November 1, 2021 – National Author’s Day | National Cinnamon Day

This Author Used Her Diabolical Powers For Good! Welcome to November 1, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate trade secrets and the stories they inspire.  Agatha Christie is the queen of the Whodunit.  Of the nearly 80 murder mysteries she wrote, about half of them involve death by poisoning.  Christie had an extensive knowledge of drugs and poisons because of her time spent working in a hospital pharmacy during World War I.  She watched carefully as pharmacists and nurses administered medicine to patients, and she learned what dosages were safe, along with what could kill someone.  Luckily for the world, Agatha used her knowledge for good and wrote some of the most successful novels of all time.  In fact, she’s only been outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare’s works.  On National Author’s Day, celebrate from favorite storytellers by cracking open a good page turner. Cinnamon warms everything from Fall drinks to French toast.  But long ago the spice was a rare commodity that cost nearly 50 months wages for a mere pound.  The Egyptians used cinnamon to embalm their mummies, and burned it like incense in their tombs. The origins of cinnamon were kept a secret due to a spice trade monopoly. Europeans were told that the bark came from the banks of the Nile river, and had to be collected in fishing nets.  But perhaps the strangest of all stories claimed that giant cinnamon birds harvested the bark to line their nests, built on high cliffs.  Today it’s no secret that most cinnamon comes from Indonesia. On National Cinnamon Day, enjoy something delicious and be glad it didn’t come from a giant bird’s nest. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.