Pack Rat Day
Collect it, save it, hoard it, hide it, store it, but whatever you do, don't throw it away on Pack Rat Day. Some pack rats keep everything, including salt and pepper paper packets from the local sandwich shop to every single empty jar they've ever opened. Others keep only certain items they think they may need later like newspapers and magazines, cardboard boxes, or an overabundance of office and school supplies.
Some cases of pack rats can be quite serious. When too much stuff gets in the way of daily functions, it's time to start discarding some stuff. "Many hoarders suffer from depression and anxiety disorders, he adds -- and, feeling down can worsen a tendency to accumulate too many things," according to Psychology Today. They advise pack rats to discard items but save the memories attached to those items.
First U.S. Same-Sex Marriages Anniversary
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples were married on May 17, 2004, in Massachusetts. The Bay State was the first state to sanction gay marriages. The marriages were allowed because on "Nov. 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that there is no rational basis under the law to deny a marriage license to same-sex couples," according to Freedom to Marry.
Fun facts:
* In the first four years, "more than 10,000 marriages were performed for gay and lesbian couples," according to Edge Publications.
* The anniversary shares the day with the New York Stock Exchange, established on May 17, 1792.
Cherry Cobbler Day
Start by picking the best fresh cherries that are red, firm and free of brown, mushy spots. Sweet cherries were first domesticated in Ancient Greece. Cherries have a long history as a home garden fruit rather than one that was "cultivated for the market," according to "The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink." The use of cobbler in reference to a fruit dessert dates back to 1859: "Cobbler ... a sort of pie, baked in a pot lined with dough of great thickness, upon which fruit is placed" ("Dictionary of Americanisms")
You can use tart cherries or sweet cherries in a cherry cobbler, which is baked underneath a biscuit-like top crust.
* Crazy-good cobblers
* Sweet or savory cherry cobblers
USS Stark Attacked
Twenty-five years ago, at least 28 American naval personnel were killed when two missiles hit the USS Stark. The frigate was sailing off the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf on May 17. 1987. A Cypriot flag tanker was also hit and earlier that same morning a Soviet oil tanker ran into a mine.
"The first missile punched through the hull near the port bridge wing, 8 feet above the waterline. It bored a flaming hole through berthing spaces, the post office, and the ship's store, spewing rocket propellant along its path. Burning at 3,500 degrees, the weapon ground to a halt in a corner of the chiefs' quarters, and failed to explode. The second missile, which hit five feet farther forward, detonated as designed. The fired burned for almost a day, incinerating the crew's quarters, the radar room, and the combat information center," according to No Higher Honor.
