March 27th - Featuring Steam Fire Engine Freebies!

By Catherine Mcdiarmid-Watt @frugalfreebies

March 27th is... Steam Fire Engine Birthday (1841), National Joe Day, National Spanish Paella Day, Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day, Corkscrew Birthday (1860), Viagra Day (1998), Urinal Birthday (1866), Celebrate Exchange Day (1911), International Scribble Day, World Theatre Day, National Baked Ham with Pineapple Day, Kite Flying Day, Photography Day, Education and Sharing Day, American Diabetes Alert Day, International Whisk(e)y Day, Myanmar Resistance Day, National Cleavage Day, Muslim Women's Day, Mariah Day
MORE: Manatee Appreciation Day, National Little Red Wagon Day, Whole Grain Sampling Day, Red Cross Giving Day
PLUS - interesting books to read and free printables, paper crafts, kid crafts, activities, and coloring pages.
Want more Holidays to celebrate? Click for our Index of Holiday Freebies

Steam Fire Engine Birthday
-- The steam fire engine was invented in 1829 by John Braithwaite, partner in the engineering firm of Brathwaite and Ericsson of London. This steamer included a boiler and two direct-acting steam pumps mounted on wheels and drawn by horses. At first, the steamers were not popular due to their lack of power. The first British fire appliance maker to manufacture a successful steam pumper was Shand, Mason and Co, in 1858. After this, development occurred quickly and improved engines were devised which could pump at 200 strokes per minute — far more quickly than the fastest manual engine could be pumped. Source
Read: Those Magnificent Old Steam Fire Engines
-- Invented out of desperation in the early 1850s when volunteer firemen with hand operated engines could not or would not control fires, steam fire engines soon revolutionized firefighting throughout the world. This book recounts the determined efforts of the inventors, who worked in secrecy after receiving death threats from volunteer firemen who feared they and their hand engines would be replaced. This book contains fascinating stories of steamers in action fighting fires. The operation of the steam fire engine is explained in easy-to-understand terms.
• U.S. Fire Department, Alexandria, Va. -- Historic Alexandria, United States, Virginia Photograph U.S. Fire Department, Alexandria, Va., with steam fire engines, July, 1863 Photograph shows fire fighters and steam fire engines in front of the Alexandria, Virginia fire department which was taken over by Union forces in early 1863.
• Steam Fire Engine woodworking plans -- Right after Horse drawn fire machines. A handsome 1870s vintage fire truck inspired by the Amoskeag Companys self powered firefighting apparatus. It is from an era after horse drawn wagons and before gasoline engines. A chain drive from the steam pump turned the rear wheels. Features working steering, toolboxes, lanterns and a drive chain. Patterns inlcuded for the display base and plaque text. A copy of an original maintenance checklist from early fire engines is included.
• Steam Fire Engine Coloring and Activity Books

New Haven Firefighters

Amazon Freebies:
🚒 Read Steam Fire Engine ebooks for free with a Free Trial of Kindle Unlimited
🚒 Free Steam Fire Engine apps
🚒 Listen to Steam Fire Engine LPs with a Free Trial of Amazon Music Unlimited


Free Printables, Coloring Pages, Activities and Crafts:
🚒 Two Fun Free Fire Truck Printables
🚒 Model Steam Fire Engines - Model Engineers Digital Workshop
🚒 A Simple Soda Can Steam Engine
🚒 History of the American Steam Fire-engine | Online ebook
🚒 Steam Fire Engine Patent
🚒 Handbook For American Fire Engine Company Steam Engines
🚒 The History of Steam Fire Engines in North Carolina
🚒 SAGA OF THE STEAMER - Fire Engineering
🚒 LEGO Product Idea | Steam Fire Engine
🚒 Nehemiah
Bean and the Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine


National Joe Day
- Everyone who hates their name can be called Joe this day. Today is a chance to change your name, if only for today. Many people do not like their given name. They wish they could change it. A few actually do. On National Joe Day, it is perfectly okay to have everyone call your Joe. Why Joe, and not Bob or Mike or Radcliffe? Simply, because everyone likes the name, Joe. If you are called Joe today, we know you are Joe cool!
National Spanish Paella Day
- The roots of paella reach back to Valencia. The original Valencian dish was a mixture of meat, snails, beans and green vegetables. There two basic variations on the original. Seafood paella, as the name suggests, eliminates the meat in favor of all seafood, a popular meal for Friday observance.
Steam Fire Engine Birthday (1841)
- Lysander Button was the inventor of many of the early improvements made on hand and steam fire engines. Many of those improvements made their way to the modern fire engines of today. In 1841, he developed the first fire engine water pump, with valves set at an angle of 45 degrees and straight-level waterways from the inlet to the outlet.
Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day
- Put on your cowboy hat and get out your banjo because it's Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day. Creating new wacky country song titles is all this holiday is about. Enjoy some of the comical song titles aspiring country musicians have already come up with - such as, Billy Broke My Heart at Walgreens and I Cried All the Way to Sears. What's your favorite?
Corkscrew Birthday (1860)
- It is unknown when and who made the first corkscrew. The first corkscrews were derived from a gun worme, a tool with a single or double spiral end fitting used to clean musket barrels or to extract an unspent charge from the barrel. By the early 17th century corkscrews for removing corks were made by blacksmiths as using a cork to stopper a bottle was well established. Patent No. 27,615 granted to M.L. Byrn of New York, N.Y. for a corkscrew on March 27, 1860.
Viagra Day (1998)
- On March 27, 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra to be sold, in the United States, to treat erectile dysfunction. Annual sales for Viagra soared and exceeded one billion in the first two years and it was given the nickname little magic blue pill.
Urinal Birthday (1866)
- The urinal was first patented in the US by Andrew Rankin in March of 1866. He was not, however, the actual inventor of the device. No one seems to know its actual origin, but the stories go back all the way to the Roman Empire.
Celebrate Exchange Day (1911)
- Founded in 1911, in Detroit by businessmen who wanted to exchange ideas, the Exchange Club moved its headquarters to Toledo in 1917. For nearly 100 years, its volunteer efforts have supported the needs of the country and of local communities, making it the country's oldest American service organization operating exclusively in this country.