Fact of the Day

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Fact of the Day - SLOGANS

 

Did you know.... that Nike: Just Do It slogan is first for a reason—it’s iconic, and it’s everywhere. Nike uses this slogan on packaging, on clothing, and throughout its ad campaigns. This consistently helps with recognition. You only need to hear or see the slogan with the Nike logo a few times before they are linked in your memory. (Céillie Clark-Keane)

 

How 6 Famous Ad Slogans Came to Be

by Interesting Facts

During Mad Men’s first season, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) gave his protégé, Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), his slogan-writing secret: “Just think about it. Deeply. Then forget it. And an idea will jump up in your face.” There’s a good chance that formula inspired many of the most indelible taglines in real-life ads — which tend to be deceptively simple, like these.

 

1. Maxwell House: “Good to the Last Drop”

A presidential urban legend has been percolating through Maxwell House headquarters for more than a century, citing President Theodore Roosevelt as the originator of their slogan, “Good to the Last Drop.” However, as with many other urban legends, the details are subject to debate. Maxwell House debuted under the Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company moniker in 1901. There’s no disputing that in 1907, Roosevelt drank coffee during a visit to the Hermitage — the Nashville mansion President Andrew Jackson occupied for decades. But this is where the facts start to stray. Naturally, Maxwell House believed the commander-in-chief was enjoying their beverage at the mansion, but three more businesses made the same claim. According to a newspaper report, in between sips Roosevelt said, “This is the kind of stuff I like to drink, by George, when I hunt bears.” Yet after his 1919 death, Maxwell House advertised that Roosevelt had made a different declaration at the Hermitage, calling their java “good to the last drop.” Maxwell House retains the slogan today. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola takes credit for crafting the phrase during Roosevelt’s administration.  

 

2. Wheaties: “The Breakfast of Champions”

Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes was an early name for Wheaties, which made its debut in 1921. At first, the product wasn’t very successful, but that all changed thanks to a fictional character named Jack Armstrong. During a neighborhood stroll, Sam Gale — the vice president of advertising at the cereal’s parent company, General Mills — realized that families weren’t basking outdoors because they were inside listening to the Washington Senators-New York Giants 1933 World Series. Wheaties began sponsoring baseball broadcasts and unveiled its own long-running radio adventure series, Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy. On the show, the protagonist and his playmate, Betty Fairfield, often exercised by playing tennis, golf, or basketball. Wheaties placed Armstrong on their print ads and also on a billboard at the Minneapolis Millers’ ballpark, integrating the tagline “Wheaties — The Breakfast of Champions.” In 1934, Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig graced a Wheaties box, creating a pop-culture milestone athletes have repeated ever since.

 

3. De Beers: “A Diamond Is Forever”

In 1938, London-based De Beers tasked Philadelphia ad agency N.W. Ayer & Son with a challenge: Boost diamond sales. The Great Depression had hindered the sale of diamonds, which were already regarded as too luxurious for everyday Americans. However, the challenging part wasn’t selling more diamonds, but the parameters on how diamonds were marketed. Since De Beers controlled the global supply of rough diamonds, the company would violate U.S. antitrust laws if their name or photos of their jewels were promoted on any marketing materials, including newspaper and magazine ads. On an evening in 1947, Mary Frances Gerety, one of the few female copywriters in the industry, quickly jotted down, “A Diamond Is Forever,” and then fell asleep. Scientifically untrue, the line was first met with a tepid response, but Ad Age eventually christened Gerety’s work the slogan of the century. She wrote all of De Beers’ ads for the next 25 years. Ian Fleming even borrowed her signature sentiment for his fourth James Bond novel, Diamonds Are Forever.

 

4. Volkswagen: “Think Small”

The Volkswagen Beetle was the first automobile model in history to sell 20 million cars. Much of that success is owed to its innovative American advertising agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach. During his first tour of a German Volkswagen plant, agency cofounder Bill Bernbach described the Beetle as “honest.” But before the brand fully embraced self-deprecation, sincerity became a tenet of the founding campaign. Helmut Krone, the co-writer of “Think Small,” was an early Volkswagen driver with German-born parents. In 1959, he and Julian Koenig rejected the swagger of American-made muscle cars, embracing a less-is-more philosophy that was echoed on a page of mostly negative space. Beetle ads were printed in black-and-white to save money, but the lack of color only underscored the message of simplicity.

 

5. Wendy’s: “Where’s the Beef?”

In 1984, Wendy’s contended that McDonald’s and Burger King exaggerated the size of their patties by stacking Big Macs and Whoppers. To enlighten fast food customers, R. David Thomas’ company greenlit a TV ad with a gruff octogenarian who called it as she saw it. Director Joe Sedelmaier delighted in the authentic delivery of untrained actors like 4-foot-10 Clara Peller, the veteran salon worker who barked “Where’s the beef?” as her friends noted a competing burger’s “big, fluffy bun.” The instantly quotable commercial aired for 10 weeks and supplied Walter Mondale with a presidential primary debate zinger. All Wendy’s locations saw at least a 10% growth in sales over the previous year. However, corporate executives had a cow when they saw Peller in a Prego spaghetti sauce spot, exclaiming, “I found it!” She never appeared in another Wendy’s ad.

 

6. Milk: “Got Milk?”

A candid focus group participant helped San Francisco creatives launch one of the most inescapable ad campaigns of the late 20th century. When brainstorming ideas for the California Milk Processor Board, executives at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners asked focus group attendees to abstain from milk for a week prior. One man recapped his experience readying the perfect bowl of cereal — only to realize he had to skip a key ingredient. The anecdote’s responses convinced the agency that people feel emotionally attached to milk, a theory they tested by emptying cartons in the office refrigerator, then hiding a camera to gauge reactions. “Got Milk?” arose in 1993 from the observed fear of running out. Michael Bay and Annie Leibovitz both shot ads, which often sported celebrities with milk mustaches. Today’s average American downs 18 gallons of milk per year, a 40% drop from 1970.
 

 

Source: About Advertising Slogans  Facts About Slogans

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Fact of the Day - DOUGHNUT

Did you know... that a doughnut or donut is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors. Doughnut is the traditional spelling, while donut is the simplified version; the terms are often used interchangeably. (Wikipedia)

 

Things You Never Knew About Donuts

by HANNAH DOOLIN and ZAHRA ZAIDI  |  JUN 3, 2016

 

The donut is a classic American confection that's transformed into a foodie favorite. Gone are the days when basic glazed donuts reigned supreme—with places like Dough, Doughnut Plant and Montclair Bread Co. cranking out crazy rounds in irresistible flavors like Tres Leches and Peanut Butter and Jelly, there's always something new happening in the donut sphere. Here, we take a moment to look back on how the treat first came to be, and other surprising things you might not have known—until now.

 

1.They were originally called "oily cakes."
Fried dough was introduced to New York back when the area was known as New Amsterdam and Dutch was the predominant language. The early Americans took the fact that the treats were fried in oil quite literally, naming them olykoeks, translating to "oily cakes." The word 'donut' came soon after when a woman is said to have put nuts in the dough before frying it. Today's biggest debate is whether the word is spelled 'donut' or 'doughnut.' Which one is technically correct? No one really knows!

 

2. A sailor invented the modern day shape.
As the story goes, a New England woman named Elizabeth Gregory fried some dough to send with her son for his voyage at sea during the 19th century. Elizabeth was the one who fried the dough with nuts, leading to the name 'donut,' but her son was the one who put a hole in the center, giving us the classic donut shape. The young sailor is said to have skewered the donut through one of the spokes on the ship's wheel to hold the donut while using both hands to steer the ship. 

 

3. The modern-day donut has ties to World War I.
We owe our addiction to donuts to a Russian man named Adolph Levitt, the inventor of the donut machine. The contraption launched donut production from local bakeries to mass production facilities, leading to a boom in donut popularity and sales. The Salvation Army caught wind of the trend and decided to use donuts as a part of their promotion to honor soldiers fighting in World War I. "Donut lassies" fried up the treats and served them to members of the U.S. military in France and Germany. 

 

4. Krispy Kreme was the first national chain. 

Vernon Rudolph bought the secret recipe for the Krispy Kreme donut from a Frenchman in New Orleans and brought back the recipe to North Carolina where Krispy Kreme Donuts was born. The cult-classic donut shop first opened its doors on July 13, 1937 in Winston-Salem and has been booming in business ever since. The company recently celebrated 75 years in 2012 and its 1,000th store in 2015!

 

5. Americans are donut crazy.
Over 10 billion donuts are made in the US every year, and 17 million of those are produced at one single donut chain! (Lamar's Donuts, in case you're curious.)

 

6. They can get pretty pricey.
The most expensive donut in the world was made by Krispy Kreme and sold for more than $1,000. The 23-carat, gold-dusted donut was filled with Dom Pérignon Champagne jelly, sprinkled with 24-carat gold leaf and edible diamonds. Now that's one rich dessert.

 

7. And they can be quite the mouthful.
The biggest donut ever made was an American-style jelly donut, weighing in at 1.7 tons and measuring 1 foot tall.

 

8. They're great for getting into character.
Renee Zellweger ate 20 donuts every day to gain weight for her role in Bridget Jones' Diary, according to the Daily Mail. She claims, "one doughnut doesn't do a thing. You've got to eat 20 a day for five weeks before you get results." Where do we sign up?

 

9. You can burn one off with a bike ride.
Half an hour of vigorous biking burns an average of 200 calories—the equivalent on one glazed donut. Does it count if we eat as we peddle?

 

10. You can get them for free!
Chains across the country offer promotions throughout the year, but National Donut Day is time time to get your fix without dropping a dime. Check out our roundup of National Donut Day deals to find out where you can get a free donut to celebrate!

 

Source: Wikipedia - Doughnut  |  Facts You Might Not Know About Donuts

 

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Fact of the Day - BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

 

Did you know... that the Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. (Wikipedia)

 

Facts About the Battle of Gettysburg
The bloody engagement halted Confederate momentum and forever changed America.
by CHRISTOPHER KLEIN  |  UPDATED: JUNE 11, 2019  |  ORIGINAL: JULY 3, 2013

 

1. Gettysburg ended the Confederacy’s last full-scale invasion of the North.
Following his victory at Chancellorsville, a confident Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River into Union territory in June 1863. Lee had invaded the North the prior year only to be repelled at Antietam, but on this occasion his army was at the peak of its strength as it pressed across the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania. A victory at Gettysburg could have launched Confederate forces to Philadelphia, Baltimore or even Washington, DC. Instead, Lee’s army suddenly shifted from offense to defense after the defeat and 10 days later crossed back over the Potomac into Virginia. Never again would the Confederacy regain its momentum and push as deeply into Union territory, which is why many historians consider Gettysburg the “high water mark of the rebellion.”

 

2. The battle proved that the seemingly invincible Lee could be defeated.
While Lee had been fought to a draw at Antietam, the Union high command had yet to achieve a decisive victory over the Confederate general as the summer of 1863 began. In spite of being outnumbered, Lee had engineered significant victories at Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville among others. Meanwhile, Abraham Lincoln relieved a string of Union generals—George McClellan, Ambrose Burnside and Joseph Hooker—of command of the Army of the Potomac due to their failure to stop Lee’s army. Lincoln’s latest choice—General George Meade—had been installed just days before Gettysburg. Lee’s sterling record inspired complete trust in his troops and fear in his enemy. The Battle of Gettysburg, however, finally proved the bold general to be fallible.

 

3. Gettysburg stunted possible Confederate peace overtures.
Five days before the start of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate President Jefferson Davis dispatched Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stephens to negotiate a prisoner of war exchange with Lincoln under a flag of truce. Davis also gave Stephens license to proceed with broader peace negotiations. On July 4, Stephens sat aboard a boat in Chesapeake Bay awaiting permission to sail up the Potomac. Once news of victory at Gettysburg reached Lincoln, however, he denied the Confederate vice president’s request to pass through Union lines to come to Washington, DC, for negotiations.

 

4. The battle bolstered badly sagging Union morale.
The spirits of a war-weary North had reached a low ebb at the beginning of the summer of 1863. The Union had endured a string of losses, and now Lee had brought the war to their territory. A loss at Gettysburg could have devastated Union morale and pressured the Lincoln administration to negotiate a peace that would have resulted in two nations. Linked with news of the victory at Vicksburg on July 4, however, Gettysburg renewed public support for the war. Davis called Gettysburg the “most eventful struggle of the war” because “by it the drooping spirit of the North was revived.”

 

5. Gettysburg ended Confederate enslavement of free blacks from the North.
Thousands of slaves served in support roles for the Army of Northern Virginia, and as Lee’s army marched north into Pennsylvania, they seized as many as 500 African-Americans—some former slaves, some free their entire lives—and brought them back to Virginia to be sold into slavery. One resident of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, reported seeing some of the town’s African Americans “driven by just like we would drive cattle,” and at least one Confederate brigade threatened to burn down any Union house that harbored a fugitive slave.

 

6. The battle led to the Gettysburg Address in which Lincoln redefined the Civil War as a struggle for freedom and democracy.
Land preservation efforts began immediately after the Battle of Gettysburg and resulted in a national cemetery, consecrated by Lincoln on November 19, 1863. In a mere 272 words, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address recast the war as not merely a struggle to maintain the Union, but as a battle for larger human ideals. Lincoln called for “a new birth of freedom” and asserted that the survival of democracy itself was at stake. He told his countrymen that the task remaining was to ensure “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

 

7. The battle forever transformed the town of Gettysburg.
Prior to the Civil War, Gettysburg had been a prosperous village that supported two small colleges. After the battle, however, it would forever be seared by the memories of the slaughter. In the battle’s immediate aftermath, corpses outnumbered residents of the village of just over 2,000 by four to one. While it took years for the town to recover from the trauma, the first pilgrims arrived just days after the guns fell silent. In his book Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, Allen C. Guelzo reports that hundreds of people arrived by wagon just two days after the battle to see the carnage for themselves and that by August 1863 visitors could be found picnicking on Little Round Top amid shallow graves and rotting bodies of dead horses. Striking the balance between battlefield preservation and commercial development remains a constant debate in Gettysburg.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Battle of Gettysburg  |  Facts About the Battle of Gettysburg

 

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Fact of the Day - WEIRD FRUIT

Araza

Did you know.... that Araza is one of the rare weird-looking exotic fruits of the world that was never (massively) replanted outside of its native region. This citrus fruit is native to the Amazon Jungle of South America and is also known as the Amazon guava. Araza has high acidity and is perhaps too acidic to be eaten on its own but it makes a very refreshing juice and is also used for making ice cream.

 

Weird Fruits and Vegetables From Around the World
by Alicia McAuley  |  Updated: Mar. 28, 2021

Jackfruit

 

1. Cherimoya

No, it’s not a funky artichoke-this heart-shaped fruit native to South America is a cherimoya, also referred to as a “custard apple.” While it may be rough and bumpy on the outside, the actual fruit flesh is smooth and creamy, like custard. Described by Mark Twain as “deliciousness itself,” a ripe cherimoya blends flavours of pineapple and banana. Can’t find it in your grocery store? Bottled water brand Aquafina now makes a Tropical Cherimoya flavoured water.

 

2. Pummelo
It may look like a giant grapefruit, but the pummelo is more than meets the eye. Hailing from Asia, the super-sized fruit has an ultra-thick skin that gives way to a fresh, citrusy flesh. Sweeter than your typical grapefruit, this widely-available gem makes a great breakfast side, salad topper, or fruit salad add-in.

 

3. Jabuticaba

Similar in size to a plum, with the flavour of a grape, this fruit-often called the Brazilian tree grape-is unique because of its strange growing habits. Unlike most fruit, which grows on a vine, jabuticaba grows directly on the trunk and branches of the Jabuticaba tree. The fruit can be picked and eaten raw, made into jelly, or fermented to make wine.

 

4. Kiwano melon
It may look like something from outer space (and, in fact, it once made an appearance on Star Trek), but the Kiwano melon is actually grown in Southern Africa, California and New Zealand. Nicknamed the “horned melon,” its yellow, stubby exterior encases a bright green, jelly-like fruit with edible seeds. The fruit has a citrusy flavour that some liken to a mix of cucumber, lime and banana.

 

5. Romanesco

Is it cauliflower? Is it broccoli? You may find references to both, but this strange veggie deserves its own recognition. It’s hard not to be captivated by the intricate appearance of this “fractal food,” with its bright green colour and perfect spirals. Some describe the taste as a blend of broccoli and cauliflower with a hint of nutty flavour. But don’t let its complex appearance intimidate you-it can be cooked up easily, just like you would cauliflower and broccoli. Look for it at your local farmers’ market.

 

6. Ugli fruit
This tropical gem from Jamaica really lives up to its name-it’s admittedly not much to look at. But the flavour of this teardrop-shaped fruit makes up for its unfortunate outer appearance. Segmented like an orange, the ugli fruit tastes like a mix of tangerine and grapefruit. You can eat it raw, or give it a squeeze for a refreshing citrus juice.

 

7. Dragon fruit

It won’t be hard to spot this attention-grabbing fruit at the grocery store, thanks to its bright pink outer skin and green scales. Native to Central and South America, the dragon fruit-also known as the pitaya-may also be spotted with a yellow skin. Apart from being juicy and refreshing, the dragon fruit is a good source of fibre and vitamin C. The fruit has a light flavour, like a pear, with crunchy black seeds like a kiwi. And despite its wild appearance, when it comes to actually eating a dragon fruit, there is no special skill set required-just chop it in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon, or cut it into pieces and add to a summer salad.

 

8. Purple sweet potato
Don’t adjust your screen-this unique spud is, in fact, purple. Native to Okinawa, Japan (and often referred to as “Okinawan sweet potato”), this uniquely coloured veggie is also a big hit in Hawaii. The fun thing about the purple sweet potato is that it provides an element of surprise-you don’t realize just how cool it is until you peel back the skin. Like its regular sweet potato counterpart, the purple sweet potato is a good source of vitamins A and C. And since its such a versatile food-it is a potato, after all-you can use it to create some eye-catching dishes that are sure to impress at your next dinner party. Look for it at your local Asian market.

 

9. Durian

Dubbed the “king of fruits,” durian is the kind of food that people either love or hate. Everything about the durian-from its spiky skin to its terrible smell (it’s actually banned in some public places in Singapore due to its unpleasant odour)-will make you think twice about giving it a try. But for those who dare, the reward is a creamy, custard-like fruit with a unique blend of flavours that some durian lovers have compared to banana and vanilla, with a hint of onion. Whether you’re a fan of this truly exotic fruit or not, there’s no denying that eating one is an experience all its own.

 

10. Samphire
If you’re wondering what that strange-looking cross between asparagus and cactus is doing in your salad, don’t fret-it’s probably just samphire. Also known as Salicornia, sea asparagus or sea beans, samphire is available in two varieties: rock and marsh. Though it grows easily in the wild, it can also be cultivated in saltwater farms. A dazzling shade of green with a salty flavour, marsh samphire is a crunchy veg can be eaten raw or steamed, depending on your taste. Check for them at your local farmers’ market and specialty food store.

 

Source: Facts About Weird Exotic Fruits   |  Facts About Weird Fruits and Veggies

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Friday's Fact

 

Fact of the Day - RELIGION

Did you know... that religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. (Wikipedia)

 

Interesting Religions You May Not Know About
By Herb Scribner  |  @HerbScribner  |  Aug 14, 2014

Religion is by no means an unpopular subject throughout the world. In fact, there are about 4,200 religions on Earth. Although it’s tough to estimate how many religions are in the United States, the population is 78.4 percent Christian, breaking down into a number of denominations from there, according to the Pew Research Center. With so many religions around the world, it’s tough to keep track of them all. Here’s a list of 15 religions you may not have heard of:

 

Druze

Druze — a spinoff of Shiite Islam — has been around since the 11th century and is now primarily found in Lebanon and Syria, according to Pew. It’s been estimated that anywhere between 700,000 and 2 million people in the world follow this religion. One of those was the late radio host Casey Kasem, who was highly acclaimed by the religion, according to Deseret News National.

 

Yezidi

The Yezidi sect has popped up in the news a little more recently with the conflict in Iraq. American troops have actually been sent to Iraq to help free the trapped Yezidis, The Daily Star reported. But what’s the faith about? It’s actually a combination of Shiite and Sufi Islam and has been referenced more often as an ethnoreligious group rather than a solidified religion.

 

Church of All Worlds

The Church of All Worlds is one of the oldest offshoots of neopaganism and centers on the mother Earth goddess, according to the religion’s main website. Believers worship a divine being connected to the Earth, which flows into their everyday beliefs.  “CAW as a religion is a system of values, customs and ideas organized in an organic fashion,” reads their website. “It will grow, develop and evolve in a way that brings about the best in humanity and honors Divinity.”

 

Jediism

The Force is surely with these believers. Everyone’s heard of Jedis, but did you know it’s also an actual religion? The religion has accumulated thousands of supporters in recent years (about 5,000 in the United States alone), promoting the idea that all living things are connected and bound together by an omnipresent force, according to The Daily Mail. “No, we don't worship Yoda,” said believer Ally Thompson to The Daily Mail. “And telekinesis is not something that we necessarily do — at least not like in the ('Star Wars') movies. ... But I won't deny that the Force is very present in our teachings. Some people call it magic. Some call it Ashe. The scientific community calls it energy. But it's everywhere. You can find it in the Bible. When Moses parted the Red Sea — how did he do that? With energy. With the Force.”

 

Mami Wata

As with the Church of All Worlds’ emphasis on nature, Mami Wata is an African religion that focuses heavily on water. The Smithsonian explained that the religion worships the water spirit Mami Wata, who can bring good fortune through the use of water.

 

Jainism

Jainism is an extremely popular religion in India — accounting for more than 4 million of the near 2 billion that live there — with about 6 million followers worldwide, Patheos reported. The main focus of the religion is for followers to clear themselves of all karma and take themselves out of the rebirthing process — which makes one into a “conquerer,” where the religion gets its name, according to Patheos.

 

Candomblé

A Candomblé altar at the Ilê Axé Ibalecy in Salvador, Bahia

You hear a lot about Catholicism being popular in Brazil. But Candomblé has its pull too in the South American country. As NPR reported in September 2013, the religious belief is that one top-level divine being rules with the help of smaller ones. It’s been around since West African slave ships docked with the country and has seen an uptick in recent years, according to the Pew Research Center.

 

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is primarily based in Iran and has a number of offshoots attached to it, according to The Heritage Institute. It’s a less popular religion across the world, though, with just more than 100,000 believers total, according to Heritage. The main teachings focus on how good is all good and that evil can try to influence it but isn’t impactful, according to Religion Facts. 

 

Raëlism

Raëlism is all about extraterrestrial life. The religion — as seen on its website — has a heavy emphasis on extraterrestrials coming down and offering messages about how to live. As Patheos reported, there are 70,000 believers of the faith from 97 countries.

 

Asatru

Greek Gods. Vikings. Sounds like a blockbuster movie or hit TV show, but it’s actually the making of Asatru. The beliefs of Asatru are similar to those in early European times, focusing on Norse mythology and other religious stories — like the tales of Odin, Thor and Loki — that were popular during those times, according to Religion Facts.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Religion  |  Facts About Religions You Might Not Know

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - THEME MUSIC

Did you know.... that theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at some point during the program. The purpose of a theme song is often similar to that of a leitmotif. The phrase theme song or signature tune may also be used to refer to a signature song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary, often used as they make an entrance. (Wikipedia)

 

The Surprising Stories Behind 11 TV Show Theme Songs
By Ellen Gutoskey  |  Nov 2, 2020

Whether it’s a wordy epic that chronicles the show’s backstory or an orchestral piece that lends itself to lyrical parody, a good theme song can augment a TV show’s popularity and even sometimes outlive it. But there’s no clear path to creating—or even just choosing—the perfect track. If you’re trying to include a sleigh bell, it could take months of tinkering; if Will Smith is involved, on the other hand, it might only take 15 minutes. From The Sopranos’ gritty intro to Sesame Street's much sunnier one, here’s how 11 iconic TV theme songs came to be.

 

1. The Sopranos // “Woke Up This Morning”

 

 

In 1990, a British woman named Sara Thornton was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her abusive husband. The case caught the attention of Rob Spragg (also known as Larry Love), who penned a song about the ordeal for his band, Alabama 3. That song was “Woke Up This Morning,” which eventually fell upon the ears of The Sopranos creator David Chase. With bluesy overtones and lyrics like “You woke up this morning / Got yourself a gun,” the track was the ideal theme for Tony Soprano and his gun-toting goons, and HBO reportedly offered the band $40,000 to use it for the series. Alabama 3 agreed, but the irony of the song’s origin wasn’t lost on its members. “It was meant to be about female empowerment, and it ends up becoming a gangster anthem,” Spragg told The Guardian.

 

2. Succession // “Succession (Main Title Theme)”

 

 

Nicholas Britell had composed all the music for Succession’s debut season when he finally got around to tackling the intro, so he already knew how to translate the show’s darkly comic elements into melodies. His eccentric recipe for the perfect, Emmy-winning theme would involve several out-of-tune pianos, some hip-hop beats (a passion of his from college), and a literal sleigh bell. Though Britell had collaborated closely with the show’s creators throughout the first season, he was still nervous to send them the track. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I hope they like this because if they don’t, I actually don’t know what else to do,’” he told NME. “So I emailed it over and [creator Jesse Armstrong] almost immediately responded and said, ‘I think the right response to this is: F*** yeah!’”

 

3. Gilmore Girls // “Where You Lead”
If you grew up listening to Carole King’s “Where You Lead” usher in a new episode (or rerun) of Gilmore Girls, you might consider it the ultimate mother-daughter song. But if you grew up listening to the original version on King’s 1971 album Tapestry, you might have a different association. With lyrics like “I always wanted a real home / With flowers on the windowsill / But if you wanna live in New York City / Honey, you know I will,” the track embodied a submissive quality that King later soured on. When King’s friend Amy Sherman-Palladino approached her about using the song for Gilmore Girls in 2000, the ’70s singer/songwriter saw an opportunity to give it a makeover. She asked her daughter, Louise Goffin, to sing it with her, and the two came up with some new lyrics, including: “You never know how it's all gonna turn out, but that's OK / Just as long as we're together, we can find a way.” “When she was singing it with me, it just gave it a whole new spin,” Goffin told BuzzFeed, explaining that the new version was more about how “there is no distance that is too far to go be with your child.”

 

4. The Proud Family // “The Proud Family Theme Song”

 

 

In July 2001, Disney Channel announced that the theme song for its upcoming animated series The Proud Family would be performed by Solange Knowles, then a virtually unknown 15-year-old who had never released any music. The ensuing excitement wasn’t unfounded: Her sister, Beyoncé, had agreed to sing backup with the other two-thirds of Destiny’s Child. According to songwriter Kurt Farquhar, the producers (one of whom was his brother, Ralph) had gone through “a virtual who’s who of [popular] artists” and snagged a deal with Solange and Destiny’s Child at the eleventh hour. “It was so last minute that I don’t think any of them had really heard the song when they came into the studio,” he told Vulture. Fortunately, they were impressed with it, and Beyoncé even helped produce the track. But even if things hadn’t worked out with the Knowles sisters, The Proud Family probably still would’ve boasted one of the best kids’ show intros of all time; Ralph Farquhar revealed during a recent cast reunion that their backup plan was Alicia Keys.

 

5. Friends // “I’ll Be There For You”

When Friends producer Kevin S. Bright sent the pilot episode to The Rembrandts’ Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, its placeholder theme song was R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” which he was hoping they could emulate if they took the gig. They did take the gig, but the band itself didn’t actually come up with the sitcom’s still-ubiquitous theme song. Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman’s husband, Michael Skloff, composed it, with lyrical help from Allee Willis (who co-wrote Earth, Wind, & Fire’s hit “September”). The Rembrandts “Rembrandt-ified it,” as Solem told BuzzFeed News, and the show’s producers surprised them by adding their own finishing touch: the four claps, which took them more than a few takes to get right. Friends premiered about a week after they wrapped, and The Rembrandts returned their focus to their forthcoming album, L.P. But after a Nashville radio program director named Charlie Quinn played a looped version of the 45-second theme song, it became clear that the public wanted more. “It got a crazy amount of requests. The phone lines started blowing up and all the sister stations started playing it and it went national,” Wilde told BuzzFeed News. L.P. was completely done, but their label insisted they record a longer edition of the Friends theme and add it to the end of the album. Though they weren’t exactly thrilled, they eventually came to appreciate the song’s success. “It didn’t really fit,” Wilde explained. “But it helped sell that record!”

 

6. Gilligan’s Island // “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”

 

 

Years before John Williams gained acclaim for composing the Star Wars score (among many other blockbuster themes), he came up with a calypso intro for Gilligan’s Island, written and performed by the show’s producer, Sherwood Schwartz. Not only did the song sound completely different from the one we’re familiar with today, but the lyrics tell a slightly different story, too. The professor is just a “high school teacher,” Ginger and Mary Ann are “two secretaries,” and the passengers take a “six-hour ride” instead of a “three-hour tour.” By the time the show premiered, Schwartz had scrapped the song for “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” which he composed with George Wyle and booked folk singers The Wellingtons to perform. Schwartz wasn’t quite done tweaking the tune, though. In the version that aired during season 1 of Gilligan’s Island, the list of passengers ends with “the movie star, and the rest,” omitting both the Professor and Mary Ann. According to MeTV, this was because Tina Louise’s (Ginger, the movie star) contract mandated that her name come last in the credits. For season two, Bob Denver (Gilligan) told the producers that unless they worked those two castaways into the opening credits, he’d like his name to get bumped to the end credits in solidarity. Since Denver was the top-billed cast member, they agreed. “The Professor and I still send each other little notes saying ‘Love, The Rest,’” Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) said on Today in 1995.

 

7. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air // “Yo Home to Bel-Air”

 

 

When NBC gave Andy Borowitz the green light for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he already knew he wanted the theme song to tell the story of how Will Smith’s character ended up in Bel-Air. “I was like, ‘We’re basically doing the hip-hop Beverly Hillbillies here. Let’s not run away from that—let’s just go for it,” he told Entertainment Weekly. It was near the end of pilot season, and Borowitz didn’t have much time to deliver an episode to the network. Luckily, Smith didn’t need much time to write the now-iconic bars. “We literally went into the studio and made the theme song in about 15 minutes,” DJ Jazzy Jeff, the other half of Smith’s hip-hop duo, told Entertainment Weekly. “I ended up just going in and programming some music, and he wrote something and laid it down. I did [a] rough mix and sent it in, and in about three weeks it was on NBC.”

 

8. The Andy Griffith Show // “The Fishin' Hole”

 

 

Composer Earle Hagen (who was also behind the themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show and That Girl) didn’t have an easy time dreaming up a simple song for The Andy Griffith Show until he realized just how simple it should be. “One morning I got up after beating our brains out for a couple of months, and I thought ‘That thing ought to be simple enough to whistle.’ And it took me about 10 minutes to write it,” he said in an interview with The Television Academy. He presented it to producer Sheldon Leonard, who immediately suggested filming Andy Griffith and Ron Howard ambling lakeside with fishing poles while the song played. Hagen himself whistled on the track. “I had never whistled before in my life, and never since,” he said. Though “The Fishin’ Hole” was instrumental in the show, actor Everett Sloane—who guest-starred as farmer Jubal Foster in a season 2 episode—later wrote lyrics for it, and Griffith sang them for the 1961 album Songs, Themes And Laughs From The Andy Griffith Show.

 

9. Batman // “Batman Theme”

 

 

Batman’s theme song has been covered so often in the last half century that younger fans might not even know where it originated. The year was 1966, the show was ABC’s animated series Batman, and the musical genius was Neal Hefti. In a 2006 interview for Journal Into Melody, Hefti admitted that he struggled to develop a tune that was as “outrageous” as the show itself, and he didn’t have high hopes for his pitch to producers. “I had to sing it and play it on the piano. Well, I'm no singer, and I'm no pianist,” he said. “My first thought was that they were going to throw me out, very quickly, but as I was going through it, I heard them both reacting with statements like, ‘Oh, that's kicky. That will be good in the car chase.’” Hefti eventually used eight singers to bring the “Batman!” chorus to life, but he suggested cutting two different tracks in case producer William Dozier preferred a purely instrumental intro. Though Dozier chose the vocal version, Batman star Adam West later propagated the myth that instruments—not voices—were behind the “Batman!” bit. “Old pals would call to congratulate me and also to ask, ‘Are those horns or voices saying ‘Batman’ during your theme song?’” he wrote in his 1994 autobiography. “(They were horns.)” Since the single word did technically qualify as “lyrics,” Hefti was credited as both songwriter and composer. “One of the choir members on the recording session wrote on his part: ‘Word and Music by Neal Hefti,’” Hefti told the Los Angeles Times.

 

10. Sesame Street // “Sunny Days”

When it came to Sesame Street’s opening ditty, creator Jon Stone loved Joe Raposo’s composition just as much as he hated Bruce Hart’s lyrics—and he didn’t downplay either emotion. According to Michael Davis’s book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, Stone called Raposo’s music “just plain brilliant,” commending how it was “melodic and easy enough for a child to recognize and even sing along to, but still had a musical sophistication.” Though it was Stone’s idea to center the song around the line “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?” he thought the rest of Hart’s “platitudinous kiddie-show lyrics” were “trite and thoughtless.” “I kept thinking that in a week or so I’d get around to getting rid of such hackneyed phrases as ‘It’s a magic carpet ride,’ but I never did, and once it aired there was no way to go back and make repairs,” he explained, calling the whole work a “musical masterpiece and a lyrical embarrassment.” Evidently, it wasn’t embarrassing enough to preclude Stone from listing himself as a co-writer and claiming a portion of the royalties.

 

11. Cheers // “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”

 

 

In the early 1980s, Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo were busy mailing cassette tapes featuring songs from their fledgling Broadway show, Preppies, to potential backers in the entertainment industry. Soon, the musicians were contacted by brothers Glenn and Les Charles, who didn’t want to invest in the musical at all. Instead, they wanted to buy its opening number, “People Like Us,” for their upcoming NBC sitcom, Cheers. Since Preppies producers wouldn’t let them poach it, the Charles brothers simply commissioned Portnoy and Hart Angelo to pen a similar song for the TV series. What they originally wrote centered on Ted Danson’s rather amorous character, Sam, and classic Boston culture; lyrics included, “Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose / It’s a crisis in your life / On the run ’cause all your girlfriends want to be your wife.” “They called us back and said, ‘We really love that, but we love our show and think it’s going to run forever, so if you could make the verse more universal in nature,'" Portnoy told Metro.co.uk. The duo took their advice, and ended up with “Where Everybody Knows Your Name," which Portnoy recorded himself—all six singing parts. The beloved and meaningful song still generates healthy royalty checks for its creators, but the same can’t be said for their ill-fated musical. Preppies debuted Off-Broadway to lackluster reviews and shuttered just weeks later.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Theme Music  |   Facts About Theme Songs
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - NOWRUZ

Did you know.... that Nowruz is the Persian-language term for the day of the Iranian New Year, also known as the Persian New Year. It begins on the spring equinox and marks the beginning of Farvardin, the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar. The day is celebrated worldwide by various ethnolinguistic groups and falls on or around the date of 21 March on the Gregorian calendar. (Wikipedia)

 

Amazing Facts About Persian New Year – Nowruz

by IRAN TRAVEL TIPS  |  AUGUST 6, 2021

For Iranian and millions of people across the silk road, Nowruz is no small celebration. Persian new year comes with fire festivities, delicious meats, rice and spices, family gatherings, street dances and loud banging on pots. But still yet to come. Nowruz “promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families,” the United Nations says. It’s a time of reconciliation and neighborliness, “contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities.” Here we listed 10 amazing facts about the Iranian new year – Nowruz

 

1- What is Nowruz?

Nowruz – or “new day” in English – is the Iranian new year. Celebrated at the exact moment of the spring equinox, this is a secular festival with roots that go back over 3,000 years. It was shaped by people of the Zoroastrian faith, believed to be the world’s oldest religion.

 

2- How should prepare for Nowruz?

Every year, millions celebrate Persian New Year, or Nowruz (prounced “no-rooz”). In Iran, the new year begins with the advent of spring, and most everyone in the country observes it by doing a deep clean of their homes, shopping for clothes, fruits and sweets, celebrating a season of new life, and wishing for good luck in the year ahead.

 

Read also: 9 Top Iran Festivals | Soak up in the Iran Culture

 

3- Which countries celebrate Nowruz?

It is celebrated with more than 300 million people mainly in Iran and many other countries along the Silk Roads, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.

 

Read also: Tips You Wish to Know about Iran Culture

 

4- What is Persian Calendar?

Nowruz is on the 1st day of Farvardin – the first month of the Persian calendar – usually on March 20th or 21st. The Persian calendar, known as the Solar Hirji calendar, is the official calendar for Iran. January 1st, 2022 fall into the year 1400 in the Persian calendar. Worth mentioning that the Persian calendar is one of the world’s most accurate calendar systems.

 

5- What Iranians do during the new year holidays?

Once the day of Nowruz arrives, it kicks off a 13-day celebration of dinners, family visits, and reflections on the year ahead. An inseparable part of the Iranian new year holiday is setting the “haft-seven,” or a collection of seven items that symbolize a different hope for the new year.

 

6- Haft Seven

Haft Seven meaning Seven “S” and that is actually seven things that are always included in “Haft-Seven”, and all of them start with the “S” alphabet. though goldfish, mirror, poetry book accompany them:

• Sabzeh: Some kind of sprout or grass that will continue to grow in the weeks leading up to the holiday, for rebirth and renewal
• Senjed: Dried fruit, ideally a sweet fruit from a lotus tree, for love
• Sib: Apples, for beauty and health
• Seer: Garlic, for medicine and taking care of oneself
• Samanu: A sweet pudding, for wealth and fertility
• Serkeh: Vinegar, for the patience and wisdom that comes with aging
• Sumac: A Persian spice made from crushed sour red berries, for the sunrise of a new day

 

7- Fire Festival

The last Tuesday before Norwuz is known as shab-e chahar shanbeh suri (a loose translation from Persian into phonetic English), or “Eve of Red Wednesday.” The day involves building public bonfires, jumping over them, and repeating a single phrase: “Zardi-ye man az toh, sorkhi-ye toh az man!” This roughly translates to, “Give me your beautiful red color, and take back my sickly pallor!”

 

8- Children love Nowruz

Children and elders make out especially well during Nowruz. children will receive monetary gifts in the form of fresh banknotes from their parents and other adult family members — again, in keeping with the overarching theme of getting a fresh start. This gift is commonly known in Iran as “Eidi”, meaning the gift that is given to family younger members on eid or eve.

 

9- Iranian Santa Claus

Iranians also have their version of Santa Claus — Amu Nowruz, or Uncle Nowruz — and a small, cheerful jester who works for him. Haji Firooz, the second figure, pops up during the Persian New Year to bring good wishes. He is depicted with blackface.

 

10- Last day of new year holidays

On the 13th day ,The last day of Nowruz holidays is called Nature day in Iran, also known as “Sizdah Bedar”. people will get out to nature and camping areas to spend the whole day in nature to make the most of holidays and get prepared for a new working year.

 

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Nowruz  |  Facts About the Persian New Year - Nowruz
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DIFFERENT NAMED BRANDS

Did you know..... sometimes, your first choice is your best choice. And other times? Well, not so much. When you look at the original names of some iconic brands, it's clear some rebranding was necessary. From the search portal formerly known as David's and Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web to the origin story of Skype, click the following link to learn the hilarious original names of the brands we all know and love today. (Popular Brands)

 

Famous Brands Used to Have Different Names

by Interesting Facts

Would a Pepsi by any other name taste as sweet? Although many of the world’s most famous brands may seem inseparable from their current names, a number started out with very different labels. Read on for some of the strange and surprising stories behind the names of your favorite products and companies, from Google’s slightly uncomfortable former moniker to the household salve originally called “Wonder Jelly.”

 

1. Google Was Originally “BackRub”

Search engines and massage therapy are usually separate spheres. But when Larry Page and Sergey Brin started working together from their dorm rooms at Stanford in the mid-1990s, they built a search engine that used “back links” to determine the relative importance of pages on the web. Thus, they called the search engine BackRub. To the relief of everyone who uses the internet today, the name didn’t last long. It was soon switched to Google, a riff on the mathematical term "googol,” which refers to the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. According to the company, their new moniker reflected the team’s mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” The term “googol” itself was coined by the American mathematician Edward Kasner, who used it in a 1940 book as an example of a number so large it baffles the imagination. Kasner came up with the term around 1920 with the help of his 9-year-old nephew, who told him that such a silly number required a suitably silly name.

 

2. Nike Started Out as “Blue Ribbon Sports”

Nike was founded on a 1964 handshake between Bill Bowerman, then a University of Oregon track-and-field coach, and his former student Phil Knight. At first, they named themselves Blue Ribbon Sports, and served only as the U.S. distributor for Japanese running shoes made by Onitsuka Tiger (now known as Asics). Then, in 1971, Bowerman and Knight decided to make their own shoes. Their famous swoosh logo actually came first, designed by Portland State University graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. The name choice didn’t happen until the eleventh hour, just before the first shipment of shoes was set to go out. Earlier options included “Dimension Six” (possibly a play on Knight’s love for the music group The 5th Dimension), “Peregrine” (a type of falcon), and “Bengal” (inspired by the brand Puma). But Jeff Johnson, the company’s first employee, had read a magazine article noting that successful brand names were often short with punchy or “exotic” letters like “Z,” “X,” or “K.” He came up with Nike, as in the Greek winged goddess of victory. Knight went with it begrudgingly — but it stuck.

 

3. Amazon Was Almost “Relentless”

When Jeff Bezos moved to the Seattle area in 1994 to start an online bookstore, he wanted to call the company “Relentless.” In fact, to this day, typing Relentless.com into your browser will take you to Amazon’s site. Another option he considered was Cadabra, as in “Abracadabra,” an idea that was squashed when Bezos’ lawyer misheard it as “Cadaver.” The name was changed to “Amazon” in part because the world’s largest river (by volume) suggested a sense of scale; the company’s initial tagline was "Earth's biggest bookstore." It was also handy to have a name that began with “A,” because back then, websites were often listed alphabetically on search engines.

 

4. Snapple Was Once “Unadulterated Food Products”

Unadulterated Food Products doesn’t have quite the same ring to it that Snapple has, but when the company started out in 1970s New York, it originally sold juice to health food stores. Presumably, the name was a nod to their purity and wholesomeness. The company’s current moniker came about in 1980, inspired by a carbonated apple juice that had a “snappy apple taste.”

 

5. Starburst’s Original Name Was “Opal Fruits”

This chewy, fruity candy originated in the United Kingdom as “Opal Fruits.” A few years later, in 1967, the treats debuted in the United States as Starburst, supposedly because they’re “unexplainably juicy.” The reason for the “star” reference isn’t entirely clear, although it may have been an attempt to capitalize on the Space Race of the time, when anything otherworldly was cool. (The U.K. name changed to Starburst in 1998, although it changed back temporarily for a nostalgia-tinged reissue of Opal Fruits in 2020.)

 

6. Vaseline Was Originally “Wonder Jelly”

Vaseline has numerous uses, from soothing chapped lips to preventing diaper rash, so it may not be a surprise that it was originally called “Wonder Jelly.” The company got its start in 1859, when a chemist named Robert Chesebrough traveled to Titusville, Pennsylvania, and noticed that oil workers were using rod wax (unrefined petroleum jelly) on their burns and abrasions. After a series of experiments, the young chemist produced a lighter, clearer jelly suitable for household use. The product debuted in 1870 as Wonder Jelly. But in 1872 it was rebranded as Vaseline, a combination of the German word “wasser” (water) and the Greek word “oleon” (oil).

 

Source: Brands Original Names  |  Facts About Brands Name Change

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SOLAR FLARES

Did you know.... that a solar flare is an intense eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phenomena. Solar flares occur in a power-law spectrum of magnitudes; an energy release of typically 1020 joules of energy suffices to produce a clearly observable event, while a major event can emit up to 1025 joules. Although originally observed in the visible electromagnetic spectrum, especially in the H-alpha emission line of hydrogen, they can now be detected from radio wave to gamma-ray radiation. Flares also occur on other stars, where the term stellar flare applies. (Wikipedia)

 

Interesting fact of the month

by NASA  |  March 2022

 

March 2022: Solar Flares
The sun is a magnetic variable star that fluctuates on times scales ranging from a fraction of a second to billions of years. Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles are all forms of solar activity. All solar activity is driven by the solar magnetic field. As one form of solar activity, solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by the tangling, crossing, or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots. The surface of the Sun is a very busy place. It has electrically charged gases that generate areas of powerful magnetic forces.

 

Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. We typically see a solar flare by the photons (or light) it releases, at most every wavelength of the spectrum. The primary ways we monitor flares are in x-rays and optical light. Flares are also sites where particles (electrons, protons, and heavier particles) are accelerated. Solar flares are sometimes accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME for short). CMEs are huge bubbles of radiation and particles from the Sun. They explode into space at very high speed when the Sun’s magnetic field lines suddenly reorganize.

 

 

Observations from RHESSI and another NASA mission TRACE are combined in these images of a powerful flare on April 21, 2002.
Download this video from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

 

How do solar flares affect the earth?

Erupting from the sun when its magnetic fields high above the plasma surface become twisted, break apart and reconnect, solar flares result in a massive explosion and the potential ejection of energized particles that are sent hurtling toward Earth. These charged particles can have a wide range of effects, from electromagnetically knocking out satellites to charging up the northern lights (aurora borealis) and the southern lights (aurora australis).

 

• Effect on satellites:

While the Earth’s atmosphere provides some protection against the radiation from solar flares and mitigates some of their electrical effects, people and objects in orbit have considerably less protection. Modern society relies on satellites for everything from telephone communications to GPS tracking, and a powerful solar flare could significantly disrupt or even destroy many satellites, especially those in a high geosynchronous orbit that could easily be damaged by a powerful electromagnetic current coming off the sun. Ultraviolet radiation from the flare event could also heat up the Earth's atmosphere, making it expand, which would result in an increased drag on orbiting satellites. This would result in either 'zombie satellites' that are no longer responsive to ground signals or satellites falling into Earth's atmosphere and burning up. Fortunately, the International Space Station flies in a low enough orbit that most solar flare effects are somewhat mitigated. While modern satellites contain protection against electrical disruption such as built-in Faraday cages, flares can still block signals to and from satellites and in some rare cases shut them down completely. This can lead to communication disruptions on Earth, shutting down international telephone links and television satellite feeds.

 

 

• Effect on the electrical grid:

Although technology allows people to convert the sun's energy into electricity, that same source of energy is also capable of completely knocking out the energy grid, potentially leading to catastrophic conditions. Electromagnetic energy from a flare event is capable of charging the atmosphere. This phenomenon would in turn induce an abnormally high charge in power lines, blowing out both power transformers and stations. Destruction of the power grid would lead to many different kinds of problems for society, including a loss of ability to refrigerate food items and the breakdown of sewage and waste processing systems.

 

 

• Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis:

In addition to affecting human activities, solar flare activity can also ramp up natural phenomena such as the aurora borealis (northern lights) and aurora australis (southern lights). These aurora light shows can normally be seen for most of the year and are driven by the stream of particles constantly emanating from the sun. When these particles interact with the upper atmosphere, they excite molecules in the air, and when these molecules come back down to their unexcited state, they release visible light. When a powerful solar flare event sends a high amount of charged particles into the upper atmosphere, these aurorae, which are normally visible only in higher latitudes, extend further and are more active and more intense.

 

 

 

• Increased lightning strikes:

A highly charged atmosphere from a solar flare event can also have another natural consequence: increased lightning strikes. According to a report from researchers at the University of Reading, increased solar activity can lead to an increase in the number of lightning strikes. That research somewhat contradicts previous theories suggesting that cosmic radiation from supernovae is behind the rate of lightning strikes on Earth. The researchers from the study have said that their findings, along with previous knowledge about the sun, will allow them to predict lighting rates in great detail.

 

 

 

• Broadcasting interruption:

Solar flares can also disrupt communication systems. The geomagnetic storms caused by a flare striking Earth produce electrical interference high in the atmosphere, affecting radio and other broadcast communication systems. Depending on the intensity of the flare, this can range from mild static interference to a complete blockage of communications for the duration of the storm. Shortwave communications in particular are vulnerable to disruption since they take advantage of electrical conditions in the Earth’s atmosphere to bounce signals across great distances.

 

Some other interesting facts about solar flares:

 

1. The fastest ejections reach Earth in less than two days

Solar flares are sometimes accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), huge outpourings of energy and material that travel at up to 650 miles (1,000 kilometers) per second.

 

2. They release ten million times more energy than a volcano

A volcanic eruption pales in comparison to a solar flare. In a matter of minutes a solar flare, thought to be caused by magnetic fields, can eject billions of tons of charged particles.

 

3. During peak times there are over 20 solar flares a day

When the Sun is at solar maximum, the period in its 11-year cycle when its activity is at its highest, the Sun can unleash over 100 solar flares every week.

 

4. They are almost as hot as the core of the Sun

A solar flare can have a temperature of several million degrees Kelvin. For comparison, the hottest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was a relatively measly 330 degrees Kelvin (134 degrees Fahrenheit) in Death Valley, California.

 

5. A solar eruption once knocked out a power grid in Quebec

In March 1989 a huge CME, one of the largest on record, caused a geomagnetic storm in Earth’s atmosphere that crippled the Hydro-Quebec power grid in Canada.

 

6. A solar eruption could zap your computer
A solar storm might well have strange effects on electronics. The high-energy protons that reach the ground produce neutrons that pass right through the shielding around satellite and avionics systems. (Most computer systems lack even this shielding.) Extensive background radiation studies by IBM in the 1990s suggest that computers typically experience about one cosmic-ray-induced error per 256 megabytes of RAM per month. If so, a solar superstorm, with its unprecedented radiation fluxes, could cause widespread computer failures. For­tun­ately, in such instances most users could simply reboot.

 

Thanks and attribution:

What is a Solar Flare

Does Mars Have Tectonic Plates?

Solar Activity

Solar Flares Affect the Earth

Aurora Borealis

Photos

How to Spot and Track Satellites

Solar Storms Fast Facts

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Solar Flare  |  Facts About Solar Flares

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - EASTER

Did you know.... that Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. (Wikipedia)

 

Funny, Interesting and Simply Ridiculous Facts About Easter

by Kelly Wallace Horne  |  April 2019

Easter means many different things to many people, according to a person’s origin, faith, creed and (in my case) a love of chocolate (OK, OK! I’m not afraid to admit it!) Right, let’s get the serious bit out of the way first – have you ever wondered why, unlike Christmas, the date for Easter changes every year? Well, the fact is, in Christianity, it is known to be the Sunday that marks the end of the Holy Week, an event that commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this is what dictates when Easter is each year according to when the full moon falls in relation to other events in the Christian calendar. BUT! Easter is NOT just about Christianity, there is much more to it than that! So, whatever your beliefs, to celebrate.

 

Here are 10 interesting, funny and simply ridiculous facts about Easter…

 

1. Where did the name “Easter” come from?

The name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg. Eastre is often spelt Eostre, Oestre or Ostara. Ostara is also a northern European name for Astarte, which means “womb”, and is another name for Venus, the goddess of love, passion, and creativity.

 

2. Why do we paint and decorate eggs for Easter?

The art of painting and decorating eggs is known as “Pysanka”. The brightly coloured eggs are symbolic of spring flowers and the new beginnings previously mentioned. It is said that King Edward I of England may also have contributed to the tradition of decorating eggs to celebrate Easter. In the 13th century, Edward I ordered 450 eggs to be coloured and decorated with gold-leaf. They were presented as Easter gifts to the rest of the royal household. In Christianity, Easter Eggs are coloured red to symbolise the blood of Jesus. Originally, egg dyes were made out of natural items such as onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and juices.

 

3. Why do we give each other eggs at Easter?

The exchange of eggs for Easter dates back to a springtime custom older than Easter itself! Eggs were given as a symbol of fertility and rebirth (remember in point 1 that Eastre/Ostara means “womb”?). This can be traced back to the Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and the Romans. In Christianity, for the celebration of “Eastertide”, the egg represents the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus was resurrected. In a nutshell, (or in this case, eggshell) we give each other eggs as a symbol of joy, rebirth/new life, and new beginnings – basically all things positive, optimistic and happy.

 

4. Why is there an Easter Bunny? What do bunnies have to do with eggs? Or Easter?

The Easter Bunny originates from paintings of the Anglo Saxon Goddess Eastre, who was always depicted holding a hare – take a look back at the picture at point 1! Originally it was the Easter Hare, but this has evolved to be the Easter Bunny, I can only presume because, on the whole, bunnies are a little bit cuter than hares and are more appealing to children?! (Ever found a baby hare, or leveret, in the horses’ fields? They are cute!)

 

5. When were the first chocolate Easter Eggs made?

Chocolate eggs are said to have originated in France and Germany in the early 19th century but here in the UK it was J. S. Fry & Sons Limited who produced the first chocolate egg in 1873. John Cadbury made his first ‘French eating Chocolate’ in 1842 but it was not until 1875 that the first Cadbury Easter Eggs were made.

 

 

6. What is the biggest Easter Egg in the world?

The tallest chocolate Easter egg ever entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2011. It was made in Italy and was a whopping 10.39 metres in height and 7,200 kg in weight. When it was measured at Le Acciaierie Shopping Centre, in Cortenuova, Italy, it was taller than a giraffe and heavier than an elephant! I wonder what the surprise inside it was? A hundred-weight of jelly beans? A small car?

 

7. What is the most expensive Easter Egg ever made?

 
In 2007, an egg covered in diamonds sold for almost £9 million. Described as looking like a cross between a Fabergé egg and a Damien Hirst skull, the egg is very special because, every hour, a cockerel made of jewels pops up from the top of the egg, flaps its wings four times, nods its head three times and makes a crowing noise! Sorry friends, but it’s a Smarties egg this year. Again.

 

8. Eggs for Breakfast?

Every child* in the UK receives an average of 8.8 Easter eggs every year – at least double their recommended calorie intake for a whole week. *loosely speaking (Hey, you’re as young as you feel. Plus, Easter is an exception. And Christmas. And birthdays. And….)

 

9. Sharing isn’t caring when it comes to Easter chocolate

Whilst us animal-lovers share the greater part of our lives with our fur friends and family we really mustn’t share our Easter treats with them. Chocolate contains a chemical called ‘Theobromine’ which is toxic to dogs, cats and horses. Giving animals chocolate intended for humans really is like giving them a poisonous substance and, in some cases, the results can be fatal. It’s better to buy your pets an Easter treat with a recipe that has been devised for them by specialists, and keep your Easter chocolate all to yourself! VioVet actually do Easter Eggs especially for horses and for dogs and you can browse their range of chocolate for pets here.

 

10. How do you eat yours?

Studies show that 76% of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first, 5% eat the feet first and 4% eat the tail first. 0.1% leave it complete because they simply can’t dismember an actual animal. Or is that just me?

 

We absolutely love this video of Mark Nelson’s daughter asking is the Easter Bunny and Jesus best pals! (Buttons are my favourite, too!)

 

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Easter  |  Ridiculous facts About Easter

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BORDERS

A border wall on a beach separating the United States and Mexico

Did you know... that borders are geographical boundaries, imposed either by geographic features such as oceans, or by arbitrary groupings of political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Borders are established through warfare, colonization, or mutual agreements between the political entities that reside in those areas; the creation of these agreements is called boundary delimitation. (Wikipedia)

 

The World’s Strangest Borders

by Interesting Facts

The many borders that crisscross our world often neatly separate the planet into countries, states, territories, counties, cities, and towns. But sometimes, thanks to a variety of historical and geographic factors, the world’s borders aren’t so clear-cut. Here are 10 surprising and often bizarre borders around the world you may not have heard about — from ones that run straight through towns and businesses to an island that changes hands every six months.

 

1. In Derby Line, Vermont, the U.S.-Canada Border Runs Right Through Town

On one side of the street, you’re in Derby Line, Vermont. On the other side, you’re in Stanstead, Quebec. The border between the U.S. and Canada goes right through these two towns (which basically function as one), through businesses and along a main street named Canusa Avenue. In one area, the border is even made up of flower pots. No one knows exactly why the border was sent straight through town in the early 1700s (some attribute it to a simple mapmaking error), but Derby Line-Stanstead has chosen to embrace it. The curling hall is in both countries, and so is the library. There is a customs house and border patrol, however, so if you’re out crossing the road, you’ll need to show a passport.

 

2. The Neum Corridor in Bosnia Cuts Through Croatia
Though it may appear on a map that Bosnia is landlocked, a closer look reveals that the country has a narrow strip of land that extends through Croatia and gives the country just 12 miles of shoreline on the Adriatic Sea. Called the Neum Corridor, the border dates to the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, which gave a substantial amount of land around the Croatian city of Dubrovnik to Venice, Italy. Dubrovnik was worried about being so close to Venice and the potential for invasion, so they gave away some of their land to the Ottomans as a buffer — and since Bosnia and Herzegovina were Ottoman-ruled provinces, that’s where the Neum Corridor is today. Aside from Monaco, Bosnia has the shortest coastline of any other country thanks to this stretch of land.

 

3. The France-Switzerland Border Goes Through a Hotel

Guests at the Hotel L'Arbézie Franco-Suisse have the unique opportunity to sleep in two countries at once. The hotel sits right on the border between France and Switzerland in the alpine village of La Cure, 15 miles northwest of Lake Geneva. It was built between 1862 and 1863, when Napoleon III redrew the border between the two countries — right through the land owned by a French citizen named Ponthus Arbez, who decided to build a house on the border before it became official. At first, the French side had a bar and the Swiss side had a store, but when Arbez died, his sons converted the property into a hotel in 1921. Today, guests can cross between the international border in the hotel’s dining room, and some rooms even allow them to sleep with their heads in France and their feet in Switzerland.

 

4. Belgium and the Netherlands Have Borders Within Borders

The border between Baarle-Nassau, a town in the southern Netherlands, and Baarle-Hertog, Belgium, is one of the most complicated borders in the world. The border zigzags through the Dutch town and creates a series of Belgian enclaves — parcels of land that belong to Belgium but are completely surrounded by the Netherlands. However, some of those Belgian enclaves themselves contain Dutch enclaves, like a border-based version of Inception. The border goes through homes, businesses, parks, and probably even a couch or two. It’s marked along the ground with a series of white crosses. The peculiar arrangement was a result of medieval land treaties and swaps, when landlines were determined by the aristocrats that lived there.

 

5. The Highest Border in the World Is Atop Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain, and since it straddles the border between China and Nepal, it’s also home to the world’s highest border. The border goes right through the summit, and climbers can scale the mountain from both sides. And in 2020, the world’s most elevated border got even higher. China and Nepal separately took new measurements of the summit and then jointly announced that Mount Everest was even taller than they had originally thought. Now, Mount Everest’s apex is officially 29,032 feet — just about three feet taller than before.

 

6. Northwest Angle, Minnesota, Is Surrounded by Canada, a Lake, and a Video Phone Booth
If you want to visit Northwest Angle in Minnesota, you either have to travel through Canada or take a boat or float plane to get there. The small community of about 120 people is the only part of the contiguous United States that extends north of the 49th parallel. The Angle, as it’s known by locals, borders the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario and is separated from the rest of Minnesota by the Lake of the Woods. Northwest Angle is the result of a mapmaking error, when early explorers misattributed the source of the Mississippi River. Since the area is so remote, if you want to use the land border to cross into Canada and continue back into Northwest Angle, Minnesota, you have to go into a booth to place a video call to Canadian or American customs officers to pass through.

 

7. A Tiny Island Changes Hands Between France and Spain Every Six Months

The border of Pheasant Island, located in the Bidasoa River between southwestern France and northeastern Spain, has changed more than 700 times. There are no permanent residents on the two-acre island and visitors are banned — except for twice a year, when government representatives from each country come together on the island to transfer ownership. The island is considered to be a symbol of peace and neutrality. After the Thirty Years War ended in 1648, France and Spain signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees on the island and made sure it would alternate ownership in perpetuity to demonstrate equality between the two nations. Pheasant Island is what’s known as a condominium, a territory belonging to two separate nations at the same time.

 

8. Bir Tawil Has No Borders of Its Own
With no permanent residents and no one looking to claim it, Bir Tawil is a true no-man’s land — one of the last unclaimed areas on Earth. The trapezoid-shaped, almost entirely barren land is located north of Sudan and south of Egypt. But neither Egypt nor Sudan want to claim the land as their own because of a border technicality. Neighboring Hala'ib is much more valuable land to both countries because it abuts the Red Sea, but when British colonists drew border lines, the agreement stipulated that each country can only have one of the territories and not both. If they claim Bir Tawil, they'll lose lucrative Hala'ib, which is still disputed between Egypt and Sudan.

 

9. The Island of Tasmania Actually Has One Land Border

Tasmania is a 26,000-square-mile island located about 150 miles south of mainland Australia. The island makes up one of Australia’s six states and territories, but it shares a small border with another Australian state: Victoria. Located on a small island called Boundary Islet, the border is only 279 feet long and was created by accident. Back in 1825 when the Tasmania-Victoria border was drawn in Australia, no one noticed the tiny island, so the border ended up running right through it. Boundary Islet has no human residents — just New Zealand fur seals and crested terns.

 

10. he Kingdom of Talossa’s Borders Are in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
It’s not an internationally recognized border, but it’s a border nonetheless: The Kingdom of Talossa is a sovereign microstate (at least to its citizens) that sits right in downtown Milwaukee, bordered by Lake Michigan on its eastern side. Talossa has its own language, its own government, its own flag, and its own discussion forums for anybody who wants to become a citizen. The micronation was founded in 1979 when a 14-year-old boy named Robert Ben Madison who was confined to his room decided to secede from the United States and create a constitutional monarchy. Although it wasn’t taken seriously at first, by the time the internet rolled around, the Kingdom of Talossa went viral and captured the imagination of many others, who joined in as citizens.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Border  |  Facts About Borders Around The World
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - PLACE NAME ORIGINS

Did you know... that in much of the "Old World" (approximately Africa, Asia and Europe) the names of many places cannot easily be interpreted or understood; they do not convey any apparent meaning in the modern language of the area. This is due to a general set of processes through which place names evolve over time, until their obvious meaning is lost. In contrast, in the "New World" (roughly North America, South America, and Australasia), many place names' origins are known. Although the origin of many place names is now forgotten, it is often possible to establish likely meanings through consideration of early forms of the name. Some general conclusions about the nature of place names, and the way in which place names change, can be made and are examined below. It is also possible to distinguish regional trends and differences in the naming of places, as is also discussed below. (Wikipedia)

 

The Surprising Meanings Behind 8 City Names

by Interesting Facts

You probably know that Los Angeles means “the angels” and New York was named after a 17th-century duke, but have you ever pondered the meaning behind names like Cairo and Toronto? Fret not if you haven’t, because we have. Here’s how eight cities from around the world got their names.

 

1. Abu Dhabi: “Father of the Gazelle”

The capital — and, after Dubai, second-most populous city — of the United Arab Emirates has an especially lovely name that’s thought to be rooted in folklore. Abu is Arabic for “father,” while Dhabi means gazelle; as you might have guessed, the surrounding area abounds with the majestic creatures. The folktale in question concerns Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi from 1795 to 1816. Thirty years before his reign began, Shakhbut’s father, Dhiyab bin Isa, sent a hunting party from the Liwa Oasis to track a gazelle to a spring on the island now known as Abu Dhabi. His father later ordered Shakhbut to move there, and upon his arrival he built a fort called Qasr-Al Hosn that became the palace of the sheikhs.

 

2. Cairo: “The Victorious”

It’s only fitting that Cairo, one of the world’s most famous ancient cities, has an equally grandiose name. Though it’s often known by Egyptians as Maṣr, the Arabic name for Egypt itself, its actual name of al-Qāhirah translates to “the Victorious,” “the Vanquisher,” or “the Conqueror.” That’s because the planet Mars, known in Arabic as an-Najm al-Qāhir (“the Conquering Star”), is said to have been rising in the sky at the time Cairo was founded in 969 C.E. That isn’t its only name, however. Cairo is also known as Kashromi and Nistram in Coptic Egyptian, which mean “man-breaker” and “land of sun,” respectively.

 

3. Hong Kong: “Fragrant Harbor”

Before it was Romanized as Hong Kong, the special administrative region of China that has long beguiled visitors was known in English as He-Ong-Kong. That moniker dates back to 1780 and is thought to be a phonetic reading of hēung góng, a Cantonese name that translates to both “fragrant harbor” and “incense harbor.” Hong Kong has long been one of the world's most important commercial ports. The apparently sweet-tasting waters of the Pearl River may have been responsible for the “fragrant” designation; as for the other, a number of incense factories used to be found in the city’s Kowloon district. An alternate explanation comes courtesy of John Francis Davis, who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1848 and said that the name came from “Hoong-keang” (“red torrent”). According to him, the name honored the red soil found beneath a waterfall on Hong Kong Island.

 

4. Las Vegas: “The Meadows”

Some know it as Sin City, the Entertainment Capital of the World, or simply Vegas, but in Spanish its name has a much simpler meaning: “the meadows.” That geographical feature isn’t one we typically associate with Nevada in general and Las Vegas in particular these days, but the Silver State’s landscape was drastically different in 1829. That's when Raphael Rivera, a Mexican scout generally recognized as the first non-Native American to arrive in the area, came upon a grassy valley whose nutrient-rich soil was kept verdant by desert spring water.

 

5. Oslo: “Meadow of the Gods”

Originally founded as Ánslo in 1040 and known as Christiania after it was rebuilt following a 1624 fire, Norway's capital and most populous city didn't take on its current title until 1925. Until then, Oslo was merely an unincorporated suburb. Its name, like many in Scandinavia, comes from Old Norse: Oslo translates to “meadow of the gods” by some and as “meadow at the foot of the hill” by others. Those who believe the godly interpretation attribute that to the word áss or ansu, which refers to the gods of Old Norse religion (Æsir). The topographical explanation may be more likely, as many other Norwegian names begin with “ås” and refer to ridges and hills, but it’s certainly not as cool. Scholars previously thought that “the mouth of the Lo river” was the true translation, a theory since debunked as both grammatically and historically incorrect.

 

6. Rio de Janeiro: “River of January”

Despite its name, there isn’t actually a river in Rio de Janeiro. Rather, the city is named “River of January” in Portuguese because the colonists who arrived there in 1502 mistakenly believed that Guanabara Bay was actually the mouth of a river. As this occurred in January, the area was named in honor of this not-quite discovery. (There’s minor debate about this, as some historians believe that “rio” was used as a generic term for coastal indentations at the time, but the main theory is generally considered the correct one.) Go to Rio itself, however, and you may hear it referred to as Cidade Maravilhosa — “the marvelous city.”

 

7. Tokyo: “Eastern Capital”

Japan has had many capitals throughout its history, including Nara and Kyoto, which helps explain how Tokyo got its current name — and why it wasn’t called that to begin with. It received its current title during the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Emperor Meiji  began to rapidly industrialize Japan and introduce Western culture to the Land of the Rising Sun, often at the expense of historical customs. During this period, he relocated the imperial capital and gave the city a new name meaning “eastern capital.” This was actually a highly traditional move in its own way, as other East Asian capitals (including Kyoto itself) had the word “capital” in their names. For a time, it was actually called Tōkei by some who preferred that pronunciation of the characters 東京.

 

8. Toronto: “Place Where Trees Stand in the Water”

Long before Europeans arrived in what we now call Toronto, the Iroquois called the area home. It's generally agreed that the city's current name comes from tkaronto, an Iroquois word that translates to “place where trees stand in the water”; the water in this case is that of Lake Simcoe. Toronto can also be translated as “plenty” from the Huron language, but the word has also been spelled as “Taronto,” meaning “the narrows,” when referring to a channel of water found between lakes Couchiching and Simcoe.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Place Name Origins  |  Facts About Meanings Behind City Names

Edited March 25, 2022 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - THE BIRDCAGE

Did you know.... that The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, adapted by Elaine May, and starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. It is an English-language remake of the 1978 Franco-Italian film La Cage aux Folles and the musical of the same name. (Wikipedia)

 

Facts About The Birdcage
By Roger Cormier  |  March 8, 2016  |  Updated: March 8, 2021

A remake of La Cage aux Folles (1978), The Birdcage starred Robin Williams as a gay cabaret owner, and Nathan Lane as his drag queen partner. The two pretend to be something they are not when Williams's son (Dan Futterman), his fiancée (Calista Flockhart), and her parents (Dianne Wiest and Gene Hackman) come to visit. Here are some behind-the-scenes facts about the classic comedy on the 25th anniversary of its release.

 

1. The Birdcage was Elaine May and Mike Nichols's first—and long-awaited—movie collaboration.

 

Mike Nichols and Elaine May were an influential improv comedy duo in the 1950s and 1960s who both achieved fame individually in feature films. Nichols (director of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate) saw La Cage aux Folles and believed it could be remade as an American movie, and May (screenwriter of Heaven Can Wait and Ishtar) wrote the adaptation. "We've never done a movie from first to last together," Nichols said in the official production notes. "This is a project we've wanted to do for 15 years because we knew from the first that it was a timeless comedy with a terrific plot and a wonderful ending." Two years later they would collaborate again when May adapted Primary Colors (1998) for the screen, with Nichols directing.

 

2. Steve Martin was originally set to star in The Birdcage as Armand.
Steve Martin was set to play Armand, with Robin Williams playing his partner Albert, but there were scheduling conflicts on Martin's end. Williams said he didn't want to play Albert anyway, believing he had already dressed in drag enough with Mrs. Doubtfire (1993).

 

3. Mike Nichols cast Broadway actors in The Birdcage.
Nichols offered Nathan Lane the part of Albert while he was starring in Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor on Broadway. Lane said it was a "dream come true." Nichols also cast a pre-Ally McBeal Calista Flockhart, despite her having minimal Hollywood experience, after seeing her in an Off-Broadway production of The Loop.

 

4. Hank Azaria was cast in The Birdcage because of his work on Quiz Show.

Nichols liked what he saw in Hank Azaria, who played a TV producer in Quiz Show (1994). Azaria's role was expanded from initially playing Albert's dresser to Agador Spartacus, the couple's Guatemalan maid.

 

5. Hank Azaria was shooting Heat at the same time he was shooting The Birdcage.
On his 30th birthday, Azaria worked on Michael Mann's Heat (1995) until 6 a.m., then headed to The Birdcage set. When Nichols found out it was his birthday, and that he had been working for 18 hours straight, he sent Azaria home.

 

6. David Alan Grier was originally set to play the butler.
Azaria told The A.V. Club that expanding his role in The Birdcage was Robin Williams's idea. "That first scene where I’m dressing Nathan Lane, getting him all dressed up? The maid/houseman was supposed to be a whole other character, who was supposed to be a black character like it is in the French version, and … I think he was going to be played by David Alan Grier. And they thought David was brilliant, but they thought that in an American context, the idea of a black houseman would be somewhat distasteful and have racist overtones. So since it’s set in Miami, they decided to make it a Latin character. And I was already playing the other character. So I think it was Robin Williams’s idea: 'Why not just combine the two roles and just let Azaria do it?'"

 

7. Mike Nichols tried to keep Robin Williams and Nathan Lane's improvisations to a minimum.

"We had a rule on the picture," Nichols said. "The actors would do the written script until I was satisfied and then we would do one take in which they could improvise. Given this cast, there were obviously some improvs that were insanely funny, but didn't fit the story. But there are moments all through the picture that are improvised and were perfect."

 

8. Agador was partly based on Judy Garland's dresser.
When Azaria couldn't figure out how to play a scene where Agador had to calm an anxious Albert down before a show, Nichols gave him some background to help. "Your character is partially based on Judy Garland’s dresser," Nichols said. "Judy would panic before every performance and her dresser would panic with her and he would panic more than her so that she’d have to be the one to tell him to calm down, and that was the ritual they had."

 

9. A few weeks into filming The Birdcage, Hank Azaria realized he was imitating his grandmother.
"I realized after about two to three weeks of working on it that it really kind of sounded exactly like my grandmother," Azaria told NPR. "Realizing it sounded like her also gave me a good piece of the character, because she was so maternal and mothering and loving, if I sort of had her mentality it was easy to be kind of feminine."

 

10. Robin Williams's slip on the kitchen floor while panicking over the shrimp wasn't intentional.

 

Williams's tumble was not on purpose. "And if you watch that little piece of film again, you’ll see me laughing and Robin laughing," Azaria said.

Source: Wikipedia - The Birdcage  |  Fun Facts About The Birdcage 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WATERFALLS

Angel Falls in Venezuela

Did you know.... that a waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ways, but the most common method of formation is that a river courses over a top layer of resistant bedrock before falling on to softer rock, which erodes faster, leading to an increasingly high fall. Waterfalls have been studied for their impact on species living in and around them. (Wikipedia)

 

Fun Facts About the World’s Most Beautiful Waterfalls
by Emma Kapotes  |  Updated: Mar. 16, 2022

Skógafoss Waterfall in Iceland

 

Nature provides the most incredible views.

 

Angel Falls

The site of an emergency plane landing
Dropping 3,212 feet from the top of the Auyán-Tepuí plateau (or “Devil’s Mountain” in English), Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world. Located in Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, Angel Falls is named after the adventurous American pilot Jimmy Angel who emergency landed his airplane there in 1937. The plane remained there for 33 years, and although the original is now in an aviation museum, Angel Falls’ visitors can still find a replica plane placed on top of the plateau today.

• Check out these 14 ocean mysteries that scientists still can’t explain!

 

Goðafoss Waterfall

The thousand-year-old (and then some) waterfall
As one of Iceland’s most impressive waterfalls, horseshoe-shaped Goðafoss features water rushing down a cliff measuring 40 feet high and 100 feet wide. Goðafoss, meaning Waterfall of the Gods, got its name in the year 1000 when Iceland was converting from pagan religious beliefs to Christianity. The story goes that Iceland’s chieftain at the time, Thorgeir, threw statues of the heathen gods into the waterfall, symbolizing the switch to Christianity and giving the falls their name.

• On your next trip, make sure you visit one of the 10 beautiful natural pools in the world.

 

Krimml Waterfalls

The tallest waterfall in Central Europe
Nestled in Austria’s Hohe Tauern National Park, Krimml Waterfalls is the tallest waterfall in Central Europe, reaching a height of 380 meters. The water originates at Krimmlr Ache, a glacial creek that serves as the source of the falls, and plummets over three tiers of rock formations. A one and a half hour hike up the falls brings you to Bergerblick, the highest point that offers the most spectacular views of the falls below.

• Don’t miss these stunning views of these spectacular sea caves.

 

Detian Falls

A waterfall watched over by Buddha
The Dietian Falls can be found cascading 75 meters over the Guichun River on the border of China and Vietnam. Depending on the time of year, the amount of water traveling down the waterfall will range from a full-speed rush in the humid months of June and July to a more gentle splash in the drier seasons. To complement the peaceful surroundings of rice paddies and rock formations, a tiny Buddhist shrine sits atop the falls.

 

Iguazu Falls

“Poor Niagara!”
Although the majority of the Iguazu Falls are located in Argentina, many say you can find a better overall view from the Brazilian side. They can be accessed through any of the three cities in the tri-border area between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Iguazu Falls are taller and twice as wide as Niagara Falls and it has been said that when Eleanor Roosevelt saw these falls for the first time she exclaimed, “Poor Niagara!”

• These are the most incredible undersea treasures ever found!

 

Niagara Falls

It’s in the oldest state park in the U.S.
Niagara Falls State Park, designed by famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, is the oldest state park in the U.S., established in 1885. Niagara Falls is sourced by the Niagara River which is supplied by water from Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie, four of the five Great Lakes, allowing 3,160 tons of water to flow over Niagara Falls each second. The iconic falls were first seen and described in 1678 by Father Louis Hennepin on an exploring expedition in the Niagara region.

 

Plitvice Lakes National Park

They’re actually interconnected waterfalls
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is world-famous for its series of 16 interconnected, breathtaking lakes, caves, and waterfalls. The park features two main waterfalls: the Large Waterfall at the end of the lower lakes, and the Galovac Waterfall at the end of the upper lakes. But what makes this park so unique and beautiful are the formations of many smaller waterfalls that flow throughout the series of lakes through naturally created mossy cascades.

• Start adding these gorgeous waterfalls from every state to your travel bucket list.

 

Koosah Falls

It separates itself each summer
Koosah Falls are one of three major waterfalls along the McKenzie River in Oregon. Although there has been some dispute over the true height of the waterfall, with measurements ranging from 54 to 120 feet, the true height is said to be around 64 feet. The appearance of Koosah Falls changes dramatically from season to season, in the summer it appears as being two separate segments, but during the height of snow melting in the winter, water spreads seamlessly across the 70 foot wide ledge.

• Here are some more crazy facts about the earth you never learned in school.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Waterfall  |  Waterfall Facts Worth Knowing
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BRAND MASCOTS

Did you know... that some mascots become so synonymous with a brand that they can’t be separated. It’s rare that a brand hits mascot gold. Some brands are lucky if they create a character that connects with the public for half a decade, let alone five — or even a full century. Sometimes a character just connects, though, and at least one of the following mascots has been around for a century or more. Read on to learn more about these oldie-but-goodie brand mascots that have become so engrained in culture, they practically are their brand. (Marketing Dive)

 

The Stories Behind Some Iconic Brand Mascots

by Interesting facts

Tony the Tiger

Mascots can be powerful symbols for schools, sports teams, brands, and products, especially when they're effectively leveraged across advertising campaigns. Some (like the forgotten fourth Rice Krispies elf, Pow!) end up as footnotes in a brand’s archive, but the most successful mascots transcend marketing plans, becoming not just lasting corporate symbols but pop culture icons. From the freezer aisle to the great outdoors, these memorable mascots are here to stay.

 

1. Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy

The Pillsbury Doughboy is one of the most enduring brand mascots of all time. Created by a Chicago ad copywriter in 1965 and rendered via stop-motion claymation (which required a stunning 24 shots per second of video), the mascot emerged from a roll of dough to declare: “I’m Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy!” Within three years, the character had an 87% recognition factor among shoppers. Over the years, the Doughboy — who has famously represented 50 Pillsbury products across more than 600 commercials and ads — has continued to grow in popularity. He receives fan mail and requests for autographed photos, and at one point in the 1970s, Pillsbury fans were able to collect Poppin’ and the rest of the Fresh family — including his wife Poppie and kids Popper and Bun-Bun — when a series of popular vinyl dolls were released. Poppin’ Fresh, who has been rendered in CGI since 1992, is still out there buttering the public’s biscuits after 55 years: He made his debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2009 and has been a fan favorite ever since.

 

2. The Geico Gecko

The Geico Gecko was born of a Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the hiring of live actors. After an initial appearance in 1998, the mascot officially debuted during the beginning of the 1999 television season. Those early commercials pleaded with viewers to recognize the difference between the car insurance brand and, well, a gecko. In fact, the whole campaign was inspired by individuals commonly misspelling or mispronouncing "Geico." Back then, the Geico Gecko had a posh British accent and was voiced by Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer. As years passed, a more casual Cockney accent was adopted to color the little green mascot as friendlier and more approachable — the spokeslizard next door, if you will. The Gecko has appeared in hundreds of commercials for the brand and even released a book, You’re Only Human: A Guide to Life, in 2013.

 

3. Kool-Aid Man

Back in 1954, Kool-Aid Man was known as Pitcher Man. Reportedly inspired by an ad agency’s art director who would watch his son draw smiley faces on frosty windows, the grinning pitcher promoted the ability to make two quarts of refreshing Kool-Aid from one tiny package. In 1974, the character got a revamp — he was renamed Kool-Aid Man, given arms and legs, and debuted in the brand’s first television commercials. By the 1980s, Kool-Aid Man and his “Oh yeah!” slogan were famously bursting through walls with refreshing pitchers of the soft drink for thirsty kids. His pop culture domination was solidified with appearances in video games, as well as a short-lived comic book series called Kool-Aid Komics. More recently, Kool-Aid Man has appeared in both The Simpsons and Family Guy.

 

4. Mr. Clean

If you visit Procter & Gamble’s Mr. Clean website, you’ll find an origin story involving a mysterious bald baby industriously cleaning a farmer’s front porch. The farmer and his wife thought “he was the cutest, cleanest baby [they] had ever seen,” and so they adopted him. The hardworking baby grew big and strong and traveled the world to help clean messes. His travels inspired a book, The Encleanapedia, which may or may not only exist as a promotional item at corporate press events. Mr. Clean, the product, was developed as a less caustic cleaning agent for boats. When Procter & Gamble added the brand to its stable, Mr. Clean the mascot was born. Created by an ad agency in 1957, the muscular, tan, famously bald, genie-esque character in a tight white tee was reportedly modeled after a retired Navy sailor from Florida. The first animated commercial debuted in 1958, and within six months, Mr. Clean was the best-selling cleaning product in America.  The history of Mr. clean commercials compilation (1976-2021)

 

5. Mr. Peanut

Mr. Peanut’s proper given name is Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe, which perhaps explains his regal top hat paired with a monocle and spats. A classic mascot, Mr. Peanut first represented Planters nuts in 1916, when a Virginian schoolboy named Antonio Gentile won a design contest with his anthropomorphic peanut drawings. Mr. Peanut’s first Times Square billboard appeared in 1937, and 60 years later, in 1997, he made another New York City splash with his first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade appearance. Animated television commercials featuring the dapper legume began airing in the 1950s, but Mr. Peanut didn’t speak until 2010, when he was voiced by Robert Downey Jr. In a surprising turn of events, however, the 2020 Planters Super Bowl commercial killed off Mr. Peanut and replaced him with Peanut Jr., a hip kid nut in a baseball cap.

 

6. The Michelin Man

One of the world’s earliest and most enduring mascots, Bibendum — better known as the Michelin Man — was introduced way back in the Victorian era. Large and puffy, the iconic mascot is said to have been inspired by a pile of tires that looked a bit like a man. A cartoonist in 1898 ran with the idea and created the Michelin Man, who wore pince-nez glasses on a chain, held a glass full of beer, and smoked a cigar. In later ads, his goblet was filled with bits of broken glass and nails, which, alongside a slogan that referred to “drinking up” the road, boasted the tire brand’s ability to overcome hazardous driving conditions. It might seem odd for a tire mascot to be stark white, but the rubber used in tires was a milky white until around 1917, when companies began adding carbon black to the formula to increase its durability. Thus, Michelin Man has always been white — but his appearance has morphed in other ways over the years. The earliest versions were considerably less friendly looking and more mummy-like, and were usually based on slimmer bicycle tires. In the 1920s, he became a bit more athletic-looking. (That’s around when he quit smoking.) And in 1998, his 100th anniversary saw the introduction of an even slimmer Bibendum, inspired by the lower-profile tires of modern cars. Currently, a CGI Michelin Man is often accompanied by his dog Bubbles. Michelin Man Through the Years.

 

7. Smokey Bear

Smokey Bear was born from an effort to curb forest fires in the 1940s, when many firefighters were off fighting World War II. An initial campaign distributed fire prevention posters, including a series featuring characters from the hit Disney film Bambi. In 1944, an official mascot was created: a bear in blue jeans and a campaign hat named after New York Fire Department hero “Smokey” Joe Martin. In 1950, a bear cub injured in a forest fire in New Mexico became the real-world Smokey. He lived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., for 26 years, during which time he received an estimated 13,000 fan letters a week. Meanwhile, Smokey the cartoon mascot had begun appearing on radio and television programs, in comic strips, in a line of toys, and even in a Little Golden Book. In 1952, to capitalize on the success of Smokey, Congress passed the Smokey Bear Act, which removed the fire-prevention bear from the public domain and ensured any royalties on Smokey tie-ins would go toward fire-prevention education. In 2013, for Smokey’s 70th birthday, the Forest Service released a social media-heavy campaign centered around the “Smokey Bear Hug.” It focused on more unusual causes of wildfires in all places, not just forests.

 

8. The Energizer Bunny

In the Energizer Bunny’s first commercial, he marched onto the screen, decked out in sunglasses and flip flops and beating his big bass drum, and outlasted the rows and rows of snare drum-playing pink bunnies. But why pink bunnies? Well, the 1988 ad was an attack on a long-running commercial by a top competitor. Duracell had used a pink bunny with a snare drum for 15 years, but in 1973, with their trademark on musically gifted rabbits expiring, Energizer swept in. The mascot worked well for Energizer, and so began decades of memorable ads featuring their hip, high-stamina cottontail. Earlier commercials appeared to be selling fictional restaurant brands, phone companies, or sinus medications until the relentless Energizer Bunny showed up and a voiceover touted the company’s slogan. Now, 30-plus years later, he’s still going and going and going …

 

 

Source: Brand Mascots That Stood the Test of Time  |  Facts About Brand Mascots
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - COCKTAILS

Flaming Cocktails

Did you know.... that a cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across regions of the world, and many websites publish both original recipes and their own interpretations of older and more famous cocktails. (Wikipedia)

 

Famous Cocktails and Where They Were Created

by Interesting Facts

Whether it's an old fashioned or a classic daiquiri, every spirited sip got its start somewhere — though mixologists may argue about the true origins of these famous concoctions. (New York and London, for example, both lay claim to creating the first cocktail.) Here are 10 of our favorite cocktails and the bars that made them famous. Cheers!

 

1. Negroni (Florence, Italy)

In 1919, Count Camillo Negroni bellied up to the bar at Café Casoni and asked for something stronger than his usual Americano (Campari, club soda, and vermouth). Fosco Scarselli obliged, replacing the club soda with gin, and the Negroni was born. While the ownership and name have changed a few times, you can still visit the original space on Piazza della Libertà, now known as Caffè Lietta. (Our advice for mixing the perfect version at home? Put Stanley Tucci in charge of the bar.)

 

2. Daiquiri (Havana, Cuba)

Ernest Hemingway had more than one favorite bar, but in Cuba, it was El Floridita. The bar was founded in Havana’s Old Quarter in 1817, and it was already an institution as la cuna del daiquiri — the cradle of the daiquiri — when the famous author walked in. After sampling the original, Hemingway requested “more rum, less sugar” from legendary barman and owner Constantino Ribalaigua. You can still order a Papa Doble, Hemingway’s favorite, while sitting next to his life-sized statue.

 

3. Old Fashioned (Louisville, Kentucky)

Kentucky gentlemen know from bourbon, so it’s no surprise that this Don Draper-approved cocktail hails from the Bluegrass State. Dubbed an “old fashioned” for the squat tumbler in which it’s served, this potion consisting of bourbon, sugar, bitters, and orange peel is said to have been invented at the private Pendennis Club in Louisville before making its way to New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

 

4. Bloody Mary (Paris, France)

Everyone argues about this one, but most cocktail historians agree that the Bloody Mary (appetizingly nicknamed “the bucket of blood”) was born in 1920s Paris, when bartender Fernand "Pete" Petiot began experimenting with vodka at Harry’s New York Bar. The spirit, which he found tasteless, was popularized by Russian émigrés fleeing the revolution. Some canned tomato juice and a few spices later, he arrived at the brunch staple we know and love today. Butch McGuire's in Chicago takes credit for the celery stick swizzle, but the angel who added a slice of crispy bacon remains a mystery.

 

5. French 75 (Paris, France)

Boozy and bubbly, this cocktail of gin, champagne, and lemon is named after a 75- millimeter World War I field gun and carries a combat-worthy kick. The invention of legendary barman and cocktail book author Harry MacElhone (who brought Harry’s New York Bar to Paris), the French 75 is essentially a Tom Collins, but with champagne replacing the original’s club soda topper.

 

6. Martini (California or New York)

The “shaken or stirred” debate has nothing on the origin of America’s most iconic cocktail, which is vigorously argued by both of the nation’s coasts. The historic town of Martinez, California, swears the gin-and-vermouth classic was created as a celebratory Champagne replacement for a gold miner who struck it rich. New Yorkers insist it’s solely the invention of the bar staff at the Knickerbocker Hotel, named after the Martini in Martini & Rossi vermouth. As for us? We’ll think about it while we have another.

 

7. Sazerac (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Creole apothecary Antoine Peychaud is said to have served up a mélange of his own bitters and his favorite cognac (Sazerac-de-Forge et fils) in a coquetier, or egg cup, in 1838. Over the years, rye whiskey replaced the cognac, and an antiques store replaced the apothecary at 437 Royal Street, but you can still sip a fine version at the Roosevelt Hotel’s historic Sazerac Bar.

 

8. Margarita (Mexico)

Would a daisy by any other name taste as good? When the tequila is flowing, memories get fuzzy and the tales grow taller with every round. Regardless of whether this icy delight was invented by a barman-turned-milkman at the now-defunct Tommy’s in Juarez or at the still-kicking Hussong’s Cantina in Ensenada, this refreshing blend of tequila, Cointreau, and lime was popularized by Southern California liquor distributors who introduced agave-based spirits north of the border — and we’re forever grateful.

 

9. Zombie (Hollywood, California)

Along with the fog cutter and many, many more Polynesian-inspired cocktails, we owe the invention of the zombie cocktail to a man named Ernest Gantt. He returned from bumming around the South Seas post-Prohibition, dubbed himself Don the Beachcomber, and opened the world’s first tiki bar in 1934. Heavy on rum, fruit juices, and fun, these potent potables offer a kitschy taste of vacation. While the original Don’s is long gone, zombie aficionados can still live the dream at Hollywood’s Tiki-Ti, serving nostalgia (and mai-tais) since 1961.

 

10. Manhattan (New York, New York)

One legend says that this cocktail was first served at a party for Sir Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, at New York City’s Manhattan Club. That venerable lady can no longer confirm or deny, but the Manhattan Club still defends its claim to this heady combination of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters. While the original site at 96 Fifth Avenue now holds an apartment building, and the social club was dissolved in 1979, you can make this venerable cocktail at home, courtesy of another Manhattan institution, The New York Times.
 

Source: Wikipedia - Cocktail  |  Facts About Famous Cocktails
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GEOGRAPHY

Ortelius world map 1570

Did you know.... that Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth and planets. The first person to use the word γεωγραφία was Eratosthenes (276–194 BC). Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. (Wikipedia)

 

Geography Facts You've Always Wondered About

by Interesting Facts

Have you ever wondered about the difference between an ocean and a sea? Or questioned why Australia is a continent instead of an island? You’re not alone. The Earth is so mind-boggling in its size and scope that it fosters genuine curiosity. From the deepest point in the world to the Earth’s real age, here are 15 geography facts you’ve always wondered about.

 

1. How Old Is the Earth? (And How Do We Know Its Age?)

Although there is no way to know the Earth’s exact age, scientists have calculated it to be roughly 4.54 billion years old, give or take 50 million years. But how did they arrive at this number? Although scientists have pondered this question for centuries, more recent technological advances have made it easier for researchers to understand the Earth’s age. Above all else, radiometric dating has been the most helpful in figuring out the Earth’s birthday because it allows scientists to pinpoint the age of rocks. The oldest rocks on Earth — 4.03 billion years old — were found in Canada, while Greenland, Australia, and Swaziland are home to rocks that range from 3.4 to 3.8 billion years. To top that, scientists have discovered stardust that’s a staggering 7 billion years old, which means the Earth is relatively young in comparison to the rest of the universe.

 

2. What Does the Prime Meridian Denote?

A meridian is an imaginary line that runs from north to south on a map. With 360 meridians around the globe, the prime meridian is the starting point for measuring all other meridians. At a longitude of 0 degrees, it also denotes the separation between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres — with 180 meridians to the east and 180 meridians to the west. The implementation of the prime meridian in Greenwich, England, in 1884 unified the globe in its time and space measurements, resulting in all maps being drawn according to the prime meridian’s longitudinal location.

 

3. What Is the Tropic of Cancer?

The Tropic of Cancer is a latitudinal line, also known as a parallel, that runs from east to west around the globe. In addition to the equator, it is one of the five major parallels on Earth (the other three being the tropic of Capricorn, the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic Circle). Located 23.5 degrees north of the equator, the Tropic of Cancer plays an important role in the sun’s geographical relationship to the Earth. It denotes the northernmost point on Earth where the sun is directly overhead at high noon, which happens annually on the summer solstice (for the Northern Hemisphere) in June. After reaching this point, the sun’s rays travel south until they reach the same angle at the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere, which happens in December on the winter solstice.

 

4. Why Is the International Date Line Where It Is?
After the world was divided into time zones, the International Date Late (IDL) became one of the most important meridians on Earth. Located halfway around the globe from the Prime Meridian, the IDL approximately follows the 180-degree meridian, with a few zig-zags here and there. Despite its significance, the IDL’s location was chosen arbitrarily, as it can be found in a section of the globe that is almost entirely ocean. In a sense, the International Date Line also makes time travel real — when you cross it, travelers will either add or subtract 24 hours from their day. However, since the International Date Line has no legal status, countries are free to choose which side they are on, which accounts for the IDL’s disjointed course.

 

5. What Is the Difference Between an Ocean and a Sea?

In everyday vernacular, the words “ocean” and “sea” are often used interchangeably. But in geographical terms, the two are quite distinct. While oceans are referred to as the large bodies of water that take up much of the globe, seas are much smaller entities, a term geographers use to describe the location where the land meets the ocean. For example, the Bering Sea is part of the Pacific Ocean, but since it is located between the landmasses of Alaska and Russia, it is classified as a sea.

 

6. What Is the Deepest Point in the Ocean?

Located in the Mariana Trench southwest of Guam, the Challenger Deep — named for the first crew to record its depth — measures an astounding 36,200 feet deep, which is three times deeper than the average depth of the ocean floor. Using a sounding rope, the HMS Challenger calculated the trench’s depth to be 26,850 feet in 1875. As more teams flocked to the western Pacific over the years, researchers used advanced sonar techniques to measure the current recorded depth. To this day, the Challenger Deep is the deepest known point on Earth. But with an astounding percentage of the ocean yet to be explored, we never know what other fathomless depths will be discovered in the future.

 

7. Is a Marsh the Same as a Swamp?

While they may appear similar, marshes and swamps are technically quite different. Although they both are a type of wetland, a swamp can also be compared to a lowland forest, as it is classified based on the type of tree that grows in its ecosystem. For example, depending on the predominant tree, a swamp can be classified as a hardwood swamp, a cedar swamp, or a cypress swamp (like South Florida’s Big Cypress Swamp). On the other hand, a marsh has no trees and instead is dominated by plants and grasses that thrive on the waterlogged soil. Although many people believe the Everglades to be a swamp, it is actually the largest marsh system in the U.S. — before it was partially developed, it took up an astonishing 4,000 square miles of the Florida landscape.

 

8. What Is (Actually) the Tallest Mountain on Earth?

Most people already know that Mount Everest, with a peak that sits 29,035 feet above sea level, soars above any other mountain on the planet. However, if we’re talking about mountains that exist below sea level, then Hawaii’s Mauna Kea blows Mount Everest out of the water, so to speak. At 32,696 feet from base to summit, Mauna Kea is approximately 3,661 feet taller than Everest. The reason Mauna Kea doesn’t receive more recognition for its size? Most of the mountain exists underwater, with only 13,796 feet rising above sea level.

 

9. What Is a Geyser? (And Is It the Same as a Volcano?)

A geyser is a hot spring that erupts water and steam, due to pressure that is created underground. Formed as a water-filled tube that connects the atmosphere to the Earth’s crust, a geyser erupts when magma heats the water, forcing it upward towards the Earth’s surface. Although a geyser is not the same as a volcano, they are somewhat related, as a geyser manifests the same sort of activity, with eruptions fueled by magma. However, unlike a volcano, it is easier to predict when a geyser will blow, as it produces notable seismic activity prior to an eruption. As a result, some researchers study geysers to help them understand more information about volcanoes. There are also certain geysers that blow in a timely manner, like the aptly named Old Faithful — a Yellowstone National Park attraction that erupts roughly 20 times a day.

 

10. How Is a Cay Different Than a Key?

If you’re curious as to the geographical distinction between Key West in Southern Florida and Ambergris Cay in Turks and Caicos, here’s the short answer: There is no difference. The geographical terms cay and key are a little bit like “tomato, to-mah-to” — the use of the term depends on where you are. Both are derived from the Spanish word cayo, which translates to “key,” and they’re used interchangeably to describe a low-lying island, sandbar, or coral reef. As a tropical destination with over 60 islands and keys, the British Virgin Islands is also home to a “Key Cay,” making it the only place in the world where both terms are used to describe a single place.

 

11. Which River Is Bigger — the Amazon or the Nile?

Measuring 4,130 miles in length, the Nile River in Africa is often considered to be the longest river in the world, while the Amazon River in South America comes in at a close second. Although past data has shown that the Amazon River is anywhere between 3,980 and 4,000 miles in length, a 2007 expedition claimed the length of the Amazon to be an astonishing 4,225 miles. However, since this measurement has not been internationally recognized, the debate over the longest river in the world continues. As a result, many recognize the Nile as the longest river, but give Amazon the title of the largest river by volume.

 

12. Why Is Australia a Continent and Not an Island?
Australia is Earth’s smallest continent — closer in size to Greenland than any other continent. So why did geographers decide Australia was a continent instead of an island like Greenland? For starters, Australia has a much larger landmass than Greenland: roughly 3 million square miles compared to Greenland’s 836,000 square miles. It also sits on a tectonic plate, which is partially shared with Asia, while Greenland is on the same tectonic plate as all of North America. Also, much of Australia’s plant and animal life is endemic to the country, including its Indigenous people. The Aboriginal people of Australia are found nowhere else in the world, while the Indigenous people of Greenland, the Inuit, live on different continents in the Arctic. Altogether, these facts led geographers to classify Australia as a continent, although it is technically an island as well.

 

13. Where Does One Ocean End and Another Begin?

Despite being divided into sub-oceans, there is only one ocean in the world, which scientists refer to as the “world ocean.” Historically, cartographers and government officials found it helpful to divide the massive ocean into smaller entities, which is how the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian Oceans were named. More recently, the ocean surrounding Antarctica, dubbed the Southern Ocean, has been added to the list. Despite being located in different regions, there is actually no way to tell when one ocean ends and the other begins — because the ocean is a singular continuous body of water. However, there is one exception to this rule. The Southern Ocean is radically different from the rest, with a strong current that surrounds it and notably frigid water, making it easier to recognize where this sub-ocean begins.

 

14. How Do Hills Become Mountains?
To learn how a hill becomes a mountain, one must first understand the difference between the two. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is no official distinction between a hill and a mountain, since they are both classified as naturally forming landforms that occur as a result of geological activity. However, traditionally a hill is not considered to be a mountain if the summit is under 1,000 feet. For a hill to eventually become tall enough to be generally classified as a mountain, it must be located on shifting fault lines that cause an increase in size. For example, the Himalayas once used to be small hills that grew — over millions of years — into the tallest mountain range on Earth, thanks to ongoing collisions between two large tectonic plates. Conversely, mountains can become hills after millions of years of erosion cause them to shrink.

 

15. What (and Where) Is an Esker?

Composed of gravel, sand, and silt, eskers are formed after a glacier stops flowing, resulting in long, narrow ridgelines that appear snake-like from the sky. Sweden is home to one of the longest eskers in the world, which stretches for 155 miles and passes through the city of Uppsala. In the state of Maine, eskers often resemble a long, skinny peninsula that divides lakes and bogs, which is why eskers were traditionally used as trade routes for early settlers. Eskers also can also play an important role in road construction. In rugged destinations like Canada and Alaska, builders have used the landform in order to lower construction costs — for example, part of the Denali Highway was built on top of an esker.
 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Geography  |  Facts About Geography

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - NATIONAL ANIMALS

Okapi (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Did you know.... that if Benjamin Franklin had had his way, the national bird of the United States would have been the turkey, an animal he called "a true original Native of America," rather than the bald eagle. In his defense, there's certainly no shortage of turkeys to go around in America, which can't be said about a handful of other countries' national animals that are decidedly less common — some even extinct. Other countries proudly boast emblematic critters that are straight-out bizarre or even mythological. From the dodo to the Komodo dragon to folkloric winged horses, here is a motley menagerie of the world's most unusual national animals. (Matt Hickman)

 

Countries With Unusual National Animals

by Interesting Facts

Baird's Tapir (Belize)

 

Did you know there are at least eight countries around the world with an eagle as their national animal? There’s only one country, however, that honors the Dodo bird. From mythical creatures to religious representations, here are six countries where a strange or unusual beast is a national symbol.

 

1. Mauritius: Dodo Bird

Mauritius, a tiny island nation east of Madagascar, was once home to the famed dodo bird. First seen in the early 1500s by Portuguese sailors, the dodo likely died out by the end of the following century. While the large, flightless, and ever-so-strange bird has been extinct for many years, Mauritius still honors its memory. Images of the dodo are found throughout the country — on the coat of arms, in tourist shops, and on government stamps. There’s even a full skeleton of the creature at the Natural History Museum of Mauritius, one of just a few such skeletons in the world.

 

2. China: Red-Crowned Crane

China’s national bird, the red-crowned crane, also happens to be one of the rarest cranes in the world. Named for the patch of red skin at the very top of its head, the omnivorous bird feasts on grasses and plants in addition to fish, crustaceans, and amphibians. Unfortunately, the bird’s population has been threatened by habitat loss. But since the red-crowned crane is synonymous with good luck, loyalty, and longevity, it is fiercely loved and protected by the Chinese people, as well as international conservation groups.

 

3. Bhutan: Takin

Bhutan’s national animal, the takin, is sometimes called a goat antelope, although it has more in common with wild sheep. Their powerful bodies and nimble legs help the creatures traverse the mountainous country, which is located in the Himalayas. According to legend, the shaggy creature was created by a Tibetan saint named Lama Drukpa Kunley, who arrived in Bhutan around the 15th century. Asked to perform a miracle, he rearranged the bones from his lunch of cow and goat meat so that the goat’s head was atop the cow’s carcass. With a snap of his fingers, the strange animal came to life. Today, although its population is vulnerable, the takin can still be found grazing in higher elevations of the country’s northwest and far northeast.

 

4. Belize: Baird’s Tapir

Although it may look a little like an anteater, Baird’s tapir is more closely related to a rhinoceros. The largest land animal native to Central America is surprisingly agile, however. It can swim in rivers, climb up steep embankments, and walk for miles in search of food. As an herbivore, it dines on grasses, aquatic plants, leaves, and fruits native to Belize. Its long, flexible snout and flat teeth make it easy to forage for hard-packed snacks, like twigs and nuts. Although the nocturnal animal is partial to nighttime ranging, it can sometimes be spotted in natural forest preserves throughout Belize.
 

5. Papua New Guinea: Dugong

The dugong, the national animal of Papua New Guinea, is cousins with the freshwater manatee. Often called a “sea cow,” this large, gentle creature can be found grazing on seagrass in bays, mangroves, and reefs. Dugongs have long played an important role in the lives of native Papua New Guineans, as the marine animal has been hunted for its hide, meat, and oil for centuries. Today, dugongs are protected by the nation, with the exception of traditional hunting.

 

6. Pakistan: Markhor

The markhor is a large, wild goat that lives in the Himalayas of Pakistan, as well as the neighboring countries of India, Afghanistan, and Turkestan. As the national animal of Pakistan, markhors are recognized as a protective symbol of the nation. In fact, the word “markhor” means “snake-eater” in Persian, which may refer to the goat’s ability to crush snakes with its large hooves or the animal’s serpentine horns. Unfortunately, this species is critically endangered — they’re often poached for their beautiful horns, which are believed to have healing purposes in certain traditional medicines.

 

Source: National Animals That Are Rare, Unusual, Endangered or Completely Nonexistent  |  Facts About a Few National Animals

 

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - THE UNEXPLAINABLE IN SCIENCE

Did you know.... There’s nothing like popping on a lab coat to make it seem like you know what you’re talking about, but do scientists really have all the answers? Actually, as it turns out, no. There are loads of everyday things that we take for granted, that science simply can’t explain. From everyday actions to readily-available medicines, get ready to find out just how scared you should be about what scientists don’t know. (MyNewLab)

 

Things Science Still Can’t Explain

by Interesting Facts

Science has been able to shed light on many of life’s mysteries over the centuries, offering explanations for diseases, animal behavior, the cosmos, and more. We’ve come a long way from the days when life forms were thought to appear through spontaneous generation and bloodletting was used to cure almost any illness. But there still remain many scientific mysteries embedded in our daily lives. Here are five common occurrences that continue to defy explanations from the top scientific minds.

 

1. How Acetaminophen Works

You'd think that the accessibility of acetaminophen (Tylenol) as an over-the-counter painkiller would indicate a full understanding of its medicinal properties, but Big Pharma is still trying to figure this one out. Certainly scientists know the dangers of excessive doses, but exactly how the medication works to ease pain is still a mystery. It was once thought that acetaminophen functioned in the same manner as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen, which block the formation of pain-producing compounds in the central nervous system. However, further testing indicated that this enzyme suppression only happens under certain chemical conditions in the body. Other researchers have examined the effects of acetaminophen on neurotransmission in the spinal cord, but a definitive mechanism remains elusive.

 

2. Why Cats Purr

This one's easy – cats purr because they're happy you're petting them, right? Except they also purr when they're hungry, nervous, or in pain, so there are more complex matters to consider. One theory put forth by bioacoustician Elizabeth von Muggenthaler suggests that purring functions as an "internal healing mechanism," as its low-frequency vibrations correspond to those used to treat fractures, edema, and other wounds. Additionally, since humans generally respond favorably to these soothing sounds, it's possible that purring has evolved, in part, as a way for domesticated kitties to interact with their owners. And researchers at least believe they now know how purring happens – a "neural oscillator" in the cat brain is thought to trigger the constriction and relaxing of muscles around the larynx – so it may not be long before they home in on more precise reasons for this common, but still mysterious, form of feline communication.

 

3. How Bicycles Remain Upright

It's one of the great ironies of life that we supposedly never forget how to ride a bicycle yet lack a firm understanding of the mechanics that enable us to pull it off in the first place. Early attempts at rooting out answers gave rise to the "gyroscopic theory," which credits the force created by spinning wheels with keeping bikes upright. This theory, however, was disproven in 1970 by chemist David Jones, who created a functional bike with a counter-rotating front wheel. Jones then floated his "caster theory," which suggests that a bike's steering axis, pointing ahead of where the front wheel meets the ground, produces a stabilizing "trail" similar to a shopping cart caster. However, this theory also has holes, as researchers demonstrated in a 2011 Science article showing that a bike with a negative trail – a steering axis pointing behind the wheel – could maintain balance with proper weight distribution. All of which goes to show that while biking is largely a safe activity, there remains a glaring question mark at the heart of a $54 billion global industry.
 

4. How Animals Migrate

Maybe you’ve seen flocks of birds flying overhead to mark the changing of seasons or read about salmon fighting upstream to return to their birthplaces, but exactly how do these animals navigate in the midst of long distances and shifting geological conditions? In some cases, there are strong olfactory senses in play; a salmon can detect a drop of water from its natal source in 250 gallons of seawater, helping to guide the way "home." But the possibilities get even stranger, as scientists are exploring the concept that light-sensitive proteins in the retinas of birds and other animals create chemical reactions that allow them to "read" the Earth's magnetic field. It may seem far-fetched to think that birds rely on principles of quantum mechanics, but there may be no better explanation for how, say, the Arctic Tern stays on target while annually migrating more than 40,000 miles from pole to pole.

 

5. Why We Sleep

Given that we can pinpoint the health benefits and problems associated with proper and insufficient amounts of sleep, it's baffling that we still don't fully understand what this all-important restorative state does for the body. Older theories followed the notion that sleep helps people conserve energy while keeping them away from the dangers of the night, while more recent research explores how sleep contributes to the elimination of toxic neural buildups and promotes plasticity, the brain's ability to adjust and reorganize from its experiences. Other experts hope to come across answers by studying glia cells, which are abundant in the central nervous system and possibly involved with regulating when we nod off and awaken. And if these diligent researchers ever do crack the code of what sleep does for us, maybe it will shed light on related nighttime mysteries — like why we dream.

 

Source: What Science Has No Answer For  |   Facts About Things Science Still Can't Explain

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - COINCIDENCES

Did you know... that we’ve all experienced some rather crazy moments of coincidence before in our lives. In a world as random as the one we live in, coincidence is something that’s bound to strike us sooner or later. Here’s just one example of something that happened to me recently: I was at a pub quiz, and as the quiz master started reading out a question about Childish Gambino who came on the jukebox randomly? You guessed it: Childish Gambino. Yep, coincidence is just a natural part of life. Even so, there are times when there are coincidences so crazy that it makes you stop and wonder. by Jack De Graaf (TheFactSite)

 

History’s Strangest Coincidences

by Interesting Facts

In their 1989 paper "Methods for Studying Coincidences," math professors Persi Diaconis and Frederick Mosteller defined a coincidence as a "surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, with no apparent causal connection." It's an apt definition, but it doesn't quite do justice to those coincidences that tie together people and places in a way that almost makes you wonder whether something supernatural is going on. Here are seven such coincidences — some of historical significance, others just downright mind-blowing — that have rational people questioning the odds of just how things could have unfolded that way.

 

1. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Both Died on the 50th Anniversary of Independence Day

Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson seemingly shared some kind of cosmic connection. After striking up a friendship at the 1775 Continental Congress, they teamed up to draft the Declaration of Independence, concurrently served in Europe as American diplomats, and became the second and third U.S. Presidents, respectively, before partisan fighting drove them apart. But they reignited a regular correspondence in their golden years through the cusp of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on July 4, 1826. That day, as he lay on his deathbed, Adams reportedly delivered his final words, "Thomas Jefferson survives," not realizing his old friend and former rival had passed away a few hours earlier.

 

2. John Wilkes Booth's Brother Saved the Life of Abraham Lincoln's Son

It may seem off-kilter to conflate the names Booth and Lincoln for a story with a happy ending, but that's what happened during a near-disaster at a crowded New Jersey train platform around late 1863. Then a student at Harvard, Robert Todd Lincoln found himself pressed against a train that suddenly lurched forward and spun him onto the tracks before a quick-reacting good samaritan hauled him to safety. Lincoln immediately recognized his savior as the famous actor Edwin Booth, though it took a congratulatory letter from a mutual friend for Booth to realize that he had rescued President Abraham Lincoln's oldest son. Regardless, any goodwill between the two families soon vanished when Booth's pro-Confederate younger brother, John Wilkes Booth, fatally ambushed the President in April 1865.

 

3. Mark Twain Entered and Exited the World With Halley's Comet

Two weeks after Halley's Comet passed its November 1835 perihelion — the point of orbit closest to the sun — a boy named Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri. Clemens went on to worldwide fame as Mark Twain, but there was no slowing the passage of time, and in 1909, the septuagenarian author told his biographer that he expected an astronomical bookending to his days. "It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet," he revealed. "The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'" The Almighty must have listened, and on April 21, 1910, one day after Halley's Comet again reached its perihelion, Twain died from a heart attack at age 74.

 

4. The Car That Brought About WWI Also Predicted its End

It was the event that triggered World War I, yet also seemingly carried a harbinger for when peace would return to the land. On June 28, 1914, Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were shot at point-blank range by Bosnian revolutionary Gavrilo Princip as they rode through Sarajevo in their touring car. While onlookers converged on the dying royals and their assassin, no one could have grasped the significance of the car's license plate, which read AIII 118. Read another way, with the I's switched to 1's and slight changes in spacing applied, and you have 11/11/18 — the date of Armistice Day, which formally ended the Great War.

 

5. Wilmer McLean Hosted the First Major Battle and Formal Conclusion of the Civil War

Northern Virginia plantation owner Wilmer McLean was happy to cede his grounds to pro-slavery Confederates for what became the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. However, he was tired of the destruction by the time his plantation was again used for the follow-up battle in August 1862, and he moved his family south to the isolated village of Appomattox Court House the following year. Turns out he didn't get quite far enough away from the action, as an aide to General Robert E. Lee requested the use of McLean's new residence for a surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865.

 

6. Two Versions of “Dennis the Menace” Surfaced on the Same Day

On March 12, 1951, “Dennis the Menace” appeared for the first time in the British weekly comic magazine The Beano. That same day, “Dennis the Menace” debuted in 16 American newspapers. Was it the same character arriving in different countries by way of an international distribution deal? Nope. The British Dennis, drawn by David Law, was dark-haired, scowling, and known to deliberately stir up trouble; American Dennis, from the hand of Hank Ketcham, was blonde, friendly, and more likely to foul things up through good intentions turned sour. It was reported that neither artist initially was aware of the other's work, and apparently, neither cared about any sort of copyright infringement, as both the British and American Dennis went on to long, successful runs in their respective countries.

 

7. The “Jim Twins” Led Remarkably Similar Lives

Finally, there's the case of James Springer and James Lewis, identical twins who went their separate ways as infants through adoption yet went on to live eerily similar lives before reuniting at age 39. Each grew up with a brother named Larry, had a pet dog named Toy, went into law enforcement, and named his first-born son James Allan (with slightly different spellings). And even if you chalk some of those matches up to genetic disposition, it doesn't quite explain how each twin somehow married a woman named Linda before following with a second wife named Betty, or how both settled on the same vacation spot at a small beach in St. Petersburg, Florida, more than 1,000 miles away from where they were separately reared in Ohio.

 

Source: Crazy Coincidences  |  Facts About Strange Coincidences in History