I wanted to learn a bit more about it so here are the facts about Queen Anne’s Lace that I turned up.

* It was first introduced from Europe but is also native to Asia.

* Queen Anne’s Lace belongs to the carrot family.

* It is a biennial plant, meaning it lives for two years.

* Thought the taproot is edible (like a carrot), the leaves can irritate the skin.

* It’s scientific name is Daucus carota, and it is also known as wild carrot, bird’s nest, and bishop’s lace.

* It is considered invasive, so not only is it a weed it’s a nasty weed that doesn’t belong. “It invades disturbed dry prairies, abandoned fields, waste places, and road sides. It is a threat to recovering grasslands and can be persistent on clay soils,” say the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. They advise that the best way to remove is pulling by hand or mowing in mid to late summer (so, now) before seed set.

* The white flowers each produce two seeds that are released from mid-summer to mid-winter.

* The stem is both hollow and hairy.

* They grow approximately 1 to 4 feet tall.

* Queen Anne’s Lace outcompetes native plants in wildlflower meadows and prairie restoration sites.

So, maybe it seems a bit more weed-like and a little less attractive after reading about it, but I still think the lacy flower is attractive, at least as far as weeds go.

Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; North Carolina State University; FCPS.

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* There are a lot of moms on the planet. Approximately 2 billion women are mothers, with 4 babies born each second.

* Anna Jarvis is considered the found of Mother’s Day in the United States when she sought in 1908 to honor her mother, who had died three years prior and who had organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day” in 1868 to promote reconciliation following the end of the Civil War.

* Although she created the American Mother’s Day, Jarvis was not a life-long supporter of the holiday. As it evolved, she disliked the commercialization that surrounded it. Jarvis was even arrested protesting Mother’s Day and said that she regretted creating the holiday. She eventually tried to have Mother’s Day abolished. Clearly, she was unsuccessful. Guess this is an example of “be careful what you wish for.”

* FTD (The Florist Telegraph Delivery) association offered Jarvis a commission on the sales of Mother’s Day carnations if she would resume her support of Mother’s Day, but she was was insulted by the offer.

* FTD didn’t need Jarvis’ support, as it turns out, because today people spend $1.9 billion annually on flowers for Mother’s Day and 69% of all gifts given are flowers. 13% of moms buy themselves flowers for the occasion.

* In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday, but not all lawmakers were on board. New Hampshire Senator Jacob Gallinger, a Republican, found the idea of limiting the celebration of his mother to just one day insulting. Senator Henry Moore Teller of Colorado, a Democrat, felt even more strongly, saying it was both “absolutely absurd” and “trifling.”

* The holiday is technically Mother’s Day, not Mothers’ Day. Jarvis wanted it to be a holiday to honor each individual’s mother, your mother, not all mothers. Thus, the name of the holiday is singular, not plural.

* According to Hallmark, 133 million Mother’s Day cards are given each year. Mother’s Day is the third-largest card-sending holiday in the U.S.

* Many people let their fingers do the walking. Phone calls increase up to 37% on Mother’s Day. Find more stats on Mother’s Day gifts here.

Happy Mother’s Day to one and all!

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* It’s not cheap to run the race. The entry fee costs $25,000. If the horse enters the starting gate, there is an additional $25,000 fee.

* Many people know that Secretariat was the fastest Derby winner, posting a time of under two minutes (1:59) in 1973, but the slowest winning horse doesn’t get much attention. Maybe it’s because you have to go back to 1891 to find that Kingman won with a time of 2:52.

* Five women have ridden in the famed “Run for the Roses”: Diane Crump, Patti Cooksey, Andrea Seefeldt, Julie Krone, and Rosemary Homeister.

* There has been measurable rainfall on 46% of all Derby days, but the race has only been postponed once due to weather. Even in 1918, when 2.31 inches of rain fell on race day, the race was held and Exterminator won.

* The Kentucky Derby is called the Run for the Roses because the winning horse is draped with blanket of red roses. The red rose became the official flower of the race in 1904. The blanket consists of 554 red roses and is presented, along with the trophy, by the  Governor of Kentucky.

* When the horses are moved to the starting gate, The University of Louisville Marching Band performs “My Old Kentucky Home,” which Stephen Foster wrote in the 1850s.

* The Kentucky Derby was first televised nationally on May 3, 1952.  On May 16, 1925, the first live radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby was originated by WHAS and was also carried by WGN in Chicago.

Sources: 365horses.com, cnn.com, Kentucky Derby Musuem, KentuckyDerby.com

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* Mickey Mouse originally named Mortimer Mouse.

Lillian Disney, Walt Disney’s wife, wisely advised her husband to ditch the name Mortimer. She suggested the name Mickey.  Good call, Lillian!

Mortimer Mouse emerged later as a second character, Mickey’s Brooklyn-accented rival (below), who was also pursuing Minnie Mouse.

* Mickey Mouse has only four fingers

Walt Disney felt that five fingers were too many for a mouse. He said “it would look like a bunch of bananas.” Also, it is faster and therefore cheaper to draw only four fingers instead of five.

* Walt Disney first voiced Mickey Mouse.

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, and that was apparently what Walt Disney thought about Mickey. Walt himself voiced Mickey from when he first created him in 1928 until 1946. At that point, Jimmy MacDonald, an English voice actor, took over the responsibility. Walt resumed voicing Mickey for The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955-59.

* Mickey was the first cartoon to receive his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* Mickey started out in black and white, but it took only 7 years to get him in color

Mickey Mouse appeared in living color for the first time in The Band Concert in 1935, which is highly acclaimed. For this production, Walt Disney gave Mickey a new design and full personality, but interestingly, the only character who speaks in it is Donald Duck.

The Band Concert is on of the cartoons that airs on a special television channel at Walt Disney World resorts.

* Mickey is certainly the world’s most merchandized mouse.

The first item of Mickey Mouse merchandise was a child’s school tablet released in 1929. That was the same year that Mickey spoke his first words in 1929’s The Karnival kid.  Today, it feels like you can find Mickey on pretty much anything you can purchase.

* When the Allied Forces commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower prepared to invade the continent of Europe in 1944, the code name for the invasion was Mickey Mouse.

Happy birthday, Mickey, and many happy returns!

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1. Labor Day was first observed in the United States in New York City on September 5, 1882. It was a time when conditions in the work place were poor for many people and Labor Day was not just a day off, but a chance to address important issues like better working conditions and salaries.

2. Canada celebrated Labor Day earlier, however, by holding a demonstration for workers rights in Toronto 1872.

3. Oregon was the first state to recognize Labor Day as a legal holiday, passing a state law to that effect in 1887.

4. Labor Day did not become a national holiday until seven years later.

5. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making Labor Day a federal holiday.

6. Christmas, the Fourth of July and every other Sunday were the only days employees did not have to work in 1882. Twelve hour work days were common.

7. In the late 1800’s, many children worked grueling jobs in factories and even mines. Some of them were as young as age 5. The movement to observe Labor Day also went with a movement to protect workers and recognize that they have rights, including children. Your kids show know that they have reason to celebrate Labor Day

8. Labor Day is celebrated in September because the founders of the holidays (likely Peter McGuire, though that’s up for some debate), believed it would be good to have a holiday between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.

9. The United States Department of Labor was not created until 1913.

10. Other nations celebrate Labor Day, but many do so on May 1st, not in September. May 1, also called May Day or International Workers Day, is a popular time for rallies by workers in Europe.

11. In 2014, Labor Day falls on September 1st, the earliest possible date. In 2015, Labor Day falls on September 7.

Labor Day has taken on cultural significance in the United States separate from that associated with the work force. It signifies the start of school (the day after Labor Day) in some part of the country, the start of the college football season, and the end to summer vacation.

Happy Labor Day weekend – enjoy the break!

Sources: Forbes; Tween Us; The Library of Congress

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