Group items tagged

estivals of Thanksgiving were observed sporadically on a local level for more than 150 years. They tended to be autumn harvest celebrations. But in 1789, Elias Boudinot, Massachusetts, member of the House of Representatives, moved that a day of Thanksgiving be held to thank God for giving the American people the opportunity to create a Constitution to preserve their hard won freedoms. A Congressional Joint Committee approved the motion, and informed President George Washington. On October 3, 1789, the President proclaimed that the people of the United States observe "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer" on Thursday, the 26th of November. The next three Presidents proclaimed, at most, two days of thanksgiving sometime during their terms of office, either on their own initiative or at the request of a joint Resolution of Congress. One exception was Thomas Jefferson, who believed it was a conflict of church and state to require the American people hold a day of prayer and thanksgiving. President James Madison proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to be held on April 13, 1815, the last such proclamation issued by a President until Abraham Lincoln did so in 1862.

Thanksgiving holiday may be given to Sarah Josepha Hale. Editor of Ladies Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book, she began to agitate for such a day in 1827 by printing articles in the magazines. She also published stories and recipes, and wrote scores of letters to governors, senators, and presidents. After 36 years of crusading, she won her battle. On October 3, 1863, buoyed by the Union victory at Gettysburg, President Lincoln proclaimed that November 26, would be a national Thanksgiving Day, to be observed every year on the fourth Thursday of November. Only twice has a president changed the day of observation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in order to give depression-era merchants more selling days before Christmas, assigned the third Thursday to be Thanksgiving Day in 1939 and 1940. But he was met with popular resistance, largely because the change required rescheduling Thanksgiving Day events such as football games and parades. In 1941, a Congressional Joint Resolution officially set the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday for Thanksgiving.

“There’s no money to be made from singles,”

Dozens of free networks emerged to let people copy songs from one another’s computers, drawing an estimated 63 million users in the U.S. alone by mid-2003.

Apple said the service sold its 50 millionth song March 15.

Some online music companies continue to struggle, but the sector is growing fast and steadily.

Analysts estimate that the services’ revenue will grow from about $65 million last year to $250 million in 2004, with $120 million or more from downloadable singles

CD sales totaled $11.2 billion in the U.S. last year

online customers are buying a much broader range of music than is being sold in stores.

about 75% of the paid downloads weren’t in Billboard’s Top 200 and about 60% were “catalog,” or older, tracks.

more than 63% of the CDs sold in stores last week were new releases.

U.S. music sales, which peaked in 1999 at nearly $15 billion, dropped to $11.5 billion in 2006.

nearly 20 percent of U.S. internet users downloaded music illegally last year

Even though the Devils finished the 2002-03 regular season with 108 points, good for first-place in the Atlantic Division, they were never considered a favorite to win the Stanley Cup Championship.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The Devils dispatched of the Ducks in seven games, winning the Cup on their home ice with a 3-0 decision on a game-winning goal by rookie right wing Mike Rupp and a pair from Jeff Friesen.

artin Brodeur had an unforgettable 2002-03 season, winning the Vezina Trophy, the Jennings Trophy and the Stanley Cup.

Scott Stevens is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

Brodeur would not allow more than one goal in any of the next four games.

He was unbelievable in game six as well, allowing just one goal as the game went into a second 20-minute sudden death overtime before Jason Arnott, the Devils’ leading scorer in the series, pumped in the Cup-winning goal at 8:20 of the second overtime.

Defenseman and Captain Scott Stevens was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Later that June, center Scott Gomez won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year for finishing with 70 points, including 51 assists.

Hearing dogs alert a person who is deaf or hearing-impaired to sounds like doorbells, smoke alarms and baby cries.

help people who have physical disabilities

Guide dogs help people who are blind or visually impaired navigate their community

online sales of singles from services such as Apple's iTunes were up 60 percent last year.

Apple reported the sale of its 100 millionth iPod.

The music industry has blamed piracy for the dive in CD sales and began suing downloaders and the file-sharing services in retaliation in 2003

the RIAA is about to sue students for illegal downloading.

CD sales peaked in 2000, with the major labels shipping $13 billion worth of discs to stores.

Sales dropped about 8 percent each following year, until a 2 percent uptick from 2003 to 2004.

resumed in 2005 and hit its lowest point in more than a decade last year, when music companies shipped $9.2 billion in CDs.

Last year, sales of albums bought on the Internet shot up 103 percent compared with 2005

it will become even more critical to find new devices paradigms to capture consumer attention and new business models to sell content and services on those devices

iTunes and other online music retailers are also changing the way music is purchased. Hot and popular are now giving way to Independent artists who are just as likely and able to make their material available on iTunes and other internet resources.