MArch 24th is Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

It's National Chips & Dip Day

Today is World Water Day

World Water Day has been observed on 22 March since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March as World Day for Water.[1]

This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Observance began in 1993 and has grown significantly ever since; for the general public to show support, it is encouraged for the public to not use their taps throughout the whole day, the day has become a popular Facebook trend.

The UN and its member nations devote this day to implementing UN recommendations and promoting concrete activities within their countries regarding the world's water resources. Each year, one of various UN agencies involved in water issues takes the lead in promoting and coordinating international activities for World Water Day. Since its inception in 2003, UN-Water has been responsible for selecting the theme, messages and lead UN agency for the World Day for Water.

In addition to the UN member states, a number of NGOs promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats have used World Day for Water as a time to focus public attention on the critical water issues of our era. Every three years since 1997, for instance, the World Water Council has drawn thousands to participate in its World Water Forum during the week of World Day for Water. Participating agencies and NGOs have highlighted issues such as a billion people being without access to safe water for drinking and the role of gender in family access to safe water. In 2003, 2006 and 2009, the UN World Water Development Report was launched on the occasion of the World Water Day. The fourth Report is expected to be released around 22 March 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Day_for_Water

Overland Police Giving Out Free Gun Locks

KTVI) – The Overland Police Department is promoting gun safety. They’re giving away free gun locks.

Overland police officers will be handing them out during the “Overland Business Association Expo.” They will also be giving away disaster preparedness information.

The expo will take place at the Overland Community Center, 9225 Lackland Road from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.

http://kplr11.com/2013/03/21/overland-police-giving-out-free-gun-locks/

Seems like a good idea to me.

March 21, 1788 The Great New Orleans Fire destroys most of the City.

The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the riverfront buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later city-wide fire, on December 8, 1794.

The Good Friday fire started about 1:30 p.m. at the home of Army Treasurer Don Vincente Jose Nunez, 619 Chartres Street at Toulouse Street,[1] less than a block from Jackson Square (Plaza de Armas). Within five hours it had consumed almost the entire city as it was fed by a strong wind from the southeast. The fire destroyed the original Cabildo and virtually all major buildings in the French Quarter, including the city's main church, the municipal building, the army barracks, armory, and jail. Only two fire engines were operational, and they were destroyed by the fire. Louisiana Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró set up tents for the homeless.[1]

The fire area stretched between Dauphine Street and the Mississippi River and between Conti Street in the south and St. Philip Street in the north. It spared the river-front buildings including the Customs House, the tobacco warehouses, the Governor's Building, the Royal Hospital and the Ursulines Convent.[1]

The Spanish were to replace the wooden buildings with structures with courtyards, thick brick walls, arcades, and wrought iron balconies.[1] Among the new buildings were the signature New Orleans buildings of St. Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo and the Presbytere.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_New_Orleans_Fire_(1788)

March 21 Is National French Bread Day

March 21 Is California Strawberry Day

March 21, 1925 The Butler Act is signed into Law in Tennessee

The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law prohibiting public school teachers from denying the Biblical account of man's origin. It was enacted as Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49 (Education) Section 1922, having been signed into law by Tennessee governor Austin Peay. The law also prevented the teaching of the evolution of man from what it referred to as lower orders of animals in place of the Biblical account.

The law was subsequently challenged in 1925 in a famous trial in Dayton, Tennessee called the Scopes trial which included a raucous confrontation between prosecution attorney and fundamentalist religious leader, William Jennings Bryan, and noted defense attorney and religious agnostic, Clarence Darrow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_Act

Walmart adds iPhone scan-and-checkout feature to 12 more markets

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it is tripling the number of U.S. stores in a pilot program that lets shoppers scan items with their iPhones and pay at self-checkout counters.

Walmart's "Scan & Go" program will soon be in more than 200 stores, up from about 70. The pilot began near its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas in late 2012, then expanded to Atlanta.

While the program is tripling in size, for now it will be in only a small fraction of Walmart's more than 4,000 U.S. stores.

"We want our customer feedback to dictate the experience," Gibu Thomas, senior vice president of mobile and digital at Walmart Global eCommerce, said this week. "You'll see this roll out to more markets."

http://news.yahoo.com/walmart-adds-iphone-scan-checkout-175831033.html

March 20: National Ravioli Day