Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Did you know.... When gathered around the table for Christmas in the UK, clearing the last of the dinner plates is a special moment. It means it’s time for the classic dessert: Christmas pudding. Some families dim the lights, and then set the pudding on fire by pouring warm brandy over the top and lighting it with a match. Others stick a coin in it for luck, and some simply grumble that they don’t much like Christmas pudding anyway, and they wish they could have something different this year. But where did this festive classic come from in the first place, and how did it get so firmly cemented into British Christmas dinner tradition?

 

The Origins of Christmas Pudding
The dish, which is also known as figgy pudding or plum pudding, dates back to the Middle Ages. It didn’t contain what we call plums today, but might have been made with prunes, currants, and raisins (plum being the generic term for dried fruit). This mixture began life as a kind of pottage, a broth that was thickened with breadcrumbs, known as frumenty and served at the start of a meal.

 

Just as mince pies—another favorite festive sweet treat in the UK—used to actually contain minced meat, as opposed to the fruity, sugary mix known as “mincemeat” today, Christmas pudding often contained meat or meat stock. As frumenty evolved into more solid form, early puddings would consist of fruits, fat, and spices, mixed with grains and meat, and then be packed into intestines. According to anthropologist Kaori O’Connor, England’s involvement in the global spice trade during the reigns of Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I made some of the pudding’s important ingredients more readily available to English citizens. The pudding became associated with Henry VIII’s famous royal feasts and an age of expansion.

 

“A Speckled Cannon-Ball”
The meatier, more savory “pudding” still bore little resemblance to what is enjoyed around Christmas dinner tables today. Until the 18th century, sugar was an expensive luxury in the UK. Only after Britain developed sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean—and transported thousands of enslaved Africans to work on them—did sugar become more affordable and Christmas pudding turned sweet. By the early 19th century, cooks combined beef suet with dried fruits and peel, breadcrumbs, and eggs. Next, the rich pudding mixture would be shaped into a ball, wrapped in a pudding cloth (like cheesecloth or muslin), and then boiled.

 

 

The addition of liquor for serving it en flambé crops up in the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, a book that gets some credit for giving the pudding its place as an unmistakably Christmas-y dish in the Victorian era. In the story, Mrs. Cratchit presents a pudding described as “like a speckled cannon ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half a quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top!”

 

A Royal Recipe
British monarchs and other royal figures have also been linked to the classic dessert. King George I supposedly requested it in 1714 as part of the first Christmas feast of his reign, and Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert have been connected to the surviving tradition of placing a coin in the pudding. Originally this would have been a silver sixpence, and the fortunate person to find the coin in their own serving would enjoy luck in the year ahead.

 

In the 20th century, the pudding’s association with Empire became explicit. Soldiers in World War I were reminded of what they were fighting for when Christmas puddings were included in hampers that were sent to the Western Front in 1914. At home, British households endured food shortages, while more than half of the country’s food supply was imported, mostly from nations outside the British Empire. The unsettled global economy following the war prompted the government and the monarchy to launch a campaign promoting British cuisine and commodities specifically sourced from the Empire.

 

 

O’Connor writes that in 1926, King George V and Queen Mary made sure to make it known that their own Christmas dinner would consist entirely of foods produced within the Empire. The king’s chef, André Cédard, created a special Christmas pudding recipe calling for currants from Australia, cut candied peel from South Africa, spices from India or the British West Indies, and even British beer. The Empire Marketing Board made the recipe for Empire Christmas Pudding available to the public, at home and overseas, to encourage purchase of foods from the colonies and steer consumer habits in a patriotic direction. (The Empire Marketing Board also made recommendations for Empire-produced canned salmon and lobster, apples, and honey.)

 

Traditions Today
The last Sunday before Advent is known as Stir-Up Sunday. While the phrase originally comes from the Book of Common Prayer, it has also become a day when families get together to prepare a Christmas pudding; each family member has a stir of the mixture, which some say leads to luck and unity in the year ahead. In a nod to modern lifestyles, Christmas puddings no longer need to be boiled in cloth. Many people still committed to making a Christmas pudding from scratch use a pudding basin, a stoneware, metal, or heatproof plastic bowl specially designed for steaming. Some modern Christmas pudding recipes introduce a little more decadence to the classic; for example, Nigella Lawson’s version calls for soaking the dried fruits in Pedro Ximénez, a sweet and dark sherry, and serving with eggnog cream. The sprig of holly for decoration, as used by the fictional Mrs. Cratchit, remains common. And on the big day itself, the excitement of lighting the pudding—and possibly finding the lucky coin—makes for a memorable end to Christmas dinner.

 

 

Source: A Brief History of Christmas Pudding, Britain’s Imperial Dessert

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BOOKS

Did you know... Any time of year is a great time of year to delve into a fascinating new book, but the holidays present special opportunities to buy books for those we love (and perhaps snag a few new titles for ourselves). The books below include both recent releases and a few favorites from our editorial staff. The titles cover some of the same categories — our spectacular but imperiled natural world, rich stories from history, and more — that you know and love from the Interesting Facts newsletter and website. Happy reading!

 

1. “Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic”

In his latest offering, Simon Winchester — perhaps best known for his book on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, The Professor and the Madman — explores the creation and transmission of human knowledge, from Babylonian cuneiform to artificial intelligence. Filled with memorable facts and anecdotes drawn from across history and the globe, the book is also a tour through the human mind, with a whole section on polymaths such as Benjamin Franklin and Richard Feynman. (Amazon/Bookshop)

 

2. “An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us”

Ed Yong is a marvelously gifted writer with an ability to synthesize complex science into funny, touching, deeply humane pieces. He won a Pulitzer for his coverage in The Atlantic of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in An Immense World, he turns his talents to understanding the rich sensory worlds of other animals, from how dolphins echolocate to how bumblebees can detect Earth’s magnetic field. He also shows how much human sensory limits (we’re resolutely visual, to the disadvantage of other senses) have hindered our ability to understand other creatures — and how much our own senses often pale in comparison to the amazing abilities of those we share the Earth with. (Amazon/Bookshop)

 

3. “Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods”

You know about endangered animals, but what about endangered foods? In Endangered Eating, culinary historian Sarah Lohman explores the story of eight American foods — dates from the Coachella Valley, wild rice from the Upper Midwest, heirloom cider apples from upstate New York — picked from the selections in Slow Food International’s “Ark of Taste” (think Noah’s ark, but for food). Along the way, Lohman learns from shepherds, fishers, and farmers, as well as scientists, historians, and activists, to explore the journeys these foods have taken. And she includes recipes, so readers can be part of saving these threatened foods themselves. It’s a delicious read. (Amazon/Bookshop)

 

4. “A History of Women in 101 Objects”

This curated compendium of objects from prehistory to today follows an “intimate and particular” journey through the history of women. Whether she’s writing about handprints on a cave wall or Kim Kardashian’s diamond ring, a bidet or a piece of chocolate, cultural journalist Annabelle Hirsch’s mini-essays are lively, witty, and illuminating, proving that the past is a complicated (and fascinating) place. (Amazon/Bookshop)

 

5. “Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe”

In 2018, ecology professor Carl Safina (a licensed wildlife rehabilitator) got a tip about a baby eastern screech owl that had fallen out of its nest. The owlet ended up needing prolonged care and became a part of Safina’s family, eventually finding a mate and raising her own brood. Alfie and Me muses on Safina’s connection with the bird during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on larger lessons about Western ways of thinking about nature versus Indigenous and Asian ways. Overall, Safina strives to convey the “consistent magic” of his little friend. (Amazon/Bookshop)

 

Click the link below  to read more about People Who Love Interesting Facts

 

 

Source: Interesting Books for People Who Love Interesting Facts

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BABIES

Did you know... It’s a shame that we don’t remember being babies, because infants have a fundamentally separate way of existing in the world. Their brains are wired differently from adult brains to help them survive as brand-new humans, and they experience everyday things for the first time. While we might not know a lot about lived baby experiences, we do know a lot of fascinating and weird things about their bodies and minds — including these seven facts.

 

1. Babies Have Nearly 50% More Bones Than Adults

The typical adult human body has 206 to 213 bones. Babies, on the other hand, have closer to 300 when they’re born. Many human bones start out as multiple bones and fuse into one as flexible, connective tissue called cartilage hardens. In infants, the skull is actually six bones; they overlap to help make birth a little easier. As the baby gets older, the skull stays flexible to allow the brain to grow. Adults do, however, have at least two bones that babies don’t: kneecaps. When babies are born, those future bones are completely made from cartilage.

 

2. Newborn Babies Have No Tears

Crying is very closely associated with babies, but oddly enough, newborn babies can’t make tears, just a lot of noise. The lacrimal gland, which produces tears, isn’t fully developed until after two weeks. It takes even more time for the lacrimal gland to produce enough liquid for the tears to actually be noticeable. Babies get their “real tears” at 2 or 3 months old.

 

3. Babies May Cry With an Accent

It seems babies soak up the language around them starting before birth. In a 2009 study, researchers recorded 60 French and German babies crying and found that subtleties in their cries mimicked each language. French cries had a slight lilt, while German babies abruptly started and dropped off at the end. This means that not only can babies recognize and mimic the musicality of their parents’ language, but they likely pick it up while still in the womb.

 

4. Infants Have Reflexes That Adults Don’t

We all have reflexes, like putting our hands out when we fall or kicking when a doctor hits our knee with a mallet. These movements happen involuntarily. Babies are born with a ton of them, which eventually go away. One is the Moro reflex, more commonly known as the startle reflex. If a baby is spooked by something or their head moves rapidly, they’ll respond by flailing their arms out really quickly. Babies will also automatically grasp when the palm of their hand or the sole of their foot is touched. Some of these eventually become learned behaviors — like rooting when their face is touched, which helps them find a nipple — but most newborn reflexes are gone within a year, and some last only a couple of months.

 

5. Babies Can Sense Rhythm

In 2009, a group of researchers in the Netherlands played a rock drum beat to 14 newborn babies hooked up to an EEG, which measures electrical activity in the brain. Sometimes, they skipped a beat without disrupting the rhythm. Other times, they stumbled the beat in a way that broke the rhythm entirely. When they broke the rhythm, the babies had a brain response consistent with that of an adult control group. Basically, babies expected the next beat to come along in time, much like an adult would.

 

6. Babies See Red First

Newborns that can see aren’t colorblind, but their brains don’t perceive colors the same way that older children and adults do. They can also only see about 8 to 10 inches in front of their faces at first. This is why babies tend to enjoy high-contrast, black and white images — they’re easy for them to see. A few weeks after birth, red comes into focus, followed by green. Infants can see a full range of color by about 5 months old, although still not quite as vividly as adults.

 

7. Infants May Experience Multiple Senses at Once

Up to 4% of adults experience synesthesia, which means that two or more senses are tied together; for example, colors will play sound. (Notable names with the ability include painter Wassily Kandinsky, writer Vladimir Nabokov, and composer Franz Liszt.) Scientists have long suspected that infant senses are completely tied together, but since babies can’t describe their senses in the same way adults can, the hypothesis is pretty difficult to prove. One study from 2009, however, supports it. Researchers found that young infants associate shapes (a stand-in for graphemes, or written language) with colors — the most common kind of synesthesia in adults. The association wasn’t as strong with 8-month-olds, and was absent in an adult control group.

 

 

Source: Fresh Facts About Babies

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BREAKFAST CEREALS

Did you know.... From Grape Nuts to Lucky Charms, breakfast cereal exists on a broad spectrum that ranges from nutritious to cavity-inducing. These toasty, ready-to-eat grains have been around since 1860 and have been a staple of American mornings since the 1950s. Between convenience and clever marketing, they’ve become ubiquitous among children and adults alike. But there’s a lot you might not know about them. For example, what’s the deal with cereal box prizes? How did Cheerios get their name? Do Froot Loops actually have different flavors? These eight facts are part of a complete breakfast.

 

1. The First Cereal Prize Was (Probably) a Book

Prizes included with boxes of sugary cereals used to be a mainstay of product marketing. Notable examples include cheap plastic toys, baseball cards, and even a video game on CD-ROM — a Doom mod called Chex Quest. What’s likely the earliest example was a little more literary, though. That honor is usually given to Kellogg’s, which offered a book to customers who checked out at the grocery store with two boxes of Corn Flakes in 1910. The book, The Funny Jungleland Moving Picture Book, featured horizontal flaps that could be moved to create different pictures and stories. Prizes started appearing inside cereal boxes in the 1920s, when Malt-O-Meal began packaging whistles at the bottom of the box.

 

2. Cheerios Used to Be Called Cheerioats
There are few, if any, cereals more iconic than Cheerios, but if you thought the name came from their round shape, you’d be mistaken. When the brand originally launched in 1941, they were called Cheerioats. In 1945, Quaker Oats claimed that it had exclusive rights to “oats” for its oatmeal — laughable in today’s oat-heavy market — and General Mills dropped the “at” from the end of the name. As of 2018, Cheerios is the bestselling cereal in the United States (just above Honey Nut Cheerios in second place), so General Mills really came out ahead in the end.

 

3. Some Common Cereal Is Magnetic

It’s incredibly common for cereal to be fortified with extra vitamins and minerals, including iron. Just like any other iron — whether it’s in a skillet or a fence — the iron added to breakfast cereal is magnetic. Cereals with a lot of iron in them (like fortified cornflakes) even react to magnets when they’re floating in liquid. While the iron in some whole cereal is enough to be magnetic on its own, for a more in-depth, science fair-style experiment, you could try crushing up cereal and seeing how much pure iron you can pull out of it.

 

4. Froot Loops Are All the Same Flavor

The Os of Froot Loops come in a variety of fruity colors, as if they each represent a different fruit flavor. However, the color is the only real difference between those Os, because the flavor is the same throughout the box. You may still taste a difference between the colors, but it’s probably because your vision tells you to expect something different. Speaking of fruity misconceptions, it’s always been spelled “Froot Loops” — contrary to a popular belief that the name changed because of a lawsuit over the cereal’s lack of real fruit.

 

5. Tony the Tiger Beat Other Animals to Become the Frosted Flakes Mascot

Imagine for a second that the Frosted Flakes slogan isn’t “they’re grrrrrreat,” because the mascot is not a tiger, but a kangaroo, and the kangaroo makes more of a coughing sound. When Kellogg’s launched Frosted Flakes in 1952, it experimented with several mascots — including Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu — to see which one would be more popular with consumers. Tony turned out to be more popular across demographics, and Katy, Elmo, and Newt are now just distant memories.

 

6. Pink Hearts Are the Only Original Lucky Charm Marshmallow Left

If you haven’t had Lucky Charms since you were a kid, you may be in for a surprise, because General Mills makes adjustments to its lineup every so often. With a whopping eight marshmallow shapes (they’re called “marbits”) in today’s cereal, when a new one comes along, another steps out. But Lucky Charms launched in 1964 with just four marbits: green clovers, pink hearts, orange stars, and yellow moons. Now the moons are blue, the stars are yellow-and-orange shooting stars, and the green clovers are part of a hat. The pink hearts are the only ones that remain close to their original form. Other shapes have come and gone completely, like the blue diamond, pot of gold, crystal ball, and green tree. The most recent addition is the purple unicorn, which replaced the hourglass.

 

7. Michael Jordan Has Appeared on More Wheaties Boxes Than Anyone Else

Wheaties, aka the Breakfast of Champions, has existed since 1924 and has featured athletes on its boxes since 1934; Lou Gehrig was the first. Over 90 years of sporty branding, there have been a few repeats, but Michael Jordan has graced the front of the box the most, at 19 times over 30 years. The five-time NBA MVP and Space Jam star most recently appeared on a box design commemorating the cereal’s 100th anniversary.

 

8. There’s a Secret Fourth Rice Krispies Elf

Everybody knows about elves Snap, Crackle, and Pop, named for the sounds the cereal makes when it mingles with milk. The trio have been promoting Rice Krispies in one form or another since the 1930s, starting with Snap as a solo act, before Crackle and Pop joined him in 1941. But few remember the fourth cereal brother, a nonverbal space-elf named Pow, who appeared for a very brief time in the early 1950s. He appeared in only two commercials, riding a hovercraft and drawing attention to the cereal’s “power from whole grain rice.” According to Kellogg’s, he was never meant to be an “official character.”
 

 

Source: Crunchy Facts About Breakfast Cereal

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DOCTOR WHO-REALISTIC TECHNOLOGY

Did you know... Doctor Who has featured hostile aliens using advanced technology to attack Earth ever since the iconic BBC series premiered back in 1963. Today, we are closer than ever to emulating some of this sci-fi technology, although none of it is being used to conquer the world just yet. In honor of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary in 2023, here are some of the most memorable baddies and their surprisingly realistic science.

 

1. The Zygons

 

Zygons first appeared in Doctor Who in 1975 in a spacecraft under Loch Ness. The craft, which had crashed many years earlier, was part mechanical and part organic. So were the technologies inside—including a creepy body printer that enabled the Zygons to take human form and a huge underwater cyborg monster. This long-necked creature looked like a dinosaur, but unlike the Loch Ness monster of legend, it could walk on land and was strong enough to destroy oil rigs. We haven’t started growing our vehicles yet, although prototype bio-cars do exist, with parts made of cellulose (an organic compound found in plant cell walls). So far, engineers have created nanocellulose bioplastics from wood. They’re stronger and lighter than petroleum-based plastics, as well as renewable. Nanocellulose bioplastics can also be made using pineapple leaves and coconut shells. In 2022, an Israeli inventor claimed that he could make an entire car out of cellulose material found in sewage.

 

2. The Cybermen

 

If the Cybermen capture you, they’ll replace your body with mechanical parts until you become as they are—a robotic automaton devoid of human emotion. They call this an upgrade. Cybermen have been a regular menace to the Doctor since the 1966 story “The Tenth Planet.” As part of the cyber conversion process, they like to get their victims’ brains hooked up to a mechanical interface. With this, Cyber Control can send information directly to the brains of the humans they are preparing for conversion. We already have brain-implant technology, but it is used to improve lives. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a treatment in which electrodes are implanted under the skin, near the collar bone. The electrodes produce electrical impulses that affect brain activity, cells, and chemical activity within the brain, disrupting abnormal signaling. DBS is currently helping people with epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, and researchers are looking into the potential use of this technology to treat eating disorders, substance abuse, anxiety, schizophrenia, dementia, and other conditions.

 

3. The Axos

 

This small spacecraft, which turns out to be a living organism, crash lands on Earth in 1971. Humanoid creatures emerge with a crystalline substance, axonite, which they claim will solve Earth’s food problem by making crops and livestock grow to enormous sizes, among other things. We haven’t started breeding ginormous cows, but researchers are using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to develop crops with climate-resistant traits, which may also result in higher yields. Think drought-resistant rice that needs 40 percent less water to grow; insect-resistant cotton, and disease-resistant bananas. Researchers are also using CRISPR to enable cattle to tolerate hot weather and to give food animals like sheep, pigs, goats, and fish more muscle and therefore more meat. Axos turns out to be a parasitic entity using axonite to achieve its real goal: draining Earth of its energy. In real life, recent research on zebrafish (a common stand-in for humans in scientific studies) has suggested that CRISPR can result in unintentional mutations and unwanted side effects in the modified organisms that can be passed on to the next generations.

 

4. The Sontarans

 

Sontarans have been a regular opponent for the Doctor since Third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s incarnation discovered a particularly nasty one called Linx in medieval Britain in the 1974 story “The Time Warrior.” Sontarans are a race of clones genetically engineered with warlike characteristics. They exist for the specific purpose of winning their perpetual war with the Rutans (blob-like energy creatures featured in the Doctor Who story “Horror of Fang Rock” in 1976). Human cloning is banned in many countries, and no military officials are concerned about the prospect of facing an army of Dolly the Sheep clones. But researchers in Japan have found that genetically engineering human cells with tardigrade DNA does have its benefits.  Tardigrades are the world’s most resilient creatures, able to survive boiling water, freezing temperatures, high pressure, and even trips to the moon. The microscopic animals do this by entering a state called cryptobiosis, in which they expel almost every drop of moisture from their bodies. The tardigrade produces special proteins that protect its dehydration-sensitive parts from total disintegration—like an insect encased in amber, but still alive, as it waits for the harsh conditions to pass. Researchers found that tardigrade DNA contains Dsup, a protective protein that helps keep the animals alive despite extreme dehydration. When the DNA containing Dsup was inserted into human cells in a laboratory experiment, the cells were able to resist damage from X-rays, suppressing it by about 40 percent. In the future, this discovery may help cancer patients cope with the side effects of radiation therapies or protect workers from nuclear radiation injuries.

 

5. The Ood

 

This telepathic alien race first appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who story “The Impossible Planet.” They use translation spheres to capture and communicate their thoughts into the minds of others, in the language of the person, alien, or creature that the Ood is trying to communicate with. A new AI product from Meta may be coming close to this kind of technology. In August 2023, Meta released a multilingual speech translator, SeamlessM4T, that uses a single algorithm to instantly translate almost 100 languages from speech to text and text to text. It can also translate 35 languages speech-to-speech. The company hopes to use it to identify toxic and sensitive words when moderating Facebook and Instagram posts in different languages and identify gender bias in translations.

 

6. The Nanogenes

 

In the 2005 stories “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances,” an alien hospital spaceship crash-lands in London during the Second World War and releases nanogenes: tiny robots that can repair any wound. Unfortunately, the first person the nanogenes encounter is wearing a gas mask, and because they are unfamiliar with the human form, the bots now consider a human face a wound that needs healing. The robotic creatures proceed to give everyone they encounter a mask-like facial makeover. While this scenario sounds terrifying, helpful medical nanorobots actually exist. They’re used to eliminate decay-causing bacteria among teeth during dental procedures, treat disease by delivering drugs to precise targets in the body, and assist other non-invasive medical treatments. Scientists have also designed DNA-based nanocarriers that may kill cancer by injecting blood-clotting drugs into blood vessels around tumors, cutting off their blood supply. In the future, medical nanorobots could be used to deliver anti-seizure drugs for epilepsy or monitor our bodies for bacterial infection.

 

7. The Silurians

 

These reptilian humanoids from Earth’s prehistory hibernate underground for millions of years in cryogenic chambers, waiting for things to get hot enough for them to return to the surface. In the 1993 Doctor Who novel Blood Heat, they lose patience and use advanced technology to rapidly heat Earth’s atmosphere so they can emerge. Humans haven’t had much trouble warming our planet, sadly, and current geoengineering research is aimed at finding ways to cool it down.  A few of the ways scientists have suggested to combat climate change and prevent extreme weather events include spraying seawater into clouds, whitening clouds or shooting micron-sized particles into space to reflect the sun, or thinning clouds to allow more infrared rays to leave the Earth. Some researchers are concerned that these experimental approaches could bring about other problems: One idea involved injecting sulfur-based aerosols into the atmosphere, which a 2008 study in Science found would speed up ozone layer depletion in the Arctic and delay ozone recovery in Antarctica. Geoengineering could also negatively affect climate patterns, possibly for centuries. There’s also a risk of a sudden, sharper return of global warming, should such experiments begin and then be stopped, because greenhouse gases are not actually being removed from the atmosphere by geoengineering technologies. Sounds perfect for the Silurians. Not so great for the inferior ape creatures, as they call humans, who took over the Silurians’ planet while the reptiles slept. 

 

8. The Daleks

 

Finally, no list of Doctor Who aliens would be complete without the Daleks—destructive and hateful little creatures who feel so vulnerable that they hide inside almost impenetrable metal casings. They’re protected from any of their victims fighting back.  Researchers at the University of Connecticut have created a material four times stronger and five times lighter than steel. With self-assembling DNA, the researchers formed a lattice-like nanostructure and coated it with flawless glass particles only a few hundred atoms thick. As long as the glass-like material has no cracks or weak spots, a cubic centimeter can withstand 10 tons of pressure (solid iron can withstand seven tons). The researchers suggest this lightweight, incredibly strong material could one day improve the performance of cars and airplanes, body armor, and/or medical devices.

 

 

Source: ‘Doctor Who’ Aliens That Used Surprisingly Realistic Technology

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ROSA PARKS

Did you know... On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made her historic civil rights stand by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Had she noticed who was behind the wheel, she probably wouldn’t have gotten on in the first place: The day Parks protested wasn’t her first encounter with bus driver James Blake. More than a decade earlier, in November 1943, Parks had entered a bus driven by Blake and paid her fare. Instead of simply walking to the designated section in the back, she was told to exit and reenter through the back doors, as was the requirement for Black riders at the time. When she got off the bus to do so, Blake pulled away—a trick he was notorious for pulling.

 

 

Parks avoided Blake’s buses for the next 12 years; of course, we all know what happened the next time they met, on a day Parks said she was too tired and preoccupied to notice who was driving. Parks and three other Black passengers were ordered to give their seats up for a white passenger; when Parks refused to move, Blake had her arrested. He may have had little idea that his actions—and more importantly, hers—would be the catalyst for a civil rights revolution.

 

Though the times eventually changed, Blake, it would seem, did not. He worked for the bus company for another 19 years before retiring in 1974. During a brief interview with The Washington Post in 1989, the driver maintained that he had done nothing wrong:

 

“I wasn’t trying to do anything to that Parks woman except do my job. She was in violation of the city codes. What was I supposed to do? That damn bus was full and she wouldn’t move back. I had my orders. I had police powers—any driver for the city did. So the bus filled up and a white man got on, and she had his seat and I told her to move back and she wouldn’t do it.”

 

In the rest of his short encounter with the reporter, Blake—who passed away in 2002—used the n-word and accused the media of lying about his role in the historic moment.

Parks had at least one more run-in with Blake, and it must have been incredibly satisfying. After bus segregation was outlawed, the civil rights leader was asked to pose for press photographs on one of the integrated buses. The bus they chose was driven by Blake.

 

 

Source: Not Their First Encounter

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - LIBRARY BINDING

Did you know.... It’s something every book lover dreads: Picking up a favorite title and having pages separate from the spine, looking on as wonderful prose becomes unmoored from its binding. This can happen with a book that’s barely been touched, yet some library titles appear to last decades—and pass through countless hands—without coming apart. Why? The secret is in a process known as library binding. 

 

To put library binding in context, it helps to understand how book publishers assemble books for commercial sale to consumers. Pages are put together in blocks, also known as signatures, which are comprised of folded pages. The blocks are glued together, and then the vertical end with the fold is cut off so that each individual page is glued to the spine. This process is known as trade binding or perfect binding.

 

In library binding, however, books are sewn together, which creates a more durable bond than adhesive. While some consumer titles are also sewn, it’s just one step of the overall library binding process. In order to be considered library-bound, books need to be assembled according to a set of strict requirements approved by several bodies: the American National Standards Institute, the National Information Standards Organization, and the Library Binding Committee. Collectively, the protocol is known as the ANSI/NISO/LBC Z39.78-2000 (R2018) Standard for Library Binding, which is often mercifully shortened to the Standard.

 

The requirements to meet the Standard are exhaustive [PDF]. Suffice it to say, the sewing must be done to specification. Often, a cloth material known as buckram is used for covers because it’s highly durable against water, mildew, and scratches. While some books can be ordered to the Standard, others can be submitted to a certified library binder for what amounts to spinal surgery, with the book reinforced to stand up to the rigors of library borrowing.

 

 

 

The Standard first took root in the 1920s [PDF], when school officials and school librarians noticed that books weren’t rugged enough to tolerate use in educational settings. A standard was created by librarians and book manufacturers. By 1935, library binding had branched off from the publishing world, likely in an effort not to have the Standard undermined by publishers looking to spare expense.

 

Cost is a big reason why not all books adhere to the Standard: Library binding is more expensive, and publishers want to keep production expenses to a minimum. Libraries may pay more up front, but they’re likely to save money in the long run because books in their inventory won’t need to be replaced often.

 

There’s no broadly accessible data on what percentage of library books are bound, or how accessible books that conform to the Standard are. Scholastic offers library-bound copies of a number of titles via its teachers’ sales portal. Some vendors may offer binding with more durable materials without conforming to the Standard.

 

Would consumers buy library editions if they were more widely available? Probably not. Paperbacks tend to outsell heartier hardcovers, accounting for roughly 80 percent of all book sales. It’s unlikely consumers would opt for more expensive editions when privately-owned books aren’t handled nearly as often as a textbook or library title.

 

The consequence, of course, is that one day a favorite book may fall apart in your hands—but maybe your local library will have a copy.

 

 

Source: What Is ‘Library Binding’?
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - COFFEE

Did you know... The world's love affair with coffee seemingly knows no bounds. Beginning in 13th-century Arabia and later migrating across the globe, coffee — and coffee culture — has shaped the way we work, socialize, and savor our daily rituals. Today, gourmet espresso drinks are an important piece of many people’s lives, often multiple times per day. But with so many different beverage choices, how do you choose what to order? What’s the difference between a caffè latte and a flat white, and how can you know which drinks are petite pick-me-ups and which are more, ahem, grande? Here are six captivating, caffeinating explanations of well-known espresso drinks to sort it all out.

 

1. What’s an Americano?

The humble Americano is a product of World War II, born of American soldiers’ attempts to recreate their good old cup of joe from back home while they were stationed in Italy. The “black coffee” of espresso drinks, the caffè Americano is just water and espresso. It contains no dairy or plant milks, and the ratio is usually one-third espresso to two-thirds hot water — although some serve it with half espresso and half water. To make this drink, one must first pour the espresso, and then add the water. Ice can be added to serve it cold. The Americano’s close cousin, the long black, is served in Australia and New Zealand, and it’s a slightly stronger beverage, due to the espresso being poured second.

 

2. What’s a Latte?

Latte means “milk” in Italian, so this drink is aptly named. In most coffee shops, if you order a caffè latte — or “latte” for short — what you’ll get is two shots of espresso poured into between 4 and 6 ounces of steamed milk. (If you order a larger size, you’ll get more steamed milk added, but the amount of espresso will stay the same — unless you request an extra shot, that is.) Coffee has been commonly taken with cream or milk, either steamed or unsteamed, in Europe since at least the 17th century. But the modern latte we know today was established on the West Coast of the U.S., starting out on the menu at the historic Caffe Mediterraneum in Berkeley, California, in the 1950s and later popularized in cafes throughout Seattle, Washington, in the ’80s. Depending on the barista, your latte may have a small amount of foamed milk added to the top — and you may even receive a pretty design in the foam, if they’re skilled at latte art. Just don’t order a “latte” when in Italy — if you don’t use its full name, caffè latte, you might end up with a regular glass of milk!

 

3. What’s a Mocha?

Are you a chocolate fan? Well, a mocha is just a latte with chocolate in it, usually in the form of either cocoa powder mixed with sugar or chocolate syrup. Its name alludes to the port city of Mokha, Yemen, an early center of the coffee trade starting in the 15th century. As the story goes, the beans from Mokha were said to have an element of chocolate in their flavor and tone, and eventually, around the turn of the 20th century, people just started adding the chocolate themselves. A caffè mocha — or just “mocha“ for short — is traditionally served in a glass rather than a mug and is frequently topped with a dusting of cinnamon. Because it has added sugar, some people consider the mocha a dessert rather than a breakfast drink, but be careful — because it contains chocolate, a mocha can contain significantly more caffeine than other coffee drinks, so it may not be the best choice before bedtime.

 

4. What’s a Flat White?

The flat white comes to us from New Zealand (though some say Australia), and it’s essentially a more intense latte with a thinner layer of foam. (Or a “flatter” layer, as some might describe it; the name may also come from the unique type of foam the drink uses, as it’s flatter than the super-airy foam in, say, a cappuccino.) The flat white is only about 6 ounces total, so it’s a smaller, shorter drink than a latte, which is lengthened with more milk. This gives the flat white a more powerful espresso flavor, thanks to the higher coffee-to-milk ratio. To make a flat white, start with a heatproof glass, pour in a single or double shot of espresso, add about 4 ounces of steamed milk, then cap it with “microfoam,” which is made at a lower temperature, in a thin layer to the top of the beverage. This special microfoam has smaller, tighter bubbles that impart a more velvety feel, which contributes to the creamy overall mouthfeel of the drink. The popularity of the flat white in the U.S. jumped significantly around 2010, and now they’re such a standard part of the American coffee repertoire that you can even order them at Starbucks.

 

5. What’s a Cortado?

The cortado originates in Spain — the word cortado means “cut,” because it’s an espresso that’s been cut with warm milk. This is a mini-drink, usually around 4 ounces, intended as an afternoon pick-me-up, often accompanied by a pastry or some other snack. It’s simple to make, too: A cortado is half espresso and half steamed milk, usually 2 ounces of each, and it’s typically served without sugar. If you prefer your coffee a little sweeter, you can opt for the Cuban version, the cortadito, with a dab of sugar or sweetened condensed milk added.

 

6. What’s a Cappuccino

Named in the 19th century after the tan-and-white robes of Rome’s Capuchin monks, a cappuccino is about balance. It’s a trinity of espresso, steamed milk, and foamed milk — a third of each, layered in the cup, in equal amounts — served in a ceramic cup that’s a little wider and flatter than the usual coffee mug. The result is a rich drink, usually only 3 or 4 ounces in volume, with low acidity, a strong espresso flavor, and a mild sweetness from the milk. To correctly drink a cappuccino, one should not mix the elements together and instead sip it as is, with a visual demarcation between the ingredients, so that each flavor can be tasted separately. Although a cappuccino is usually served unsweetened, in the United States, the milk foam is often lightly dusted with cinnamon, while in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K., cocoa is used in this way. Fun fact: In Italian, cappuccio means “hood,” which is how the monks themselves got their name, thanks to this feature of their distinctive robes.

 

 

Source: Coffee Drinks, Explained

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WILL NOT? WON'T?

Did you know... Most contractions in English are pretty straightforward: they are becomes they’re; he would is shortened to he’d; is not is isn’t; and we will is squeezed into we’ll. The two words join together, minus a few sounds. Put it together, and shorten it up. What could be easier? But that isn’t the case for will not, which becomes won’t instead of willn’t.

Why does the will change to wo? It doesn’t really. Which is to say, we didn’t change it, our linguistic ancestors did. We just inherited it from them as a unit. But there was a reason for the wo in the beginning.

 

In Old English there were two forms of the verb willan (“to wish” or “to will”)—wil- in the present and wold- in the past. Over the next few centuries there was a good deal of bouncing back and forth between those vowels (and others) in all forms of the word. At different times and places , will came out as wulle, wole, wool, welle, wel, wile, wyll, and even ull and ool.

 

There was less variation in the contracted form. From at least the 16th century, the preferred form was wonnot, from woll not, with occasional departures later to winnot, wunnot, or the expected willn’t. In the ever-changing landscape that is English, will won the battle of the woles/wulles/ools, but for the negative contraction, wonnot simply won out, and contracted further to the won’t we use today.

 

When you think about the effort it takes to actually pronounce the word willn’t, this isn’t so surprising at all.

 

 

Source: Why Does ‘Will Not’ Become ‘Won’t’?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - RED MOSCOW

Did you know.... 

What did a theater lobby, high school graduation, and a grandmother’s apartment have in common in 20th-century Russia? People who grew up in the Soviet Union would say they all smelled like Krasnaya Moskva.

 

Russian for “Red Moscow,” Krasnaya Moskva (Красная Москва) is the name of a neatly packaged, rose-and-orange-scented perfume developed in the 1920s that became so popular in Russia that even the faintest whiff of it, according to German historian Karl Schlögel, can transport older generations back to their communist childhoods.

 

Though the Communist Party initially ridiculed the perfume as a bourgeois luxury, it eventually embraced Krasnaya Moskva as an accomplishment of Soviet industry and engineering. The perfume’s Catherine the Great-inspired secret recipe predated the Soviet Union, and ended up outliving it, too. To tell the story of Krasnaya Moskva, in short, is to tell the story of an entire country.

 

The Birth of “Red Moscow”
Russia’s perfume culture goes back centuries, with local communities incorporating scented materials into their traditional medicine and sauna routines—but it was during the 18th century, when the Russian court established a close relationship with France, that Russians were introduced to manufactured perfume.

 

This exchange was greatly accelerated by the French Revolution, which led friends and allies of the beheaded monarchs to resettle in Russia. Aristocrats and industrialists from Western Europe brought not only their perfumes, but also the means to produce them on a large scale.

 

Russia’s cosmetics industry, like any other industry, became collectivized and nationalized after the Bolsheviks took over in the October Revolution of 1917. By 1921, independent perfume houses were fused together to form Shirkost, an acronym for the Union Trust of Distinguished Perfumery, Fat-Processing, Soap-Making and Synthetics Production.

Shirkost would have remained a dominant player in the industry were it not for the Russian Civil War, whose chaos allowed previously consolidated French firms to relaunch under new names. One of these firms, Novaya Zarya (formerly Genrikh Brokar, a.k.a. Henri Brocard) struck gold by reviving a perfume that had actually been invented before the Revolution, and had disappeared from the markets following prolonged economic hardship and political instability: Bouquet de Catherine. Also known in Russian as Lyubimy buket Imperatritsy, or the “empress’s favorite bouquet,” the perfume was first given to Maria Feodorovna (or Fyodorovna), the beloved mother of Tsar Nicholas II, in 1913 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, which began with Michael I in 1613.

 

The perfume’s origin isn’t clear. According to one story, Bouquet de Catherine—and, by extension, Krasnaya Moskva—was created by Ernest Beaux, a Russian-born perfumer of French heritage also called the “Napoleon of perfume.” Others attribute the Bouquet’s invention to Auguste Michel, a French perfumer for Brocard who became stranded in Russia after the Soviet government “lost” his passport.

 

One thing is undisputed: The recipe for Krasnaya Moskva is essentially the same as that of an equally famous western perfume, Chanel No. 5, which Beaux developed a few years before Krasnaya Moskva and eventually turned into its own, distinct brand in the West.

 

Defining a Fragrance

Krasnaya Moskva’s complex, layered scent—consisting of more than 60 components—is described differently by different noses. A 1955 book cited by Schlögel in his monumental work The Soviet Century: Archeology of a Lost World identifies “jasmine essence” as the perfume’s primary component. Renata Litvinova, a Russian actress and director, prefers “sugary.”

 

Marina Bykova, a professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University also cited by Schlögel, goes into greater detail, writing:

 

“Only natural ingredients are used in the production of this scent. Its dominant notes are bergamot and neroli, complemented by grapefruit and coriander; they quickly attract attention. The sharpness of these aromatic compounds is softened by the velvet notes of jasmine, roses, and ylang ylang, with a slight admixture of nutmeg. And lastly, as a trail, a magnificent compound of iris, vanilla, amber, and patchouli.”

 

Arguably more important than the scent itself are the thoughts and feelings Krasnaya Moskva evokes in those that smell it. Schlögel, whose research is particularly concerned with the way Soviet culture lives on inside people’s minds and memories, writes that “The scent is associated with particular scenes that stand for the more attractive, beautiful and joyous sides of Soviet life—an evening at the theatre beneath bright chandeliers, women teetering on high heels, tables lavishly overflowing with food.”

 

The perfume must have provided a stark contrast with other Soviet smells Schlögel mentions, including the sweaty stink of a kommunalka (a shared apartment) or the stench of expired groceries filling understocked supermarkets.

 

Even the perfume’s elegantly designed packaging—a “pom-pom reminiscent of a jewelry box,” according to Schlögel—was nothing like the bland, brown wrapping paper used everywhere else. Dousing themselves in Krasnaya Moskva, Soviets may have closed their eyes and pretended they lived in a wealthier, more glamorous society.

 

An Ideological Threat
Krasnaya Moskva’s status as a luxury product did not sit well with the Bolsheviks, who, under the auspices of Marxism-Leninism, tried to purge Russia of what they saw as bourgeois decadence. “Powder and perfume were widely regarded as unworthy of a class-conscious working woman,” Schlögel writes. In 1924, a writer from the communist magazine Rabotnitsa (The Woman Worker) even stated that “cosmetics will be liquidated by raising the cultural level of women.”

 

This, of course, did not happen. On the contrary, the more stable and industrious the Soviet Union became under Bolshevik rule, the more demand for luxury products like lipstick, cigars, and perfumes increased. Vladimir Lenin’s New Economic Policy, a 1921 campaign to stimulate the Russian market with controlled injections of capitalism, was as helpful for the perfume industry as the ending of the Civil War. Following the end of the conflict in October 1922, Russian newspapers and magazines—save, maybe, Rabotnitsa—advertised new fragrances. And not just Krasnaya Moskva, but other patriotic aromas like “Red October” and “1 May,” after Russia’s Labor Day.

 

 

Communist propaganda did not reduce people’s desire for luxury products such as cosmetics. As Schlögel notes, English soap remained a favorite gift among Soviet families for much of the 20th century. Krasnaya Moskva must have been a close second.

 

Eventually, even the Communist Party came around to perfumes. At first regarded as an agent of consumerism that could corrupt the hearts of Soviet workers—in Schlögel’s words, a “manifestation of excess,” of “the individual note, the need to stand out from the ‘gray mass’”—it later was seen as a symbol of Soviet industrial and chemical prowess, not a sign of wealth, but a product of skill and knowledge.

 

“The cosmetics industry of the 1930s,” Schlögel writes, was depicted as “an exemplary branch of industry, equipped with modern chemical laboratories. It went beyond all romantic ideas of the empire of fragrances and served a highly cultured mass market.” A planned but never produced perfume, “Palace of the Soviets,” sold in a bottle designed after the planned but never produced building, would have contained notes of cement, concrete, iron and steel, and capture “the scent of a new age.”

 

Krasnaya Moskva Today
Since its fabled creation, Krasnaya Moskva has been produced and sold in Russia almost non-stop. The perfume is still available today, both in Russia and abroad—a bottle goes for around $20 or $30 on Amazon.

But, as Schlögel notes in The Scent of Empires, “The smell of this third-generation Krasnaya Moskva is probably far removed from the original scent.” Getting a whiff of the original would require either “reconstruct[ing] the earlier versions using the original formulas and original ingredients,” he writes, or finding “a tightly sealed, well-preserved bottle and open[ing] it.”

 

Vintage bottles of Krasnaya Moskva can be found today, too—though usually for a larger sum than the prices you’ll find on Amazon.

 

 

Source: Soviet Chanel: How “Red Moscow” Became the Most Popular Perfume in the USSR

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ELECTRONIC EMBLEMS

Did you know.... As modern technology progressed from vacuum-tube computers that fill entire rooms to ultra-fast smartphones that fit in our pockets, the industry simultaneously developed a robust iconographic lexicon. Today, these digital-age hieroglyphics adorn most of the computers, laptops, gaming consoles, smartwatches, and smartphones in our homes — but have you ever wondered where they came from? Here are the stories behind eight electronic icons and symbols you probably see every day.

 

1. Power Button

The electronic world is run by zeros and ones, so it makes sense that the power button — arguably the most important toggle on our gadgets and gizmos — is adorned with both. During World War II, engineers used “1” to mean “on” and “0” to mean “off.” If you look at some power strips, you’ll see that the glowing red power toggle is adorned with both a 0 and a 1. In 1973 the International Electrotechnical Commission codified a broken circle with a line in the middle as a “standby power state.” Today, that design is simply an emblematic stand-in for “power,” and devices still use the symbol half a century later.

 

2. Command Key

Glance at the keyboard of an Apple computer, and you’ll see a strange symbol denoting the command key. The original idea for the key — back when it was called the Apple key — was for it to allow users to navigate an Apple computer without a mouse, something that was much more common in the early 1980s before the era of trackpads. Annoyed by how many Apple logos appeared on the command list of the application MacDraw, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs allegedly proclaimed, “There are too many Apples on the screen! It's ridiculous! We're taking the Apple logo in vain!” and asked Apple’s bitmap artist Susan Kare to come up with a solution. While searching an international symbol directory, Kare came across the floral design then used in Scandinavian maps for attractions or places of cultural heritage. This simple yet effective design was just the thing Kare needed to symbolize the concept of “command.”

 

3. 404 Error

Just as zero was a major breakthrough in the world of mathematics, so too would the digital world be impossible without the 404 error. Early hypertext systems kept a centralized database of all links and where each link sent a user. If one link was updated, then the database was updated so links always led to their intended destination. But as the internet ballooned in size, keeping track of every link proved impossible. So Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, came up with a solution — just don’t validate links. Instead, a broken link would display the dreaded 404 error. Codes starting with “4” refer to a user-side error, and “04” simply means requesting a nonexistent (or no longer existent) address. While the 404 error allowed the early internet to flourish, it also created a few problems, chief among them being “link rot” — which describes the general tendency for links to break over time. But like it or not, “404” is here to stay.

 

4. Bluetooth Icon

King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson ruled over Denmark and Norway in the 10th century, but he’d likely be surprised to learn that his name would instead be known for a short-range wireless technology invented more than a millennium later. Developed in 1994 by Dutch inventor Jaap Haartsen, Bluetooth gets its name from Gormsson’s famous nickname — a nod to his legendary dead “blue” tooth — but honoring Gormsson wasn’t a random hat tip to a historical king. When the three companies Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia met to create a wireless communication standard, Intel’s Jim Kardach suggested Bluetooth as a temporary code name, saying that “King Harald Bluetooth… was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as we intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.” But the temporary code stuck, and the world-renowned symbol for the technology became a combination of the Scandinavian runes Hagall (ᚼ) and Bjarkan (ᛒ), which stand for the famous Viking king’s initials.

 

5. USB Symbol

Universal Serial Bus, or USB, has been through some changes since its debut in the mid-’90s. There’s USB 2.0, 3.0, and now Type-C (which has finally made its way to the iPhone). Such a powerful technology capable of connecting a variety of peripherals deserves an equally powerful symbol, so why not use Neptune’s trident? This divine pitchfork-inspired symbol has been around since the technology's inception, and the different symbols at its three tips — a circle, square, and triangle — represent all the disparate technologies that can now be connected via the Universal Serial Bus.

 

6. Wi-Fi Sign

This ubiquitous wireless technology got its name when the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) created the 802.11 standard that we now simply call Wi-Fi (a big improvement from the name “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence”). The Wi-Fi Alliance, which owns the Wi-Fi trademark, created a logo inspired by the yin-yang symbol from Chinese philosophy. This was a nod to the technology’s universal compatibility but also to its literal function — it existed yet it was invisible. But a practical symbol that conveyed the strength of that Wi-Fi connection had to translate the invisible into the visible, so the Wi-Fi signal symbol was created to express invisible electromagnetic waves, which propagate as radio waves to deliver wireless internet to your devices.

 

7. Play Button

Although many of these symbols have definitive beginnings, the play button’s exact origin story is a bit of mystery. What is known is that the symbol first appeared on reel-to-reel tape decks in the mid-1960s — the grandfather of the cassette tapes that ruled the ’80s (and are now making an unexpected comeback). Luckily, the reason for the play button is much more clear, as it simply points in the direction in which the tape moves.

 

8. @ Symbol

While the rest of these icons have their foundations in the digital age, the @ symbol is an emblem from the medieval era that almost fell into obscurity. Although scholars debate where the @ symbol originated — some say medieval monks invented it while looking for handwriting shortcuts — its first definitive use arrived in the mid-16th century, and merchants often used the symbol to communicate buying rates (bananas @ $1, for example). However, the information age eschewed the @ symbol, and it almost disappeared entirely until 1971, when Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) programmer Raymond Tomlinson decided to use the neglected symbol to separate users and terminals in computer network addresses — or what we today call “email.” “I was mostly looking for a symbol that wasn’t used much,” he once told the Smithsonian. “And there weren’t a lot of options.” With the more recent addition of the symbol in social media handles, the reign of “@” is strong.

 

 

Source: The Stories Behind 8 Everyday Electronic Emblems

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ELSEST VS. OLDEST

Did you know.... When it comes to adjectives related to age, choosing between eldest and oldest can cause some people to grow a few premature gray hairs. The words seem interchangeable and their preferred usage is unclear. Why say oldest person alive and not eldest person alive? What exactly is the difference between the two?

 

According to Merriam-Webster, the most significant distinction is that eldest and elder are only ever used to refer to people. An antique can’t be the eldest in a collection, only the oldest. But your older sister could be the eldest among your siblings.

 

Eldest is most often used in the context of people who are related either as family or as part of a group for comparison purposes. It also doesn’t necessarily have to refer to age. If someone joins a chess club in their 80s, they might be the oldest person in the group, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily the eldest. That would describe the member of the group who’s been there the longest, even if that person is in their 30s.

 

Oldest can certainly refer to people, but it’s best to opt for eldest when comparing people within a social or familial community. And remember that elder can also be used as a noun, while older cannot. You would respect the elders in your family, not the olders.

 

Source: Eldest vs. Oldest: What’s the Difference?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HOLIDAY MOVIES

Did you know... Most of us are familiar with holiday-themed movies like It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story, whether they’re remembered from childhood or part of an annual tradition today. But even the die-hard enthusiasts who’ve committed the dialogue to heart may not know the behind-the-scenes stories that helped bring these heartwarming films to life. Here are nine facts about some of the classics that regularly show up on our TVs in November and December, but of course can be enjoyed at any time of year.

 

1. A New Kind of Fake Snow Was Created for “It’s a Wonderful Life”

The problem that plagues many holiday movies is how to create convincing snow when there isn’t any, and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) director Frank Capra wasn't satisfied with the bleached cornflakes that had been used to middling effect in other Hollywood features. Fortunately, RKO special-effects man Russell Shearman found a solution by mixing the carbon dioxide foam found in fire extinguishers with soap, sugar, and water. The resulting mix not only looked the part (and was much less noisy than cornflakes), but it also held up through fan-controlled applications that could be sped up to simulate a blizzard. More than enough of this “snow” was created to give the fictional Bedford Falls a wintry backdrop despite the film's summertime shoot, and Shearman later received a technical achievement Oscar for his contribution to movie magic.

 

2. The Thanksgiving Day Parade in “Miracle on 34th Street” Was Real

Staging a parade in a movie can be an arduous undertaking with all the performers, set pieces, and choreography involved, but the creators of Miracle on 34th Street (1947) were fortunate to gain permission to hitch their wagons to New York City's annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1946. As co-star Maureen O'Hara recalled in her memoir, the experience of working around the event's schedule was stressful for everyone involved: “They weren't going to run the parade more than once on our account ... It was a mad scramble to get all the shots we needed and we got to do each scene only once.” Nevertheless, the cameras got enough footage of Edmund Gwenn’s Kris Kringle waving to fans as he rode through Manhattan in Santa's sleigh, and the authenticity of the scene set the tone for what became a true holiday classic of Hollywood’s golden age.

 

3. “White Christmas” Was Supposed to Pair Fred Astaire With Bing Crosby

Following the success of 1942’s Holiday Inn and 1946’s Blue Skies, 1954’s White Christmas was meant to once again pair the singing and dancing talents of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. When Astaire declined to participate over his dissatisfaction with the script, the role of Phil was offered to Donald O’Connor. When he was stricken with illness before production began, the casting merry-go-round ended with Danny Kaye stepping in. Crosby at one point also backed out of the movie following the death of his wife in 1952, before returning to play the part of Bob the following year.

 

4. A Pioneering Japanese Stop-Motion Animator Was Behind “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Tadahito Mochinaga created China’s first stop-motion puppet animation with a 1940s propaganda film mocking nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, and he created Japan’s first stop-motion puppet animation the following decade for a beer company. Those pioneering efforts caught the attention of American TV producers Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, who tapped the Tokyo-based filmmaker to animate an adaptation of a Depression-era Christmas story turned hit holiday tune. Mochinaga brought his trademark detail to the project, even spending time in a Japanese deer sanctuary to better render the distinct features of the main characters. The mesmerizing result can still be witnessed many years later, as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) became the first in a string of popular Rankin/Bass seasonal holiday programs, en route to becoming the longest-running Christmas special in TV history.

 

5. Head Animator Bill Melendez Voiced Snoopy in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) marked the Peanuts gang’s first major entry into the world of animated television. This brought numerous questions about how to translate the popular comic strip to the screen, among which was what to do about the voice of Snoopy. Although Peanuts creator Charles Schulz wanted to downplay Snoopy’s role, head animator Bill Melendez insisted on enhancing the beagle’s personality through his voice, and set about recording a series of noises that he hoped could be replicated by a trained voice actor. With time running out to finish the special, Melendez went with the sped-up, higher-pitched recordings he had been tinkering with instead of hiring another actor. Schulz was amused by Snoopy’s nonsensical ramblings, and Melendez was rewarded with the responsibility of voicing Charlie Brown’s pet for subsequent TV specials and animated features.

 

6. Flick’s Tongue Wasn't Really Stuck to the Flagpole in “A Christmas Story”

You may have already figured there was nothing approaching actual danger for the actor in this enduring scene of A Christmas Story (1983), although clever set design ensured that the visual of a tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole seemed real enough. According to actor Scott Schwartz, the pole was wrapped with a layer of plastic, through which a clear tube ran down to a motorized vacuum buried in the snow. When Schwartz’s Flick plugged his tongue into a tiny hole in the plastic, the tube's suction was strong enough to keep his organ in place, but mild enough to be easily withdrawn. All in all, it was painless enough for Schwartz to shoot the entire scene twice — after the first round of footage was damaged by underdeveloped film.

 

7. “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” Was Based on a True Story

Back when acclaimed screenwriter and director John Hughes was an unknown advertising copy man, he regularly traveled from Chicago to New York City on behalf of a client. During one blustery winter day, strong winds nixed the return flight to Chicago and forced him to find a hotel for the night. More cancellations awaited the following day due to deteriorating weather in the Midwest, and Hughes wound up on a flight that was rerouted to Des Moines, Iowa, and then Denver, Colorado, before he decided to remain on board for the sunnier destination of Phoenix, Arizona. Hughes eventually made it to Chicago five days later than originally planned, the torturous experience leaving a lasting imprint that became the basis of his 1987 Thanksgiving travel comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

 

8. Macaulay Culkin's Iconic Facial Gesture in “Home Alone” Was Improvise

Even fans who haven't seen Home Alone (1990) in eons can recall the image of Macaulay Culkin, as the abandoned Kevin McCallister, slapping aftershave on his face and screaming into the mirror. However, that scene didn't quite go according to plan; most people would move their hands after creating a burning sensation on their face, and director Chris Columbus instructed his young star to do so. Instead, Culkin kept his hands glued to his face as he screamed at his reflection, prompting everyone else to break up in laughter. Although different reactions were tried in subsequent takes, it was that first one that stuck and became a defining moment of the immensely successful comedy despite encompassing a tiny fraction of the 103-minute running time.

 

9. The Shower-Duet Scene in “Elf” Was Written for Actress Zooey Deschanel

While Elf (2003) was built around the physical comedic chops and man-child persona of star Will Ferrell, the endearing scene of Ferrell’s Buddy discovering Jovie singing in the shower didn’t take shape until Zooey Deschanel joined the production. According to Deschanel, the scene was initially a fluid one that would showcase the individual talent of the actress cast as Jovie; once her crooning abilities became apparent, the specifics of Buddy naively wandering into the women’s changing room fell into place. An added bonus was Ferrell’s surprisingly solid pipes, which brings a layer of sweetness to the building tension until Jovie inevitably realizes Buddy’s presence and orders him out.

 

 

Source: Magical Facts About Favorite Holiday Movies

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DUMBO AND WORLD WAR II

Did you know... Each year, TIME magazine commemorates a Person of the Year, someone the editorial staff believes had the greatest impact on the culture at large. For 2023, Taylor Swift was chosen; past years have included everyone from presidents to popes.

 

But in 1941, the magazine satirized its own idea by naming Dumbo “Mammal of the Year.” And were it not for Pearl Harbor, the pachyderm would have been on the cover.

 

Based on the book Dumbo the Flying Elephant by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, Disney’s Dumbo was the story of a baby elephant who is exploited in a circus for his oversized ears—ears that eventually enable him to take flight. Though brief (it runs just 64 minutes), the film represented a comeback for Disney, which suffered financial losses with Pinocchio and Fantasia and production setbacks from an animators’ strike.

 

Dumbo was, in a sense, the baby Yoda of the period, and so TIME formulated plans to present him as Mammal of the Year on the cover of its December 29, 1941, issue. The magazine even commissioned Disney artists to render the character as a black and white pencil drawing.

 

 

But as the issue was being prepared, news broke of an attack on Pearl Harbor. The battle would catapult the U.S. firmly into World War II, an event that made profiling a cute cartoon elephant irrelevant at best and offensive at worst. Instead, TIME scrambled to place General Douglas MacArthur on its cover.

 

Dumbo was never intended to supplant or replace TIME’s Person (formerly Man) of the Year. In 1941, that was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. To date, the publication has named only two non-human subjects for the annual honor: the computer in 1982 and Earth in 1988.

 

TIME did still profile Dumbo in the pages of its December 29 issue, citing him as a kind of respite from the tragedies unfolding around the world.

 

“The most appealing new character of this year of war, he is almost sure to end up in the exclusive kingdom of children’s classics,” the magazine wrote. “He may not become a U.S. folk hero, but he is certainly the mammal-of-the-year.”

 

Source: Dumbo Drop: How World War II Kept Dumbo From Becoming ’TIME’ Magazine’s “Mammal of the Year”

Edited December 11, 2023 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BRITISH PUBS

Did you know... You may have strolled down a British high street and noticed several pubs with signs depicting Red Lions, White Harts, or Royal Oaks. Though their names may not be very original or unique, British pubs offer a snapshot of the local community, and serve as a space shared by a diverse set of people. They’re also a window into the country’s history. Pub names can tell you about technological advances, warring monarchs, and even a king’s famous escape from onrushing attackers. Here are the stories behind the 10 most common pub names in Britain today.

 

1. The Red Lion

The Red Lion is the most popular pub name in Britain. It certainly seems like a peculiar choice: Wild lions have not prowled the area for thousands of years, and there certainly aren’t any red ones. But the popularity of the name—which is on the signs of more than 500 British pubs—may come down to two different reasons. The first goes back to 14th-century England and a man called John of Gaunt. John was the third son of King Edward III, and a succession crisis led to infighting within the family. The country’s support was split between John and his nephew, who would eventually become king Richard II. John had incorporated the red lion into his coat of arms after he married into the Castilian royal family, which featured the animal on their coat of arms. Meanwhile, Richard’s emblem was a white hart (more on that in a moment). According to Albert Jack, author of The Old Dog and Duck, pubs would show their support for John by displaying a red lion outside; those who favored Richard opted for a white hart. While Richard became the man on the throne, it seems that John would have the last laugh—his son would eventually capture the throne from Richard and crown himself Henry IV. But there’s a second reason why Red Lion pubs are so popular. Two centuries after John of Gaunt died, a Scottish king ascended the English throne for the first time. James VI and I ordered many public buildings to show their support for him by displaying his crest, which also happened to be a red lion. 

 

2. The Crown

There’s a reason so many pub signs are simple. In a time when the majority of people couldn’t read, a distinctive sign could help them recognize that this was a place where they could get a drink and a hot meal. A crown is a straightforward, easy-to-identify emblem. In a country that has had a monarch for as long as the UK, the crown is an easy win for pub landlords whose loyalty to the throne may at one point have been questioned. The crown symbol outside taverns goes back as far as the Romans, according to folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, author of Green Men & White Swans: The Folklore of British Pub Names

 

3. The Royal Oak

You may be sensing a royal theme here, which shows the importance of the monarchy to British history. The Royal Oak name goes back to the English Civil War. King Charles II was up against Oliver Cromwell and his followers, who wanted more power for a parliament instead of absolute rule from the king. In 1651, Charles II was on the run and Cromwell had offered a £1000 reward for his capture. While being pursued by Cromwell’s men, the king hid in the thick upper branches of an oak tree for a day. Charles would later tell English diarist Samuel Pepys how close he was to being found: “While we were in this tree we saw soldiers going up and down in the thicket of the wood, searching for persons escaped, we seeing them, now and then, peeping out of the wood.” Charles II returned to the throne in 1660. As a celebration of his restoration as king, many pub landlords took up the name the Royal Oak. The tree itself, near Boscobel House in Shropshire, became famous. Over the next few decades it became a popular site for royalists, who would take branches away as souvenirs. This destroyed the oak, so an acorn was taken from it and planted nearby as the tree’s “son.” Centuries later, when the son was damaged by bad weather, King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, took one of its acorns and planted a tree to be the Royal Oak’s grandson.

 

4. The White Hart

A white hart—another name for a white stag—is a rare sight that’s thought to be a symbol of good luck. One old legend tells the story of a brave hero managing to tame a white stag enough to attach a gold collar to its neck. The animal’s association with courage and fortune are probably why a young King Richard II chose it as his emblem when he ascended to the throne at the age of 10. According to James Potts and Sam Cullen, authors of What’s in a London Pub Name?, as Richard II saw more Red Lion pubs cropping up in support of his uncle John of Gaunt, he ordered pubs to show the White Hart instead. But a 1381 uprising from the common people threatened his position and sent his popularity plummeting. King Richard II, only 14 at the time, negotiated a truce, only to immediately go back on his word and brutally crush the Peasants’ Revolt. This likely led a lot of common pub owners to reverse their decisions and show the red lion crest instead. While the Red Lion is far more popular, there are still nearly 300 White Hart pubs in Britain. 

 

5. The Railway

The most popular pub name without a royal connection offers insight into how important rail travel was to the UK’s development. While railways have existed in one form or another for centuries, Britain was the first place to get steam-powered trains in the 19th century. The rail network transformed the country, cutting travel times and making it easier to transport people and goods. And with easier travel came the need for a place to rest and even stay the night. Travel and hospitality have always gone together, and while you would previously have found inns for weary travelers along main roads or canals, now you could find them by train stations. If you see a Railway pub today that’s nowhere near a station, look around it. As David Brandon, author of Discovering Pub Names and Signs, writes, it’s probably a sign that there was a train station nearby at some point in the past. 

 

6. The Plough

This easy-to-understand sign pays tribute to a common tool for farmers. It may also be a nod to the process of harvesting the goods offered inside, as grain and fruit are some of the basic ingredients used to make beer, spirits, and wine. Seeing this pub name in a town center is another reminder of the UK’s rural history.  

 

7. The Swan

The origins of this one aren’t clear. The birds can be found on some heraldry, while other Swan pubs may have been named after their landlord’s surname. According to Jacqueline Simpson, there probably isn’t a specific folk story involved with the name. It’s likely the elegance and regal qualities associated with swans were enough to make them a popular image on pub signs. Sometimes, a pretty picture is enough to sell a venue.

 

8. The White Horse

We’ve established by now that a lot of common pub names depend on who is sitting on the throne. And a new dynasty results in renewed showings of loyalty. When the House of Hanover took over the British Crown in 1714, they brought with them the white horse on their coat of arms. The Hanoverians had German roots and drew on European mythology surrounding horses, which depicted  the animals as a symbol of battle, strength, and wisdom. A rare white horse was first found on the coat of arms of Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen in 1361, according to the Royal Mint. While the white horse was taken off the royal coat of arms in 1837 when Queen Victoria took the throne, its legacy survives in the name of more than 250 British pubs. 

 

9. The King's Arms

This pub name is not talking about a king’s actual arms. Instead, it’s another reference to the coat of arms the monarch and his men carried into battle. Heraldry was an important part of showing loyalty, and the general public would have easily recognized common emblems. While you may have had to tweak the coat of arms displayed on your sign every few years, at least the name The King’s Arms could stay the same—until Mary I became the first queen regnant of England, of course. 

 

10. The New Inn

Don’t be fooled by the name: Many pubs with new in their names are anything but modern. However, they would, at one point, have been new. Perhaps the landlord couldn’t think of a more unique name, instead opting to keep it simple. One theory is that many “New” pubs came into existence every time alcohol licensing laws loosened. What’s clear now though, is that the UK could do with a lot more new pubs. The country is losing them at a rate of more than two a day. 

 

 

Source: The Stories Behind the Most Popular British Pub Names

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH?

Did you know... 

In the typical Christmastime narrative of Jesus Christ’s birth, he’s born in a manger and visited by three wise men. They’re sometimes referred to as kings from the East or the Orient, and sometimes as Magi, and they come bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

That first one is something most people are familiar with. The other two are a little more obscure.

 

Frankincense and myrrh are the dried sap of trees, also known as resin. Frankincense comes from the deciduous trees of the genus Boswellia, and myrrh from some species in the genus Commiphora, all of which are found on the Horn of Africa and the coastal countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

 

 

Extracting the sap for frankincense and myrrh is essentially the same process: Harvesters make a vertical cut in the tree’s trunk, piercing the sap reservoirs inside the bark. The sap oozes out and drips down the trunk and is left to dry and harden. After a few days or weeks, harvesters come back and collect the lumps of resin.

 

Both resins have traditionally been used as incense and medicine. Frankincense has a woody, fruity smell that is activated when it’s burned; it perfumed ancient Roman homes, archaic Egyptian rituals, and modern Catholic masses. In antiquity, physicians used frankincense to treat ailments ranging from poisoning to diarrhea to leprosy. In some Asian traditional medicines it’s a treatment for indigestion and relieving inflammation.

 

 

Myrrh, meanwhile, has a medicinal, somewhat bitter smell when it’s burned. It is an astringent (a substance that causes tissues to constrict), so it was often used to dress wounds. Today, it’s still used to prevent and treat gum disease, and it sometimes shows up in toothpastes and mouthwashes. Myrrh can also be added to alcoholic drinks and wine. It flavors some brands of fernet, the Italian liqueur that’s an unofficial national drink of Argentina.

 

 

Source: What Are Frankincense and Myrrh, Anyway?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CHRISTMAS TREES

Did you know... Christmas trees are perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the winter holiday season, so it’s no wonder that Americans make them a focus of the holiday. Whether you buy one from a tree lot or cut your own, nearly 30 million evergreens are sold every year in the lead-up to Christmas, and that’s just a fraction of the 350 million that are growing on Christmas tree farms throughout the U.S. Read on for 10 more facts about Christmas trees, from their origins to how they’re beneficial all year long.

 

1. Two Countries Claim To Be the Site of the First Decorated Tree

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when Christmas trees became a symbol of winter celebrations. While some historians believe they’re an ancient pagan symbol, others suggest they may not be as old as we think. The neighboring countries of Latvia and Estonia both lay claim to being the home of the first decorated Christmas tree, and both countries point to the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a guild for merchants and traders, as proof. Members of the guild kick-started the Lenten season with tree decorating and burning in city marketplaces starting in the 15th century, though historians say there’s no conclusive evidence that these were the world’s first Christmas tree decorations.

 

2. Historians Give Germany Credit for the Christmas Tree Tradition

Regardless of the debate between Latvia and Estonia, and the fact that evergreen trees were the centerpieces of ancient solstice celebrations, many historians attribute the modern tradition of decorating an indoor tree to German culture. Researchers point to 17th-century Strasbourg, a French city that was once part of Germany, and which is thought to be home to the oldest Christmas tree market. Writings from 1605 record what historians believe is also the first indoor Christmas tree there, decorated with apples, roses, and sweet treats.

 

3. The First Artificial Christmas Trees Were Made From Feathers

It only seems right that the creators of the modern Christmas tree would also create the first artificial version. By the 19th century, demand for holiday trees had caused issues in the German lumber industry, making room for sap-free alternatives to emerge. The first artificial trees were produced in Germany during the 1880s, and commonly made from goose feathers (although turkey, chicken, or swan feathers dyed green were also used). The plumes were attached to metal wires to form delicate branches that got their lift from a wooden base.

 

4. British Royals Helped Popularize Christmas Trees

German immigrants helped spread the Christmas tree tradition throughout the world, though it wasn’t especially well received until the British royal family got involved. Many Puritan communities in the American colonies outlawed the decorations (and even Christmas celebrations themselves) in part because of their pagan associations. Across the Atlantic, the German-born Queen Charlotte, wife of British King George III, introduced the tradition of Christmas trees to her adopted country during the late 18th century. Two generations later, Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert, fueled the tradition when images of their family and decorated tree hit London newsstands in 1848.

 

5. The White House Didn’t Have a Christmas Tree Until 1889

The 2023 holiday decorations at the White House include 98 Christmas trees, but the Executive Mansion hasn’t always been bedecked by firs this time of year. It wasn’t until 1889, during President Benjamin Harrison’s administration, that a Christmas tree first appeared on the White House grounds. Just five years later, President Grover Cleveland became the first President to swap candles for electric tree lights, and it took another three decades before Calvin Coolidge lit the country’s first national Christmas tree in 1923.

 

6. Christmas Trees Grow for About 7 Years

Even with ample amounts of water, freshly cut Christmas trees have a relatively short life span, lasting between four and six weeks after harvest. However, it takes most Christmas trees years before they’re ready to leave the tree farm. Some species, like Fraser firs, can take up to 14 years to reach a desirable height of 6 to 7 feet, while Leyland cypress trees can grow as much as 3 feet per year. On average, Christmas trees move from the sapling stage to fully decorated displays in about seven years.

 

7. More Than Half of a Christmas Tree’s Weight Comes From Water

Hydration is key to keeping a Christmas tree in tip-top shape, both before and after it’s cut. The average Christmas tree weighs between 50 and 70 pounds, and upon harvest, half that weight comes from water the tree has absorbed. Freshly cut trees are heavy drinkers — just like when they were still rooted — and require about a gallon of water a day to stay green.

 

8. Oregon Grows More Christmas Trees Than Any Other State
The U.S. is home to around 1 million acres of Christmas tree farms, scattered throughout every single state (including Hawaii). One state, however, is known for being the country’s top producer: Oregon. Tree farmers there grow 31% of the U.S. holiday tree crop on more than 1,000 farms, totaling 4.5 million trees sold in the state each year.

 

9. Some Farms Use Helicopters to Harvest Christmas Trees

Big box stores aren’t the only retailers that feel a holiday crunch; Christmas tree farms do, too, with time-sensitive tree chopping that starts in early November and lasts just five to six weeks. The job can be tricky because of the physical labor involved in trimming, cutting, and moving trees off the farm, which is why some businesses turn to heavy-duty machinery, such as helicopters, for help. After cutting batches of trees, farmers bundle between 12 and 14 trees together with rope, then secure them to hooked lines hung from a helicopter. Pilots then deliver the haul to another location where the trees can be loaded onto trucks going to market. Some farmers say using helicopters to do the heavy lifting is five times more efficient than “mud harvesting,” aka dragging cut trees through grass and mud.

 

10. Christmas Trees Produce Tons of Oxygen
Christmas trees don’t just brighten up the dark nights of early winter — they also help provide the oxygen we need to breathe. Before they’re cut, Christmas trees function just like any other tree, absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases, and releasing oxygen into their environment. One tree can absorb about 1 ton of carbon dioxide during its time growing, and one planted acre of Christmas trees generates enough oxygen for 18 people every day — a reason to celebrate Christmas conifers all year long.

 

 

Source: Festive Facts About Christmas Trees

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - JOKES AND BRAINSTEASERS

Did you know.... Since the humble beginnings of language itself, people have been trying to make others laugh.

 

In 2008, historians announced that they had identified the oldest recorded joke in history: A Sumerian fart joke dating back to 1900 BCE. 

 

A joke book from 1739 titled Joe Miller’s Jests promises “most brilliant jests; the politest repartees; the most elegant bon mots, and most pleasant short stories in the English language.”

 

Puniana, a book of puns published in 1867, contains a plethora of puns that, according to one review, “present the usual anomaly of being good, because they are so bad.”

 

In the latest episode of The List Show, host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy shares 9 jokes and brainteasers from history, including puzzling riddles and puns that transcend time.

 

 

 

Source: World’s Oldest Jokes and Brainteasers

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DARK ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS SONG

Did you know... Hugh Martin was crestfallen. He and his creative partner, Ralph Blane, had just finished performing a melancholy ballad that Martin had written for Judy Garland to sing in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis—and the producers were laughing. 

 

“It’s not supposed to be funny,” Martin said. 

 

They knew that. In fact, it was sort of why they were laughing: because the song was “so depressingly sad,” as Martin remembered one of them saying. 

 

It would take some pressure from one of Garland’s co-stars to convince Martin to change the lyrics, paving the way for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to become a bona fide holiday hit. As it turned out, though, it wasn’t the last time he’d be asked to edit the song.

 

“The Audience Will Think I’m a Monster”
In 1943, Martin and Blane were holed up in adjacent rooms composing songs for Meet Me in St. Louis when Martin landed on a melody that seemed promising. But after a couple days of trying and failing to cultivate the first 16 bars into a full-fledged song, he decided to toss it. It was Blane who, having heard the struggle from next door, encouraged him to pick it back up. 

 

“I have a funny feeling about that little tune,” Blane said, as Martin recounted in his 2010 autobiography, The Boy Next Door. “It sounds like a madrigal.”

 

 

 

Madrigals are a type of poetic, Renaissance-era chamber music performed by choirs, and Blane’s observation prompted Martin to look for inspiration in the Christmas section of the screenplay. The writer’s block dissipated. Within about an hour, Martin had finished “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” lyrics and all:

 

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Pop that champagne cork
Next year we may all be living in New York
No good times like the olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us no more
But at least we all will be together
If the Lord allows
From now on, we’ll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now”

 

As far as Christmas songs go, it doesn’t get much darker than “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last.” But the words do match the big feelings at play in the film: Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames) is planning to relocate his family from St. Louis to New York City after the holidays, and his children couldn’t be more devastated by the idea. Seventeen-year-old Esther Smith (Judy Garland) sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to her kid sister, Tootie (Margaret O’Brien), as the two contemplate leaving behind every happiness they’ve ever known.

 

 

 

Everyone, from the producers to Garland herself, agreed that while the melody was winning, the fatalism of the lyrics was simply too bleak for the movie. “It’s OK for it to be bittersweet and nostalgic,” producer Arthur Freed said, “but it shouldn’t be a dirge.”

 

Garland put it even more succinctly: “If I sing that lyric to little Margaret O’Brien, the audience will think I’m a monster.”

 

“Jolly It Up A Little Bit”
Martin was so loath to alter the song that he actually offered to compose a whole new one rather than water down what he’d already written. He finally relented after a good-natured intervention by Tom Drake, who was playing Esther Smith’s romantic interest John Truett.

 

“He took me aside one day and said, ‘Hugh, you’re being a stupid son of a bitch,’” Martin recalled years later. “He sat me down over a cup of coffee and we talked about it for five minutes, and he convinced me it could be an important song.”

 

 

 

So Martin penned new lyrics whose underlying message was less “Make the most of this Christmas, because you’ll spend every Christmas hereafter pining for it,” and more “Our problems won’t last forever—don’t let them ruin Christmas.”

 

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a Merry little Christmas now”

 

This was the version heard in the film and released as a single that same year. For a nation at war, its hope and nostalgia struck a chord; according to one (possibly apocryphal) story, military members were moved to tears when Garland performed it for them at the Hollywood Canteen.

 

The song’s next big break came in 1957, when Frank Sinatra rang Martin with a request. He was gearing up to record a Christmas album titled A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, he explained, and he wanted “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on it.

 

“But it’s just not very jolly,” he told Martin. “Do you think you could jolly it up a little bit for me?”

 

 

 

With that, the last bastions of the song’s original tone landed on the cutting room floor. Martin replaced “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow” with “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.” He also tweaked several other lines so the narrator would no longer be aspiring toward a happy future Christmas but rather describing the happy one of the present. “Faithful friends who were dear to us / Will be near to us once more,” for example, became “Faithful friends who are dear to us / Gather near to us once more.”

 

“Twisted Sisters … That’s a Hoot!”
Martin, who passed away in 2011 at age 96, always maintained his belief that the first iteration of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” fit the film. But it’s tough to deny that the two updated versions make better standalone Christmas songs—and not just because they’re less morose. They’re also really non-specific.

 

Trying to set aside your troubles for the sake of a happy holiday is universally relatable; the prospect of living in New York isn’t. (Not to mention that New York doesn’t really work as a general symbol of doom outside the context of the story.) And by swapping “If the Lord allows” for “If the fates allow,” Martin shifted the whole number toward the secular side of the Christmas song spectrum. 

 

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” also doesn’t reference any outdated Christmas customs—like wassailing or figgy pudding—that make other holiday classics seem archaic to many modern listeners. (Though the original version didn’t, either.) What the song does provide is pathos in the rhetorical sense: a blank slate of wistful optimism that each listener can color in with their own personal reasons for feeling it.

 

 

 

These factors combine to make “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” a one-size-fits-all Christmas standard well suited to any genre in any era. Bob Dylan, the Pretenders, the Backstreet Boys, the Carpenters, Thomas Rhett, Whitney Houston, Coldplay, The Jackson 5, Phoebe Bridgers, Sam Smith, Kacey Musgraves, and the Cheetah Girls are a small fraction of the artists who’ve covered it over the years.

 

Despite Martin’s early reluctance to change his tune, he came to embrace the versatility of “Have Yourself a Merry Christmas” as we know it today. In 2006, when music journalist Chris Willman told him that heavy metal band Twisted Sister had just covered the track, Martin was delighted. “Twisted Sisters, is that the group’s name?” he said. “Ha ha ha. That’s a hoot!”

 

 

Source: How “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Went From Morbid Omen to Holiday Mainstay

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SANTA CLAUS

Did you know.... Thanksgiving’s turkeys have been gobbled, elves are on shelves, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Although December 25 is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (whose birthday might actually be in the spring), to many children, Christmas means one thing: a visit from Santa Claus. And right now, surrogate Santas are everywhere — posing for photos, ringing bells for charity, and bar-hopping through downtowns. Here are seven fantastic facts about the jolly old elf himself.

 

1. He Has Saintly Origins

Santa Claus (or Father Christmas in the U.K.) has his origins in the fourth-century Turkish bishop who, once canonized, became St. Nicholas. The patron saint of children and sailors, Nicholas was venerated for his generosity and kindness and became the patron saint of children, sailors, and unmarried girls, as well as of Greece and Russia. The sailors, in particular, spread stories of him throughout Europe, and thousands of churches bear his name.

 

2. The Dutch Saved (and Spread) Protestant Santa Claus

After the Reformation, the prominence of St. Nicholas receded in Protestant countries — except for Holland. The Dutch continued to revere their Sinterklaas and brought the tradition of Santa Claus with them when they began colonizing New Amsterdam (we now call it New York) in the 17th century. Although the dour Puritans waged war on all Christmas merriment, actually banning it in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659, other Americans embraced Santa Claus, and eventually the holiday took hold in the New World.

 

3. Santa Claus Started on a Donkey

Before he had reindeer, St. Nicholas was said to deliver gifts via donkey. One of the most famous legends told of him dropping gold coins through a window to provide dowries for three poor sisters. On the evening before his feast day (December 6), children in northern Europe leave their shoes out — sometimes filled with a carrot or twist of hay for the donkey — in hopes of waking to find them filled with small gifts.

 

4. A Poem Made Modern Santa Claus

Depictions of Santa varied, but that all changed on December 23, 1823, when a newspaper in Troy, New York, published an anonymous poem titled “A Visit From St. Nicholas.” We know that poem as “The Night Before Christmas,” and the author’s description of a red-suited, white-bearded, big-bellied “jolly old elf” still informs our visions of Santa. The poem also introduced his first eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen (although the last two are often listed as “Dunder and Blixem” in the original poem — Dutch for “thunder and lightning” and a popular expression among Dutch Americans of the day). Fan favorite Rudolph, meanwhile, didn’t make an appearance until 1939.

 

5. But “The Night Before Christmas” May Have Been Plagiarized

After the poem was published, its origins remained anonymous for decades before New York scholar Clement C. Moore claimed authorship in 1844, including it in a collection of his poems. But descendants of Poughkeepsie poet and farmer Henry Livingston Jr. — and a growing number of academics — contend that linguistic analysis confirms Livingston was the true author of the beloved holiday saga.

 

6. Santa Has an Evil Twin

Well, an evil Austrian counterpart, anyway. While St. Nicholas is busy passing out presents to good boys and girls, kids on the naughty list should keep an eye out for Krampus. This half-man, half-goat doesn’t only bring coal and switches to the naughty — particularly bratty kids might be kidnapped or even taken straight to hell.

 

7. Santa Gets a Lot of Mail

The big man has millions of fans, and they want to keep in touch. You can visit Santa at a department store near you (the first was in Philadelphia, in 1841), or catch him atop his sleigh at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A lot of children prefer to put their lists in writing: French children send perhaps the most per capita, addressing more than a million envelopes a year to Père Noël. Canadian kids can write to Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada, and elves help out with American mail sent to Santa Claus, Indiana. Children can also send letters and wish lists to Santa via the USPS Operation Santa program by addressing them to 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.

 

Source: Merry Facts About Santa Claus