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    June 5: Transit of Venus, Festival of Popular Delusions Day, Gingerbread Day

    By | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Mon, Jun 4, 2012

    Transit of Venus

    The transit of Venus is a rare event that happens in pairs. The last Transit of Venus occurred in 1874 and 1882. The first transit in the current pair occurred in 2004. On Tuesday, "Venus will make a twice-per-century trek across the face of the sun. The Venus transit in fact launched the careers of Captain Cook and Mason & Dixon. Some of the greatest explorers and scientists of a generation chased the transit of Venus through icy Siberian winters, uncharted tropical seas, distant arctic outposts and epidemic-ravaged New World colonies," according to Mark Anderson, author of "The Day the World Discovered the Sun: An Extraordinary Story of Scientific Adventure and the Race to Track the Transit of Venus."

    The transit of Venus will be visible in the U.S. Do not look directly at the sun. There are safer ways to view the event:

    * Watch the event on the SLOOH Space camera website.

    * View a live webcast hosted by NASA Edge in Maui, Hawaii

    Festival of Popular Delusions Day

    On June 6, 1944, we'll commemorate D-Day, the day Allied forces landed in Normandy. On the previous day, the Germans wrongly believed no invasion would occur due to poor weather conditions. This was the first Festival of Popular Delusions Day, "celebrating the anniversary of the last time before D-Day the Germans thought they had a good shot at taking over the world," according to News Times.

    The holiday is not to be taken too seriously. Festival of Popular Delusions Day is a good day to align our own beliefs with facts and reality. If you know someone who has delusions about proper work attire, a cheating spouse or their credit card debt, have a chat. Some delusions are more serious and could be symptoms of a mental disorder.

    Gingerbread Day

    The tangy, warming flavor found in gingerbread is not just for winter. Ginger is in the same family of Southeast Asian perennials as cardamom and tumeric. All three spices add strong flavor to recipes. Cardamom and ginger can be used in sweet or savory dishes. When baking, use ginger in powdered form, removing any clumps first.

    "Soft gingerbreads, or light cakes, were a largely American off-shoot of the gingerbread family, and were not previously considered Christmas specialties. Such cakes filled an altogether different place in culinary history, being the province of home bakers rather than commercial bakeries, and enjoyed year round as a homemade staple dessert," according to The Journal of Antique Collectibles.

    * Make gingerbread cookies with lemon icing

    * Bake a gingerbread and top with whipped cream

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