Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CANADIAN MONEY

 

 

Did you know... that The history of Canada’s money provides a unique perspective from which to view the growth and development of the Canadian economy and Canada as a nation. Building on an earlier edition, this expanded History of the Canadian Dollar, traces the evolution of Canadian money from its pre-colonial origins to the present day. Highlighted on this journey are the currency chaos of the early French and British colonial period, the sweeping changes ushered in by Confederation in 1867, as well as the effects of two world wars and the Great Depression.

 

The Canadian Dollar
In early Canadian history, people in Britain’s Canadian colonies used a variety of different currencies to buy things, including British pounds, American dollars, Spanish pesos, and even unique colonial currencies made by local banks and governments. In 1867, the new unified Canadian government gained exclusive constitutional power over currency, and in 1870 it used this power to pass the Dominion Notes Act (now known as the Currency Act) which made the Canadian Dollar ($) the official currency of Canada. A Canadian dollar is made up of 100 Canadian cents (₵).

 

Originally tied to value of the British pound, and then the price of gold, since 1931 the Canadian dollar has been a so-called “free-floating” currency with a value determined by the international marketplace. Like most advanced countries, Canada also has a national bank, known as the Bank of Canada, that has the power to both print and buy currency in order to help control the currency’s value. In the opinion of the International Monetary Fund, the Canadian dollar is one of the world’s seven reserve currencies known for its stability and reliability even in times of economic uncertainty.

 

The Canadian dollar is usually measured in comparison to the American dollar. It is almost always worth less, but the exact value can vary quite a bit depending on what’s going on in the world. At its worst, the Canadian dollar may be worth around 65 American cents; at best, it can be very close to par.

 Daily Exchange Rates, Bank of Canada

 

Canadian Coins

 

 

 

Loonie (one dollar)

The Loonie is a large coin made of gold-coloured nickel. There used to be a one dollar bill, but it was phased out in the 1980s. The coin is called a “Loonie” because it has a picture of a loon, the national bird of Canada, on it.

 

Toonie (two dollars)

The Toonie or Twoonie is a distinctive-looking coin made of two different colours of metal. It replaced the old two dollar bill in the mid-nineties. It has a polar bear on it.

 

Quarter (25 cents)
The "Quarter" (so named because it's worth a quarter of a dollar) is a silver-coloured 25 cent piece. It depicts a caribou, one of Canada’s beloved antlered animals.

 

Dime (10 cents)
The "Dime" is the nickname of the 10 cent piece. It's the smallest coin by size, and quite thin. It has a famous Canadian sailboat on it, known as the Bluenose, that was the fastest racing ship in the world for almost 20 years.

 

Nickel (five cents)
The "Nickel" is what they call the 5 cent piece. It’s actually larger than the dime, which can be confusing. At one time, five cent pieces were made of nickel (hence the name), but today they're made of steel.

 

Penny (one cent)
The penny is made of copper-plated steel and features the maple leaf, a common symbol of Canada. In 2013, the Government of Canada officially stopped making pennies and is currently in the process of taking them all out of circulation, but completion of this goal is still many years away. Larger business and chains in Canada may not accept penny payments and instead demand customers round cash payments down or up to the closest five cents.

 

Canadian Coins are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, which is known among coin collectors as one of the most extravagant and creative coin-producing entities in the world. In addition to the standard-use coins above, the Mint also produces a vast variety of “special edition” coins in a wide variety of denominations and designs, including very high value coins of pure gold, silver, and platinum, as well as gimmicky novelties like full-colour coins, glow-in-the-dark coins, and Marvel superhero coins.

 

 Canadian Coins, World Coin Gallery

 

Canadian Paper Money
Canadian paper money, also known as bills, banknotes, or simply notes, is used for larger currency denominations. The current designs, known as the Polymer Series, are actually not made of paper at all, but a sort of thin, flexible plastic known as polymer. Paper bills from the last series — known as the Canadian Journey Series — which began in 2001 and started being officially phased out in 2011, are still sometimes used. Canadian banknote designs usually change every 10 years or so.

 

5 Dollar Bill

Canada’s smallest bill, the $5, is blue and features a portrait of former prime minister Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919), the first French-Canadian to lead Canada. On the reverse, it depicts the Canadarm, a robotic arm that was designed in Canada and used on NASA missions between 1981 and 2011.

 

10 Dollar Bill

The purple $10 bill features a portrait of John A. Macdonald (1815-1891), Canada’s first prime minister and founder of the nation. On the back, there’s a tribute to the cross-country Canadian railroad — Macdonald’s signature accomplishment — and a picture of The Canadian, which is the Vancouver-to-Toronto train service run by VIA Rail, Canada’s state-run railway.

 

20 Dollar Bill

The $20 has an aged, green portrait of Canada’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) on it. She used to be on the $1 and $2 bills, too, back when those existed. The other side features the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, which is a monument in France honouring the more than 3,000 Canadians who died in the Battle of Vimy Ridge (1917), a decisive allied victory in World War I (1914-1918).

 

50 Dollar Bill

Canada’s red $50 banknote depicts William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950), the famously eccentric prime minister who led Canada through World War II (1939-1945) and much of the early-to-mid 20th century. The reverse depicts the CCGS Amundsen, which is a state-of-the-art icebreaker ship that is used to help the Canadian Coast Guard do research and exploration work in the Canadian arctic.

 

 

100 Dollar Bill

Last and most obscurely, we have the Canadian 100 dollar bill, featuring the face of Robert Borden (1854-1937), who was prime minister of Canada during World War I (1914-1918). The back has a salute to Canadian science research, including a depiction of insulin, which was discovered by Canadian scientist Frederick Banting (1891-1941).

 

A lot of shops in Canada won’t take $100 bills these days, since they’re often counterfeit (or so many sceptical shopkeepers assume). Counterfeiting large bills is a problem in Canada, which is the reason why the government discontinued the $1,000 bill — previously the next largest Canadian bill after the $100 — in 2000 (see sidebar).

 

 Bank Notes, Bank of Canada

 Canadian Banknotes, Banknote World

 

Source: Canada Guide

 

 

 

 

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - FAN FICTION

 

Did you know... that fan fiction or fanfiction is a type of fictional text written by fans of any work of fiction where the author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other intellectual properties from an original creator as a basis for their writing? (Wikipedia)

 

For too long now, there has been a weird taboo around the concept of fan fiction. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, fan fiction is basically exactly what it sounds like: fiction written by fans based on popular works, including books, movies, television shows, or any other form of media. There are plenty of places people go to for write and read content on the web, including Internet staple Fanfiction.net (basically a third parent to me growing up), Tumblr, LiveJournal, and the relatively new Archive of Our Own.

 

I started writing fan fiction when I was 11 years old, predictably based on Charmed, because I reserve the right to bring Chris Halliwell back from the dead however illogically I please. And even though I was only 11, I still had the common sense to keep my mouth shut about it. Writing fan fiction was considered the ultimate in weird, and I only felt progressively more embarrassed as I got older and realized that it wasn't just a "phase," but in fact something that I still enjoy doing well into my twenties. The peak of my humiliation came in discovering that my parents had access to my username and work the entire time — but here's the thing: The world didn't explode. In fact, my parents encouraged me to keep writing, and in all honesty, if I hadn't had that growing up, I probably would never have pursued writing as passionately as I do today.

 

Which is why I am understandably annoyed that fan fiction gets such a bad rap. Yes, it has spawned quite a few...interesting things, including E.L. James's Twilight-based Fifty Shades Of Grey, a One Direction fan fiction that at one time had the potential to hit the big screen, and a Katy Perry pizza delivery fan fiction inspired by one of our very own Bustle writers (which I highly recommend, but be warned that if you read it, you will need to order pizza immediately.)

 

It wasn't until the middle of college that fan fiction lost enough of its stigma for me to be pretty forthright about it. It helped that I met a lot of other writers in college, some of whom also enjoyed a healthy dose of fan fiction. It was there that I finally came into my own and stopped making excuses about it whenever someone happened to see there was a notification from "fanfiction.net" in my inbox. Still, every now and then all fan fiction connoisseurs get the reactions that I feared so much in junior high, but only roll my eyes at now:

 

1. "Fan fiction is just for people too lazy to write their own work."

 

I take so much offense to this. Mostly because the majority fan fiction writers totally do write their own fiction work, myself included, but that's not even my point.

 

Yes, it is extremely convenient that we don't have to world-build when we start a new story, but that doesn't mean a lot of intense research doesn't go into what we write. The authors I most respect and try to emulate are the ones who have clearly read up on their topics, whether it's post-revolutionary France or the bowels of the Star Trek wiki pages. We take this stuff seriously.

And when did any form of writing get deemed "lazy"? We're actively creating something, whether or not it will be widely consumed or appreciated. We're testing ourselves as writers all the time, trying to see if we can keep the original author's characters true to themselves, or if we can find ways to surprise and intrigue readers who are into the same fandoms we are. That is the polar opposite of lazy!

 

2. "Oh, you write fan fiction? So basically you write a bunch of porn and stuff."

 

Before Fifty Shades was even a thing, this was an assumption I heard often. It's true that there is plenty of adult fan fiction material online, and there's nothing wrong with that. For the most part, it is clearly marked, so for any readers who start out young like I did, it's pretty hard to accidentally stumble on. And are we really going to sit around and shame writers for writing about sex? We don't bat an eye when it's in a published novel, but for some reason people wig out when it's free on the internet.

 

But growing up, this was a weird accusation to have thrown at me. For Pete's sake, I was 12 the first time someone brought this up. I didn't really even know what he was talking about, and I was embarrassed into silence for the next eight years. At that age, I clearly was not on there to write or read porn. A lot of us are on there to create works with genuine plots.

 

And yes, occasionally those works with plots have sex in them, because surprise! Sex is a part of life. Yeesh.

 

3. "Don't you want to write fiction that can actually make money?"
 

Yeah, and I will someday. But people who write fan fiction don't do it for the money. We do it for the community, and for the chance to connect with writers and readers who are as ridiculously passionate about something as we are. When an obsession runs this deep and your friends and family know nothing about the topic, you have to find some other way to spill out all the insanity inside you, or else it's going to start leaking into every day conversations (and I'm pretty sure nobody wants to hear me rant about the misrepresentation of female characters in comic book movies for the seventieth time at the dinner table.)

 

That being said, the winds are shifting. We might get paid for writing fan fiction one day if we play our cards just right. Because even though we don't do it for the money, I'm never gonna say no to a little extra cash.

 

4. "It just seems like a waste of time to me."

 

This is going to sound bonkers, but last year I went on vacation thousands of miles from home, and standing in line in front of me to get a snorkel happened to be a young adult fiction author whose work I had read and admired. I wouldn't have recognized her, except she saw me holding The Fault in Our Stars and struck up a conversation with me about how she had met John Green a few times (cue me freaking out) and when she introduced herself, I realized that I'd read her books, too.

 

She asked me if I wrote, and when I mentioned that I wrote fan fiction as well as my own fiction work, she seemed very disappointed, and told me flat out that it was a "waste of my time."

 

I know she meant well, and was trying to encourage me to work on my own stuff (and I am, I swear), but still, hearing it from someone I respected was hurtful, not to mention wrong. I grew into myself as a writer on those sites. How many people can see a huge gallery of work they've written that spans over a decade of their lives? Looking back, I can see my progress year after year, and appreciate every single reviewer, commenter, and fellow author who reached out with suggestions or encouragement when I needed it most. I have a community. I have people. Nobody can ever tell me that that was a waste of my time.

 

5. "But you don't do weird stuff like ship two guy characters together, right?"
THIS IS 2014. It's embarrassing that we live in a society so unprogressive that people think it's "weird" to explore sexualities between characters of the same gender, or any kind of sexuality, for that matter. I refuse to answer this question regardless of what characters I ship, because I feel like it comes from a place of ignorance.

 

6. "Can I have your username?"

 

HAH. No. For fan fiction writers, giving someone your username requires the kind of shared closeness that I only have with people I'm not embarrassed to pee in front of with the door open.

 

I may no longer be ashamed of the fanficking habit, but that doesn't mean that it isn't on some level very private and personal. Fan fiction writers more than anything value their anonymity. We wouldn't share ninety percent of our stories if we weren't comforted by the fact that nobody on the site actually knows who we are in daily life. I will occasionally share my username with fellow fan fiction writers I know well, but that's about it.

 

That being said, if anybody who actually reads my fan fiction is reading this post right now: I swear the next chapter will be up by the weekend, and thank you for your infinite patience.

 

Source: Emma Lord

 

SO WHAT DOES FANFICTION MEAN?
Ever see a movie and think "I could’ve written a better script?" or read a story and say "I want more?" Well, fanfiction is for you.  Fanfiction are stories written by everyday fans featuring characters, settings, and plots from their favorite, pre-existing TV, novels, manga, movies, and other media.

 

WHERE DOES FANFICTION COME FROM?

 

Those with an itch to stretch their creative muscles, with a little too much knowledge about a particular franchise, and with enough get-go to put their fingers to the keyboard have all that it takes to be a fanfiction author.

Fanfiction is writing that expands on an author or creator’s existing story, characters, or fictional universe (called canon) with original situations and settings.

 

And if you like it, you can fanfic it. The band One Direction, the 1990s sitcom Frasier, the animated My Little Pony, and all things Harry Potter have all inspired fanfiction, to name a few mere examples.

 

Fanfiction in Harry Potter-dom, for instance, might imagine a steamy romance between Draco and Hermione; imagined relationships are a common topic of fanfiction known as shipping. Other fanfiction mashes up entire intellectual properties, such as Harry Potter and Star Wars. Awesome, right?

 

 

The phrase fan fiction is from as early as the 1940s, initially used to poke fun at wannabe sci-fi authors published in fan magazines, or fanzines.

 

The word may be relatively young, but the concept is ancient. People have been writing stories about existing characters forever. The Christian Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all fanfiction, guys, based on the life of the Jesus and written for different audiences. William Shakespeare based most of his plays off myths, legends, and histories he read extensively about—fanfic 101.

 

Star Trek fans, or Trekkies, spawned much of contemporary fanfiction as we know it. Wanting more of the original 1966–69 TV series, Trekkies put out their own fanzines, such as Spockanalia, and sold them at a small cost at conventions, a major event of fandoms and their fanfiction. 

 

Even from its start, Star Trek fanfiction highlighted two major themes of fanfiction as a genre.

 

1. A vast majority of authors appear to be women.
2. A great deal of fanfiction revolves around sexual content, notably featuring same-sex relationships involving characters who aren’t romantically involved in the original work. This prominent subgenre is called slash fiction, as early stories were called Kirk/Spock stories. Why these themes? Perhaps due to the patriarchy of traditional publishing and storytelling as well as the underrepresentation of marginalized groups in mainstream media?

 

Meanwhile, Japan was also developing its own fanfiction, called doujinshi, based on manga in the 1960–70s, also self-publishing them and selling them at big meet-ups.

 

The internet ushered in a golden age of fanfiction, creating forums such FanFiction, LiveJournal, and Archive of Our Own for authors to post, share, read, and review fanfiction. E.L. James first published online her 50 Shades of Grey as fanfiction based on the Twilight fantasy series before its formal publication in 2011 became an absolutely massive sensation (and later film series).

 

Reaction to fanfiction is mixed. Some original creators like J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter feel flattered by their offshoots, while others such as Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin snub it. Star Wars allows fanzines—as long as no content is pornographic ...

 

 

WHO USES FANFICTION?
The term fanfiction, sometimes shortened to fic or ff, is most widely used by fans when raving about their love of the form and community. Whether they’ve just posted their newest story or were engrossed in the latest chapter, fanfiction writers and readers often express their support for one another and their obsession with fanfic.  

 

Depending on the context, fanfiction can carry connotations of eroticism. Whether your Tina Belcher of Bob’s Burgers who loves to write about zombie butts or the next E.L. James writing about Ben Wa balls, fanfiction is not always for the prudish.

 

 

SOurce: Pop Culture Dictionary 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ANIME

 

Did you know... that with a vast universe, it shouldn't be unfathomable that there's always something even the most diehard Otaku can learn so don't be surprised if everything you read here is mind blowing, interesting, or simply just new to you! Anime truly is the gift that keeps on giving?

 

The art of anime wouldn't exist if it weren't for Disney

 

Of course today styles of anime are limitless but one thing we know for sure is that all of it traces back to one man. His name is Osamu Tezuka and it's no secret that he created the anime style and influenced essentially everyone after him for generations. As Osamu has influenced many, he too had an influence of his own. Tezuka credits his influences to the Disney cartoons of his time (such as the movie Bambi and the iconic as ever Mickey Mouse.) Tezuka created his famous character, Astro Boy, to look like a Disney character and from there his style morphed into anime.

 

Space Brothers features the first ever voice acting recorded in outer space.

 

Space Brothers is an interesting anime about two boys who dream big about becoming astronauts. Anime tends to be fantasy focused but Space Brothers is unique for its focus on realistic content. In fact, if you're a space buff, there's a lot in this anime for you to enjoy. Even then, one of the coolest things about this anime is that in Episode 31 it features the first ever voice recording from outer space. Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide was above the International Space Station when he took on the difficult task of recording his voice for the anime. How cool is that?

 

The longest ever running anime has over 7400 episodes!

 

Some anime don't last long enough and some seem to go a little too long but for the anime Sazae-san the magic number last clocked in over 7400 and it's not done yet. They do however lose a little bit of their street cred when you factor in that the episodes are only six minutes long... Still, popular anime like One Piece with over 750 episodes still wouldn't take second place. That honor would go to Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi with over 1400 episodes that clock in at 25 minutes each.

 

Don't feel betrayed but...

Anime uses product placement.

 

Most of us enjoying anime over in America find ourselves recognizing a lot of knock-offs in media and anime is no exception BUT they do have their own fair share of product placements we'd recognize. Of course, it's not hard to understand why companies would join forces with anime to get their name out there to as many people as possible. Anime is a phenomenal format for reaching millions of viewers. Some examples of product placement include Evangelion Rebuild, who has a small list of examples including Doritos.

 

Studio Ghibli got its name from an airplane.

 

Hayao Miyazaki is known for his love of airplanes so it really should come as no surprise that he named his company after one. In general, it may not be obvious to most people but if you're a World War 2 buff you might recognize it as the Caproni Ca.309, which was an Italian WWII-era scouting aircraft nicknamed Ghibli.

 

The name Gundam is a blend of two words

 

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing didn't burst out the gates the way it's known today. In fact it went through a few makeovers to get where it emerged. From beginning as boys fighting each other to giant robots, Gundam was originally "Gundom" and combined the words "Gun" and "Freedom." Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino eventually changed it from the "dom" at the end to the "dam" at  the end with the purpose of evoking the idea of the robots being used like a dam to hold back enemies.

 

The unusual inspiration behind the Titans in Attack on Titan?
Some random drunk dude.

 

This probably sounds super far fetched but believe it or not Attack on Titan all comes down to an experience the series creator, Hajime Isayama, had when he was was working at an internet cafe and had an encounter with a drunk customer.
 

Ok, the customer was mostly a catalyst that inspired him but believe it or not, Isayama himself says that this one drunk individual made him realize how "difficult it can be to communicate with someone despite being the same species." It also made him realize that "the scariest animal of all is also the most familiar: the human being."

 

This ONE anime character has 22 voice actors

 

Every single episode of "Is This a Zombie?"  featuring Eucliwood Hellscythe has a different voice actor. It seems weird no matter how you look at it but considering the character rarely speaks, it's extra unique. When asked why this was necessary, the answer offered up was that her voice was "selfishly imagined by our weak-willed protagonist." Ok, cool.

 

Anime has been around way longer than most people realize.
The early 1900's to be exact.

 

When we talk about anime, we usually refer to Osamu Tezuka as the one who "started it all" in the 1950s. And while that may be true of today's definition of "anime," Japanese animation began much earlier than that. Animated cartoons began as far back as 1907 (and maybe even earlier -- records of this time are spotty at best). In Japan, animation was used as an extension of theater, artists created, experimented, and refined this new artform years before it reached Tezuka's undeniably expert hands. Three men are thought to have kickstarted the medium: Katsudo Shashin, Junichi Kouichi, and Seitarou Kitayama -- names that are not as famous as Tezuka's, but important nonetheless. You can watch many of the remaining pre-Tezuka anime in this article from Tofugu.

 

If you can believe it:
The average Japanese animator earns below minimum wage!

 

Okay, this is one you may have known: being an animator for anime might sound like fun, but it's gruelling, severely underpaid work. Every year there are more and more anime produced, but less money and animators to go around. The result is an industry plagued by animators working nearly full months without a break, while earning below minimum wage. Just how bad is it? Kotaku has a breakdown of the average salaries for various positions in the industry, and the numbers are downright depressing. Cartoon Brew highlights one animator's Reddit AMA, where he notes that animators are essentially treated as slave labor, taking breaks only to occasionally puke from exhaustion or take a vacation… to the hospital. For exhaustion. We think you get the point. Someone slaved away so you could watch 24 minutes of animation then trash it in a review. Not to discourage anyone from pursuing a career in Japanese animation, but the realities are harsher than you think.

 

Sources: Postsize (Elana) and Littoface

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SOAP BOX DERBY

 

 

Did you know... that a gravity racer or soapbox is a motorless vehicle which is raced on a downhill road either against the clock or against another competitor? Although most are built for the purpose of recreation, some gravity racing teams take the sport more seriously and compete to win. (Wikipedia)

 

Soap-box derbies usually conjure up early-20th-century visuals of unpretentious, homemade cars driven by kids and racing along a track. In some ways, those images are still relevant today, as the All-American Soap Box Derby continues its tradition of hosting races featuring gravity-powered cars steered by youths. The unique experience of creating and racing a soap-box car during childhood is one that is now influenced by a storied history and national pride. The impact of soap-box derby racing cannot be understated, as it underscored many of the economic changes that the country underwent during the derby’s heyday. While modern technology can lead to yearly modifications of its official rulebook, one thing remains the same: Soap-box derby racing is a rite of passage toward the finish line of adulthood.

 

SOAP-BOX DERBY HISTORY

Myron Scott is largely credited as having popularized the soap-box derby after witnessing youths racing their own handcrafted cars in 1933. After securing the idea with a patent and winning a sponsor in Chevrolet, he took the soap-box derby to the national stage in 1934 with the All-American Soap Box Derby. It wasn’t until 1971 that girls were allowed to compete in the sport, but a few years later, in 1975, Karren Stead became the first girl to win the competition. In 1981, a new era of soap-box derby history began, as fiberglass car bodies were officially allowed. The sport’s popularity enjoyed a steady rise, and the 1990s saw youths as young as

eight years old competing with ready-to-assemble car kits available for purchase.

 

• All-American Soap Box Derby History: The International Soap Box Derby details a brief history of the Soap Box Derby and provides a timeline of important events.
• Information About the First Soap Box Derby: Heartland Science discusses the history of popular transportation, includes rules for driving, and provides little-known facts about competitors.
• The History of the Soap Box Derby: The Smithsonian provides an exhaustive article about the sport and includes interviews with competitors.

 

IMPACT OF SOAP-BOX DERBY RACING
While the enjoyment of competition and the pride of creating one’s own vehicle are main draws of these events, the impact of soap-box derby racing on American culture has reverberated through generations. Soap-box derby racing generated excitement for automotive engineering in youths, which coincided with the country’s automotive revolution of the 20th century. The races also attracted star power, and it was not uncommon to see movie stars, television actors, and even presidents at competitions lending their support and celebrity to this cherished American pastime. Several nationally recognized brands have sponsored soap-box derbies, investing resources in the youth and their desire to engage in the American love for automobiles.

 

 

• Photo Essay: A Brief History of Soap-Box Racing: Time provides an intimate look into soap-box derby racing and its competitors throughout the history.
• 75 Facts About the All-American Soap Box Derby: A comprehensive list of interesting facts about soap-box derby racing can be found here.

 

RULES AND UNIQUE RACES
Typically, soap-box derby races are governed by a strict set of rules. These rules cover everything from age and weight restrictions to proper attire and conduct of competitors. Car specifications require total adherence, and any deviation from them can result in a disqualification. Despite finding its origins in the United States, a soap-box derby can be open to international competitors as well. Since the love of the sport can follow a youth well into adulthood, some organizations have taken it upon themselves to host adult versions of the races so that competitors over a certain age can continue to build cars and relive the experience.

 

 

Rule Book for the All-American Soap Box Derby (PDF): Cedar City provides the official rule book for the All-American Soap Box Derby.
All-American Soap Box Derby Competition Research Project (PDF): The University of Akron takes an academic approach to building a race car and preparing for a soap-box competition.
Adult Soap Box Derby (PDF): Marble Falls provides a rule book for their soap-box derby designed for adult competitors.

 

BUILDING A SOAP-BOX RACER
It could be said that for many, the most enjoyable part of a soap-box derby is the creation of the car. This personal endeavor allows competitors to take pride in building something by hand and express their creativity throughout the entire process. While many commercial kits are available for purchase that can lead to a working car being put together in only a few hours, schematics for building a car from scratch are still available to the public. Many of these blueprints can result in a car that is suitable for a derby at a fraction of the cost of a commercial kit. In some cases, these handmade cars can be built for less than $50.

 

An Introduction to Building a Racer: Red Bull's Racing ultimate building guide.
Easy Soap Box Derby Build: Instructables provides a simple schematic for building a soap-box racer.
Racer Manual and Building Plans for a Soap Box Derby (PDF): George Jeffrey Children's Centre
Soap-Box Derby Construction Guide 

 

Source: Carly Hallman

 

Note: Some links on her article were defunk, so I searched and found other links that basically say the same thing but may not associate with the words themselves.

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HISTORY OF VACCINES

 

Did you know... that the practice of immunisation dates back hundreds of years. Buddhist monks drank snake venom to confer immunity to snake bite and variolation (smearing of a skin tear with cowpox to confer immunity to smallpox) was practiced in 17th century China?

 

All Timelines Overview
The story of vaccines did not begin with the first vaccine–Edward Jenner’s use of material from cowpox pustules to provide protection against smallpox. Rather, it begins with the long history of infectious disease in humans, and in particular, with early uses of smallpox material to provide immunity to that disease.

 

Evidence exists that the Chinese employed smallpox inoculation (or variolation, as such use of smallpox material was called) as early as 1000 CE. It was practiced in Africa and Turkey as well, before it spread to Europe and the Americas.

 

Edward Jenner’s innovations, begun with his successful 1796 use of cowpox material to create immunity to smallpox, quickly made the practice widespread. His method underwent medical and technological changes over the next 200 years, and eventually resulted in the eradication of smallpox.

 

Louis Pasteur’s 1885 rabies vaccine was the next to make an impact on human disease. And then, at the dawn of bacteriology, developments rapidly followed. Antitoxins and vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis, and more were developed through the 1930s.

 

The middle of the 20th century was an active time for vaccine research and development. Methods for growing viruses in the laboratory led to rapid discoveries and innovations, including the creation of vaccines for polio. Researchers targeted other common childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella, and vaccines for these diseases reduced the disease burden greatly.

 

Innovative techniques now drive vaccine research, with recombinant DNA technology and new delivery techniques leading scientists in new directions. Disease targets have expanded, and some vaccine research is beginning to focus on non-infectious conditions such as addiction and allergies.

 

More than the science behind vaccines, these timelines cover cultural aspects of vaccination as well, from the early harassment of smallpox variolators (see the intimidation of a prominent minister described in the 1721 Boston Smallpox Epidemic entry) to the establishment of vaccination mandates, to the effect of war and social unrest on vaccine-preventable diseases. Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, and Maurice Hilleman, pioneers in vaccine development receive particular attention as well.

 

Early Chinese Inoculation (1000 AD)

 

Several accounts from the 1500s describe smallpox inoculation as practiced in China and India (one is referred to in volume 6 of Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China). Glynn and Glynn, in The Life and Death of Smallpox, note that in the late 1600s Emperor K'ang Hsi, who had survived smallpox as a child, had his children inoculated. That method involved grinding up smallpox scabs and blowing the matter into nostril. Inoculation may also have been practiced by scratching matter from a smallpox sore into the skin. It is difficult to pinpoint when the practice began, as some sources claim dates as early as 200 BCE.

 

Smallpox Epidemic in India (1525) (1545)

A Malabar (southern Indian) woman invoking the Goddess smallpox and

carrying fire on her head, symbolic of the disease.
 

Some 8,000 children died in Goa, India, from a smallpox epidemic most likely introduced by the Portuguese.

 

Whooping Cough: Epidemic in Paris (1575) (1578)

In 1578, Guillaume De Baillou described an epidemic of pertussis in Paris.

 

Guillaume De Baillou described an epidemic of pertussis (whooping cough) in Paris, referring to it as “quinte,” which he said was a common name for the disease that was circulating. De Baillou suggested the name might have to do with the sound of the characteristic “whoop” cough.

 

 

Typhoid Fever Strikes Royalty (1600s) (1612)

Dr. Norman Moore first documented Henry Price of Wales's death as resulting

from typhoid fever in this 1882 pamphlet.

 

Henry Prince of Wales, the oldest son of King James I, died at age 18 after a “short illness” which was not identified or described other than as a fever.

 

In 1882, Norman Moore, MD, published “The Illness and Death of Henry Prince of Wales in 1612.” Based on his studies of the autopsy on the prince as well as detailed descriptions of the illness, Moore alleged that the prince had died of typhoid fever. If he was correct (today it is generally assumed that he was) this would have been the earliest English case of typhoid fever on record.

 

Spanish Epidemic (1613)

This year was known in Spain as “El Año de los Garotillos” (“strangulations”) for its epidemic of diphtheria.

 

Many other diseases appeared in the 1600s 

• Smallpox in 1625 and 1633 
• In 1648 in response to epidemics of yellow fever in Barbados, Cuba, and the Yucatan, a strict quarantine was established in Boston, Massachusetts, for all ships arriving from the West Indies because of “ye plague or like in[fectious] disease.”
• In 1657 Measles appear in Boston. In 1659 Bladders in the WIndpipe. 

 

 

In 1661 Royal Support of Inoculation

Fu-lin, the Shunzhi emperor

 

When Chinese Emperor Fu-lin died of smallpox, his third son became Emperor K’ang. Having already survived a case of smallpox before he became Emperor, he eventually supported inoculation and wrote about it in a letter to his descendants:

 

“The method of inoculation having been brought to light during my reign, I had it used upon you, my sons and daughters, and my descendants, and you all passed through the smallpox in the happiest possible manner…. In the beginning, when I had it tested on one or two people, some old women taxed me with extravagance, and spoke very strongly against inoculation. The courage which I summoned up to insist on its practice has saved the lives and health of millions of men. This is an extremely important thing, of which I am very proud.”

— Ian Glynn and Jenifer Glynn, The Life and Death of Smallpox

 

• 1676 - Sydenham Documents Measles Infection
• 1678 - Early Medical Pamphlet on Smallpox
• 1679 - "The Indian Plague"
• 1684 - 17th Century Smallpox Treatment
• 1693 - A Proclamation in Virginia

 

A Royal Death 12/28/1694

 

Queen Mary II of England, age 32, died of variola hemorrhagica, a lethal form of smallpox in which bleeding occurs into the pustules, from other body surfaces, and internally.

 

“The havoc of the plague had been far more rapid: but the plague had visited our shores only once or twice within living memory; and the smallpox was always present, filling the church-yards with corpses, tormenting with constant fears all whom it had not yet stricken, leaving on those whose lives it spared the hideous traces of its power, turning the babe into a changeling at which the mother shuddered, and making the eyes and cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover. Toward the end of the year 1694, this pestilence was more than usually severe. At length the infection spread to the palace, and reached the young and blooming Queen.”

— Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second

 

• 1699- Yellow Fever in the American Colonies
• 1706 - African Use of Variolation
• 1713 - Deadly Toll for Prominent Colonist
• 1718 - Variolation in Turkey
• 1721 - Boston Smallpox Epidemic

 

The First English Variolation 4/21/1721

This page from Mr. Maitland's Account of Inoculating the Smallpox Vindicated

describes Maitland's variolating of Ann Batt's daughter.

 

Lady Mary Montagu brought the practice of variolation to England, where she had Dr. Charles Maitland variolate her two-year-old daughter.

 

Lady Montagu would come under considerable criticism for advocating variolation, a practice that slowly began to spread as its ability to protect against smallpox became apparent. The results, however, were sometimes fatal: two to three percent of those variolated died of smallpox (in contrast to 20-30% who died after contracting smallpox naturally). What’s more, variolated individuals could pass the disease on to others.

 

• 1730 - Continuing Colonial Epidemics
• 1732 - Death Brings Silence
• 1735 - The Plague Among Children
• 1736-  Benjamin Franklin Loses Son
• 1738 - Promise of Variolation
• 1740 - Rubella: The "German Measles"
• 1741 - A New Name for a Disease
• 1747 - Philadelphia Avoids an Outbreak of Yellow fever

 

Birth of Jenner 5/17/1749

Vicarage at Berkeley where Edward Jenner was born

 

Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, England.

 

The timeline in the History of Vaccines continues on to 2018 and all the dates mentioned here have anecdotes with more information than just the titles beside the dates.  It's way to long to post here, so follow the link below if you want to learn more about Vaccines and Inoculations.

 

Source: Timeline | History of Vaccines

This timeline category holds nearly all of the entries for the subject-specific timelines. A few of the entries have been left out in order to provide a broad overview.

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - AMAZON RIVER

 

 

Did you know... that the Amazon River in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and by most accepted definitions it is the second longest river in the world, after the Nile River? (Wikipedia)

 

The world’s mightiest river, an unrivalled wildlife-watching destination and still one of the least explored regions on earth. It nurtures the largest rainforest on earth and provides life for a mind-boggling array of flora and fauna – the Amazon River is one of South America’s most fascinating destinations to discover and, despite centuries of in-depth exploration, it’s still a mystical place that hides innumerable secrets. Learn all there is to know about this incredible ecosystem and make your Amazon River visit in South America all the more rewarding.

 

Sunset of the Amazon River

 

The Amazon River originates in Peru
Believe it or not, there’s been wide speculation over the real ‘source’ of the Amazon River for decades with researchers at constant odds over findings. The most widely believed theory is that the Amazon River flow originates in the high Andean mountains of Peru, namely the three rivers of Mantaro (the furthest upstream source), Apurimac (the most distant uninterrupted source) and Maranon (the main source by volume). The Maranon River flows upstream of Iquitos, Peru’s Amazon adventure capital and one of the most spellbinding places to enjoy Amazon River adventures.

 

Maranon River, Peru

 

The Amazon River System meanders through nine South America countries
After starting its seemingly slow and subtle voyage in the highlands of Peru, the Amazon River traverses through Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela before entering Brazil and flowing out of its Atlantic coast. However, its tributaries also flood the Amazon basin in Bolivia in the south, home to the Madidi National Park (one of the Amazon’s largest protected reserves) as well as Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. Given each country’s distinctive tourist infrastructure, some spots are simply better and more rewarding to visit than others, depending on whether you’re after a land-based Amazon tour or Amazon River cruise. The most established visiting hot-spots are in Peru (Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado), Ecuador (Coca), Brazil (Manaus) and Bolivia (Rurrenabaque).

 

River map

 

A Slovenian athlete once swam almost the entire length of the Amazon River, in 66 days
Defying the odds of dangers in the remotest regions of the Amazon River basin, Martin Strel took home his fourth Guinness World Record for long-distance swimming when he took on the mighty Amazon River in 2007. Already a veteran of the sport, which saw him complete swims along the Danube, the Mississippi, the Parana and the Yangtze rivers, Strel swam a total of 5,268km (of the Amazon’s entire 6,400km-length), a distance which is actually greater than the width of the Atlantic Ocean. His tactic for dodging flesh-eating piranhas? Have support boats flanking him, ready to drop raw meat and blood into the river to distract any hungry critters. For quite obvious reasons, Strel’s nickname is ‘The Hero in a Speedo!’

 

Martin Strel, Guinness World Record holder

 

The Amazon River provides 20% of the ocean’s fresh-water supply
It’s an astonishing percentage when one thinks about it: one-fifth of the fresh water that flows into our earth’s seas flow into the Atlantic at the Amazon River Delta in northern Brazil. This is the largest river delta on our planet (discharging more freshwater than the following seven largest rivers combined) creating a muddy patch of salty-vs-fresh water that covers an area of 2.5 million sq km!

 

Largest freshwater river

 

Researchers discovered an entire coral reef system at the Amazon River Delta in 2016
It is at the very confluence between river and ocean that scientists discovered an enormous coral reef a couple of years ago, one that stretches for more than 1,000km and covers an area of over 9,500 square kilometres. Hidden from plain view for decades due to the massive sediment upheaval caused by the river’s flow, the reef is believed to be home to a unique ecosystem comprising a wealth of marine life. Hints of the reef’s existence were first noted back in the 1950s although the find was only confirmed in 2016 and the first photos not released until 2017. Over the last couple of years, researchers have discovered giant sea sponges ‘as heavy as a small elephant’ and an impressive collection of exotic fish, sea stars, sponges and coral. Greenpeace, who was responsible for the first documented research of the reef, immediately set up a campaign to protect this incredible new natural discovery from the looming threat of oil-drilling.

 

River delta of the Amazon, the largest river in the world, seen from space

 

The Amazon River used to flow backwards
The creation of the Andes Mountains some 15 million years ago can be regarded as the most defining moment in the evolution of the Amazon River. Up until the rise of this incredible mountainous border, the river flowed out into the Pacific Coast of South America. Remaining landlocked for nearly five million years, the relentless river finally found its ocean outlet once again, only this time, in the opposite direction – straight into the Atlantic.

 

The Amazon River and Rainforest host a jaw-dropping array of unique wildlife
The Amazon Rainforest famously hosts between 10% and 30% of the flora and fauna species on earth (and that’s just the ones we know about) representing one of the most biodiverse regions on our planet. The Amazon River itself and all its countless tributaries comprise an ecosystem all their own, home to more than 2,000 species of fish and more than 400 amphibians. The rivers in the Amazon are the basis of all life so Amazon small-ship cruises are especially rewarding for spotting wildlife on the river shores. The most famous creatures that inhabit this region include sloths, anacondas, piranhas, river dolphins, innumerable birds including macaws and toucans and a crazy number of frogs, spiders, snakes and other insects. One of the rarest and most endangered Amazon River animals is the boto, a dolphin whose skin is so thin it can appear grey or pink (hence its nickname – pink river dolphin) depending on how excited it gets and how much its blood-vessels expand. The dense jungle canopy of the Amazon Rainforest may well host a stunning amount of wildlife yet spotting them in huge numbers is an infamous challenge. Check out the glorious wetlands of the Pantanal for more Amazon animals and arguably some of the most rewarding wildlife encounters of all. We compared the two stellar and distinct destinations, right here.

 

 

There are no bridges built across the Amazon River
Bar a few unique towns that have been built on the shores of the Amazon River, there are surprisingly few settlements along this very long river’s edge, which means no permanent bridge has ever been built. The lack of major infrastructure is what lends Amazon river tours their distinctly ‘remote and isolated’ feel. To really get anywhere, you must hop aboard a boat at some point: this is the only way to travel further along the river and to reach some of the more remote eco-camps.

 

Reflected jungle in the Limoncocha lagoon in the Ecuadorian Amazon

 

The Amazon River has a hidden twin-river flowing below it
The Amazon River made headline news back in 2011 when scientists finally confirmed the existence of an ‘underground Amazon River’, which mirrors its above-ground twin in length and flow. The Hamza River (named after the Indian scientist leading the research group) flows some 4km underground and although it’s believed to be up to four times wider than the Amazon River itself, it boasts only 1/34th of its water volume.

 

Underground Amazon River

 

The Amazon River boasts an impressive seasonal fluctuation of up to 15m
The Amazon is the greatest flowing river on earth, discharging a breathtaking 200,000 cubic metres of water into the Atlantic every single second. Yet what is even more impressive is learning about the seasonal water-level rises and the consequential ‘flooded forests’ that are created along the river’s sides. These varzeas, as they are known, facilitate longer and deeper Amazon River cruising, allowing for greater explorations of remote regions one wouldn’t normally reach during drier months of the year. The Amazon River flow has been the subject of intense studies for more than a century with a greater emphasis placed in the Amazon Basin, where fluctuations are at their most extremes. Manaus, in Brazil, normally records the highest water-level rises each year of between 10 and 15m. Seasonal changes are dictated by rainfall, of course, with the highest river levels usually recorded between December and May and lower levels (fantastic for lodge-based Amazon tours which include more hikes through the rainforest) between June and September. Read more about the Best Time to Visit the Amazon before planning your trip.

 

Sailing a boat through a flooded forest in Latin America

 

The Amazon Rainforest & River rely on the Sahara Desert for their very existence
We all know that we live on a planet whose incredible ecosystems are linked in more ways than we could ever understand yet, in the Amazon, the proof is in the nutrients. Both the rainforest and river of the Amazon are fed pivotal minerals (like phosphorus) from sands which blow across the Atlantic all the way from Africa’s Sahara Desert. It’s been tens of millions of years since Africa and South America were joined, and it’s astonishing to know the two continents are still so intrinsically linked. Check out this incredible 3D video created by NASA using satellite info on the Sahara sand’s long journey across the seas.

 

The apex predator in the Amazon River, the Black Caiman, is also one of the most endangered wildlife of all
Long hunted for its valuable skin, the Amazon River’s Black Caiman is something of a legend. The most feared predator in the entire rainforest, the Black Caiman is one of the largest members of his species, anywhere on earth. Unlike the ‘run of the mill’ Amazon caiman, which is relatively small and weighs up to about 40kg, the Black Caiman can weigh 25 times as much and grow to an average of 5m in length. The bad news is that this fearsome creature is highly endangered and the good news is that your chances of running into one, accidentally, are quite low.

 

Keep all hands and feet in the boat, kids!

 

Amazon River Caiman

 

Biologists studying the Amazon River have a wicked sense of humour
Scientists are indeed renowned for their quirky sense of humour, and it seems most of them work in the Amazon. Some of the most unusual animals to see in the Amazon include the Jesus Christ Lizard (yes, it walks on water), the Prince Charles Stream Tree Frog in Ecuador (apparently named after the Prince’s rainforest conservation efforts), the Vampire Fish (those fangs are real!) and the Peanut Head Bug. Read more about the Top 10 Animals to Spot in the Amazon.

 

Thrill-seeking daredevils surf the Amazon at select times of year
Pororoca is the name given to a spectacular tidal-wave phenomenon (tidal bore) that occurs in the Amazon River delta during select full moons about 2-3 times a year. In these unique circumstances, the ocean tide manages to beat the Amazon River flow, causing colossal (and backwards) tidal waves that can travel up to 800km inland. An annual surfing championship has been running here for the last 20 years.

 

The Amazon River and its entire ecosystem are facing their biggest threat yet
Unless you’ve been keeping away from international news headlines over the last year or so, you’d probably be aware that the Amazon is nowadays facing its biggest fight to date. The new Brazilian president seems to be intent on relaxing protection laws for the Amazon Rainforest, appearing to favour agricultural interests over those of indigenous Amazon reserves. The indigenous inhabitants of the region have historically been its most fervent protectors: given that they rely on the river and forest to survive, they are the most ardent protesters against deforestation, mining and oil drilling. The Amazon is the largest remaining rainforest we’ve yet to completely ruin on our planet. Although it may seem ‘too big a fight’ to take on, individually, there are many personal and straightforward steps we can all take to help curb the impact on this incredibly precious natural asset. They include:

• Reducing your meat consumption (Latin America is one of the largest exporters of beef on the planet, and pivotal rainforest land is being bulldozed for farming)
• Reducing your use of paper and wood (purchase products with the highest rate of recyclable materials)
• Do some research before buying ‘big-brand’ items (many mega-corporations invest in toxic oil pipelines in pristine Amazon wilderness)
• Support Rainforest Action Groups (environmental action groups can be highly effective in forcing change – back in the 1980s, ecological activists convinced Burger King (US) to stop buying beef from the Amazon regions of South America in one of the most successful campaigns ever held).

Want to experience one of our planet’s most astonishing destinations? Then join us on an Amazon cruise and explore some of the most inaccessible corners of this glorious natural wonder. Swim with dolphins, dodge black caimans, and be awe-struck by the inherent beauty of the magical Amazon River. We offer bespoke tours aboard luxurious riverboats, and include overnight stays in charming eco-lodges built along the shores of the Amazon River in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Don’t wait any longer and go on a South America Adventure! Click here for more information about Chimu.

 

Source: Chimu Blog

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HIP HOP MUSIC

 

 

Did you know... that Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a genre of popular music developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans and Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s? (Wikipedia)

 

Hip hop or rap music, which started in home gatherings and street parties, has grown to become the major music and cultural ambassador of the United States. Major artists of the Hip hop genre have gone on to have long and successful careers not only in music but also in film and business. Combining the sounds and melodies of a various genres, Hip hop has redefined how we listen to music.

 

DJ Cool

 

Hip Hop is born in 1973 at a birthday party in the Bronx. With a small step, a major change began for music. DJ Kool Herc started spinning records for parties in the early 1970s. His major innovation was born out of his observation of how crowds reacted to different parts of the record he happened to be playing. Kool used two turntables in a DJ setup to smooth transitions between records, with a way to switch back and forth repeatedly between two copies of the same record, extending the short drum break that the crowd most wanted to hear. He called his trick the Merry Go-Round. Today, it is known as the “break beat.”

 

Chic

 

Hip hop would have its first hit by 1979. With “Rapper’s Delight,” the Sugar Hill Gang was able to Sample “Good Times” by Chic and bringing rap rhymes and beats to the forefront of popular music. Nile Rodgers of Chic heard the Gang’s version at a party and threatened to sue. Eventually, he settled out of court and allowed 15 minutes of Chic’s song to be used. Sampling is nowadays more carefully used with clearance from the originals’ writers. Regardless, “Rapper’s Delight’s” light tone and bouncy rhythm helped introduce Hip-hop to American Pop culture.

 

Run D.M.C.

 

Run D.M.C. was the face of rap in the eighties. They laid down their vision of life in New York City and layered their music with wit and honesty. The urban hard look that became the standard in gangster rap was first perfect by the trio. This paid off and helped them build a reputation as leaders among equals. Run D.M.C. was the first rap group to be featured on Rolling Stone Magazine and the first to receive gold, platinum, and multi platinum albums. They were also the first rap group to appear on MTV, and sign a major endorsement deal; namely with Adidas, which is featured on one their more popular songs.

 

Beastie Boys

 

Beastie Boys came straight out of the New York scene in the mid-Eighties, performer their hyper raps with wit and wizardry.  License to Ill, their first album, was an instant classic and quickly turned them into major stars with their rowdy rhymes, thick beats, and catchy samples. Later, they would embrace direct instrumentation and new layers to their sound. What many aren’t aware of is that the group began in a very different genre. Originally, the group started out as a punk band, embracing their anti-authoritarian stance with guitar riffs and punk aggression.

 

N.W.A.

 

N.W.A. is by their name alone, Niggas With Attitude, one of the most anti-establishment rap groups to take the mic. Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy-E, Arabian Prince, and DJ Yella emerged from Southern California to step all over pubic conformity and indifference. They helped define gangster rap and the attitude that invigorated its rhymes. During the group’s success, N.W.A received a letter from the F.B.I asking them to reconsider their image and topics of rhymes as the director of the agency felt the group was promoting violence and contempt of law enforcement. The group instead considered the letter a great opportunity to promote the group:” Upon receipt, the folks over at Priority Records came up with the brilliant idea of sending the letter to the press, which caused a wave of free publicity that inherently sparked a widespread interest in the album.”

 

NWA Niggaz4Life Album

 

Additionally, in 1991 N.W.A. would attain a new Hip-hop milestone when their record Niggaz4life debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 at number 2 and sold nearly a million copies in its first seven days. It was the first time any rap group would attain that kind of success on Billboard charts and would acted as a major victory for a genre music that started in house parties in the early 1970s. It is especially telling that a hardcore group would attain this milestone first verses more popular Hip-hop act like MC Hammer.

 

2Pac

 

2Pac was a prolific rapper whose work has inspired generations of fans and other rappers. His tragic death has left a legion of fans mourning as his legend grew. What many people may not know is that he maintained an incredible work ethic and wrote a huge amount of rhymes in a short period of time. From 1995 to 1996, 2Pac was constant generating new pieces, completing two albums—one of which was a double disc with 27 songs. Meanwhile, a myriad of other tracks was left behind, some of which wasn’t released until 20 years later.

 

Dr Dre

 

Dr. Dre has built a reputation has a leader in Hip-Hop, both as an artist, a producer, and a mentor. He was a key member of N.W.A. before recording as an individual artist. He founded Aftermath Entertainment, and helped start the careers of artists like Snoop Dog and 50 Cent. In the 2000, he started his own brand of headphones called Beats, which quickly became a major success. The popularity of this brand led to a $3 billion purchase of the brand from Apple. Dr. Dre didn’t stop there. As part of Apple’s acquisition, which was biggest in Apple’s history, Dr. Dre joined Apple in an executive role.

 

Jay Z

 

Jay-Z is another artist who made the crossover from rapper to producer to entrepreneur. According to Forbes, he is worth $500 million. His rhymes have both showcased his wit and his depth expression; however, many people may not know that he doesn’t write down most of his material. According to Jay: “In my mind, I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna sit down and I’mma just write it and really do this thing a certain way.’ But your natural process is your process. It’s difficult to go back to what you was doing when you was 15, 16 years old. My process is different now. It sounds great on paper, like ‘I’mma sit down, I’m going to write the entire album like I did before.’ But once you get back in the studio and you’ve been doing this process for years and years now, so it just felt natural to do it the way I’ve been doing it: no paper, no pen, just listen to the music.”

 

Notorious BIG

 

Biggie Smalls, AKA Notorious B.I.G. and AKA Christopher Wallace, has been said to be one of the greatest rappers of all time, a legendary rival of 2Pac who died tragically over 19 years ago. Ready to Die, his first album was a huge success and help establish him as a top artist. He ventured into music as a teenager while befriending Sean “Puffy” combs and attending the same high school as Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes. But, according to his mother, Smalls had other ambitious as a youngster. Aspiring to be either a graphic designer or dentist, Smalls made sure to get top grades in school and maintain straight “A”s until his true love with rhymes came into his life.

 

Source:  Rudolfo San Miguel

Edited May 7, 2020 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WIND TURBINE

 

 

Did you know... that a wind turbine, or alternatively referred to as a wind energy converter, is a device that converts the wind's kinetic energy into electrical energy? Wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of vertical and horizontal axis. (Wikipedia)

 

Human civilizations have harnessed wind power for thousands of years. Early forms of windmills used wind to crush grain or pump water. Now, modern wind turbines use the wind to create electricity. Learn how a wind turbine works.

 

 

Today’s wind turbines are much more complicated machines than the traditional prairie windmill. A wind turbine has as many as 8,000 different components.

 

 

Wind turbines are big. Wind turbine blades average about 184 feet long, and turbine towers average almost 290 feet tall—about the height of the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

Higher wind speeds mean more electricity, and wind turbines are getting taller to reach higher heights above ground level where it’s even windier. See the Energy Department’s wind resource maps to find average wind speeds in your state or hometown and learn more about opportunities for taller wind turbines in a report from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

 

Real Time Wind Speed Map

 

Most of the components of wind turbines installed in the United States are manufactured here. There are 500 wind-related manufacturing facilities located across 41 states, and the U.S. wind industry currently employs more than 114,000 people. 

 

Offshore wind represents a major opportunity to provide power to highly populated coastal cities, and the nation’s first offshore wind farm was installed off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016. See what the Energy Department is doing to develop offshore wind in the United States.

 

With North Carolina’s first utility-scale wind farm coming online in early 2017, there is now utility-scale wind power installed in 41 states. There is distributed wind installed in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

Small-Scale Distributed Wind: Northern Power Systems’ 100-kW turbine at

the top of Burke Mountain in East Burke, Vermont.

| Photo courtesy of Northern Power Systems

 

The United States’ wind power capacity was 96,433 megawatts at the end of 2018, making it the largest renewable generation capacity in the United States. That’s enough electricity to offset the consumption of 25 million average American homes.

 

Wind energy is affordable. Wind prices for power contracts signed in the last few years and levelized wind prices (the price the utility pays to buy power from a wind farm) are below 2 cents per kilowatt-hour in some areas of the country. These prices are recorded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual Wind Technologies Market Report.

 

 

Wind energy provides more than 10% of total electricity generation in 14 states, and more than 30% in Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.

Source:  Liz Hartman
Liz Hartman is the Communications Lead for DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office.

 

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - WINTER WEATHER

 

 

Did you know... that a winter storm is an event in which varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form? (Wikipedia)

 

During winter, the air outside can get very cold. A winter storm happens when there is heavy rain and the temperature is low enough that the rain turns to ice or forms as sleet or snow. Winter storms can be freezing rain and ice, moderate snowfall over a few hours, or a blizzard that lasts for several days.

 

Sometimes, winter storms bring strong winds, ice, sleet, and freezing rain. Winter weather can knock out heat, power, and communications. Sometimes, this can last for days or weeks. Icy roads can also cause serious accidents.

 

Many winter storms bring dangerously low temperatures. Sometimes, people are injured or die from being in really cold temperatures for too long because this can lead to hypothermia or frostbite.

 

Freezing Rain

Rain that freezes when it hits the ground. This makes a layer of ice on roads, walkways, trees, and power lines.

 

Frostbite

A medical condition when skin or body tissue is damaged from freezing.

 

Hypothermia

A sickness when your body temperature drops below what is needed to be healthy and work properly.

 

Sleet

Rain that turns to ice before reaching the ground.

 

Winter Weather

A warning issued when conditions could cause dangerous situations (such as icy roads or sidewalks).

 

Winter Storm Watch

A warning issued when severe winter conditions may affect your area.

 

Winter Storm Warning

A warning issued when a lot of snow or sleet is expected in the next few hours or day.

 

Source: Winter Storms/Extreme Cold

 

MORE WINTER WEATHER

 

IT SOMETIMES SNOWS WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT.
You wouldn’t be shocked to see snow on the ground of Siberia or Minnesota when traveling to those places during the winter months. But northern areas don’t have a monopoly on snowfall—the white stuff has been known to touch down everywhere from the Sahara Desert to Hawaii. Even the driest place on Earth isn’t immune. In 2011, the Atacama Desert in Chile received nearly 32 inches of snow thanks to a rare cold front from Antarctica.

 

SNOWFLAKES COME IN ALL SIZES.

The average snowflake ranges from a size slightly smaller than a penny to the width of a human hair. But according to some unverified sources they can grow much larger. Witnesses of a snowstorm in Fort Keogh, Montana in 1887 claimed to see milk-pan sized crystals fall from the sky. If true that would make them the largest snowflakes ever spotted, at around 15 inches wide.

 

A LITTLE WATER CAN ADD UP TO A LOT OF SNOW.
The air doesn’t need to be super moist to produce impressive amounts of snow. Unlike plain rainfall, a bank of fluffy snow contains lots of air that adds to its bulk. That’s why what would have been an inch of rain in the summer equals about 10 inches of snow in the colder months.

 

YOU CAN HEAR THUNDERSNOW WHEN THE CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT.
If you’ve ever heard the unmistakable rumble of thunder in the middle of a snowstorm, that’s not your ears playing tricks on you. It’s likely thundersnow, a rare winter weather phenomenon that’s most common near lakes. When relatively warm columns of air rise from the ground and form turbulent storm clouds in the sky in the winter, there’s potential for thundersnow. A few more factors are still necessary for it to occur, namely air that’s warmer than the cloud cover above it and wind that pushes the warm air upwards. Even then it’s entirely possible to miss thundersnow when it happens right over your head: Lightning is harder to see in the winter and the snow sometimes dampens the thunderous sound.

 

SNOW FALLS AT 1 TO 6 FEET PER SECOND.

At least in the case of snowflakes with broad structures, which act as parachutes. Snow that falls in the form of pellet-like graupel travels to Earth at a much faster rate.

 

IT DOESN’T TAKE LONG FOR THE TEMPERATURE TO DROP.
Don’t take mild conditions in the middle of January as an excuse to leave home without a jacket. Rapid City, South Dakota’s weather records from January 10, 1911, show just how fast temperatures can plummet. The day started out at a pleasant 55°F, then over the course of 15 minutes a wicked cold front brought the temperature down to 8 degrees. That day still holds the record for quickest cold snap in history.

 

THE EARTH IS CLOSEST TO THE SUN DURING THE WINTER.

Every January (the start of the winter season in the northern hemisphere) the Earth reaches the point in its orbit that’s nearest to the Sun. Despite some common misconceptions, the seasonal drop in temperature has nothing to do with the distance of our planet to the Sun. It instead has everything to do with which direction the Earth’s axis is tilting, which is why the two hemispheres experience winter at different times of the year.

 

MORE THAN 22 MILLION TONS OF SALT ARE USED ON U.S. ROADS EACH WINTER.
That comes out to about 137 pounds of salt per person.

 

THE SNOWIEST CITY ON EARTH IS IN JAPAN.

Aomori City in northern Japan receives more snowfall than any major city on the planet. Each year citizens are pummeled with 312 inches, or about 26 feet, of snow on average.

 

SOMETIMES SNOWBALLS FORM THEMSELVES.

 

 

WIND CHILL IS CALCULATED USING A PRECISE FORMULA.
When the weatherman reports a “real feel” temperature of -10 degrees outside, it may sound like he’s coming up with that number on the spot. But wind chill is actually calculated using a complicated equation devised by meteorologists. For math nerds who’d like to test it at home, the formula reads: Wind Chill = 35.74 + 0.6215T – 35.75(V^0.16) + 0.4275T(V^0.16).

 

CITIES ARE FORCED TO DISPOSE OF SNOW IN CREATIVE WAYS.
When snow piles up too high for cities to manage, it’s usually hauled away to parking lots or other wide-open spaces where it can sit until the weather warms up. During particularly snowy seasons, cities are sometimes forced to dump snow in the ocean, only to be met with criticism from environmental activists. Some cities employ snow melters that use hot water to melt 30 to 50 tons of snow an hour. This method is quick but costly—a single machine can cost $200,000 and burn 60 gallons of fuel in an hour of use.

 

WET SNOW IS BEST FOR SNOWMAN-BUILDING, ACCORDING TO SCIENCE.

Physics confirms what you’ve likely known since childhood: Snow on the wet or moist side is best for building your own backyard Frosty. One scientist pegs the perfect snow-to-water ratio at 5:1.

 

SNOWFLAKES AREN’T ALWAYS UNIQUE.

Snow crystals usually form unique patterns, but there’s at least one instance of identical snowflakes in the record books. In 1988, two snowflakes collected from a Wisconsin storm were confirmed to be twins at an atmospheric research center in Colorado.

 

THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET

Freezing rain and sleet can both have scary effects on driving conditions, but their formations differ in some key ways. Both types of precipitation occur when rain formed in warm air in the sky passes through a layer of cold air near the ground. Thicker layers of cold air create sleet, a slushy form of water that’s semi-frozen by the time it reaches the Earth. Thinner layers don’t give rain enough time to freeze until it hits the surface of the ground—it then forms a thin coat of ice wherever it lands.

 

Source: Mental Floss

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BALLET HISTORY

 

 

Did you know... that Ballet is a formalized form of dance with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of 15th and 16th centuries? Ballet spread from Italy to France with the help of Catherine de' Medici, where ballet developed even further under her aristocratic influence. (Wikipedia)

 

Ballet, theatrical dance in which a formal academic dance technique—the danse d’école—is combined with other artistic elements such as music, costume, and stage scenery. The academic technique itself is also known as ballet.

 

The emergence of ballet in the courts of Europe
Ballet traces its origins to the Italian Renaissance, when it was developed as a court entertainment. During the 15th and 16th centuries the dance technique became formalized. The epicentre of the art moved to France following the marriage of the Italian-born aristocrat Catherine de Médicis to Henry II of France. A court musician and choreographer named Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx devised Ballet comique de la reine (1581; “The Queen’s Comic Ballet”), which inaugurated a long tradition of court ballets in France that reached its peak under Louis XIV in the mid-17th century.

 

Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx

 

As a court entertainment, the works were performed by courtiers; a few professional dancers were occasionally participants, but they were usually cast in grotesque or comic roles. The subjects of these works, in which dance formed only a part alongside declamation and song, ranged widely; some were comic and others had a more serious, even political, intent. Louis XIII and his son Louis XIV frequently performed in them; the younger Louis was in time regarded as the epitome of the noble style of dancing as it developed at the French court.

 

Eventually, developments at the French court pushed the arts aside, and the court ballet disappeared. But Louis XIV had established two academies where ballet was launched into another phase of its development: the Académie Royale de Danse (1661) and the Académie Royale de Musique (1669). The Académie Royale de Danse was formed to preserve the classical school of the noble dance. It was to last until the 1780s. By then its purpose essentially had been abrogated by the music academy, the predecessor of the dance school of the Paris Opéra.

 

Académie Royale de Danse

 

Ballet as an adjunct to opera

Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty 

The Académie Royale de Musique was to become incalculably significant in the development of ballet. The academy was created to present opera, which was then understood to include a dance element; indeed, for fully a century ballet was a virtually obligatory component of the various forms of French opera. From the beginning, the dancers of the Opéra (as the Académie was commonly known) were professional, coming under the authority of the ballet master. A succession of distinguished ballet masters (notably Pierre Beauchamp, Louis Pécour, and Gaétan Vestris) ensured the prestige of French ballet, and the quality of the Opéra’s dancers became renowned throughout Europe.

 

The growing appeal of ballet to an increasingly broad public in Paris was reflected in the success of opéra-ballets, of which the most celebrated were André Campra’s L’Europe galante (1697; “Gallant Europe”) and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Indes galantes (1735; “The Gallant Indies”). These works combined singing, dancing, and orchestral music into numbers that were unified by a loose theme.

 

In the early years the most accomplished dancers were male, and it was not until 1681 that the first principal female dancer, Mlle La Fontaine, appeared. Gradually she and her successors became nearly as well-known and respected as male dancers such as Michel Blondy and Jean Balon. From the 1720s, however, with the appearance of Marie Sallé and Marie-Anne Camargo, the women began to vie with the men in technique and artistry. The retirement of Sallé and Camargo in turn coincided with the debut of one of the most celebrated dancers of all time, Gaétan Vestris, who became regarded in his prime as the epitome of the French noble style; he played an important part in establishing ballet as an independent theatrical form.

 

The establishment of the ballet d’action

 

Ballet remained subservient to vocal music at the Paris Opéra until the 1770s, but elsewhere—and even in Paris—enlightened ballet masters had been experimenting with a genre in which dance was allied with mime to form a new type of theatrical work known as the ballet d’action. Its origin can be traced back at least to 1717, when in London John Weaver produced The Loves of Mars and Venus, which he claimed echoed the pantomimes of ancient Rome. This was the forerunner of several pioneering attempts to weave dance and mime into a narrative work, notably by Franz Hilverding and Gasparo Angiolini in Vienna and Jean-Baptiste de Hesse and Antoine Pitrot in Paris (on other stages than the Opéra). It fell to the French choreographer and writer Jean-Georges Noverre to establish the genre of the ballet d’action in the public consciousness.

 

At the Opéra-Comique in Paris Noverre produced in 1754 a remarkable ballet on a Chinese theme that earned him an engagement in London. There Noverre was befriended by the actor David Garrick, who became an important influence in his artistic development. In 1760, at the court of Württemberg (now in Germany), he produced a series of major works in which he realized his personal vision of the ballet d’action. The most celebrated of these was Médée et Jason, in which Gaétan Vestris played Jason. Noverre’s fame spread throughout Europe. After Württemberg he was employed in Vienna, where Empress Maria Theresa recommended him to her daughter, Queen Marie-Antoinette of France, for the post of ballet master at the Paris Opéra.

 

Noverre’s brief engagement at the Opéra was a turning point of the greatest significance. Gaétan Vestris, a dominant figure there, espoused the cause of the ballet d’action. Although the other ballet masters, Jean Dauberval and Maximilien Gardel, forced Noverre out of the organization, they were no less committed to the new genre he had introduced.

 

Noverre’s fame also derived from his writings, notably Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets (1760), one of the classics of dance literature, in which he drew attention to the shortcomings of the ballet of his time and set down his ideas for reforming his art and explained his vision of the ballet d’action.

 

The age of Gardel

Pierre Gardel

Until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Paris Opéra remained closely linked to the court. The revolution put an end to such support. The turn of the 19th century was a time of confusion for the arts, during which ballet gained greatly in popularity and prestige at the expense of its sister art, opera. Ballet’s success was largely a consequence of the personal effort of the ballet master Pierre Gardel (Maximilien’s brother), who dominated French ballet from 1787 to 1827. Gardel was not only an experienced administrator but also a choreographer, esteemed throughout Europe. In Paris he staged many ballets from a wide variety of genres, from Classical legend (Psyché, 1790) to comedy (La Dansomanie, 1800) and contemporary fiction (Paul et Virginie, 1806). He was most ably supported by Louis Milon, who himself produced a number of masterpieces, including the tear-jerking Nina, ou la folle par amour (1813; “Nina, or Mad by Love”) and the boisterous Le Carnaval de Venise, ou la constance à l’épreuve (1816; “The Carnival of Venice, or The Test of Constancy”). Under Gardel’s rule the dominance of the Paris ballet was recognized throughout Europe for its ballet productions, for dancers such as Marie Gardel, Emilia Bigottini, and Louis Duport, and for superior teachers such as Jean-Franƈois Coulon.

 

Meanwhile, ballet had also taken root in other European cities, most notably in Vienna and in Italian cities such as Milan and Naples. The outstanding Italian choreographer of this era was Salvatore Viganò, who endeavoured to mold dance and silent drama to a greater extent than any other choreographer of his time. His most celebrated work was his definitive version of the Prometheus legend, Prometeo (1813), which reused much of Ludwig van Beethoven’s ballet music for the Vienna State Opera (Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, 1801; The Creatures of Prometheus). Among other celebrated choreographers working in Italy at this time were Gaetano Gioja and the French-born Louis Henry.

 

Ballet as an aspect of Romanticism

La Sylphide

The world changed fast after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. The base of the Parisian theatre going public was broadening with the rise of a wealthy middle class, while in matters of artistic taste the younger generation rejected the neoclassical preferences of their elders and surrendered to the growing vogue for Romanticism. Ballet itself would be radically changed. After the fall of the Bourbon monarchy in 1830, the Opéra was privatized, and its new management opened the door to Romanticism with Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le Diable (1831; “Robert the Devil”) and Filippo Taglioni’s ballet, La Sylphide (1832; “The Sylph”). The latter, which became the prototype for many other ballets with a spirit as heroine, established the fame of Filippo Taglioni’s daughter, Marie Taglioni, the most eminent ballerina of her generation. Trained by Coulon and polished by her father, Taglioni had a style that set her apart from her contemporaries; she projected a spiritual quality that was said to touch the soul, and her virtuosity was subjugated to the creation of mood.

 

The years from about 1830 to 1850 were a golden age for ballet. Taglioni was followed by other great stars, who like her enjoyed international renown, including the Austrian Fanny Elssler. Elssler was famed for character dances such as the Spanish cachucha, and she had a dramatic flair that was evident in Joseph Mazilier’s La Gipsy (1839) and Jules Perrot’s La Esmeralda (1844). After Elssler came Carlotta Grisi, who created the title role in Giselle (1841), a ballet that remains, somewhat modified, in the 21st-century repertoire.

 

The age was dominated by the ballerina at the expense of the male dancer. Women’s technique became increasingly virtuosic, largely as a result of the development of pointe work (i.e., dancing on the toes). In the last third of the 19th century, ballet in Paris was in artistic decline; the only work of merit to survive was Arthur Saint-Léon’s Coppélia (1870).

 

One centre in which the male dancer held his own was Copenhagen, where the Paris-trained August Bournonville directed the ballet for many years. He produced many ballets, including his own version of La Sylphide (1836) and Napoli (1842); both of these have remained in the repertoire into the 21st century, and both convey an authentic flavour of the Romantic style.

 

London was another important centre of ballet at this time, but there ballet was largely an imported form, dominated by visiting stars from the Continent and by French choreographers. Outstanding among these was Jules Perrot, who produced a string of masterworks, including La Esmeralda (1844) and the all-star Pas de Quatre (1845). However, the great flowering of ballet in London was to be of short duration, and some 80 years were to pass before the first stirrings of a truly English ballet tradition were felt.

 

Want to learn more on the History or Ballet? Click below and continue reading from the Imperial Russian Ballet.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - THE GREAT PYRAMID

The Great Pyramid of Giza

 

Did you know... that the Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering present-day Giza in Greater Cairo, Egypt? It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. (Wikipedia)

 

Pyramids of Giza, Arabic Ahrāmāt Al-Jīzah, Giza also spelled Gizeh, three 4th-dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE) pyramids erected on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River near Al-Jīzah (Giza) in northern Egypt. In ancient times they were included among the Seven Wonders of the World. The ancient ruins of the Memphis area, including the Pyramids of Giza, Ṣaqqārah, Dahshūr, Abū Ruwaysh, and Abū Ṣīr, were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

 

Giza, Pyramids of Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.

 

The designations of the pyramids—Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure—correspond to the kings for whom they were built. The northernmost and oldest pyramid of the group was built for Khufu (Greek: Cheops), the second king of the 4th dynasty. Called the Great Pyramid, it is the largest of the three, the length of each side at the base averaging 755.75 feet (230 metres) and its original height being 481.4 feet (147 metres). The middle pyramid was built for Khafre (Greek: Chephren), the fourth of the eight kings of the 4th dynasty; the structure measures 707.75 feet (216 metres) on each side and was originally 471 feet (143 metres) high. The southernmost and last pyramid to be built was that of Menkaure (Greek: Mykerinus), the fifth king of the 4th dynasty; each side measures 356.5 feet (109 metres), and the structure’s completed height was 218 feet (66 metres).

 

All three pyramids were plundered both internally and externally in ancient and medieval times. Thus, the grave goods originally deposited in the burial chambers are missing, and the pyramids no longer reach their original heights because they have been almost entirely stripped of their outer casings of smooth white limestone; the Great Pyramid, for example, is now only 451.4 feet (138 metres) high. That of Khafre retains the outer limestone casing only at its topmost portion. Constructed near each pyramid was a mortuary temple, which was linked via a sloping causeway to a valley temple on the edge of the Nile floodplain. Also nearby were subsidiary pyramids used for the burials of other members of the royal family.

 

 

Khufu’s pyramid is perhaps the most colossal single building ever erected on the planet. Its sides rise at an angle of 51°52′ and are accurately oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass. The Great Pyramid’s core is made of yellowish limestone blocks, the outer casing (now almost completely gone) and the inner passages are of finer light-coloured limestone, and the interior burial chamber is built of huge blocks of granite. Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone were cut, transported, and assembled to create the 5.75-million-ton structure, which is a masterpiece of technical skill and engineering ability. The internal walls as well as those few outer-casing stones that still remain in place show finer joints than any other masonry constructed in ancient Egypt.

 

pyramid of Khufu Pyramid of Khufu, near Giza, Egypt.

 

Learn more about what is inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, Egypt.

 

The entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north side, about 59 feet (18 metres) above ground level. A sloping corridor descends from it through the pyramid’s interior masonry, penetrates the rocky soil on which the structure rests, and ends in an unfinished underground chamber. From the descending corridor branches an ascending passageway that leads to a room known as the Queen’s Chamber and to a great slanting gallery that is 151 feet (46 metres) long. At the upper end of this gallery, a long and narrow passage gives access to the burial room proper, usually termed the King’s Chamber. This room is entirely lined and roofed with granite. From the chamber two narrow shafts run obliquely through the masonry to the exterior of the pyramid; it is not known whether they were designed for a religious purpose or were meant for ventilation. Above the King’s Chamber are five compartments separated by massive horizontal granite slabs; the likely purpose of these slabs was to shield the ceiling of the burial chamber by diverting the immense thrust exerted by the overlying masses of masonry.

 

Great Pyramid of Khufu: cross section of interior
Cross section of the interior of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, facing west, near Giza, Egypt.

 

The question of how the pyramids were built has not received a wholly satisfactory answer. The most plausible one is that the Egyptians employed a sloping and encircling embankment of brick, earth, and sand, which was increased in height and in length as the pyramid rose; stone blocks were hauled up the ramp by means of sledges, rollers, and levers. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Great Pyramid took 20 years to construct and demanded the labour of 100,000 men. This figure is believable given the assumption that these men, who were agricultural labourers, worked on the pyramids only (or primarily) while there was little work to be done in the fields—i.e., when the Nile River was in flood. By the late 20th century, however, archaeologists found evidence that a more limited workforce may have occupied the site on a permanent rather than a seasonal basis. It was suggested that as few as 20,000 workers, with accompanying support personnel (bakers, physicians, priests, etc.), would have been adequate for the task.

 

Great Sphinx
An investigation into who damaged the Great Sphinx, near Giza, Egypt.

 

To the south of the Great Pyramid near Khafre’s valley temple lies the Great Sphinx. Carved out of limestone, the Sphinx has the facial features of a man but the body of a recumbent lion; it is approximately 240 feet (73 metres) long and 66 feet (20 metres) high. (See sphinx.)

 

Great Sphinx; Pyramid of Khafre

Great Sphinx and the Pyramid of Khafre, near Giza, Egypt

 

In 1925 a pit tomb containing the transferred burial equipment of Khufu’s mother, Queen Hetepheres, was discovered near the upper end of the causeway of Khufu. At the bottom of a deep stone-filled shaft was found the queen’s empty sarcophagus, surrounded by furniture and articles of jewelry attesting to the high artistic ability and technical perfection of the 4th-dynasty craftsmen.

 

Surrounding the three pyramids are extensive fields of flat-topped funerary structures called mastabas; arranged in a grid pattern, the mastabas were used for the burials of relatives or officials of the kings. Besides the core mastabas of the 4th dynasty, numerous mastabas from the 5th and 6th dynasties (c. 2465–c. 2150 BCE) have been found around and among the earlier structures.

 

Travel down the Nile to discover important ancient Egyptian cultural sites such as the Pyramids of Giza
A discussion of some of the most important sites associated with ancient Egypt.

 

In the late 1980s and ’90s, excavations in the environs of the pyramids revealed labourers’ districts that included bakeries, storage areas, workshops, and the small tombs of workers and artisans. Mud sealings seem to date the workshop areas to the late 4th dynasty. The tombs range from simple mud-brick domes to more-elaborate stone monuments. Statuettes were found within some of the structures; hieroglyphic inscriptions on tomb walls occasionally identify the deceased.

 

Pyramid of Giza

 

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CANADA GOOSE

 

 

Did you know... that the Canada goose is a large wild goose species with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body? Native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, its migration occasionally reaches northern Europe. It has been introduced to the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. Like most geese, the Canada goose is primarily herbivorous and normally migratory; it tends to be found on or close to fresh water. (Wikipedia)

 

Population
Once threatened with dwindling populations, due to over hunting and the loss of their habitat, the Canadian Goose, (Branta canadensis), is now one of the most common birds in North America. In the 1950s it was believed that the Giant Canadian Goose, a larger subspecies, had become extinct until a small flock was found in 1962, in Minnesota. Now with better game laws and preservation improvements, the numbers are climbing again. With the declining numbers of natural predators and year around food sources in milder climates, some of these naturally migratory birds have decided to take up residence in warmer areas year around.

 

Canada Goose Markings

Facial Markings of the Canada Goose

 

Canada Goose Side View

 

Canada Goose Front View

 

Description
There are at least eleven subspecies of the Canada Goose. Typically, the species get smaller, and you move northward and darker as you move westward. The four smallest forms are now considered to be a separate species called the Cackling Goose. They are all distinguished by a black head and neck with white cheeks and chin strap. They have a long black neck, tan breast and brown back. The largest of the Canada geese is the Greater Canada Goose, which is also the most common. The Canada goose can weigh between 7 and 14 pounds with a wingspan of 50 to 71 inches. The male and female look extremely similar and the only way to visually tell them apart is that the female is slightly smaller.

 

 

Habitat
The Canadian Goose is native to North America and breeds in Canada and the northern parts of North America. They have been found in every contiguous US state and Canadian Province at one time or another. They nest in areas near water sources such as lakes, streams, and rivers. They normally elevate their nest in order to keep an eye out for predators. You can sometimes find a nest on top of a beaver lodge. Canada Geese are particularly fond of lawns. The can easily digest the grass, and manicured lawns give them an unobstructed view of any approaching predators. They seem to be becoming very fond of golf courses, parks and some airports where they are not only becoming pests but can also be very dangerous.

 

 

In recent years the Canada Goose population has grown to the point that they are considered a pest due to their droppings, noise and sometimes aggressive behavior. I have a friend in Colorado, who lived in an apartment complex for a little while. One day and as she came out her door, on her way to work, and was met by a very defensive mother goose! Apparently, this mother goose had laid her eggs in a raised flower bed just across from her apartment door. The new mother goose wouldn’t let my friend come out her front door. She had to call the maintenance man to help fend off mother goose with a broom so that she could get to her car. This went on for days until mother goose decided she wasn’t going to be a threat and began to let her pass with just a warning “hiss.” An angry mother or father goose, protecting their young can be quite frightening.

 

 

Diet

Canada Geese munching on grass

The Canada Goose is herbivorous and feeds mainly on grass, aquatic plants, sedges skunk cabbage leaves and eel grass in the spring and summer. They will also eat small fish and insects. In the fall and winter, they tend to feed on mostly seeds and berries. They are known to be especially fond of blueberries. They are known for their skill at removing the kernels from old, dried corn cobs. In many areas around public lakes and parks, you will find they have become somewhat tame and will take “treats” such as a piece of bread from people who choose to feed them. Please be sure to remember that they are still wild animals are can be very unpredictable.

 

Migration

Canada Geese are known for the seasonal migrations. During their fall migration, which is usually from September to November, they are returning to warmer climates in the southern areas of the United States such as Florida and Texas. Their spring migration will take them back to the northern areas and into Canada. The Canada Goose is well known for their V-shaped flying formation. This formation is rotated between certain geese as it takes more energy to be the leader. The others follow in the v-formation, conserving energy. They can fly up to 1,500 miles in one day, but usually, fly at a more leisurely speed. Their “cruising” speed is about 30 to 40 mile an hour, but if in a hurry, they can fly up to 60 miles per hour. The Canada Goose will normally return to where it was born to nest. They often will choose the same nest they left the year before, if available.

 

Mating and Nesting

Canada Goose nest

When the Canada Goose becomes two years old, they will begin looking for a mate. They are monogamous and will normally stay together for life. If one of the mates dies, the other will choose a second mate. The female will lay between 3-8 eggs, and both the male and the female will protect the nest. However, the female does spend more time on the nest as the male stays nearby for protection. The nest is made up of grasses and down feathers. The female will pluck the small down feathers from her breast and lay them around the inside of the nest. The eggs normally hatch after 24-28 days. During the incubation period, the adult geese will molt, or lose their flight feathers in order to get new ones. During this period they cannot fly. They will get their new flight feathers well before fall migration, and this is when they teach their young ones to fly.

 

Goslings

The goslings are light yellow in color with greenish-gray heads until they obtain their adult plumage at about 3 to 4 months old. You will see the geese moving around as they are feeding with one of the parent geese leading the goslings in a line. Normally one adult in the front and another in the rear. This is to protect their goslings from predators. The young will stay with the parents for up to a year.

 

Predators

Once the Canada Goose reaches adulthood, they are usually not preyed upon, except by humans. Normal predators of the goslings are coyotes, foxes, eagles, owls, and hawks. Raccoons and bears will often prey on the eggs. Both the male and the female will protect their young at all costs. Spreading their wings, honking, and hissing at anything that comes to close. They will attack and bite at the predator until the chase it away or die trying. Their average lifespan is 24 years. However, there is a report of a Canada Goose which lived to be a little over 40 years old in captivity.

 

Other Interesting Facts

 

The Canada Goose has at least ten distinctive calls, and the female has a lower voice. They also have excellent eyesight and can see 180 degrees both horizontally and vertically, which is very helpful in flight. It has been said that after a late spring snowstorm in an Alaskan breeding ground, once the snow melted away, there were geese found, frozen to death, still sitting on their nests, trying to protect their eggs from the cold.

 

Source: Owlcation - The Canada Goose

 

 

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CRIMINAL PROFILING

 

 

Did you know... that offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator? (Wikipedia)

 

For 16 years, "mad bomber" George Metesky eluded New York City police. Metesky planted more than 30 small bombs around the city between 1940 and 1956, hitting movie theaters, phone booths and other public areas.

 

"mad bomber"

George Metesky

 

In 1956, the frustrated investigators asked psychiatrist James Brussel, New York State's assistant commissioner of mental hygiene, to study crime scene photos and notes from the bomber. Brussel came up with a detailed description of the suspect: He would be unmarried, foreign, self-educated, in his 50s, living in Connecticut, paranoid and with a vendetta against Con Edison--the first bomb had targeted the power company's 67th street headquarters.

 

While some of Brussel's predictions were simply common sense, others were based on psychological ideas. For instance, he said that because paranoia tends to peak around age 35, the bomber, 16 years after his first bomb, would now be in his 50s. The profile proved dead on: It led police right to Metesky, who was arrested in January 1957 and confessed immediately.

 

In the following decades, police in New York and elsewhere continued to consult psychologists and psychiatrists to develop profiles of particularly difficult-to-catch offenders. At the same time, though, much of the criminal profiling field developed within the law enforcement community--particularly the FBI.

 

Nowadays profiling rests, sometimes uneasily, somewhere between law enforcement and psychology. As a science, it is still a relatively new field with few set boundaries or definitions. Its practitioners don't always agree on methodology or even terminology. The term "profiling" has caught on among the general public, largely due to movies like "The Silence of the Lambs" and TV shows like "Profiler." But the FBI calls its form of profiling "criminal investigative analysis"; one prominent forensic psychologist calls his work "investigative psychology"; and another calls his "crime action profiling."

 

Profiler

 

Despite the different names, all of these tactics share a common goal: to help investigators examine evidence from crime scenes and victim and witness reports to develop an offender description. The description can include psychological variables such as personality traits, psychopathologies and behavior patterns, as well as demographic variables such as age, race or geographic location. Investigators might use profiling to narrow down a field of suspects or figure out how to interrogate a suspect already in custody.

 

"In some ways, [profiling] is really still as much an art as a science," says psychologist Harvey Schlossberg, PhD, former director of psychological services for the New York Police Department. But in recent years, many psychologists--together with criminologists and law enforcement officials--have begun using psychology's statistical and research methods to bring more science into the art.

 

How does profiling work?

Informal criminal profiling has a long history. It was used as early as the 1880s, when two physicians, George Phillips and Thomas Bond, used crime scene clues to make predictions about British serial murderer Jack the Ripper's personality.

 

At the same time, profiling has taken root in the United States, where, until recent decades, profilers relied mostly on their own intuition and informal studies. Schlossberg, who developed profiles of many criminals, including David Berkowitz--New York City's "Son of Sam"--describes the approach he used in the late 1960s and 70s: "What I would do," he says, "is sit down and look through cases where the criminals had been arrested. I listed how old [the perpetrators] were, whether they were male or female, their level of education. Did they come from broken families? Did they have school behavioral problems? I listed as many factors as I could come up with, and then I added them up to see which were the most common."

 

In 1974, the FBI formed its Behavioral Science Unit to investigate serial rape and homicide cases. From 1976 to 1979, several FBI agents--most famously John Douglas and Robert Ressler--interviewed 36 serial murderers to develop theories and categories of different types of offenders.

 

Most notably, they developed the idea of the "organized/disorganized dichotomy": Organized crimes are premeditated and carefully planned, so little evidence is found at the scene. Organized criminals, according to the classification scheme, are antisocial but know right from wrong, are not insane and show no remorse. Disorganized crimes, in contrast, are not planned, and criminals leave such evidence as fingerprints and blood. Disorganized criminals may be young, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or mentally ill.

 

Over the past quarter-century, the Behavioral Science Unit has further developed the FBI's profiling process--including refining the organized/disorganized dichotomy into a continuum and developing other classification schemes.

 

"The basic premise is that behavior reflects personality," explains retired FBI agent Gregg McCrary. In a homicide case, for example, FBI agents glean insight into personality through questions about the murderer's behavior at four crime phases:

 

• Antecedent: What fantasy or plan, or both, did the murderer have in place before the act? What triggered the murderer to act some days and not others?
• Method and manner: What type of victim or victims did the murderer select? What was the method and manner of murder: shooting, stabbing, strangulation or something else?
• Body disposal: Did the murder and body disposal take place all at one scene, or multiple scenes?
• Postoffense behavior: Is the murderer trying to inject himself into the investigation by reacting to media reports or contacting investigators?

 

A rape case is analyzed in much the same way, but with the additional information that comes from a living victim. Everything about the crime, from the sexual acts the rapist forces on the victim to the order in which they're performed, offers a clue about the perpetrator, McCrary says.

 

Psychology's contributions

Although the FBI approach has gained public attention, some psychologists have questioned its scientific solidity. Ressler, Douglas and the other FBI agents were not psychologists, and some psychologists who looked at their work found methodological flaws.

 

Former FBI agent McCrary agrees that some of the FBI's early research was rough: "Early on it was just a bunch of us [FBI agents] basing our work on our investigative experience," he says, "and hopefully being right more than we were wrong."

 

McCrary says he believes that they were right more than wrong, though, and emphasizes that FBI methods have improved since then. In the meantime, psychologists have also been helping to step up profilings' scientific rigor. Some psychologists have been conducting their own criminal profiling research, and they've developed several new approaches:

 

• Offender profiling. Much of this work comes from applied psychologist David Canter, PhD, who founded the field of investigative psychology in the early 1990s and now runs the Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool.

 

Investigative psychology, Canter says, includes many areas where psychology can contribute to investigations--including profiling. The goal of investigative psychology's form of profiling, like all profiling, is to infer characteristics of a criminal based on his or her behavior during the crime. But, Canter says, the key is that all of those inferences should come from empirical, peer-reviewed research--not necessarily from investigative experience.

 

For example, Canter and his colleagues recently analyzed crime scene data from 100 serial homicides to test the FBI's organized/disorganized model. Their results, which will be published in an upcoming issue of APA's Psychology, Public Policy and Law, indicate that, in contrast to some earlier findings, almost all serial murderers show some level of organization.

 

Organized behaviors--like positioning or concealing a victim's body--are the "core variables" that tend to show up most frequently and co-occur with other variables most often, he found. The differences between murderers, the researchers say, instead lie in the types of disorganized behaviors they exhibit. The study suggests that serial murderers can be divided into categories based on the way they interact with their victims: through sexual control, mutilation, execution or plunder.

 

Canter says that research like this, which uses the statistical techniques of psychology to group together types of offender behaviors, is the only way to develop scientifically defensible descriptions and classifications of offenders.

 

"Our approach," he says, "is to consider all the information that may be apparent at the crime scene and to carry out theory-based studies to determine the underlying structures of that material."

 

In another study, he and his colleagues collected crime scene data from 112 rape cases and analyzed the relationship among different crime scene actions--from what types of sexual acts the rapist demanded to whether he bound the victim. The researchers found that the types of sexual violation and physical assault did not distinguish rapists from each other; these were the core variables that occurred in most rape cases. Instead, what distinguished the rapists into categories were nonphysical interactions--things like whether they stole from or apologized to the victim.

 

Canter puts little faith in the investigative experience-derived offender descriptions developed by law-enforcement agents. As he sees it, psychologists need to work from the ground up to gather data and classify offenders in areas as various as arson, burglary, rape and homicide.

 

• Crime action profiling. Forensic psychologist Richard Kocsis, PhD, and his colleagues have developed models based on large studies of serial murderers, rapists and arsonists that act as guides to profiling such crimes. The models, he says, are similar to the structured interviews clinical psychologists use to make clinical diagnoses. They come out of an Australian government-funded research program that Kocsis ran, in which he developed profiling methods in collaboration with police and fire agencies.

 

Now in private practice, Kocsis says crime action profiling models are rooted in knowledge developed by forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and criminologists. Part of crime action profiling also involves examining the process and practice of profiling.

 

"Everybody seems to be preoccupied with developing principles for profiling," Kocsis explains. "However, what seems to have been overlooked is any systematic examination of how to compose a profile. What type of information do, or should, profiles contain? What type of case material do you need to construct a profile? How does the presence or absence of material affect the accuracy of a profile?"

 

He has studied, for example, whether police officers perceive the same profile to be more accurate and useful when they believe it was written by a professional profiler rather than a layperson.

 

Kocsis agrees that the future of profiling lies in more empirically based research. He also believes, though, that just as some clinicians are better than others, there is also a skill element involved in profiling. Is profiling an art or a science? "Realistically, I think it is probably a bit of both," he says.

 

The psychology-law enforcement relationship

Among those in the profiling field, the tension between law enforcement and psychology still exists to some degree. "The difference is really a matter of the FBI being more oriented towards investigative experience than [academic psychologists] are," says retired FBI agent McCrary.

 

"But," he adds, "it's important to remember that we're all working toward the same thing."

 

In recent years, the FBI has begun to work closely with many forensic psychologists--in fact, it employs them. Psychologist Stephen Band, PhD, is the chief of the Behavioral Science Unit, and clinical forensic psychologist Anthony Pinizzotto, PhD, is one of the FBI's chief scientists.

 

The unit also conducts research with forensic psychologists at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. One recent collaborative study, for example, looked at the relationship between burglaries and certain types of sexual offenses--whether specific aspects of a crime scene differed in incidents that began as a burglary and ended in a sexual offense, as opposed to crimes that began as a sexual offense but included theft. Police looking at the first type of crime might want to look for convicted burglars in the area, Pinizzotto explains. The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Sex Offender Law Report, published by the Civic Research Institute.

 

One of the FBI's collaborators at John Jay College is Gabrielle Salfati, PhD, a graduate of the Centre for Investigative Psychology. "Whenever we do research, we try to bring in as many varied points of view as possible," Pinizzotto says. "Gabrielle Salfati's expertise on the statistical aspects of evaluating crime scenes is a great contribution."

 

More recently, the unit has also begun to collaborate with forensic psychologists at Marymount University in Arlington, Va.--another indication that law enforcement and psychology will continue to work together.

"I think," says Band, "that there is an incredible value added when applications of professional psychology enter into the mix of what we do."

 

Source: American Psychological Association

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DRAISINE

 

 

Did you know... that a draisine is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure? (Wikipedia)

 

The first two-wheeled vehicle for personal transportation was invented in 1816 by the German aristocrat Karl Christian Ludwig Drais von Sauerbrohn. The "draisine," as it was named after its inventor, was a very simple machine. One had to push feet against the ground; steering was possible by operating the front wheel. Drais believed that his "running machine" (Laufmaschine) would replace horses as a more efficient and economic vehicle - it would make it possible to save on the cost of oat. Drais, however, did not take into account the practical problems connected to riding draisines. Apart from the easy falls, shoes wore out quite quickly... The draisine became nothing more than a fashionable toy for young aristocrats, also called a "hobby horse." Makers let their imaginations run free, carving out of wood marvellous two-wheeled horses, snakes and elephants.

 

Draisine (Second half of the 19th century)

Hanging from the frame, there is a leather strap for attaching a cushion. The bronze bell warned pedestrians that a draisine was approaching. The Medici coat of arms on the bell shows that this model was made in Florence. The wheels are older than the handlebar.

 

Draisine is evolution of the human-powered transportation device that was originally devised by the German Baron Karl Drais and his “Laufmaschine” bicycle that was made in 1817. What this inventor brought to the European market in early 19th century was two wooden wheels connected with the main beam that housed simple controlling rod and seating place. Users who drove this device did not have access to pedals and chain drive like on modern bicycles, but had to reach with their legs to the ground and propel themselves forward by either walking or running.

 

Picture Of Draisine 1817

 

This simple design very quickly received many upgrades from the inventors from all around the world, but the French name “draisine” that described this Dandy Horse design continued to live on by describing another transport device – a rail vehicle with three or four wheels that was powered either by the service personnel or by diesel engines. These devices started being used all around the world as very easy and simple way of transporting personnel and maintenance tools across railway infrastructure. Because all these draisine rail vehicles were made to be as light as possible, one or two people could easily operate and propel them. Manual driving mechanisms varied from one draisine to another, ranging from hand lever, hand pedals, leg pedals for users who were sitting down on the floor, a four wheeled platform with two full bicycle sets placed on either side of it, or even a two-wheeled bicycle that had additional stabilization pieces that enabled it to remain stable while being locked to the structure of one rail. In 20th and 21st century, these railroad devices are rarely called as draisine. They are mostly referred as handcars, speeders or road-rail vehicles (vehicles that can drive both on rails and traditional roads).  Source: Bicycle History

 

Dandy Horse

 

Demonstrations
Drais followed his record-setting Mannheim to Schwetzinger trial run with a second 1817 journey from Gernsbach to Baden over a notoriously steep 800ft hill. Lessing writes that a local policeman clocked von Drais in at 4:00, having completed the trip in one hour at an average of 4 miles per hour, halving the usual travel time and impressing the amateur scientists in attendance.

 

A more spectacular show of the machine was, however, needed if Drais was to attract a commercial market. In April 1818, Drais organised a draisienne demonstration in Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens hosted by his chasseur (footman), who served as his agent in France. Thousands of spectators paid admission for a glimpse of the machine. Illustrations of the event show women in fancy gowns, well-dressed men, and children lining the park’s paths as draisiennes scoot by. 

 

News of the demonstration reached far and wide. The Morning Chronicle for 10 April 1818 commented in its 'Paris Papers' section that: 

"An immense concourse of spectators assembled yesterday at noon at Luxemburg [sic], to witness the experiments with Draisiennes (a species of carriage moved by machinery without horses). The crowd was so great that the experiments were but imperfectly made. The machine, however went quicker than a man at full speed and the conductors did not appear fatigued."

 

Remarkably, a tandem designed for a female passenger was displayed. The Morning Chronicle continues, “About three a Lady appeared in a Draisienne, conducted by the Chasseur of the Baron de Drais.”

Public Reaction and Popularity
The reception to Drais’ new machine was mixed. The Liverpool Mercury, 24 April 1818, optimistically noted that, “Draisiennes appear to be convenient for the country and for short journeys on most roads.” Journal de Paris, however, was unimpressed, reporting that one rider fell and put his draisienne out of action by breaking a bolt, and that the machine was slower than a band of children. Comparisons to children’s hobby horses were impossible to shake, making people flippant about the draisienne as an adult technology. 

 

The draisienne was a target for satire. Historian David Herlihy writes that a contemporary damningly claimed, “Mr Drais deserves the gratitude of cobblers, for he has found an optimal way to wear out shoes.” Fellow cycle historian Andrew Ritchie has uncovered jokes about “Velocipedraniavaporiana” and a patent for a machine going “14 miles in 15 days". 

 

 

The Draisienne

 

Curiosity prevailed and draisiennes proved popular for park riding in the summer of 1818. Drais’ chasseur ran a rental business out of Monceau Park in Paris, and overall sales were good. Riding rinks opened as far away as Austria. The draisienne craze was, however, short lived. Rutted, uneven roads made riding unpleasant and taxing. When riders retreated to footpaths, they were deemed a nuisance to pedestrians. Some cities banned draisiennes, including Milan in 1818, London and New York in 1819, and Calcutta in 1920.  

 

Appropriation and Proliferation
Drais had hit upon an invention with tremendous potential. His civil servant status as a forester and the regional limits of patents, however, made it difficult for Drais to protect his design. On 12 January 1818, Drais received a patent in Baden, but it was not valid beyond the region. Later that year Drais secured a five-year patent in France, but it did little to discourage knock-offs. Pirated draisiennes appeared throughout Europe. 

 

The Dandy Horse 
In England, Denis Johnson, coachmaker of No. 75 Longacre in London, made the most of Drais’ design by appropriating it. There is no doubt that Johnson’s velocipede was based on the draisienne. The Yorkshire Gazette, 15 May 1819, for example wrote that, “Baron von Drais…is the inventor of this ingenious machine…now introduced to this county by Mr Johnson.” Johnson likely saw models and designs brought over from Europe, and swiftly patented it in England before anyone else got the same idea.

 

 

 

Above: Johnson's Pedestrian Hobby Horse Riding School, 1819

 

Johnson’s 'pedestrian curricle', patent #4321 dated 22 December 1818, was an improved draisienne. It was lighter, substituted metal for wood where possible, had larger more stable wooden wheels lined with iron, featured a crossbar dipped in the middle where the saddle sat, was more upright, and had a metal steering column. It could travel 9-10 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest vehicles on the road. Johnson introduced a ladies drop frame and a deluxe model hand painted to order.

 

A riding school opened near his Long Acre shop, and races were organised. The 'dandy horse' or 'hobby' as it became known was popular with young urban gentlemen, and even more popular with satirists. 'The Hobby-Horse Dealer', an 1819 print held in the British Museum (below), which compares buying a velocipede to assessing a horse, illustrates this vein of humour.

 

Drais’ original draisienne may have been a passing fad, but his design inspired further innovation, copycats included, with lasting influence. 

 

Drais’ Political Persecution and Final Days
Drais did not lead an easy life. His mother died when he was 14, his forestry career relied on his father’s influence, and his meagre income rendered him unmarriageable. Drais had difficulty patenting his draisienne and failed to find commercial success. The von Drais family, who had already once fled the advancing French revolutionary army, had their reputation ruined in 1819 when Drais Senior, a high ranking judge, refused to pardon a student accused of murdering an anti-revolutionary playwright. Karl von Drais moved to Brazil to escape persecution, returning in 1827 when his father, an epileptic, became ill. His father died in 1830, at which point Lessing writes, “the bachelor became an alcoholic".

 

During the German Revolutions, 1848-9, Drais forfeited his title as Baron, becoming “Citizen Karl Drais.” Later, when Prussians forces reclaimed the region, revolutionary sympathisers were executed or committed to asylums, a fate Drais escaped only through the lobbying of his sister and cousin. Drais lived out his remaining years quietly and impoverished, having had his assets seized and reputation ruined in the aftermath of the failed revolution. He died penniless aged 66 on 10 December 1851. Drais’ inventions, his biographers reveal on www.karldrais.de, were forgotten or belittled by Baderian authorities keen on discrediting their political enemies. 

 

Drais’ reputation was not restored until the Victorian cycling age. A commemorative plaque was installed on his house in Karlsruhe and German cyclists saw that his grave was protected. The Graphic, 4 May 1891 reported that “British Cyclists, who owe so much health and enjoyment to their machines, may like to hear of the honours just paid to the inventor of the bicycle, Baron Carl von Drais. [sic]…the Baron’s remains have been moved with much pomp from their neglected grave to a resting place in the new cemetery, where the bicyclists of the fatherland will erect a handsome monument.”

Conclusion
A fitting memorial to Drais has since been erected in Karlsruhe cemetery. Postage stamps, a Google Doodle and a 2017 German €20 coin have also been released in his honour.

 

 

The draisienne may not have been a pedal bike like we think of today, but it represented an integral stage in cycling design. Two centuries after the draisienne first came to prominence, it is fair to look back at the legacy of Karl Von Drais and declare him the father of the bicycle.

 

Source: Dr. Sheila Hanlon is Cycling UK's historian. She will be exploring our rich cycling past and present in an ongoing series on the history section of Cycling UK's website. 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - PENTECOST

 

Did you know... that Pentecost is often called the 'birthday of the church' as it was the day the Holy Spirit entered the 12 apostles and is said to have been when the Church began? Speaking at the Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost on May 23, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI noted, 'There is no Church without Pentecost.

 

Pentecost is a special event in the Catholic calendar as it marks the day that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles of Jesus. As his Holiness Pope Francis said during his homily at the Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost last year, 'On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came down from heaven, in the form of "divided tongues, as of fire… [that] rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages" (Acts 2:3-4).'

 

In this blog, we take a closer look at Pentecost with eight facts you may not know about this important religious celebration.

 

Pentecost does not fall on a set date each year but is always held between May 10 and June 13. This is because Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, which is not celebrated on a fixed date.

Easter

 

Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word 'Pentikostí', which means fiftieth.

 

Pentecost is also celebrated 10 days after the ascension of Jesus to heaven.

10 days. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost 50 days after the resurrection. ...

Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after Easter. Holy Spirit came down on the apostles

10 days later i.e. 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead.

 

Following Pentecost, the apostle Saint Peter (the first Pope) preached his first sermon and is said to have converted thousands of people, in what were the early beginnings of the Church.

Saint Peter Apostle First Pope

 

Priests often wear red vestments on Pentecost. The red symbolising the tongues of fire that came to the apostles at Pentecost and gave them the ability to speak and understood any language to enable them to spread the word of God.

 

Flames, wind, a dove and the breath of God are some of the symbols that are used to represent the Holy Spirit during Pentecost.

The dove often symbolizes the Holy Spirit, according to Christian belief.

 

This year, Pentecost falls on Sunday May 21, 2020. 

 

Note: Pentecost is a Christian observance commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus Christ’s disciples, according to the Bible. Many Christians in Canada celebrate Pentecost, which is also known as Pentecost Sunday, Whitsunday, or Whit Sunday.

 

Source: Pentecost

Edited May 15, 2020 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ACUPUNCTURE  (Medical Specialty)

 

Did you know... that acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a key component of traditional Chinese medicine in which thin needles are inserted into the body? Acupuncture is a pseudoscience because the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery. (Wikipedia)

 

The earliest acupuncture needles were made of stone and animal bone

Acupuncture is an attribute of traditional Chinese medicine but it may have been practiced in Eurasia during the Stone Age.

 

Blue Green Dragon Needle [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Archaeologists discovered evidence of needles from the Neolithic era (about 5,000 BC) suggesting acupuncture was practiced during the Stone Age in many parts of Eurasia. The Chinese, however, preserved and developed the practice, creating needles with bamboo, and metals like copper, silver, iron, bronze, or gold. Today’s acupuncture needles are stainless steel, flexible, and considerably thinner than their predecessors.

 

Your tongue is a key indicator of your health

Acupuncturists use four diagnostic methods to learn about your health, one of which is a close examination of your tongue.

 

Chinese tongue diagnosis chart [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia

 

• Each area of the tongue corresponds to specific organs.
• The left and right side of the tongue: liver and gallbladder
• The center of the tongue: stomach and spleen
• The tip of the tongue: heart and lungs
• The back of the tongue: large and small intestine, bladder, and kidney

The tongue’s shape, size, surface, tension, texture, coating, and the presence or absence of teeth marks all offer valuable clues.
 

The colour of the tongue, for example, indicates the body’s internal temperature, reveals a hot or cold condition and offers information about the circulation of the liver and heart.

 

Further examination of the patient includes identifying unusual body odours, listening for wheezing, irregular heartbeat, and gut sounds.

 

Palpitation of the body can identify tenderness, pulse rate, and internal swellings.
 

The acupuncturist will also inquire about the patient’s fever or chills, sleep patterns, elimination systems, perspiration, appetite, menses, and bodily discharges.

 

The World Health Organization lists 200 symptoms and diseases that acupuncture can help

Millions of North American patients use acupuncture administered by certified acupuncturists, physicians, dentists, and other practitioners to relieve or prevent pain and to treat many health conditions.

 

The World Health Organization lists 200 medical conditions that could benefit from the use of acupuncture including the treatment of pain, addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, the treatment of asthma and bronchitis, treatment of nausea and vomiting, and rehabilitation from neurological damage.

 

A New York Times journalist opened America’s door to acupuncture after an emergency appendectomy in China

Journalist James Reston, who accompanied President Nixon to China in 1971, reported his experiences and observations about the effectiveness of acupuncture following surgery for acute appendicitis in Peking.

 

James Reston

 

Reston described his experience in his report. Here is an excerpt:

“I was in considerable discomfort if not pain during the second night after the operation, and Li Chang-yuan, doctor of acupuncture at the hospital, with my approval, inserted three long, thin needles into the outer part of my right elbow and below my knees and manipulated them in order to stimulate the intestine and relieve the pressure and distension of the stomach.
The other doctors watched him manipulate the needles in my body and then circle his burning herbs over my abdomen with obvious respect. Prof. Li Pang-chi said later that he had not been a believer in the use of acupuncture techniques “but a fact is a fact—there are many things they can do.”

 

Acupuncturists require extensive education to practice in BC

Pacific Rim College offers training to practice acupuncture beginning with 4 to 5 years of education after which the applicant can apply for the Pan-Canadian Registration Exam.

 

The Pacific Rim College website states: “To practice acupuncture in British Columbia, one must become a registered practitioner with College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists (CTCMA) of BC. The CTCMA, BC’s only governing body for the practice of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, requires that any registered practitioner must successfully complete two years (60 credits) of university education in liberal arts or sciences and must also earn an acupuncture diploma from an approved program in BC. The former can be completed before, during or after studying acupuncture.”

 

Students must also have minimum of 1900 hours of practice, including between 450 and 600 hours of practical clinical training.

 

Acupuncture is a diverse medical tradition with many styles and sub styles

Millions of North American patients use acupuncture administered by certified acupuncturists, physicians, dentists, and other practitioners to relieve or prevent pain and to treat many health conditions.

 

Five Element Traditional Acupuncture has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a method of diagnosis and treatment for over 2000 years and is based on the five elements of nature – wood, fire, water, earth, and metal. All five elements should, ideally, be in balance. Each element corresponds to an emotion, and organ, a colour, a taste, a sense, an emotion, a body tissue and a season.

 

Five element framework

 

Japanese Acupuncture has seven things that differentiate it from Chinese traditional acupuncture. In Japanese acupuncture

1. Needles are smaller (finer) and sharper
2. Insertion is less deep
3. Touch and palpitation of the body is emphasized pre treatments
4. Less manipulation of the needle post insertion
5. Less rotating and shifting of the needle – less sensation of Qi
6. Always burning cones of “moxa” during treatment
7. Less emphasis on the use of herbs in treatment, although patients are often referred to herbalists if necessary

Korean Constitutional Acupuncture shares its origin with Chinese acupuncture but has developed its own unique system.

Diagnosis in Korean acupuncture is focused on a full constitutional analysis, which requires a completely separate book of prescriptions. Korean acupuncture also focuses on the extremities like the hand or ear.

 

Most of the standard acupuncture layouts in Korea use only four needles. In fact, Korean acupuncture is often called ‘four-needle’ technique, or Sa-am technique for this reason.  The four needles are split two and two – two needles sedate or reduce excess Qi in one organ system, while two other needles balance or increase Qi in a second organ system.

 

Acupuncture treats pain
Acupuncture is frequently prescribed as a modern-day, non opiate, alternative treatment for chronic pain.

 

Low back pain, neck and shoulder pain, and pain from osteoarthritis respond well to acupuncture treatments which are now commonly covered by extended health plans.

 

Acupuncture may help other conditions such as insomnia, depression, digestive issues
The World Health Organization maintains an extensive list of diseases and disorders that could be relieved with acupuncture.

 

When used in conjunction with other healthy lifestyle habits such as mindfulness, meditation, nutrition, and exercise, acupuncture offers beneficial support to and relief for depression, addictions, infertility, and digestive issues.

 

There are more than 2,000 acupuncture points that are connected by 12 meridians
The 12 meridians conduct Qi or energy between the surface of the body and its internal organs.

 

 

Qi helps to regulate balance in the body. It is influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang, which represent positive and negative energy and forces in the universe and human body. Acupuncture keeps the balance between yin and yang, allowing for the normal flow of qi throughout the body and restoring health to the mind and body.

 

Acupuncture is just one aspect of a broad system of traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) includes many other modalities besides acupuncture. The five most common are Moxibustion (burning an herb above the skin to apply heat to acupuncture points), Cupping, (Tui na (Chinese therapeutic massage), Chinese herbal medicine, and dietary therapy.

 

There are many styles and sub-styles to acupuncture including Five Element Traditional Acupuncture, TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture, Japanese Acupuncture and Korean Constitutional Acupuncture.

 

A brief description of the five modalities follows:

• Moxibustion: A form of heat therapy, where a bundle or stick of dried herbs (moxa) is burned near the surface of the skin. The warmth from the bundle stimulates the flow of Qi in the body.
• Cupping: An ancient technique using a cup made of glass, plastic or rubber that, when heated, mechanically pumped or squeezed, creates suction which efficiently opens pathways for Qi (meridian energy flow). Cupping improves the circulation of blood and lymph, removes cold, heat, or dampness from the body, and relieves pain.
• Tui na: Chinese bodywork therapy that works on the same principles as acupuncture, with the use of hands and fingers instead of needles. Through a combination of massage and acupressure, Tui Na applies pressure to acupuncture points and channels, and groups of muscles or nerves to remove blockages that prevent the free flow of Qi.  It treats muscular injuries and improves blood circulation. Tui na provides pain relief and relieves stress and anxiety.
• Herbal Therapy: TCM employs a variety of natural remedies and herbs such as plants, minerals, animal/insect parts, fungi, and other supplements.
• Dietary Therapy: In Traditional Chinese Medicine, food is a form of therapeutic treatment classified according to its qualities and energetic effects rather than in terms of calories, proteins and fats. It is not just a matter of eating nourishing, healthy food but of eating nourishing healthy food that is right for individual body types.

 

Remedies in both herbal therapy and nutritional therapy are classified according to the Four Natures – hot, warm, cool, and cold, and Five Flavours, acrid, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

 

The correct balance of Natures and Flavours supports the optimal balance of yin and yang. A personalized diet based on your constitution, the nature of your condition, and even the season and climate are all taken into consideration in Chinese dietary therapy.

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MEDITATION

Did you know... that meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state? (Wikipedia)

 

When the topic of mindfulness comes up, there are people out there who still imagine that meditation is the domain of free spirits who enjoy zoning out on a woven grass mat somewhere. But the fact is that there’s nothing woo-woo about mindfulness and awareness meditation. These life-altering practices have been around for millennia, and virtually every spiritual path integrates some form of them.

 

Though it has its roots in Buddhism, non-secular mindfulness meditation as practiced today is accessible to people of all backgrounds and beliefs. Despite its remarkable popularity, you may wonder, “But why should I meditate?” 

 

 

Meditation makes you happier

People who meditate generally lead happier lives than those who don’t. Meditation is known to enhance the flow of constructive thoughts and positive emotions. Even a few minutes spent meditating regularly can make a big difference. Scientific evidence supports this claim: extensive studies were conducted on a group of Buddhist monks as they were meditating. The pre-frontal cortex of the monks’ brains (the part associated with happiness) was found to be extra active.

 

Meditation helps you manage anxiety, stress and depression

The transformative potential of meditation shouldn’t be underestimated. Studies conducted at the University of Wisconsin proved that meditation has physiological effects on the brain. For example, researchers found that the part of the brain that regulates stress and anxiety shrinks when meditation is practiced consistently. By focusing on moment-by-moment experiences, meditators are training the mind to remain calm, even in stressful situations. Along with this, they also experience significantly less anxiety due to uncertainty about the future.

 

You needn’t be a religious person to meditate

The Mindworks Meditation founders are sure that meditation can benefit everyone. It is beyond doctrine: it’s about developing calmness, practicing awareness and decluttering the mind. And although contemplation is a key component of most world religions, you don’t have to be adhere to a religion to practice meditation. This is good news for the one in five Americans who define themselves as “spiritual but not religious!”  Also, in January 2018 the Pew Research Center published findings that show just how mainstream mindfulness meditation has become in the US, regardless of religious affiliation.

 

Meditation benefits are almost immediate

The numerous health benefits that result from meditation are another great reason to adopt the practice. Certain benefits can start making themselves felt very quickly after people start sitting. A sense of calmness and peace of mind are common experiences, even if this feeling is fleeting and subtle. In an article published in Forbes online, attorney Jeena Cho lists six scientifically proven benefits that you may not have been expecting, including a reduction in implicit race and age bias.

 

Some people worry that meditation is having the opposite effect because their minds seem busier than ever. Our advice: stick with it, and keep your sessions short. Meditation isn’t about wiping the slate of your mind clean, it’s about being aware of what appears there. And you’re a step ahead: you’re already noticing how busy the mind can be.

 

Meditation helps you fall asleep

This Military Meditation Routine Helps You Fall Asleep Fast
 

Insomnia is a troubling condition – everybody dreads a sleepless night. Sadly, about a third of the American population suffers from some form of sleep deprivation, whether occasional or chronic. If you’re one of those misfortunate folk who stare at the ceiling and count sheep all night to no avail, meditation just might be a solution. An article in the Harvard Health Blog confirms that meditation triggers the relaxation response – which is why some people actually have the opposite problem: they fall asleep as soon as they begin to meditate!

 

Meditation sharpens your memory

Apart from enhancing your happiness and improving your overall well-being, meditation also helps your memory stay sharp and your concentration remain steady. With mindfulness meditation, you train in remaining aware of the present moment in a non-judgmental manner. Consequently, distractions are less and less likely to sweep you away. Just one more reason why you should meditate.

 

Source: Mindworks

Edited May 17, 2020 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SCULPTURES

 

Sumerian male worshipper, alabaster with shell

eyes, 2750−2600 B.C.E.

 

Did you know... that sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and other materials but, since Modernism, there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded or cast.

 

Assyrian lamassu gate guardian from Khorsabad,

circa 800–721 BCE

 

Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery) from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost.

 

Sculpture has been central in religious devotion in many cultures, and until recent centuries large sculptures, too expensive for private individuals to create, were usually an expression of religion or politics. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, as well as many in Central and South America and Africa.

 

The Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith. The revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelo's David. Modernist sculpture moved away from traditional processes and the emphasis on the depiction of the human body, with the making of constructed sculpture, and the presentation of found objects as finished art works.

 

Michelangelo's Moses, (c. 1513–1515), San Pietro in

Vincoli, Rome, for the tomb of Pope Julius II

 

Types
A basic distinction is between sculpture in the round, free-standing sculpture, such as statues, not attached (except possibly at the base) to any other surface, and the various types of relief, which are at least partly attached to a background surface. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, and sometimes an intermediate mid-relief. Sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief is the usual sculptural medium for large figure groups and narrative subjects, which are difficult to accomplish in the round, and is the typical technique used both for architectural sculpture, which is attached to buildings, and for small-scale sculpture decorating other objects, as in much pottery, metalwork and jewellery. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, often also containing inscriptions.

 

Open air Buddhist rock reliefs at the

Longmen Grottoes, China

 

Another basic distinction is between subtractive carving techniques, which remove material from an existing block or lump, for example of stone or wood, and modelling techniques which shape or build up the work from the material. Techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work; many of these allow the production of several copies.

 

Netsuke of tigress with two cubs, mid-19th-century

Japan, ivory with shell inlay

 

The term "sculpture" is often used mainly to describe large works, which are sometimes called monumental sculpture, meaning either or both of sculpture that is large, or that is attached to a building. But the term properly covers many types of small works in three dimensions using the same techniques, including coins and medals, hardstone carvings, a term for small carvings in stone that can take detailed work.

 

Medal of John VIII Palaeologus, c. 1435, by Pisanello,

the first portrait medal, a medium essentially made for collecting.

 

The very large or "colossal" statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity; the largest on record at 182 m (597 ft) is the 2018 Indian Statue of Unity. Another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the "head", showing just that, or the bust, a representation of a person from the chest up. Small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches (46 cm) tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin.

 

Statue of Unity

 

Modern and contemporary art have added a number of non-traditional forms of sculpture, including sound sculpture, light sculpture, environmental art, environmental sculpture, street art sculpture, kinetic sculpture (involving aspects of physical motion), land art, and site-specific art. Sculpture is an important form of public art. A collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden.

 

French Sculptures, L.A. Garden

Source: Kiddle Kids Encyclopedia

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Fact of the Day - INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Aerial photo of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 

Did you know... that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) is in Speedway, Indiana (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 race and the Brickyard 400 race.

 

It was built in 1909. It is the original Speedway, the first racing facility to use the word Speedway. IMS has permanent seating for more than 257,000 people. The infield raises capacity to approximately 400,000. It is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in the world.

 

The Speedway is considered relatively flat by American standards but high-banked by Europeans. It is a two and a half mile, nearly rectangular oval. Each of the four turns are 1/4 mile. Two 5/8 mile long straight connect turns 2 to 3 and turns 4 to 1. Two 1/8 mile short straights, termed short chutes, connect turns 1 to 2 and turns 3 to 4.

 

A modern infield road course was constructed between 1998 and 2000. It used part of the oval and the infield to create a 2.605-mile (4.192 km) track. In 2008, the road course was changed to add another infield section. This is used for motorcycle racing, and is a 2.621-mile (4.218 km) course.

 

On the grounds of the Speedway is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, which opened in 1956. It is also the home of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, which originally opened as the Speedway Golf Course in 1929.

 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

 

In addition to the Indianapolis 500, the Speedway also hosts NASCAR's Brickyard 400. The Speedway also hosted the United States Grand Prix for Formula One from 2000 to 2007. In 2008, the Speedway added the Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix.

 

After winning his fifth United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2006, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories with the Formula One version of the road course. A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears each won the Indianapolis 500 four times on the traditional oval. Jeff Gordon has also won four times on the oval in the Brickyard 400. Johnny Aitken holds the record for total wins at the track, with 15 victories (all on the oval), during the 1909, 1910 and 1916 seasons.

 

EARLY HISTORY

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway under construction

 

The first motorsports event at the track consisted of 7 motorcycle races, sanctioned by the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), on August 14, 1909.

 

The first weekend of automobile races took place August 19–21, 1909. It was 16 races sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA). The event almost turned into a disaster because of the surface of crushed stone and tar. There were several accidents and five fatalities. The final race of the weekend was halted after 235 miles (378 km) of its originally-scheduled 300 miles.

 

Carl Graham Fisher (1874–1938) of Indiana,

an American vehicle parts and highway

entrepreneur, co-founder and first President

of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. May 1909.

 

Carl G. Fisher, was an Indiana native, and both a former race car driver and one of the owners of the track. He led the work to make the track safer for the drivers and spectators. The track surface was paved with 3.2 million paving bricks. This gave the track its popular nickname The Brickyard. Today, 3 feet (0.91 m) (one yard) of the original bricks remain at the start/finish line., still giving meaning to the 'brick yard'. The final brick added to the roadway was a gold plated brick and laid by Governor Thomas R. Marshall on December 17, 1909.

 

The Speedway reopened in 1910. Sixty-six automobile races held during three holiday weekends (Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day). Each weekend featured two or three races of 100-mile (160 km) to 200-mile (320 km) distance. Several shorter contests were also held. Each race was its own event and earned its own trophy. All races were sanctioned by the AAA. In 1911, a change in marketing focus led to holding only one race per year.

 

An estimated 80,000 spectators came to the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on Memorial Day May 30, 1911. Admission was one dollar. Ray Harroun won the race at the average speed of 74.602 mph (120.060 km/h).

 

The next five Indianapolis 500 were held from 1912–1916. Three of the Indy 500 winners were Europeans. These races drew worldwide attention to the Speedway. More international drivers began to enter.

 

The 1916 race was shortened to 120 laps for 300 miles (480 km). Several things caused the race to be shortened . There was a lack of entries from Europe and a lack of oil. Another reason was out of respect for the war in Europe.

 

On September 9, 1916, the Speedway hosted a day of short racing events. These were called the Harvest Classic. There were three races held at 20, 50 and 100-mile (160 km) distances. Johnny Aitken, in a Peugeot, won all three events, his final victories at the track. After the Harvest Classic, no race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held on the grounds for seventy-eight years.

 

Racing was interrupted in 1917–1918 by World War I. The facility served as a military center for repairs.

 

Racing resumed in 1919. Speeds quickly increased. In 1925 Peter DePaolo became the first to average 100 mph (160 km/h) for the race.

 

By the early 1930s, the increasing speeds began to make the track more dangerous. In the period 1931–1935 there were 15 fatalities. Part of the bricks were replaced with tarmac (a tar covered macadam or small stones). During the 1935–1936 seasons a number of changes were made. The inside wall was removed in the corners. The outside wall angle was changed to help keep cars inside the track. Hard crash helmets became required. The first yellow lights were installed around the track.

 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Automotive Industries, Volume 21 –

September 23, 1909

 

Want to know more on this topic?  Click on the link below.  

Source: Kiddle Encyclopedia

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Fact of the Day - SQUALL

This shows a series of squalls in a series of squall lines coming off the

North Atlantic towards the Isle of Hoy.

 

Did you know... that a squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, contrary to a wind gust lasting seconds? They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. (Wikipedia)

 

A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, contrary to a wind gust lasting seconds. They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to the increase to the sustained winds over that time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event. They usually occur in a region of strong sinking air or cooling in the mid-atmosphere. These force strong localized upward motions at the leading edge of the region of cooling, which then enhances local downward motions just in its wake. (Kiddle Encyclopedia)

 

Squalls refer to the increase to the sustained winds over that time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event. They usually occur in a region of strong sinking air or cooling in the mid-atmosphere. These force strong localized upward motions at the leading edge of the region of cooling, which then enhances local downward motions just in its wake.

 

Character of the Wind

The term "squall" is used to refer to a sudden wind-speed increase lasting minutes. In 1962 the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) defined that to be classified as a "squall", the wind must increase at least 8 m/s and must attain a top speed of at least 11 m/s, lasting at least one minute in duration. In Australia, a squall is defined to last for several minutes before the wind returns to the long term mean value. In either case, a squall is defined to last about half as long as the definition of sustained wind in its respective country. Usually, this sudden violent wind is associated with briefly heavy precipitation as squall line.

 

Severe Weather

A shelf cloud such as this one can be a sign

that a squall is imminent

 

A squall line is an organized line of thunderstorms. It is classified as a multi-cell cluster, meaning a thunderstorm complex comprising many individual updrafts. They are also called multi-cell lines. Squalls are sometimes associated with hurricanes or other cyclones, but they can also occur independently. Most commonly, independent squalls occur along front lines, and may contain heavy precipitation, hail, frequent lightning, dangerous straight line winds, and possibly funnel clouds, tornadoes and waterspouts. Squall lines require significant low-level warmth and humidity, a nearby frontal zone, and vertical wind shear from an angle behind the frontal boundary. The strong winds at the surface are usually a reflection of dry air intruding into the line of storms, which when saturated, falls quickly to ground level due to its much higher density before it spreads out downwind. Significant squall lines with multiple bow echoes are known as derechos.

 

Squall line life cycle

There are several forms of mesoscale meteorology, including simplistic isolated thunderstorms unrelated to advancing cold fronts, to the more complex daytime/nocturnal Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) and Mesoscale Convective Complex (MCC), to squall line thunderstorms.

 

Formation
The main driving force behind squall line creation is attributed to the process of in-filling of multiple thunderstorms and/or a single area of thunderstorms expanding outward within the leading space of an advancing cold front.

 

Pressure perturbations
Pressure perturbations within an extent of a thunderstorm are noteworthy. With buoyancy rapid within the lower and mid-levels of a mature thunderstorm, one might believe that low pressure dominates in the mesoscale environment. However, this is not the case. With downdrafts ushering colder air from mid-levels, hitting ground and propagating away in all directions, high pressure is to be found widely at surface levels, usually indicative of strong (potentially damaging) winds.

 

Wind shear

Cirrus uncinus ice crystal plumes

showing high level wind shear,

with changes in wind speed and

direction.

 

Wind shear is an important aspect to measuring the potential of squall line severity and duration. In low to medium shear environments, mature thunderstorms will contribute modest amounts of downdrafts, enough to turn will aid in create a leading edge lifting mechanism – the gust front. In high shear environments created by opposing low level jet winds and synoptic winds, updrafts and consequential downdrafts can be much more intense (common in supercell mesocyclones). The cold air outflow leaves the trailing area of the squall line to the mid-level jet, which aids in downdraft processes.

 

Updrafts

Warm, moist updraft from a t

hunderstorm associated with a

southward-moving frontal boundary -

taken from Texarkana, Texas looking north.

The leading area of a squall line is composed primarily of multiple updrafts, or singular regions of an updraft, rising from ground level to the highest extensions of the troposphere, condensing water and building a dark, ominous cloud to one with a noticeable overshooting top and anvil (thanks to synoptic scale winds). Because of the chaotic nature of updrafts and downdrafts, pressure perturbations are important.

 

As thunderstorms fill into a distinct line, strong leading-edge updrafts – occasionally visible to a ground observer in the form of a shelf cloud – may appear as an ominous sign of potential severe weather.

 

Beyond the strong winds because of updraft/downdraft behavior, heavy rain (and hail) is another sign of a squall line. In the winter, squall lines can occur albeit less frequently – bringing heavy snow and/or thunder and lightning – usually over inland lakes (i.e. Great Lakes region).

 

Bow echoes

Radar image of a bow echo crossing

Kansas City at 2:14 AM on 2 May 2008

(NWS Kansas City)

Following the initial passage of a squall line, light to moderate stratiform precipitation is also common. A bow echo is frequently seen on the northern and southern most reaches of squall line thunderstorms (via satellite imagery). This is where the northern and southern ends curl backwards towards the middle portions of the squall line, making a "bow" shape. Bow echoes are frequently featured within supercell mesoscale systems.

 

Mesolow

A Spectacular Tropical Storm-Like Meso-Low Over Lake Superior

 

The northern end of the squall line is commonly referred to as the cyclonic end, with the southern side rotating anticyclonically. Because of the coriolis force, the northern end may evolve further, creating a "comma shaped" mesolow, or may continue in a squall-like pattern.

 

A wake low is another kind of mesoscale low-pressure area to the rear of a squall line near the back edge of the stratiform rain area. Due to the subsiding warm air associated with the systems formation, clearing skies are associated with the wake low. Severe weather, in the form of high winds, can be generated by the wake low when the pressure difference between the mesohigh preceding it and the wake low is intense enough. When the squall line is in the process of decay, heat bursts can be generated near the wake low. Once new thunderstorm activity along the squall line concludes, the wake low associated with it weakens in tandem.

 

Dissipation
As supercells and multi-cell thunderstorms dissipate due to a weak shear force or poor lifting mechanisms, (e.g. considerable terrain or lack of daytime heating) the squall line or gust front associated with them may outrun the squall line itself and the synoptic scale area of low pressure may then infill, leading to a weakening of the cold front; essentially, the thunderstorm has exhausted its updrafts, becoming purely a downdraft dominated system. The areas of dissipating squall line thunderstorms may be regions of low CAPE, low humidity, insufficient wind shear, or poor synoptic dynamics (e.g. an upper level low filling) leading to frontolysis

From here, a general thinning of a squall line will occur: with winds decaying over time, outflow boundaries weakening updrafts substantially and clouds losing their thickness.

 

Signs in the sky

Shelf Clouds and Roll Clouds

Shelf clouds and roll clouds are usually seen above the leading edge of a squall, also known as a thunderstorms' gust front. From the time these low cloud features appear in the sky, one can expect a sudden increase in the wind in less than 15 minutes.

Want to read more on Squalls click below. 

 

Source: Wikipedia