NATIONAL DAIQUIRI DAY | July 19
Each year on July 19th, people across the United States fill their glasses with a rum-based cocktail and toast to National Daiquiri Day. So, raise your glass and join all of the others in this celebration!
Daiquiri is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, citrus juice (typically lime), and sugar.
Tasting of sunshine and beaches, it might be hard to believe how the Daiquiri came to be. Back in 1898, men blasted away in the mines of a small community off the coast of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. One American engineer, Jennings Cox, supervised a mining operation located in a village named Daiquiri. Every day after work, Cox and his employees would gather at the Venus bar. Then one day, Cox mixed up Bacardi, lime, and sugar in a tall glass of ice. He named the new beverage after the Daiquiri mines, and the drink soon became a staple in Havana. Eventually, someone added shaved ice, and sometimes lemons or both lemons and limes were used.
In 1909, Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a U.S. Navy medical officer, tried Cox’s drink and subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. The popularity of the Daiquiri then increased over the next few decades.
The Daiquiri was one of the favorite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and President John F. Kennedy.
While the Daiquiri is sometimes served frozen, combining it in a blender eliminates the need for manual pulverization. Commercial machines produce a daiquiri with a texture similar to a smoothie, and they come in a variety of flavors, too. Using a frozen limeade to create a daiquiri will provide the required texture, sweetness, and sourness all at the same time.
HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL DAIQUIRI DAY
Gather your friends and mix up a few daiquiris. Make them blended or on the rocks. Enjoy them as a mocktail or find a recipe for a daiquiri-flavored dessert. (Remember always to drink responsibly and never to drink and drive). Post on social media using #NationalDaiquiriDay.
NATIONAL DAIQUIRI DAY HISTORY
We were unable to find the creator of National Daiquiri Day.
July 19th Celebrated History
1843
The Great Western Steamship Company launches the SS Great Britain. The steamship was the first ocean-going ship with an iron hull and screw propeller. She was also the largest ship on the ocean at the time.
1848
The Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York launches the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. The two day event was attended by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Carrie Chapman Catt, Lucretia Mott and many others.
July 19th Celebrated Birthdays
Samuel Colt – 1814
In 1836, Colt received the patent that would change the West. His revolving-cylinder pistol, U.S. Patent No. 138 would fire six-shot before needing to be reloaded. This revolutionary design would not be an immediate success, though. It would take American expansion and war to convince the United States government to invest in Colt’s armament.
Mary Ann Bickerdyke – 1817
During the American Civil War, Nurse Bickerdyke served as an agent of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and improved or established several field hospitals for the Union.
Charles Mayo – 1865
Along with his brother William, Charles Mayo founded the Mayo Clinic. They were exposed to the medical field at a young age through their experiences with their physician father. Both became surgeons with expertise in many methods and procedures.
Alice Dunbar Nelson – 1875
The American poet published her first book in 1895. She wrote extensively for newspaper columns as well as essays and short stories. Nelson was also a prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance.
Joseph Hansen – 1923
The American crime novelist is best known for his series featuring investigator Dave Brandstetter.