands for the last names of Forrest Mars and William Murrie, the two founders of the company that first produced the candy. M & M's were first made in 1941 and packaged in paper tubes; they became very popular with American soldiers in World War II because they were easy to carry. The original six colors of M & M's were: red, yellow, green, brown, orange, and violet. Tan replaced violet in 1949. The "m" stamp on the shell of M & M's first appeared in 1950 to distinguish them from counterfeit candies. In 1954, Peanut M & M's were introduced. Over 400,000,000 M & M's are made each day.
Holidays Feast day of the Holy Innocents, St. Antony of Lérins, and St. Theodore the Sanctified.
Australia: Proclamation Day.
Christian: Holy Innocents Day (Childermas)/ Day of the Holy Innocents/ Innocents' Day.
Nepal: The King's Birthday.
Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey was consecrated under Edward the Confessor.
1832 - John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Andrew Jackson.
1836 - Mexico's independence was recognized by Spain.
1846 - Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.
1869 - The Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history.
1869 - Chewing gum was patented by William F. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio.
1908 - The most destructive earthquake in European history struck Messina, Italy, flattening the city and killing more than 80,000 people. The earthquake registered 7.5 on the Richter scale.
1937 - The Irish Free State became the Republic of Ireland when a new constitution established the country as a sovereign state under the name of Eire.
1945 - Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance."
1989 - Alexander Dubcek, the former Czechoslovak Communist leader who was deposed in a Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, was named chairman of the country's parliament.
Births 1856 - (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States of America (1913-1921).
1902 - Mortimer J. Adler, American philosopher, educator, and writer.
1905 - Earl "Fatha" Hines, American musician often called "The Father of Modern Jazz Piano."
1981 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first official American test-tube baby.
Deaths 1694 - Mary II, queen of England.
1734 - Rob Roy (Robert MacGregor), outlaw recognized as the Scottish Robin Hood.
1984 - David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah, American film director.
1999 - Clayton Moore, American television actor probably best known for playing the fictional western character "The Lone Ranger."
2004 - Susan Sontag, American essayist, novelist, intellectual, filmmaker, and activist.
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