Editor's Notebook

President's Day 2013 Isn't Actually a Holiday? Plus Other Fun Facts

Curious what set each president apart? Here are some of their quirks.

President's Day ... for many, it's one of those odd holidays that's more a day off for the municipal and government workers around Lakeville than anything. But did you know President's Day doesn't actually exist? Officially, the holiday is called Washington's Birthday. Huh? Good question. Let's explain. What we call President's Day first became a holiday, albeit just for federal workers in the District of Columbia, in 1879. The holiday—which was celebrated on George Washington's birthday of Feb. 22, was appropriately called Washington's Birthday. By 1885, congress adopted the holiday for all federal offices. On Jan. 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February, which moves the date from Washington's actual …

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2013 New Year's Fun Facts: Wear Red Underwear, Lock Your Car

While celebrating in Lakeville, bring these interesting fun facts and trivia about New Year's Eve.

If you're celebrating New Year's Eve in Lakeville this year and find a lull in the conversation, and the wine just isn't getting things going, impress your family and friends with this New Year's trivia.

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Editor's Notebook

Happy Thanksgiving: Lakeville Patch's Turkey Day Facts

Here's some knowledge to drop on your family and friends while you're around the table this Thanksgiving.

The first Thanksgiving dates to 1621, a three-day celebration of the Plymouth colony Pilgrims' good harvest that year. Since then, the tradition of feasting and giving thanks has persisted, especially along the east cost, but finally became a national holiday in 1863 by proclamation of President Lincoln. But did you know that the first American Indians to visit the feast weren't invited? According toNational Geographic, men from the Wampanoag Indian tribe crashed the feast after hearing gun shots from the men at the colony who were target shooting for fun, much like men today play football before or after dinner. So while you're thankfully noshing on turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thursday, pull out some of these facts to impress your…

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Editor's Notebook

Presidents Day Isn't Actually a Holiday; That and Other Fun Facts

Curious what set each president apart? Here are some of their quirks.

Presidents Day ... for many, it's one of those odd holidays that's more a day off for the municipal and government workers around Lakeville than anything. But did you know Presidents Day doesn't actually exist? Officially, the holiday is called Washington's Birthday. Huh? Good question. Let's explain. What we call Presidents Day first became a holiday, albeit just for federal workers in the District of Columbia, in 1879. The holiday—which was celebrated on George Washington's birthday of Feb. 22, was appropriately called Washington's Birthday. By 1885, congress adopted the holiday for all federal offices. On Jan. 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February, which moves the date from Washington's actual birthday…

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Happy Thanksgiving: Lakeville Patch's Fun, Turkey Day Facts

Here's some knowledge to drop on your family and friends while you're around the table this Thanksgiving.

The first Thanksgiving dates to 1621, a three-day celebration of the Plymouth colony Pilgrims' good harvest that year. Since then, the tradition of feasting and giving thanks has persisted, especially along the east cost, but finally became a national holiday in 1863 by proclamation of President Lincoln. But did you know that the first American Indians to visit the feast weren't invited? According to National Geographic, men from the Wampanoag Indian tribe crashed the feast after hearing gun shots from the men at the colony who were target shooting for fun, much like men today play football before or after dinner. So while you're thankfully noshing on turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thursday, pull out some of these facts to impress …

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Lakeville Patch Looks at Fun Halloween Facts

What is Halloween? How many trick or treaters will be out on Halloween? We have some answers.

The observance of Halloween, which dates back to Celtic rituals thousands of years ago, has long been associated with images of witches, ghosts and vampires. Over the years, Halloween customs and rituals have changed dramatically. Today, Halloween is celebrated many different ways, including wearing costumes, children trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, and going to haunted houses and parties. Here are a few fun facts about the holiday: Trick or treating: 41 million: The estimated number of potential trick-or-treaters in 2010—children age 5 to 14—across the United States. Of course, many other children—older than 14 and younger than 5—also go trick-or-treating. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census 116.7 million: Number of occupied …

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Editor's Notebook

Ushering in Autumn, Today is Last Day of Summer in Lakeville

Autumn officially begins tomorrow morning, and that got me thinking about all things Autumnal Equinox.

Minnesotan's sure do love their summers. Maybe that's why the season gets two funerals—once on Labor Day, and again on the equinox, when Autumn officially begins. Today happens to be the latter. Thursday, Sept. 22 is Summer's last day for 2011. Tomorrow, at 4:05 a.m. (CDT), the sun's rays will again hover over the equator. While we'll get (roughly) 12 hours of day and night, it's the last time we'll see that much sunlight until March 21(ish), 2012. It's especially rough for the Twin Cities, which straddles the 45th longitudinal parallel. Here, we're actually halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. According to The U.S. Census Bureau, only 13 million Americans live north of the 45th parallel—a mere 4 percent of our nation's …

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Lakeville's December Snow By the Numbers

City's maintenance workers put in plenty of overtime clear the streets from record totals.

December, 2010 will go down in the record books as the snowiest in history since official records began being kept in the late 1800s. So what does a record snowfall tally equate to? Here's some winter fun with Lakeville's December, 2010 snowfall numbers: Total inches of snow as of the 30th: 33.4 (as measured officially at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport). Average December snowfall: 9.2 inches. 2009 December snowfall: 20.3 inches. Approximate volume of snow in Lakeville's 37.5 square miles: 59,976,474,624,000 cubic inches. (That's trillions, for those keeping track). Estimated weight of total snow: Between 180 and 433 billion pounds (depending on snow composition). How many times the individual snowflakes would stretch to the moon and back…

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