August 3 is National Watermelon Day

August 3, 2015 at 5:08 AM | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Foodimentary - National Food Holidays

Did you know watermelons were originally hollowed out & used to store water,hence the name.

Today’s five facts about watermelons:

1. By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the U.S., followed by cantaloupe and honeydew.
2. Watermelon is 92% water.
3. The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt.
4. Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
5. Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.

Today’s Food History

• 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain on his first voyage to what he thought were the Indies.
• 1801 Sir Joseph Paxton was born. Paxton was an English landscape gardener, and hothouse designer. He was the architect of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.
• 1806 Michel Adanson was born. Adson was a French botanist who developed a system of plant classification based on physical characteristics. His system…

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