Fact of the Day

DarkRavie · January 3, 2020

Fact of the Day - DROUGHTS

Did you know... that drought is a term used to define a period of time in which there is below-average precipitation in a region that results in water shortages, lasting from weeks, to months, to years? A drought can be declared in as little as 15 days, and drought can be the result of water shortages in ground water, surface water, or even atmospheric water. Droughts have the ability to harm more than just the agriculture and ecosystem of the region, but also the economy of those living in the region. Drought can have even more far-reaching impacts when it affects a region that supplies agricultural products to other regions. Some regions have become so prone to drought conditions that the plants have adapted to become drought tolerant, while other plants cease to grow in the area.

The four main types of drought include meteorological (low rain or precipitation), agricultural (lack of soil moisture), hydrological (low water levels in lakes and other water sources), and socioeconomic (drinking and tap water shortages).
Throughout history droughts have resulted in mass migration, which means that large numbers of people have been displaced from their homes and had to rebuild their lives in new areas, and many times in new countries.
Droughts can result in decreased crop yield, and less livestock capacity.
Droughts can cause dust bowls, which can result in the top soil layer being completely blown away, leaving behind soil that does not have enough nutrients to sustain crop growth once the drought has ceased.
Droughts do damage to the habitat of animals, birds, and fish as well.
Drought can result in severe malnutrition, disease, and dehydration to those who rely on local water.
When droughts occur in regions that are powered by hydroelectric dams, the electricity production can be negatively affected.
Droughts can result in wildfires as the vegetation is dry and susceptible to catching fire more easily.
Low water levels can result in the accumulation of toxic chemicals in the water which enters the human food supply chain through seafood.
Drought results in lack of water for irrigating crops. This seriously affects the food chain and can result in famine.
The drought in 1900 in India resulted in the deaths of as many as 3.25 million people.
5 million in Russia died between 1921 and 1922 from starvation due to drought.
3 million people in Northwest China died between 1928 and 1930 due to famine resulting from drought.
Droughts can lead to war, as people are forced to gain access to water from outside of their region. Sudan's conflict in Darfur was partially a result of decades of drought. Other contributions to the conflict include overpopulation and land degradation.
Between 1969 and 1980 in Africa, 150 million people were affected by drought.
Snakes often migrate when drought occurs, which can occur in increased snake bites to human populations.
While drought is often the result of weather patterns, human activity can be a cause of drought. Deforestation, farming, excessive irrigation, erosion, and climate change due to global warming are all human causes of drought.

A megadrought is a prolonged drought that spans multiple decades, causing widespread shortages in freshwater resources. The following facts and statistics provide insight into this long-term natural disaster that results a significant impact on water supplies and agriculture.

NASA scientists predict that there is an 80 percent chance of a megadrought in the Southwest United States before the end of the century.
If emissions are reduced, the probability of a megadrought in the Great Plains by the end of the century will drop to an estimated 60-70%.
A once thriving settlement by the Pueblo peoples in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico was abandoned in the 13th century due to a 60-year megadrought.
In the past 1,200 years California has experienced two megadroughts that lasted up to 200 years.
California’s climate was unusually wet in the 20th century compared to previous centuries.
If carbon emissions don’t start declining by 2050, the risk of a decade-long drought in the Southwest and Central Plains doubles in the second half of the century.
NASA scientists predict that a megadrought could occur as early as 2050.
A single El Niño weather pattern in the West could interrupt periods of prolonged drought.
The African Sahel region has experienced a megadrought every every 30 to 60 years with an extended megadrought from 1400 to 1750.
A 300-year drought starting about 4,200 years ago was linked to the collapse of the Akkadians in Mesopotamia, the world’s first great empire.
For comparison, the 1930s Dust Bowl in the Midwest, considered America’s worst drought in the 20th century, lasted just four to eight years in some areas.

Edited January 3, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 4, 2020

Fact of the Day - SASQUATCH (BIGFOOT)

Did you know... that in North American folklore, Bigfoot or Sasquatch are said to be hairy, upright-walking, ape-like creatures that dwell in the wilderness and leave footprints? Depictions often portray them as a missing link between humans and human ancestors or other great apes.

As a seldom-sighted creature of myth, Bigfoot is sort of similar to Santa Claus, if Santa Claus was an eight-foot-tall, fur-covered, naked forest monster. There are those who are convinced that Bigfoot is real, however, and some — such as the Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings (or AIMS) — have dedicated their lives to finding proof.

There are 12 different types of Bigfoot

While many cultures have their own version of Bigfoot—including the formidable Yeti of the Himalayas, also known as the Abominable Snowman—America lays claim to several types all of its own. According to AIMS, there are more than 12 different types of Bigfoot inhabiting Appalachia, ranging from the more human-looking Grass Man (rendered above) to the vicious, eight-foot-tall Midnight Whistler.

Bigfoot legends go back at least 3,000 years

Native Americans have their own reported sightings of Bigfoot that predate modern accounts by millennia. These come from several tribes, including the Iroquois and Shawnee. One Cherokee legend even tells of a Bigfoot called the Tsul 'Kalu (aka the Cherokee Devil) that married a young girl and was blamed for all of the tribe’s misfortunes thereafter.

The original Bigfoot makes a sound like a steam engine

First spotted by the Iroquois, the aforementioned Midnight Whistler is thought to be the first clan of Bigfoot to venture beyond the cave systems where they hid from humans. It is believed to have used waterways to spread throughout Appalachia and eventually evolve into the different Bigfoot clans reported today. The nocturnal creature weighs 400 pounds, has jet black fur, and glowing green eyes, and communicates with a booming whistle that allegedly resembles a steam engine.

Bigfoot has psychic powers

Cherokee legend has it that the Tsul 'Kalu had the power to read people’s minds. Present-day witnesses have claimed to lose time after sighting the Bigfoot, similar to the effect reported by those who claim to have been abducted by aliens: Hours pass in the blink of an eye, and the victim is left unable to recall what happened to them. And sometimes, of course, Bigfoot just makes people strip naked and go crazy.

It’s possible that Bigfoots bury their dead

One suggested reason for the lack of evidence of Bigfoot’s existence is the idea that these creatures bury their dead. There have been several reports of the discovery of Bigfoot burial grounds over the years, and while most come from less than reputable sources, it would perhaps explain why no one has ever stumbled across a Bigfoot carcass in the wild.

Bigfoot and Chupacabra work together to hunt their prey

In Appalachia, Chupacabras are referred to as West Virginia Vampires, thanks to the local belief that they suck on the blood of woodland creatures. AIMS believes that Bigfoot may use Chupacabras the same way hunters use bloodhounds, with the Chupacabras catching the prey and the Bigfoots swooping in to retrieve the body. In return, Bigfoots act as muscle for Chupacabras, protecting them from traps when curious monster hunters get too close. As you might expect, no evidence currently exists to support this theory.

Bigfoots communicate through tree knocks

Some Bigfoot investigators believe the creatures communicate with each other—and even with humans—by knocking on wood with their fists, or possibly a club or stick. This bears similarity to gorillas, who have been shown to clap their hands in warning during instances of alarm.

Bigfoot might be a surviving member of a presumed-extinct race of ancient apes

One suggestion for Bigfoot’s existence is that it is a member of a race of presumed-extinct apes—the largest who ever lived—who crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia and into the United States. However, no Gigantopithecus fossils have yet been found in America.

Bigfoot likes apples

An apple a day does not keep Bigfoot away. According to AIMS’ investigations, one Bigfoot type called a Yahoo has surfaced in the orchards of West Virginia’s rough country, where Golden Delicious apples are abundant. The Yahoo, they claim, is ten feet tall and weighs up to 1,000 pounds, with scat as large as an apple pie. According to at least one news source, Bigfoot also enjoys blueberry bagels.

Bigfoot has a ruthless streak

The most aggressive Bigfoot in Appalachia is ominously called the Wildman. Alleged to be eight feet tall, 500 pounds, covered in jet black fur, and unafraid of people, the Wildman is a close relative of the Midnight Whistler, but with an even worse temper. In the 1700s, the Shawnee claimed the Wildman was responsible for the deaths of seven members of their tribe.

While many Bigfoot statistics can be brushed aside as merely hypothetical, some facts rise above the rest as undisputed, hard truth. We don’t take research lightly here at Bigfoot Finder. All data is thoroughly researched and often backed up by eyewitness accounts. Nor will we post those eyewitness stories — large or small, conservative or outrageous — without doing due diligence to make sure the evidence adds up with documented sources. We’re researchers, not wild-eyed conspiracy theorist psychos.

Adult Bigfoot/Sasquatch Physical Statistics

Height: 6 ft 6 in – 10 ft. tall (2 – 3 m)

Weight: 400 – 1000 lbs (180-450 kgs)

Footprint: 12-22 in (30-56 cm) length, 5 – 11 inches (12 – 28 cm) width at ball, 2 – 8 inches (5 – 20 cm) heel width

Hands: 6 – 8.5 inch (15-22 cm) palm width. Stubby fingers.

Hair: Dark Brown/Reddish. Unkept, matted.

Skin: Black, Brown, Tan

Head: Sagittal Crest

Facial features: Large brow ridge. Flat, black nose. Thin human-like lips.

Eyes: Brown/Red

Odor: Smells like Butch who lives under the bridge

Bigfoot has been reported and documented for hundreds of years.
Mating season is March through April. Grady Grange witnessed firsthand a couple of Bigfoot mating in the middle of March. Doggy style.
Brown isn’t the only documented fur color. There have been reports of black, gray, white, and even a greenish-blue.
Bigfoot can run up to 30mph. –Documented in Indiana by Royal Cruden in a four-wheeler incident.
Bigfoot can jump the full length of their bodies. –Documented in Asian-Pacific by Chung-Li Fuki, noting “the beast leaped an 8 – 10 foot river in one bound.”
In 1765, England was attacked by three “giants” covered in animal fur. The documentation was lost 50 years ago when it was brought to the American ear.
1965: Bigfoot was officially put on the endangered species list in Russia. 1967: Germany and France follow suit.
1897: Bananas, nuts and berries were fed to a captured Bigfoot in Brazil. The Bigfoot ate all the food except the bananas, then escaped.
Bigfoots are immune to pepper spray, and have been known of “being incapable of sneezing.”
April 3rd, 1985: A small boy in Oregon was born and put on display due to being completely covered in hair.
1919: Fred Jancat attacked and killed in Maine. Attacker unknown, but blamed on an 8 ft male individual with disfigured face, “ape-like,” non-English speaking. “The male individual didn’t stop grunting until Fred’s skull was shattered, he then retreated into the woods.” –Jim “Jimboni” Archilli
1940: Flags were raised in Arizona when a deer was brutally killed by a group of Mexican men. Translators say that the men were sacrificing the deer for a giant “Mono” (ape) they had seen while crossing the border. They said that the animal had been following them for over 10 miles.
2010: Outside Boise, ID, new artifacts were found in multiple caves portraying a giant “bear,” consistently walking on its hind legs like a man.
June, 2000: Bones found in Klamath, OR. The “human” remains would be that of the tallest man in the world. Laid out, the individual stood 9 ft 6 in. The femur bone measured 4 ft 1 in.

DarkRavie · January 5, 2020

Fact of the Day - MARIONETTES

Did you know... that a marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations? A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose.

Etymology

In French, marionette means "little Mary". In France, during the Middle Ages, string puppets were often used to depict biblical events, with the Virgin Mary being a popular character, hence the name. Additionally, one of the first figures to be made into a marionette was the Virgin Mary. In France, the word marionette can refer to any kind of puppet, but elsewhere it typically refers only to string puppets.

Ancient times

Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the action of kneading bread, and other string-controlled objects. Wire-controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have been found in Egyptian tombs. Marionette puppetry was used to display rituals and ceremonies using these string-operated figurines back in ancient times and is used today.

Puppetry was practiced in Ancient Greece and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of Herodotus and Xenophon, dating from the 5th century BC. The Greek word translated as "puppet" is "νευρόσπαστος" (nevróspastos), which literally means "drawn by strings, string-pulling", from "νεῦρον" (nevron), meaning either "sinew, tendon, muscle, string", or "wire", and "σπάω" (spáō), meaning "draw, pull".

Aristotle (384–322 BC) discusses puppets in his work On the Motion of Animals: "The movements of animals may be compared with those of automatic puppets, which are set going on the occasion of a tiny movement; the levers are released, and strike the twisted strings against one another."

Archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Plato's work also contains references to puppetry. The Iliad and the Odyssey were presented using puppetry. The roots of European puppetry probably extend back to the Greek plays with puppets played to the "common people" in the 5th century BC. By the 3rd century BC these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis.

In ancient Greece and Rome clay and ivory dolls, dated from around 500 BC, were found in children's tombs. These dolls had articulated arms and legs, some of which had an iron rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, exactly as is done today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods. Some researchers believe these ancient figures were mere toys and not puppets due to their small size.

The Indian word sutradhara, from sutra, refers to the show-manager of theatrical performances (or a puppet-player), and also means literally "string-puller" or "string-holder".

Sicilian marionettes

The sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from the Frankish romantic poems, such as The Song of Roland. These same tales are enacted in traditional puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood, an art form called "L'Opera deî Pupi" ("Opera of the puppets") in Sicilian. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (singers of tales) are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the first half of the 13th century. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo, Sicily.

Marionette operas

In the 18th century, operas were specifically composed for marionettes. Mozart as a child had seen marionettes. Gluck, Haydn, de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes. Lewis Carroll composed marionette operas and plays for his siblings' entertainment. Today in Salzburg in Austria, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre still continues the tradition of presenting full-length opera using marionettes in their own theatre.

The Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre, was relisted on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

Marionettes and marionette theatre in modern times

Marionettes are sometimes referred to as "puppets", but the term "marionettes" is more precise, distinguishing them from other forms of puppetry, such as finger, glove, rod and shadow puppetry.

In the UK the renaissance of Marionettes during the late 19th and early 20th century was driven by W. H. Whanslaw and Waldo Lanchester, two of the co-founders of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. The only purpose-built UK marionette theatre is The Harlequin Puppet Theatre (built 1958) in Rhos on Sea, North Wales, Founded by Eric Bramall FRSA and continued by Chris Somerville. Other theatres that occasionally perform with marionettes are the Little Angel Theatre founded by John and Lyndie Wright in Islington, London, Whose first ever show The Wild Night Of The Witches was a marionette play, It opened the theatre in 1961 and was revived for the 50th anniversary in 2011 The Norwich Puppet Theatre founded by Ray & Joan DaSilva sometimes present marionette shows and the Puppet Theatre Barge continue to perform using long string marionettes throughout the year, founded by Gren Middleton and Juliet Rogers. The barge is based in Little Venice, London during the winter months and tours to places such as Richmond Upon Thames during the summer.

In Scotland, Dr Malcolm Knight has championed the art form and over the last 25 years the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre has acted as a catalyst, a lead agency, and as a resource centre for all those with an interest in mask and puppet theatre.

In Austria the Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher. Aicher was heavily influenced by Count Franz Pocci who founded the Munich Marionette Theatre in Germany in 1855. Until 2012, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre was under the artistic direction of his granddaughter, Gretl Aicher, who commented on her lasting interest in marionettes, "What then is the fascination of a life with marionettes? Is it the pleasure of performing? The appeal of mastering an 'instrument' to the point of virtuosity? The transformation of one's own self? For me, it is the process of empathizing with mind and soul, of feeling at one with music and movement that bring these much loved creatures to life. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre performs mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute and a small number of ballets such as The Nutcracker. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre productions are aimed for adults although children are welcome. There is also a marionette theatre at Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna. Marionette theatre also had a very long history in entertainment in Prague,

In the Czech Republic Marionette theatre has a very long history in entertainment in Prague, An important organisation is the National Marionette Theatre. Its repertoire mainly features a marionette production of Mozart's famous Don Giovanni. The production has period costumes and a beautifully designed 18th-century setting. There are numerous other companies including, Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets") founded by Marek Bečka. Rocky IX and Tibet are just two works in the repertoire.

In Australia, like in many other countries, there is a continuing tradition of marionette puppetry. Norman Hetherington OAM, Peter Scriven, founder of the Marionette Theatre of Australia, Richard Bradshaw OAM and David Splatt (Smallpox Theatre) are notable puppeteers.

In Picardy, Lafleur is a marionette from Amiens. The Cabotans d'Amiens are hand carved, using wood, with a central rod and strings for the arms and legs. In France, the most famous puppet is the Guignol which is a hand puppet created in Lyon in 1808.

In the United States, several groups have established permanent theatres or touring programs dedicated to spotlighting marionette performances. The Cole Marionettes were founded by George and Lucille Cole in Chicago circa 1934. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles is now considered a historical landmark, presented a variety of cabaret marionette shows. The Puppetworks theatre in New York under the direction of Nick Coppola has been in operation since 1980. The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta develops and fosters marionette performers from across the globe. Le Theatre de Marionette in Dallas has recreated a traditional marionette theatre with puppeteer bridge and full stage productions. The theatre is open year-round. The National Marionette Theater with David Syrotiak at its helm has developed some of the most artistically staged shows to grace the American stage. The Fratello Marionettes, with its founder Kevin Menegus of Danville, California are wonderful marionette creators and performers, with shows that are well crafted and display an almost Disney-esque quality. The Bil Baird theatre in Greenwich Village closed in 1987 but was a nationally recognized treasure that presented countless shows to families for over a decade, including their contribution to film and television with the famous Lonely Goatherd scene from The Sound of Music. The Frisch Marionettes in Cincinnati also produce some of the best marionettes and manipulation in performances today. Kevin Frisch has been considered one of the best stage marionette artists performing in his time and his puppet creations are meticulously lifelike. His manipulation and ability to transfer lifelike movement to the inanimate has been compared to the German master puppeteer, Albrecht Roser. Joseph Cashore has been touring the United States for over 30 years with a collection of self-designed marionettes.

Want to learn more about Marionettes? Click here.

DarkRavie · January 6, 2020

Fact of the Day - CARNIVAL MASKS

Did you know.. that carnival masks have been a cultural tradition for centuries, tracing their origins to early Venice and then being exported across the globe? There are at least four traditional types of masks, with many variations in shape, decoration and accompanying costume displayed during carnival festivities. Despite its traditionally Roman Catholic beginnings, carnival is now a festival enjoyed by countless people and cultures every year.

History of the Venice Carnival

The origins of carnival and its accompanying tradition of wearing masks can be traced to Venice, Italy, starting in the 14th century. The original carnival allowed all of the classes of society in Venice to have a celebration together, as all faces were covered by masks to shield identities. Carnival festivities were banned during the reign of Mussolini, but were reinstated during a Venetian cultural revival in the 1970's. Carnival begins before the Christian season of Lent, where fasting and prayer for 40 days, signifying Christ's 40 days in the wilderness, lead up to the days commemorating Christ's crucifixion. The final day of carnival for Christian practitioners is known as Mardi Gras, which falls on Fat Tuesday, or the final day to eat all rich and sugary foods that are banned during the Lenten season. It is possible that the carnival festivities are rooted in the need to dispose of the sumptuous foods and alcohol before entering Lent.

Carnival Around the World

While Venice may be attributed as the inspiration behind carnival and the tradition of wearing masks, carnival celebrations take place around the world, predominantly in Christian, and specifically Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox oriented countries. A few of the most widely known carnival celebrations include the festivities in Brazil in South America, and New Orleans, Louisiana in the U.S. The carnival tradition originally spread from Italy through the channel of Catholicism to other Catholic countries such as Spain, France and Portugal, moving outward from there. Carnival festivities spread with European travelers to other parts of Europe, the Caribbean, South and North America. Some countries celebrate secular carnival activities, such as the festivals held in England and India. Whether religious focused or not, the tradition of masks and costumes is the permeating symbol in every carnival festival around the globe.

Bauta Masks

Bauta masks typically cover the whole face, but can be found in varieties that leave the mouth free to talk and eat. The full face Bauta mask is known for its pointed chin, absence of a mouth, and the eye cut outs being the only revealed part of the wearer's face. The Bauta is one of the oldest relics of traditional carnival masks, worn by Venetians to disguise identity and social class throughout the year during festivals that permitted mask wearing.

Columbine Masks

Columbine, or Columbino masks, only cover half the face and are extremely ornate, with decorations of gold, silver, gems, crystals and feathers. They can be attached to a baton that must be held to the face, or they can have ribbons on either side to be tied around the head. The origins of the Columbine mask are attributed to a beautiful actress from the Commedia dell'arte of Venice, or, Comedy of Professional Artists, who had the mask specially made because she did not want her entire face covered.

Medico Della Peste Masks

The Medico Della Peste mask covers half the face and has a long beak protruding over the nose. The mask design originated in the 16th century from a French doctor, Charles de Lorme, who designed the mask to create distance between himself and victims of the plague who he treated. The doctor also wore a black hat, black cloak, white gloves, and carried a white cane to prevent any contact with an infected person. People who wear the Medico Della Peste mask today often don the doctor's traditional costume with it.

Volto or Larva Masks

The volto, or larva mask, is a traditional Venetian mask and is traditionally found in white, worn with a tricorn hat and long cloak. The term "larva" originates from Latin and refers to "ghost" or "mask," implying the ghostly effect created by wearing the full face covering white mask. The mask is traditionally worn with all black attire, and is designed to allow a wearer to speak, eat and drink easily. Although traditionally white, volto masks can be decorated and painted to become extremely ornate and delicate.

Mardi Gras Masks

Masks let the revelers hide their identities, allowing them to walk as strangers among friends. Masks range from small eye coverings like the Lone Ranger and Robin wore in old TV shows and satiny eye coverings edged in bright feathers and lace, to stick masks reminiscent of European balls. Some masks cover the entire face and can be picked up at any place Halloween costumes are sold. Others are handmade plaster ones customized to the wearer's face and decorated with paint and beads. Sequins, satin and ribbons add the finishing touch.

DarkRavie · January 7, 2020

Fact of the Day - VELLUM

Did you know... that vellum is a type of parchment, made only from thin calf skin? Since its first creation in the time when Europe did not have access to the cellulose-based paper that originated in ancient China, it was regarded as the finest material for writing notes, books, scrolls and similar documents. Even though the original vellum was created only from calf skin, the term later started describing any high grade parchment that was manufactured from any type of animal skin.

The reasons why vellum was considered such highly was because of its durability and smoothness that enables not only easy writing, but also very precise drawing and painting. Originally used in Ancient Rome, vellum became staple of the European bookmaking for centuries, even managing to survive for a while after arrival of cellulose-based paper. The famous first books that Gutenberg made with his typing machine were printed on both modern paper and traditional vellum skins. This was done so because people did not know how durable this new paper is, electing to make sure they have vellum copies made that could survive for thousand years if stored properly.

The process of vellum creation was a hard one, but it represented the only reliable source of writing materials in Europe for thousand years. Process started with collecting skin from newborn or young animals, its cleaning, bleaching, stretching (alternating drying and wetting to increase tension), scraping of skin with crescent-shaped knife, abrading surface with pumice, and finally applying chalk or lime so that surface of vellum would accept ink.

Today, vellum is still used, most often by artists or by some governments who still keep tradition of writing important declaration on high-end vellum parchment (British Parliament for example). Vellum is also used in several instruments, most notably banjo.

In 2006, Irish archeologists pulled an ancient book out of a peat bog. Radiocarbon dating showed that the book was between 1,000 to 1,200 years old. Thanks to the low-oxygen conditions of the bog, the book was well enough preserved that the archeologists could tell it was a prayer book.

They could also tell that the book was made of soft calf-skin called vellum. This book, called the Faddan More Psalter, was proof that farmers contributed their animal products to create early literature.

The word vellum comes from an old French word for calf-skin, though vellum has also been made from sheep, goats, pigs, deer and even camels. To make vellum, a young animal is skinned and its soft hide is cleaned, bleached, stretched and scraped.

In Europe, vellum was popular from the days of the Romans until the medieval era. Early Christian texts, like the richly-illustrated Book of Kells, were hand-painted on vellum. Some early Buddhist texts were printed on vellum, and it was often used for Jewish Torah scrolls. Vellum was also used as canvas by artists like the late-medieval painter and engraver Albrecht Dürer.

A famous use of vellum was in the printing of the Gutenberg Bibles. One-fourth of Gutenberg’s famous Bibles were printed on vellum. Vellum was quite expensive, but nobles of the 1450s insisted on it. The 45 vellum copies of Bible required a total of 11,130 sheets of vellum—that was a huge contribution from animal agriculturalists.

Vellum is not as common today, but it still has uses in writing. Many Jewish Torahs are still printed on vellum, and tradition in England requires that each new British act of Parliament be printed on vellum.

DarkRavie · January 8, 2020

Fact of the Day - ELECTRICITY

Did you know... that electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge? In early days, electricity was considered as being unrelated to magnetism. The basic principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His method is still used today: electricity is generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or disc of copper, between the poles of a magnet.

Australia’s first recorded use of electricity was to light Sydney’s General Post Office in 1878.
The first street in the world to be lit by electric light bulbs was Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1879.
Thomas Edison built the first power plant, and in 1882 his Pearl Street Power Station in New York sent electricity to 85 buildings.
The first successful electric car was built in 1891 by American inventor William Morrison.
Electricity travels at the speed of light, about 300,000 kilometres per second.
A spark of static electricity can measure up to 3,000 volts.
The average taser emits 50,000 volts.
A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts (and lasts less than one second).
According to the Global Energy Statistical Yearbook, global electricity production for 2015 approached 25,000 terawatt hours (1 terawatt = 1 trillion watts).
The first four common domestic items to be powered by electricity were the sewing machine, fan, kettle and toaster.
LED light bulbs use about one-sixth of the electricity that conventional bulbs do, cost about a quarter as much to use, and last about 40 times longer.
A typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food
Appliances also use electricity when they’re switched off. The average desktop computer idles at 80 watts, while the average laptop idles at 20 watts. A Sony PlayStation 3 uses about 200 watts, both when it’s active and when it’s idle.
As an example of how much more efficient modern appliances are, a fridge from the mid-80s, 30 years ago, used four times as much electricity as a modern one (about 1400 kWh a year compared to 350 kWh).
Electricity causes muscle cells in your heart to contract, essentially making it beat. Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines measure the electricity going through the heart. As the heart beats in a healthy person, the ECG machine displays a line moving across the screen with regular spikes (as you’ve seen in a hundred movies and TV shows).
In some species of fish native to the Amazon River, certain muscle cells have evolved over millions of years into cells called electrocytes, which they use for echolocation, that is to detect obstacles and other animals in the dark.
Echidnas and platypuses use the electrical impulses emitted by their prey to find food. A platypus’ bill is covered in nearly 40,000 electricity sensors – or electroreceptors – arranged in a series of stripes.
The electric eel (a type of knifefish) can deliver a shock of up to 600 volts, for hunting or self-defence.
You may have watched a gecko climb what looks to be a smooth surface. This ability is due in part to the electrostatic forces on the gecko’s toe pads. The difference in charge between its feet and the surface help it “stick” to the wall.
The word “electrocute” is a combination of the words electro and execute, meaning you were killed by electricity. So, if you don’t die, you were not electrocuted, only shocked.
Ore trains in Sweden traveling down to the coast generate five times the amount of electricity they use, powering nearby towns and the return trip for other trains
In Albertville, France (host city of the 1992 Winter Olympics), they make electricity from cheese! Since whey isn’t needed to make Beaufort cheese, bacteria is added to the whey, turning it into biogas. This gas is then fed through an engine which heats water to generate electricity.
Electricity was introduced to Ethiopia in 1896 after Emperor Menelik II ordered two newly invented electric chairs as a form of humane capital punishment and realised they were useless in his country without electricity.
Someone took the trouble to calculate this, and we’re going to take their word for it: you would need about 648 AA batteries to power a human being for a day (based on 1 calorie = 4.2 Joules)!

Electricity was introduced to Ethiopia in 1896 after Emperor Menelik II ordered two newly invented electric chairs as a form of humane capital punishment and realized they were useless in his country without electricity.

Albertville, France’s electricity is powered by Beaufort cheese. Since whey is unnecessary to make Beaufort cheese, bacteria is added to the whey. This transforms the whey into biogas. This gas is then fed through an engine which heats water to 90°C (194°F) to generate 2800 MWh/yr of electricity.

In 1746, Jean-Antoine Nollet conducted an experiment in which 200 monks formed a circle (1.6 km in circumference) and were linked by iron wire. He then had electricity pass through them which shocked all the monks simultaneously. He concluded that the speed of electricity was very high.

Huge amounts of renewable energy can be stored over a long period of time by using Pumped Storage Hydropower, where water is pumped up a hill with renewable electricity then sent back down the hill to generate on demand clean electricity at up to 80% efficiency.

In 1963, Quebec government bought out all the private power companies and nationalized electricity. Today, 96% of Quebec’s power is from hydroelectricity, and it has some of the cheapest electricity rates in North America while earning billions in revenue.

Want to learn more about Electricity? Click here.

DarkRavie · January 9, 2020

If there is a topic you'd like me to post about, please let me know. Now back to our regularly scheduled posting! :byebye:

Fact of the Day - THE HUMAN BRAIN

Did you know... that the brain is one of the most astonishing and intricate parts of the human body?

The human brain is responsible for keeping your body running all day long. It not only helps people think and learn new things, but it also controls your movement and speech, too. The brain is part of the central nervous system and receives tons of information. Make some room in your noggin for these surprising brain facts you need to know.

Ever wonder how brain surgeons are able to perform surgeries on patients while they’re awake? Beth McQuiston, MD, a neurologist and the medical director of the diagnostics division at the health-care company Abbott, explains that even though the brain has layers of coverings and blood vessels that contain pain receptors, the brain itself has zero. When a person has a headache, for example, it’s often thought of as pain stemming from the brain, but this is actually not the case. The muscles and skin surrounding the brain, however, can feel pain.

Your brain might account for only about 3 percent of your body weight, but it receives about 30 percent of the blood being pumped by your heart. This shows how much attention and support it requires in comparison to the other seemingly important areas of your body. “The brain is like a spoiled and demanding child, but yet it is extremely smart and efficient,” explains Bennet Omalu, MD, a forensic pathologist, neuropathologist, epidemiologist, clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, and author of Truth Doesn’t Have a Side. “It takes the brain about 1/10,000th of a second to respond to something and generate an action.”

The film Limitless with Bradley Cooper is just the latest version of the myth that we only use 10 percent of our brain. “This misconception came about because the brain is so adaptable that sometimes minor damage causes only subtle problems,” explains Brett Wingeier, PhD, engineer, neuroscientist, and co-founder of Halo Neuroscience. “The fact is, most of your brain is constantly working—to sense, process, think, move, and even dream.” Even when you head to sleep at night, your brain is still hard at work.

When you’re fast asleep, you might think that your brain is “shut off,” but it’s actually doing a whole lot more than when you’re walking, talking, eating, and thinking. “When awake, people utilize alpha and beta waves, which gives us day wakefulness,” explains Brandon Brock, a certified family nurse practitioner and staff clinician at Foundation Physicians Group. “Sleep, however, especially in the initial stages, uses Theta activity, which is greater in amplitude than Beta.”

While most of our neurons have been with us since birth, and age does take a toll, your brain still makes new neurons. “This process, known as neurogenesis, occurs in a special region called the dentate gyrus,” explains Wingeier. “These neurons are thought to be important for learning, memory, and responding to stress.” These brain facts have been highly debated, but a 2019 study published in the journal Nature Medicine that looked at the brain tissue of 58 recently deceased people found that the adult brain can indeed generate new neurons. How can you boost neurogenesis in your own brain? Wingeier says through healthy living—things like sleep, exercise, and a balanced diet. Here are the foods you should be eating to boost your brain power.

In order for the brain to stay running at top-notch, it requires significant amounts of energy. And this is even more true for young children who are still learning, processing, and developing at a fast rate. “Scientists at Northwestern University discovered recently that in the preschool years, when a child’s brain development is faster, physical growth is slower, possibly to save more energy for the developing brain,” explains Wingeier. “Conversely, during puberty, when physical growth is faster, brain development is slower—which may come as no surprise to parents of teenagers.” Here’s how to tell if you’re raising a genius."

Did you know that for all the neurons in the brain, there are at least as many glial cells that support and protect these neurons? “These microscopic unsung heroes make sure neurons have a constant supply of nutrients and oxygen, insulate neurons from each other, and even help clean up after neural damage,” says Wingeier. “They even help optimize communication between neurons.”

Professional athletes know how important fueling their brain is to ensure they’re able to put maximum effort and energy into their workouts. “This is because of the mental stimulation that comes with exercise, but also because a healthy cardiovascular system means better plumbing for the brain,” says Wingeier. Especially when you try a new fitness class or regimen for the first time, your brain is working hard at learning the motions and controlling your muscles.

Neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to reorganize and change itself throughout a person’s lifetime, is a truly remarkable thing. In one 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Montreal researchers compared the brain activity of individuals who were born blind and those who had normal vision. They found that the part of the brain that’s normally wired to work with our eyes can instead rewire itself to process sound information instead of visual perception.

These brain facts might sound counterintuitive, considering your eyes are in the front of your head, but the part of your brain responsible for vision, the occipital lobe, is located in the back. “Bang someone on the back of the head and they will see stars, not sounds,” says Henry Soper, PhD, a former clinical psychology faculty member in the School of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University. Similarly, the left side of your brain controls the vision on your right side and vice versa. The same goes for how our brain processes sound—on opposite sides of the head. “Although evolutionary theories have been proposed, the bottom line is we really do not know why,” Soper says.

Want to read more of The Human Brain? Click here.

Edited January 9, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 10, 2020

Fact of the Day - LITHIUM

Did you know... that lithium is the lightest known metal that can also lighten your mood? Lithium, atomic number 3, is an element of many uses. It's used in the manufacture of aircraft and in certain batteries. It's also used in mental health: Lithium carbonate is a common treatment of bipolar disorder, helping to stabilize wild mood swings caused by the illness.

Lithium has a flashy discovery story — literally. A Brazilian naturalist and statesman, Jozé Bonifácio de Andralda e Silva, discovered the mineral petalite (LiAISi4O10) on the Swedish isle Utö in the 1790s, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). The mineral is white to gray, but when thrown into fire, it flares bright crimson.

In 1817, Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson discovered that petalite contained a previously unknown element. He wasn't able to isolate the metal entirely, but he did isolate one of its salts. The name, lithium, comes from "lithos," the Greek word for "stone." It took until 1855 for someone to isolate lithium: British chemist Augustus Matthiessen and German chemist Robert Bunsen ran a current through lithium chloride to separate the element.

Physical properties

According to the Jefferson National Linear Accelerator Laboratory, the properties of lithium are:

Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 3
Atomic symbol (on the Periodic Table of Elements): Li
Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 6.941
Density: 0.534 grams per cubic centimeter
Phase at room temperature: Solid
Melting point: 356.9 degrees Fahrenheit (180.5 degrees Celsius)
Boiling point: 2448 degrees Fahrenheit (1342 degrees Celsius)
Number of isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons): 10; 2 stable
Most common isotopes: Li-7 (92.41 percent natural abundance), Li-6 (7.59 percent natural abundance)

The brain on lithium

Lithium is a special metal in many ways. It's light and soft — so soft that it can be cut with a kitchen knife and so low in density that it floats on water. It's also solid at a wide range of temperatures, with one of the lowest melting points of all metals and a high boiling point.

Like its fellow alkali metal, sodium, lithium reacts with water in showy form. The combo of Li and H2O forms lithium hydroxide and hydrogen, which typically bursts into red flame.

Lithium makes up a mere 0.0007 percent of the Earth's crust, according to the Jefferson Lab, and it's only found locked up in minerals and salts. Those salts have the power to change the brain: Lithium salts were the first drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat mania and depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Today, lithium carbonate is the compound most often sold as a pharmaceutical. No one knows exactly how lithium works to stabilize mood. Studies show multiple effects on the nervous system. In 2008, for example, researchers reported in the journal Cell that lithium interrupts the activity of a receptor for the neurotransmitter dopamine. It also appears to plump up brain volume, according to a 2011 study in the journal Biological Psychiatry (though this research is hotly contested).

In a study with worms, biologists at MIT found that lithium inhibits a key protein in the worms' brain, making neurons linked to an avoidance behavior go dormant. Essentially, the worms stopped avoiding harmful bacteria without that protein. The findings, which would need to be replicated in humans, suggest the element silences certain neurons in the brain and may have a calming effect, the researchers reported in 2016 in the journal Current Biology.

Lithium in space

Lithium, as well as the first and second lightest chemical elements (hydrogen and helium, respectively), are the only elements created at the birth of the universe, according to NASA. However, according to the Big Bang Theory, the universe should hold three times as much lithium as can be accounted for in the oldest stars, an issue called the missing lithium problem. This "missing lithium" discovery was first made in the 1980s, said Pasquale Serpico, a cosmologist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Savoy Mont Blanc in France. It created a "tension," Serpico said, between what the Big Bang data and the observations of stars were telling researchers about lithium's abundance.

Astrophysicists continue to conduct research to find this "missing" lithium or to explain why it's missing. In fact, researchers recently found a giant star holding 3,000 times more lithium than normal "giants," they reported in August 2018 in the journal Nature Astronomy. They came up with two possible explanations: the giant star swallowed its planet, absorbing the onboard lithium; the lithium also may have formed inside the star, reaching its surface before the heat of the deep layers vaporized it, according to a statement on the finding.

More about lithium

Lithium-ion batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power for laptops, phones and other digital devices. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Argentina and Chile increased their lithium production 15 percent each in 2014 alone to meet the growing demand. Worldwide, production jumped 6 percent that year.
Lithium and another battery component, cobalt, could become scarce as demand increases, Stefano Passerini and Daniel Buchholz, both at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm in Germany, said in a statement describing their analysis of the future availability of those elements published in 2018 in the journal Nature Reviews Materials. In addition, both are concentrated in less politically stable countries, the study revealed. As such, the researchers urged the development of new battery technologies based on other, non-toxic elements.
The United States has one lithium mine, in Nevada, according to the USGS. Chile and Australia produce the most lithium in the world.
Naturally occurring lithium in drinking water correlates with lower levels of suicide, according to a 2009 study that highlights lithium's role in the brain. But psychiatrists are careful about prescribing lithium in high doses, particularly because it can pass through the placenta and have unknown effects on the developing fetus.
On a lighter note, the element is part of celebratory fireworks shows: A mix of lithium and strontium salts, along with some other chemicals, creates the show's brilliant red color.

Want to read more on Lithium? Click the following.

DarkRavie · January 11, 2020

Fact of the Day - THE MUPPETS

Did you know... that a fantastic medley of sweet and mischievous, Jim Henson's Muppets, including Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, produce a weekly variety show with a range of famous guests? Along for the ride are Gonzo, Fozzie the bear and Scooter -- who is the closest thing to a human puppet this series has.

First episode date: September 18, 1976
Final episode date: March 15, 1981

The original Kermit was made out of an old coat that once belonged to Jim Henson’s mother and the eyes were made from ping-pong balls.
Jim Henson first created The Muppets in 1955 for his TV show called Sam and Friends. Sam and Friends was Jim Henson's first TV show. The show was only five-minutes long and aired twice daily on WRC-TV, in Washington, D.C. The show ran from May 9, 1955 to December 15, 1961.
According to Jim Henson, the Muppets got their name from a combination between the words “Marionette” and “Puppet.”
Kermit would occasionally don a blond wig to assume a feminine alter ego, Kermina.
The name of The Muppet Show pilot, that aired in 1975, was The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. The title was meant to be a parody of the proliferation of sex and violence on television.
The Muppet Show is not an American show, it's actually British. Jim Henson produced for two pilots The Muppet Show, neither of which led to the show being picked up a by American TV networks.
British commercial station ATV, offered a deal to Henson for him to produce the show at their ATV studios in Elstree, England. ATV, as part of the deal, would broadcast the show over ITV stations in the UK. The show was then sold to the U.S. as part of syndication deal.
Kermit was not the original host of The Muppet Show. Nigel, the orchestra conductor, hosted the "Sex and Violence” pilot. He was dropped because he was deemed "too wimpy" to host the show.
The first Muppet to achieve national stardom was Rowlf the Dog, he was a cast member on The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966.
Miss Piggy first appearance was on the Herb Alpert’s 1974 TV special Herb Alpert and the TJB.
According to her puppeteer, Frank Oz, Miss Piggy's had a pretty rough childhood. In 1979, Oz told The New York Times: "She grew up in a small town in Iowa; her father died when she was young, and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar."
Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels: The Statler Hilton (now the Hotel Pennsylvania) and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
During its six year run, no celebrity was allowed to be The Muppet Show more than once.
Guest stars on The Muppet Show could request to appear in a scene with their favorite Muppet. Miss Piggy was the most requested. Animal was a close second.
Gonzo first appearance was as Snarl, the Cigar Box Frackle, in the 1970 TV special The Great Santa Claus Switch.
Animal was inspired by Keith Moon of The Who.
The largest Muppet is Thog, he stands over 9 1/2 feet tall and is 4 feet wide.
Kermit’s version of "Rainbow Connection," from The Muppet Movie, reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979. It remained in the Top 40 for seven weeks. The song also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Miss Piggy’s full name is Miss Piggy Lee.
Almost all the Muppets are left-handed. The reason Muppets are left-handed is because the puppeteer uses their right hand to operate the head, while operating the arm rod with their left hand.
Miss Piggy is a New York Times best-selling author. Her book Miss Piggy's Guide to Life was on the New York Times bestseller list for 29 weeks (from June 28, 1981 to January 24, 1982).
Before settling Queen’s on "Bohemian Rhapsody,” The Muppets Studios had a long list of possible songs they wanted to perform, they almost considered doing Don McLean's "American Pie.” "Bohemian Rhapsody” was clearly the best choice -- the video won the "Viral Video" award at the 14th Annual Webby Awards.
Fozzie was named after puppet builder Faz Fazakas, who among other things, helped create the mechanism that allowed Fozzie to wiggle his ears. There is a common misconception that he was named after Frank Oz.
The idea for the animated series Muppet Babies, came from the dream sequence in the film The Muppets Take Manhattan.
Jim Henson's final performance as Kermit the Frog was on the May 4, 1990, episode of The Arsenio Hall Show. Two weeks later Henson would die from organ failure cause by Streptococcus pyogenes.
Jim Henson reportedly created over 2000 Muppets in his lifetime.

Edited January 11, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 12, 2020

Fact of the Day - EYE COLOR

Did you know... that eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris?

Human eye color charts once were used to "predict" eye colors of children. In the most simplified versions of these charts, brown eyes are considered dominant over both blue and green eyes. And green eyes are thought to be dominant over blue eyes. While these concepts generally are true, the genetics of how eye colors are inherited turn out to be far more complicated than once thought. You can't simply determine the eye colors of grandparents and parents, then calculate the odds of what color a baby's eyes will be. In fact, you can belong to a family with many generations of brown-eyed individuals and still end up with green or blue eyes.

Contrary to popular belief, it's also possible for two blue-eyed parents to have a brown-eyed child. Eye colors depend on the amount of pigment (melanin) found in the iris and how it is distributed. Light gray-blue eyes contain much less pigment than extremely dark brown eyes. And there are many shades of eye color in between. Some people are even born with eyes of two different colors, a condition known as heterochromia.

Eye color percentages vary according to which population is studied. For example, the percentage of dark brown eyes found in Asian and African populations is much higher than in European populations.

And some day, blue may be a rare eye color. This is because more people now select mates outside usual cultural and ethic groups. So when a brown-eyed person marries someone with blue eyes, offspring are more likely to inherit the more dominant brown eyes.

Most of us were taught in high school science class that we inherit our eye color from our parents, and that brown eye color is dominant and blue is recessive. So two parents with blue eyes cannot have a child with brown eyes because neither parent carries the dominant form of the gene for brown eyes.

But it turns out the story is more complicated than that.

Recent research has shown that up to 16 genes (not just one or two) may influence eye color, which makes predicting eye color much more difficult. Due to variations in the interaction and expression of multiple genes, it's hard to say for sure what color a child's eyes will be based on the color of his or her parents' eyes. For example, we now know it's possible for two blue-eyed parents to have a child with brown eyes — something the old model of eye color inheritance would have deemed impossible.

Also, eye color can change dramatically in the first few years of life. Many white, non-Hispanic babies are born with blue eyes and then develop brown, green or hazel eyes in childhood. This phenomenon has little to do with genetics, but it does help explain where hazel eyes come from.

What causes hazel eyes?

The pigmented structure inside the eye that surrounds the pupil and gives eyes their color is called the iris. The pigment responsible for eye color is called melanin, which also affects skin color. The reason many white, non-Hispanic babies are born with blue eyes is that they don't have the full amount of melanin present in their irises at birth. In the first few years of life, more melanin may accumulate in the iris, causing blue eyes to turn green, hazel or brown.

Babies whose eyes turn from blue to brown develop significant amounts of melanin. Those who end up with green eyes or hazel eyes develop a little less. Babies of African-American, Hispanic and Asian ethnicities usually are born with dark eyes that stay brown throughout life. This is because these individuals naturally have more melanin in their eyes and skin, compared with non-Hispanic whites.

Light absorption and scattering

There are no blue, green or hazel pigments in the eye. Eyes merely have different amounts of melanin, which is a dark brown pigment. So how can a dark brown pigment create blue, green or hazel eyes? This is possible because of two processes: Melanin in the iris absorbs different wavelengths of light entering the eye. Light is scattered and reflected by the iris, and some wavelengths (colors) scatter more easily than others.

Eyes with high concentrations of melanin absorb more light entering the eye, so less is scattered and reflected back from the iris. The result is a brown eye color. In eyes with lower concentrations of melanin, less light is absorbed, and more is scattered and reflected by the iris. Since light rays with shorter wavelengths (blue and green light) scatter more easily than light rays with longer wavelengths (red light), eyes with less light-absorbing melanin appear green or hazel, and eyes with low concentrations of melanin appear blue.

Also, the distribution of melanin can vary in different parts of the iris, causing hazel eyes to appear light brown near the pupil and more green in the periphery of the iris.

Brown, blue, green, gray, hazel . . . What color are your eyes? Your eye color doesn’t just affect your appearance; it also says something about the concentration of melanin in your irises, your ancestry, and perhaps even your health. Some eye colors are incredibly popular, while others are extremely rare. And did you know that it’s possible for a person to have two different colored irises? Without further ado, let’s explore some interesting facts about eye color . . .

Collage with 6 Images of Eyes of Different Colors

Eye color depends on melanin.

Melanin is a brown pigment in the eye’s iris, and the type, amount, and distribution of melanin in the iris determines its color. Brown eyes have the most melanin, while blue eyes have the least. Although both types of melanin are brown (eumelanin is dark brown, pheomelanin is reddish brown), eyes with little melanin can appear blue, green, or hazel due to the scattering of light by collagen fibers in the iris (source). So when we say someone has blue eyes or green eyes, we’re really just saying their eyes appear blue or appear green.

Babies typically have blue eyes at birth.

Although you might be tempted to proclaim that your baby has blue eyes – and you wouldn’t be wrong – it’s important to remember that the vast majority of babies are born with blue eyes. As the child develops, the melanin in his or her irises will develop as well. Over the first three years of the child’s life, his or her eyes may change to another color or they may stay blue.

It’s difficult to predict a child’s eye color by his or her parents’ eye colors.

In the past, most people believed you could predict a child’s eye color by looking at his or her parents’ and grandparents’ eye colors. You might remember hearing about brown eyes being a “dominant” genetic trait and blue eyes being a “recessive” genetic trait. In the years since, however, scientists have found that it’s actually extremely difficult to predict a child’s eye color due to the complexity of genetic traits. For example, it’s possible that two blue-eyed parents will have a brown-eyed child. The idea that a single gene determines eye color is one of the oldest myths in human genetics (source). In actuality, as many as 16 different genes may be responsible for eye color.

Originally all humans had brown eyes.

Did you know that about 10,000 years ago, every human in existence had brown eyes? According to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor whose genetic mutation caused his or her eyes to appear blue.

People can have two different colored eyes.

This is known as heterochromia, and it can be present at birth or develop later in life. Sometimes heterochromia is a symptom of a serious condition, such as Horner’s syndrome, Sturge-Weber syndrome, or even glaucoma, so if one of your eyes suddenly changes color, consult your optometrist.

Eye color popularity varies based on population.

The popularity of an eye color depends on which population of the earth is studied. For example, Asian and African populations have a much higher percentage of brown eyes when compared to European populations. In these regions, higher levels of melanin in the irises help protect people’s eyes from the sun’s strong UV rays. In less sunny places, like Iceland and Scandinavia, most people have light-colored eyes.

Since the United States is a big melting pot of people from different backgrounds, there is a big mix of eye colors. According to a 2014 poll by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Americans break down like this when it comes to eye color:

Brown Eyes: 45 percent
Blue Eyes: 27 percent
Hazel Eyes: 18 percent (Note: Hazel eyes consist of shades of brown and green.)
Green Eyes: 9 percent
Other: 1 percent

You might be wondering, “What eye colors make up that remaining 1 percent?”

Sometimes people with albinism (a condition that causes a lack of pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes) appear to have pink or red eyes. In addition, gray eyes (which are blue with flecks of gold and brown) and amber eyes (which have a yellow, golden, or coppery hue) are extremely rare. In the poll above, some people with gray eyes might have called their eyes blue, or vice versa. Contrary to popular belief, violet eyes and black eyes do not occur naturally in humans. Eyes that appear violet are typically blue, while eyes that appear black are actually dark brown.

You may experience light sensitivity if you have light eyes.

Light sensitivity, or photophobia, typically affects people with less pigmentation in their eyes. Because blue and green eyes have less melanin, they’re less able to block out harsh sunlight and fluorescent lights. So if you’re frequently squinting or rubbing your eyes in sunny or brightly lit places, your eye color may be to blame. To protect your eyes and make the situation more comfortable, wear UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.

No matter what color your eyes are, you need to care for your vision.

These interesting facts about eye color are intriguing, yes, but it’s important to remember that no matter what your eye color, you need to take care of your eyes. Treat your eyes well, shield them from the sun, and visit your optometrist for regular examinations.

DarkRavie · January 13, 2020

Fact of the Day - MICKEY MOUSE

Mickey mouse has been a cartoon, animated and in films

Did you know... that Mickey Mouse was inspired by the pet mouse Disney had as a child?

Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character and the mascot of The Walt Disney Company. He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios in 1928. An anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey is one of the world's most recognizable characters.

Mickey Mouse turns 90 years old on Nov. 18, 2018. The animated mouse first appeared in 1928 on the screen of the Colony Theatre at New York City. The film, Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie," was the first animated cartoon talking picture. His unofficial birthday is May 15, 1928 when he appeared in a test screening of Disney's short "Plane Crazy."

Mickey Mouse is recognised the world over as the defining character of Disney - summing up what the magic is all about. In fact, artists who have put pen to paper and brought the humble mouse to life have often called him Walt Disney's "alter ego". Others say he "represents the world of animation", and a poll found he was more recognisable than Santa Claus. For such a tiny guy he holds a great deal of weight - not only in animation, but also for creating the idea behind the Disney magic.

Walt Disney once said: “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing, that it was all started by a mouse.”

He nearly wasn't called Mickey. Walt Disney wanted Mickey to be called Mortimer Mouse but changed his mind after his wife Lillian said it sounded too "arrogant" and suggested a name that was more humble and fun.
Walt Disney said silent film star Charlie Chaplin was an inspiration for Mickey Mouse. Disney said: "We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin... a little fellow trying to do the best he could." Ub lwerks, the artist who helped develop it, said he thought people saw him as a dashing and heroic character.
It takes more than you think to draw Mickey. Creating Mickey is not as simple as drawing the famous large circle and two small circles. One cartoon could include 10,000 drawings for just seven and a half minutes and could take anywhere from six months to two years to finish.
Those white gloves. Mickey started wearing those popular white gloves in the short video When the Cat's Away in Opry House on March 28, 1929. Since then he's carried on wearing them in most of his appearances. Very Michael Jackson.
His first live show. Mickey Mouse made his first live, in-person (in-mouse?) appearance on March 12, 1931 in Los Angeles in a live stage show called the Mickey Mouse Idea.
He's been everywhere. Mickey isn't exactly screen shy. More than 100 Mickey cartoons were produced in the 1930s and were shown in theatres as films, newsreels and dramas and comedies. They were so popular that filmgoers would ask if the cartoon would be in the show before they actually bought a ticket according to Robert Tieman (author of The Mickey Mouse Treasures).
Mickey has a large family. We all know Donald and Goofy, but Mickey doesn't just have friends - he has a big family. His nephews Morty and Ferdie are the more well known, but there are also grandparents, a dozen cousins, uncles, including Uncle Maxwell, a professor called Cousin Digger, an Australian rancher and Uncle Louie, a French chef.
The Walk of Fame. Mickey is the first cartoon character to get his own star on the Walk of Fame. The star was put in on November 18, 1978 to mark his 50th anniversary. If you want to see it, the star is located on 6295 Hollywood Boulevard.
When he turned 60. To mark Mickey's 60th birthday Mickey was given a place in the Smithsonian Institution. In 1988 Walt Disney Studios donated six original animation drawings from Steamboat Willie to the National Museum of American History.
The most successful Mickey merchandise is the watch. While the iconic Mickey Mouse watch symbol is now a staple accessory - with even Apple using it - it wasn't always so. The original watch was produced by Ingersoll-Waterbury in 1933 and was sold for just $2.95. The company gave Walt Disney the 25 millionth Mickey watch in 1957. That's a lot of watches.
From Black and White to Colour. Mickey appeared in black and white for the last time in Mickey's Kangaroo - and his first appearance in colour was in The Band Concert on February 23, 1935.
The sorcerer. While we're all used to seeing Mickey as a cartoon one of his most famous roles was as the Sorcerer's Apprentice in Fantasia in 1940. In 1955, Mickey Mouse made his TV debut in The Mickey Mouse Club.
Lovers. Mickey and Minnie are actually married, but Walt never established their relationship on screen. In an interview in 1933 he said: "In his private life, Mickey is married to Minnie...What it really amounts to is that Minnie is, for screen purposes, his leading lady."
Hidden Mickeys. Engineers that helped built the Disney theme park started a game called 'Hidden Mickeys'. Anyone who has visited the parks will probably have spotted one or two Mickey ears dotted around the park. The famous silhouette is often in plain sight - a simple large circle and two smaller ones for ears.
Winning the awards. Walt Disney earned an honorary Academy award in 1932 for creating Mickey Mouse.
Ever changing personality. Mickey was originally a cheeky anti-hero, but was re-branded as an everyman, a flawed but adventurous hero. He was re-branded again in 2009 where the emphasis was on the mischievous and adventurous side of his character.
Election fever. In the US Mickey's name is often used as a protest vote. Instead of people ticking none of the above, they often opt to write in his name. An election supervisor in Georgia said: "If Mickey Mouse doesn't get votes in our election, it's a bad election."
Mickey Mouse as slang. The mouse's name is used often as slang or as a nickname. It means small-time, amateurish or trivial. In the UK it can mean counterfeit. In Australia it's used as something being very good - rhyming slang for grouse. In World War II the Motor Minesweepers used by the British Royal Naval Patrol Service were known as Mickey Mouses. In the Godfather Part II Fredo justifies betraying Michael by saying: "Let Fredo take care of some Mickey Mouse night club somewhere!"
Obama loves Mickey. He once jokingly referred to Mickey as "the world leader who has bigger ears than me." Mickey has met every US president since Truman apart from Lyndon B. Johnson.
A temporary assignment. When Iwerk left Disney, Walt scripted Mickey, assigning the art to Win Smith. Disney preferred animation, so soon Smith was given both the script and art. Not happy he resigned. Disney searched for a replacement among his staff, and settled on Floyd Gottfredson, who had been recently hired. He was eager, but wasn't as keen on the Mickey assignment. Disney assured him it would just be temporary and he accepted. Gottfredson's 'temporary assignment' ended up running from May 5, 1930 to November 15, 1975.

DarkRavie · January 14, 2020

Fact of the Day - OWLS

Did you know... that owls are intriguing birds that easily capture the attention and curiosity of birders. These facts may help clear up a bit of their mystery and reveal what a hoot owls really are.

Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl’s head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions. Ready, aim, strike.
The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception.
Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.
A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Owls hunt other owls. Great Horned Owls are the top predator of the smaller Barred Owl
In fact, owls are insanely good hunters. Check out this video to learn why.
The tiniest owl in the world is the Elf Owl, which is 5 - 6 inches tall and weighs about 1 ½ ounces. The largest North American owl, in appearance, is the Great Gray Owl, which is up to 32 inches tall.
The Northern Hawk Owl can detect—primarily by sight—a vole to eat up to a half a mile away.
In fat years when mice are plentiful, usually monogamous Boreal Owls are apt to be promiscuous. Because easy prey means less work for parents feeding their young, males have been caught mating with up to three females, while females have been seen with at least one beau on the side.
Barn Owls swallow their prey whole—skin, bones, and all—and they eat up to 1,000 mice each year.
Northern Saw-whet Owls can travel long distances over large bodies of water. One showed up 70 miles from shore near Montauk, New York
Not all owls hoot! Barn Owls make hissing sounds, the Eastern Screech-Owl whinnies like a horse, and Saw-whet Owls sound like, well, an old whetstone sharpening a saw. Hence the name.
Owls are zygodactyl, which means their feet have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes. Unlike most other zygodactyl birds, however, owls can pivot one of their back toes forward to help them grip and walk.

web_apa_2013_29007_230153_robertpalmer_great_gray_owl_kk.jpg

Owls are enigmatic birds, by turns mysterious, lovable, or spooky, depending on who you ask. With over 200 species living on every continent except Antarctica, owls have super-tuned senses that help them hunt prey all over the world. And they’re pretty darn cute, too.

1. OWLS CAN TURN THEIR HEADS ALMOST ALL THE WAY AROUND—BUT NOT QUITE.

It’s a myth that owls can rotate their heads 360 degrees. The birds can actually turn their necks 135 degrees in either direction, which gives them 270 degrees of total movement. According to scientists, bone adaptations, blood vessels with contractile reservoirs, and a supporting vascular network allow the owls to turn their heads that far without cutting off blood to the brain.

2. OWLS HAVE FAR-SIGHTED, TUBULAR EYES.

Instead of spherical eyeballs, owls have "eye tubes" that go far back into their skulls—which means their eyes are fixed in place, so they have to turn their heads to see. The size of their eyes helps them see in the dark, and they're far-sighted, which allows them to spot prey from yards away. Up close, everything is blurry, and they depend on small, hair-like feathers on their beaks and feet to feel their food.

3. THEY HAVE SUPER-POWERED HEARING.

Owls are capable of hearing prey under leaves, plants, dirt, and snow. Some owls have sets of ears at different heights on their heads, which lets them locate prey based on tiny differences in sound waves. Other owls have flat faces with special feathers that focus sound, essentially turning their faces into one big ear. (The “ear tufts” on some owls are feathers.)

4. OWL FLIGHT IS SILENT.

Unlike most birds, owls make virtually no noise when they fly. They have special feathers that break turbulence into smaller currents, which reduces sound. Soft velvety down further muffles noise.

5. OWLS SWALLOW PREY WHOLE, THEN BARF UP THE CARCASS.

Getting killed by an owl is gruesome. First the owl grabs the prey and crushes it to death with its strong talons. Then, depending on the size, it either eats the prey whole or rips it up. The owl’s digestive tract processes the body, and the parts that can’t be digested, like fur and bones, are compacted into a pellet, which the owl later regurgitates. Sometimes, those pellets are collected for kids to dissect in school.

6. THEY SOMETIMES EAT OTHER OWLS.

Not only do owls eat surprisingly large prey (some species, like the eagle owl, can even grab small deer), they also eat other species of owls. Great horned owls, for example, will attack the barred owl. The barred owl, in turn, sometimes eats the Western screech-owl. In fact, owl-on-owl predation may be a reason why Western screech-owl numbers have declined.

7. OWLS FEED THE STRONGEST BABIES FIRST.

As harsh as it sounds, the parents always feed the oldest and strongest owlet before its sibling. This means that if food is scarce, the youngest chicks will starve. After an owlet leaves the nest, it often lives nearby in the same tree, and its parents still bring it food. If it can survive the first winter on its own, its chances of survival are good.

8. THEY'RE MASTERS OF CAMOUFLAGE.

Many owls sleep in broad daylight, but the colors and markings on their feathers—like the African Scops Owl, above—let them blend in with their surroundings.

9. SOMETIMES THEY MAKE A TERRIFYING HISSING NOISE.

Aside from hooting, owls make a variety of calls, from screeches to whistles to squeaks. The barn owl hisses when it feels threatened, which sounds like something from a nightmare.

10. ELF OWLS LIVE IN CACTI.

The smallest owl is the elf owl, which lives in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It will sometimes make its home in the giant saguaro cactus, nesting in holes made by other animals. However, the elf owl isn’t picky and will also live in trees or on telephone poles.

11. BURROWING OWLS TAKE OVER PRAIRIE DOG TOWNS—AND HUNT WITH POOP.

The long-legged burrowing owl lives in South and North America. One of the few owls that is active during the daytime, it nests in the ground, moving into tunnels excavated by other animals such as prairie dogs. They’ll also dig their own homes if necessary. Then, they'll surround the entrances to their burrows with dung and "sit at the burrow entrance all day long and it looks like they're doing nothing," University of Florida zoologist Douglas Levey told National Geographic. But they're not doing nothing: They're fishing. The poop is bait for dung beetles, one of the owls' favorite types of prey. "Everybody who studies burrowing owls knows they bring dung back to their burrows, and they know that burrowing owls eat a lot of dung beetles. But nobody had put two and two together," Levey, co-author of a 2004 study announcing the behavior, said.

12. OWLS ARE NATURAL PEST CONTROL FOR FARMERS.

Owls eat a lot of rodents. A single barn owl family will eat 3000 rodents in a four-month breeding cycle. One owl can eat 50 pounds of gophers in a year. Many farmers are installing owl nesting boxes in the hopes that owls will clean out pests like gophers and voles from their land. This natural form of pest control is safer and cheaper than using poison, and it’s better for the owls too. Many owls die each year from eating rodents that have been poisoned.

13. OWLS WERE ONCE A SIGN OF VICTORY IN BATTLE ...

In ancient Greece, the Little Owl was the companion of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, which is one reason why owls symbolize learning and knowledge. But Athena was also a warrior goddess and the owl was considered the protector of armies going into war. If Greek soldiers saw an owl fly by during battle, they took it as a sign of coming victory.

14. ... AND A SYMBOL OF DEATH.

From ancient times on, owls have been linked with death, evil, and other superstitions. Many cultures saw owls as a sign of impending death. For example, an owl was said to have predicted the death of Julius Caesar. They’ve also been associated with witches and other so-called evil beings. While this may sound like Halloween fun, many cultures still have superstitions about owls and in some places, owls are killed based on these beliefs.

15. OWLS AND HUMANS GENERALLY GET ALONG.

Owls have been popular since ancient times. They show up in Egyptian hieroglyphs and the 30,000-year-old cave paintings in France. Falconers have used owls since the Middle Ages, although not as commonly as other birds. Today, we still love owls. Though it’s illegal to keep them as pets in the United States, they’re intelligent and sociable. (Most of the time, anyway—owls can attack humans when feeling threatened.) In Japan, there are even owl cafés, where you can hang out with owls while drinking tea.

Edited January 14, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 15, 2020

Fact of the Day - SILVER

Did you know... that silver is known as “the poor man's gold”? Silver is more affordable and useful in smaller units, as real money, than Gold.

The word silver comes from the Anglo-Saxon word seolfor. There is no word that rhymes with the English word silver. It is a transition metal element, with symbol Ag, atomic number 47, and atomic weight of 107.8682.

2. Silver has been known since antiquity. It was one of the first five metals to be discovered. Mankind learned to separate silver from lead in 3000 BCE. Silver objects have been found dating from before 4000 BCE. It is believed the element was discovered around 5000 BCE.

3. The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, comes from the Latin word for silver, argentum, which in turn derives from the Sanskit word argunas, which means shining.

4. The words for "silver" and "money" are the same in at least 14 languages.

5. Coins minted in the United States before 1965 consist of about 90% silver. Kennedy half dollars minted in the United States between 1965 to 1969 contained 40% silver.

6. The price of silver currently is less than that of gold, varying according to demand, the discovery of sources, and the invention of methods of separating the metal from other elements. In ancient Egypt and Medieval European countries, silver was valued more highly than gold.

7. The primary source of silver today is the New World. Mexico is the leading producer, followed by Peru. The United States, Canada, Russia, and Australia also produce silver. Around two-thirds of the silver obtained today is a by-product of copper, lead, and zinc mining.

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Silver mines in Mexico, such as this now-abandoned one, provided 18th century Spain with over one third of the silver sent out of the New World. Danny Lehman / Getty Images

Chemistry of Silver

8. Silver's atomic number is 47, with an atomic weight of 107.8682.

9. Silver is stable in oxygen and water, but it tarnishes in the air because of a reaction with sulfur compounds to form a black sulfide layer.

10. Silver can exist in its native state. In other words, nuggets or crystals of pure silver exist in nature. Silver also occurs as a natural alloy with gold that is called electrum. Silver commonly occurs in copper, lead, and zinc ores.

11. Silver metal is not toxic to humans. In fact, it can be used as a food decoration. However, most silver salts are toxic. Silver is germicidal, meaning it kills bacteria and other lower organisms.

12. Silver is the best electric conductor of the elements. It is used as the standard by which other conductors are measured. On a scale of 0 to 100, silver ranks 100 in terms of electrical conductivity. Copper ranks 97 and gold ranks 76.

13. Only gold is more ductile than silver. An ounce of silver can be drawn into a wire 8,000 feet long.

14. The most commonly encountered form of silver is sterling silver. Sterling silver consists of 92.5% silver, with the balance consists of other metals, usually copper.

15. A single grain of silver (about 65 mg) can be pressed into a sheet 150 times thinner than the average sheet of paper.

16. Silver is the best thermal conductor of any metal. The lines you see in the rear window of a car are made of silver, used to defrost ice in the winter.

17. Some silver compounds are highly explosive. Examples include silver fulminate, silver azide, silver(II) oxide, silver amide, silver acetylide, and silver oxalate. These are compounds in which silver forms a bond with nitrogen or oxygen. Although heat, drying, or pressure often ignite these compounds, sometimes all it takes is exposure to light. They may even explode spontaneously.

Silver's Uses

18. Uses of silver metal include currency, silverware, jewelry, and dentistry. Its antimicrobial properties make it useful for air conditioning and water filtration. It is used to make mirror coatings, for solar energy applications, in electronics, and for photography.

19. Silver is exceptionally shiny. It is the most reflective element, which makes it useful in mirrors, telescopes, microscopes, and solar cells. Polished silver reflects 95% of the visible light spectrum. However, silver is a poor reflector of ultraviolet light.

20. The compound silver iodide has been used for cloud seeding, to cause clouds to produce rain and try to control hurricanes.

Edited January 15, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 16, 2020

Fact of the Day - HASBRO

Did you know... that Hasbro, Inc. is an American worldwide toy, board game and entertainment company?

It is the largest toy maker in the world in terms of stock market value, and third largest with revenues of approximately $5.12 billion. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner, Parker Brothers, and Milton Bradley, among others.

Hasbro traces its origin to an enterprise founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1923 by Henry, Hilal, and Herman Hassenfeld, brothers who had emigrated to the United States from Poland. The Hassenfeld brothers engaged in the textile remnant business, selling cloth leftovers. By the mid-1920s they were using the remnants to make hat liners and pencil-box covers. After realizing the popularity of the covers, they soon began making the boxes themselves with eight employees—all family members. In 1926 the company incorporated under the name Hassenfeld Brothers Inc.

Hilal Hassenfeld became involved in other textile ventures, and Henry took control of the new company. Although a paternalistic employer, Henry Hassenfeld was also a tough and shrewd businessman. During the Great Depression—with 150 employees in 1929 and 200 employees in 1930—Hassenfeld Brothers commanded annual sales of $500,000 from sales of pencil boxes and cloth zipper pouches filled with school supplies. At that point, however, the company’s pencil supplier decided to raise its prices and sell its own boxes at prices lower than Hassenfeld’s. Henry Hassenfeld responded with a vow to enter the pencil business himself, and in 1935 Hassenfeld Brothers began manufacturing pencils. This product line would provide the company with a steady source of revenue for the next 45 years.

During the late 1930s the Hassenfeld Brothers began to manufacture toys, an extension of the company’s line of school supplies. Initial offerings included medical sets for junior nurses and doctors and modeling clay. During World War II Henry’s younger son, Merrill Hassenfeld, acted on a customer’s suggestion to make and market a junior air raid warden kit, which came complete with flashlights and toy gas masks.

By 1942, as demand for school supplies tapered off, the company had become primarily a toy company, although it continued its large, profitable pencil business. Hilal Hassenfeld died in 1943, at which point Henry Hassenfeld became CEO and his son Merrill Hassenfeld became president. Also during World War II, the company ventured into plastics, but was forced, due to labor shortages, to reduce employment to 75.

After the war Merrill Hassenfeld began marketing a girls makeup kit after seeing his four-year-old daughter play with candy as though it were lipstick and rouge. In 1952, the company introduced its still-classic Mr. Potato Head, the first toy to be advertised on television. In 1954 Hassenfeld became a major licensee for Disney characters. By 1960, revenues hit $12 million, and Hassenfeld Brothers had become one of the largest private toy companies in the nation.

Henry Hassenfeld died in 1960. Merrill Hassenfeld then assumed full control of the parent company, while his older brother Harold Hassenfeld, continued to run the pencil making operations. Merrill Hassenfeld’s succession was logical given his interest and expertise in the toy business, but it also marked the beginning of an intramural rivalry between the two sides of the company. Harold Hassenfeld would come to resent the fact that the pencil business received a lower percentage of capital investment even though it was a steadier performer and accounted for a higher percentage of profits than toys.

In 1961 Hassenfeld Brothers (Canada) Ltd., now Hasbro Canada Inc., was founded. Hassenfeld Brothers seemed to defy the vagaries of the toy business in the early 1960s when it introduced what would become one of its most famous and successful product lines. According to author Marvin Kaye in A Toy Is Born, the company conceived G.I. Joe in 1963 when a licensing agent suggested a merchandise tie-in with a television program about the U.S. Marine Corps called “The Lieutenant.” The company liked the idea of a military doll, but did not want to pin its fate on a TV show that might prove short-lived; so, it went ahead and created its own concept, and in 1964 Hassenfeld unleashed G.I. Joe, a 12-inch “action figure” with articulated joints. In its first two years, G.I. Joe brought in between $35 and $40 million and accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total sales.

The company changed its name to Hasbro Industries, Inc. in 1968—it had sold its toys under the Hasbro trade name for some time—and went public. Only a small portion of Hasbro stock went on the open market, however; the majority stake remained in the hands of the Hassenfeld family. At the same time, Hasbro decided that it could no longer ignore the public’s growing disapproval of war toys, which was fueled by disillusionment with the Vietnam War. In 1969 G.I. Joe, still the company’s leading moneymaker, was repackaged in a less militaristic “adventure” motif, with a different range of accessories. Also in 1969, the company acquired Burt Claster Enterprises, the Baltimore, Maryland-based television production company responsible for the popular “Romper Room” show for preschoolers. Burt Claster Enterprises had also begun to manufacture a line of “Romper Room” toys. Nevertheless, a month-long Teamsters strike and troubles with Far Eastern suppliers hurt Hasbro in 1969, and the company posted a $1 million loss for the year.

The 1960s ended on a turbulent note for Hasbro, providing a foretaste of the decade to come. In 1970 Hasbro decided that it had to diversify, and it opened a chain of nursery schools franchised under the “Romper Room” name. The company hoped to take advantage of President Richard M. Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan, which subsidized day care for working mothers. Running the preschools was a very big mistake. Merrill Hassenfeld’s son, Alan Hassenfeld, told the Wall Street Journal, “We’d get phone calls saying, ‘We can’t find one of the kids.’ The whole company would stop.” Within five years Hasbro had left the day care business. Another ill-fated diversification move was Hasbro’s line of Galloping Gourmet cookware, which sought to capitalize on a contemporary television cooking show of the same name. That venture literally fell apart when termites ate salad bowls stacked in a warehouse.

In addition, two products from Hasbro’s 1970 line turned into public relations disasters: Javelin Darts were declared unsafe by the government, and Hypo-Squirt, a water gun shaped like a hypodermic needle, was dubbed by the press a “junior junkie” kit. Both products were promptly removed from the market. The continuing success of “Romper Room” and its related toy line proved to be a bright spot for Hasbro, although the company came under fire from the citizens group Action for Children’s Television, which accused the program of becoming an advertising vehicle for toys.

In 1974 Merrill Hassenfeld became CEO of Hasbro, while his son, Stephen D. Hassenfeld, became president. Hasbro regained its profitability but floundered once again later in the decade. Poor cash flow accounted for some of the problems, but the company’s underlying mistake was casting its net too far and too wide in an effort to compensate for G.I. Joe’s declining popularity. Hasbro discontinued G.I. Joe in 1975 because of the rising price of plastic. By 1977—the year Hasbro acquired Peanuts cartoon characters licensing rights—the company suffered $2.5 million in losses and carried a heavy debt. The financial situation became serious enough that Hasbro’s bankers forced it to suspend dividend payments in early 1979. The toy division’s poor performance fueled Harold Hassenfeld’s resentment that the Empire Pencil subsidiary continued to receive a smaller proportion of capital spending to profits than did the toy division. The dam threatened to burst in 1979 when Merrill Hassenfeld died at age 61. Stephen Hassenfeld was chairman Merrill Hassenfeld’s heir apparent, but Harold Hassenfeld refused to recognize Stephen Hassenfeld’s authority.

Company Perspectives:

The company’s focus will be on building a strong global business and further strengthening its presence in the children’s and family leisure time and entertainment industry. Hasbro is well poised to leverage its incredible portfolio of classic brands globally, regionally and locally, and aims to achieve this goal with an increased emphasis on global brand marketing and product development, complemented by coordinated regional and local marketing and sales activity.

The feud was resolved in 1980, when Hasbro spun off Empire Pencil, which had become the nation’s largest pencil maker, and Harold exchanged his Hasbro shares for shares of the new company. At the same time, Stephen Hassenfeld became the toy company’s CEO and chairman of the board, and dedicated himself to turning Hasbro around. Where it had once been overextended, the company slashed its product line by one-third between 1978 and 1981, while its annual number of new products was cut by one-half. Hasbro also refocused on simpler toys, such as Mr. Potato Head—products that were inexpensive to make, could be sold at lower prices, and had longer life cycles. This conservative philosophy precluded Hasbro from entering the hot new field of electronic games, as did the fact that it could not spare the cash to develop such toys. The decision to stay out of the market was vindicated in the early 1980s when the electronics boom turned bust and shook out many competitors.

Perhaps the most important event in Hasbro’s revival was the 1982 return of G.I. Joe. The U.S. political climate at the time made military toys popular again, and G.I. Joe was reintroduced as an antiterrorist commando, complete with a cast of comrades and exotic villains, whose personalities were sculpted with the help of Marvel Comics. Two years later, Hasbro introduced its highly successful Transformers line—toy vehicles and guns that could be reconfigured into toy robots. Transformers were tied into a children’s animated TV series and proved so popular that People magazine asked Stephen Hassenfeld to pose with them for a cover photo.

Key Dates:

1923: Polish immigrant brothers Henry and Hilal Hassenfeld found a textile remnant business in Providence, Rhode Island.
1926: Hassenfeld Brothers Inc. is incorporated; company begins making pencil boxes and cloth zipper pouches.
1935: Hassenfeld Brothers begins manufacturing pencils, one of its stalwart revenue sources until 1980.
1943: Hilal Hassenfeld dies. Henry becomes CEO while Henry’s son, Merrill, is named president of Hassenfeld Brothers. The company expands its product line to include toys, such as paint sets, wax crayons, and doctor and nurse kits.
1952: Mr. Potato Head, the first toy to be advertised on television, is introduced.
1954: Hassenfeld Brothers becomes a major licensee of Disney characters.
1961: Hassenfeld Brothers (Canada) Ltd. is founded.
1964: G.I. Joe is introduced; the popular action figure accounts for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total revenue in its first two years.
1968: Hassenfeld Brothers Inc. changes its name to Hasbro Industries, Inc. The company goes public with a small portion of stock; the rest remains with the Hassenfeld family.
1969: Company acquires Romper Room Inc. (now Claster Enterprises Inc.) television production company.
1974: Merrill Hassenfeld becomes CEO; his son, Stephen D. Hassenfeld, becomes president.
1975: G.I. Joe is discontinued due to rising price of plastic.
1979: Merrill Hassenfeld dies.
1980: Empire Pencils, the nation’s largest pencil maker, separates from Hasbro. Stephen Hassenfeld becomes CEO and chairman of the board of Hasbro.
1982: G.I. Joe is reintroduced.
1983: Hasbro purchases assets from Warner Communication’s Knickerbocker Toy Company, including Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.
1984: Alan Hassenfeld becomes president of Hasbro. The company acquires the Milton Bradley Company and its subsidiary Playskool; company is renamed Hasbro Bradley Incorporated. The Hasbro Children’s Foundation is established to help needy children throughout the world.
1985: Hasbro unites its four subsidiaries—Hasbro Toys, Milton Bradley, Playskool, and Playskool Baby—under the name Hasbro, Inc.
1989: Hasbro acquires Coleco Industries, makers of Cabbage Patch Kids. Stephen Hassenfeld dies. His brother, Alan Hassenfeld, becomes chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
1991: Hasbro acquires Tonka Corporation, including Kenner Products and Parker Brothers divisions. Tonka Trucks, Monopoly, Nerf, Easy-Bake Oven, Clue, and Play-Doh are among the many products acquired. Operations are established in Greece, Hungary, and Mexico.
1992: Company acquires Nomura Toys Ltd. of Japan, and the controlling interest to Palmyra, a toy distributor in Southeast Asia.
1994: Hasbro acquires Games division of John Waddington PLC, makers of Pictionary.
1995: Company acquires the Laramie Corporation, makers of SuperSoaker brand water guns. Hasbro creates new division within company, Hasbro Interactive, which releases CD-ROM versions of board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble, and other popular toys, including Tonka and Mr. Potato Head.
1997: Company acquires licensing rights to three new Star Wars prequels for almost $600 million and over 7 percent of Hasbro stock.
1998: Hasbro acquires Tiger Electronics, makers of Furby, and also acquires the license to Teletubbies.
1999: Company acquires Wizards of the Coast, makers of Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons game cards.
2001: Hasbro sells Hasbro Interactive and Games.com, an interactive gaming Web site, to Infogrames Entertainment. The company closes plants in Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Napa.

Want to read more on Hasbro? Click here.

DarkRavie · January 17, 2020

Fact of the Day - BOARD GAMES

Did you know... that a board game is a tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules? Some games are based on pure strategy, but many contain an element of chance; and some are purely chance, with no element of skill.

Many of your favorite family games — like Chutes and Ladders and Operation — have been around for decades or even centuries. Though they're the hit of family game nights, most were originally designed as something quite different from what they are today. Here's some fascinating trivia that you may not know about some of the most well-known board games.

Snakes and Ladders

A wooden version of the original Snakes and Ladders game that later became Chutes and Ladders. (Photo: Waithaya Stock/Shutterstock)

Chutes and Ladders. It may look like a silly kids' game, but Chutes and Ladders has ancient Hindu roots. The game is derived from an Indian game called Jña¯na Chaupa¯r in which players tried to land on a virtue to climb a ladder toward the god Vishnu while avoiding the vices that would slide them into the belly of a snake. Around 1892, Jña¯na Chaupa¯r was sold in Europe as Snakes and Ladders. When it hit the U.S. market, it became Chutes and Ladders.

The Checkered Game of Life

The original Checkered Game of Life included squares for Idleness, Gambling and worst of all ... Politics. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The Game of Life. Originally called The Checkered Game of Life, this board game was the first — and actually the only — board game invented by Milton Bradley. Bradley created the game in 1860 as a "moral" game to teach children about the benefits of leading a virtuous life. Players tried to land on squares such as Honesty and Bravery that would lead them to Happy Old Age, while squares such as Crime and Disgrace sent them backward. The original game also included a Suicide square. Oh, and while landing on the Politics square might earn the player five points, it also moved them away from Happy Old Age and increased the likelihood that a player would land on Crime and be sent to Prison.

Game of Operation

Brain Freeze was added to the game of Operation in 2004 when Milton Bradley allowed fans to choose the newest ailment. (Photo: Tinxi/Shutterstock)

Operation. Everyone's favorite game involving improbable surgery and mild electrocution got its start in life as a college assignment. In 1962, John Spinello was a sophomore industrial design student at the University of Illinois when he was tasked with creating a toy or game. He made what he called a "magic box," a 10-by-10-inch box that was connected to a 12-volt lantern battery and a bell. When players touched the sides of the box, they got dinged.

Spinello's godfather worked for a toy company, and he convinced the young college student to show his prototype to the company's president, Marvin Glass. "Marvin Glass loved it," Spinello said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "He gave me a check for $500 and promised me a job, which I never got."

In the end, that $500 was the only compensation Spinello would ever receive for inventing a game that has since made millions. But he doesn't care. "That game has brought so much joy," he told the Tribune. "I’ve had so many people thank me for it. That’s my reward."

Monopoly

The earliest version of Monopoly was a critique of landlords with the aim of showing how rent made property owners wealthy while keeping renters poor. (Photo: Kamira/Shutterstock)

Monopoly. The game of Monopoly was originally designed by a very early social justice advocate, Elizabeth Magie, who wanted to explain how landlords were taking advantage of their renters. Oddly, what was once a critique of capitalism has become a game most famous for celebrating it.

But the game of Monopoly is also a lifesaver. During World War II, the Nazi army allowed the British government to send games, among other things, to their POW soldiers. With the cooperation of the game’s publisher, the Brits hid real money within the stack of Monopoly money as well as compasses, metal files and a folded silk map (because silk would not disintegrate like paper). The British soldiers were able to use these supplies to flee the POW camp.

Rubik's Cube

The current world record for 'speed cubing' (solving the puzzle in a timed contest) is 5.25 seconds. (Photo: ChristianChan/Shutterstock)

Rubik's Cube. Since it's invention in 1974, the Rubik's Cube has stumped more than 350 million people around the world with its puzzling colored squares. But the cube was originally developed by an architecture professor as a 3-D model of a geometric principle. It's satisfying then to know that it took the game's creator, Ernő Rubik, a full month to figure out the puzzle once he twisted the cube and realized he didn't know how to get the cubes realigned.

Candy Land

Candy Land was created to distract young polio patients from their illness. (Photo: digitalreflections/Shutterstock)

Candy Land. Many adults fondly remember Candy Land as the first board game they ever played as a child. With no reading or complex number skills required, the game is a perfect fit for little kids who are learning to count. And with a backdrop that includes brightly colored squares as well as a Candy Cane Forest, most kids are more than happy to practice their 1-2-3's while they take in the eye candy. And that's the whole point.

Candy Lane was invented by retired school teacher Eleanor Abbott while she was in the hospital recovering from polio. She created the game as a distraction for the children in the hospital who were also recovering from the disease. Abbott wanted to help take the kids' minds off their illness with a game that involved little thought and lots of fun images. She sold the game to Milton Bradley in 1949.

Mr Potato Head

Originally marketed as a funny face kit, Mr. Potato Head didn't come with a potato in the 1950s. (Photo: Julie Clopper/Shutterstock)

Mr. Potato Head. When this classic game was invented in 1952, kids received a box filled with legs, arms, eyes, a mustache and a corn cob pipe — but no potato. That didn't come along until newly created toy safety regulations released in the 1960s meant that toy pieces could no longer be sharp — and therefore they could no longer pierce real veggies. Toy maker Hasbro solved the dilemma by including a plastic potato in every box.

Settlers of Catan

Catan tournaments are held all over the world with the most prestigious being two biennial championships that alternate years: the World Championships and the European Championships. (Photo: Matěj Baťha/Wikimedia)

Settlers of Catan: Settlers of Catan has been called "the 'Monopoly of our time" due to its huge and sudden popularity around the world. Created by dental technician Klaus Teuber in 1995, the first 5,000 copies of Settlers of Catan sold out so quickly that Teuber doesn’t even own a copy of the first edition. Since its release, Catan has been translated into 30 languages, comes in more than 80 official editions and variants, and sells nearly a million copies a year.

As well as fun, board games can be educational.

5 games that teach science

Trivial Pursuit. Kids of all ages will learn something new with this game — science, math, literature, history and even a little pop culture. For little kids, Trivial Pursuit Jr. offers more of a bite-sized challenge.

Camp. This is a fantastic game for teaching kids about nature and the natural world. Players must answer questions — with varying degrees of difficulty — on everything from bear hibernation to the world's oceans.

Totally Gross. Yes, that's the name of the game and it's exactly why your kids will spend so much time laughing over the name that they won't even realize they are learning about chemistry, biology and other sciences.

Solarquest. Similar to Monopoly, this game is like a real-estate game for space where players travel around the solar system collecting "properties" while simultaneously fending off attacks. Got a space nut? Get this game.

Settlers of Catan. Your kids will get so wrapped up in exploring and developing their new world that they won't even realize they are learning social science skills such as managing resources, understanding terrain and developing communities.

6 games that teach math

Scrabble. Sure it's a word game, and that's precisely why kids won't even realize that they are learning math, but adding up all of those points takes some strong addition skills. Every time they double or triple their scores, they'll be boning up on multiplication.

Yahtzee. This is a great dice game that helps kids practice counting and addition.

Mancala. There's not a number in sight in this ancient board game, which is why kids will never suspect that they are practicing counting and following patterns.

Cribbage. This one is a card game but I'm sneaking it in here anyhow because it is a great way to help kids practice adding, counting and matching.

Sorry! A great game to teach little kids about counting.

Monopoly. Adding and multiplication abound in the game of Monopoly. If you have extra patience, let them be the banker so they can practice more math skills while handing out money and making change.

7 games that teach vocabulary

Scrabble. Because it's Scrabble!

Banagrams. Similar to Scrabble, but it's more free-flowing and also more portable.

Boggle. For little kids, skip the timer and just challenge them to find as many words as they can on each turn.

Cranium. With challenges themed around spelling, vocabulary and anagrams, your kids are bound to pick up a few new words from this fun family game.

UpWords. It's like scrabble, but you don't have to stick with the letters on the board; you can build on them by stacking vertically to create new words with each letter.

Scattergories. Pick a letter and then find 12 words from various categories that start with that letter. Great for building little vocabularies and challenging older ones as well!

In a Pickle. This is a great game for elementary school-aged kids who have a good vocabulary and can think outside the box when using it.

DarkRavie · January 19, 2020

Fact of the Day - YAWN OR YAWNING

Did you know... that yawns last an average of 6 seconds, and on average, men yawn longer than women? During that 6 seconds, the heart rate can increase by as much as 30 percent. 5. One function of yawning is to cool down an overheated brain, which allows us to think more clearly and have better concentration.

We all do it, and we all know it has at least something to do with how tired we feel. But unlike sleep apnea or laptops in the bedroom, yawning is an aspect of sleep that researchers haven't quite figured out just yet. That doesn't mean we're totally in the dark when it comes to catching flies. Here are a few of the facts we know for sure when it comes to yawning.

There Are Many Theories, But Little Proof
There's little research to support any of a number of theories as to why we yawn. FIrst off, we don't only do it when we're tired. It also probably doesn't reflect a lack of oxygen, although that theory isn't a totally nutty one. The idea likely blossomed from the fact that too-shallow breathing can cause problems, says Michael Decker, Ph.D., associate professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The bottom lobes of the lungs aren't usually called upon when we're in our resting state. It isn't until we exercise that we typically use more of our lung capacity, but such deep breathing helps keep the lungs healthy, he says. In cases of surgery patients, some have been known to lose lung function after developing pneumonia due to shallow breathing after anesthesia. "Yawning would be like a homeostatic response to not breathing deeply" if this theory were to hold up, says Decker, but there's little proof to suggest it's the primary reason for yawning.

Yawning does seem to increase with boredom, at least according to a small 1986 study of college students who yawned more when shown a pattern of colors than when shown a 30-minute rock video. The most recent research on yawning suggests that it exists to cool down the brain. That open-mouthed yawn causes sinus walls "to expand and contract like a bellows, pumping air onto the brain, which lowers its temperature," National Geographic reported. The study found that people were more likely to yawn during the winter, when the exterior air is obviously cooler, than in the summer, when yawns won't do much in terms of bringing cold air inside, Healthy Living reported.

Yawning Really Is Contagious
It's true! One study found that when shown videos of yawning, around 50 percent of people also began yawning. It even happens among animals! A 2004 study observed the catching nature of yawns between chimpanzees and baboons and macaques. Perhaps most impressive, though, are dogs, who might start to yawn after just hearing their owners let one slip. Even merely thinking -- or reading! -- about yawning can trigger one (did we get you yet?).

Turns out, it's not really that strange of a reaction, Robert Provine, a psychology and neuroscience professor at the Unversity of Maryland, Baltimore County, told WebMD. Other very human reactions are equally "contagious" -- think about the last time you witnessed someone laughing! A number of studies have tied this catching nature of yawns to empathy, says Decker. "The yawning becomes more of a social phenomenon than a physiological phenomenon," he says, and helps explain why we yawn when we're not tired.

Yawning Is More Contagious Between Besties
Not just anyone will pass a yawn onto you. According to 2012 research, yawns are most contagious among the closest of pals. "Researchers discovered that the closer you are to someone genetically or emotionally, the more likely it is that you'll 'catch' their yawn," HuffPost Science reported. Makes sense given the empathy theory, says Decker, since closer friends and family will have even stronger feelings toward each other.

Yawning May Be A Sign Of Disease
It isn't usually the first symptom of anything serious, but excessive yawning can in some instances signal there's something wrong beyond severe sleep deprivation. In some people, excessive yawning could be a reaction caused by the vagus nerve, according to the National Institutes of Health, which could indicate a heart problem. In other rare cases, it could also signify a number of brain problems.

Even A Fetus Can Yawn
No one knows exactly why yet, but unborn babies do yawn. While researchers have previously disputed imagery of open-mouth fetuses, a 2012 review of 4D scans was able to distinguish between a developing baby opening its mouth and a "non-yawn mouth opening," HuffPost Science reported. It may have something to with brain development, the researchers posited, and could potentially be used as a marker of normal development, LiveScience reported.

The Average Yawn Lasts 6 Seconds
There might not be a scientific study to back this one up, but a number of news outlets peg yawn length at about six seconds. During those six seconds, heart rate increases significantly. A 2012 study examined the body before, during and after yawns and found that a number of the physiological changes that take place during those six seconds -- or however long you yawn for -- are unique to yawning, and were not replicated when study participants were simply asked to take a deep breath.

Edited January 19, 2020 by DarkRavie

DarkRavie · January 19, 2020

Fact of the Day - DOCTOR WHO

Did you know.... that since making its BBC debut on November 23, 1963, Doctor Who has entranced several generations of fans (including a few of its future Doctors) with its quirky mix of history and sci-fi?

Though it certainly maintains plenty of pint-sized fans to this day, the original concept for Doctor Who was specifically an educational program aimed at teaching kids about science and history. In an interview with the BBC, Waris Hussein—who, at the age of 24, directed the very first episode of Doctor Who—said that the series “was meant to be educational for kids. We were trying to educate kids about certain things about the human condition.”

As one of the most adapted literary characters of all time, it’s hardly surprising that The Doctor shares a few characteristics with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective. According to the BBC, Doctor Who was partly inspired by Sherlock Holmes (and both the Fourth and Eleventh Doctors have even dressed up as him).

While even the most casual of Doctor Who fans can probably tell you that The Doctor is a “Time Lord,” an ancient alien species that has the power to travel through time, the term itself wasn’t actually used until the series’ sixth season episode “The War Games.” His home planet of Gallifrey wasn’t mentioned by name until 1973.

Is the Doctor really a doctor? According to the Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton), the answer is yes … or at least he thinks so. In the season 4 episode “The Moonbase,” the Doctor’s companion, Polly, asked what audiences had been wondering for years: “Are you a medical doctor?” To which the Doctor replies, “Yes, I think I was once, Polly. I think I took a degree once in Glasgow. 1888 I think.”

William Hartnell, who played the First Doctor from 1963 to 1966, was having health problems toward the end of his run on the series. To ensure that the show could go on without its original star, and to avoid enraging viewers who had come to love Hartnell, the showrunners decided that, instead, they would make the ability to regenerate be a part of The Doctor’s mythology.

Years after it was written, an internal BBC memo was uncovered that outlined the “metaphysical change” that would take place as the First Doctor became the Second Doctor. “It is as if he had had the L.S.D. drug,” the memo explained, “and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror which can be its effect.”

The TARDIS has always looked like a police box, but it turns out that’s only because of a technical malfunction. In “An Unearthly Child,” the pilot episode, we learn that the TARDIS is supposed to blend into whatever time and place it has traveled to. But its cloaking device, known as a chameleon circuit, is broken.

Considering what he did with Alien and Blade Runner, seeing what Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott would have dreamed up for the Daleks would have been pretty fascinating. Unfortunately, we’ll never have the chance. Though Scott, who worked for the BBC at the time of Doctor Who’s creation, was assigned the enviable task of designing the show’s devilish Daleks, he ended up leaving the network to concentrate on becoming a director. Instead, we have the late Raymond Cusick to thank for the Daleks’ iconic design. "People do say I was inspired by a pepper pot—but I always think 'If that's all it takes to become a designer then it's a doddle,'” Cusick once said of the final design.

Sydney Newman, the BBC’s then-head of drama and one of Doctor Who’s original creators, was very specific about one thing he did not want to see in the series: “Being a real aficionado of science fiction, I hated stories which used bug-eyed monsters, otherwise known as BEMs,” he recalled. “I write in my memo that there would be no bug-eyed monsters in Doctor Who. And after a few episodes, [producer] Verity Lambert turned up with the Daleks! I bawled her out for it, but she said ‘Honest, Sydney, they’re not bug-eyed monsters—they’re human beings who are so advanced that their bodies have atrophied and they need these casings to manipulate and do the things they want!’ Of course, the Daleks took off and captured everybody’s imagination. Some of the best things I have ever done are the thing I never wanted to do.”

The Daleks were designed in two parts so that an operator could wedge themselves into the bottom portion in order to operate the device. The space was hot, cramped, and made it difficult to hear anything going on outside the Dalek. “You had to have about six hands: one to do the eyestalk, one to do the light, one for the gun, another for the smoke canister underneath, yet another for the sink plunger” John Scott Martin, one of the original Dalek operators, said. “If you were related to an octopus, then it helped.”

When Doctor Who made its triumphant return to television in 2005, it almost happened without the Daleks. The estate of Terry Nation, who created the mutants, had initially attempted to block their return to the new series, claiming that it would “ruin the brand of the Daleks.” At one point, when negotiations between the BBC and Nation’s estate seemed to have broken down, the show’s producers even created a new villain. Fortunately, they were able to work it out.

At the same time he was creating episodes of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxyfor BBC Radio 4, Douglas Adams was commissioned to do some writing for Doctor Who. According to Adams, the first episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide “more or less coincided with the summer period at the BBC, where, in order for anything to get approved, you have to wait for people to come back from whichever beach they're lying on. So that took a long time. While I was kicking my heels, I sent in my pilot episode to the then script editor of Doctor Who, Robert Holmes, who said 'Yes, yes. Like this. Come round and see us.' So we discussed ideas for a bit, and I eventually got commissioned to write four Doctor Who episodes. It took a long time to reach that decision, and then, after all this period of nothing happening, I was suddenly commissioned to write four Doctor Whos and the next five Hitchhikers all at once."

Fourth Doctor Tom Baker played the Doctor for seven years and 172 episodes—longer than any other actor. As far as the rebooted series goes, David Tennant holds the record with six years and 47 episodes.

In the 1980s, personal computers were still pretty futuristic. So it makes sense that Prime Computer would enlist Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981, to serve as their spokesperson/spokestimelord. His faithful companion Romana (Lalla Ward) made an appearance, too.

In 1996, after years of selling TARDIS-branded merchandise, the BBC attempted to officially trademark The Doctor’s preferred mode of transportation—but the move was met with resistance from the Metropolitan Police, as the time-travel machine is essentially a police box. Six years later, in 2002, the BBC finally won the case, while the Metropolitan Police were ordered to pay £850, plus legal costs.

When the Tenth Doctor was just a kid, he knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: the star of Doctor Who. It was Tom Baker’s version of The Doctor in particular that inspired David Tennant to become an actor. He carried around a Doctor Who doll and wrote Who-inspired essays at school. "Doctor Who was a massive influence," Tennanttold Rolling Stone. "I think it was for everyone in my generation; growing up, it was just part of the cultural furniture in Britain in the '70s and '80s."

Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi was obsessed with the series as a kid, too. As a teenager, he created a ton of Doctor Who fan art and even managed to get some of it published. More than 40 years before he became The Doctor, some BBC staffers already knew his name—because he used to inundate them with letters requesting production photos and begging to be named president of the show’s fan club.

“He haunted my time running the fan club, as he was quite indignant he wasn’t considered for the post,” recalled Sarah Newman, an assistant to the show’s producer at the time, who was forced to tell the teenage future-Doctor that they had already named a president.

Though Jodie Whittaker is the series' first official female Doctor, she's not the first actress to be considered for the role. Back in the 1980s, Sydney Newman had an idea for how to revitalize the show: regenerate the Time Lord into a Time Lady. For years, the show’s producers have toyed with the idea of making The Doctor a woman. In 2008, showrunner Russell Davies broached the idea yet again, citing Catherine Zeta-Jones as his top pick to replace Tennant.

Catherine Zeta-Jones isn’t the only famous could’ve-been Doctor: Hugh Grant was offered the role of The Doctor when the show was being revitalized, but reportedly turned it down because he worried it wouldn’t be a hit. Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch also said no. “David and I talked about it but I thought it would have to be radically different,” Cumberbatch said.

Though Cumberbatch was always the first and only choice for Sherlock’s lead role, a number of actors—including Matt Smith—auditioned to play his sidekick, Dr. John Watson. Smith auditioned for the role just about a week before he went in and read for the Eleventh Doctor. Fortunately, the latter worked out for him. (Steven Moffat was the showrunner on both Doctor Who and Sherlock, though Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall took over those duties beginning with season 11.)

Matt Smith’s professorial tweed jacket and bow tie ensemble are now pretty iconic in the Doctor Who universe, but it took a while to land on that look. The costume department tested a lot of different looks (you can see photos here), though everyone eventually agreed that the geek chic bow tie look worked for him.

While Matt Smith, as the Eleventh Doctor, was finding his look in his first episode, he declared that “bow ties are cool”—and he was clearly on to something. In 2010, British-based retailer Topman said that "Since the new Doctor Who aired, we have seen a dramatic rise in bow tie sales, in the last month up sales have increased by 94 percent.”

On May 3, 1984, Brian A. Skiff discovered a new asteroid: Asteroid 3325 TARDIS, which he named for The Doctor’s police box time machine.

Want to read more on Doctor Who? Click here.

DarkRavie · January 20, 2020

Fact of the Day - BEAUTY PAGEANTS

Did you know... that a beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants, although most contests have evolved to also incorporate personality traits, intelligence, talent, and a contestant's ability to answer judges' questions on various subjects as judged criteria?

Beauty Pageants are a global pastime and are found in almost every culture and in nearly every theme imaginable. While in the United States Beauty Pageants and contestants have fallen prey to a lot of stereotypes, most of the beauty candidates are hard working women who spend weeks and even months preparing for five minutes on stage.

25 Little-Known Facts About Beauty Pageants That You Probably Didn’t Know.

The average BMI (Body Mass Index) of a Beauty Contestant in the US in 1930 was 20.8, which is universally in the middle of the "healthy" range. In 2010, it was 16.9, which is considered underweight for anyone.
The first Miss America Pageant was held in Atlantic City 1921. Bathing suit contests had been held at beaches in Delaware as early as 1880!
There are four major international beauty pageants for adult women, known as The Big Four - Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth. The Philippines holds the most titles from The Big Four.
Being a Pageant Queen isn't cheap or easy - it's like a full time job. For serious competitors in the US, evening dresses can cost upwards of $1,000 for gowns off the rack, $5,000 and up for custom-made gowns. Professional Hair and Makeup can cost $250 and hour, on top of personal trainers, pageant coaches, professional headshots, transportation, pageant entry fees....
Globally, Beauty Pageants are insanely popular, with over 3,000 pageants listed on the International Register of Pageants.
Many of us have seen or heard of the show "Toddlers and Tiaras," which follows child Beauty Pageant Contestants. Children between the ages of 6-16 account for about 3 million beauty pageant attendees each year.
"Glitz" dresses for children's beauty pageants can run into the thousands of dollars for one outfit, worn for one pageant season. One noted Toddlers and Tiaras contestant "MacKenzie Myers" had a 4,000 dress.
Many adult "Miss" beauty pageants still hold to very traditional gender roles; contestants must never have been married (Miss America now allows Divorcees), or given birth to a child. (Requirements used to say "have been pregnant," but changes were made so that women who had an abortion or miscarriage could compete.) The oldest you can be to enter the Miss America Pageant is 24, for Miss USA it's 26.
There have been a lot of weirdly themed Beauty Pageants in America's History - Miss American Vampire (girls dressed like a Vampire), Miss Beautiful Ape (a promotion in the 70's where contestants wore Ape Heads to promote a movie), Miss Atom Bomb, Miss Prettiest Ankles, and Miss Lovely Eyes (where contestants wore creepy masks that covered everything but their eyes. Because scarves were too basic?)
France actually banned Beauty Pageants for children under the age of 13, citing fears of "hypersexualizing" young girls. But it does beg the question - does a 4 year old need a spray tan, eyeliner, fake nails, fake lashes, and fake teeth?
Apparently, you can be the most beautiful woman in the Universe more than once. In 2009, Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela won Miss Universe for two consecutive years.
Since most mainstream adult beauty pageants have very strict ideals of beauty, there are a lot of specialty pageants - for short women, married women, plus size women, etc.
Over two and a half million adult women participate in Beauty Pageants each year in the US alone, and Beauty Pageants are a Worldwide phenomenon. That's a lot of hair spray and tooth whitener.
Some people in Venezuela are so obsessed with Beauty Pageants that they send their daughters to special academies also known as "Miss Factories," to groom them to be Beauty Queens. Often women under 18 undergo cosmetic surgery, hormone therapies to stave off puberty in an attempt to grow taller, mesh sewn onto the tongue to make eating solid food impossible, among other things. However, Venezuela has the most International Beauty titles of any other country.
While many are quick to speak against Beauty Pageants for women of any age, many contestants report an increase in self esteem, confidence, and overcoming shyness. Confidence is the best participation trophy.
Backstage at pageants doesn't smell as pretty as the contestants look. A bunch of sweaty girls running around, a lot of nerves, hairspray, and fifteen different kinds of perfume don't...smell great together. This is in no way to say that Beauty Contestants aren't meticulously clean, but...athletes don't smell great in the middle of a game, either.
It doesn't take a lot to set up a local Beauty Pageant, as far as experience or legal oversight. Pick an age group and theme, date, location, prizes, and a few other details, and BOOM, people showing up with makeup and sparkles. This doesn't mean you'll throw a GOOD pageant, mind you, just "a pageant." While a lot of these pageants may not be registered with larger pageant groups, some serious competitors consider them practice for more serious competitions against seasoned beauty queens.
A lot of the contestants become friends. We know that drama sells, so to a point any "reality" show about Pageants has played up the drama. But contestants aren't usually at each other's throats; they're a bunch of young women of the same age striving towards the same goals, heavily invested in the same subculture. Of COURSE they're going to make friends. There's a few bad apples, sure, but overall, it's a lot of healthy competition and support.
"Butt Glue" is a thing. It keeps your bikini bottom in place, or to keep revealing tops from revealing too much. Skin Lifting Tape is also a real and commonly used thing.
Some Beauty Pageants are a scam. Because it's not really complicated and there's no grand oversight to hosting a local Beauty Pageant, some pageant organizers are really just there for the money. While they may give out tiaras and sashes the day of the pageant, bigger prizes - like scholarships and cash - sometimes never appear, and the scammers make off with the entry fees. Which stinks, because most small pageants are just people who love the pageant world and want to start one.
Those giant, sometimes weird, pageant crowns they win? Like everything these days, they're usually ordered online, and they cost the pageant from $5 (for bulk ordered participation crowns) to hundreds of dollars for the huge monstrosities that generally can't actually be worn by the contestant without them holding it on their head with one hand.
Ever wonder how/why the waists of some contestants are so teeny tiny? Hemorrhoid cream and plastic wrap. Says one former miss USA, “I slather on hemorrhoid ointment, wrap myself up with Saran wrap, and run on a treadmill with an incline for 30 minutes. It’s not permanent, but it tightens you up.” So the next time someone tries to sell you a $25 wrap thing...just get a tube of preparation H.
Sometimes the women in the finals get serenaded. On stage. Despite how romantic and lovely Disney movies and musicals have made this moment seem, it's kind of awkward.
Time schedules for large national and international pageants are *insane*. Several weeks of 18+ hour days in the WEEKS leading up to Pageant Day, with very little time between activities or appearances. So the next time you apply eight layers of concealer and highlight to your dark circles, feel like a Beauty Queen!
While people love to mock and replay every dumb answer a Beauty Contestant makes (Like, the Iraq, and, such as), Beauty Pageants in the US place a heavy emphasis on education and scholarships, and yes, there ARE feminist Beauty Queens. You can be a highly intelligent, progressive, feminist, non-white, Beauty Queen who competes *because she enjoys it*. Isn't she lovely?

Beauty pageants have been around for a very long time. Even in the early 1800s, May Queens were selected during European May Day celebration as symbols of wholesomeness and beauty.

Today in America, there are dozens upon dozens of beauty pageants for women of different ages. It takes a whole lot to be a beauty queen, and not just a strict diet and exercise: you also need to have a lot of dedication and practice. In fact, up to three-fourths of all beauty pageant contestants hire coaches to help them become winners in competition. It’s almost like a sport in the sense that the competition is intense, and you have to train long and hard to be a winner.

While it may all be glitz and glamour in the spectators’ minds, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to these events. Between the history of the spectacle, the women who have participated, and the rules and regulations over the years, there is a lot you probably didn’t know about these pageants.

In 1920, the folks at the Atlantic City Boardwalk wanted to keep the tourists on site after Labor Day. Their solution was to throw a parade of pretty women. The next year, they took the idea a bit further and turned the parade into a pageant, and that, my friends, is how Miss America was born.
There is a pageant out there for everyone, but some of them still enforce very strict rules. Some guideline state that a contestant can’t be pregnant, that she can’t be over the young age of 24, or that she must be unmarried. There are other pageants specifically designed for older women, mothers, women under 5’6, plus-size women, and pretty much just about everyone. However, some of the rules for the world’s oldest pageants seem a bit outdated.
You may think there is only a lot of resentment behind the scenes at pageants, as there is only one crown for dozens of contestants. But many women and girls who compete in various levels will wholeheartedly tell you that there is a very strong sisterhood between competitors. Most will say that they are more like one big family than anything else. Ask any woman who grew up in the pageant world and she’ll tell you that her best friends are the ones who she met while competing.
Bette Cooper won the title of Miss America in 1937, but within 24 hours of receiving the crown, she decided that she would rather pursue an education instead of performing the duties of the winner. She relinquished all of her responsibilities and attended Centenary Junior College in her home state of New Jersey. No one else was awarded the title after she declined the crown.
Think about it: there are dozens of women back there rushing to get through wardrobe changes after being out there in the shining, hot lights. Even beauty queens sweat on their breast inserts and need to reapply their “butt glue” a few times for the swimsuit portions. There is usually a very interesting cocktail of smells wafting about backstage, a strange mixture of hairspray and body odors.
She didn’t win the title, but in 1946 actress Cloris Leachman got a scholarship after participating in a Miss America pageant. She took that money and used it to get the ball rolling on her acting career in New York City. Many credit her short-lived career in the beauty pageant world as giving her the jump start she needed to launch her successful acting career.
Olivia Culpo of Rhode Island was the most recent winner in 2012, making it eight total wins for America. The place with the second most wins is Venezuela with seven, then Puerto Rico with five, and the Philippines with three Bikinis have been banned, protested, made mandatory, and everything in between over the years across many different beauty pageants. As cultures and values intersect and ideas as a whole change, its acceptance has been an ongoing progression. From being mostly banned in the earlier years to being banned entirely, then to being required and considered optional, it’s been a real roller coaster ride for the swimsuit portion of the competition in all major beauty pageants worldwide.
The interview portion of the competition comes down to a few short moments where a contestant must provide the perfect answer. Try to think back to your last job interview, and then concentrate all of the pressure of the entire interview into one question. Doesn’t sound very fun, does it? The best contestants do their research and watch old pageant footage to figure out their own strategy, much like a football player watches old game footage. Pageant contestants have to rehearse with practice questions for months leading up to the competition. They also have to stay keen on the whole spectrum of current events, as they can never know for sure what the topic of the question will be. Well-prepared pageant contestants probably know more about what’s going on in the world than the average American.
Between all the pageants out there, 2.5 million American women compete for various titles across the globe each year. That is a whole lot of women competing for a lot of titles, from local levels all the way up to competitions like Miss America.

DarkRavie · January 21, 2020

Fact of the Day - GRAMMY AWARDS

Did you know... that a Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an award presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry? The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest.

Many Grammy facts have worked their way into pop-culture lore: The Beatles won best new artist in 1965, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band won album of the year in 1968. Christopher Cross took all the Big Four categories — best new artist and record, song and album of the year — in 1981. Milli Vanilli won best new artist in 1990, only to be stripped of the honor a few months later.

1. The first Grammy Awards was held May 4, 1959, at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

They recognized 28 categories. Composer Henry Mancini won album of the year for Music From Peter Gunn, while Italian singer Domenico Modugno won both record and song of the year Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare).

2. The 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 were the first ones televised.

They were broadcast from the Hollywood Palladium.

3. The Grammys red carpet is 500 feet long by 80 feet wide.

It has welcomed more than 7,000 people in a year.

4. There are 899 actual nominees for the 57th Annual Grammys.

Beyoncé and Sam Smith are the two with the most nominations — six each.

5. If you want to dramatically increase your chances of winning a Grammy, get Quincy Jones and Alison Krauss involved.

They share the lead for most Grammy wins by living artists, with 27 each. The late conductor Sir George Solti holds the overall record with 31.

6. The Recording Academy received more than 20,000 recording submissions for the 57th Grammy Awards.

7. Michael Jackson and Santana hold the record for the most Grammys won in one night.

They each took eight — Jackson in 1984, Santana in 2000.

8. The @LatinGRAMMYs Twitter feed, with 2.1 million followers, is more popular than @TheGRAMMYs, with more than 1.85 million.

They are the most followed awards shows on Twitter.

9. The Grammy Awards have called three cities home.

Los Angeles has hosted 34 times, New York nine times and Nashville once in 1972.

10. Snoop Dogg and Brian McKnight have been nominated 16 times for Grammys but have never won.

Quincy Jones has the most nominations, with 79.

11. The Grammy weighs 6 pounds and is made of a special metal called "grammium."

Don't bother asking what grammium is made of. We did, and they wouldn't tell us.

12. Only two master artisans have ever crafted the Grammy award.

Bob Graves from 1958-1984 and John Billings from 1985 – present.

13. The oldest Grammy winner was the late blues pianist Pinetop Perkins, at 97 years old.

The youngest was LeAnn Rimes at 14 years old. Taylor Swift, at 20, was the youngest to win album of the year.

14. Three U.S. presidents have won Grammy awards.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Timeline

1957 - The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also known as The Recording Academy, is founded in Los Angeles.
May 4, 1959 - The first Grammy Awards is held. Winners included Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Perry Como.
1963 - Bing Crosby receives the first Lifetime Achievement Award.
1967 - Georg Solti & John Culshaw receive the first Trustees Award.
1971 - Andy Williams hosts the first live Grammy Awards telecast at the Hollywood Palladium.
1973 - The Grammy Hall of Fame is established.
1974 - The Latin category is added.
1982 - The first Grammy for a music video is presented.
1984 - The Reggae category category is added.
1987 - The New Age category category is added.
1989 - The Grammy Foundation is established.
1988 - The Rap category is added.
1990 - The Alternative category is added.
1993 - The Recording Academy opens its new national headquarters in Santa Monica, California.
1994 - The Technical Award is established.
1997 - The Latin Recording Academy is established.
1998 - The Dance category is added.
September 13, 2000 - The first Latin Grammy Awards are presented.
December 2008 - The Grammy Museum opens in Los Angeles, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards.

DarkRavie · January 22, 2020

Fact of the Days - WORD

Did you know... that in linguistics, a word of a spoken language can be defined as the smallest sequence of phonemes that can be uttered in isolation with objective or practical meaning?

We use words every day, but do we really know where they came from and what they actually mean? Have you ever really thought about where the words we use come from? If you're like me, you probably haven't. Or maybe you have but are always ready to learn more! English is like a big stew or words from lots of other languages and it's constantly evolving and changing. Twenty years ago nobody would have called taking a photo of yourself a "selfie", but now we don't think twice about it.

Here are some really interesting facts about words that will make you think deeper about the words you use. Take a brain break and do something that will make you smarter and read this!

All the letters but one in the word "queue" are unnecessary. The word “queue” means a line of people. But it would be pronounced the same spelled “q”. You don’t really need all those extra vowels, but I guess they’re just there standing in a little line to demonstrate what a line looks like in case you didn’t know. In addition to having a bunch of useless letters, if you add an "ing" to queue, it becomes the words with the most vowels in a row. The word “queueing” has six vowels in a row!

The word "swims" still says "swims" if you turn it upside down. I’ll wait while you turn your computer upside down.

The letter E makes up 11% of the English language. Just try writing a sentence without using the letter E. You cannot do it! Wait, except that last sentence.

Facetious is the only common English word with all 5 vowels in order. There are a few others, including “arsenious”, but I’m going to guess you don’t need to say “relating to arsenic” very often in conversation.

A lot of the words we use regularly started out as acronyms. You might know the word SCUBA stands for “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus”.

But did you know that the word "Yuppie" is also (kind of) an acronym? It stands for “Young urban professional”. (We added the “pie” to make it cuter, I guess.)

And the word "modem" is one too! It stands for “modulator/demodulator”.

There are also a lot of words that have more than one meaning and those meanings are exact opposites. For instance, the word “left” means both remained and departed. (“We have left the party” vs. “There are four people left at the party”).

Same with the word "buckle". It can mean either fasten something together or collapse under pressure.

And the word "dust" means both to remove dust and also to put dust on something. You dust a bookshelf, but you also dust a cake with sugar.

You would have to count to one thousand to use the letter “A” in the English language to spell a whole number.
The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
“Almost” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
“Rhythms” is the longest English word without a vowel.
“Stewardesses” is the longest English word that can be typed on a keyboard with only the left hand.
The seven-letter word “therein” contains 10 words without rearranging any of its letters: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere, therein, herein.
There are only four words in the English language which end in “-dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
The second longest word in the English language is “antidisestablishmenterianism.”
The longest word in the English language is “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses.”
No word in the English language rhymes with “month.”
No word in the English language dictionary rhymes with “orange.”
No word in the English language dictionary rhymes with “silver.”
No word in the English language dictionary rhymes with “purple.”
There are 6 words in the English language with the letter combination “uu”: Muumuu, vacuum, continuum, duumvirate and duumvir, residuum.
“Bookkeeper” and “bookkeeping” are the only words in the English language with three consecutive double letters.
The word “queueing” is the only English word with five consecutive vowels.
The two longest one-syllable words in the English language are “screeched” and “strengths.”
The word TIP is an acronym for “To Insure Prompt Service” and originated in a coffee shop.
The oldest word in the English language is “town.”
The English word with only one vowel that occurs six times is “indivisibility.”
Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order.
“Strengths” is the longest word in the English language with just one vowel.
One of the longest English words that can be typed using the top row of a typewriter (allowing multiple uses of letters) is “typewriter.”
If you say you’ll “be back in a jiffy” you better be quick; a “jiffy” is the unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
In Chinese, the words for crisis and opportunity are the same.
Race car is a palindrome.
When two words are combined to form a single word (e.g., motor + hotel = motel, breakfast + lunch = brunch) the new word is called a “portmanteau.”
AM and PM stand for “Ante-Meridian” and “Post-Meridian.”
A.D. stands for “Anno Domini” – the Medieval Latin for “In the year of the Lord.” B.C. stands for “Before Christ.”
The “D” in D-day means “Day” or “on the day” as opposed to D+3 (the planned date plus 3 days).
“Quisling” is the only word in the English language to start with “quis.”
The shortest French word with all five vowels is “oiseau” meaning bird.
The word denim comes from ‘de Nimes’, or from Nimes, a place in France.
The word malaria comes from the words mal and aria, which means bad air. This derives from the old days when it was thought that all diseases are caused by bad, or dirty air.
The word “testify” is said to be based on men in the ancient Roman court having to swear (promise to tell the truth) on their testicles.
“Freelance” comes from a knight whose lance was free for hire, i.e. not pledged to one master.
The word “Boondocks” comes from the Tagalog (Filipino) word “Bundok,” which means mountain.
The word “moose” was originally Algonquin.
The word “sneaker” was coined by Henry McKinney, an advertising agent for N.W. Ayer & Son.
“Evian” spelled backwards is naive.
The word “rodent” originates from the Latin word ‘rodere,’ meaning to gnaw.

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