National Tooth Fairy Day
Although the tooth fairy has been portrayed as a male in both the "Tooth Fairy" and in "The Santa Clause 2," the small fairy responsible for collecting baby teeth is traditionally depicted as female. In Medieval Europe baby teeth tradition held the teeth be buried in hopes of "growing" permanent teeth, according to the University of Florida's Center for Children's Literature and Culture. In the U.S. when a child looses baby teeth, they are instructed to place them under a pillow. In the morning the tooth has been magically replaced with money.
Celebrate by:
* Encouraging kids to brush and floss.
* Reading books about the tooth fairy.
* Replacing a worn toothbrush with a new one.
Chocolate Souffle Day
Get your toothbrush ready because you'll need it after enjoying a chocolate souffle. Souffle means "puffed up" and light dish with a stiff shape, all thanks to the air in the dish's eggs. "Patrons of La Grande Taverne de Londres, which opened in Paris in the 1780s, were perhaps the first to enjoy this dessert souffle," according to the "Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages" (Food Timeline). Easy and souffle are not frequently found together, but here you go, a recipe for a "so-easy chocolate souffle."
U.S. Spay Day
The Humane Society promotes Spay Day to highlight the importance of spaying or neutering pets. The observance occurs on the last Tuesday of February annually, although you can help save animal lives by spaying or neutering anytime during the year. Help keep the animal population in check. "In the U.S. as a whole, there are an estimated 6-8 million homeless animals entering animal shelters every year," according to the Humane Society.
DNA Discovered
On Feb. 28, 1953, James Watson "put the two bases into their correct form in cardboard models by moving a hydrogen atom from a position where it bonded with oxygen to a neighboring position where it bonded with nitrogen. Watson and Francis Crick published their discovery of DNA in the British scientific weekly, Nature, on April 25, 1953.
