Dandelion - Arches National Park

Dandelion Day One helluva plant, as it turns out.  The English is a mispronunciation of the French dent de lion or "lions tooth", though sometimes (folkish) piss-a-bed, pee-a-bed or wet-a-bed, from the strong diuretic properties of the root.  It has been used for food and in folk medicine in various cultures since antiquity and was brought over on the Mayflower just in case there wasn't any already here.  As it turns out, at least one species was already here, but now there were more.

There appear to be a metric boatload of subspecies world wide, with at least a couple of imperial tons in Britain alone, which, oddly enough, is sort of where Britain is these days.  Zo, the full taxonomy is full of clades*, a whole newfangled thing brought about by the endless march of science, but the old school bottom end is:

Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Cichorioideae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Subtribe: Crepidinae
Genus: Taraxacum

    - from da wiki, of course

The two most common species globally are T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, both of which were introduced from Europe (natch).   Taraxacum officinale is, it would seem, the "official" dandelion.  All parts are edible (I've actually seen the leaves at retail grocers and farmers' merkets) and chock full of vitamins, minerals and other good stuff like inulin (a prebiotic) and lutein a carotenoid.

Beyond that, I refer you to da wiki, 'cause who is gonna take the trouble to lie about dandelions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum 

*  Clade is a whole newfangled taxonomic category not to be confused with clave an Afro-Cuban rhythm best known as The Bo Diddley Beat, which, though seemingly first popularly recorded by Johnny Otis (Willie and the Hand Jive), was, per Mr. Otis himself something he had already heard twice, first by some latin group and second by Bo. 

OK, back to Dandelions  ---

On this day in history:

1242 – Prince Alexander Nevsky and a mixed force of Novgorodians and Russians stopped the Crusaders and the Teutonic Knights, defeating them so thoroughly as to put an end to the Northern Crusades.  The Battle on The Ice was dramatized and celebrated in Sergei Eisenstein's  film Alexander Nevsky which everybody should see at once in their lives.

1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, forced themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and presented the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.

1609 – Daimyo Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in Japan, completed his successful invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa.

1710 – The Statute of Anne received the royal assent and thereby created the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.

1722 – Jacob Roggeveen "discovered" Easter Island. and its then 2,000-3,000 inhabitants.

1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discovered a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they called Linear B.

1910 – The Transandine Railway connecting Chile and Argentina was inaugurated.

1922 – The American Birth Control League, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood, was incorporated.

1933 – FDR signed executive order 6101 creating the Civilian Conservation Corps, and executive order 6102 "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates" by U.S. citizens.

1956 – Fidel Castro declared himself at war with our close ally and dear friend Fulgencio Batista.

1969 – Massive antiwar demonstrations occurred in many U.S. cities to no avail.

1976 – China's April Fifth Movement led to the Tiananmen Incident.

1977 – The US Supreme Court ruled that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people's reservation thereby destroyed the tribe's jurisdictional authority over the area regardless of the fact that it was a blatant treaty violation. (Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip)

1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolved the Peruvian congress by military force making him an obvious ally and dear friend of the US warranting our aid and support.

1998 – The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest bridge span in the world, opened to traffic
.

Born this day in:

It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.

~~ Thomas Hobbes

1279 – Al-Nuwayri, historian
1588 – Thomas Hobbes, philosopher
1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, mathematician, astronomer, and physicist
1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, painter and etcher
1752 – Sébastien Érard, instrument maker
1761 – Sybil Ludington, heroine of the American Revolutionary War
1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, as in "Anchor Hardy, Anchor!"
1811 – Jules Dupré, painter
1827 – Joseph Lister, surgeon and academic
1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet, playwright, novelist, and critic
1839 – Robert Smalls, ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician
1842 – Hans Hildebrand, archaeologist
1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, engineer and cartoonist
1856 – Booker T. Washington, educator, essayist and historian
1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, microbiologist and chemist
1882 – Song Jiaoren, revolutionary
1899 – Alfred Blalock, surgeon and academic
1904 – Richard Eberhart, poet and academic
1922 – Gale Storm, actress and singer
1923 – Ernest Mandel, Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist
1925 – Janet Rowley, human geneticist
1928 – Tony Williams, singer
1929 – Joe Meek, songwriter and producer
1931 – Jack Clement, singer, songwriter, and producer
1934 – Stanley Turrentine, saxophonist and composer
1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, astrophysicist and astronomer
1938 – Nancy Holt, sculptor and painter
1939 – Ronald White, singer and songwriter
1941 – Dave Swarbrick, singer, songwriter, and fiddler
1942 – Allan Clarke, singer and songwriter
1944 – Evan Parker, musician
1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, singer, songwriter, and producer
1952 – John C. Dvorak,  author and editor
1960 – Larry McCray, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, theoretical physicist
1973 – Pharrell Williams, singer, songwriter, and rapper

Died this day in:

 We must make Boogie Music an essential factor in the life of all. In presenting this song to the world, we must then explain and justify our position by formulating a definition of Boogie Music and setting forth its main principles in such a way that all may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, and every relation with every other human being in every circumstance depends on Boogie Music and the right comprehension and right application thereof

~~  Bob Hite

1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Ipainter
1612 – Diana Scultori, engraver
1900 – Joseph Bertrand, mathematician, economist, and academic
1921 – Sophie Elkan, writer and translator
1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, archaeologist and businessman
1932 – María Blanchard, painter
1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, novelist and playwright
1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, painter
1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, artist
1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, geneticist and academic
1974 – A. Y. Jackson, painter
1981 – Bob Hite, singer and songwriter
1994 – Kurt Cobain, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
1995 – Emilio Greco, sculptor and engraver
1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter
1997 – Allen Ginsberg, poet
2005 – Saul Bellow, novelist, essayist and short story writer,
2006 – Gene Pitney, singer and songwriter
2012 – Barney McKenna, musician

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Piano Day

Dingus Day
Sweet Potato Day
National Caramel Day
Dandelion Day
First contact Day
National Flash Drive Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies

Tony Williams

Joe Meek

Stanley Turrentine

Ronald White

Dave Swarbrick

Allan Clarke

Agnetha Fältskog

Larry McCray

Pharrell Williams

George Herbert

Bob Hite

Gene Pitney

Well, I tried to avoid this, up above, but just can't, so here's some bonus Refried Boogie

It's an open thread, so do your thing, got it? Below this point this is a public forum, your forum, nothing is off topic, so go for it