Today we celebrate National Cookie Day, just in time Christmas holiday. This day is observed annually on December 4th.
It is the season for baking cookies. During the holidays we bake a variety of baked goods in preparation for the holidays including different types of cookies. Cookies are enjoyed all year round but we usually make more cookies at home during the holidays for gift giving and for everyone to share and enjoy.
It is an American tradition to have a Christmas cookie tray during holiday dinner for everyone to enjoy. In many English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, the most common word for a crisp cookie is a biscuit. Normally, a cookie is described as a chewie biscuit. In Scotland, the term cookie is sometimes used to describe a plain bun, rather than baked goods.
Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but some kinds of cookies are not baked at all. Cookies are made in a wide variety of styles and flavors, including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts, or dried fruits. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.
Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking is documented. Cookies appear to have their origins during the 7th century AD in Persia, and shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe from royal cuisine to street vendors.
So, this holiday lets get ready to baked some of your favorite cookies to share for holidays. If you are not into baking, you can always pick up some cookies at your local bakery. Share on social media some recipe of your famous cookie using #CookieDay.
2012 Typhoon “Pablo” Kills over 1,000 people in the Philippines
On December 4, 2012, Bopha, a Category 5 typhoon nicknamed “Pablo,” struck the Philippines. Rushing flood waters destroyed entire villages and killed over one thousand people, in what was the strongest typhoon ever to strike the Southeast Asian islands.
“Entire families may have been washed away,” said the interior secretary, Mar Roxas.
The hardest-hit areas, the Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental provinces, the heavy rainfall triggered landslides and floods. Floods destroyed farming and mining towns all along the coast, flattening banana plantations and completely destroying some citizens’ livelihoods. Some towns were left completely decimated—muddy heaps of collapsed houses. CNN reported that the iron roofs of some buildings were swept away by the 175 mph winds like “flying machetes.” Over 200,000 people were stranded after the storm, unable to get anywhere due to the landslides and rising waters.
When the storm first showed up on radars in late November, it wasn’t expected to develop, but on Nov. 30 it quickly picked up strength and speed. Once the government realized the threat posed by the storm, officials scrambled to evacuate people from the most dangerous areas, but residents were hard to convince.
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/typhoon-bopha-pablo-philippines)
