Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

Portrait of Tuskegee airman Edward M. Thomas

 

Did you know.... that the Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel. (Wikipedia)

 

Inspiring Facts About the Tuskegee Airmen
BY MARK MANCINI  |  MARCH 12, 2021

Col. Benjamin O. Davis (left), commanding officer

of the 332nd Fighter Group, and Edward C. Gleed,

group operations officer, stand in front of a plane

in Ramitelli, Italy, in March 1945.

The first Black pilots to serve in the United States military—along with the navigators, mechanics, instructors, and other personnel who supported them—are today remembered as the Tuskegee Airmen. Established in 1941, they built an impressive combat record, helped the Allies win World War II, and put the U.S. armed forces on the road to integration.

 

1. THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE TRAINED THE COUNTRY’S FIRST BLACK MILITARY PILOTS.
Now called Tuskegee University, the Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 as a school for training Black teachers. In its first five decades, the school employed and produced leading Black scientists and thinkers, including botanist George Washington Carver and architect Robert Taylor. In 1939, the institute secured federal funding under the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) to train Black pilots in response to the outbreak of war in Europe; the program intended to create a pool of trained aviators for potential military service. The institute quickly leased an airstrip, acquired multiple planes, and hired its own instructor pilots. The Tuskegee Institute was one of six historically Black colleges and universities that participated in the CPTP.

 

2. THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN HAD ROOTS IN ILLINOIS.
Before 1941, the U.S. military—which was officially segregated—prohibited Black pilots. Civil rights organizations and Black newspapers pressured the government to open up the role to Black aviators. In 1941, the government contracted Tuskegee Institute to offer primary training for the military’s first Black airmen. On March 22, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) was formally constituted [PDF]. Not only was it the very first Tuskegee Airmen unit, it was also the first Black flying unit of any kind in American military history. The inaugural members began their training at Chanute Field in central Illinois, about 16 miles north of Champaign, Illinois. But they didn’t stay there very long. By the end of the year, the 99th had relocated to Tuskegee, Alabama.

 

3. NO ONE CALLED THEM “TUSKEGEE AIRMEN” DURING WORLD WAR II.

A group of Tuskegee Airmen attend a briefing in 1945.

 

The “Tuskegee Airmen” nickname was coined by author Charles E. Francis in the title of his 1955 book [PDF]. The Tuskegee Airmen encompass several different squadrons and groups with connections to the training facilities in Tuskegee: the 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302nd squadrons, which together made up the 332nd Fighter Group. The 447th Bombardment Group, a Black bomber unit, is also included under the Tuskegee Airmen umbrella, along with the instructors, mechanics, and ground crew at the Tuskegee Institute’s training facilities between 1941 and 1946.

 

4. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT SUPPORTED THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WHEN OTHERS DIDN’T.
The First Lady put a spotlight on the Tuskegee program when she visited the Tuskegee Institute in 1941. Charles A. Anderson, a pilot now known as “the father of Black aviation,” was its chief civilian flight instructor. At Roosevelt’s request, he took her on an aerial tour and the pair spent 40 minutes flying over the countryside together. The resulting news photograph of Roosevelt and Anderson helped to dispel the notion that Black Americans were unfit to fly aircraft—and encouraged many to apply to the program.

 

5. THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN BUILT AN EXEMPLARY RECORD IN THEIR BOMBER ESCORT MISSIONS.

Members in the 332nd Fighter Group were tasked with escorting bomber planes on their missions. The escorts protected the bombers in flight and attacked enemy aircraft that might fire at the bombers. The Tuskegee Airmen flew these important missions around the Mediterranean theater and racked up an admirable number of hits. According to historian Daniel Haulman, the Tuskegee Airmen flew 312 missions, of which 179 were bomber escort missions, between June 1944 and April 1945. “They lost escorted bombers to enemy aircraft on only seven of those missions,” totaling 27 American planes, he said in an interview with the National World War II Museum. Each of the six other escort groups in the U.S. command lost an average of 46 bombers [PDF].

 

6. SOME TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WERE DUBBED “RED TAILS.”

Tuskegee Airmen Marcellus G. Smith (left) and

Roscoe C. Brown work on a plane nicknamed

Tootsie in Ramitelli, Italy, in March 1945.

 

During World War II, individual fighter groups set themselves apart by giving the tails of their planes a distinctive paint job. This made it easier to coordinate large flight formations and helped bomber crews recognize friendly aircraft. In July 1944, members of the 332nd Fighter Group began flying P-51 Mustang planes with tails painted solid red [PDF]. Soon, the Tuskegee Airmen (as a group) were nicknamed the “red tails.” A 2012 George Lucas-produced film by the same name fictionalizes this unit’s success in shooting down German fighter planes.

 

7. THE FIRST THREE BLACK GENERALS IN THE U.S. AIR FORCE WERE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.
The life of four-star general Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (1912-2002) is a series of firsts. Davis was the son of the Army’s first Black general, and in 1932, became the first Black cadet admitted to the U.S. Military Academy since Reconstruction. The career officer served for 33 years, fought in three wars, and commanded the 332nd Fighter Group in the Tuskegee program. Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. (1920-1978) served as a fighter pilot in the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam, and became the first four-star African American general in any U.S. military branch in 1975 when he was appointed the commander of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). After enlisting in the Army Air Forces in 1942, Lucius Theus (1922-2007) served as a training officer at the Tuskegee Air Field before going on to serve or command at numerous U.S. and international air bases and at the Air Force headquarters. He was the first Black combat support officer to be promoted to major general.

 

8. THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FACED SEGREGATION ON BASE.
A nonviolent protest at Freeman Field in Indiana in 1945 became known as the Freeman Field Mutiny. Its commander separated accommodations by race, which was against Army rules. When the 477th Bombardment Group was transferred there, its Black personnel were miscategorized as trainees so the base’s white officers wouldn’t have to share their officer’s club with them. On April 5, 1945, some of the Black airmen peacefully walked into the club anyway. All the Black officers at Freeman Field were then told to sign a document agreeing to “separate but equal” policies on military bases, and the 101 Black personnel who refused were arrested. Eventually, three were court martialed and one was convicted of insubordination.

 

9. A TUSKEGEE AIRMAN LED A CLASSIFIED INQUIRY INTO UFOS.

Tuskegee Airmen (left to right) Richard S. "Rip" Harder,

unidentified airman, Thurston L. Gaines, Jr., Newman C. Golden,

and Wendell M. Lucas leave the parachute room in Ramitelli,

Italy, in March 1945.

 

Robert Friend served as a wingman for Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. during WWII. He went on to direct Project Blue Book, a classified Air Force research initiative that investigated 12,618 alleged UFO sightings beginning in 1948. In 1969, the Air Force concluded that “there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as ‘unidentified’ are extraterrestrial vehicles,” and shut down the project.

 

10. IN 2007, THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WERE AWARDED THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
The airmen, including military and civilian support staff, received the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States Congress for their “unique military record that inspired revolutionary reform in the armed forces.” Other Congressional Gold Medal recipients include the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Tuskegee Airmen  |  Facts About the Tuskegee Airmen

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MOON LANDING

Did you know.... that a Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United States' Apollo 11 was the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969. There were six crewed U.S. landings between 1969 and 1972, and numerous un-crewed landings, with no soft landings happening between 22 August 1976 and 14 December 2013. The United States is the only country to have successfully conducted crewed missions to the Moon, with the last departing the lunar surface in December 1972. All soft landings took place on the near side of the Moon until 3 January 2019, when the Chinese Chang'e 4 spacecraft made the first landing on the far side of the Moon. (Wikipedia)

 

Little-Known Facts About the Moon Landing
When Neil Armstrong stepped down a ladder and onto the moon on July 20, 1969, the nation achieved an audacious vision. But there were surprising moments along the way and not everything went as expected.
by HISTORY.COM EDITORS  |  ORIGINAL: JUL 2019  |  UPDATED: JUL 2020

 

It was a feat for the ages. Just seven years before, a young president had challenged the nation to land a man on the moon—not because it was “easy,” as John F. Kennedy said in 1962, but because it was “hard.” By July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong backed down a ladder and onto the moon’s surface. Along the way to achieving JFK's vision, there was plenty of hard work, drama and surprise. Here are some lesser-known moments throughout the epic U.S. effort to reach the moon.

 

Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin Jr.

 

1. Moon dirt smells.

A big question facing the NASA team planning the Apollo 11 moon landing was what would the moon’s surface be like—would the lander’s legs touch down on firm ground, or sink into something soft? The surface turned out to be solid, but the real surprise was that the moon had a smell. Moon soil is extremely clingy and hard to brush off, so when Armstrong and Aldrin returned to the lunar module and repressurized it, lunar dirt that had clung to the men’s suits entered the cabin and began to emit an odor. The astronauts reported that it had a burned smell like wet fireplace ashes, or like the air after a fireworks show. Scientists would never get the chance to investigate just what the crew was smelling. While moon soil and rock samples were sent to labs in sealed containers, once they were opened back on Earth, the smell was gone. Somehow, as Charles Fishman, author of One Giant Leap, says, “The smell of the moon remained on the moon.”

 

 

 

2. JFK was more focused on beating the Soviets than in space.

In public, President John F. Kennedy had boldly pledged that the United States would “set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people." But secret tapes of Kennedy’s discussions would later reveal that in private, JFK was less interested in space exploration than in one-upping the Soviets. In a 1962 meeting with advisors and NASA administrators, JFK confessed, "I'm not that interested in space." But he was interested in winning the Cold War. Just months after JFK’s inauguration, the Soviet Union had sent the first man into space. Kennedy asked his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, how the U.S. could score a win against the Soviets. One of the best ways to show U.S. dominance, Johnson reported back, was by sending a manned mission to the moon. Johnson, in fact, had long been a space advocate, saying in 1958, "Control of space is control of the world."

 

Watch video: Apollo 11: JFK’s Secret Space Tapes

 

 

3. The Soviets covered up their efforts to get to the moon first.

It turns out that the United States wasn’t alone in wanting to demonstrate its dominance by landing humans on the moon. The Soviet Union was also gunning to accomplish the feat. But once U.S. astronauts got there first, the Soviets tried to keep their efforts on the down-low. At first, “secrecy was necessary so that no one would overtake us,” wrote journalist Yaroslav Golovanov in the Soviet newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda. “But later, when they did overtake us, we had to maintain secrecy so that no one knew that we had been overtaken.” READ MORE: The Soviet Response to the Moon Landing? Denial.

 

 

4. Astronauts trained for microgravity by walking “sideways.”

How do you prepare to send someone to a place no one has ever gone before? For NASA in the 1960s, the answer was to create simulations that mimicked aspects of what astronauts could expect to encounter. Armstrong and Aldrin rehearsed collecting samples on fake, indoor moonscapes. Armstrong practiced taking off and landing in the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle in Houston. And, to simulate walking in the moon’s lower-gravity atmosphere, astronauts were suspended sideways by straps and then walked along a tilted wall. NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey even blasted out craters at Cinder Lake, Arizona to create a landscape that matched part of the moon’s surface—because, after all, practice makes perfect.

 

A test subject being suited up for studies on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator at Langley Research Center, 1963.

 

SEE PHOTOS:  How Astronauts Trained for the Apollo Moon Missions

 

5. Civil Rights activists got a front-row seat to the Apollo 11 launch.

Not everyone was gung-ho about the U.S. effort to land people on the moon. A few days before the scheduled launch of Apollo 11, a group of activists, led by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, arrived outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center. They brought with them two mules and a wooden wagon to illustrate the contrast between the gleaming white Saturn V rocket and families who couldn’t afford food or a decent place to live. Amid the heady build-up to the launch, the NASA administrator, Thomas Paine, came out to talk to the protestors, face-to-face. After Paine and Abernathy talked for a while under lightly falling rain, Paine said he hoped Abernathy would “hitch his wagons to our rocket, using the space program as a spur to the nation to tackle problems boldly in other areas, and using NASA’s space successes as a yardstick by which progress in other areas should be measured.” Paine then arranged to have members of the group attend the next day’s launch from a VIP viewing area. Abernathy prayed for the safety of the astronauts and said he was as proud as anyone at the accomplishment.

 

 

READ MORE: Why Civil Rights Leaders Protested the Moon Landing

 

6. Buzz Aldrin took holy communion on the moon.

When Apollo 11‘s Eagle lunar module landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to wait before venturing outside. Their mission ordered them to take a pause before the big event.  So Aldrin used some of the time doing something unexpected, something no man had ever attempted before. Alone and overwhelmed by anticipation, he took part in the first Christian sacrament ever performed on the moon—a rite of Christian communion.

 

The communion bag and chalice used by Buzz Aldrin during his lunar communion.

 

Read more: Buzz Aldrin Took Holy Communion on the Moon. NASA Kept it Quiet

 

7. Scientists were worried about space germs infecting Earth.

After risking their lives for the advancement of humanity, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins had the dubious pleasure of being stuck in planetary protection quarantine on their return. Since humans had never been to the moon before, NASA scientists couldn’t be sure that some deadly space-borne plague hadn’t hitched a ride on the astronauts. As soon as their re-entry capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, the trio was transferred to a mobile quarantine facility inside which they were transported to NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where they had access to a larger quarantine facility until their release on August 10, 1969.

 

President Richard Nixon speaking with Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin who were subjected to a period of quarantine upon their return to Earth.

 

READ MORE: 5 Terrifying Moments During the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Mission

 

8. President Nixon was anxious the mission could fail.

While President Kennedy had rallied the nation to land a man on the moon, he was assassinated before he could see the Apollo mission achieve his vision. That nerve-racking honor fell to President Richard Nixon, who had been elected in 1968. Watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their first steps on the moon, Nixon’s anxiety reached a peak. If anything went wrong, he would have to manage America’s outrage over billions of tax dollars culminating in the death of two astronauts.  His staff had prepared a statement to be read in the event the worst happened and organized a priest to commit their souls to the deep, much like a burial at sea. Watching Apollo 11 live from the moon, the President could only hope he wouldn't have to read it. He didn’t. The men who had traveled more than 200,000 miles to the moon and then stepped foot on an alien world had survived. And the United States would go on to complete six crewed missions that landed a total of 12 astronauts on the moon from 1969 to 1972.

 

Listen: Nixon Calls Apollo 11 Astronauts

 

• Read more: How JFK, LBJ and Nixon All Put Their Stamp on the Apollo 11 Moon Landing
• Read more: How Many Times Has the U.S. Landed on the Moon?
• Read more: Why the Air Force Almost Blasted the Moon with an H-Bomb
• Read more: The Amazing Handmade Tech That Powered Apollo 11's Moon Voyage

 

Source: Wikipedia - Moon Landing  |  Moon Landing Apollo 11 Facts

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MUDFLATS

Mudflats near Oban on Stewart Island, New Zealand

 

Did you know.... that mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested they are as extensive globally as mangroves. 

They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes (or inland seas) alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and aquatic animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily. In the past tidal flats were considered unhealthy, economically unimportant areas and were often dredged and developed into agricultural land. Several especially shallow mudflat areas, such as the Wadden Sea, are now popular among those practising the sport of mudflat hiking. On the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in places, mudflats are exposed not by tidal action, but by wind-action driving water away from the shallows into the sea. This kind of wind-affected mudflat is called Windwatt in German. (Wikipedia)

 

Mudflats: The world's great coastal protectors

by Tamsin Walker  |  Mabel Gundlach   |  January 2020

 

The rising levels of our global seas poses serious threats to low-lying coastal communities. Nature itself can go some way to offering a solution.

 

As muddy as they are flat, mudflats don't necessarily have the draw of golden sands and coastal cliffs, but in an era of rising sea levels, theses sprawling areas of intertidal zones offer unsung protection to shoreline communities all over the world.  Nestled toward the upper reaches of the northern hemisphere, Germany might still seem largely out of reach of the long arm of global warming. But off the country's northwest coast are a handful of small marsh islands, home to a tiny population, where the realities of climate change are already lapping at the door.  Known as Halligen, or hallig islands, they are unique in that even those that are inhabited are frequently flooded by the wilds of the North Sea that swirl around them. With few to no sea defenses to protect them, residents have lived with the encroaching salty waters for centuries, but as global sea levels rise, some locals on hallig Hooge are beginning to question how much longer they can realistically stay.

 

Hallig residents live in houses built on top of man-made dwelling mounds

 

If the Wadden Sea mudflats were no longer exposed, birds could not come here to feed as they do now

 

Across the Wadden Sea  — the world's largest tidal flat system and a UNESCO World Heritage site — from Hooge is the emerald green island of Pellworm. A remnant from a much larger area of coastal land that was swallowed during a savage storm surge hundreds of years ago, Pellworm is now completely surrounded by giant protective dikes. 

 

 

 

 

Locals will not countenance life without them. Their removal, says Knud Knudsen— a local who walks across the mudflats from Pellworm to Suderoog to deliver mail — would spell the end of the island where he has lived his whole life.

 

Knud Knudsen knows the waters around his island home like few others

 

The oystercatchers are a familiar site in the Wadden Sea — with their long beaks they can reach the array of food hiding in the mudflats

 

But it's not only land and all those it supports that is threatened by rising seas in this corner of Germany. The entire tidal flat system is at risk of drowning beneath the water that currently exposes its ever-changing shapes and sands twice daily. And that, in turn would leave the millions of birds that arrive from all corners of the world to nest, feed and breed in the mudflats and salt marshes, with nowhere to go. That, in Germany as in other areas of intertidal zones, would disrupt finely tuned ecosystems that are home to worms, snails, crabs, fish, seals, birds, dolphins and many more species beyond.  

 

Seals make use of the mudflats to come ashore when the tide is out

 

Some argue for letting the sea reclaim parts of the land rather than barricading it out

 

It would also affect tourism and the way people live. In some low-lying areas around the world, conservationists are trying to find ways to work with the sea to meet the challenges of its assent. Rather than just relying on dikes and walls, they are making a case for returning sections of land to the sea through what is known as managed retreat, or managed realignment. It's a controversial process, but they argue that if it is adopted in the right locations, it can enable the ocean, wildlife and humans to live alongside one another.

 

The Wadden Sea — a unique habitat between land and water

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Mudflat  |  Coastal Protectors

Edited July 22, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CHOCOLATE

Did you know... that chocolate is a preparation of roasted and ground cacao seeds that is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, which may also be used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. The earliest signs of use are associated with Olmec sites (within what would become Mexico’s post-colonial territory) suggesting consumption of chocolate beverages, dating from the 19th century BC. The majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs. (Wikipedia)

 

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT CHOCOLATE
By Daniel Loeschen  |  June 27, 2019

Chocolate is so much more than a snack to eat while binge watching Netflix all night long. Just one piece has so much history and hidden usages behind it, you would be surprised how powerful it really is and how many interesting chocolate facts exist. Check out below for the top 10 surprising facts about chocolate you probably didn’t know.

 

1. It is a Powerful Mental Stimulant

Chocolate has the power to widen blood vessels and can even help reduce blood pressure. Not to mention, it is very effective at keeping the main populous awake and focused for hours. A recent study at Northern Arizona University on the effective ability of chocolate keeping over 120 subjects awake. After being fed 60% cacao dark chocolate the subjects were kept awake and alert beyond levels that the scientists conducting the study were expecting.

 

2. White Chocolate is Not Real Chocolate

Believe it or not, white chocolate does not contain any chocolate liquor or cocoa solids like dark or milk chocolate. However, it does contain a small amount of cacao bean respectively.

 

3. Chocolate Was Used to Make Alcohol

Around 1400 to 1100 B.C. civilization fermented cocoa beans to create alcoholic drinks. Discovered in Honduras, researchers have learned that it was first farmed for this purpose before it was eventually used to create the sweet dessert we eat in today’s modern culture. As a brief heads up, it’s not suggested to go out any buy chocolate to ferment into alcohol. More likely, it took years to perfect and the drinks early civilizations drank contained very little alcohol content.

 

4. Solid Chocolate Was Invented in Britain

The very first chocolate bar was created by Fry and Sons, a British shop, in 1847. The shop combined cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, and sugar to form a mostly solid type of treat.

 

5. Chocolate Can Lower Body Fat Levels

The general consensus is if you eat a lot of chocolate, you will gain weight. This may not be as accurate as once thought. A study completed at the University of Granada discovered that this so-called common knowledge may, in fact, be wrong. In 2013, scientists studied almost 1500 teens and took note of any changes to their waist circumference, body mass index, and body mass percentage. The teenagers who regularly consumed chocolate in their diet has lower levels of fat in their abdomens and lower total body fat. Before you trade in all your vegetables for chocolate remember, everything is moderation.

 

6. Chocolate Money?

When cacao beans were first used in ancient Aztec and Mayan civilizations, the beans were ground and mixed with hot water, much like coffee. Because they were such a major part of trade between the two cultures, the cacao beans were used as a baseline currency. A basket of cacao beans was used as a single trade unit at the market.

 

7. It Can Improve Your Memory

Scientists have been studying the effects of chocolate on humans for many years, trying to find potential health benefits. A study conducted at the Columbia University Medical Center may have proven that chocolate can improve your memory. In this experiment, participants were given a beverage that contains a high dose of cocoa flavanols. This is an antioxidant that is found naturally in chocolate. The participants were instructed to drink this beverage every day for three months while they had their memory tested. The group who consumed this drink had a 25% better performance than the control group. Brain scans that were taken during this study also found an increase in functionality of the part of the brain that helps new memories to form.

 

8. The First Chocolate Treat Was…

Hot chocolate! Cacao was originally brewed in both Aztec and Mexican culture. However, today’s hot chocolate is entirely different from the historic beverage. Back in the day, it was very bitter and was often only used for special occasions and ceremonies like weddings.

 

9. Chocolate Has a Unique Melting Point

It is the only edible substance with a melting point of 93 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just below human body temperature, which is why it melts so easily in your mouth and in your hands. However, scientists have invented a chocolate that does not melt. In 2012, the Cadbury company announced that it has discovered a way to produce chocolate to be more durable. Their chocolate can withstand higher temperatures without melting by using more finely ground sugar. This also reduces the overall fat content of the chocolate bar.

 

10. There are Many Chocolate-Related Holidays

It is more than just Halloween and Valentine’s Day, there are a number of holidays devoted only to chocolate. July 7th is known as Chocolate Day. This is to celebrate the day in 1550 when chocolate was first brought to Europe. Though some dispute the exact date of this momentous occurrence, there is still plenty of reason to celebrate. There is also the July 28th celebration of National Milk Chocolate Day, International Chocolate Day on September 13th, and on November 7th, National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day.

 

We hope you enjoyed these chocolate fun facts!

 

Source: Wikipedia - Chocolate  |  Brief Facts About Chocolate
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TOYS "R" US

Did you know..... that Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids, Inc. and various others. It was founded in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Wayne, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. Founded by Charles Lazarus in its modern iteration in June 1957, Toys "R" Us traced its origins to Lazarus's children's furniture store, which he started in 1948. He added toys to his offering, and eventually shifted his focus. The company had been in the toy business for more than 65 years and operated around 800 stores in the United States and around 800 outside the U.S., although these numbers have steadily decreased with time. At its peak, Toys "R" Us was considered a classic example of a category killer. However, with the rise of mass merchants, as well as online retailers, Toys "R" Us began to lose its share of the toy market. (Wikipedia)

 

Facts About Toys "R" Us
BY ANNE TAYLOR  |  JUNE 10, 2021

 

If you grew up in the ‘80s or ‘90s, a trip to your local Toys "R" Us was probably your favorite way to spend a Saturday. This store was advertised as a kid-friendly shopping destination that stocked virtually every toy you could think of at the lowest price in the area. It was a staple in the lives of countless children, and at its peak, the chain cornered a quarter of the lucrative toy market. Sadly, competition from physical and online stores like Walmart, Target, and Amazon grew in the early 2000s and 2010s, and in 2018 Toys "R" Us closed its last remaining U.S. location (though the brand is looking to make a comeback later in 2021). Here are a few facts about this toy store giant.

 

1. TOYS "R" FOUNDER CHARLES LAZARUS WAS INSPIRED TO START A RETAIL STORE BECAUSE OF THE BABY BOOM.
After returning home from World War II, 25-year-old Charles Lazarus noticed that all of his friends were quickly getting married and starting families. To take advantage of what would become the Baby Boom, he used the money he saved while in the service to open a store that catered to families with babies and young children. "My instincts told me the timing was right," Lazarus told Entrepreneur in a 2008 interview. Although timing was a large part of Lazarus’s success in business, his family's experience in the retail industry helped as well. His parents had owned a bicycle repair shop in Washington, D.C., when he was young, and that was the space he used to open his baby-focused store, Children's Bargain Town, after the war in 1948.

 

2. CHARLES LAZARUS ONLY SOLD BABY FURNITURE UNTIL HE REALIZED TOYS WOULD MAKE MORE MONEY (PARTLY BECAUSE KIDS KEPT BREAKING THEM).
Lazarus’s initial store only sold baby furniture like cribs, strollers, and high chairs. But he soon realized he wasn’t generating many repeat customers, since most of his products could be used for multiple children in one family. After a woman asked if she could buy some toys in addition to the crib she was purchasing, he added a few trinkets and other basic playthings to his inventory. He noticed that people who bought toys returned frequently because their kids had broken their original dolls or they simply wanted something new. That’s when Lazarus chose to shift his business from a baby furniture store to a toy store.

 

3. TOYS "R" US WAS THE FIRST BIG-BOX TOY STORE.

 

In 1957, Lazarus opened the first Toys "R" Us as a dedicated toy store in Rockville, Maryland. In addition to the change in products, Lazarus stocked his shelves with thousands of different toys and novelties from nearly every brand customers could imagine (and plenty more they probably never heard of). The end result was more like a supermarket for toys, and it was a far cry from the small, family-run toy shops most people found in their communities. As a result, Toys "R" Us became the first big-box toy store in the United States.

 

4. TOYS "R" US WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE FIRST "CATEGORY KILLER."
Toys "R" Us was so successful that it is generally credited with creating the term category killer. This refers to a company that is so competitive with its inventory and prices that it drives all other similar outlets out of business. Not only did Toys "R" Us have more toys than any other store, but it also had some of the lowest prices around, proudly proclaiming that "Nothing [was] ever sold at list price." By 1990, Toys "R" Us, which had more than 1400 locations worldwide at its peak, controlled around 25 percent of the estimated $12 billion toy market.

 

5. THE BACKWARD R IN THE TOYS "R" US NAME HAD A SPECIFIC PURPOSE.
A hallmark of Toys "R" Us is the backward R in the name. Lazarus did this intentionally to look like a child had written it. The result was a whimsical hallmark that emphasized the family-friendly nature of the store. Later, the company established other brands, including Babies "R" Us and Kids "R" Us, that shared the backward R in their logos.

 

6. GEOFFREY THE GIRAFFE’S ORIGINAL NAME WAS DR. G. RAFFE.

 

Geoffrey the Giraffe first appeared for Children’s Bargain Town as Dr. G. Raffe. But when Toys "R" Us took off, the good doctor got a facelift for the new store, becoming more animated and lovable. (The name Geoffrey actually came from a Toys "R" Us store associate.) Over the years, Geoffrey experienced several changes, including the addition of a family and a brief period in the early 2000s when he was given a photorealistic makeover and was voiced by Jim Hanks, Tom Hanks's brother.

 

7. GEOFFREY NOW LIVES AT A HOSPITAL (WELL, ONE VERSION OF HIM, AT LEAST).
Shortly after the final U.S. store was closed in 2018, a giant statue of Geoffrey the Giraffe that was kept at the company’s headquarters in Wayne, New Jersey, was given a new home. Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, purchased the statue to bring joy to the patients at the facility. "Geoffrey used to be a doctor," John Gantner, the hospital's former president and CEO, said in 2018. "I thought it fitting and a little bit ironic that Dr. G. Raffe has moved to a hospital in this next stage of his career."

 

8. NOVELIST JAMES PATTERSON CO-WROTE THE FAMOUS TOYS "R" US JINGLE.

 

 

James Patterson is known for his bestselling novels like 1993's Along Came a Spider and 1995's Kiss the Girls, but he can also write a pretty catchy commercial jingle. Before he became one of the world’s richest authors, Patterson worked as the creative director for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. In 1982, he and a coworker, Linda Kaplan Thaler, came up with the toy chain's iconic "I’m a Toys 'R' Us kid" jingle that you're probably humming right now.

 

9. TOYS "R" US ISN’T COMPLETELY GONE.
Although you can’t walk into a Toys "R" Us right now, the brand hasn’t completely disappeared. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2017 after seeing a consistent decrease in sales due largely to other competitors and the rise of online shopping. They are now owned by the brand management company WHP Global and have announced plans to reopen some retail offerings in late 2021 in the form of flagship stores, pop-ups, or displays within other stores. For now, you can still visit the Toys "R" Us website, where you'll find digital Geoffrey color book pages and tutorials for making Play-Doh shapes and Disney drawings.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Toys "R" Us  |  Facts About Toys "R" Us

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DOLL

European bisque doll from the 1870s

 

Did you know... that A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, traditionally used as a toy for young girls. Dolls have also been used in religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls go back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. They have been made as crude, rudimentary playthings as well as elaborate art. Modern doll manufacturing has its roots in Germany, from the 15th century. With industrialization and new materials such as porcelain and plastic, dolls were increasingly mass-produced. During the 20th century, dolls became increasingly popular as prized, antiques and collectibles. (Wikipedia)

 

Dolls History - Invention and Origin of Dolls

2021

 

Matryoshka

One of the symbols of Russia is matryoshka doll a set of wooden nesting dolls that are made in such a way that they can fit into each other and painted in a traditional way.  Matryoshka doll (or Russian nesting or nested doll) is a doll made of wood that can be separated horizontally in half and holds inside another similar but smaller doll that in turn holds another similar smaller doll and so on. Matryoshkas most commonly have 3 to 12 doll in one set. First matryoshka was made in 1890 in time of both social unrest, emerging national identity for Russia and the development of Russian style which idea was to save tradition which was in danger to be lost to time. Matryoshka was made by Vasily Zvyozdochkin, who was turning craftsman and wood carver, from a design by Sergey Malyutin, Russian painter, architect and stage designer. Sergey Malyutin also painted them. (Read more)

 

Porcelain Dolls

Bisque doll or porcelain doll started as a toy for children and ended up as collectible item. They passed through many incarnations.  Porcelain doll (or so-called bisque doll) is a doll that is wholly or partially made out of bisque porcelain, a type of porcelain that is unglazed and matte. Bisque dolls were the most popular from 1860 to 1900 in France and Germany and became fashionable after china dolls who have glazed texture. Bisque dolls have matte texture and are more skin-like. They were initially made as children's toys but in time became collectible and today they can be worth thousands of US dollars. Bisque dolls are rarely made completely out of bisque because that makes them heavy and fragile. The most often they are made from the combination of materials. The head of the doll is always made from bisque but body is made of cloth, leather, wood (with joints), papier-mâché or composition, which is a material made of pulp, sawdust, glue, cornstarch, resin and wood flour. Eyes of dolls are made of glass. Head is painted in many layers in order to get skin tones and facial expressions. (Read more)

 

China Dolls

China dolls are the earliest porcelain dolls. They were made and were very popular in 19th century. Today they are very popular as collection items. China doll is a type of porcelain doll made wholly or partially of glazed porcelain. They were mainly made in Germany between 1840 and 1940 and were very popular between 1840 and 1890. They were also made in in Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, Denmark and Sweden. The most famous manufacturers of china dolls were manufacturers Kestner, Conta & Boehme, Kling, Kister, KPM, Meissen, Alt, Hertwig and Beck & Gottschalck. China dolls are often made so that they have porcelain head and a body from cloth, leather or wood. (Read more)

 

Japanese Dolls

History of Japanese traditional dolls is long and colorful. They are used as toys, for religious purposes, as symbols of wealth and lucky charms. There are many kinds of Japanese traditional dolls but they are, all together, commonly known as “ningyō”, which means “human shape or form”. They are made to represent children, babies, imperial court and common people, warriors, heroes, characters from fairy-tales, gods and demons. They are made for house shrines, as gifts or for festivals such are “Hinamatsuri”- the doll festival, or “Kodomo no Hi” - The Children's Day. Oldest known Japanese dolls originate from Jōmon period, a time in Prehistoric Japan from about 14,000 BC to about 300 BC, when Dogū, humanoid figures were made. They represented gods and were used in rituals. In Kofun period, around 300-600 AD, the Haniwa were made terracotta funerary figures. They were grave offerings and were made in shape of people, animals and objects. 11th century and the Heian period, known for several types of dolls that were used for playing, in rituals and for protection from bad spirits. Many periods had idea that dolls can trap bad spirits and be used as a protection of the person who carries the doll. (Read more)

 

Hopi Kachina Dolls

Hopi Kachina dolls represent messengers of gods that come to people once a year to bring rain and to teach the children. Hopi Kachina dolls are dolls that are made by Hopi, Native American people of northeastern Arizona. In their belief, Kachinas are the spirits of deities, natural elements or animals, or the deceased ancestors of the Hopi. They believe that every year, in time from winter solstice to mid-July, these spirits come as messengers of gods to the villages to dance and to sing, to bring good rains for the harvest and to bring gifts to the children. Before Kachina ceremonies begin, men of the villages make Kachina dolls in the shape of the Kachina. These dolls are then given to the children of the village during the ceremony by the Giver Kachina. Dolls are then hung on the walls and studied by children so they can learn about Kachinas. Oldest known Katchina doll is from the 18th century and was very simple in design. It was made as a flat object with stylized shape of a head and some body paint. Most of the Kachina dolls were invented in the late 19th century and can be separated chronologically by their look in four periods: the Early Traditional, Late Traditional, Early Action and Late Action periods. (Read more)

 

Paper Dolls

Paper doll is a simple doll but its appeal is not in its simplicity but in imagination which is needed to make paper doll something more than it is. Paper doll is a two-dimensional doll made out of paper or light card and cut out. It can have separate clothes made also from paper and holding onto a doll with tabs. They can be in shape of a person, animal or an object. Before they were made in the shape that we know them today there were some or other forms of paper dolls since there was paper. Asian cultures used paper images in ritual and Japan had art of Origami since 9th century. Paper and leather puppets were known on Bali since before Christianity. Main difference between these kinds of paper dolls and modern ones is that clothes were not made for them. First paper dolls in Europe were made in France in 18th century. They were made of jointed paper and were called “pantins”. They were made in human form and had assorted clothes in accordance with the fashion of the time. They were hand painted and some of them can still be found in museums today. (Read more)

 

Action Figures

Action figures are toys made to represent traditional masculine traits and are marketed towards boys as a counterpart to girls’ dolls. Action figures are figurine toys marketed towards boys and adult collectors. They are mainly modeled after some characters from a film, comic book, video game or a television program. Action figures are made for playing or, in case when they are collectable items, for display. First toy with classification “action figure” was made in 1946 by Hasbro and was called “G.I. Joe” after a generic term for a soldier coined during WWII. It was a set of military-themed 30 cm figures that represented different military branches: Action Soldier (U.S. Army), Action Sailor (U.S. Navy), Action Pilot (USAF), Action Marine (USMC) and the Action Nurse. Action figures featured changeable clothes depending of the branch. To increase popularity for this type of toy in other parts of the world, Hasbro licensed the product to companies in other markets. Those companies also made their own lines of action figures. One of such companies was Takara from Japan. They made their own action figure using licensed torso from G.I. Joe for their Henshin Cyborg-1, action figure that represented robot with transparent body and chrome innards, head and feet. In time of oil supply crisis in 1970s Takara, as well as other toy manufacturers, had problems with making larger action figures so they started making smaller ones. So, in 1974, they started making and selling smaller action figure Microman which was a cyborg toy of only 9.5 cm in height that had interchangeable parts. Its size and ability to change shape inspired smaller action figures as well as transformable toy robots. (Read more)

 

Fashion Dolls

Fashion dolls appeared as toy for children and as methods of informing people about latest fashion. Now they are still toys for children but also collectibles for adult collectors. Fashion doll is any kind of doll made to be dressed to represent current trends in fashion. They are made of of vinyl or another plastic, most often modeled as teen girls or adult women and used as toys and as collectable items. The first fashion dolls were bisque dolls from French companies that were the most popular from 1860 to 1890. They were made from bisque matte porcelain, designed to represent grown women and intended for children of wealthy families as toys. They were also known as Pandoras, “poupées de mode” or Queen Anne Dolls because Queen Anne (1665-1714) really liked the dolls. Entire shops in Paris were dedicated to selling only doll fashion items: parasols, wigs, shoes, dresses, gloves... These fashion dolls are today very expensive collector items because of their masterfully made detailed clothing. (Read more)

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Doll  |  History of Doll Facts

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MARIO BROS.

Did you know... that Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published for arcades by Nintendo in 1983. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Y,okoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian-American plumber Mario and his brother Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series. (Wikipedia)

 

 

Mario Facts You Didn’t Know
The iconic plumber has a remarkable history
by Walid AO  |  Sep 18, 2020

When you think about video games, the name “Mario” pops immediately in your head. He is the face of an entire industry and has been around since the ‘80s. No video game character is as famous as Mario. A survey from the early ‘90s famously revealed that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. September 13th, 2020 marked the official 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., and we are here to celebrate our most beloved video game character and his brother Luigi (whose name, by the way, is a pun from the Japanese word Ruiji, which means “similar”). Super Mario Bros. was one of the first games to feature a continuous side-scrolling platforming experience. It offered a richness in design and presentation that went beyond many of the far simpler arcade-style games of the era. This was a world you entered, not simply a place where the next high score could be found. It is fair to say that there were video games before Super Mario Bros. and video games after it. Shigeru Miyamoto’s little plumber changed the industry forever. After 35 years, you might think you know everything there is to know about Mario. But let’s put that knowledge to the test. Here are ten interesting facts about the Mario brothers that you may not necessarily know.

 

MARIO WAS ACTUALLY BORN IN 1981

Jumpman versus the king of the apes
 

Even though Super Mario Bros. debuted in 1985, Mario himself emerged back in 1981. His first appearance was as a nameless protagonist in Donkey Kong; well, not entirely nameless. He was known as “Jumpman”. In Donkey Kong, Mario has to avoid obstacles, climb ladders, and jump over gaps in order to reach the top of a construction site. Donkey Kong himself is perched atop the structure, holding Pauline (Mario’s girlfriend) hostage in a cage. This was the first example of the “damsel in distress” trope in video games. Although Jumpman and Donkey Kong appeared to be “friendly rivals”, the game’s manual actually reveals that Donkey Kong is Jumpman’s pet and that Donkey Kong was motivated to abduct Pauline due to being mistreated. Oof. The game is divided into four single-screen stages; each four stages combine to form a full level. Every time the player finishes the four stages, they repeat the process with increased difficulty. In Donkey Kong Jr. (1982), Mario played the antagonist. Players controlled Donkey Kong Junior on his path to saving his father from his capturer Mario.

 

MARIO WASN’T ALWAYS A PLUMBER

A man of many talents
 

When Mario first arrived on the scene, he was actually a carpenter. He had to climb an enormous construction site to save Pauline. It made sense given the game’s narrative. But in 1983’s Mario Bros., Mario and brother Luigi were plumbers from New York. They had to investigate the city’s sewers after strange creatures began appearing there. The fact that the game featured so many pipes caused creator Shigeru Miyamoto initiate a career change for the brothers. Miyamoto felt it made sense for New York to be the game’s setting, given the jungle of pipes beneath the city. He was also inspired by several manga that featured wastelands littered with pipes. Also, fun fact: Mario didn’t have his iconic blue overalls with the red shirt and hat that we now know him for. Rather, the colours were inverted. He had red overalls and a blue hat with a blue shirt.

 

POPEYE INSPIRED MARIO
A lucky licensing mishap
 

Shigeru Miyamoto originally wanted to develop a Popeye game with Popeye, Olive, and Brutus. However, Nintendo was unable to secure the license required to develop the title. Instead, they created Donkey Kong. A year later — after Donkey Kong’s release in 1982 — Nintendo actually did release a Popeye game. It’s strikingly similar to Donkey Kong, but Popeye himself can’t jump, and instead punches his way through the level.
 

TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS ARE BEHIND MARIO’S DESIGN
Necessity is the mother of invention
 

Mario has a rather distinguished look thanks to his moustache and large cap. But this design came out entirely due to the technical limitations that existed in the ‘80s. Why the hat? Well, realistic hair was difficult to portray. And the moustache helped to emphasise the nose and hide the mouth (which would have been incredibly difficult to represent on a small, low-detail sprite). Finally, the boldly-coloured overalls make his movements more visible and noticeable.
 

SUPER MARIO BROS.: THE FIRST GAME TO MOVIE ADAPTATION

The awkward but loveable ’90s film

 

The 1993 film Super Mario Bros. was Hollywood’s first attempt to create movie based on a video game. Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper, and John Leguizamo starred in the critically and commercially panned film. Reports claimed that Dustin Hoffman was interested in the role of Mario as his children were fans of the game. In the end, Shigeru Miyamoto felt that the movie tried too hard to copy the game instead of aiming to be a good movie. It turns out that a Super Mario CG film is coming in 2022, with Miyamoto as producer. According to Nintendo, the film development (which is a collaboration with Illumination, the company that brought Minions to life) is going smoothly.
 

NINTENDO OWNS THE RIGHTS TO TWO MARIO PORN MOVIES
Mamma mia!

In 1993 — and after the release of the Super Mario Bros. movie — two porn films titled Super Hornio Brothers and Super Hornio Brothers II were released. Both movies starred porn legend Ron Jeremy as Mario. Nintendo bought the rights to both films and buried them to prevent further distribution.
 

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ALMOST KILLED THE FRANCHISE

Clash of the titans
 

In 1981, Donkey Kong was a major hit that cemented Nintendo’s leading position in the world of video games. It was a cash cow for Nintendo of America; Nintendo signed deals for everything from board games, lunch boxes, and cartoon shows. They even signed licensing agreements to port the game to multiple platforms. But the party stopped when Nintendo in Japan received a telex from Universal (the enormous film conglomerate). More specifically, the telex came from their lawyers. Universal were giving Nintendo 48 hours to hand over all profits earned from Donkey Kong and destroy all unsold inventory. Universal claimed that Donkey Kong infringed on their King Kong copyright. Nintendo of America met with Universal (then known as MCA Universal) and asked for a reprieve. The MCA Universal lawyers granted the request, as they saw no possible way out of the dilemma for Nintendo. But only a month later, the two companies met again. After dinner, Nintendo (via their all-star corporate attorney Howard Lincoln, who would later become NoA Chairman) informed Universal that they would not settle; the lawsuit was on. Nintendo had discovered that MCA Universal did not, in fact, own the King Kong copyright. They actually used Universal’s own argument against them (as Universal had once won a lawsuit by proving that King Kong was actually public domain). With the evidence on its side, Nintendo asked the court to dismiss the case, which the judge swiftly granted. MCA Universal was ordered to pay $1.8 million in damages to Nintendo and to pay back all the money it had bulled out of Donkey Kong-affiliated licenses.
 

SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY’S WEIRD ESRB RATING
Pushing the boundaries?

Since the ESRB was introduced in 1994, no Super Mario game ever received a rating higher than E (Everyone). However, Super Mario Odyssey received an E10+ rating — higher than any previous game, though still lower than T (Teen). According to the ESRB, the E10+ rating contains mild violence, mild language, and minimal suggestive themes. Something similar happened in Japan. The game was rated there with a CERO B “Aged 12 and up” classification, making it the first Super Mario game in Japan to receive such a rating.
 

MARIO HAS A LAST NAME — OR DOES HE?
Did the movie influence the game?
 

Since the famous Italian brothers are known as the Super Mario Brothers, it has been suggested that their last name is Mario. This concept emerged in the script for the Super Mario Bros. movie. It would mean that they are actually called Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. Shigeru Miyamoto has always maintained that the brothers actually don’t have last names. But he did kind of accept that the movie’s interpretation may have become a widely-accepted default in a 2012 interview: “This is an old story, but Hollywood did a film version of the Mario Bros. many years back. There was a scene in the script where they needed a last name for the characters. Somebody suggested that, because they were the Mario Bros., their last name should be Mario. So, they made him “Mario Mario.” I heard this and laughed rather loudly. Of course, this was ultimately included in the film. Based on the film, that’s [how] their names ended up. But, just like Mickey Mouse doesn’t really have a last name, Mario is really just Mario and Luigi is really just Luigi.” Shigeru Miyamoto
 

MARIO HAS APPEARED IN OVER 200 TITLES

The ubiquitous plumber
 

Mario has appeared in more than 200 games since his debut as Jumpman. No other video game character has appeared in as many games as Mario. It’s not just that he appears in Nintendo console exclusives, either. Throughout the 1980s, multiple games featuring Mario were licensed for PC, Atari, and arcades. And more recently, games like Super Mario Run have come to mobile devices. Mario is also the regular star of multiple cross-over games. These include games such as Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. is a chance for gamers to reflect on gaming’s most iconic character and his development over time. The Mario games defined entertainment for an entire generation, and to this day, he remains one of the most highly-recognised, and influential figures in entertainment.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Mario Bros.  |  Facts About Mario

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - VINCENT PRICE (actor)

Did you know.... that Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was an American actor best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. (Wikipedia)

 

Things You Didn't Know About Vincent Price
by Skunk Uzeki  |  2 years ago in CELEBRITIES

 

Vincent Price was one of the biggest names in horror—but there was far more to him than meets the eye. Don't believe me? You will after reading about these things you didn't know about Vincent Price.

 

 

Vincent Price was one of the most successful horror actors of all time. Known for such titles as House of Wax, House of Usher, Edward Scissorhands, and The Masque of the Red Death, his career spanned decades, and remains the stuff of legend. His trademark mustache, "evil" laugh, and sonorous voice became a part of pop culture that remains well-known long after his death. Most horror fans you know love Price's work, his amazing voice acting skills, and his one-of-a-kind stage persona, but there was far more to the iconic actor than his horror work. Here are some things you didn't know about Vincent Price that will leave you completely shocked.

 

 

Vincent Price might be one of the very first actors to really brand himself as a cameo-friendly star. He was known for making surprise appearances on shows and movies that were far outside of the horror genre. He has made surprise appearances on shows like The Simpsons, The Muppet Show, and even The Brady Bunch. In some, he appeared as himself. In others, he used his voice to narrate what was going on. And, in the case of The Brady Bunch, he played a deranged archeologist.

 

Price was a massive art aficionado.

Though he was a famous horror actor, Price's true love was actually fine art. He had a degree in art history, was an avid art collector, and even worked as a fine art consultant for the rich and famous. When he wasn't acting, he would offer lectures and write books on the subject of art history. His love of artwork was so deep, he even founded the Vincent Price Art Museum in California. It's about time that art house films are changing horror anyway, right?

 

 

Everyone knows that Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video is one of the most iconic music videos of all time. It follows the story of Michael Jackson and a woman being accosted by zombies on a cold Halloween night, only to have Jackson himself be a hidden member of the undead. Remember that evil laugh that sent chills up everyone's spine at the end? That evil laugh belonged to none other than Vincent Price!

 

Disneyland almost has a little bit of Vincent Price in it, too.

Disneyland's attractions are typically known for being upbeat, sunny, and totally magical. There's a number of top 10 tips for Disneyland trips out there on the internet that don't even scrape the surface of what is possible at "The Happiest Place on Earth." They're also known for being created by people who make every effort to make rides as realistic as possible. There's one ride in particular that has become famous for its special effects and for its spookiness: The Haunted Manor. It's even rumored to be literally haunted. When Disneyland was going to build a French park, they needed to start planning. Disney executives became enamored with the idea of recreating the Haunted Manor's success, so they created a second ride similar to it called the Phantom Manor. The original star of the Disneyland Paris attraction is none other than Vincent Price himself. He recorded the entire narration, but then it was discovered that the narration had to be in French. Ultimately, his narration was scrapped.

 

 

If you thought this actor was just about acting, you're wrong. He was a very well-known gourmet chef who regularly discussed his epicurean interests. He even wrote a book featuring his favorite recipes that was published in 1965. Recently, the Vincent Price cookbook came into reprint, but remains difficult to source. It's a collector's item, you know!

 

Price was exceptionally progressive for his time.

Most people assume that those who were born in the 1910s would be a "product of their time" when it came to homophobia, racism, and religious discrimination. Even during the 30s and 40s though, Price was known for having extremely liberal views. By the 70s and 80s, he was an outspoken advocate for gay rights, and publicly denounced people who would spread anti-homosexuality propaganda. Along with being very LGBT-friendly, he was staunchly against racism and religious discrimination.

 

 

Horror movies tend to attract a certain type of fan, don't they? Many horror fans become inspired by the people who contributed to the genre and try to follow in their footsteps... or become inspired to create their own works in the field. It's safe to say that Vincent Price inspired a multitude of people in his lifetime. We're pretty sure that there were a bunch of actors who were inspired by him, but one of the most vocal fans of his work was none other than Tim Burton. Saying Tim Burton was inspired by him is no exaggeration. A little fast fact about Tim Burton and some of his movies involves the creation of a film called Vincent. It's a short story about a boy who pretends to turn into Vincent Price. Want to guess who makes a guest appearance? That's right, Vincent Price, himself.

 

He was a wine aficionado.

Along with fine food, Price was a huge fan of drinking. He was a bon vivant like that. He was the speaker for the California Institute of Wines after all, defining him as a serious oenophile. After his death, the community came together to create the Vincent Price Signature Wine Collection, a series of wines dedicated to his love of horror literature and his wild acting career.  Despite Price's sophisticated tastes in art and cooking, his taste in booze that wasn't wine was pretty simple. He was known for enjoying Negra Modelo as his favorite beer, and for liking cocktails that weren't too heavy on the liquor. When dinners are held in his honor, they often take a queue from the subtle palate he had.

 

Price was also from a pretty prestigious family.

One of the things you didn't know about Vincent Price is that his family's pedigree was pretty impressive, too. His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, was the man who invented cream of tartar. He sold it as Dr. Price’s Baking Powder. Vincent Price's father, Vincent Leonard Price, was the head of the National Candy Company. This was once the largest candy company in America! It's no wonder how he became the man he did, right?

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Vincent Price  |  What You Didn't Know About Vincent Price

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - FILMMAKING

Did you know.... that Filmmaking (or, in any context, film production) is the process by which a film is made. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages including an initial story, idea, or commission, through screenwriting, casting, shooting, sound recording and pre-production, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and an exhibition. Filmmaking takes place in many places around the world in a range of economic, social, and political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques. (Wikipedia)

 

FACTS ABOUT FILMMAKING AND THE HISTORY OF FILM
BY CHRISTIAN ROEMER

 

Even though digital is the medium of choice these days, for about a hundred years or so, film reigned supreme. Pictures, movies, and even audio was recorded on film-like tapes. Movies – and film in particular – have changed dramatically over the course of their lifetimes, and it’s interesting to wonder if film will even exist in 50 years. For the sake of posterity and looking back at how primitive original film and movie technology was – although revolutionary at the time – we thought we would dig up 10 fun facts about the history of film and cinematography. After all, film has been around for more than 130 years, believe it or not. Technology has come a long way, and in the future when kids have no idea what film is, which is already happening today, we can point to these facts and remind them that the world wasn’t always a digital playground full of cell phones and USBs.

 

1. WHEN WAS FILM INVENTED? THE 1890S

Motion pictures date all the way back to the 1890s when the first moving picture cameras were invented. However, the very first moving picture – the Roundhay Garden Scene – was actually a product of the 1880s. In 1888, French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed his family prancing around in a circle in a whopping two second clip. While that seems insignificant now, it’s innovation is what would eventually lead to commercialized cameras and motion pictures.  Before the advancement of the Hollywood scene, movies were somewhat boring. They started out short and only included a single scene that was about a minute long. They were typically silent - except...

 

2. THE EARLIEST SHORT FILMS WERE SOMETIMES ACCOMPANIED BY BANDS

What fun would it be sitting in a theatre while random, everyday scenes scrolled by silently on a screen? Awkward. To make up for the lack of sound in a film, sometimes a band would play live music while the movie was playing. After all, who wants to hear someone going to town on a bag of popcorn in a deaf theater?

 

3. THE PANORAMA SHOT WAS DEVELOPED IN 1987

1987 is the year panning cameras were first used in film production, meaning the pan shot, also known as the panorama shot, was invented then. Before, cameras were stationary, so you had to move the entire camera and tripod to get any kind of movement. This was a huge advancement in film making and cinematography as an art form.

 

4. EARLY CAMERAS FILMED AT 16 FRAMES PER SECOND (FPS)

By today’s standards, a 16 frames per second speed is pretty slow. For perspective, modern 35mm cameras film at 25 FPS. If you want your mind blown, some modern video games are played at 250 FPS. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

 

5. 13 FRAMES PER SECOND IS THE SLOWEST SPEED THE HUMAN BRAIN WILL PROCESS IMAGES CONSECUTIVELY

13 FPS is the minimum speed that the human brain needs in order to process consecutive images as movement. Anything less than that and the human brain will process each frame as a separate picture. 16 FPS is pretty close to 13, which is why old movies look so choppy and unnatural.

 

6. THE FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH FILM WAS PRODUCED IN 1906

The Australian film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was the first feature length film in history. You can see the cast, box office, and budget details on IMDB. It was over an hour long, and the reel length was about 4,000 feet. To put that in perspective, a small 5-inch reel of film holds up to 200 ft., a 6-inch holds 300 ft. and a 7-inch 400 ft. Depending on the size of the reel that, movie is housed in, that’s at least 10 reels of 7-inch film and at most 20 reels of 5-inch film. Imagine that!  Crazy enough, it was almost lost forever, but a few pieces of the The Story of Kelly Gang film surfaced in 1975, which helped preserve some of the history-making movie.

 

7. THE FIRST MOVIE THEATERS OPENED IN 1907

Before 1907, most movies were shown in traditional theaters or at carnivals. With the advent of movie theaters, the films became the main attraction themselves.

 

8. A 1,000 FOOT LONG FILM WILL PRODUCE 11 MINUTES OF FOOTAGE AT 25 FPS

A standard reel of film that runs at 25 FPS is 1,000 feet long. This 1,000 feet of film will produce about 11 minutes of footage. That means that projectionists at movie theatres had to change reels many times during a single motion picture to keep it going uninterrupted. Unlike today, where everything is digital and automated.

 

9. THE TITANIC MOVIE WAS 17.7 REELS LONG WHEN RELEASED

Titanic came out in 1997 when film reels were still the only way to project a movie. With a run time of 3 hours and 15 minutes, each copy of Titanic was 17.7 reels long. That means, at 25 FPS, it consisted of over 17,700 feet of film. That’s over 3 miles for a single movie.  For reference, the Titanic was 883 feet long … that’s nearly 20 Titanic's long.

 

10. MOVIE THEATRES NOW USE DIGITAL LIGHT PROCESSING (DLP)

Most movie theaters these days use digital video projectors. The technology is called DLP which stands for Digital Light Processing. Since modern films are projected digitally, movie studios don’t ship huge reels of film to the theaters anymore, which in reality is a giant time and money save. Now, they just send the videos via the internet, satellite, or hard drive. Another huge advancement in the film industry! The improvements in film have brought many different ways for individuals to capture and create their own movies and memories over the years. Whether you have tapes, film, photos, or audio recordings, Legacybox can help digitize your memories so they can be enjoyed by generations to come.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Filmmaking  |  Filmmaking Fats
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SHIPYARD

Constanța Shipyard, Romania

Did you know.... that a shipyard or dockyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles. (Wikipedia)

 

Shipping Yards That Will Blow Your Mind

by Melanie Chan  |  JANUARY 12, 2018

 

 

Shipyards or dockyards are places where ships are built or repaired. These usually exist at major seaside ports or alongside tidal rivers with easy access to the sea. They include mechanisms to manufacture vessels, place them in or lift them out of the water, or to drain water around them for access. Typically, ships are built in dry docks, an area of the docks where water can be pumped in or out. When the shipbuilding is finished, water is allowed to enter the dry dock and the ship to float out. In some yards, ships are built on an inclined ramp and then allowed to slide into the water when complete. This inclined ramp approach is not so common today, because there is some risk to the ship upon entering the water. Here are five little known facts about shipyards that will blow your mind.

 

1. The biggest shipyards are in Asia

The ten most significant shipbuilding companies in the world are all from Asia, with four in the top five from South Korea, and the rest in China and Japan. The most significant yard, run by Hyundai Heavy Industries, is at Ulsan in South Korea. The yard runs for over 2.5 miles, employs over 60,000 people, and produces ships of significant size every 4 to 5 days. By contrast, the entire U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industry across 50 states support 110,000 jobs, and in 2014, delivered just over 1,000 vessels. Asia shipbuilders, in particular those in South Korea, are a significant size.

 

2. The biggest shipyards are too small for some ships

The largest ship ever built was the Seawise Giant, by Sumitomo Heavy Industries at its shipyards in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. Completed in 1979, it took five years to finish, serving initially as a crude oil carrier and finally to carry containers. It had a draft of 81 feet, which unbelievably was too big to navigate the English Channel or the Panama and Suez Canals. Fully loaded, it displaced over 650,000 tons in its 1,500-foot length. It sank during the Iran/Iraq war, but being so big, it was salvaged and ultimately sold for scrap metal in 2009. The Seawise Giant might be the largest ship to ever be built in a shipyard. The Freedom Ship, in its planning stages, is too large to be made in any existing shipyard and so will be built out at sea. This colossal giant is 4,320 feet in length with 25 stories that will house over 50,000 people. It is more than three times the size of the Seawise Giant and will circumnavigate the globe once every two years. If everything goes according to plan, construction on the ship should start in the next few years.

 

3. A shipyard holds the world’s most massive crane

The world’s largest crane lives at Yantai Raffles shipyard in Shandong Province, China. The crane is called Taisun and holds a Guinness world record for the heaviest lift at just over 20,000 metric tons. It’s a massive double gantry crane, with a height of 133 meters, and a span of 120 meters. It employs 50,000 meters of wire rope to do its job, the building of offshore oil rigs and semi-submersibles. Completed in 2009, it was unveiled at a ceremony hosting more than 600 people. Taisun provides enormous safety benefits to shipyard workers by allowing large prefabricated pieces of rigs to be coupled together safely. Previously prefabricated sections were limited to 1,000 to 2,000 tons in weight and needed installation from the ground up, making the work complicated and dangerous. With a lifting capacity of 20,000 tons, prefabricated sections can be built larger and installed from greater height, making the process easier and safer.

 

4. Shipbuilding is dangerous

Perhaps unsurprisingly, shipyard workers are subject to daily risks to their life and health. Their job requires them to work outside, exposed to the elements, and they must be physically healthy and aware. At times, workers are high up on bulkheads facing sheer drops, and at other times, they are cramped into small spaces. Cranes, heavy moving objects and dangerous equipment, like welding torches and riveters, surround workers at all times, keeping them in constant danger. Falls are hazardous, as they happen from a height with broken backs and bones; even drowning is a risk. Amazingly, exposure to asbestos is still a concern in the industry. Although banned for most uses, it is still legal and required for specific applications where high temperatures are involved. Plus, on older ships, asbestos is widely used and so becomes a risk to the shipbuilder. Exposure to asbestos causes mesothelioma, which can take years to surface, putting shipyard workers at risk into their old age.

 

 

5. The U.S. Government is a significant shipbuilder

The military employs two large U.S. corporations to build most of its ships, including aircraft carriers. These are General Dynamics, and Huntingdon Ingalls Industries has five private shipyards dotted across the USA. In addition to these five yards, there are four government-owned-and-operated shipyards used primarily for repair, maintenance, and modernisation, with one of these in Pearl Harbor. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the average cost per year allocated to U.S. Naval shipbuilding is $21 billion for each year between 2017 and 2046. This amount is the cost of maintenance plus the extension of its battle force ships (the entire navy) from 272 to 308, a goal it looks to achieve by 2021. The entire U.S. shipbuilding industry contributes approximately $38 billion to the national GDP, highlighting the importance of the government’s contribution. In fact, during 2014, 10 of the 12 most expensive deep draft vessels completed in the industry were delivered to the U.S. Government.

 

Summary
The shipbuilding industry is thousands of years old, initially fulfilling our need for exploration and discovery and then enabling trade, first between local communities and then globally. It’s a significant industry, often subject to boom and bust as the demand for global trade fluctuates. It’s also one of the most dangerous industries for workers, who suffer exposure to the elements and the dangers inherent in the use of heavy machinery, specialized equipment, and heavy materials, often at a great height or in confined spaces.

However, the shipyards of the world are necessary and essential, today supporting more than 50,000 vessels in the merchant navy. Many of these bulk and container carriers move shipping materials and resources efficiently around the globe.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Shipyard  |  Facts About Shipyards

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WEDDING CUSTOMS

Ethiopia custom

 

Did you know.... that the wedding procedure starts with the groom's side sending elders who then request a union between the parties. The elders discuss a dowry and verify that the intended bride and groom are not relatives by checking their lineage a minimum of seven generations. After a dowry is agreed upon and it has been determined that there is no relationship between the intended bride and groom, the wedding is announced and the families begin preparations for a church/mosque ceremony and a mels/melsi ceremony. (Wikipedia)

 

Unusual Wedding Traditions From Around The World

by Helen Armitage  |  October 2016

We profile some of the world’s most unusual wedding traditions from France’s stomach-churning La Soupe ritual and German plate-smashing to Borneo’s post-wedding bathroom ban and China’s crying brides.

 

South Korea: Beating the Groom’s Feet

Following their wedding ceremonies, some South Korean grooms are subjected to a certain ritual before they can leave with their new wives: the beating of their feet. His groomsmen or family members remove the groom’s shoes and bind his ankles with rope before taking turns to beat his feet with a stick or, in some cases, a dried fish. Though obviously painful, the ritual is over quickly and meant to be more amusing than an act of punishment, and apparently – as the groom is often quizzed and questioned during the act – the beating of feet is meant as a test of the newly wedded husband’s strength and character.

 

Kenya: Maasai Marriage Spitting

During the weddings of Kenya’s Maasai people, it is often customary for the father of the bride to spit on his daughter’s head and breasts before she leaves with her new husband. What might seem a strange, disrespectful custom to certain cultures actually makes sense within Maasai culture in which spitting is seen as a symbol of good luck and fortune. Spitting can be seen in other areas of Maasai culture too – Maasai tribesmen will spit on their hands before shaking hands with elders as a sign of respect and it is also tradition to spit on newborn Maasai babies to ward off bad luck.

 

Scotland: Blackening

Taking stag and hen traditions to the extreme, in parts of Scotland – usually in the Orkney Islands, Fife, Aberdeenshire and Angus – grooms and brides-to-be are subjected to a particularly grimy ritual known as ‘blackening’. Usually taking place the day before a wedding, blackening involves the bride or groom’s friends seizing the soon to be wed and covering them in a mixture of treacle, soot, feathers and flour before noisily parading them through the streets. According to the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness, the tradition is carried out to ward off evil spirits.

 

India: Kumbh Vivah

An old peepal tree in Andhra
In India, women born under Mangala Dosha (a Hindu astrological combination) are termed ‘Mangliks’ and thought to be cursed with bad luck, especially in marriage, where the curse is said to bring tension and even death. In order to remedy this, a kumbh vivah – a ceremony in which the woman marries either a peepal or banana tree or an idol of the god Vishnu – is performed before their actual wedding to break the curse. Bollywood actress and Miss World 1994 winner Aishwarya Rai Bachchan underwent a kumbh vivah before her marriage to fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007.

 

Germany: Polterabend & Baumstamm Sägen

On the eve of some German weddings, guests of the couple will gather at the house of the bride and smash pieces of crockery in a tradition known as Polterabend believed to bring good luck to the bride and groom. The couple are then required to clean up the debris to demonstrate that by working together they can overcome any challenge the face in married life. A similar tradition is that of Baumstamm sägen, in which newlyweds saw a log in half in front of their guests, again symbolizing the importance of cooperation in their marriage.

 

China: Crying Ritual

Weddings are often an emotional affair, but in certain parts of China crying is a required part of preparation for marriage. A month before their forthcoming nuptials, Tujia brides will cry for one hour each day. Ten days into the ritual, the bride is joined by her mother and ten days after that, the bride’s grandmother joins the weeping duo and eventually other female family members will join in the cacophony of crying. Termed Zuo Tang in the western Sichuan province, the ritual is said to date back to China’s Warring States era when the mother of a Zhao princess broke down in tears at her wedding.

 

France: Le Pot de Chambre

Though we might associate France with haute cuisine, a certain stomach-churning French wedding tradition known as La Soupe is about as far from cordon bleu as you can get. Following the wedding reception, guest would traditionally gather leftover food and drink and place into a chamber pot before presenting to the newlyweds to drink, supposedly to give them energy for their wedding night. Thankfully, when the tradition is observed nowadays, the bride and groom are usually served a slightly more appealing concoction of chocolate and champagne.

 

Malaysia and Indonesia: Borneo’s Bathroom Ban

Members of Malaysia and Indonesia’s Tidong people in Borneo observe a tradition that states the bride and groom must not leave their home or use the bathroom for three whole days after their wedding ceremony and are kept under watchful guard and allowed only a small amount of food and drink. In Tidong culture, not observing the ritual is said to tarnish the bride and groom with bad luck often resulting in infidelity, the breakup of their marriage or the death of their children.

 

Sweden: You May All Kiss The Bride

In many western weddings, the immortal words ‘you may now kiss the bride’ signifies the sealing of a couple’s vows with a kiss but in Sweden, the kissing ritual is taken to a whole other level. At the wedding reception of newlywed Swedish couples, if the groom should leave the room the male guests of the bridal party are permitted to kiss the bride. Similarly, if the bride leaves the party female guests will hone in to kiss the groom.

Inner Mongolia: Chick Liver

Before they can even set the date of their wedding, couples from the Daur people of China’s Inner Mongolia must observe a tradition that involves the killing of a chick. The couple take a knife and together kill and gut the baby chicken before inspecting its liver. If the chick’s liver is in a healthy condition, the couple can set a date for their wedding but if they discover that the chick’s liver is of poor quality or diseased they must repeat the process until they find a healthy liver.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Wedding Customs by Country  |  Around the World Wedding Traditions 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ONE-HIT-WONDER

Did you know.... that a one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with only one hit single that overshadows their other work. Some artists dubbed "one-hit wonders" in a particular country have had great success in other countries. Music artists with subsequent popular albums and hit listings are typically not considered a one-hit wonder. One-hit wonders usually see their popularity decreasing after their hit listing and most often don't ever return to hit listings with other songs or albums. (Wikipedia)

 

Memorable One-Hit Wonders
BY KENNETH PARTRIDGE  |  NOVEMBER 3, 2020

There’s nothing nobler in popular music than being a one-hit wonder. Let the Madonnas, Drakes, and Mariah Careys of the world fill their homes with platinum plaques. Only those artists who manage to crack the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 exactly once know the true meaning of pop music, an ephemeral art form rooted in fads and fleeting pleasures. The next artists on this list of memorable one-hit wonders deserve neither scorn nor pity. They thrilled us for a short time, filling holes in our souls that we didn’t know existed, then got out of the way—voluntarily or otherwise. There are a million no-hit wonders who’d gladly trade places.

 

“COME ON EILEEN” // DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS

 

 

Behold, the ultimate one-hit wonder. Dexys Midnight Runners came over from England in 1982 with a weird name and an even weirder song: a Celtic-soul hook barrage about a horny dude trying to scheme some action. The music video showcased the band in overalls and bandanas, a look that might be described as “street urchin chic.” All of this kooky brilliance pushed “Come On Eileen” to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 while virtually ensuring Dexys would never make the Top 40 again. Fortunately, “Come On Eileen” rode again in 1997, when the ska band Save Ferris scored a minor hit with a bubbly cover version of it.

 

“TOO SHY” // KAJAGOOGOO

 

 

There’s only one thing more fun than saying Kajagoogoo's name, and that’s singing along to the UK band’s 1983 New Wave fave “Too Shy.” Co-produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, the synth-pop earworm features head-scratching sexy talk that reads like a medical textbook. (“Moving in circles, won’t you dilate.”) But the chorus is really what seduced America, vaulting “Too Shy” to No. 5 on the Hot 100.

 

“BECAUSE I GOT HIGH” // AFROMAN

 

 

Afroman was going to write a second hit, but then he got high. Actually, that’s not what happened, but after his 2001 smash “Because I Got High,” a song about how smoking weed can hinder one’s productivity, the singer/rapper/producer born Joseph Foreman was never able to spark the public’s interest again. Still, as long as April has a 20th day, “Because I Got High” will continue to have a place in popular culture.

 

“ABSOLUTELY (STORY OF A GIRL)” // NINE DAYS

 

 

This is the story of a band that wrote a song that moved the whole world ... and then was never heard from again. Which is fine, because 2000’s “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)” is irresistible power-pop that eased ‘90s kids into the new millennium with the hope that summery guitar jams like this would keep coming forever. (They didn't.)

 

“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT” // BAHA MEN

 

 

At the turn of the millennium, there was one burning question on everyone’s mind: “Who let the dogs out?” Baha Men weren’t the first to record this novelty tune, but they made it sound like a radio jingle mixed with a club jam, and that made it a hit in America. “Who Let the Dogs Out” peaked at No. 40 on the Hot 100 and would have risen much higher had the chart factored in popularity at sporting events. The strangest thing about “Who Let the Dogs Out?" According to songwriter Anslem Douglas, it’s a feminist anthem aimed at men who catcall women.

 

“SEX AND CANDY” // MARCY PLAYGROUND

 

 

Creepy, titillating, and a little gross, with a chorus that lingers in your brain like a stalker, 1997’s “Sex and Candy” landed alt-rockers Marcy Playground at No. 8 on the Hot 100. Lead singer John Wozniak nicked the title phrase from a former girlfriend’s college roommate, who once walked in on the couple and said, “It smells like sex and candy in here.” Wozniak claims he doesn’t know what the rest of the song is about, so interpret phrases like “disco lemonade” however you’d like.

 

“BITCH” // MEREDITH BROOKS

 

When “Bitch” stormed the charts in 1997 en route to a peak position of No. 2, a lot of people thought they were hearing a new Alanis Morrissette single. While the brash, unapologetic song is not entirely un-Alanis-like, Meredith Brooks was very much her own artist. The then-38-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist had been in the business for more than 10 years and spent the late ’80s rocking with The Graces, featuring ex-Go-Go’s member Charlotte Caffey. There was honesty in the way Brooks sang and, yes, shredded on “Bitch”—a song about the many things a woman can be.

 

“SHUT UP AND DANCE” // WALK THE MOON

 

 

An experience with a real girl in a “backless dress and some beat-up sneaks” inspired this 2014 dance-rock chart-burner. She was a friend of WALK THE MOON lead singer Nicholas Petricca, and by coaxing him onto the dance floor one night, she inadvertently planted the seed for a shimmering collision of U2-style ’80s rock and modern club music. In order to finish the lyric, Petricca thought back to his awkward high school days. “Shut Up and Dance” is one for the dorks, and judging by the song’s No. 4 chart peak, they’re a silent majority.

 

“HIT ’EM UP STYLE (OOPS!)” // BLU CANTRELL

 

 

In 2001, R&B singer Blu Cantrell had some good advice for ladies with philandering boyfriends and husbands: “Get your hands on his cash and spend it to the last dime for all the hard times.” That’s the gist of “Hit ‘Em Up Style (OOPS!),” a song that cleverly samples the Frank Sinatra dude-bro apologia “The Boys’ Night Out.”

 

“LIFE IS A HIGHWAY” // TOM COCHRANE

 

 

Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane was in a bad place when he wrote this ubiquitous 1991 radio jam. “I needed a pep talk, and it became that for me and for millions of others,” he said. With “Life Is a Highway," Cochrane turns what might’ve been a T-shirt or coffee mug slogan into a big ol’ fist-pumping rock song, complete with rootsy harmonica blasts. It reached No. 6 in 1992 and No. 7 in 2006, when the country group Rascal Flatts motored up the charts with a faithful remake. (Cochrane's original version has also made memorable cameos in The Office and Family Guy.)

 

 

Source:  Wikipedia - One-hit Wonder  |  Some Facts About One-hit Wonders

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - AARDVARK

Did you know... that the aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. It receives a "least concern" rating from the IUCN, although its numbers seem to be decreasing. Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.  (Wikipedia)

 

Facts About Aardvarks
How Much Do You Really Know About Aardvarks?

By Bob Strauss  |  Updated September 19, 2019

Cartoon The Ant and the Aardvark
 

For many people, the oddest thing about aardvarks is their name, which has landed them on the first page of practically every A to Z kids' animal book ever written. However, there are some truly bizarre facts you should know about these African mammals, ranging from the size of their underground burrows to their predilection for the aardvark cucumber.

 

The Name Aardvark Means Earth Pig

When the sun goes down, the

nocturnal Aardvark leaves its burrow. 

 

Humans have coexisted with aardvarks for tens of thousands of years, but this animal only received its modern name when Dutch colonists landed on the southern tip of Africa in the middle 17th century and noticed its habit of burrowing into the soil (clearly, the indigenous tribes of this region must have had their own name for the aardvark, but that has been lost to history). The "earth pig" is occasionally referred to by other picturesque names, such as the African ant bear and the cape anteater, but only "aardvark" ensures its pride of place at the beginning of English dictionaries and comprehensive, A to Z lists of animals.

 

Aardvarks Are the Sole Species of Their Mammalian Order

Skeletal remains of an aardvark that shows

its back teeth.

 

The 15 or so extant species of aardvarks belong to the mammalian order Tubulidentata, classified under the genus name Orycteropus (Greek for "burrowing foot"). Tubulidentatans evolved in Africa shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct, 65 million years ago, and even then they weren't abundant to judge by the presence of fossil remains (the most well-known prehistoric genus is Amphiorycteropus). The name Tubulidentata refers to the characteristic structure of these mammals' teeth, which consist of bundles of tubes filled with a protein called vasodentin, rather than more conventional molars and incisors (oddly enough, aardvarks are born with "normal" mammalian teeth in the front of their snouts, which soon fall out and are not replaced).

 

Aardvarks Are the Size and Weight of Full-Grown Humans

Closeup of an aardvark.

 

Most people picture aardvarks as being about the size of anteaters, but in fact, these mammals are fairly big—anywhere from 130 to 180 pounds, which puts them smack in the middle of the weight range for full-grown human males and females. As you can see for yourself by looking at any picture, aardvarks are characterized by their short, stubby legs, long snouts and ears, beady, black eyes, and prominently arched backs. If you manage to get close to a living specimen, you'll also notice its four-toed front feet and five-toed rear feet, each toe equipped with a flat, shovel-like nail that looks like a cross between a hoof and a claw.

 

Aardvarks Dig Enormous Burrows

Aardvarks are master diggers,

creating burrows that can be up

to 40 feet long.

 

An animal as big as an aardvark needs a comparably roomy burrow, which explains why the homes of these mammals can measure up to 30 or 40 feet in length. A typical adult aardvark digs itself a "home burrow," where it lives most of the time, as well as various other, smaller burrows in the surrounding territory where it can rest or hide while foraging for food. The home burrow is especially important during mating season, providing valuable shelter for newborn aardvarks. After aardvarks vacate their burrows, either dying or moving on to greener pastures, these structures are often used by other African wildlife, including warthogs, wild dogs, snakes, and owls.

 

Aardvarks Live in Sub-Saharan Africa

Some aardvarks can be found in the

grasslands, while others in the bushlands,

savannahs, or mountains.

 

You might imagine an animal as bizarre as the aardvark would have an extremely restricted habitat, but this mammal thrives across the expanse of sub-Saharan Africa and can be spotted in grasslands, bushlands, savannas, and even the occasional mountain range. The only habitats aardvarks avoid are swamps and lowlands, where they can't burrow their holes to a sufficient depth without hitting water. Aardvarks are completely absent from the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, which makes sense from a geologic perspective. Madagascar split off from Africa about 135 million years ago, long before the first tubulidentatans evolved, and it also implies that these mammals never managed to island-hop their way to Madagascar from the eastern coast of Africa.

 

Aardvarks Eat Ants and Termites and Chew With Their Stomachs

An anteater forages for food on a log, eating

up to 30,000 ants and termites a day, while an

aardvark devours even more—up to 50,000.

 

A typical aardvark can devour up to 50,000 ants and termites a night, capturing these bugs with its narrow, sticky, foot-long tongue—and it supplements its insectivorous diet with bites of the aardvark cucumber, a plant that propagates its seeds via aardvark poop. Perhaps because of the unique structure of their teeth, aardvarks swallow their food whole and then their muscular stomachs "chew" the food into a digestible form. You will very rarely see an aardvark at a classic African watering hole; considering the number of predators that congregate there, that would be extremely dangerous. And in any case, this mammal derives most of the moisture it needs from its tasty diet.

 

Aardvarks Have the Best Sense of Smell in the Animal Kingdom

An aardvark investigates a termite mound for its

next meal.

 

You might think dogs have the best sense of smell of any animal, but your beloved pet has nothing on the average aardvark. The long snouts of aardvarks are equipped with around 10 turbinate bones, the hollow, seashell-shaped structures that convey air through nasal passages, compared with only four or five for canines. The bones themselves don't augment the aardvark's sense of smell; rather, it's the epithelial tissues that line these bones, which cover a much larger area. As you might imagine, the brains of aardvarks have especially prominent olfactory lobes—the groups of neurons responsible for processing smells—which enables these animals to sniff out ants and grubs from a long way away.

 

Aardvarks Are Only Distantly Related to Anteaters

A giant anteater forages in the grass. 

 

Superficially, aardvarks look a lot like anteaters, to the extent that these animals are sometimes referred to as Cape anteaters. It's true that, as fellow mammals, aardvarks and anteaters share a distant common ancestor that lived about 50 million years ago, but otherwise they're almost completely unrelated, and any similarities between them can be chalked up to convergent evolution (the tendency for animals that inhabit similar ecosystems and pursue similar diets to evolve similar features). Tellingly, these two animals also inhabit two entirely different landmasses—anteaters are only found in the Americas, while aardvarks are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Aardvarks May Have Inspired the Egyptian God Named Set

Some believe that the head of the Egyptian deity

named Set looks like an aardvark.

 

It's always a tricky matter to establish the origin stories of ancient deities, and the Egyptian god Set is no exception. The head of this mythological figure vaguely resembles that of an aardvark, which would make sense if, say, ancient Egyptian merchants brought back tales of aardvarks from their trading journeys south. Telling against this theory, though, Set's head has also been identified with donkeys, jackals, fennec foxes, and even giraffes (the ossicones of which may correspond to Set's prominent ears). In popular culture, sadly, Set is less well-known than the dog-headed Egyptian male deity Anubis and the cat-headed female deity Osiris, the backstories of which are much less mysterious.

 

An Aardvark Was the Star of a Long-Running Comic Book

Comic book antihero character, Cerebus the Aardvark.

 

If you're a comic book fan, you probably know all about Cerebus the Aardvark, a short-tempered antihero whose adventures ran across a whopping 300 installments (ranging from the first issue, published in 1977, to the last issue, published in 2004). Oddly enough, Cerebus was the only anthropomorphized animal in his fictional universe, which was otherwise populated by humans who seemed completely unrattled by the presence of an aardvark in their midst. (Toward the end of the series, it was revealed that a handful of other supernatural aardvarks lived in Cerebus' fictional world.)

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Aardvark  |  Facts About Aardvarks

Edited August 1, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TAP DANCE

Did you know.... that tap dance is a type of dance characterised by using the sounds of metal taps affixed to the heel and toe of shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion, coupled with both characteristic and interpretative body movements. Its roots were in minstrel shows, it gained prominence in vaudeville, then emerged into an art form and means of expression alongside the evolution of jazz. (Wikipedia)

 

History of Tap Dancing
By Benna Crawford

Tap, like jazz, is a uniquely American contribution to the performing arts. Its roots are buried in the antiquity of tropical and temperate tribal lands. However, its staccato and style are homegrown. From the West of Ireland to the West Indies to the dance halls of old New York, the drumming of rhythmic feet tapped out an American story that is still unfolding.

 

A Timeline of Tapping
The faint percussion of European and African feet echoes through the often brutal colonization of the Americas, across the wars that founded and nearly destroyed a nation, over dirt country roads and the scarred boards of stages, in the fading images of old celluloid, and under the pounding rhythm of a modern flashmob, hammering out a crowd-pleasing, syncopated beat. Tap is a relatively new dance form with an ancient provenance. It is an artifact of history with its own history of fusion and famous tappers.

 

1600s
In the 1600s, indentured Irish servants were imported to the colonies to serve British families, and Africans were enslaved to work the Caribbean and mainland plantations. Their lives were often unspeakable, but their spirits were irrepressible, and dance -- a tapping, stomping, stylized dance -- was a gift of their heritage that survived. The choreography of these poor people's dances didn't require music; they seldom had instruments, anyway. The dance was the music, its sound as important as movement in expressing the emotion and telling the story.

 

1800s
Over time, the two rhythmic dance styles borrowed from each other. By the mid-1800s, the fusion moves turned up in dance halls. Wooden shoes (or wooden soles) allowed tappers to transfix audiences with sound, as well as footwork. A Black tapper named William Henry Lane, renamed Major Juba, broke the color barrier in the late 1800s to appear alongside white acts in a segregated entertainment industry. (.Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan, was also a term for slave dance used to communicate like tribal drumming, only with feet, not drums. The stomping, slapping and patting steps were early precursors of a more polished hybrid that eventually dominated minstrel shows.)

 

1900s

• By 1902, a show called Ned Wayburn's Minstrel Misses used a style of syncopated choreography called "Tap and Step dance," performed in clogs with split wooden soles. That was the first mention of "tap" and the precursor to split-soled shoes with aluminum heel-and-toe taps.
• "Buck and Wing" dancing came out of the 19th-century vaudeville, and minstrel shows and gave the nascent dance form time-step, a rhythmic tap combination that marks tempo. The shim-sham from the same period is a time-step with a shuffle -- more vaudeville steps from the Savoy ballroom that you'll still find in tap class.
• 1907 and tap exploded into mainstream entertainment when Flo Ziegfeld put 50 tap dancers in his first Ziegfeld Follies. The Follies eventually featured such marquee performers as Fred Astaire and used choreographers to advance the art of tap and create an enthusiastic audience.
• It worked. From the 1920s through the 1930s, you couldn't go to a movie, a club, a Broadway musical or a vaudeville act without tripping over a tap routine.
• Bill "Bojangles" Robinson captured public imagination during the heyday of tap until mid-century. His 1918 "Stair Dance" was a tour de force of light, graceful, exquisite tap, and his career encompassed Broadway and Hollywood fame. Robinson delivered some immortal film performances with tiny Shirley Temple in the 1930s. He was a towering figure who had a powerful influence over the next generation of tap dancers.

 

 

• Fred Astaire, Donald O'Connor, Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller, Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr., and other double- and triple-threats (performers who excelled at singing, dancing and acting) held sway over the world of tap from the 1930s through the 1950s and beyond. They were theatrical tappers, incorporating jazz, ballet and ballroom moves for sweeping and elegant dances that enthralled theater patrons and moviegoers.
• 1950s Rock 'N' Roll edged tap aside as the Swing turned into the Twist and gyrating replaced syncopation. Modern had its passionate devotees; ballet twinkled and sparkled in the concert halls and opera houses; Broadway had a love affair with jazz; and tap languished -- a true step child in the dance world.
• 1978 - Gregory Hines, a trained dancer who was mentored on the road by classical tappers throughout his childhood, receives a Tony nomination for the Broadway show Eubie and the tap phenomenon overtakes America again. Hines had a distinguished career on Broadway and in film (his 1985 film White Nights, with Mikhail Baryshnikov, is unforgettable) and mentored tap's next boy phenom Savion Glover.

 

• Savion Glover is a supernatural kind of tapper -- his sharp, pounding technique is called "hitting," and he was a child prodigy who studied with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr., starred in Jelly's Last Jam, choreographed and starred in Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk (4 Tony awards), and found time to choreograph Mumble, the CGI penguin in Happy Feet.

 

 

Today's Tap - Two Styles
Glover is a rhythm tapper. He makes music with his feet. Theatrical tappers are "whole body" tappers, and you'll find them dancing as characters in Broadway shows or in those vintage movies you binge on where Gene Kelly delights in his puddle stomping and Ginger Rogers mimics every move of the incomparable Fred Astaire, in heels and backwards. Both rhythm and theater tap are staples of dance programs now. The Irish steppers and the African stompers merged their glorious fast-feet percussion and their considerable talents to contribute a novel dance form to a chaotic New World.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Tap dance  |  Tap Dance Facts

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ANNE OF GREEN GABLES

Did you know..... that Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-twentieth century.  Set in the late 19th century, the novel recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl, who is mistakenly sent to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in the fictional town of Avonlea in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way through life with the Cuthbert', in school, and within the town. Since its publication, Anne of Green Gables has been translated into at least 36 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies, making it one of the best selling books worldwide. The first in an anthology series, Montgomery wrote numerous sequels, and since her death, another sequel has been published, as well as an authorized prequel. The original book is taught to students around the world. The book has been adapted as films, made-for-television movies, and animated and live-action television series. Musicals and plays have also been created, with productions annually in Europe and Japan. (Wikipedia)

 

What You Might Not Know About Anne of Green Gables
BY LINDA RODRIGUEZ MCROBBIE  |  APRIL 1, 2015

 

Lucy Maud (without an e, thanks) Montgomery’s classic bildungsroman, Anne of Green Gables, was published to massive—Harry Potter levels—success in 1908, spawning a whole series of sequels, a bustling tourism industry for the Canadian island where the books were set, and a worldwide enduring love affair with the feisty Anne “with an ‘e’” Shirley. Montgomery finished Anne in 1905, and it took her six tries to find the novel a publisher. That sixth publisher, the Page Company of Boston, Mass., was very lucky: The original book was a runaway bestseller, selling 19,000 copies in the first five months and sprinting through 10 printings in its first year alone. The following year, it was translated into Swedish, the first of at least 20 different languages Anne would be published in. More than 50 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide, and it is probably still the most widely read Canadian novel in the world.  The story of how the independent, flame-topped 11-year-old orphan Anne comes to live at the Cuthberts’ farm on Prince Edward Island is by now a well-worn classic, especially—but not solely—if you’re a woman. Anne is clever, spirited, loyal, and imaginative, but prone to dramatic flights of fancy and getting herself into situations; her transformation into the beloved adopted daughter of the elderly brother and sister Cuthbert, the Island’s brightest student, a pretty woman whose carrot-colored locks deepen into a handsome auburn, and a mature caretaker who is willing to put her own dreams on hold for the good of others is at times mawkish, but on the whole deeply satisfying. Even now, the books retain the charm that first set young imaginations alight, as evidenced by how much people continue to celebrate them, more than 100 years after their first printing.  But even if you’ve read the whole series—the seven sequels and the two related books by Montgomery, all about Anne—there might be a few things about Anne with an e that you don’t know.

 

1. Anne has fans—and many of them are writers.
Famous curmudgeon Mark Twain loved her, saying she was "the dearest and most lovable child in fiction" since Lewis Carroll's Alice. Margaret Atwood, in an essay that appeared in The Guardian in 2008—the 100th anniversary of the book’s publication—wrote about her love of reading the book as a child and then again, when her own daughter was of Anne-age. Atwood also makes a compelling case that in Anne of Green Gables, the story isn’t so much about Anne’s transformation—or lack thereof, because notwithstanding her new thoughtfulness and auburn locks, she’s still the same girl inside—but about cold spinster Marilla Cuthbert’s. “Anne is the catalyst,” wrote Atwood, “who allows the crisp, rigid Marilla to finally express her long-buried softer human emotions.” 

 

2. Anne is big in Japan.

In 1939, a missionary from New Brunswick left her copy of Anne with a friend, respected translator Hanako Muraoka. Muraoka secretly translated the book into Japanese, renaming it Akage No Anne (Anne of the Red Hair), but held on to it through the war. In 1952, when Japanese officials were looking for translations of enriching, inspirational Western literature to teach in schools, she brought out her translation and Anne of Green Gables became part of the Japanese curriculum. Japan fell in love with Anne overnight, finding her red hair exotic, her hardworking attitude and kind nature endearing, and her story of winning over the town—not to mention Marilla Cuthbert, the seemingly hard-hearted matron—inspirational.  National obsession might not even begin to cover it: In 1986, a Japanese businessman made news when he signed a contract to import more than $1.4 million worth of potatoes from Prince Edward Island, solely on the realization that the potatoes came from Anne’s island. There is an Anne Academy in Fukuoka, which teaches Japanese students how to speak English with a Prince Edward Island accent; a nursing school called the School of Green Gables that tries to instill Anne-like qualities in its students; and several national fan clubs. People get married in Anne-themed weddings, thousands of Japanese tourists—many of them adult women with their hair dyed red and tied up in pigtails—visit Prince Edward Island each year, and surveys consistently find that the character is still one of the most beloved of young women across Japan. In 2008, the Canadian and Japanese post jointly sold a sheet of stamps featuring scenes from the 1979 Nippon Animation Anne cartoon; the stamps proved so popular in Japan that they sold 10 million of the 15 million run in the first month of their release.

 

3. Anne was a hero of the Polish Resistance.
Anne of Green Gables was translated, although not officially, into Polish in 1912. This pirated copy, under the spurious author name “Anne Montgomery,” would become hugely popular and deeply important to Poland over the next 40 years and beyond. During World War II, the Polish resistance issued copies of Anne of Green Gables to its fighters as a reminder of what they were fighting for and to emphasize the values of family, loyalty, and selflessness—all of the things that plucky Anne seemed to embody. After the War and during the Communist occupation, the book was suppressed as subversive, largely due to its themes of resisting authority and the importance and value of the individual. The book was big on the black market; the copies sold there were often patched together from personal copies that hadn’t been confiscated. Just as Anne herself became a kind of emblem of individualism and hope, so too did the author, whose works were celebrated well beyond the Anne canon. In 1982, Montgomery's only book set entirely outside of Prince Edward Island and one of the few to be pitched to an adult audience, The Blue Castle, was turned into a musical in Krakow, no mean feat during the Communist privations.

 

4. Anne is big business.

While the sales of the books may have slowed somewhat with age, Anne is still big business to all those kindred spirits who love her so. Cavendish, which Montgomery re-imagined as Avonlea in the books, sees more than 125,000 Anne fans on pilgrimage each year (an estimated 20 percent of them are from Japan), and Green Gables, a farmhouse that had actually belonged to Montgomery’s cousin but certainly looks the part, is a National Historic Site (it abuts an 18-hole golf course; such is the course of modernity). Prince Edward Island, which jointly owns the trademarked term “Anne of Green Gables” with Montgomery's heirs, remains a veritable wonderland of Anne-themed tchotchkes. Anne fans can buy Anne tea sets and Anne candies; Anne tea towels and potholders, cookbooks and aprons; Anne note cards and pencils; CDs featuring music from the several Anne musicals; and Anne light switches. There are Anne buttons and magnets, Anne bookmarks, Anne puzzles, Anne stained glass night lights; for the kids, an Anne straw hat to wear just like their favorite heroine, Anne porcelain dolls to be creeped out by, and Anne plush dolls to cuddle. Carry it all home in your new Anne tote bags, just because you can. Virtually anything that you could put Anne on, someone has. 

 

5. Anne is who LM wished she could be.
In some senses, Montgomery was rewriting her own past in Anne of Green Gables. Montgomery wasn’t exactly an orphan in the strictest sense of the word—her mother died when she wasn’t even 2 years old, and her father left her to be raised by her severe, Presbyterian maternal grandparents in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. But she felt like one in the spiritual, emotional sense: Sensitive and book-loving, Montgomery did not find a lot of love with her grandparents, nor did she find it when she was later sent to live with her father’s new family after he remarried. When Anne declares, "Nobody ever did want me," it’s not hard to hear Montgomery’s voice.  Despite her fame, success, and rich inner life, at least part of Montgomery’s life was a series of misadventures in love and unhappiness, including refusing to marry the farmer she loved because she believed he wasn’t educated enough for her, and eventually marrying a Presbyterian minister who sank into a debilitating depression. When she died in 1942, her family gave it out that it was heart failure that killed her. In 2008, however, her granddaughter disclosed that the 67-year-old writer had deliberately overdosed on drugs, leaving behind a note asking for forgiveness. (For more about Montgomery’s complicated life, check out this.) 

 

6. Montgomery dreaded the Anne sequels.

The success of Anne of Green Gables was, as they say, a blessing and a curse for Montgomery. Even as early as 1908, a year before the first Anne sequel, Anne of Avonlea, came out, Montgomery wrote to a friend that she dreaded the thought of revisiting Anne and that the whole idea of a sequel was her publisher’s: “I’m awfully afraid if the thing takes, they’ll want me to write her through college. The idea makes me sick. I feel like the magician in the Eastern story who became the slave of the ‘jinn’ he had conjured out of a bottle.”

College?! Montgomery continued to write Anne well through college, marriage, childbirth, and beyond, and it seems that by Anne of Ingleside, the sixth book, at least, she was more or less all right with it—she wrote that it was like “going home.” 

 

7. Anne Shirley played Anne Shirley.
Anne has been reinvented dozens of times over. In 1919, the book was adapted to the screen in a now-lost silent film; in 1934, Hollywood tried again, this time with a 16-year-old girl called “Anne Shirley” in the title role. Shirley was actually born Dawn Paris—a pretty good stage name already —but film studio RKO was never one to pass up a publicity stunt, so they asked the contract player to change her name to her character’s. Funnily enough, her name had already been changed once before, by her stage parents: She went from Dawn Paris to Dawn O’Day by the age of three.

 

8. More Annes on screen.

Anne of Green Gables has been adapted for the screen—both small and large—many other times since 1934, including the 1979 Nippon Animation anime version of Anne of Green Gables, hugely popular in its own right. But it’s the 1985 Canadian-produced TV mini-series starring Megan Follows as the red-haired orphan and Colleen Dewhurst as stern Marilla Cuthbert that is probably the most famous. The film broke Canadian broadcast history when it premiered, establishing a record viewership that wouldn’t be broken until Canadian Idol in 2003, and the program has since been translated in 30 different languages and broadcast in more than 140 countries. The last Anne film came in 2008; the made-for-TV Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning starred Barbara Hershey as a middle-aged Anne reeling from the death of husband Gilbert in World War II and lost in her troubled memories of her childhood.

 

9. Canada’s longest running musical
A musical based on Anne of Green Gables—titled, obviously, Anne of Green Gables: The Musical—was first staged in 1965, as part of the very first Charlottetown Festival, and has been every year since. Now in its 51st season, the producers claim that the musical is the longest running annual musical in the world; at least 2.3 million people have seen it in Charlottetown, and even more have seen Anne and Gilbert dance across stages in London, New York, and Japan. 

 

10. Anne with an e—but without the red hair?

So, Anne’s face has been on everything from the small screen to tea towels to stamps, and each incarnation of the red-haired orphan seems to have a similar look: Straw-hatted child or Gibson girl young woman. Except this one: In 2013, a self-publishing firm, taking advantage of the fact that the books are in the public domain, put out a boxed set of the first three Anne books. On the cover, however, was not a red-haired orphan or even a red-haired “modern gal”, but a sexy blond farm girl. Fans are, understandably, not pleased. 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Anne of Green Gables  |  Facts You Didn't Know About Anne of Green Gables

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MAYBERRY

Did you know.... that Mayberry, North Carolina is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971), Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled Return to Mayberry. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents. (Wikipedia)

 

Remembering the People of Mayberry
BY MISS CELLANIA  |  SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

 

The Andy Griffith Show (TAGS) premiered on television on October 3rd, 1960. That means Sunday will mark the show's 50th anniversary! In the series' eight-year run, we got to know the residents of Mayberry as if they were our own neighbors.

 

Sheriff Andy Taylor

The character Andy Taylor, and indeed the entire show was modeled on Andy Griffith's persona, which he inhabited as a storyteller and in the 1958 movie No Time for Sergeants. If you were to watch that movie today, you'd think that you were watching a Gomer Pyle who happened to look like Andy Taylor. By the end of the first season of TAGS, the sheriff toned down the wackiness and became the straight man to the even goofier deputy and the townspeople of Mayberry. The switch was necessary because someone had to rescue the protagonist of the week from their troubles. Andy Griffith grew up in Mt. Airy, NC, which became the fictional town of Mayberry on TV. Griffith insisted that the characters in the show reflect a small town way of life as he knew it, without poking fun at rural or Southern people. TAGS was the number one show in its final season, but Griffith wanted to move on, so new characters were introduced as a transition to the spinoff series Mayberry, RFD. He then starred in several unsuccessful series between 1970 and 1980. Griffith also appeared in many made-for-TV movies, but fell ill with Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983. Recovered, he made another name for himself as lawyer Ben Matlock in the hit series Matlock from 1986 to 1995. Griffith, who lives in Manteo, NC, is yet to retire at age 84. His latest project is a series of public service announcements promoting the benefits of the new health care reforms to seniors.

 

Barney Fife

Deputy Barney Fife is the sheriff's cousin, best friend, and co-worker. However, several quotes later in the series lead us to believe they are not closely related. There is some speculation the character may have been related to Andy's deceased wife. His awkward, over-the-top personality provided more pure comedy than any other TAGS character. Some of Fife's quotes became pop culture touchstones, such as the catchphrase "Nip it in the bud". In 1965, Barney left Mayberry to work as a detective in Raleigh, but he returned home occasionally during the last three seasons. West Virginia native Don Knotts met Andy Griffith when they both acted in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. They were reunited in the movie version. When Griffith told Knotts about the development of TAGS, Knotts himself suggested the character who became Barney Fife. After leaving the show in 1965, Knotts starred in The Don Knotts Show in the 1970-71 season and had several successful movies, including The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Reluctant Astronaut. He teamed up with Tim Conway for several more film comedies. He played landlord Ralph Furley on the hit TV show Three's Company from 1979 to 1984. Knotts continued to act in TV and onstage until shortly before his death in 2006.

 

Opie

Opie Taylor grew up on TAGS with his widowed father Andy and never spoke of his deceased mother. He learned many life lessons from the mistakes he made with the help of Andy, Barney, and Aunt Bee. Opie made an appearance on Mayberry RFD in the episode where Andy and Helen got married, and returned for the reunion shows Return to Mayberry in 1986 and The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Back to Mayberry in 2003. Ron Howard was only five years old when he was recruited for the role of Opie, but he had some acting experience already, most notably in the films The Music Man and in The Courtship of Eddie's Father. By the time TAGS finished, he was just 14, but had more acting experience than many movie stars. He made the transition to adult actor as the star of American Graffiti in 1973, which led to his role as Richie Cunningham in the series Happy Days from 1974 to 1980. Howard began directing movies in 1977 at age 23. His many directorial credits include Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, and Dilemma, scheduled for release in 2011.

 

Aunt Bee

When TAGS premiered on 1960, the first episode centered around Andy's Aunt Bee, who moved in with Andy and Opie to replace their departing housekeeper. Aunt Bee is no stranger to Mayberry, however, as she had only been gone for five years at that point. In fact, she had supposedly raised Andy. Many of the show's episodes revolved around Aunt Bee and her friends and suitors. One of the most memorable shows involved Aunt Bee's horrible homemade pickles, which is available on YouTube. In the spinoff series Mayberry, RFD, Aunt Bee moved out of Andy's home when he married and she went to live with Sam Jones, another widower with a son and the main character of the spinoff series. Francis Bavier, the actress who played Aunt Bee, was a successful stage actress in the early part of the 20th century, appearing in vaudeville productions and on Broadway beginning in 1925. Her first movie was The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951. A dozen or so movies (and a few TV roles) later, she was cast as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show. Bavier was the only cast member to stay "in Mayberry" from the pilot episode all the way through Mayberry, RFD. She retired from acting in 1972 and moved to Siler City, NC. The New York native fell in love with the beauty of rural North Carolina, no doubt influenced by her stay in Mayberry. Bavier worked in her retirement to support the Christmas and Easter Seal Societies. She died of a heart attack in 1989 at age 86.

 

Gomer Pyle

Gomer Pyle was the not-too-bright mechanic in Mayberry from 1961 to 1964, when he joined the Marines and became Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. In Mayberry, he was sometimes deputized temporarily to help Andy and Barney with their crime-fighting capers. Thanks to Gomer, we still sometimes hear someone utter "Shazam!" and "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" or even "Citizens arrest! Citizen's arrest!" After Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., actor Jim Nabors hosted a variety show called The Jim Nabors Show for one season (1977-78) and appeared in several movies, but focused more on his singing. He released quite a few albums and traveled the world in musical productions. Nabors underwent a liver transplant in 1994 due to hepatitis, but returned to work as soon as he was able. Now 80 years old, Nabors continues to sing and make occasional appearances.

 

Goober

Goober Pyle was Gomer's cousin and took over his job at Wally's gas station in Mayberry when Gomer joined the Marines. Strangely, the two only appeared together in one episode. Goober was a more skilled mechanic than Gomer, but almost as goofy otherwise. Goober eventually bought the gas station when Wally retired. He remained in Mayberry during the RFD years, and then moved to the variety show Hee-Haw. George Lindsey graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1952 and then taught science at Hazel Green High School. After serving in the Air Force, Lindsey decided to try acting. Lindsey was Gene Roddenberry's first choice for Spock in the original Star Trek series, but turned the role down. He played the character of Goober continuously from 1964 to 1990 on three series. Lindsey continues to perform and lend his support to the Special Olympics and an annual film festival at the University of Alabama.

 

Helen Crump

Helen Crump was introduced as Opie's teacher in the third season of TAGS. Opie didn't like his teacher, which led to a conflict between Andy and Helen, but they worked it out by the show's end. Helen then dated Andy through the rest of the series. The two married in the first episode of Mayberry, RFD and moved to Raleigh, but returned for a guest appearance later and for the reunion show Return to Mayberry in 1986. Aneta Corsaut made her film debut in the Steve McQueen movie The Blob in 1958. She was supposed to be a one-time guest star on TAGS, but impressed the producers so much that she was written in as a regular character. After Mayberry, she had regular roles in the TV shows House Calls, Adam-12, and General Hospital, and recurring appearances in Matlock. Corsault died of cancer in 1995 at age 62.

 

Thelma Lou

 

Barney Fife's girlfriend Thelma Lou only appeared in 26 episodes of TAGS between 1961 and 1966. Even during her run, Barney occasionally saw other women, particularly Jaunita, who he talked to on the phone but was never seen. Thelma Lou eventually married someone else. In the 1986 TV movie Return to Mayberry, Barney and the divorced Thelma Lou reunite and marry at last. After TAGS, actress Betty Lynn guest starred in many TV series, then moved in Mt. Airy, NC. to escape the crime of Los Angeles. Ironically, she was the victim of a robbery in her adopted town earlier this year. Betty Lynn participates in Mt. Airy's Mayberry Days every year, and will be signing autographs this Sunday from 2 to 4PM. Other residents of Mayberry we knew and loved include town drunk Otis Campbell, Ernest T. Bass, the musical Darlings, Howard Sprague, barber Floyd Lawson, and neighbor Clara Edwards, among others.

 

Bonus YouTube of Barney singing!

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Mayberry  |  Facts About Mayberry and It's People

Edited August 3, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - OTTER

Did you know... that otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among other animals. (Wikipedia)

 

Facts about Otters for Sea Otter Awareness Week
by Department of the Interior  |  September 2017

 

Otters are some of the most adorable aquatic animals. Their charming features are unparalleled, from their expressions to their use of tools. Held every year during the last week in September, Sea Otter Awareness Week spotlights the important role of sea otters in nearshore ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean. Get ready for some awesome otter facts and photos. We promise that you’ll be otterly entertained!

 

1. Forget everything you thought you knew about otter species.

Thirteen different species exist around the globe. The U.S. is home to two species: the sea otter and the North American river otter. River otters are much smaller -- averaging 10-30 pounds -- with a cylindrical body and small head. Sea otters weigh more -- around 45-90 pounds -- with large, furry faces.

Guess who’s excited? This otter from Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

in Alaska. While it looks like this otter is clapping, it’s conserving

heat by keeping its paws from getting wet. 

 

2. Otters have some interesting relatives.

Otters are part of the Mustelidae family, which is a family of carnivorous mammals that includes skunks, weasels, wolverines and badgers. The sea otter is the largest member of the weasel family, yet the smallest marine mammal in North America.

A sea otter snoozes on its back -- showing

its hind legs, tail and webbed feet, which

make otters great swimmers. 

 

3. Most sea otters call Alaska home.

Approximately 90 percent of the world’s sea otters live in coastal Alaska. Many live in the waters surrounding public lands including Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National Park and Glacier Bay National Park. Southern sea otters range along the mainland coastline of California from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County, and San Nicolas Island.

Ain’t no party like a sea otter party! A group of otters stay together

for mutual protection from predators in the waters around

Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

 

4. U.S. and international law protects threatened sea otters.

Hunted to the edge of extinction by fur traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, the few remaining sea otters (about 2,000 scattered in remnant colonies throughout the North Pacific rim) were first protected by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911. Sea otters in the United States received additional protections with the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s.

A rescued sea otter pup is taken to

Alaska SeaLife Center to be treated. 

 

5. Sea otters eat 25 percent of their body weight in food every day. 

Sea otters’ diet includes sea urchins, crabs, mussels, and clams, which they’re known to crack open with a rock and eat while floating in the water. To find food, sea otters may occasionally dive as deep as 250 feet and will use their sensitive whiskers to locate small prey inside crevices or their strong forepaws to dig for clams.

This otter was spotted at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

in California eating a crab. 

 

6. Sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal.

Their fur contains between 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. Unlike most other marine mammals, otters lack a blubber layer. Instead they depend on their dense, water-resistant fur to provide insulation. To keep warm, sea otters spend a large portion of their days grooming and conditioning their fur. This traps air and heat next to their skin.

A sea otter grooms itself to stay warm. 

 

7. Sea otters can have a pup any time of the year.

Southern sea otters breed and pup year-round, while northern sea otter pups in Alaska are usually born in the spring. A newborn pup needs constant attention and will stay with its mother for six months until it develops survival skills. Fun fact: An otter pup’s fur is so dense that it can’t dive underwater until it gets its adult fur. This comes in handy when mothers leave their pups safely floating on the water’s surface while they forage for food.

A mother sea otter carries her pup.

 

8. Don’t challenge otters to a breathholding competition.

An otter’s lung capacity is 2.5 times greater than that of similar-sized land mammals. Sea otters have been known to stay submerged for more than 5 minutes at a time. River otters, however, can hold their breath for up to 8 minutes. The increased time underwater improves otters’ opportunity to sense prey and forage for food.

A sea otter floats in the water outside

Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.

 

9. Otters are an essential keystone species.

A “keystone species” is a species that is critical to how an ecosystem functions because it has large-scale effects on the communities in which it lives. Along the Pacific coast, sea otters help control the sea urchin population. Fewer sea urchins in turn help prevent kelp forests from being overgrazed. In California, research has found that sea otters also enhance seagrass beds, and in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park, sea otters’ expansion into the area marked a gradual return of a more diverse ecosystem and an exciting moment in colonization efforts.

A sea otter settles in for a nap in a patch of kelp.

 

10. The otter is one of the few mammals that use tools.

A sea otter’s tool of choice: typically a rock that can be used as a hammer or anvil to break open hard-shelled prey. Ever wonder where otters actually store these tools for safe keeping? They have a loose patch of skin under their armpit to store both the food they’ve foraged and their rock to crack it open.

An otter enjoys a snack of fresh mussels

at Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.

 

11. A group of resting otters is called a raft.

Otters love to rest in groups. Researchers have seen concentrations of over 1,000 otters floating together. To keep from drifting away from each other, sea otters will wrap themselves up in seaweed, forming something that resembles a raft.

A raft of otters resting in a group.

 

12. Otters might look soft and cuddly but remain dangerous wild animals.

Otters have strong teeth and a powerful bite. So whether you see an otter on land or at sea, be sure to maintain a safe distance of at least 50 yards and never feed sea otters. Learn more about staying safe around sea otters.

If an otter notices you, it probably means

you’re too close. 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Otter  |  Facts About Otters
 

Edited August 4, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ETCH A SKETCH

Did you know.... that Etch A Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy invented by André Cassagnes of France and subsequently manufactured by the Ohio Art Company and now owned by Spin Master of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An Etch A Sketch has a thick, flat gray screen in a red plastic frame. There are two white knobs on the front of the frame in the lower corners. Twisting the knobs moves a stylus that displaces aluminum powder on the back of the screen, leaving a solid line. The knobs create lineographic images. The left control moves the stylus horizontally, and the right one moves it vertically. (Wikipedia)

 

Well-Drawn Facts About The Etch A Sketch
BY KIRSTIN FAWCETT  |  JULY 12, 2017

 

Even if you didn’t grow up to become an artist, chances are you honed your childhood drawing skills on an Etch A Sketch. Here are 11 nostalgia-inducing facts about the classic toy, in honor of National Etch A Sketch Day.

 

1. IT’S A PRODUCT OF FRANCE.
While the Etch A Sketch seems as American as apple pie, it’s actually a French invention. According to lore, an electrician named André Cassagnes was installing a light fixture in a factory during the 1950s. The factory produced an ornate embossed wall covering called Lincrusta. Aluminum powder used in the manufacturing process made its way onto a light-switch plate that Cassagnes was installing, and he noticed that when he made pencil marks on the plate’s translucent protective decal, they showed up on its other side. Turns out, Cassagnes’s pencil had raked a line through the metallic powder, displacing the particles that had clung to the decal thanks to an electrostatic charge. Observing this phenomenon inspired Cassagnes to create his own drawing toy using a plotter and aluminum powder.

 

2. CREDIT IS OFTEN GIVEN TO THE WRONG INVENTOR.
Cassagnes perfected his design and he soon won a prize in a French invention competition. However, he didn’t have enough money to patent it so he teamed up with an investor named Paul Chaze. Chaze’s accountant, Arthur Granjean, helped the duo receive patents for the Etch A Sketch in both France and America. Since Granjean filed and paid for the patents, he was mistakenly referred to as the toy’s inventor for years.

 

3. THE ETCH A SKETCH ORIGINALLY HAD A JOYSTICK.

This was present in Cassagnes’s original designs. He later re-designed the toy to have two knobs.

 

4. TOY MANUFACTURERS ORIGINALLY REJECTED THE ETCH A SKETCH.
The Etch A Sketch was showcased at the 1959 Nuremberg Toy Fair, but toy companies didn’t want to pay a steep fee for the rights. Eventually, Ohio Art—who is said to have also passed on the Etch A Sketch—reconsidered and acquired the invention.

 

5. IT ALSO HAD A DIFFERENT NAME.
The toy was originally marketed as the “Télécran" in France, but was later called the “L’Écran Magique,” or Magic Screen. It was eventually re-named the Etch A Sketch by the Ohio Art Company.

 

6. IT WORKS AS A PLOTTER.

Although the Etch A Sketch’s inner workings might seem like a mystery, they’re actually pretty straightforward. The inside of the toy’s glass screen is covered with aluminum powder, which has tiny beads mixed in to keep it from clumping. A stylus is connected to a pulley system, which, in turn, is attached to the horizontal and vertical metal rods. These rods are affixed to two knobs. When you move the knobs, the stylus is dragged through the powder, creating a line. Not happy with your drawing? All you have to do is shake the toy, and the aluminum powder will re-coat the screen and erase the markings.

 

7. IT FOUND A MARKET VIA TELEVISION.
Production of the Etch A Sketch began on July 12, 1960. America soon caught wind of the toy thanks to a televised marketed campaign featuring a little girl named Pernella who hides underneath a basket with her Etch A Sketch because everyone wants to play with it. She eventually emerges and announces that her favorite toy “is magic!" The ads were such a hit that, come holiday season, Ohio Art was hard-pressed to fill orders.

 

8. IT’S A BEST-SELLER.
In 1998, the Etch A Sketch was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, cementing its place in history alongside inventions like the Slinky, the skateboard, and Silly Putty. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association ranked it as one of the 20th century’s hundred best toys. According to CNBC, more than 100 million Etch A Sketches have been sold since its introduction in 1960.

 

9. IT’S SOMETIMES TRANSFORMED INTO PERMANENT ART.

by PrincessEtch
While Etch A Sketch drawings aren’t meant to be permanent, some people use the toy to create professional works of art. One particular artist, Nicole Falzone, has been referred to as the “Monet of the Magic Screen” for her detailed Etch A Sketch portraits of celebrities like Jim Carrey, Stevie Wonder, and Bill Gates. The secret to creating long-lasting drawings, she says, is to drill holes in the back of the casing and drain the Etch A Sketch of its aluminum powder. That way, the lines won’t be erased. Other notable Etch A Sketchers include George Vlosich, who drew an Etch A Sketch portrait of President Barack Obama prior to his inauguration, and Christoph Brown, who refers to himself as the “World’s Fastest Etch A Sketch Artist."

 

10. IT’S A POP CULTURE—AND POLITICAL—PHENOMENON.
Over the decades, the Etch A Sketch leapt from children’s toy boxes onto TV and movie screens across the world. Pixar’s Toy Story franchise features an Etch A Sketch named “Etch” who’s described by Woody as having the “fastest knobs in the West.” In the first season finale of the AMC series Breaking Bad, protagonist Walter White uses the aluminum powder inside several Etch A Sketches to create thermite. He then uses the corrosive substance to melt the lock off a door. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign advisor Eric Fehrnstrom compared Romney's politics to playing with an Etch A Sketch. “You hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again,” he said. Thanks to Fehrnstrom’s comment, Etch A Sketch sales rose by 30 percent. Etch A Sketch responded by releasing limited-edition election versions of the toy in red and blue. Each came with a sticker depicting a donkey and an elephant playing tug-of-war on the White House lawn

 

11. IT’S BEEN MANUFACTURED IN RED, PINK, SILVER, AND BLUE.
The Etch A Sketch is known for its iconic red frame. However, if you purchased one in 1971, it might have came in “Cool Blue” or “Hot Pink.” For the toy’s 25th anniversary in 1985, Ohio Art released a silver model with bejeweled knobs and a hand-carved signature (the flashy toy reportedly cost a cool $3,750).

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Etch A Sketch  |  Facts About Etch A Sketch

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TITANIC

RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.

 

Did you know.... that RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner operated by the White Star Line that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making the sinking at the time one of the deadliest of a single ship and the deadliest peacetime sinking of a superliner or cruise ship to date. With much public attention in the aftermath, the disaster has since been the material of many artistic works and a founding material of the disaster film genre. RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time she entered service and was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, chief naval architect of the shipyard at the time, died in the disaster. (Wikipedia)

 

Learn The Unthinkable About The Unsinkable Ship, RMS Titanic
by Penelope, The Getaway  |  Updated: Dec 18, 2019

 

The hulk of the RMS Titanic slumbers at the bottom of the North Atlantic, just as it has for over a century. Like many, you might have first encountered the story of the Titanic through the award-winning movie. That, or perhaps you read about in a book, newspaper, or magazine. Either way, you know the gist of it — the Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage when the unsinkable happened. Even before she launched, the massive ship captured the imaginations of millions. That RMS Titanic sank, however, may have only added to her mystique.

 

01 The Titanic, Lost and Found

For almost a century, the fate of the Titanic remained a mystery to some extent. Where did the hulk end up after the infamous sinking? What’ll interest you here is that the final resting place of the Titanic remained a state secret for 23 years. Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of RMS Titanic on an expedition with the US Navy in 1985. However, the mission remained classified until National Geographic broke the story in 2008.

 

02 A Tiny Culprit In the Decay of RMS Titanic

The once-luxurious hull of RMS Titanic is now a rusting, tragically beautiful husk. Besides the forces of erosion, a bacteria named for the ship hastens the process. Researchers, including one Henrietta Mann, discovered Halomonas titanicae in 2010 at Dalhousie University. At the time, Mann predicted the collapse of the remains in 2030. New information and footage led her to push the rough date back to 2050.

 

03Don't Let Your Hopes Sink

If you experience a certain sadness at the decay of the Titanic, there's good news. Companies like Ocean Gate welcome citizen explorers on their expeditions. You have the opportunity to be part of their week-long missions to the historic site. Upon arrival, you’ll engage in wreckage exploration 2.5 miles under the sea alongside acclaimed Titanic researchers in the Titan submersible. When you stay aboard the surface supply ship, you’ll help with navigation, maintenance, and cataloging new discoveries.

 

04 An Inspiring Feat of Engineering

The Titanic is still one of the largest ships ever constructed. It cost $7.5 million to build and dwarfed the battleships of the era. This space stored an onboard swimming pool, a gymnasium, a squash court, a Turkish bath, and two separate libraries. You won’t be surprised to know that the Titanic's wake was so huge that at its launch at Southampton, it sucked in another ship and almost caused a collision.

 

05 Little Comforts Make a World of Difference

Edith Rosenbaum Russell retrieved her pig music box from her stateroom just before getting into a lifeboat. She played the pig to help calm children in the boat. The pig became part of many legends that sprung from the sinking of the Titanic, and it inspired the children's book "Pig on the Titanic: A True Story."

 

06 An Unlikely Hero in a Furry Package

The story of Rigel is a popular myth that arose from the sinking of the Titanic. The story says that Rigel was a large, black Newfoundland dog, the pet of First Officer William McMaster Murdoch. From there, the dog boarded a lifeboat. Days dragged on, and the exhausted survivors found themselves under the bows of RMS Carpathia. None of the humans had the energy to make themselves heard, but Rigel's barking alerted the crew of Carpathia and saved them.

 

07 Was the Sinking Foretold?

Even if you're not superstitious, the alignment between the fate of Titanic and the Morgan Robertson book 'Futility' is outright eerie. Published in 1898, the book predated the Titanic even on a conceptual level. However, the fictional ship Titan told of in the story, and the real-life Titanic shared many similarities: - The largest ship ever built billed as “unsinkable” - Similar size (800 ft long for Titan vs. 882 ft long for the Titanic) - Struck an iceberg and sank in April in the North Atlantic - Half of the passengers died due to a lifeboat shortage.

 

08 The Darker Side of Tragedy

The passengers drowned as equals, but they did not live as such. Titanic separated the lives of its passengers into first, second, and third-class groups. For the first class, evening meals could have as many as 13 courses. In contrast, the third class passengers only enjoyed breakfast, dinner, and a modest supper of cabin crackers and cheese. Class stratification was so severe that gates separating the third-class spaces from the other classes were kept locked even after the collision, according to some firsthand reports.

 

09 Why did the Titanic sink?

It wasn’t a single factor that sunk the RMS Titanic. It was a complex web of less-than-good conditions. The rivets at the bow and stern `were not hydraulically inserted. This is an example of poor quality control with dire consequences. Additionally, adverse weather conditions created an unusually larger barrier of icebergs. The North Sea was akin to a minefield at that time.

 

10 Some People Never Learn

Australian millionaire Clive Palmer announced his intention to build a successor to the Titanic in 2012. Christened the Titanic II, the project aimed at building a 56,000-ton cruise liner, whereas the original weighed 46,000 tons. Additionally, the estimated cost stood at $500 million. While intended for launch in 2016, it was not to be. The ambitious project was fraught with delays and pushed back first to 2018, then to 2022.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Titanic  |  Facts About The Unsinkable Ship, RMS Titanic

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - OLD FAITHFUL

 

Yellowstone National Park, 1948

 

Did you know... that Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in 1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named. It is a highly predictable geothermal feature and has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000. The geyser and the nearby Old Faithful Inn are part of the Old Faithful Historic District. (Wikipedia)

 

Steamy Facts About Old Faithful
BY MARK MANCINI  |  FEBRUARY 4, 2020

 

Yellowstone National Park attracts more than 4 million visitors per year as the fifth-most visited national park in the U.S. People come to this 3472-square-mile tract of Western wilderness for its towering mountains, charismatic megafauna, and, of course, its spectacular geysers. While there are loads of hydrothermal features to see, the most iconic geyser by far is Old Faithful, named by explorers in 1870. Here are a few facts about this Wyoming wonder.

 

1. OLD FAITHFUL DOESN’T ALWAYS ERUPT AT 60-MINUTE INTERVALS.
There’s a longstanding myth that Old Faithful erupts every hour. According to the National Park Service (NPS), this has never been true. On a typical day, Old Faithful shoots out a plume of superheated steam around 17 times, anywhere from 60 to 110 minutes apart. Geologists can use the duration of the latest outburst and other factors to determine how long it may take for the next one to arrive. The formula’s success rate speaks for itself: 90 percent of Old Faithful’s eruptions take place within 10 minutes of these calculated predictions.

 

2. CHAMBERS FULL OF MOLTEN ROCK UNDERLIE OLD FAITHFUL.
Geysers occur when a subterranean reservoir of water is warmed enough to burst through Earth’s crust. Below Yellowstone National Park lie two volcanic chambers loaded with molten rock called magma. On top of the chambers are cavities of groundwater. The magma heats the underground water and pressure builds until water bubbles out of the ground, releasing some of the pressure—which causes vigorous boiling and a subsequent explosion of water. That’s when the fun starts.

 

3. OLD FAITHFUL’S WATER RESERVOIRS BECOME SUPERHEATED.
A geyser’s underground dimensions play an important part in its eruptions. The narrow reservoirs constrict the water in a tight space, while the overhanging rock creates pressure. The water at the bottom of the geyser experiences additional pressure because the cooler water nearer the top of the reservoir pushes down on it. These forces keep the low-lying water liquid, even as it grows hotter and hotter. Within Old Faithful, groundwater can hit temperatures as high as 244°F. Despite exceeding water’s normal boiling point at sea level of 212°F, this water doesn’t transform into gas—instead, it becomes superheated.

 

4. UP TO 8400 GALLONS OF WATER ARE RELEASED WHEN OLD FAITHFUL ERUPTS.

The built-up steam and boiling water reacts to the geyser’s internal pressures by shooting dramatically out of the Earth. Each eruption can emit 3700 to 8400 gallons of water skywards.

 

5. OLD FAITHFUL IS PART OF THE WORLD’S DENSEST CONCENTRATION OF GEYSERS.
There are more than 500 geysers among over 10,000 hydrothermal structures in Yellowstone National Park. Geologists divide them into nine clusters called geyser basins. Old Faithful is the centerpiece of the Upper Basin in the park’s western half, which contains at least 150 individual geysers. That makes it the biggest concentration of geysers on planet Earth.

 

6. NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES HAVE DESCRIPTIVE NAMES FOR YELLOWSTONE’S GEYSER REGION.
Native people have inhabited what is now Yellowstone National Park since time immemorial. The Crow named the hydrothermal areas of what is now Yellowstone National Park the “land of the burning ground” or “land of vapors,” according to historian Lee H. Whittlesey [PDF]. “[The] Crows specifically called the Yellowstone geysers Bide-Mahpe, meaning ‘sacred or powerful water,’” Whittlesey writes. The Flathead’s and Kiowa’s names for the park’s geyser region translate to “smoke from the ground” and “the place of hot water,” respectively.

 

7. THE NAME OLD FAITHFUL DATES BACK TO 1870.

The first privately funded American expedition to the Yellowstone area took place in 1869, and the explorers published an updated map of the region. That encouraged another, larger expedition the following year, led by former Congressman Henry D. Washburn and businessman Nathaniel P. Langford with a military escort by Gustavus C. Doane. Langford described “a perfect geyser … It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from 90 to 125 feet at each discharge, which lasted from 15 to 20 minutes. We gave it the name of Old Faithful.”

 

8. BEARS ONCE CHOWED DOWN ON FREE GARBAGE NEAR OLD FAITHFUL.
Today, feeding a bear at Yellowstone National Park can earn you a $5000 fine and a six-month prison sentence. In the past, though, the park’s attitude was far more lax. Before World War II, Yellowstone managers would encourage bears to dine at purpose-built trash dumps, which attracted huge crowds of visitors. One of these heaps, located near Old Faithful, was marked with a wooden sign that said “Lunch Counter for Bears Only.”

 

9. OLD FAITHFUL ISN’T YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK’S LARGEST GEYSER.
That honor goes to the Steamboat geyser, a monster capable of launching 300-foot columns of water and steam. By comparison, the tallest plumes from Old Faithful are around 184 feet high. But it’s harder to plan a visit around Steamboat’s eruptions. It once went dormant for 50 years, and though it’s recently become more active, it still erupts far less often than Old Faithful.

 

10. OLD FAITHFUL’S OUTPUT IS CHANGING.
In 1959, 1983, and 1998, earthquakes caused dips in the geyser’s daily eruption average. As the NPS explains, “the average interval between eruptions has been lengthening during the last several decades.” That’s correlated to the durations of the outbursts themselves. If an eruption lasts for more than 2.5 minutes, you’ll probably have to wait an hour and a half to watch the next one. But shorter eruptions mean shorter wait periods. And in recent years, lengthy eruptions have become more common.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Old Faithful  |  Facts about Old Faithful