It is World Chocolate Day
Chocolate refers to edibles made from roasted and ground cocoa beans and can exist as a liquid, a solid, or a paste, by itself or in combination with other comestible materials. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) which is widely distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon basin. In their unprocessed state, said beans taste intensely bitter so when making chocolate they are usually fermented to develop the flavor. The cacao tree was first used as a source for food in what is today Ecuador at least 5,300 years ago. It is hypothesized that it was initially domesticated because people consumed the pulp that surrounds the seeds as a snack and also fermented said pulp into a mildly alcoholic beverage. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations widely consumed cacao beverages, and things progressed from there.

The name of the genus, Theobroma literally translates to The food of the Gods. Theobroma refers to a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, best known for containing the cacao tree . The genus Theobroma is native to the tropical regions of Central and South America and includes roughly 20 species of small understory trees. Nonetheless, today most cocoa beans are produced in West African countries, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana, which contribute about 60% of the world's cocoa supply. In 2022, the US imported approximately $6.3 billion worth of cocoa and cocoa products. In addition, a great amount of cocoa products in the US are confections and include significant amounts of sugar. The US is the world's third largest sugar producer, so that taken with cacao, US chocolate production contributes to the dreaded US trade imbalance.

It can be argued, however, that chocolate is necessary for human survival. After all, the Neanderthals had no access to choclate and just look what happened to them. It is chock full (heh) of chemicals that either are or are suspected of being beneficial to our physical and mental health and well being. It also tastes good.

Though people from the US had been drifting west into California and even taking up residence there for some time, the USA's official military conquest of California is generally viewed as beginning on July 7. 1846. On that date, US troops occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena, now known as San Francisco. Every now and then the central government, despite having won that long-ago war, decides to re-emphasize its control by attempting to deny the California citizenry such trappings of self-government as allegedly vest in each of the current 50 states. Ah well, asi es la vida.

On this day in history:

1534 – Jacques Cartier made his first contact with indigenous peoples in what is now Canada.

1798 – Due to the XYZ Affair, the US Congress rescinded the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the "Quasi-War".

1807 – The first Treaty of Tilsit between France and Russia was signed, at the end of the War of the Fourth Coalition.

1834 – In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began until stopped by military force.

1846 – US troops occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena (San Francisco), starting the US conquest of California.

1863 – The US began its first military draft

1898 – US President McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution officially finalizing the thett/conquest of Hawaii

1911 – The US, UK, Japan, and Russia signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911

1928 – Sliced bread was sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

1930 – Henry J. Kaiser began construction of Boulder Dam

1937 – The Logou Bridge Incident provided Japan with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War

1937 – The British Peel Commission Report recommended the partition of Palestine

1941 – The US occupied Iceland, replacing the UK's occupation forces.

1952 – The SS United States passed Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record

1958 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

1992 – The New York Court of Appeals ruled that women have the same right to go topless in public as men

2007 – The first Live Earth benefit concert was held in 11 locations around the world.

2017 – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted with 122 countries voting in favor. Given the inability of certain powerful countries to abide by the non-proliferation treaty, this sham is a complete farce

2019 – The United States women's national soccer team defeated the Netherlands 2–0 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final in Lyon, France.

2022 – Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the British Conservative Party, far too late

Some people who were born on this day:

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.

~~ Robert A. Heinlein

1752 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, merchant who invented the Jacquard loom
1831 – Jane Elizabeth Conklin, poet and writer
1843 – Camillo Golgi, physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1860 – Gustav Mahler, composer and conductor
1861 – Nettie Stevens, geneticist
1880 – Otto Frederick Rohwedder, engineer, invented sliced bread
1905 – Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacotin, mathematician
1906 – William Feller, mathematician and academic
1906 – Anton Karas, zither player and composer
1907 – Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer and screenwriter
1913 – Pinetop Perkins, singer and pianist
1915 – Margaret Walker, novelist and poet
1923 – Eduardo Falú, guitarist and composer
1924 – Natalia Bekhtereva, neuroscientist and psychologist
1924 – Mary Ford, singer and guitarist, co-pioneer in multi-track recording

1927 – Charlie Louvin, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1927 – Doc Severinsen, trumpet player and conductor
1930 – Hank Mobley, saxophonist and composer
1931 – David Eddings, author and academic
1932 – Joe Zawinul, jazz keyboardist and composer
1934 – Robert McNeill Alexander, zoologist
1936 – Egbert Brieskorn, mathematician and academic
1936 – Nikos Xilouris, singer and songwriter
1940 – Ringo Starr, singer, songwriter, drummer, and actor
1941 – Jim Rodford, bass player
1945 – Adele Goldberg, computer scientist and academic
1963 – Vonda Shepard, singer, songwriter, and actress (Ally McBea)
1986 – Sevyn Streeter, singer-songwriter
1988 – Kaci Brown, singer-songwriter
1994 – Ashton Irwin, musician
1996 – Yoon Chae-kyung, singer and actress

Some people who died on this day:

Certainly nothing is unnatural that is not physically impossible.

~~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan

D1816 – Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright and poet
1922 – Cathal Brugha, revolutionary and politician, active in the Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence;
1927 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, mathematician and academic
1930 – Arthur Conan Doyle, writer
1950 – Fats Navarro, trumpet player and composer
2001 – Fred Neil, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2006 – Syd Barrett, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2006 – Juan de Ávalos, sculptor
2007 – Anne McLaren, scientist
2007 – Donald Michie, scientist
2012 – Dennis Flemion, drummer

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

World Chocolate Day
National Macaroni Day
Tell the Truth Day This could get you jailed, don't even think about it

Today's Tunes

Chocolate

Gustav Mahler

Anton Karas

Pinetop Perkins

Eduardo Falú

Mary Ford

Charlie Louvin

Doc Severinsen

Hank Mobley

Joe Zawinul,

Nikos Xilouris,

Ringo Starr

Jim Rodford

Vonda Shepherd

Fats Navarro

Fred Neil

Syd Barrett

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Chocolate, California, Alaska Statehood, Robert Heinlein, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Gustav Mahler, Anton Karas, Pinetop Perkins, Mary Ford, Ringo Starr