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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2017 13 By Micki Rosen Did You Know? DID YOU KNOW THAT FEB. 26 IS LEVI STRAUSS DAY? Levi Strauss was a German-American businessman born in Bavaria n 1829, who came to the United States with his family when he was 18 years old. Strauss began as a dry goods wholesaler in San Francisco, where he sold various items to settlers who came to take part in the gold rush. One day in 1870, one of Strauss' clients, a tailor named Jacob W. Davis, was asked by a woman to make an exceptionally strong and enduring pair of work pants for her husband out of some denim she bought from Strauss' store. He then strengthened the pants with copper rivets to reinforce the stitching. The demand for his invention was so overwhelming that Davis approached Strauss for financial backing to file a patent application. The two men became partners, and Levi Strauss & Co. was born. DID YOU KNOW THAT FEB. 4 IS LACE DAY? The history of lace is somewhat convoluted and interwoven, just like lace itself. Italians say that lace was created there in 1493 by a Milanese family by the name of Sforza. The Flemish claim is founded on a painting from 1485 where a priest can be seen wearing an alb with what appears to be lace on it. What is far more likely is that it was developed in multiple locations and times throughout the world, but what is actually known is that it was widely produced in the 16th century. During the 1800s lace was a sign of prosperity. Lace Day celebrates this elegant fabric and the skill of its production; there are still those who make it by hand. DID YOU KNOW THAT FEB. 10 IS UMBRELLA DAY? The umbrella has been around long enough that it's permeated every culture across the globe, and originated from more than one. The oldest recorded umbrella appeared in 21 AD in ancient China, though to be fair, this was really just the first recorded collapsible umbrella; Qin Shihuang's tomb revealed a terracotta army carriage that had a permanently open umbrella attached to it dating from 210 BC. They were also found in Nineveh, Persepolis, ancient Egypt and Greece, just to name a few. Needless to say, the umbrella has a long and noble history. DID YOU KNOW THAT FEB. 13 IS RADIO DAY? Radio waves were originally discovered by Heinrich Hertz following on the heels of his discovery of electromagnetic radiation. While experiments were performed using this energy to transmit information, it wasn't until 1890 that the word "radio" was first applied, when the radio-conducteur was invented by French physicist Edouard Branly. Previous to this, all forms of communication using this discovery were known as wireless communication, but eventually "radio" spread across the world and became the go-to term. Radio has been recognized as having such a profound impact on the world today that the Spanish Radio Academy put in a formal request in 2010 to have Feb. 13 established as "World Radio Day." DID YOU KNOW THAT FEB. 22 IS MARGARITA DAY? The history of the Margarita is a bit mysterious and varied; there are several stories describing its origin. One of them says it was invented at Rancho La Gloria, near Tijuana; Carlos "Danny" Herrera created the recipe for Marjorie King, a Ziegfeld dancer who had a distinct allergy to many spirits. Another claim says it was invented in Galveston, Texas by Santos Cruz for a favorite patron of his, singer Patty Lee. Needless to say, these are just a couple of the stories of its invention, and no one really knows which one is true – it's possible they all are! There's a margarita for every occasion, and Margarita Day is your excuse to try them all.

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