Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GERONIMO!!!!

Did you you.... The origin of the tradition started with a platoon of Army parachute jumpers and a little too much beer. In the early 1940s, the United States Army was testing the idea of parachuting from planes as a way of deploying troops. The first group to really experiment with it and begin developing paratrooper techniques was a unit of 50 service members known the Parachute Test Platoon.

 

They were based at Fort Benning, Georgia, and spent most of their summer working through grueling training sessions in the afternoon heat, wearing parachutes on their backs along with the rest of their standard gear. When training was done for the day, the troops liked to loosen up and cool down a little. Usually, most of them went to the air-conditioned Main Post Theatre in the evenings to see a movie.

 

One night in August 1940, that movie happened to be the Paramount western, Geronimo, about the Chiricahua Apache chief and military leader.

 

After the movie, there was beer. After beer, there was, as there often is, a boast. On their way back to their bunks after the film, the group got to talking about the jump they were doing the next day, their first as a group. The paratroopers only had a few solo jumps under their belts, and many of them were admittedly nervous. Private Aubrey Eberhardt, a brawny, 6-foot-3-inch soldier from Georgia, claimed that he wasn’t worried. This mass jump would be nothing.

 

The other soldiers gave him a hard time. They were all scared. Of course he was scared, too. He should just admit it.

 

Eberhardt finally relented and told them what he was going to do—to prove to them that he wasn’t afraid, he was going to shout “Geronimo!” as loud as he could when he leapt out the plane’s door.

 

The next day, out the plane he went, and everyone heard “Geronimooooooo!” The rest of the platoon wasn’t about to let Eberhardt show them up, so on subsequent jumps the rest of the soldiers took up his battle cry. A tradition was born. The next year, the Army’s first official parachute unit, the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion, made “Geronimo” the motto on their unit insignia after their commander tracked down descendants of the real Geronimo to ask their permission to use his name. (The chief’s given name was actually Goyahkla. Geronimo was a nickname referencing his fierceness when fighting Mexican soldiers who prayed to St. Jerome.)

 

After World War II, the Army brass put an end to the mid-air yelling, worried that a screaming paratrooper would give away a unit’s position during operations. The heavy media coverage of the novel paratroopers during the war, however, put the “Geronimo” cry in the public’s imagination. Aubrey Eberhardt’s boozy brag lives on.

 

 

Source: Why Do We Scream “Geronimo” When Jumping Out of Airplanes?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

Did you know... From the majestic whales that traverse the ocean depths to the tiny ants orchestrating their complex colonies, animals employ an astonishing array of communication methods to convey information, establish social bonds, and navigate the challenges of their environments. Whether through intricate dances, melodic songs, chemical signals, or the subtle nuances of body language, the animal kingdom is a vibrant testament to the myriad ways in which creatures express themselves. So join us on a journey into the fascinating world of interspecies communication, where the sounds of nature transcend the boundaries of language as we know it.

 

1. Dance

In the world of animal communication, the dances performed by various species reveal a rich language of expressions and interactions, just like they do with us. Observing bees in their hives, Karl Von Frisch uncovered a phenomenon known as the "waggle dance": upon discovering a food source, the bees returned to the hive and engaged in a dance, with fellow bees touching their abdomens. This dance communicated precise information about the direction and distance of the newfound sustenance. The world of tiny dancers extends beyond the buzzing bees. For example, the peacock spider taps its legs to attract nearby female spiders. And clark’s grebes engage in a synchronized water ballet when seeking a mate.

 

2. Infrasound and Ultrasound

The African elephant and the tarsier represent the extremes of the auditory spectrum. African elephants produce low-frequency vibrations below 20 hertz, imperceptible to the human ear. This method of communication transcends great distances, with an infrasound signal from one elephant reaching another over 175 miles away. On the opposite end, the tarsier, a tiny primate, emits frequencies exceeding 20,000 Hertz—sounds beyond our hearing range. This high-pitched communication serves the tarsier well in the jungle cacophony, allowing them to exchange vital information about potential threats beyond the reach of predators.

 

3. Color and Light

Cephalopods are masters of the color spectrum. They employ their remarkable ability to change hues for a lot of communicative purposes. Squid and cuttlefish utilize this skill not only to signal their availability for mating but also to assert their territorial dominance or ward off potential threats. Octopuses, on the other hand, make good use of their color-changing abilities as a camouflage technique and a defensive signal. A sudden shift to white with black accents around their eyes communicates a feeling of vulnerability and a potential readiness to defend.

 

4. Electricity

Some fish, like eels, use electricity as their conversational medium. Eels can generate electric fields with a potential of up to one volt, creating a unique form of communication. Employing specialized electroreceptors, these fish receive signals transmitted through electric waves. Upon reception, the fish deciphers the signal's frequency and waveform, revealing the language encoded within.

 

5. Feces

The white rhinoceros creates communal defecation sites called middens. This site acts as a type of rhino message board, as the feces contain all sorts of biological and societal information. A midden can communicate who rules that specific area. The dominant male rhino will often defecate directly in the middle of the midden and kick around his waist, both to spread his smell around the midden and to get it stuck on his feet so that others can recognize the scent wherever he goes.

 

6. Whistles, Growls, and Hums

Moving into the world of verbal communication, animals showcase an amazing array of vocal prowess. Dholes, the fox-wolf lookalikes, break away from their canid relatives by employing whistles, clucks, and eerie shrieks across their expansive territories of up to 35 square miles. Silverback gorillas command attention through humming, using it as a bell of sorts to call their group. Similarly, chimps and bonobos prove to be noisy eaters, shedding light on primate social structures through their vocalizations. Yet, prairie dogs steal the show in the complexity of their linguistic skills, using distinct calls to identify approaching predators.

 

Click below  to read more of animal communication

 

 

Source: Learn about Ways Animals Communicate with Each Other

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - KARS4KIDS

Did you know.... It can happen suddenly and without warning. Driving in your vehicle, a commercial break comes on. In addition to the standard pleas to use a specific laundry detergent or contemplate debt consolidation, the voice of a preadolescent, out-of-tune child materializes. Your grip on the steering wheel gets tighter. The child begins to warble:

 

1-877-Kars-4-Kids, K-A-R-S Kars for Kids, 1-EIGHT-SEVEN-SEVEN-Kars-4-Kids, Donate Your Car Today …

 

An adult breaks in to repeat the lyrics. The two begin to sing in unison:

1-877-Kars-4-Kids, K-A-R-S Kaaaaars for Kiiiids…Donate Your Car Today!

 

In roughly a minute, it’s over. You go on with your day. But the song’s repetitive melody sticks to your brain like sap. You hear it when preparing dinner. While brushing your teeth. As you put your head on the pillow. When it’s finally worked its way out of your brain and you’ve started to forget, it reappears.  The song is engineered to be obnoxious. And its producers wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

The History of the Kars4Kids Jingle
Since 1999, an untold number of Americans have found themselves reduced to mewling heaps of distress following exposure to the Kars4Kids jingle. The 501(c) nonprofit organization based in Lakewood, New Jersey, spends up to $17 million annually making sure this earwig of a commercial is played across the country. While the purpose is not expressly to annoy you, the fact that the song is irritating is what makes it memorable. And successful. And more than a little controversial.

 

Kars4Kids began in 1995 as a way to capitalize on the trend of automotive owners donating their unwanted cars in exchange for a tax deduction. Owners who donate their vehicles are able to get an IRS write-off—though typically for only a percentage of the current value—if they declare it a charitable donation. Kars4Kids arranges for the vehicle to be towed away and sold at auction, with proceeds going to afterschool and summer programs for students.

 

 

 

According to the organization, business was slow until one of their volunteers had an idea to craft a commercial song. The melody was purchased from a singer and songwriter named Country Yossi, and Kars4Kids enlisted a child to perform it at an in-house recording session. It debuted in the New York market in 1999, and spread like the plague to the West Coast by 2005 and nationally by 2007.

 

Aside from Yossi, however, the company has repeatedly declined to identify anyone else involved with creating the song. The reason? Death threats. The tune has apparently enraged people to the point of contemplating murder. Speaking to SanFranciscoGate.com in 2016, music cognition expert Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis said that the combination of repetitive structure and the overly simplistic message was engineered to grate the listener’s nerves.

 

“This simple melodic line is also probably responsible for some of the annoyance,” she said. “These kinds of three and four note lines are often the ones specially crafted for kids learning how to play instruments ... It probably conjures up associations of painful practice sessions.”

 

Where does Kars4Kids money go?
The line between irritating and memorable is often blurry. Kars4Kids has repeatedly pointed to the song as being effective in driving telephone traffic to their number. When they debuted a television commercial in 2014—complete with lip-syncing kids who subsequently got bullied for their participation in the spot—donations went up by 50 percent. To date, the company has received 450,000 cars. In 2017, contributions totaled $39 million.

 

Surprisingly, people have reserved animosity for something other than the commercial. In 2017, Minnesota’s attorney general chastised Kars4Kids for not making it clear to donors that many of the children who benefit from the fundraising are located in the northeast: Kids in Minnesota received just $12,000 of the $3 million raised in that state. Other times, the organization has been criticized for leaving information out of their solicitations. In 2009, both Pennsylvania and Oregon fined the charity for failing to disclose a religious affiliation. (Most of the funds raised go toward Orthodox Jewish groups.) Oregon’s Department of Justice said that Kars4Kids needed to disclose such information in its ads.

 

 

 

Those speed bumps aside, the jingle shows no signs of leaving the airwaves any time soon. Rather than run from the negative response, Kars4Kids marinates in it, sharing hateful diatribes from others on social media. 

 

“Newer people join the [media] team and when they are first exposed to the level of hatred on Twitter they’ll be like, ‘Are you sure you think this is a good idea that we should keep on playing this?,’’ Wendy Kirwan, Kars4Kids’s director of public relations, told Billboard in 2016. “And we’ve looked at that time and again, and we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s definitely worth sticking with.”

 

 

Source: The Cruel (But Effective) Agony of the Kars4Kids Jingle

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GOOD LUCK

Did you know... Are you feeling lucky? It’s possible you just came across a patch of four-leaf clovers, or walked underneath a horseshoe. Maybe you were just given some lucky bamboo. But why are these things considered lucky? And what’s the story of the “lucky cat” next to your favorite Asian restaurant’s cash register? The number seven is supposedly lucky, too — so we’ve rounded up seven good luck charms and the stories behind them.

 

1. Four-Leaf Clovers

Part of the reason four-leaf clovers are lucky is pretty simple: They’re exceedingly rare. Clovers have four copies of each chromosome in every cell, and all four copies need to carry the gene for the fourth leaf in order for the plant to produce one. Environmental factors can affect the expression of the trait, too. One survey in 2017 found that around 1 in 5,000 clovers have four leaves, although they tend to be found in patches. How clovers and shamrocks became a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day is a little less clear. Legend has it that St. Patrick used a three-leaf clover to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity to nonbelievers. On his feast day on March 17, wearing a clover was an easy, inexpensive way to look nice at church. Meanwhile, when the English were expanding their rule into Ireland, some tried to paint Irish people as primitive and described them as eating clover. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries — around the same time a rose started to symbolize England and a thistle Scotland — a three-leafed clover started to appear as a symbol for Ireland. This was possibly a reclamation of the “eating clover” idea, and possibly because of the plant’s association with St. Patrick.

 

2. Horseshoes

There are a few reasons horseshoes could be considered lucky. One is pretty straightforward: In Western Europe, iron was believed to drive away evil spirits, and horseshoes were made of iron. Another reason has to do with an Irish folktale about a blacksmith who was forging horseshoes when he was visited by the devil, who asked for shoes of his own. The blacksmith put a red-hot shoe on the devil’s foot, and the devil, in extreme pain, vowed never to go near a horseshoe again. Another superstition was that witches were afraid of horses — it’s why they supposedly traveled on brooms instead. Therefore, a horseshoe could ward away witches.

 

3. Rabbits’ Feet

The origin of rabbits’ feet as a good luck charm may go back as far as ancient Rome, when the feet of hares and rabbits were thought to have medicinal powers. For centuries in Europe, people carried paws from rabbits or hares for their supposed effects against cramps and other ailments. The idea of rabbits’ feet as good luck then transformed in America, where it may have been appropriated from an African culture, or based on a joke among African Americans that European Americans didn’t fully understand. In the early 20th century, merchants started selling rabbits’ feet with marketing claiming that they’d been harvested under spooky circumstances, like under the dark of the moon on a Friday the 13th; Black people were often said to have been the ones doing the harvesting. The use of the symbol could also be connected to the Hand of Glory, a hand cut from a hanged man, usually the left one, and often pickled, after which it was said to have mystical powers. In a sense, the use of the rabbit’s foot was thought to stand in for the human appendage.

 

4. Lucky Bamboo

Lucky bamboo is a popular houseplant because it’s easy to care for and associated with feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice for creating balance in a home. According to tradition, it brings prosperity to the corner of the home in which it’s placed. The number of stalks is significant; for extra luck, try six or nine. Notably, it’s not actually bamboo, but a tropical plant closer to a succulent.

 

5. Lucky Cat

Maneki neko, the Japanese-style statue of a white cat with one paw raised, dates back to the Edo period (1603 to 1868 CE) in what’s now Tokyo, and first appeared in Buddhist temples. One legend is that a cat beckoned a samurai into a temple and helped him avoid a heavy thunderstorm, and in return the samurai showered the temple with donations — maneki neko translates to “beckoning cat.”

 

6. Ladybugs

Ladybugs are incredibly beneficial insects to any gardener, killing nasty common pests like aphids and mealybugs. It’s possible that this is the origin of their purported good luck, too — farmers saw ladybugs’ arrival as a sign that their crops would thrive. Today, a ladybug landing on you is still considered good luck. Some ladybug beliefs get even more specific: If you make a wish while holding a ladybug, the direction it flies will supposedly be where your good luck will come from. A ladybug landing on you while you’re sick will supposedly heal you. Counting spots will tell you how many months of good luck you’ll have, or how much money you’ll gain, or any other numerical luck-related inquiry. On the flip side, if you kill a ladybug, it’s supposed to bring heavy misfortune your way, and this belief is found in many cultures.

 

7. The Number 7

Seven is widely considered a lucky number — but if there’s a specific origin for the belief, it happened a long, long time ago, possibly in ancient Sumer. Humanity seems to have a general fascination with the number: There are seven days in the week and seven wonders of the world. Medieval scholars studied seven subjects, together known as the “liberal arts” (grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy). Shakespeare’s All the World’s a Stage monologue describes the seven ages of man. Most major religions give significance to the number, too. Part of the reason may be mathematical: It’s the only number we can count on our hands that can’t be multiplied or divided by any other number countable on our digits.

 

 

Source: Stories Behind Beloved Good Luck Symbols

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DUMBBELLS

Did you know... “Liberty or death.” So said Joseph Addison, an 18th century poet, scholar, essayist, and politician who scribbled a line in a play (“But chains or conquest, liberty or death”) that likely informed the famous Patrick Henry quote, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Addison was certainly an intellectual, and while that quote resonates throughout democratic history, he also popularized another phrase that resonates more with gym bros throughout the world.

 

That’s because Addison (seemingly) pioneered the word dumbbell. In centuries past, before fitness equipment was refined and one’s deltoids and biceps could be worked with ruthless efficiency by bodybuilding routines, those interested in physical exertion had to make do with whatever was available. For Addison, it was a rope and pulley system that resembled the mechanism used to ring church bells. Because pulling on the rope and engaging with the lead weight attached to it didn’t result in any actual chimes, it was known as a “dumb” bell.

 

How pervasive the term was prior to Addison is unclear, but the author is credited with being the first to use it in a major print publication. In 1711, Addison wrote in his periodical The Spectator, which favored the now-defunct Whig political party, that:

 

“For my own part, when I am in town, I exercise myself an hour every morning upon a dumb bell that is placed in a corner of my room, and [it] pleases me the more because it does everything I require of it in most profound silence. My landlady and her daughters are so well acquainted with my hours of exercise, that they never come into my room to disturb me whilst I am ringing.”

 

Less clear is when this apparatus, which was unwieldy and had to be installed a level above the fitness area, fell out of favor and the word dumbbell came to mean a handheld weight. It’s possible Addison himself created such confusion, since he wrote in that same issue of The Spectator about “short sticks” with “plugs of lead” he used to “exercise the limbs.”

 

Later in the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin referred to his regimen for physical well-being, prescribing himself dumbbell routines as well as nudity. “I rise almost every morning and sit in my chamber without any clothes on whatever, half an hour or hour, according to the season, either reading or writing,” he wrote. Franklin did not specify whether he hefted dumbbells while nude, but anything is possible.

 

Dumbbell as an Insult

Dumbbell was obviously intended to slander the silent bell, not the individual hefting it. But over time, dumbbell (or dumb-bell) also became a pejorative for someone demonstrating ignorance or stupidity.

 

Green’s Dictionary of Slang dates dumbbell as an insult to 1858, when Henry David Thoreau wrote in his diary that “I see dumb-bells in the minister’s study and some of their dumbness gets into his sermons.”

 

It’s certainly possible dumb-bell informed the etymology of another noun for stupidity, the venerable dumbass, which began circulating in print circa 1934.

 

Why a Kettlebell Is Called a Kettlebell
Kettlebells, which originated in the Soviet Union, grew popular in the States for their versatility and distribution of weight. Unfortunately, the origin of the word is murkier than it is for dumbbells. It’s possible that people referred to the ball-shaped weights as girya (kettlebells) because they resemble a kettle without a spout.

 

They were also originally intended for commerce: kettlebells acted as counterweights to measure out market goods. At some point, people began hefting and throwing them, realizing appreciable strength and muscle gains. They often came in 36.1-pound increments known as poods. Americans took to them as a fitness fad in the early 2000s; they’ve since settled into a common piece of gym equipment.

 

Even so, dumbbells are probably the de facto exercise tool, in addition to remaining a versatile insult. (No one thinks to call a moron a kettlebell.) Who knows what Addison would think of dumbbells growing pervasive in culture, both as a slang term and a fitness pursuit? As a scholar and an exercise enthusiast, he probably would have been pleased. You’ve probably come across another famous Addison quote: “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”

 

Source: Why Do We Call Them ‘Dumbbells’?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - PATTY'S DAY VS PADDY'S DAY

Did you know.... Since Paddy and Patty are usually pronounced the same way, it hardly matters whether you’re wishing someone a “Happy St. Paddy’s Day!” or a “Happy St. Patty’s Day!” aloud. If you’re writing it out, however, only one is technically correct.

 

The Right Way to Abbreviate St. Patrick’s Day
As Real Simple explains, Patrick is the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name Pádraig. Because St. Patrick’s Day is originally an Irish holiday—and Gaelic is a traditional Irish language—the right nickname is Paddy, rather than Patty. (Interestingly enough, St. Patrick himself wasn’t from Ireland, though he definitely did learn the language.)

 

St. Patty’s Day probably became popular in America because people heard “St. Paddy’s Day” and assumed it was spelled with a t, like St. Patrick. It may seem like a small distinction, but it’s a major pet peeve for many an Irish person scrolling through social media come March 17—so much so that one enterprising citizen, Marcus Campbell, even founded a website in 2010 called PaddyNotPatty.com.

 

“Patty is the diminutive of Patricia, or a burger, and just not something you call a fella,” Campbell writes on the site.

 

St. Paddy‘s Day vs. St. Patty’s Day: Which Is More Popular in America?
In 2019, YouGov polled nearly 17,000 Americans with the question “Which of the following is the MOST correct abbreviation for Saint Patrick’s Day?” The respondents were given three options: “St. Paddy’s Day,” “St. Patty’s Day,” or “Don’t know.” Forty-nine percent chose St. Patty’s Day, while a mere 29 percent went with St. Paddy’s Day.

 

“Americans who claim a connection to Ireland through ethnic or cultural heritage are more likely than Americans overall to say St. Patrick’s Day should be called St. Paddy’s Day (39 percent), although they still tend to prefer to call it St. Patty’s Day (47 percent),” data journalist Linley Sanders wrote in a post about the poll. Older Americans also preferred St. Paddy’s Day to St. Patty’s Day (41 percent vs. 34 percent), while Americans aged 18 to 24 went with St. Patty’s (64 percent to 13 percent).

 

The Controversy Behind the Word Paddy
But before you text, tweet, or send a telegram with a jolly “Happy St. Paddy’s Day!” this year, you should know that the word Paddy has a bit of a contentious history. According to Merriam-Webster, it’s also sometimes used as a derogatory term for an Irish person—so if you’d rather forgo the nicknames altogether and just stick with St. Patrick’s Day, that’s fine, too.

 

You could also try your hand at it in Irish: It’s beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort. The video below from Bitesize Irish helps break down the pronunciation:

 

 

 

Wondering what else you might not know about the shamrock-filled holiday? Find out 13 fascinating facts here.

 

 

Source: St. Patty’s Day vs. St. Paddy’s Day: Which Is Correct?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ICONIC TOYS

Did you know.... We all have some cherished memories from our younger years. While you may forget things like doctor's appointments or last night's dinner, we're sure you still remember those beloved toys that brightened your days when you were just a little kid. If that resonates with you, then you're in for a treat! Today, we'll take a little walk through the past, remembering 10 iconic toys that captured the hearts of past generations. We bet one of these treasures once filled your hands with joy!

 

1. LEGO

What was your preferred creation when building with toy blocks? Did you enjoy crafting towers, castles, futuristic robots, or fancy vehicles? The potential to manifest whatever your imagination comes up with and transform it into tangible reality thanks to interlocking blocks was exploited and catapulted to worldwide fame by the Danish toy company LEGO. Since the 1930s, LEGO has enriched the lives of many children, evolving from traditional wooden blocks to the vibrant, plastic bricks known today. In fact, the company's name originates from the Danish expression leg godt , meaning "play well."

 

2. Care Bears

Most of us have cherished the comfort of hugging a teddy bear during childhood. But among the different types of soft stuffed bears, there is undoubtedly a highlight: the famous Care Bears. With their catchy name and vibrant colors, these cuddly stuffed animals arrived in the 1980s to transform the world of plush toys. Originally conceived as illustrations for greeting cards, these adorable bears quickly won the public's hearts, soon evolving into toys and later becoming the stars of numerous television shows and movies. You're remembering your favorite teddy bear right now, aren't you?

 

3. Game Boy

In 1989, Nintendo launched the Game Boy , one of the most recognized handheld game consoles by those who lived their childhood or adolescence in those years. Aimed at a diverse audience, the Game Boy provided the freedom to transport your beloved games wherever you went, offering comfort and convenience in gaming on the go. We bet you've crossed paths with a Tetris fan whose eyes glow with nostalgia at the mere mention of this iconic console, or maybe you're one of them yourself!

 

4. Hot Wheels

Playing with miniature toy cars holds an undeniable allure for children and, let's admit it, adults too. Crafted from different materials and designs that were once far simpler than those of today, these tiny vehicles have been a staple for centuries. However, the world of miniature cars changed dramatically with the advent of Hot Wheels in the late 1960s. With meticulously detailed doors, wheels, and overall appearance, Hot Wheels set a new standard in the industry. So much so, in fact, that numerous renowned car brands have forged partnerships with Hot Wheels to produce scaled-down models of their real-life counterparts.

 

5. Play-Doh

One of the most successful toys of all time, Play-Doh began to captivate children's hearts in the 1950s, and, more than 70 years later, its popularity remains very high. From molding to sculpting, Play Dough is more than just a toy; it's a catalyst for creativity and a break from screen time. But there's something you may not have known: Play-Doh wasn't originally created for playing. It was actually invented as a wallpaper cleaner! Yes, you heard that right. So, the next time you find yourself facing household chores, picture the joy and creativity of Play-Doh, and suddenly, cleaning becomes a delightful adventure.

 

6. Atari console

Introduced in the late 1970s, the Atari console was one of the earliest home video game systems to reach widespread success. Bringing the wonderful world of video games to the comfort of our living rooms, the Atari remains a cherished memory for those who prefer virtual adventures. This pioneering device introduced several legendary games, including "Space Invaders," "Pong," and the classic "Pac-Man," etching its place in gaming history. Did you have the pleasure of experiencing its magic firsthand?

 

7. Rubik's Cube

Among the endless number of trends and fads that emerged in the 80s, one stood out as a true game-changer: the Rubik's Cube. This cube-shaped puzzle has since challenged the intellect and skills of young and old alike. The small cube serves as a great tool for exercising the mind. Its charm is so captivating that, over the years, it has given rise to a multitude of tournaments and competitions dedicated to dominating its solution. The Rubik's cube is today an unmistakable icon of pop culture and has even evolved into a decorative object in the home of many young adults.

 

8. G.I. Joe

Despite technology's ever-growing presence in our lives, the appeal of action figures and dolls among children remains undeniable. And one outstanding example of this is the G.I. Joe. Presented in the 1960s, this iconic action figure continues to captivate the imagination of many children today. In many ways, G.I. Joe can be seen as a modern version of the classic toy soldier, elevated to new levels of sophistication and realism. With its larger size and mobility, this figure offers children a more dynamic and detailed experience, leading to more and better adventures for the little ones who imagine fighting like him.

 

9. Barbie

When discussing dolls, it's impossible to overlook the quintessential figure, the icon of toys: Barbie. Created by Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel, and introduced in the late 1950s, Barbie revolutionized the toy industry. Despite the numerous controversies surrounding her figure, Barbie has always been among children's favorite playthings. Over the years, Barbie has evolved to reflect changing trends and fashions, taking on various roles and professions, and having different friendships. This adaptability ensures that Barbie remains a beloved choice not only for children but also for some adults who collect the many versions of the doll as a cherished item.

 

10. Twister

As straightforward as a carpet adorned with colorful circles, Twister, introduced in the 1960s, became an absolute sensation in the last century. Children and adults alike delighted with the joy of contorting themselves into peculiar positions and struggling to maintain balance amid fits of laughter. If you don't have plans this weekend, we encourage you to gather a few friends and revisit this amusing game. Though, unlike in childhood, joints may complain a bit the morning after!

 

Source: Did you know About These Iconic Toys?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

Did you know... Visit Los Angeles’ Hollywood neighborhood and you’ll walk sidewalks unlike any other. That’s where you’ll find the Hollywood Walk of Fame, featuring brass and terrazzo stars inscribed with the names of some of Hollywood’s most influential actors, directors, producers, and even fictional characters. The Walk of Fame laid its first star in 1960, and more than 60 years later, the institution continues to add around 20 to 30 names every year. These seven facts explore how this entertainment landmark came to be, the kind of people it honors, and some of the twists and turns it’s taken along the way.

 

1. The Ceiling of a Hollywood Hotel Possibly Inspired the Walk of Fame

The idea for the Walk of Fame is credited to E. M. Stuart, who served as the volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in the mid-1950s. According to the Walk of Fame website, Stuart wrote in 1953 that a monument like the walk would “maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world.” In the 1950s, Hollywood still stood at the center of the world’s entertainment industry, though its golden age had begun to fade in 1948 when the U.S. Supreme Court broke up movie studios’ monopolistic grip on movie theaters. Stuart may have been motivated by wanting to preserve those glory days when the idea for the Walk of Fame began to coalesce. Where Stuart got the idea for the Walk of Fame is a matter of debate, but the leading theory is that the dining room ceiling of the Hollywood Hotel (demolished in 1956) used to feature stars with the names of famous actors and actresses written on them. Stuart may have simply brought that entertainment tradition onto the streets of Hollywood itself.

 

2. The First Star Added to the Walk of Fame Belonged to Filmmaker Stanley Kramer

To get the Hollywood Walk of Fame off to a strong start and to drum up excitement, the creators made a sample walk in 1958, which included stars for Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, Ernest Torrence, and Joanne Woodward. Although Woodward is often cited as the first recipient, the inaugural star laid at today’s Hollywood Walk of Fame belonged to director/producer Stanley Kramer (It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Defiant Ones, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner); it was laid on March 28, 1960, near Hollywood Boulevard and Gower Street. However, Kramer was soon only one among many — 1,558 stars were installed in just the first year alone.

 

3. The Youngest Person at Induction Was 15-Year-Old Patty McCormack

While it usually takes time to develop an entertainment career worthy of a Hollywood star, actress Patty McCormack achieved the feat in record time. As part of the initial creation of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, McCormack received a star at only 15 years old — making her the youngest person to receive the honor. Starting her career as a child model at age 4, she transitioned to television at age 7 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film The Bad Seed when she was only 11 years old. On the other end of the spectrum, the oldest living person ever to receive a Hollywood star was 93-year-old James Hong, who was inducted in 2022. Hong racked up more than 400 screen credits during his decades-long career, including Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China, and Everything Everywhere All At Once — an “oh, it’s that guy” kind of actor.

 

4. The Walk of Fame Stagnated for 8 Years in the 1960s

Despite nearly seven years of planning and after installing nearly 1,600 stars within the first year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame took an eight-year-long hiatus almost immediately, and inducted no one new until 1968. Some attributed the delay to worries related to urban decay in the Hollywood area during the ’60s and ’70s. However, the Walk of Fame website says the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance in 1962 that required the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to revamp their selection and financing process — a task that took years to complete. Finally, in 1968, a new star belonging to producer Richard D. Zanuck was installed in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now the TCL Chinese Theatre). However, the Walk of Fame has faced other rough patches and controversies over the years. A handful of stars have been stolen, damaged, or vandalized; in many such cases,  the person depicted on the star later became the subject of controversy. While petitions have often called for the removal of certain Hollywood stars, it’ll likely never happen, as the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce says the memorial is “a historic landmark” and that “stars once installed, are considered part of the historic fabric of the Walk.”

 

5. Muhammad Ali Is the Only Star Not on the Ground

In 2002, world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali received a Hollywood Walk of a Fame star that was quite unlike the others in one big way — it wasn’t on the ground. Instead, Ali’s star was installed on the Kodak Theatre (now the Dolby Theater) entertainment complex wall. This exception was granted due to Ali’s initial refusal of the accolade because he didn’t want his name disrespected by “people who have no respect for me” by walking on it. This wasn’t about superstar ego (at least, not solely), but a statement of reverence for what his name represented and his Muslim faith. "I bear the name of our beloved prophet Mohammad,” Ali said at the time, “and it is impossible that I allow people to trample over his name." The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce agreed with his wishes, and Ali’s star, the Walk of Fame’s 2,189th, became the first — and only — star to ever be mounted on a wall.

 

6. A Hollywood Star Comes With a $75,000 Fee

Every year, the Walk of Fame Committee receives around 200 submissions and selects two dozen or so applicants. However, the Walk of Fame is a nonprofit, so nominees (usually their movie studios or record labels) have to pony up some serious cash if they want to join the ranks — and like pretty much everything else, the price of a Hollywood star is subject to inflation. In 1987, a Hollywood star set you back some $3,500, but as of 2024 that number has skyrocketed to $75,000, which covers the creation of the 300-pound star as well as installation, upkeep, and things like floral arrangements upon the honoree’s death. Sometimes impassioned fans of stars will take it upon themselves to honor celebrities: In the early ’90s, for example, Liza Minnelli was nominated by superfans who held movie nights and bake sales to raise the money. Note that celebrities are required to show up to the installation, a rule known as the “Springsteen clause” after the New Jersey musician didn’t show up to his own ceremony.

 

7. Not All Stars on the Walk of Fame Honor People

While the Hollywood Walk of Fame is a monument to the many people who made cinema what it is today, the popular memorial doesn’t limit itself to Homo sapiens. Three live-action canines can be found on the Walk of Fame, including Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin, and Lassie, who was portrayed by a variety of border collies throughout the years. While those are the only animal actors (Flipper got robbed), the Walk of Fame is host to many other nonhumans in the form of 19 fictional characters. This imaginary cohort includes such silver-screen luminaries as Big Bird, Godzilla, Pee-wee Herman, the Simpsons, Snow White, and Woody Woodpecker. But perhaps the strangest addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame is the Chevrolet Suburban, the only inanimate object awarded the honor. It has apparently “starred” in more than 1,750 films.
 

 

Source: Amazing Facts About the Hollywood Walk of Fame

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - FAILED PREDICTIONS

Did you know.... Oddly, the idea of the apocalypse has always fascinated humanity. Throughout history, many have predicted the end of the world with fervor and certainty - and many have believed in these predictions with genuine dread. However, time and time again, these doomsday prophecies have failed to materialize, leaving many scratching their heads or just breathing a sigh of relief. Let's take a look at 10 instances where the world didn't end as predicted.

 

1. The Year 1000

Some historians believe that as the first millennium drew to a close, widespread panic gripped Europe, with many fearing the end of the world would coincide with the year 1000. The belief was rooted in Christian theology, as a thousand years had passed since Jesus’ birth. However, when the anticipated end-of-days came, absolutely nothing happened. Some were disappointed, while others hit the snooze button on the prophesized apocalypse until 1033, a thousand years after Jesus’ crucifixion (spoiler alert: they were also wrong).

 

2. Johannes Stöffler's Deluge

In 1499, Johannes Stöffler, a German mathematician and astronomer, predicted that a great flood would engulf the world on February 20, 1524. Stöffler based his prophecy on the alignment of planets under the watery sign of Pisces, believing it foretold a catastrophic deluge. His prophecy was believed by many, and boat builders saw an unexpected boom in sales, with even a German nobleman ordering to build a three-story ark.

 

3. Millerites' Great Disappointment

One of the most notable failed doomsday predictions in religious history was the prophesied by William Miller, an American clergyman. Miller predicted the Second Coming of Christ on October 22, 1844, and his prophecy led to an ardent following known as the Millerites. However, when Jesus failed to appear as expected, his followers experienced what they called the "Great Disappointment." Many were justifiably angry, as they had sold their earthly possessions in a hurry, while many others turned to different congregations, or abandoned their beliefs completely.

 

4. Halley's Comet Panic

As Halley's Comet made its close approach to Earth in 1910, an observatory in Chicago announced that it had detected a toxic gas called cyanogen in the composition of the comet’s tail. Although ridiculous by modern standards, rumors then spread of the danger of the comet's poisonous gas tail, exacerbated by reports from media outlets like The New York Times, which reported that a French astronomer believed the gas could "impregnate the atmosphere" and asphyxiate all life on the planet.

 

5. Edgar Cayce's Cataclysm

Famed psychic Edgar Cayce prophesied a series of cataclysmic events he called "Earth Changes," that included the sinking of continents and the shifting of poles among many other catastrophes, during the late 20th century. Despite Cayce's reputation for accuracy in other predictions, these apocalyptic visions never materialized, leaving his followers perplexed.

 

6. A New Ice Age

In the 1970s, scientists noticed that global temperatures had decreased slightly since the 40s, and some conjectured that this trend could lead to an impending ice age. Though very few scientists actually thought this was likely - and most actually warned of the opposite trend of global warming - sensationalist media quickly picked up the ice age prediction, sparking fears of widespread famine and societal collapse. However, as subsequent research revealed the complexities of climate dynamics, the notion of an imminent ice age apocalypse was thoroughly debunked.

 

7. The Jupiter Effect

In 1974, John Gribbin and Stephen Plagemann - two actual scientists for a change - theorized that the tidal forces resulting from the alignment of planets in our solar system, particularly Jupiter, could lead to catastrophic earthquakes in 1982. Though they later reconsidered their position after further research, their predictions gained some traction in the media. Luckily, the supposed effect failed to cause any noticeable disruption, and planetary alignments again proved to be completely harmless to life on Earth.

 

8. Y2K Bug

The turn of the millennium brought widespread fear of a technological meltdown due to a hypothetical software error known as the Y2K bug. Experts warned of computers crashing and electronically operated infrastructure collapsing as their internal clocks rolled over to the year 2000. Yet, when the clock struck midnight, the anticipated chaos failed to materialize, in part thanks to extensive preparation and updates to computer systems worldwide, but even where little had been done to prevent the error, problems were almost non-existent.

 

9. CERN's Large Hadron Collider

When the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was switched on in 2008, concerns arose of potential black holes swallowing the Earth or the accidental creation of strange particles that could convert all matter into a new form. Since one of the stated goals of the LHC was actually to simulate microscopic black holes, it was natural for some people without knowledge of the matter to get a little nervous. However, obviously nothing bad happened, and the LHC has operated safely, advancing our understanding of particle physics without bringing about our demise.

 

10. End Of The Mayan Calendar

As the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar approached in 2012, speculation ran rampant that it signaled the end of the world. Despite Mayan scholars stating that there were no end of the world prophecies included in the ancient calendar, believers predicted all sorts of crazy catastrophes, from planetary alignment to cataclysmic events. As we all know, December 21, 2012, came and went without incident, proving doomsayers wrong once again.

 

 

Source: The world didn't end in Y2K! Do you know about other failed predictions?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - EASTER BUNNY

Did you know... The Easter bunny is an anthropomorphic, egg-giving rabbit who sneaks into homes the night before Easter to deliver baskets full of colored eggs, toys, and candy. Even if you allow for miracles, angels, and pancake Jesus, the Easter bunny still really comes out of left field.

 

So how did a rabbit become associated with a holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the first place? The Easter bunny’s origin story is a bit complicated—and might have more to do with the spring season and old pagan traditions than it does with Christianity.

 

Why Is a Bunny Connected to Easter?
The Bible doesn’t make any mention of a good-natured rabbit hopping from house to house to deliver baskets of eggs to kids on Easter Sunday, so to understand the Easter bunny’s roots, we have to dig deeper. Because spring is the season of rebirth and renewal, some sources suggest that may be part of how bunnies (along with hares) became connected to the holiday.

 

Known for their rapid reproduction rate, hares symbolize fertility in many cultures. They were also closely linked to certain goddesses, like Eostre (also known as Ostara). In ancient pagan tradition, the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre ruled over the dawn and was associated with springtime and fertility. Not only that, but according to legend, she once saved a wounded bird whose wings had been frozen in the winter cold by transforming it into a hare. To give thanks, the hare supposedly returned once a year during her festival to lay colored eggs, as they were seen as emblems of life renewing itself.

 

 

As Christianity spread, it was common for missionaries to practice some good salesmanship by placing pagan ideas and rituals within the context of the Christian faith. Part of how they pulled this off was by transforming pagan festivals into Christian holidays (like Christmas). The Eostre festival occurred around the spring equinox on March 20, so it was around the same time that Christians celebrated Christ’s resurrection. The two celebrations eventually became one, with Eostre (spelled Eastre in Old English) likely lending her name to the holiday.

 

With the kind of blending that was going on among the cultures, it would seem only natural that the pagans would bring the hare and egg images with them into their new faith (the hare later became the more common rabbit).

 

Why Does the Easter Bunny Bring Eggs?
Apart from the story about Eostre and her magic hare, there are other theories as to why bunnies are connected to Easter, and why eggs are so strongly linked to the holiday. Within Christianity, eggs are seen as representative of Christ’s resurrection. Christians typically refrain from eating them during Lent, so preserving them to decorate and devour later was seen as a way of marking the start of springtime celebrations.

 

The custom of using eggs around Easter is also mentioned in Germanic writings from the late 1500s. The Germans converted the pagan hare image into Oschter Haws (or Osterhase), who lays a clutch of colored eggs each year in gardens as gifts for good children, who would then go on hunts for them. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Easter hare hunts were also commonplace in places like England. This might have stemmed from old European folk traditions, which held that witches often took the form of hares and caused mischief during the winter months. Eating hare around the holiday was seen as a way of preventing witches from causing further mayhem in the spring.

 

 

Oschter Haws came to America with Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in the 1700s, and evolved into the Easter bunny as it became entrenched in American culture. Over time, the bunny started bringing chocolate and toys in addition to eggs. While Easter egg decoration dates back to at least the 13th century, the chocolate rabbit is believed to have originated with Germans in the 18th century; they even started making Oschter Haws pastries in the 19th century, too.

 

The Easter bunny even went with European settlers to Australia—as did actual bunnies. These rabbits, fertile as they are, got a little out of control, so the Aussies regard them as serious pests. The destruction they’ve caused to habitats is responsible for the major decline of some native animals and some tremendous damage to crops. It is, perhaps, not a great idea to use an invasive species as a symbol for a religious holiday, so Australia has been pushing the Easter bilby, an endangered marsupial that kind of looks like a bunny if you squint, as an alternative.

 

Source: Where Does the Easter Bunny Come From?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - EARTH'S GIANTS

Did you know... Whales are among the most majestic creatures to roam the oceans, captivating humans with their immense size, mysterious habits, and intriguing behaviors. From their extraordinary communication skills to their incredible migratory journeys, whales continue to fascinate scientists and nature enthusiasts alike.

 

1. Whales Are Mammals, Not Fish

Despite their aquatic lifestyle, whales are actually mammals, belonging to the order Cetacea. This means that, just like us, they breathe air, give birth to live young, nurse their offspring with milk, and possess hair (albeit very little of it). And whales are more related to us than you would think. The evolutionary journey that leads from their land-dwelling ancestors to the oceanic behemoths of today is one of the most remarkable stories in the animal kingdom.

 

2. Blue Whales Are Earth's Largest Creatures

Blue whales hold the title of being the largest animals that have ever existed on Earth, ever. Take a minute to take this in. This means that they even surpass the size of the largest dinosaurs found. These magnificent creatures can grow up to a staggering 110 feet in length and weigh as much as 200 tons. To support their massive bodies, blue whales consume enormous quantities of krill, small shrimp-like creatures, every day during their feeding season.

 

3. Humpback Whales Have Unique Songs

Humpback whales are renowned for their haunting and complex songs, which can last for hours and be heard over great distances. These songs are believed to play a role in mating rituals and communication among individuals. What's particularly fascinating is that humpback whale songs not only evolve over time, with new phrases being added and old ones fading away, but also change according to the region, suggesting a cultural aspect to their communication.

 

4. Sperm Whales Are Deep Diving Champions

Sperm whales are the deepest diving mammals on the planet, capable of descending to depths of over 10,000 feet for over an hour. Their ability to dive to such extreme depths is facilitated by their uniquely adapted physiology, including collapsible rib cages and lungs, and the ability to increase the amount of oxygen molecules stored in their muscles, among many other extreme adaptations to the immense pressures of the deep ocean.

 

5. Orcas Are The Apex Predators of the Sea

Orcas, also known as killer whales, are apex predators that inhabit oceans worldwide, capable of hunting even the dreaded great white shark. Being formidable hunters, they prey on a variety of marine mammals and fish, and can even attack boats if they feel threatened. But while they are extremely fast swimmers and have sharp teeth over 3 inches long, their deadliest weapon, by far, is their complex brain. Orcas are highly intelligent and social animals, and their clever hunting strategies keep them at the top of the food chain.

 

6. Not All Whales Have Teeth

Whales can be categorized into two main groups based on their feeding mechanisms: baleen whales and toothed whales. Baleen whales, such as humpbacks and blue whales, have baleen plates in their mouths instead of teeth. These are hair-like structures, which they use to filter small prey like krill and plankton from the water. Toothed whales, like sperm whales and orcas, instead have sets of ordinary teeth and use them to feed on larger prey such as fish, squid, and even other marine mammals.

 

7. Whale Migrations Span Thousands of Miles

Many whale species undertake epic migratory journeys covering thousands of miles each year. These migrations are driven by factors such as mating, feeding, and seasonal changes in temperature and food availability. For example, gray whales make one of the longest migrations of any mammal, traveling over 10,000 miles annually between their breeding grounds in warm tropical waters and their feeding grounds in cold Arctic seas.

 

8. Whales Play Vital Roles in Ecosystems

As apex predators and key consumers in marine food webs, whales play crucial roles in maintaining the health and balance of ocean ecosystems. By controlling populations of both prey and predator species, they help prevent overgrazing of marine habitats and promote biodiversity. Additionally, their nutrient-rich feces support the growth of phytoplankton, which both serves as the foundation of marine food chains and contributes to carbon sequestration from the atmosphere.

 

9. Whales Were Hunted For Their Unique Resources

Whales have long been hunted by humans for their meat, blubber, and other resources. During the beginning of the 20th century, many whale species were hunted for their oil-rich blubber, used as fuel for lamps in early industrialized cities. That led to a catastrophic decline in whale populations, with some species pushed to the brink of extinction. Fortunately, since commercial whaling was largely banned in the 1980s, whale populations are showing a steady recovery, though they are still threatened by pollution and the warming of the oceans.

 

10. Whale Watching Is A Thriving Global Industry

We might not be actively hunting whales as in the past, but we still want to encounter these gentle giants of the ocean. In recent decades, whale watching has emerged as a popular and sustainable form of eco-tourism, providing people with the opportunity to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural habitats while raising awareness (and funds) for marine conservation.

 

 

Source: Everything there is to know about our planet's resident giants!

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - INSPIRED BY CLASSICS

Did you know... Music and literature have always intertwined, and musicians have a long tradition of drawing inspiration from their favorite books to create musical homages. From timeless classics to modern novels, these songs pay homage to the written word in their own way, attempting to capture the ideas behind each book in a melodic form.

 

1. "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush

Kate Bush's haunting ballad "Wuthering Heights" is inspired by Emily Brontë's classic novel of the same name. The song - written by Bush at age 18 - was her debut single and strived to capture the tumultuous love between the novel characters Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, echoing the book’s gothic themes through an ethereal composition punctuated by a gliding guitar solo. Even more, some of Catherine's dialogue from the novel is directly quoted in the lyrics.

 

2. "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden's lyrics for "The Trooper" are inspired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's epic poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" - which, in turn, was inspired by a historical cavalry charge that took place in the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, during the Crimean War. With a galloping rhythm that evokes the fast-paced action of the soldiers of the Light Brigade and powerful lyrics that pay homage to Tennyson’s prose, "The Trooper" transcended genre boundaries, and is now one of the most popular songs of the band.

 

3. "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones

One of the band’s many rock’n roll anthems, The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is mostly penned by Mick Jagger, but it draws inspiration from a couple of sources. In particular, the song derives ideas from the writings of French poet Baudelaire and a novel by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov called The Master and Margarita, a satirical dark comedy where the devil visits the Soviet Union. Interestingly, it was English singer Marianne Faithfull who gave Bulgakov’s book to Jagger, believing he could be interested.

 

4. "1984" by David Bowie

As you would guess, David Bowie's "1984" is inspired by George Orwell's dystopian novel of the same name. Originally, Bowie intended to produce a full-fledged musical out of the novel’s plot, but the owners of Orwell’s state never authorized it. The song's lyrics obliquely hint at the novel’s plot, while playing with the themes of surveillance and government oppression.

 

5. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen's folk-rock ballad "The Ghost of Tom Joad" references John Steinbeck's 1939 classic novel The Grapes of Wrath. Besides borrowing the title character of Tom Joad from the book, the song's lyrics depict the struggles of the working class, echoing the novel's portrayal of poverty and social injustice in the Great Depression era. Springsteen also drew inspiration from Woody Guthrie’s similar song "The Ballad of Tom Joad", trying to stay within the protest song tradition.

 

6. "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin was known for often finding inspiration in classic fantasy novels, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that their folk-rock hit "Ramble On" was directly influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The song's lyrics reference characters and locations from the novels with a modern twist, cleverly leading the audience to realize that Middle Earth’s dangers and delights are both closer than they seem.

 

7. "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel

Inspired by the character Mrs. Robinson from Charles Webb's novel The Graduate, the song was first composed for the 1967 movie of the same name. Film director Mike Nichols was obsessed with the duo, and reached out to ask them if they could write one or two songs for the film’s soundtrack. While initially doubtful, the band eventually went through with the request, delivering one of their most iconic songs in the process.

 

8. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

Borrowing imagery from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic anthem was an instant hit among the hippie crowd of the late 60s, and reached the top of the charts soon after being released. The song's lyrics mirror the surreal and nonsensical elements of Carroll's iconic works while reframing the White Rabbit character as a symbol of countercultural exploration and curiosity.

 

9. "Tom Sawyer" by Rush

Rush's "Tom Sawyer" is a loving exploration of the main character of Mark Twain's classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The song's lyrics celebrate the adventurous spirit and autonomy of Twain's iconic character while implying that it is referring to an adult - hypothetical version - of the character, who is thus posed as a role model for confronting modernity’s hardships. The iconic song was acclaimed by both critics and fans, and is still one of the most recognized songs from the Canadian rock titans.

 

10. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" by The Police

The Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me" draws inspiration from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. The song deals with a controversial topic that mirrors the theme of Nabokov’s novel and references the novel directly in the lyrics. While the song received some backlash for both the subject matter and using some off-putting rhyme techniques (like rhyming "shake and cough" with Nabokov) it still reached the top of the charts, and was the best-selling single of 1980 in the UK.

 

 

Source: Did you know these all-time classics were inspired by books?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SILENT FLIGHT

Did you know... Owls are masters of stealth. While hunting at night, their superior hearing and nocturnal vision allow them to locate faraway prey and their near-silent flight lets them sneak up on their dinner unannounced. Compared to the owl’s silent gliding flight, many other birds can seem downright noisy as they move through the air (we’re looking at you, doves and pigeons). But what allows owls to fly so quietly, when other birds can be heard flapping and fluttering from far away?

 

According to Gizmodo, a group of researchers decided to answer that question, and their experiment appears in the short BBC Earth video below. Using sensitive sound equipment, the BBC Earth team recorded the sounds of a pigeon, a peregrine falcon, and a barn owl, all in flight. Then, they filmed each bird flying over a pile of feathers to study how their wings disturbed the air—and the feathers—beneath them. They found that differences in sound came down to each bird’s proportions: The pigeon, for instance, has small wings in relation to its body, forcing it to flap desperately to stay in flight. The owl, meanwhile, supports its small body with relatively large wings, allowing it to glide further on a single wingstroke, creating less air turbulence.

 

“The barn owl is far more graceful,” the video explains. “Just one gentle wingbeat sees her gliding effortlessly through the air, creating little more than a whisper in the feathers below.”

 

 

 

It isn’t just wing proportion that allows owls to move silently. They evolved to have special feather structures that dampen sound. As Audubon magazine explains, the leading edges of owl wing feathers sport serrations that break up the air flow as the birds fly, so the usual whooshing sound that turbulence creates is quieted. The soft textures of the other owl feathers muffle the sound further until virtually all of the audible noise is absorbed.

 

Scientists suggest owls evolved these adaptations to facilitate hunting, either to sneak up on skittish prey, or to allow owls to listen and triangulate the prey’s location as they fly, without any distracting sound.

 

Learn more about the science behind the silent flight of the barn owl in the video above.

 

Source: How Do Owls Fly So Silently?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - PIGGYBACK RIDE

Did you know... With the exception of certain fearless farm children who have tried it, hitching a ride on the back of a pig isn’t really a thing. And even if it was, the position would hardly look like what we call a “piggyback ride.” Humans walk on two feet; pigs, needless to say, stick to four.

 

So where did the term piggyback ride come from?

 

Piggyback Origins
As Michael Quinion explained on his World Wide Words blog, it came from a 16th-century phrase that merely implies that someone’s back is involved and has nothing to do with pigs at all: pick pack. Back then, the word pick could also mean “pitch,” so the leading theory is that pick pack originally referred to a pack pitched on your back for ease of transport. After a while, people started using it to describe other things—including people—carried on your back.

 

Though the evolution of pick pack to piggyback isn’t exactly a straight (or even solid) line, what we do know is that somewhere along the way, pack got changed to back. This is likely because pack was so easy to mishear as back, especially considering that a back was so integral to every pick pack operation.

 

The pick-to-pig update is also thought to have occurred simply because the words sound so similar. And it happened quite a while ago: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest written mention of pig back dates all the way back to 1736.

 

As for how pig became piggy, that, too, can probably be chalked up to miscommunication. Pick pack, pick back, and pig back spawned pick-a-pack, pick-a-back, and pig-a-back—the last of which seems to have been mistaken often enough for piggyback that it eventually stuck, which happened around the mid-19th century.

 

And if “Pick sounds like pig” just doesn’t seem adequate to explain how swine got swapped into the phrase, A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect, published in 1837, offers a different one. In its glossary, the term pig-a-back is defined as being “said of schoolboys that ride on one another’s backs, straddling, as an Irishman would carry a pig.” So while piggyback rides never really referred to people riding on pigs, some of them may have involved pigs riding on people.

 

Additional Meanings of Piggyback
Since its creation, piggyback has taken on meaning beyond “carrying a person on one’s back.” It’s been used to describe the act of putting one thing on top of another (transporting a space shuttle on a rocket bound for space, for example); or, if you’re a semi-truck driver, it could refer to one semi hauling several other semis.

 

Starting in the 1960s, piggyback could also mean “To support (a person, project, etc.); to give aid or assistance,” according to the OED. You may have also heard it in a business context, when a colleague says they’re going to “piggyback off” something their coworker has already said. It quickly joined the ranks of most-hated corporate buzzwords—so avoid the low-hanging fruit and give 110 percent in thinking outside the box to come up with an alternative.

 

 

Source: Why Do We Call It a ‘Piggyback’ Ride?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TV FACTS

Did you know.... Apiece of technology that needs little introduction, television has fundamentally changed our lives. International news now feels visceral, we have seemingly endless entertainment options, and the world is quite literally at our fingertips. These seven facts explore the surprising history, technology, and culture around one of the most important gadgets of the past century.

 

1. The Origins of Television Are in the 19th Century

While many people associate television with the U.S.’s post-World War II economic boom, the technology actually dates back much earlier. Although some underlying discoveries that would eventually find their way into early televisions first appeared in the 1870s, and many different inventors were working on the technology in a variety of countries), one notable breakthrough came via German inventor Paul Nipkow in 1884. Nipkow developed a disc with a spiral of holes that could scan images for television broadcasting. Although Nipkow never created a working television set, the technology underpinned some early TV systems. The technology got a big boost when German inventor Karl Braun created the cathode ray tube in 1897, which later became a television display device. In 1906, American inventor Lee de Forest created the amplifying triode valve, which could amplify weak video signals. All of these disparate technologies finally coalesced into the first working mechanical televisions in the 1920s.

 

2. In Its Early Days, Television Went By Many Names

In the early days of this world-changing technology, inventors, marketers, and viewers didn’t quite know what to make of the strange new product. According to the BBC, some of the early names (before the 1920s) for what we now call television included Radiovision, Seeing by Wireless, Distant Electric Vision, Phototelegraphy, The Electric Telescope, Visual Listening, Telectroscopy, Hear-Seeing, Telephonoscope, Audiovision, Radio Movies, The Radio Kinema, Radioscope, Lustreer, Farscope, Optiphone, and Mirascope. One of the first words describing images transmitted over telephone or telegraph wires was “telephote” in the 1880s, although the idea was merely hypothetical at the time. “Televista” was tried slightly later. However, the term “television” — a portmanteau of the Greek tele, meaning “far,” and the Latin visio, meaning “vision” — was coined at the 1900 Paris Exposition in Paris. Once imported into English, the word faced stiff competition as the moniker of choice, but eventually it stuck.

 

3. A Botanist Accidentally Discovered the Underlying Tech for LCDs While Studying Carrots

In 1888, Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer was busy studying cholesterol (cholesteryl benzoate) extracted from carrots when he noticed something unexpected. He saw that the substance had two melting points (strange) and that it could reflect polarized light as well as rotate the polarization direction of light (stranger). German physicist Otto Lehmann, who studied the fluid under a microscope, noticed that it had crystallites inside. This was the first liquid crystal ever discovered. (That’s the “LC” in the “LCD” panels in your modern television.) Of course, being a botanist, Reinitzer didn’t exactly have technology on the brain, and the science world even refused to believe in the existence of liquid crystals for decades. It wasn’t until 1962 that U.S. technology company RCA began experimenting with LCDs and their light polarization attributes, which historians point to as the beginning of modern LCD technology.

 

4. The Launch of Telstar 1 in 1962 Revolutionized Television

While NASA jockeyed with the Soviet Union in the rush to reach the moon, a different major moment took place. On July 10, 1962, NASA launched a satellite named Telstar 1. The tiny satellite’s primary mission was to provide the first transatlantic television feed between the U.S. and Europe. (Before that, television news reels had to be sent by airplane, and were often several days out of date.) With its successful transmission, the era of satellite TV had dawned. Although Telstar 1 lasted only a few months before it was damaged and had to be decommissioned, it spawned nearly two dozen sequel satellites bearing its name, and the little satellite that changed the world is still orbiting Earth to this day.

 

5. Mr. Rogers Saved the U.S. Public Broadcast System in 1969

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, set the path for the creation of educational broadcasting — most famously in the form of the Public Broadcast System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). While the Johnson administration supported the need for funding educational content as a public good, President Richard Nixon, who was elected in 1968 and was famously hostile to the media, wasn’t nearly as keen, and proposed cutting funding to the nascent experiment. On May 1, 1969, Fred Rogers — better known by his television persona Mister Rogers — testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications to ask for $20 million in funding to solidify PBS’s future. The show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood had only been on air for a little more than a year, and during the hearing, Rogers defended PBS by saying, “I’m very much concerned … about what’s being delivered to our children in this country … and I give an expression of care every day to each child.” After Rogers’ speech, chairman of the subcommittee and Rhode Island Senator John Pastore replied, “I think it’s wonderful … looks like you just earned your $20 million.”

 

6. The Average Cost of a 30-Second Super Bowl Commercial Is $7 Million

In 1941, during a broadcast of a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies, the watch company Bulova aired the world’s first true television commercial. The 10-second ad was simple: a black and white map of the U.S., a Bulova watch face resting at its center, and a voiceover saying, “America runs on Bulova time.” After paying for air charges and station charges, the ad cost the company about $9, or around $200 today. Modern television has come a long way … and so have the prices. Today, the fees for commercials are in part dictated by what program they run alongside. In 2023, for example, a 30-second commercial during ABC’s The Bachelor cost $153,429; the same commercial running during Sunday Night Football would set you back $828,501. Of course, the Super Bowl has always been the biggest time of the year for TV commercials, and in 2023, advertisers paid an average of $7 million for just a 30-second spot.

 

7. The World’s Largest Commercial TV Is as Big as a Double-Decker Bus

When it comes to television technology, a lot has happened over the course of a century. In 1928, British television pioneer John Logie Baird introduced his Televisor, the first commercial television; the image on the screen was roughly 6 inches by 2 inches. Fast forward 93 years to 2021, and the South Korean electronics company LG announced the world’s largest commercial television, the Extreme Home Cinema. At its biggest size, this monstrosity can stretch up to a 325-inch diagonal — about as big as a London double decker bus. It’ll reportedly cost you around $1.7 million.

 

 

Source: Terrific Facts About TV

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SLEEPY BIRDS

Did you know... Like all animals, birds need their sleep. But some birds do it a little differently than others.

 

Birds can be classified into two groups: diurnal and nocturnal. Most birds are diurnal, meaning they are awake during daylight hours. Nocturnal birds, such as owls, are awake at night. But at some point, all birds need to sleep. How do they do it? Not all that differently from humans, actually. Mammals and birds experience two states of sleep: slow wave sleep (SWS), which is dreamless, light sleep; and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is deep and associated with vivid dreaming and slower brain activity. Birds undergo REM sleep for a shorter time than mammals (usually lasting 16 seconds), but do not necessarily get less REM sleep overall. Scientists once thought only mammals and birds share these sleep patterns, but we now know some reptiles do as well.

 

Different bird species have evolved unique ways of sleeping to get sufficient shut-eye while living in the wild. Pigeons, for example, tend to power nap. And migrating birds such as sparrows drastically reduce the hours they sleep while still being able to function normally.

 

The Benefits of Sleep for Birds
The benefits of sleep are shared across the animal kingdom. Sleep saves energy by slowing down the metabolism and allows animals to avoid high-energy activities. For vertebrates, sleep is an essential part of brain development, strengthening brain cell connections and memory [PDF].

 

 

Lack of sleep or disrupted sleep patterns can affect the learning and memory development of young birds. Artificial light can also disrupt birds’ sleep: they get less deep, REM sleep, especially in urban areas where artificial light is of a high intensity [PDF]. Some disoriented birds may also fly around artificial light in circles, or worse, crash into lit-up buildings.

 

Sleeping can even improve some birds’ ability to remember their songs. In 2008, scientists discovered that young zebra finches practice songs they heard from adult finches in their sleep. Improvements in the young birds’ songs were evident the next day. They may even be able to learn new songs while snoozing. 

 

Unusual Sleep Habits
Sleep has its obvious benefits, but sleeping too much or too deeply can be dangerous in the wild. Some birds have adapted their patterns of sleep to cope with the threat of predators. Chinstrap penguins avoid going into full sleep so they can stay vigilant and watch over their young chicks. Instead, they take napping to the extreme and have almost 10,000 “micro-naps” a day. This adds up to a comfortable 11 hours of sleep.

 

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Another solution to the predator problem is to literally sleep with one eye open. Ducks and ostriches are capable of being in a state of half sleep called sleep-watching, and doze with one eye open towards where predators might approach.

 

Can Birds Sleep While Flying?
A few bird species can half-sleep while flying. In 2016, scientists made a groundbreaking discovery that a type of seabird called a frigatebird can sleep while flying. One or both halves of their brain may be asleep in-flight, allowing the birds to fly continuously when migrating without needing to stop for a nap. If a frigatebird is sleeping with one eye open, the likely reason is so they don’t crash into other birds or obstacles, rather than watching for predators.

 

Despite this extraordinary feat, frigatebirds get less than an hour’s sleep per day when migrating. It is still a mystery as to how or why they don’t become sleep deprived.  More recently, scientists have found that swifts also sleep airborne.

 

 

Only one bird species—the common poorwill—hibernates. Hibernation is a state of regulated hypothermia that can last for a few weeks or for months on end. Hibernating animals lower their metabolism, body temperature, and heart rate to conserve more energy than they can during regular sleep. The common poorwill’s mottled feathers camouflage it against the ground in meadows and shrublands where it hibernates.

 

Hummingbirds enter a similar state called torpor, or temporary hibernation. Torpor usually lasts for a few hours, but hummingbirds can enter a deep torpor that lasts all night, during which time they may drop their body temperature by about 20°F. For context, a drop of 3°F in the human body would lead to hypothermia and require medical attention. Scientists are still trying to figure out how a hummingbird

 

Source: How Do Birds Sleep?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Did you know... The Library of Congress was established on April 24, 1800, when President John Adams signed an Act of Congress that approved the appropriation of $5000 for the purchase of “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress” and for “fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them.” (This same act also transferred the seat of the federal government from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.).

 

The first purchase was a collection of 740 books and 30 maps, ordered from London. Most of the books were about law, given Congress’s legislative role, and the rest covered a variety of topics. They were first stored in the U.S. Capitol, the library's first home.

 

 

In the two centuries and change since that first purchase, the library has expanded quite a bit. Today, the Library of Congress is physically housed in three buildings—the Thomas Jefferson Building, the John Adams Building, and the James Madison Memorial Building—next to the Capitol. Its collections take up about 800 miles’ worth of shelf space and consists of more than 164 million items. These items include:

 

• More than 29.49 million cataloged books in 470 languages
• 5700 incunabula (books printed before 1501)
• A rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation [PDF], and two copies of the Gettysburg Address in Abraham Lincoln’s hand
• One of the three perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to exist

 

 

• Over 1 million U.S. government publications
• 5.8 million maps, including a world map made by Martin Waldseemüller in 1507 that is the first known document on which the name America appears
• 1 million printed issues of newspapers from around the world, plus hundreds of thousands more in bound volumes and on microform
• Issues from the past two years of 60,000 print magazines
• 8.2 million pieces of sheet music

 

 

• 4.2 million audio recordings
• 1.8 million film and video recordings
• More than 16 million prints, photographs, drawings, and posters
• Five Stradivarius stringed instruments and the world’s largest flute collection.

 

Source: How Big Is the Library of Congress?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WEIRD TRAFFIC LAWS

Did you know... Most drivers have the basic driving laws down pat (e.g., red means stop and green means go), and hopefully they also have a decent idea of some of the lesser-known rules buried in the back of their state’s handbook. However, there are plenty of municipalities out there with strict and/or obscure traffic codes that not only trip up visitors, but may even leave residents scratching their heads. Here are nine such laws from around the country that are likely to catch even the most diligent rule-followers off-guard.

 

1. It’s Illegal to Run Out of Gas in Parts of Youngstown, Ohio

Running out of gas is a bummer anywhere, but the city of Youngstown, Ohio, adds a legal burden to those already dealing with the indignity of blocking traffic. Per section 331.44 of the city ordinances, "No person shall operate or permit to be operated any vehicle within the congested district bounded by Chestnut, Walnut, Boardman and Commerce Streets without sufficient fuel to drive the vehicle from the district." There are offenses of increasing severity levied on those who apparently didn't learn their lesson the first time around.

 

2. You Are Not Allowed to Honk Your Horn at Night Outside Certain Venues in Little Rock, Arkansas

Wondering what the heck is taking the waitress so long to hand over your sandwich? If it’s a few hours after normal dinner hours in Little Rock, Arkansas, you better not lean on the horn to find out. As explained in city codes section 18.54, "No person shall sound the horn on a vehicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 p.m."

 

3. Using Obscenity Within Earshot of Someone Else Is a No-No in Rockville, Maryland

Most of us have unleashed some colorful language when reacting to inconsiderate or reckless drivers on the road, but a little extra restraint is required when passing through the city limits of Rockville, Maryland. Per ordinance 13-53, "A person may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street, sidewalk or highway within the hearing of persons passing by, upon or along such street, sidewalk or highway."

 

4. It’s Against the Law to Cruise Past the Same Spots in Westminster, Colorado

Feel like showing off your wheels and checking out the hotties as you breeze through the streets of Westminster, Colorado? Just make sure you don't retrace your tracks after the sun goes down. As stated in ordinance 10-1-18, "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle, or as owner of a motor vehicle to permit its operation, past a traffic control point three times in the same direction within any three-hour period between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m."

 

5. A Rider Cannot Race Horses on Rhode Island Highways

Riding a horse is generally fine and dandy across the compact state of Rhode Island, but be prepared to pay the price if you steer that mount onto a highway and get him up to a gallop. Per state law 11-22-11, "Every person who shall drive any horse over any of the public highways, for the purpose of racing or trying the speed of the horse, shall be fined not more than twenty dollars ($20.00) or imprisoned not exceeding ten (10) days."

 

6. It’s Illegal to Let Your Chickens Cross the Road in Quitman, Georgia

The Southern hamlet of Quitman bills itself as "Georgia's Camellia City," and apparently it's also the place where old jokes go to die. According to section 8-1 of the city codes, "It shall be unlawful for any person owning or controlling chickens, ducks, geese or any other domestic fowl to allow the same to run at large upon the streets or alleys of the city." In other words, it's illegal for chickens to cross the road!

 

7. Camels Are Not Allowed on Public Highways in Nevada

You might think this had something to do with the shenanigans emerging from Las Vegas, but it's actually the result of a U.S. Army experiment gone awry. In the 1850s and '60s, Army leaders imported camels to Nevada with the intent of training these creatures to shoulder supplies for Uncle Sam. However, when it turned out the camels presented a threat to horse traffic, the state legislature in 1875 passed an act that made it "unlawful for the owner or owners of any camel or camels, dromedary or dromedaries, to permit them to run at large on or about the public roads or highways of this State."

 

8. It’s Against the Law to Hug a Driver in Washington State

Sometimes it feels like the world could use more hugs, but you'll need to be careful about spreading the love while in transit through the Evergreen State. As explained in section 46.61.665 of the Revised Code of Washington, "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of this state when such person has in his or her embrace another person which prevents the free and unhampered operation of such vehicle."

 

 

Source: Weird Traffic Laws Around the U.S.

Edited March 23 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - EASTER JELLY BEANS

Did you know.... If you only eat jelly beans once a year, it's likely at Easter. But unlike candy bunnies, eggs, and chicks, there isn't an obvious connection between the bean-shaped sweet and springtime.

 

Unlike Christmas and Thanksgiving, Easter doesn’t come with a traditional menu in the U.S. Besides the dyed, hard-boiled eggs that kids look for on Easter morning, the foods most closely associated with the Christian celebration are mass-produced candies. Chocolate bunnies, Peeps, and Cadbury Eggs are natural fits for the spring holiday, but the inclusion of jelly beans in Easter baskets requires more explanation. 

 

Jelly beans have their roots in Turkish delight, a Middle Eastern gelatin confection that pre-dates the New Testamant. Gelatin, which is derived from the collagen of animal bones and tendons, was eventually used to make other sweet treats. JELL-O, gummy bears, and licorice depend on the ingredient for their signature texture (though vegetarian options do exist). 

 

According to Better Homes & Gardens, the earliest mentions of jelly beans date back to the late 19th century. At this time, the candy was more closely associated with Christmas than Easter. Jelly beans were first floated as an Easter treat as a way to save money; because the affordable sweets were shaped like tiny eggs, people started using them to supplement the real chicken eggs in their Easter baskets. They also came in a variety of bright colors like dyed Easter eggs. Plus, the sugar rush was a welcome indulgence at the end of the Lenten season. 

 

Jelly beans were quickly embraced as part of American Easter traditions. Meanwhile, they fell out of favor around Christmas—a holiday that already was already linked to a variety of candies. The popularity of jelly beans rose steadily throughout the 20th century before skyrocketing in the 1970s. The decade prior, the Goelitz Candy Company introduced the first jelly beans infused with flavor in both their candy coating and jelly center. They started experimenting with unusual flavors like cream soda and root beer in 1976; this was also the same year they rebranded their product as Jelly Belly.

 

Candy may be the most popular Easter item in the U.S., but that isn’t the case in many other countries where people observe the holiday. In the UK, hot cross buns are synonymous with the celebration. The pastries are studded with fruit and topped with a cross—either with icing or by marking the dough itself. Dating back to the 18th century or earlier, the treats have come to be associated with superstitions. Some people believe hanging a hot cross bun made on Good Friday from the kitchen ceiling protects against evil spirits and fires. 

 

Bread for Easter is a common theme around the world. Ukraine and Poland celebrate the holiday with babka, a sweet loaf that’s sometimes blessed at church services before Easter feasts. In Cyprus, they eat flaounes (also know as pilavuna), which consists of dough filled with eggs, cheese, and mint. The traditional meals reserved for Lent look a lot different. In Nicaragua, they serve iguana soup, which is exactly what it sounds like. Many Catholics abstain from eating meat in the 40 days leading up to Easter, but the Catholic definition of “meat” isn’t an exact science. In addition to iguanas, beavers, muskrats, and capybaras are all fair game during Lent according to the church.

 

 

Source: How Did Jelly Beans Become an Easter Candy?

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CAPITAL I

Did you know..... Some languages capitalize several of their pronouns. Some don’t capitalize any of them. English is an odd duck in that it capitalizes only the first person singular, I.

 

Why? Honestly, linguists and historians aren’t sure. They have been unable to find any record of a definitive explanation. We know this much: In Old and early Middle English, the German-flavored ich was used as the personal pronoun. Around the middle period of Middle English, personal pronouns proliferated and Ich, ich, Ic, ic, I and i were all used in writing with varying frequency. By the end of the Middle English period, I stood alone, tall and triumphant. The ch was dropped in one of the major phonetic changes that English experienced during these years, but the reason the solo i suddenly got the capital treatment is less clear.

 

Scholars have proposed some explanations.

 

For one, capitalization might have been a linguistic concern. When I appears, it’s frequently the subject of the sentence, and may have gotten capitalized to denote its importance in a statement.

 

In a similar vein, capitalization might be psychological, affirming the importance not of the subject, but of the writer. One problem with this hypothesis is, if you’re going to capitalize I out of ego, why not do the same to every appearance of me?

 

Another explanation is that the capital I had less to do with language and more to do with the practicalities of handwriting. The lower case i looks a little weak on its own. Some historians—including Charles Bigelow, a type historian and designer of the Lucida and Wingdings font families—think that an i all by itself would have become illegible after multiple handlings and readings of a manuscript, and scribes had to make the pronoun graphically sturdier to stand the tests of time and smudging hands.

 

 

Source: Why Do We Capitalize ‘I’?