Daily TWiP Archives
Something interesting has happened on (just about) every day of the year, and Daily TWiP provides the proof. An offshoot of my local events column The Week in Preview (affectionately known as TWiP), Daily TWiP was published April 2008-Aug. 2011 and is still giving readers reasons to celebrate.More in "Daily TWiP"
- Daily TWiP - Oct. 23: National Mole Day
- Daily TWiP - June 18: International Picnic Day
- Daily TWiP - June 30, 1859: The Great Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope
- Daily TWiP - Dec. 1, 1761: Famed wax sculptor Madame Tussaud born
- Daily TWiP - Dec. 4: National Cookie Day
- Daily TWiP - Oct. 8: National Fluffernutter Day
- Daily TWiP - Sept. 7, 1936: "Benjamin," the last thylacine, dies
- Daily TWiP - Nov. 12, 1933: First photograph of the Loch Ness Monster taken
- Daily TWiP - April 1, 1957: The BBC pulls off its infamous spaghetti tree hoax
- Daily TWiP - April 11, 1954: The most boring day of the 20th century
- Daily TWiP - May 3, 1978: The first spam email is sent
- Daily TWiP - Feb. 28, 1939: The non-word “dord” is discovered in Webster’s New International Dictionary
- Daily TWiP - March 3, 1931: "The Star-Spangled Banner," set to the tune of an English drinking song, becomes the U.S. national anthem
- Daily TWiP - May 16, 1777: The American with the most valuable autograph is fatally wounded in a duel
- Daily TWiP - May 25: Towel Day and Geek Pride Day
- Daily TWiP - June 30: National Ice Cream Soda Day
- Daily TWiP - July 22: Spoonerism Day
- Daily TWiP - Aug. 13: International Left-Handers' Day
- Daily TWiP - Aug. 23, 1784: The short-lived state of Franklin declares its independence from North Carolina
- Daily TWiP - Feb. 5, 1897: The Indiana General Assembly unanimously votes to change the value of pi
- Daily TWiP - March 10: International Day of Awesomeness and Chuck Norris' birthday
- Daily TWiP - Jan. 25: National Irish Coffee Day
- Daily TWiP - Nov. 30, 1954: Ann Hodges becomes the first person hit by a meteorite
- Daily TWiP - Oct. 6, 1582 does not happen in certain countries
- Daily TWiP - Sept. 17, 1859: Joshua A. Norton declares himself Emperor of the United States
- Daily TWiP - Sept. 30, 2004: First images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken
- Daily TWiP - Aug. 27, 1896: The shortest war in recorded history is fought
- Daily TWiP - July 30, 1419: Czechs chuck politicians (literally) during the First Defenestration of Prague
- Daily TWiP - July 21, 356 B.C.: Herostratus destroys one of the Seven Wonders of the World to ensure his own fame
- Daily TWiP - May 14: National Dance Like A Chicken Day
- Daily TWiP - Jan. 26, 2004: Dead whale unexpectedly explodes in Tainan, Taiwan
- Daily TWiP - Jan. 8, 1835: U.S. national debt hits zero for the first and only time
Daily TWiP – Jan. 25: National Irish Coffee Day
After a cold and tiring evening of shoveling and sanding, there’s nothing like warming up with something hot to drink. Today on National Irish Coffee Day, we encourage you to enjoy this seasonally suitable beverage and the amusing tale behind it.
Irish coffee was the creation of Joe Sheridan, head chef at the airport at Foynes, Ireland. During the winter of 1943, a flight bound for Newfoundland was forced to turn back to Foynes due to inclement weather. It was late at night when the passengers finally arrived, and they were badly in need of something to warm them.
Sheridan poured coffee into mugs, added a generous amount of Irish whiskey to each, and served it to the grateful passengers. One gentleman, curious to know more about this wonderful concoction, asked Sheridan if he had used Brazilian coffee. Sheridan jokingly replied that this was Irish coffee.
The name stuck, and Irish coffee quickly became the airport’s specialty. When Foynes Airport closed in 1946, Irish coffee moved to the newly constructed Shannon Airport, where it is served to arriving dignitaries to this day.
Here is the recipe Sheridan perfected, courtesy of the Foynes Flying Boat Museum:
- Place a spoon inside a stemmed whiskey glass. Heat both by filling the glass with boiling water for five seconds, leaving the heated spoon in the glass.
- Pour a shot of Irish whiskey into the glass. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar.
- Fill the glass to about a half inch below the rim with very hot, strong black coffee. Mix with the heated spoon to ensure the sugar melts completely.
- Now comes the tricky part. Carefully pour fresh cream over the back of the heated spoon so that it floats on top of the coffee. Pouring the cream over the back of the spoon adds a bit of fluffiness.
- Do not mix. Enjoy the beverage by sipping it through the layer of cream.
– Teresa Santoski
Originally published Jan. 25, 2011.
Browse the compendium
Compendium (noun): a summary or abridgment.
Click the icons to the right to check out a sampling of my work.
