14 May

A scone or not a scone, that is the question.

Apparently, there is a difference between the beloved British scone and the American buttermilk biscuit although to look at they appear to be very similar. The scone is denser, crumbly and often filled with fruit before being generously covered with jam and clotted cream, whereas the Southern American buttermilk biscuit has a flaky texture and is often eaten as a savoury bake and enjoyed with gravy.

The original biscuit was baked twice to create a much harder product ideal for sailors and soldiers to take on their journeys. As the recipe was improved with the invention of baking soda, fluffy biscuits were born and their ability to soak up gravy was unmatched.

Whether you call them buttermilk biscuits or a scone we prefer ours with jam, sorry or should we say jelly and will be enjoying the Jim Jam as our cocktail of the day.

(For all the Brits, national scone day is 30th May)

The anniversary of Louis XIV's enthronement

Crowned on this day in 1643 at the young age of just four, Louis XIV of France built the Palace of Versailles, established France as one of the pre-eminent powers of Europe, and reigned for 72 years and 110 days – which remains the record for the longest reign in a major European country.

Louis chose the sun as his emblem and was known as the Sun King, so what else to toast him with but a Sunshine Cocktail?

Today is also the anniversary of the first U.S. Space Station

It's safe to say that the Cold Warriors who launched the US' first space station - Skylab - on this day in 1973 wouldn't have imagined a world in which the International Space Station was possible.

Skylab was launched as a riposte to the Soviet space station Salyut 1, which had launched a couple of years earlier - although the first crew to reach it were all killed by an accident on re-entry.

It was also supposed to mark the first steps towards travel into outer space, a goal that seemed frustratingly far away - at least until China provided new competition in the space race.

Today, Elon Musk's SpaceX continues to develop its SpaceX Starship to "boldly go where no man has gone before" and orbit Mars. Meanwhile, NASA is working to send astronauts to an asteroid. We're toasting the brave pioneers who were the first to live in space with The Star, a cocktail that most likely predates the car, let alone the plane.