Fact of the Day

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Fact of the Day - EXTREMADURA

Towering over 2,400 m, the Calvitero is

considered to be Extremadura's highest point.

 

Did you know... that Extremadura is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida. The provinces Cáceres and Badajoz are a part of Extremadura. Extremadura is bordered by Portugal to the west. To the north, it borders Castile and León. To the south, it borders Andalusia. To the east, it borders Castile-La Mancha. (KidsKiddle) 

 

Things You Should Know About Extremadura

by Irene Corchado Resmella  |  April 2018

Despite being known for its Iberian ham, its vast open landscapes and for being an ideal birdwatching destination, Extremadura still is by far Spain’s most overlooked region by international travelers. Yet this fascinating area has many treasures and secrets to be discovered. Read on to discover 10 things you may not know about Extremadura.

 

It’s a wine-lovers paradise

Spain is a world-leading wine producer, but fierce competition means many high-quality wines are unheard of abroad. Did you know, for example, that Extremadura has the second biggest wine-making area in Spain (over 80,000 hectares)? The main Denomination of Origin is Ribera del Guadiana, and two of the best areas to try local wines are Cañamero (Caceres province) and the Tierra de Barros area (Badajoz province).

 

Many cities around the world are named after places in Extremadura

Most Spanish conquistadors of the Americas hailed from Extremadura, and that’s why you can find towns and cities sharing their name on both sides of the Atlantic. Mérida is Extremadura’s capital city and also a large city in México. Trujillo is a Peruvian city sharing its name with one of Extremadura’s most beautiful towns (and with cities in Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico). Cáceres has a Colombian counterpart. Medellín is Colombia’s second largest city, but not many know that the original Medellín is a small town in Badajoz province. Even fewer know that there are other cities called Medellín in Mexico, Argentina and the Philippines.

 

It boasts six UNESCO sites

Despite still being Spain’s most underrated and overlooked region for foreign travelers, Extremadura is a perfect destination for history, architecture and nature lovers. It proudly boasts six UNESCO sites, comprising three World Heritage Sites: Mérida’s archaeological ensemble, Cáceres’ medieval city centre and Guadalupe’s Royal Monastery; two Biosphere Reserves: Monfragüe and Tajo International Natural Parks; and one Geopark: Villuercas-Ibores-Jara.

 

Extremadura has some crazy festivals

If you think famous Tomatina is crazy, wait until you see the quirky festivals northern Extremadura has in for you. In January, head up to the mountain town of Piornal to take part in its Jarramplas festival, where a local guy wearing a colourful demon-inspired costume walks the streets playing the drum while everybody else throws huge turnips at him. Jarandilla de la Vera celebrates an equally crazy festival in December, involving fire and called Los Escobazos. Locals wearing flame-resistant clothing and a broom gather in the main square and smack each other for three hours with their brooms, which are on fire.

 

It has been featured in ‘Game of Thrones’

The popular TV series chose three locations in Extremadura for filming scenes of its seventh season, all of them within Cáceres province. Trujillo’s Arab castle became Casterly Rock, while Cáceres’ magnificent medieval streets were chosen to serve as King’s Landing. Not far from Cáceres is the Los Barruecos Natural Park, a protected area, is home to one of Europe’s biggest colonies of white stork. In the series, the park served as the perfect background for the season’s most important battle.

 

Spain’s only blue flag award-winning inland beach is in Extremadura

Extremadura may be far from the coast, but that doesn’t mean the region lacks places for swimming. Not only is it the Spanish region with the most freshwater coastline and a great place for wild swimming, it’s also home to Spain’s only Blue Flag-awarded inland beach – Orellana reservoir. Located within a special protection area for birds in Badajoz province, it’s one of the biggest reservoirs along River Guadiana.

 

It has a secret language only 6,000 people speak

In a small and remote corner in the northwest of Extremadura, between Salamanca province and Portugal, you can hear a Fala. This secret language is only spoken by around 6,000 people from three villages – San Martín de Trevejo, Eljas and Valverde del Fresno. There are several hypotheses about its origins, linking a Fala with Galician, Portuguese, and the Castilian language spoken in the former Kingdom of León. Despite being such a little-known language, spelling and pronunciation still varies from one town to another.

 

Spain’s famous omelette was invented in Extremadura

There have been numerous claims from different cities as the place of origin of the famous Spanish tortilla. A recent study published by scientist Javier López Linaje revealed that the Spanish omelette was invented by two landowners from Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz province) in 1798. To show how proud villanovenses are of their omelettes, the local authorities have announced a monument will be erected in its honour.

 

Extremadura is the cheapest region in Spain to buy a house

According to the latest data released by Tinsa, the Spanish home valuation specialists, Extremadura is Spain’s cheapest region for buying a house. The average price per square metre is only €768 (US$950), a figure that contrasts sharply with the €2,159 (US$2670) per square metre you would pay on average in the Madrid community. Extremadura is also one of the three Spanish regions where the house prices continue to fall year after year. If you’re looking for your dream country house in Spain on a budget, Extremadura will offer plenty to choose from.

 

It’s home to a ghost town

Granadilla was a thriving little town in northern Extremadura until the mid-1950s when plans to build a reservoir and the declaration of a ‘flood zone’ forced everyone to leave. Granadilla itself was never flooded, but it got surrounded by water and, even today, it’s only accessible by one pot-holed road. After decades of neglect, a restoration process started in the eighties, and some 20 houses have been restored so far. The castle tower and a walk around the fortress offer fantastic panoramic views over the remains of the old city and the nearby reservoir.

 

 

Source: Kids Encyclopedia Facts  |  Facts About Extremadura

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Fact of the Day - STUDIO GHIBLI

Did you know.... that Studio Ghibli Inc. is a Japanese animation film studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo. The studio is best known for its animated feature films, and has also produced several short subjects, television commercials, and one television film. The studio's mascot and most recognizable symbol is a character named Totoro, who is a giant cat-like spirit from the 1988 anime film My Neighbor Totoro. Among Studio Ghibli's highest-grossing films are Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo (2008). The studio was founded on June 15, 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, after the successful performance of Topcraft's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). It has also collaborated with video game studios on the visual development of several video games. (Wikipedia)

 

Things Even Die-hard Fans Don't Know About Studio Ghibli Films
Studio Ghibli has had a profound effect on the animation industry over the years. But as famous as they are, there's a lot you don't know about them.

BY ARCHITA MITTRA  |  PUBLISHED AUG 17, 2019

It's not a surprise that many of us wish that our lives were like a Studio Ghibli film. Studio Ghibli films have a charm of their own. Most of them are wholesome, without being overtly sentimental and they teach us important lessons about life, as well as remind us not to take the little moments for granted. Often, they carry socially relevant messages that gently nudge us to pause and think deeper about certain issues. In addition to being aesthetically delightful, they are also laden with Easter eggs and several of the films have interesting backstories that are almost as fascinating as the movies themselves.

 

How many of these fun facts do you already know?

 

Miyazaki's Inspiration For Princess Mononoke Came From Diverse Sources

Princess Mononoke (1997) has often been hailed as Studio Ghibli's best and most nuanced of all films, especially for its strong critique of environmental destruction and war, themes that were also explored in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). Being a pacifist throughout his life, Miyazaki's inspiration to make this film came from a variety of sources. Firstly, he was impacted by the wars in former Yugoslavia that contributed to the strong anti-war tone in the film. A manga called "Mudmen" that refers to the Asaro Mudmen from Papua New Guinea perhaps provided the basis for the conception of San and the Spirit of the Forest. Miyazaki's own childhood encounters with blacksmiths in turn led to the creation of Irontown in the film. Finally, John Ford's westerns also provided some ideas and the magical forest depicted in the film was inspired by the Shiratani Unsuiky forest in Japan.

 

A Worm Was Named After The Catbus In My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro (1988) is a heart-warming film that can be re-watched anytime to rediscover the magic of childhood. It also showcased the Ghibli mascot as a forest spirit that loves cuddles, affection and children. While the figure of Totoro itself is a mixture of several animals (including a racoon, cat and an owl), a species of velvet worms (Eoperipatus totoro) in the animal kingdom has been named after its resemblance to the Catbus- another beloved character in the film.

 

The Water In Ponyo Was Hand-Drawn By Miyazaki

Almost every frame in a Ghibli film is a work of art in itself- beautifully detailed and illustrated that captures a small moment in life. And it appears that Miyazaki seems to prefer the personal and traditional touch of hand-drawn animation over CGI imagery. In fact, his attention to detail is so on-point that he drew most of the waves and the sea in Ponyo On The Cliff (2008) by himself. The film which is loosely based on the "Little Mermaid" fairytale literally features the director's own artistry.

 

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya Is Based On An Anonymous Science Fiction Fairytale

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) is one of Ghibli's more recent efforts. It tells a poignant story about a magical princess who must return to her immortal realm on the moon following a bittersweet stay on the planet. However the story isn't a Ghibli original, but based on an anonymous Japanese folktale dating back to 1592. The story has been characterized as a proto science fiction story on account of its references to the moon and the fact that Princess Kaguya or "Lil' Bamboo" is technically an extraterrestrial being. Moreover, it has been adapted onscreen before- Princess of the Moon (1987) and Claire (2001), both of which are live-action films.

 

The Character Of Howl From Howl's Moving Castle Is Different In The Book

Howl's Moving Castle (2004) which is based on the book of the same name by British fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones is perhaps one of the  Ghibli films that are more well-known to western audiences. It's a rather unusual and pretty colorful love story and the characters of Sophie Hatter (who is cursed to look like an aged woman) and Howl (a young wizard) have been particularly praised. However, the character of Howl as he appears in the film is notably different from the book. For one, Howl in the book is more vain and prone to throwing tantrums while Howl in the movie has the vibe of a somewhat brooding Byronic hero. Moreover, the movie Howl can also transform himself into a bird.

 

The Same Characters Appear Across Films If You Can Spot Them

There are some creatures that reappear in Ghibli films and you have to be an astute fan to spot them. For instance, near the end of The Secret World of Arietty (2010), when Arietty and her family leave the house in search of a new home, there's a racoon in that scene. The same racoon appeared in Pom Poko (1994). Similarly, the fox squirrel that was seen near the robot in Laputa's garden in Castle In The Sky (1986) had previously appeared in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).

 

Gaiman Wrote Two Scripts For Ghibli And Miramax

Princess Mononoke (1997) was immensely successful, broke numerous records, and even made Ghibli films familiar to a western audience. In fact, Neil Gaiman was hired with the task of adapting the Japanese script to English. However, while Ghibli wanted Gaiman to retain the Japanese flavor and cultural nuances, Miramax wanted the script to be westernized. Unable to reach a compromise, Gaiman wrote two scripts for the two companies and let them figure out the rest.

 

Porco Rosso Was Supposed To Be An In-Flight Film.

Porco Rosso (1992) wasn't supposed to be a full-length film. It was originally planned as a short in-flight film for the Japan Airlines of 30 to 45 minutes. However the war in Yugoslavia that had recently broken out made the director consider a more serious and extensive approach. Set during the 1930s, the film follows the adventures of a war veteran who presently freelances as bounty hunter, who is suddenly transformed into a pig. The title literally translates to "Red Pig" in Italian. Nevertheless, before the film was released in the theaters, it was showcased as an in-flight film.

 

Kiki Is Almost Hit By A Bus Named "Studio Ghibli"

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) follows the adventures of young Kiki, a loveable witch who moves into the city and begins a flying courier service as well as makes new friends on the way. There's a scene near the beginning of the film where she's almost hit by a passing bus. Now that would have been a pretty unremarkable detail had it not been for the fact that the bus bore the name "Studio Ghibli" on it. That's a pretty clever self-insert, don't you think?

 

Whisper Of The Heart Has A Spin-Off Sequel

The numerous Easter Eggs also seems to suggest that all Ghibli films are set more-or-less in the same universe, due to the many meta-references and the reappearances of familiar faces. For instance, Whisper Of The Heart (1995) is a beautiful coming-of-age romance film that ends with a happily ever after. The heroine in the film Shizuku is a passionate bookworm and she meets her future boyfriend when she notices that a certain Seiji is the one who had checked out her library books. Her love for reading also gives way for her talent for writing and she even writes a fantasy story. And it seems that stories do have a life of their own. For example, there's a scene in the library where she is looking for a new book and one of the books on the shelf is called "Totoro"- a not-so-subtle reference to My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Moreover the cat figurine "The Baron" that features in her fantasy novel also appears The Cat Returns (2002) which is a sort of spin-off sequel to the film. There's another stray cat Muta who is introduced in there and who appears in The Secret World of Arietty (2010).

 

Looks like the Ghibli films are all full of interconnected and delightful secrets!

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Studio Ghibli  |  Amazing Studio Ghibli Facts

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GLITTER

Did you know... that glitter is an assortment of small, reflective particles that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles reflect light at different angles, causing the surface to sparkle or shimmer. Glitter is similar to confetti, sparkles and sequins, but somewhat smaller. (Wikipedia)

 

Incredible Facts You Never Knew About Glitter
It's even been used for military purposes! Buuuuut it can also be not so great for the environment.
by Juliana Kataoka  |  March 2017

 

1. There is an evolutionary reason why we are so attracted to glitter.

Ever wonder why people are so mesmerized by these little, shiny dots? Well, according to this article from "Fast Co Design," it's because glitter reminds us of something else that also glistens, reflects, and that we can't live without: that's right, water.

 

2. Glitter has been around since ancient times.

If we were to map out glitter's family tree, the mineral group mica would be at the top! According to this article in "The New Yorker," mica flakes have been used this way since the days of cave paintings. In fact, it was being used by some ancient civilizations (including the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans) since as early as 40,000 B.C.!

 

3. But glitter as we know it today was actually invented by accident by a machinist.

Glitter as we know it today was invented in 1934 by the American machinist Henry Ruschmann. He basically created a machine that crushed plastic in large quantities. According to this article from "The Huffington Post," the company he founded remains one of the industry's largest in the United States to this day.

 

4. Glitter is made more or less like this:

 

According to this Reddit AMA (answered by a guy who worked in a glitter factory), the color is applied to a sheet of plastic polymer that is glued to a sheet of reflective material, such as aluminum. The new sheet goes into a rotary crusher and the result is glitter in small pieces of identical size. The smaller the glitter, the longer it takes to make because there are more cuts needed.

 

5. Did you know that glitter has even been used for military purposes?

According to this article by Mental Floss, for some time the US Air Force used a military strategy called "chaff," which consisted of releasing glitter from the back of warplanes to confuse the radar of enemy forces. The UK also tried a similar trick to fool German radar, using strips of aluminum-coated paper.

 

6. Here is a brief guide to getting glitter off any part of your body:

 

• Fingernails: To remove glitter nail polish, moisten a cotton ball with acetone, place it on the nail, secure it with an elastic band or wrap it with tinfoil, and leave it there for a few minutes. The acetone will practically melt away most of the polish that's sticking the glitter to the nail, which makes removal very easy.
• The face: According to makeup artist Hannah Levy Nunes, when you're applying makeup and get glitter in an area where you don't want it, the quickest way to get it off is by using adhesive tape. Try to use tapes specifically meant for the skin, such as a micropore medical tape, for example. And remember, you shouldn't use stationery glitter near your eyes. "You can use it everywhere except the eyes. It's itchy, and your eyes could become inflamed or you could even scratch your cornea!" explains the makeup artist.
• The face and body after partying: To get the glitter to come off easily with water, apply a little cream makeup remover or even conditioner. Just be careful not to rub too hard, or else you might irritate the skin. The oilier makeup removers only work if you used a product to glue the glitter onto your skin, such as eyelash glue, for example. Otherwise, they may have the opposite effect and make the glitter stick even better! If a lot of glitter still remains even after you've showered, you can use the tape trick, or even use one of those adhesive lint and hair removers for clothes.
• Hair: A recent beauty trend is glitter roots, which consists of applying glitter to the roots of your hair. But if there's a technique for putting it on, there's usually one for taking it off, too. Here it is: separate the part that you slathered with glitter and saturate it with conditioner. Pass a fine-tooth comb through it, and then rinse thoroughly. Then simply wash your hair as you normally would. If, after shampooing, there are still some remnants of glitter, when your hair is dry, you can then use paper towels sprayed with a little hairspray and dab the area with the sticky towels to remove the excess pieces of glitter.

 

7. Glitter at the scene of a crime is every investigator's dream.

The glitter particles spread all over the place — on the victim, at the crime scene, in the car, on the criminal's clothes — and it can be a fundamental piece of evidence to incriminate a criminal. That's what happened in this case of a pedophile who tried to attack a little girl who left home wearing glittery tennis shoes.

 

8. Glitter can be an enemy to the environment.

Glitter is at the center of an ecological controversy. Because they're so tiny, glitter particles can pass through sewage treatment filters and then end up being dumped into the ocean. Since they're made of plastic, it can take up to 400 years for each tiny particle to degrade. And in the meantime, they interfere with ocean life and could even end up in YOUR stomach!

 

9. But if you still want to sparkle without messing up the planet, don't worry! You can buy eco-friendly glitter!

It's made from ingredients like vegetables, seaweed, minerals, and other biodegradable materials. This special glitter is perfect for all those who want to keep on shining without messing with Mother Earth.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Glitter  |  Facts About Glitter

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HOBBIES

Collecting sea shells

 

Did you know... that a hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. (Wikipedia)

 

FUN FACTS: UNUSUAL HOBBIES
Cristobal Gomez  |  July, 2020
Everyone has different hobbies. It can be doing things, making things, collecting things or learning things. You are doing it to relax or to belong. Some people like to dress up as anime characters while others collect coins. Some think a little bit outside the box and take up hobbies you might not even know existed. Here is a list of the most unusual hobbies we found:

 

1. TREE SHAPING

It’s a very cool hobby in which you train living trees and other woody plants into artistic shapes or useful structures. Think about growing your own chair! It might take a while though.

 

2. BEETLE FIGHTING
Choose different types of beetles to fight against each other. Beetle fighting enthusiasts sometimes breed different species of beetles for fighting. You can find videos about it online, but while some might find it interesting, others may think it's a bit gross!

 

3. NEWSRAIDING
This consists of appearing as a bystander in the background of television shows.  Very few have the resolve, planning skills, and perfect star-alignment to call this a hobby and not just a mere pipe dream.  There has only been one truly great newsraider, Paul Yarrow, from the UK.  He has appeared in many many broadcasts. Check out a collection here!

 

4. EXTREME IRONING
Yes, it’s a competitive sport, also known as “EI”.  Extreme ironing consists of ironing clothing in different, usually extreme, situations like while rock climbing, surfing, on a kayak…

 

5. STONE SKIPPING

 

Yes it’s exactly that. You take a nice oval stone and you try to make it bounce on water as many times as possible. The current record holder managed a 51 bounce throw.

 

6. GEOCACHING
This is free real-world treasure hunting hobby using technology. There are hidden containers called geocaches with items inside these are located using a smart phone or GPS. This hobby good for exploring the world and sharing experiences with other members. If you're interested in getting started, check out the Geocaching website.

 
7. SUING
Ok, this belong more in the comedy category but it seems there was at least 1 person who made suing into an actual hobby. Despite being incarcerated at a federal prison in Kentucky, Jonathan Lee Riches has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He was named as the person who has filed the most lawsuits ever. So what did he do next? He filed a lawsuit against the folks at Guinness! He filed lawsuits against the New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, former President George W. Bush, Somali pirates, Britney Spears and Martha Stewart. He's also filed lawsuits against Plato, Nostradamus, James Hoffa, “Various Buddhist Monks,” the Lincoln Memorial, the Eiffel Tower and Three Mile Island. In his latest court filing, Riches wrote about how he sued Black History Month, the president of Iran and butter substitute I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

 
8. ELEMENT COLLECTING

Hafnium samples for collectors

You collect elements from the periodic table. People do this in different ways and of different purities.  Heavy elements, poisonous and radioactive ones are not recommended to collect.

 

9. COMPETITIVE DUCK HERDING
Yes competitive duck herding is a hobby. You learn to herd duck like you would sheep. Apparently it has become popular for corporate days out... at least according to this article.

 
10. TOY VOYAGING
Do you have a toy that needs a vacation? Some people create a travel log and profile for their traveling toy!  You can also include Life Missions for your toy, where you tell potential hosts what your toy wants to do while visiting.  Hosts and owners update the travel log and add pictures. People taking part in these hobbies are no different than you or me, they just found something unique to put their interest into. Even among celebrities there are hobbies that you might have not even thought of. For example did you know that…

• Claudia Schiffer is an insect collector?
• John Travolta is a jumbo jet pilot?
• Mike Tyson is a pigeon racer?
• Or Tom Selleck is an avocado farmer?

 

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Hobby
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - FRENCH LANGUAGE

Did you know.... that French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. (Wikipedia)

 

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
Rebecca Twose  |  19/03/2020 

Bonjour! March 20th is French Language Day, so we’ve put together 10 fun facts all about the French language…

 

1. Official status in 29 countries

French is second only to English for the number of countries where it has official status. French is an official language in 29 countries whereas English is one of the official languages in 67 countries. French is an official language in countries such as France, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Congo, Mali, and Senegal.

 

2. Over 300 million speakers

Around 80 million out of 300 million French speakers are native. As well as the 80 million native French speakers in the world, there are an estimated 220 million partial speakers, and these numbers are increasing. Owing to population growth in Africa, the total number of French speakers could rise to as much as 700 million by 2050, according to demographers.

 

3. Around 30% of English words are of French origin

About 30% of modern English words are of French origin. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, French became the language of the aristocracy and administration, which resulted in a great number of French words and expressions being incorporated into English. Over the centuries, French remained a major language influencing modern English. English continues to borrow words from French and adapt them into its everyday lexicon, for example, words like déjà vu or cul-de-sac.

 

4. Kinshasa is the second-largest French-speaking city

Kinshasa, the capital of The Democratic Republic of Congo, is the second-largest French-speaking city after Paris, followed by Montreal in Quebec, Canada, and Brussels.

 

5. Counting in French

Every language approaches counting in their own, unique way, but with French, it can be particularly interesting, especially between 80 and 99. While in English you would say “eighty”,  in French you would say, “quatre-vingts”, or “four twenties”. It gets really interesting when you reach 99. Instead of saying, ninety-nine, you would say, “quatre-vingt-dix-neuf” or “four twenties, ten, nine.”

 

6. Romance language

French is a Romance language descended from Latin, with influences across the centuries from the Celts, the Romans, and the Vikings.

 

7. French literature

French is a language of literature. You’re probably familiar with Les Misérables but did you know that some of the most famous children’s fairy tales were originally written in French as well? Think La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), Cendrillon (Cinderella), La Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), and La Belle au Bois Dormant (The Sleeping Beauty).

 

8. French-speaking celebrities

When we think of Bradley Cooper, we think of a talented actor (and singer), but did you know he also speaks French? Other French-speaking celebrities include Jodie Foster, Johnny Depp, Serena Williams, and Emma Watson!

 

9. Liberté, égalitié, fraternité

‘Liberty, equality and fraternity’ (or brotherhood) is the national motto of France. It first appeared around the time of the Revolution and today you’ll see it on coins, postage stamps and government logos often alongside ‘Marianne’ who symbolizes the ‘triumph of the Republic’.

 

10. French Language Day

The United Nations celebrates six “Language Days” each year, dedicated to the six official languages of the United Nations, which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Language Days at the United Nations were introduced in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. The date of the Day of the French language was chosen symbolically with reference to March 20, 1970, which marks the creation of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT), which has become the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

 

So, there you have our ten facts about the French language! If you have any other interesting facts about French then let us know in the comments below.

If you require French translation and language services, then please get in touch with our teams today to discuss our range of services!

 

Bonus Facts:

About 45% of modern English words are of French origin
After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, French became the language of the aristocracy and administration, which resulted in a great number of French words and expressions being incorporated into English. Over the centuries, French remained a major language influencing modern English.

 

Along with English, French remains an influential language in the diplomatic world
Many international institutions have French as one of their official languages, including the United Nations, the European Union, the International Olympic Committee, the Red Cross, and Médecins sans Frontières. Many international courts also use French as an official language.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - French Language  |  Facts About the French Language
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CANADA

Monument to Multiculturalism, by Francesco Pirelli in Toronto.

 

Did you know... that Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. (Wikipedia)

 

Fun Facts About Canada That Will Blow Your Mind
By Daniel Reid  |  readersdigest.ca  |  Updated: Jun. 24, 2021

 

Thought you knew all there was to know about the true north strong and free? These fun facts about Canada will have you seeing our beautiful country in a whole new way.

 

Canada is bigger than the European Union

Ever been travelling abroad and had someone ask you if you know Kimberly from Vancouver or Theo from Montreal after you told them you were Canadian? Our country’s vast land area is often hard to comprehend for those who haven’t experienced it firsthand. Here are some fun facts about Canada to put its breathtaking scale into perspective: It’s bigger than the entire European Union (33 times bigger than Italy and 15 times bigger than France), more than 30 per cent larger than Australia, five times as big as Mexico, three times as big as India and about the same size as 81,975 Walt Disney Worlds put together. So, in other words, no, you don’t know Kimberly or Theo!

 

Canada’s lowest recorded temperature is as cold as Mars

One of the least surprising facts about Canada is that it can get pretty cold in the winter (anyone who’s ever had to chisel their car out of a block of ice in the morning knows this to be true). The average low for the month of January in Ottawa is -14.4 C (6.1 F). That’s pretty cold! However, a temperature recorded in 1947 in Snag, Yukon makes the rest of Canada’s winter weather seem like a relaxing beach vacation. A temperature of -63 C (-81.4 F) was recorded in the small village of Snag on Feb. 3, 1947. That’s roughly the same temperature as the surface of Mars! Learn more about the coldest day in Canadian history.

 

There are more lakes here than anywhere else in the world

Canada has a lot of great things in abundance, like hockey players, parkas and Tim Hortons franchises. But one of the most fascinating facts about Canada is that we also have more surface area covered by lakes than any other country in the world. It’s true! The Great White North has 563 lakes larger than 100 square kilometres. The Great Lakes alone contain about 18 per cent of the world’s fresh lake water. That’s a lot of water—and a lot of gorgeous scenery. Check out the 10 places in Canada every Canadian should visit.

 

Canada has the world’s longest coastline

If you walked and never stopped—not to eat, not to rest your feet, not to get some sleep—it would take you four-and-a-half years to walk the length of Canada’s coastline. While our country might not conjure up images of blue waters and white sandy beaches, Canada has the world’s longest coastline, bordered on three sides by three different oceans: the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific. To put that fun fact about Canada into perspective, that accounts for 202,080 of the world’s total 356,000 kilometres of oceanfront property. The only other country that even comes close is Indonesia, which has 54,716 km of coastline. Ready to explore that vast shoreline? These 10 essential east coast experiences are a great place to start.

 

Canada has 10 per cent of the world’s forests

One of the most widely-known facts about Canada is that we’ve got an abundance of trees, but did you know that Canada actually boasts 30 per cent of the world’s boreal forest and 10 per cent of the world’s total forest cover? An incredible 396.9-million hectares of forest and other wooded land can be found across the country, and 68 per cent of that is coniferous. The best part of all? Most of our forest land is publicly owned, and much of it can be explored in these 50 gorgeous parks across Canada.

 

Canada has the only walled city in North America

Quebec City has a special feature that makes it unique in Canada (and the U.S., for that matter it has walls. One of the most fascinating facts about Canada is that Quebec City is the only city north of Mexico that still has fortified walls. First the French, and later the English, built up Quebec City’s fortifications between the 17th and the 19th centuries. Quebec’s entire historic district, including the ramparts, has since been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Find out more must-see historical attractions across Canada.

 

Canada has six times more oil than Russia

It’s thick, it’s sticky and Canada has an estimated 176.8 billion recoverable barrels of it. That’s right, crude bitumen—a semi-solid source of petroleum—is available in abundance in Canada’s oil sands. There’s an estimated 249.67 billion accessible barrels of the black stuff in the world and Canada has about 70.8 per cent of it—four times more than Kazakhstan and six times more than Russia. Here’s what one recent immigrant wishes he’d known before moving to Canada.

 

Canada’s national parks are bigger than most countries

Canada is so vast, even our parks dwarf other countries. Just look at Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories: not only is it a sight to behold with massive waterfalls, it’s also an incredible 30,050 square kilometres—bigger than Albania and Israel. Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta and the Northwest Territories is even bigger at 44,807 square kilometres, which makes it bigger than Denmark and Switzerland. Don’t miss this spectacular gallery of Canada’s most beautiful waterfalls.

 

Canada has North America’s strongest current 

Here’s a fun fact about Canada for all you adrenaline junkies. If you’re up for the swim of your life (be sure to wear a life-jacket), check out the Seymour Narrows in British Columbia. The stretch of the Discovery Passage has some of the strongest tidal currents ever measured with flood speeds of 17 km/h and ebb speeds of 18 km/h. It’s on the other coast, of course, you’ll find those incredible 15 metre tides at the Bay of Fundy. Read up on that mind-blowing phenomenon in this roundup of fascinating Canadian geography facts.

 

Alert, Nunavut, is the world’s northernmost settlement

At the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, just 817 kilometres from the North Pole, you’ll find the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world: Alert, Nunavut. It might not have malls or movie theatres but Alert is the temporary home to military and scientific personnel working in the area. The “temporary home” part will make sense once you realize how cold this place gets: the warmest month, July, has a balmy average temperature of 3.4 C (38.1 F). By January, the coldest month, the mean temperature has plunged to -32.19 C (-26 F). No wonder they named it Alert. For more fun facts about Canada, check out the best Canadian attractions you’ve never heard of.
 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Canada  |  Facts About Canada
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DISNEY PRINCES

Did you know.... that there’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to your all-time favorite Disney characters. Some of them almost had different names, others originally had totally different storylines, some were inspired by real-life people/animals, others almost looked completely different and some have really unique qualities that only super Disney trivia fans would know about. With all the focus on the princesses, it’s time to look at some facts about the Disney princes. I find it interesting to see the role differences the princes have in films like “Cinderella” and “Aladdin.” It’s really interesting to me that the film is named after Aladdin, not Princess Jasmine. Check out these facts about Disney princes and you might learn something new! (Disney Characters)

 

Disney Prince Facts You Never Knew as a Kid

by HILARY WHITE  |  April 26, 2016

Cinderella married a man without knowing his actual name, and apparently Pocahontas is the only princess with a thing for blonds. We know pretty much everything there is to know about the Disney princesses, but what about the leading men in their lives? We found some juicy facts about the princes — both the official and the unofficial (but still as beloved) Disney princes — that will change the way you see the knights in shining armor you know and love.

 

1. Aladdin

Aladdin was supposed to have a mom — but she was cut out of the movie. She even had a song called "Proud of Your Boy," which, despite being cut from the movie, was brought back for the Aladdin Broadway musical. Apart from the fact that this Disney prince had his film named after him, Aladdin is a pretty cool guy. He's a sly liar so that rules out him being perfect. In fact, the feather on his hat falls forward whenever he tells a lie. Clever! Another fun fact about this Disney prince is that Aladdin is modeled after Tom Cruise.

 

2. Prince Charming

Cinderella's Prince Charming's name — or lack thereof — is a matter of major dispute. Although he officially has no name other than Prince Charming in the original Cinderella movie, Disney France has since claimed that his name is Henri, and the new 2015 live action Cinderella dubbed him "Kit." Kit? It’s time to get married! Prince Charming is the first Disney Prince to be featured in a wedding. And he even dances with his love interest after just meeting her. What’s more, he is the first prince to have a father alive during the story. The other two princes being Prince Phillip and Prince Naveen.

 

3. Prince Eric

Prince Eric is the only official prince who doesn't sing. Some of the "unofficial" princes forego singing as well, but Eric's the only one in the official lineup who skips out on this traditional Disney duty. Did you know that Prince Eric from "The Little Mermaid" is the first prince to be saved by his love interest? Eric does carry his own in some ways. He is the first prince to play a musical instrument and risk his life to save his dog Max. It’s interesting because Eric never takes the form of a merman throughout the three films, yet fans love to draw him with a blue tail.

 

4. Flynn Ryder

Flynn Ryder aka Eugene Fitzherbert is the only prince to have facial hair. Unless you count the Beast. But we're talking princes in human form here. Flynn Rider is the daredevil con who helps Rapunzel in Disney’s 2011 film “Tangled.” He’s a wanted man but the ironic thing is that he is destined to be king. By marrying Rapunzel at the end of the film, he’s officially married to a princess. His dream of having a great castle with a beautiful view comes true. Crazy, right?

 

5. Li Shang

The second prince to be saved by a Disney princess is Li Shang. Mulan basically saves an entire empire . . . but she also individually saves Li Shang's ass a few times, too. Li Shang has incredible physical strength and can out-lift everyone in his army, but when you really think about it, he wasn't a traditional prince and Mulan was an actual princess. And yet, Disney (and its fans) like to think of both as prince and princess.

 

6. Prince Naveen

Prince Naveen is the only prince to have a non-American accent. He is from the fictional kingdom of Maldonia, and voice actor Bruno Campos ad-libbed the accent as a combination of Portuguese and French. He’s a bit of a selfish schemer to start, but Prince Naveen learns the value of honesty and hard work over the course of The Princess And The Frog.  Naveen’s power lies in his perseverance. Despite the seemingly impossible odds when he’s turned into a frog, he finds love and a whole new appreciation for life that can inspire those around him. 

 

7. Tarzan

The animator of Tarzan was inspired by his skateboarding son. Glen Keane drew inspiration from his teenage son, Max, who "loved performing fearless skateboarding stunts and watching extreme sports, such as snowboarding. Thus, Tarzan seemed to 'surf' through the trees." Tarzan might not have been actual royalty, but he was certainly a prince when it came to the animal kingdom. He knew exactly how to survive with his gorilla family, and managed to get them to accept other humans into their midst. Tarzan’s power lies in his understanding and compassion. He not only understands and protects animals, but does the same for those humans who aren’t out to destroy anyone.

 

8. John Smith

John Smith is the only blond Disney prince. You think he had more fun? Let's be real, John Smith is considered a Disney prince because of his fictional relationship with Native American princess Pocahontas. But in reality, he wasn't a prince at all. He and Pocahontas never married in the 1995 movie. He simply set sail back to England after he was practically murdered in front of his warriors. John Smith did lead an entire army and was very much a leader, but he didn't have the kind of reign other princes on this list did. John Smith is the only prince based on a real person. While the real story differs greatly from Disney's version, the basis is still in fact.

 

9. Prince Florian

Snow White's Prince Florian was kind of a mystery. He popped up at the beginning of the movie to woo Snow and then where did he go? The next time we see him isn't until after Snow was poisoned. After he kisses her and awakes her from her slumber, they ride off into the sunset. But we never hear much about his kingdom and what he can offer Snow White besides the role of a princess.

 

10. Prince Phillip

Prince Phillip is Princess Aurora's love interest from Sleeping Beauty and were destined to be together from the start. In fact, if she was never taken away by her fairy godmothers, she and Phillip would have had an arranged marriage anyway. As fate would have it, Phillip and Aurora did run into each other in the forest and fell for each other instantly. Unlike some of the other princes on this list, Phillip didn't need Aurora to make a difference in his kingdom. After seeing his and Aurora's father come to terms about combining their kingdoms, it was clear Phillip was quite powerful. And when Aurora needed help, Phillip fought a fire-breathing dragon and rode through thorns to get to her. Prince Philip had both the physical strength and a strong reign to make a difference in his kingdom. Princess Aurora’s dashing man Prince Phillip is the first Disney prince to have a name. But apart from his name, he’s got a way of making people do things they didn’t intend. He convinces his horse to go find the source of singing in the woods. He also managed to persuade his father into agreeing that he should marry who he loves rather than who he is betrothed to.

 

 

Source: Disney Characters  |  Disney Prince Facts  |  Powerful Disney Princes

Edited September 23, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - COFFEE

Did you know.... that coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. From the coffee fruit, the seeds are separated to produce a stable, raw product: unroasted green coffee. The seeds are then roasted, a process which transforms them into a consumable product: roasted coffee, which is ground into a powder and typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. (Wikipedia)

 

Fascinating Facts About Coffee
BY MENTALFLOSS .COM  |  SEPTEMBER 29, 2018  |  (UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 29, 2020)

 

Coffee: You know it would be impossible to start your day without a cup of it, but how much do you really know about your favorite caffeinated beverage? Read on and find out.

 

1. COFFEE WAS ORIGINALLY CHEWED.
Sipping may be your preferred method of java consumption, but coffee has not always been a liquid treat. According to a number of historians, the first African tribes to consume coffee did so by grinding the berries together, adding in some animal fat, and rolling these caffeinated treats into tiny edible energy balls.

 

2. DRINKING DECAF COFFEE FUELS THE SODA INDUSTRY.
After coffee beans are decaffeinated, several coffee manufacturers sell the caffeine to soda and pharmaceutical companies.

 

3. INSTANT COFFEE HAS BEEN AROUND FOR NEARLY 250 YEARS.

Instant coffee has been around for a while, making its first appearance in England in 1771. But it would take another 139 years for the first mass-produced instant coffee to be introduced (and patented) in the U.S. in 1910.

 

4. THE AVERAGE AMERICAN SPENDS ABOUT $1100 ON COFFEE EACH YEAR.
You’d think that spending an average of $1100 on coffee each year would be enough to make America the world’s most caffeinated nation. You would be wrong.

 

5. FINLAND IS THE WORLD’S COFFEE CAPITAL.
Though Finland does not produce any beans of its own, its citizens drink a lot of the brown stuff—the most of any country in the world.

 

6. BEETHOVEN WAS A BARISTA’S WORST NIGHTMARE.

Beethoven enjoyed a cup of coffee, and was extremely particular about its preparation; he insisted that each cup he consumed be made with exactly 60 beans.

 

7. COFFEE BEANS SENT BRAZILIAN ATHLETES TO THE OLYMPICS IN 1932.
In 1932, Brazil couldn't afford to send its athletes to the Olympics in Los Angeles. So they loaded their ship with coffee and sold it along the way.

 

8. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO BAN COFFEE ENTIRELY.
As recently as the 18th century, governments were trying to eradicate coffee. Among the many reasons for outlawing the beverage were its tendency to stimulate “radical thinking.” In 1746 Sweden took things to an extreme when it banned both coffee and coffee paraphernalia (i.e. cups and saucers).

 

9. COFFEE COULD EXTEND YOUR CAT’S LIFE.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the Guinness World Record holder for “Oldest Cat Ever”—a 38-year-old kitty named Creme Puff—drank coffee every morning of her furry little life (plus enjoying bacon, eggs, and broccoli). Before you dismiss that outright, consider this: The cat that Creme Puff beat out for the record (a 34-year-old cat, appropriately named Grandpa Rex Allen) had the same owner, and was fed the exact same diet.

 

10. 17TH-CENTURY WOMEN THOUGHT COFFEE WAS TURNING THEIR MEN INTO “USELESS CORPSES.”
In 1674, the Women's Petition Against Coffee claimed the beverage was turning British men into "useless corpses" and proposed a ban on it for anyone under the age of 60.

 

11. CHOCK FULL O'NUTS COFFEE CONTAINS NO NUTS.
It's named for a chain of nut stores the founder converted into coffee shops.

 

12. THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE COMES FROM ANIMAL POOP.

Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, earns its pricey distinction thanks to a surprising step in its production: digestion. In Indonesia, a wild animal known as the Asian palm civet (a small critter similar to the weasel) cannot resist the bright red coffee cherries that abound, even though they can’t digest the actual coffee beans. The beans pass through the civets' systems without being fully digested. At which point, some brave coffee farmer collects the beans from the civets’ droppings, (hopefully) thoroughly washes them, and sells them for up to $600 per pound.

 

13. THE WORLD’S FIRST WEBCAM WATCHED A COFFEE POT.
Though it was hardly what one might described as “action-packed,” it allowed researchers at Cambridge to monitor the coffee situation in the Trojan Room without ever leaving their desks. After the webcam portion of the Trojan Room coffee pot experiment was pulled, the pot itself—a non-working Krups ProAroma pot that would normally retail for about $50—was put up for auction on eBay, where it sold for just under $5000.

 

14. IT WOULD TAKE 70 CUPS OF COFFEE TO KILL A 150-POUND PERSON.
Too much of anything can be a bad thing—yes, even your favorite customized coffee beverage. A video from AsapSCIENCE determined that it would take 70 cups of coffee to kill a roughly 150-pound person.

 

15. THERE’S A STARBUCKS AT CIA HEADQUARTERS.

Some officers at the Central Intelligence Agency call it “Stealthy Starbucks,” but employees at the Langley, Virginia location definitely aren’t your typical Starbucks employees. For one, they must undergo extensive background checks and they cannot leave their post without a CIA escort. On the positive side: They don’t have to write down or shout out their customers’ names!

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Coffee  |  Quick Coffee Facts
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

The Monongahela National Forest

 

Did you know.... that the Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west. (Wikipedia)

 

Facts about the Appalachian Mountains
by Lilian  |  August 2, 2020

Blue Ridge Mountains

 

The great Appalachian Mountains are found on the eastern side of the United States. They are some of the oldest natural landmarks in the US. The mountains provide a rich source of natural resources and spill over to Canada. The mountain range is massive such that it is divided into three sections, the northern, central and southern. These mountains are a source of many rivers and lakes, home to a variety of plants and animals. The natural beauty bestowed by this mountain range has earned it a place in so many people’s hearts. Several people visit the mountain for hikes, camping and other recreation activities. It is no wonder then that it is among the most visited natural reserves.

 

 

1. The Appalachian Mountains extend to Canada

By Shenandoah National Park from Virginia

These mountains are not only found in the United States but also the southwestern side of Canada. The mountains start from Alabama and end in Newfoundland, Canada. That is not all about these mountains, the range extends in 14 states making it 2,200 miles long. The states are Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It is also interesting to note that the mountain range is divided into five geological provinces defined by its formation. One of the provinces is Adirondack, while this forms part of the geological province, they are different mountain ranges. The other four provinces are the Appalachian Basin, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Piedmont Province and the New England Province.

 

2. The Appalachian Mountain range is the oldest in America
These Mountains form the oldest mountain chain in North America. They stretch for 1,500 miles in Canada and the United States. Geologists estimate that the mountains are 480 million years old. The mountains were formed during the Ordovician period from the Paleozoic era, this was way before the Ice age period. Would you also believe that the highest peak was as high as the Himalayas! Well, it is no longer the case because of consistent erosion that has weathered it down. Its highest peak today stands at 6,684 feet. How it got its name was through the Indian tribe called the Apalachees that lived around it.

 

3. The Appalachian Mountains has a humid climate
The weather of the Appalachians changes with the time of year. However, the weather is mostly pleasant and humid. This is loved by many tourists and hikers that go up the mountain. This beautiful climate and weather have provided a conducive environment for wildlife and plant species. Animals found in the forest around the mountain range include black bears, moose, white-tailed deer, foxes, chipmunks and a variety of birds. This does not mean that there are no extremes. An example is the White Mountains in Canada that have arctic climate while Mount Washington experiences strong hurricane winds for the most of the year. The soil in the Appalachian valley is said to be the most fertile in the United States.

 

4. The Appalachian Trail is the longest in America

By Billy Hathorn
The Appalachian Trail is said to be the longest footpath in the United States, it is approximately 3,500 kilometres long. It extends from the Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. If one was to walk the entire trail, they would have taken 5 million steps. Walking or hiking up the trail one will be part of unspoiled scenery of wooded, pastoral, wild and clean crisp air. A large part of the trail is found in Virginia while the shortest segment of the trail is in Maryland.

 

5. The Appalachian Mountains is rich with minerals
These Mountains are rich with major mineral deposits of coal, petroleum and natural gas.  The coal found here is initially formed as anthracite found in northeastern Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania and western Maryland have the sedimentary form of coal. Other minerals found here include iron, zinc, natural gas, and petroleum. Petroleum was discovered in 1859 in western Pennsylvania, soon after commercial quantities were ready for production. The discovery of natural gas also led to commercial production of the same.

 

6. The Appalachian Mountains features different wildlife

Wood Warbler

The Appalachian forests are thick and are home to more than five species of tree squirrels. Other unique and rare species of wildlife live here such as moose, black bears, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, porcupines, bats, raccoons, white-tailed deer, skunks, weasels, beaver, chipmunks, and rabbits. Birds such as flycatchers, wrens, warblers and hawks can also be found here. Other interesting animals found here are the wild horses. They are related to domesticated horses but have adapted to their life in the wild. They have lived in the forest since the early 1600s.

 

7. Tallest Appalachian Mountain Mount Mitchell
The tallest peak from the Appalachians is Mount Mitchell found in North Carolina. It stands at 2,037 meters above sea level. This is the highest point in eastern North America. The summit of this mountain has mild summers and cold winters. The weather patterns around Mount Mitchell is similar to south-Eastern Canada. Another interesting peak is Mount Washington found in New Hampshire. It stands at 1,916 meters above sea level and is known for having extreme weather conditions. The mountain experiences strong tropical cyclones winds at the summit, about 100 days every year.

 

8. Millions of people visit the Great Smoky Mountains, National Park

By Aviator31

Millions of tourists and hikers visit the Great Smoky Mountains that is part of the Appalachian mountain range. The national park welcomes more than 12 million people each year for different activities. This park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The main attractions in this park include rivers, lakes, ponds, hiking trail, bird watching, skiing and other recreational activities. The park is made up of 76,000 hectares of old-growth forest. This mountain is naturally foggy and from a distance, one would take it to be a cloud of smoke. The name smoky therefore refers to the fog. At least a million people hike up the trail of the Smoky mountain national park every year.

 

9. The Appalachian Mountains are the best for recreational Sports all four seasons
During the winter season, the Appalachian Mountains turns into a paradise of snow sporting activities. There are snowmobiles, ice skating, tubing and skiing that tourists enjoy. The ski resorts have 849 ski lifts serving more than 100 snow slopes The summer and fall seasons welcome several hikers and motorists using its hiking trails and parkways. The campers also take advantage of this and spend some quiet and pleasant time in the wild. Summer activities include rafting, fishing and balloon ride over the range.

10. The Appalachian region functions as a geographical divide

By National Park Service 

The Appalachian Mountains form a geographical boundary between the eastern seaboard and the Midwest. Its Eastern continental divide creates a border along the stretch between Georgia and Pennsylvania. The northern section of the mountain range extends from Newfoundland in Canada to the Hudson River in New York. In each region that the range crosses, the mountains have their names like Smoky mountains, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the Blue Ridge mountains among other names.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Appalachian Mountains  |  Appalachian Mountains Facts
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - STEAMBOATS

A typical river paddle steamer from the

1850s-the Ben Campbell

 

Did you know.... that a steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S (for 'Screw Steamer') or PS (for 'Paddle Steamer'); however, these designations are most often used for steamships. The term steamboat is used to refer to smaller, insular, steam-powered boats working on lakes and rivers, particularly riverboats. As using steam became more reliable, steam power became applied to larger, ocean-going vessels. (Wikipedia)

 

The History of Steamboats
Before Steam Engine Trains, There Was the Steamboat

By Mary Bellis  |  Updated January 13, 2020

 

The era of the steamboat began in the late 1700s, thanks initially to the work of Scotsman James Watt. In 1769, Watt patented an improved version of the steam engine that helped usher in the Industrial Revolution and spurred other inventors to explore how steam technology could be used to propel ships. Watt's pioneering efforts would eventually revolutionize transportation.

The First Steamboats
John Fitch was the first to build a steamboat in the United States. His initial 45-foot craft successfully navigated the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. Fitch later built a larger vessel to carry passengers and freight between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey. After a contentious battle with rival inventor James Rumsey over similar steamboat designs, Fitch was ultimately granted his first United States patent for a steamboat on August 26, 1791. He was not, however, awarded a monopoly, leaving the field open for Rumsey and other competitive inventors. Between 1785 and 1796, Fitch constructed four different steamboats that successfully plied rivers and lakes to demonstrate the feasibility of steam power for water locomotion. His models utilized various combinations of propulsive force, including ranked paddles (patterned after Indian war canoes), paddle wheels, and screw propellers. While his boats were mechanically successful, Fitch failed to pay sufficient attention to construction and operating costs. After losing investors to other inventors, he was unable to stay afloat financially. 

 

"Plan of Mr. Fitch's Steam Boat"

 

Robert Fulton, the "Father of Steam Navigation" 
Before turning his talents to the steamboat, American inventor Robert Fulton had successfully built and operated a submarine in France but it was his talent for turning steamboats into a commercially viable mode of transportation that earned him the title of the "father of steam navigation." Fulton was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on November 14, 1765. While his early education was limited, he displayed considerable artistic talent and inventiveness. At the age of 17, he moved to Philadelphia, where he established himself as a painter. Advised to go abroad due to ill health, in 1786, Fulton moved to London. Eventually, his lifelong interest in scientific and engineering developments, especially in the application of steam engines, supplanted his interest in art.  As he applied himself to his new vocation, Fulton secured English patents for machines with a wide variety of functions and applications. He also began to show a marked interested in the construction and efficiency of canal systems. By 1797, growing European conflicts led Fulton to begin work on weapons against piracy, including submarines, mines, and torpedoes. Soon after, Fulton moved to France, where he took up work on canal systems. In 1800, he built a successful "diving boat" which he named the Nautilus but there was not sufficient interest, either in France or England, to induce Fulton to pursue any further submarine design.  Fulton's passion for steamboats remained undiminished, however. In 1802, he contracted with Robert Livingston to construct a steamboat for use on the Hudson River. Over the next four years, after building prototypes in Europe, Fulton returned to New York in 1806.

 

Fulton's 1806 submarine design for the U.S. government

 

Robert Fulton's Milestones
On August 17, 1807, the Clermont, Robert Fulton's first American steamboat, left New York City for Albany, serving as the inaugural commercial steamboat service in the world. The ship traveled from New York City to Albany making history with a 150-mile trip that took 32 hours at an average speed of about five miles per hour. Four years later, Fulton and Livingston designed the New Orleans and put it into service as a passenger and freight boat with a route along the lower Mississippi River. By 1814, Fulton, together with Robert Livingston’s brother, Edward, was offering regular steamboat and freight service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi. Their boats traveled at rates of eight miles per hour downstream and three miles per hour upstream.

 

The Orleans, or New Orleans, first steamboat

on the Ohio and Mississippi

 

Steamboats Rise Can't Compete with Rail
In 1816, when inventor Henry Miller Shreve launched his steamboat, Washington, it could complete the voyage from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky in 25 days. But steamboat designs continued to improve, and by 1853, the New Orleans to Louisville trip took only four and a half days. Steamboats contributed greatly to the economy throughout the eastern part of the United States as a means of transporting agricultural and industrial supplies. Between 1814 and 1834, New Orleans steamboat arrivals increased from 20 to 1,200 each year. These boats transported passengers, as well as cargoes of cotton, sugar, and other goods. Steam propulsion and railroads developed separately but it was not until railroads adopted steam technology that rail truly began to flourish. Rail transport was faster and not as hampered by weather conditions as water transport, nor was it dependent on the geographical constraints of predetermined waterways. By the 1870s, railroads— which could travel not only north and south but east, west, and points in between—had begun to supplant steamboats as the major transporter of both goods and passengers in the United States.

 

Steamboats and Paddle Wheelers

by Ted Barris  |  Published Online April 8, 2009  |  Last Edited March 4, 2015

An old paddle steamer used in the Yukon by the

gold miners of the last century 

 

Demonstrated in France on the Saône River in 1783, the paddle-wheel steamboat first appeared in North America for use on the Delaware River in 1787. After inauguration at New Orleans in 1811 by Robert Fulton, hundreds of boats worked the Mississippi River system between 1830 and 1870.

 

Steamboats and Paddle Wheelers
Steamboat refers to the flat-bottomed, shallow-draft, steam-powered vessels, generally associated with inland navigation, as opposed to deep-keeled, oceangoing steamships. As invented in 1685 by French physicist Denis Papin, the paddle wheel (driven by compressed steam from wood- or coal-fired boilers) was affixed to the boat hull either laterally (side-wheeler) or at the rear of the boat (sternwheeler) and provided forward and reverse propulsion. The first paddle steamer in Canadian waters, the ACCOMMODATION, was a side-wheeler launched for a 36-hour maiden voyage from Montréal to Québec in 1809. Other paddle-wheel steamboat firsts in Canada include the Frontenac on Lake Ontario (1816); the General Stacey Smyth on the Saint John River (1816); the Union on the lower reaches of the Ottawa River (1819); the Richard Smith visiting PEI (1830); the ROYAL WILLIAM steaming from Québec to Halifax (1831); the seagoing BEAVER, which first plied waters off BC (1836); the Spitfire, first steamboat into St John's harbour (1840); and the ANSON NORTHUP, first paddle wheeler to cross the international boundary on the Red River (1859).

 

This is the Anson Northrup riverboat

 

Paddle steamers figure significantly in Canadian history. The Swiftsure moved troops on the St Lawrence during the War of 1812. The Royal William, built at Québec, was the first vessel to cross the Atlantic almost entirely under the power of steam in 1833. BC steamers ferried thousands of gold seekers into the Fraser (1858), Cariboo (1862) and Yukon (1898) river valleys (300 steamboats worked BC and Yukon waterways between 1836 and 1957). The Red River steamer International was commandeered by the forces of Louis Riel at Fort Garry in 1870; and the Saskatchewan River stern-wheeler Northcote engaged Gabriel Dumont's Métis at the Battle of BATOCHE.

 

Paddle steamers carried the first wheat exported from Manitoba, precipitated a sophisticated inland canal and lock system in Ontario, freighted the first locomotive to Winnipeg for the CPR, brought the first mail to the Klondike and ferried the first fresh fruits and missionaries into the Far North. The utilitarian steamboat was also a social force. Staterooms, grand pianos and fine wines came with first-class passage aboard even the frontier steamers, and cabin and boiler decks below had fiddle playing, folk dances and card games. After 1900, when railways replaced steamboats as the major means of freight transport, hunting and picnic excursions and moonlight cruises were commonplace aboard steamboats. The last fully operational stern-wheeler, the Samson V (built in 1936 for use on the Fraser River), was taken out of service in 1981.

 

Stern-wheelers still operate, or are displayed, at various historic sites and attractions. In the Yukon, the steamer Keno, which transported silver, lead and zinc ore between Stewart City and Mayo Landing in 1922, has been preserved to commemorate the mining history of the Yukon Territory. The Keno now occupies a berth in Dawson City. In Edmonton, the Edmonton Queen cruises along the North Saskatchewan River, treating passengers to a scenic view of the river valley.

 

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Steamboat  |  Brief History of Steamboats  | Canadian Encyclopedia - Steamboats and Paddle Wheelers

Edited September 26, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - HISTORY OF THE TELESCOPE

The 100-inch (2.54 m)

Hooker reflecting telescope

at Mount Wilson Observatory

near Los Angeles, USA

 

Did you know.... that The history of the telescope can be traced to before the invention of the earliest known telescope, which appeared in 1608 in the Netherlands, when a patent was submitted by Hans Lippershey, an eyeglass maker. Although Lippershey did not receive his patent, news of the invention soon spread across Europe. The design of these early refracting telescopes consisted of a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece. Galileo improved on this design the following year and applied it to astronomy. In 1611, Johannes Kepler described how a far more useful telescope could be made with a convex objective lens and a convex eyepiece lens. By 1655, astronomers such as Christiaan Huygens were building powerful but unwieldy Keplerian telescopes with compound eyepieces. (Wikipedia)

 

Fun Facts About Telescopes

by Lauren Ray John

 

Astronomy is a fun and interesting hobby to have. If telescopes are one of your favourite topics, this article is made for you. Telescopes are pretty interesting. Also, these amazing instruments that allow us to study the stars have a few secrets of their own. In this article, we are going to show you fun facts about telescopes that you might not have known. If you want to do more research on telescopes check out TelescopeReviewer.com. This website has amazing in-depth reviews of different telescopes. Make sure to take a look before you decide to buy your next telescope.

 

1. The Real Inventor

Back in 1608, Hans Lipperhey allegedly invented the telescope. At least, this is what the conventional wisdom says. On the other hand, several legends mentioned that a bunch of kids discovered the telescope when they were playing with lenses in a spectacle-maker’s store. Which one do you think is true?

 

2. Early Purposes of the Telescope

Apparently, gazing at the stars or simply looking at birds were not the only purposes for the telescope. Back in the day, early telescopes were sold for another purpose. Merchants used them to see trade ships that approached in order to beat the competitors.

 

3. The Biggest Telescope

For more than 7 decades, the largest telescope was Leviathan of Parsonstown, made in Ireland. Unfortunately, due to the wet weather, the 40-ton telescope was kept shut down. This telescope was built by the Earl of Rosse in 1845.

 

4. The Effects of Technology

Nowadays, anything involves a bit of technology. Most professional astronomers use Internet-based telescopes to observe different things on the sky. These telescopes are operated remotely with computers.

 

5. The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, more than 7 years late. One of the reasons for which the telescope was launched later than predicted was the fact that its light-collecting mirror needed to be polished for a year to an accuracy of no more than 10 nanometers. Unfortunately, the people who were supposed to polish the mirror did not do a great job. They polished it off by 2,200 nanometers. Once the problem was fixed in 1993 with corrective lenses, the Hubble Telescope became the source of almost 25% of astronomy research papers.

 

6. Too Close to the Sun

Galileo's "cannocchiali" telescopes at the Museo Galileo, Florence

 

The first one who turned the telescope skyward was Galileo. He is the one who led to the discovery of Jupiter’s satellites and the craters on the moon. Unfortunately, he also looked directly at the Sun with the telescope. It is believed that his blindness was caused by this event.

 

7. Stars and Hollywood Stars

Apparently, these two have something in common. Jack Black’s parents were engineers and his mother worked to design the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

8. To the Moon and Back

China is the first country to have a robotic telescope on the Moon. Since 2013, the telescope is working and experts mentioned that it could work for up to 30 years.

 

9. The Perfect gift

 

Wernher Von Braun might have gotten his passion for astronomy because of his mother. Instead of giving him a traditional gift for his Lutheran confirmation, Wernher’s mother gave him his first telescope.

 

10. Competition

NASA's upcoming space telescope, the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx.

Since NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists from other countries are trying to beat the competition. Several scientists from Europe are trying to build a telescope that can produce images 15 times sharper than Hubble. The telescope is expected to be done in 2024.

 

11. Plans

NASA is not giving up the competition either. They are planning to build a Radio Telescope on the Moon. They expect to finish it by 2030.

 

12. Too much Data

A new radio telescope is being built in South Africa and Australia. It is expected to generate a lot of data. It is going to exceed global internet traffic, which is not a small thing. This radio telescope is going to generate an exabyte of raw data per day. Experts mentioned that the data can be compressed to about 10 petabytes per day. These are just a few interesting things about telescopes, besides the well-known facts. Astronomy and anything related to it can be very interesting if you give it a try. Also, despite the fact that it is believed that telescopes are very expensive, there are several budget-friendly devices. Don’t be afraid to try them out, even if you are a beginner. Nowadays you can find a lot of models designed for beginners. If you don’t like gazing at the stars, you can use the telescope for searching birds and other animals.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Telescope  |  Facts About Telescopes

Edited September 27, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - The 1960s

Did you know..... that the 1960s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. The "cultural decade" of the 1960s is more loosely defined than the actual decade. It begins around 1963–1964 with the John F. Kennedy assassination, the Beatles' arrival in the United States and their meeting with Bob Dylan, and ends around 1969–1970 with the Altamont Free Concert, the Beatles' breakup and the Kent State shootings, or with the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam and the resignation of U.S. President Nixon in 1974. (Wikipedia)

 

The 1960s History
by HISTORY.COM EDITORS  |  Original: May 2010  |  Updated: June 2020

 

 

The 1960s started off as the dawn of a golden age to most Americans. On January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States. His confidence that, as one historian put it, “the government possessed big answers to big problems” seemed to set the tone for the rest of the decade. However, that golden age never materialized. On the contrary, by the end of the 1960s, it seemed that the nation was falling apart. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” splintered as the Democratic Party split and America became increasingly enmeshed in the Vietnam War.

 

The Great Society
During his presidential campaign in 1960, John F. Kennedy had promised the most ambitious domestic agenda since the New Deal: the “New Frontier,” a package of laws and reforms that sought to eliminate injustice and inequality in the United States. But the New Frontier ran into problems right away: The Democrats’ Congressional majority depended on a group of Southerners who loathed the plan’s interventionist liberalism and did all they could to block it. The Cuban Missile Crisis and failed Bay of Pigs invasion was another disaster for Kennedy.

 

Bay of Pigs invasion

 

Did you know? On June 27, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The bar’s patrons, sick of being subjected to harassment and discrimination, fought back: For five days, rioters took to the streets in protest. “The word is out,” one protester said. “[We] have had it with oppression.” Historians believe that this “Stonewall Rebellion” marked the beginning of the gay rights movement.

It was not until 1964, after Kennedy was shot, that President Lyndon B. Johnson could muster the political capital to enact his own expansive program of reforms. That year, Johnson declared that he would make the United States into a “Great Society” in which poverty and racial injustice had no place. He developed a set of programs that would give poor people “a hand up, not a handout.” These included Medicare and Medicaid, which helped elderly and low-income people pay for health care; Head Start, which prepared young children for school and a Job Corps that trained unskilled workers for jobs in the deindustrializing economy. Meanwhile, Johnson’s Office of Economic Opportunity encouraged disadvantaged people to participate in the design and implementation of the government’s programs on their behalf, while his Model Cities program offered federal subsidies for urban redevelopment and community projects.

 

Evidence From the JFK Assassination Case

Aerial view of Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas,

where John F. Kennedy was assassinated on

November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m..

GALLERY: 15 IMAGES
 

The War in Vietnam
Unfortunately, the War on Poverty was expensive–too expensive, especially as the war in Vietnam became the government’s top priority. There was simply not enough money to pay for the War on Poverty and the Vietnam War. Conflict in Southeast Asia had been going on since the 1950s, and President Johnson had inherited a substantial American commitment to anti-communist South Vietnam. Soon after he took office, he escalated that commitment into a full-scale war. In 1964, Congress authorized the president to take “all necessary measures” to protect American soldiers and their allies from the communist Viet Cong. Within days, the draft began.

READ MORE: Who Was Involved in the Vietnam War?

 

The war dragged on, and it divided the nation. Some young people took to the streets in protest, while others fled to Canada to avoid the draft. Meanwhile, many of their parents and peers formed a “silent majority” in support of the war.

 

The Vietnam War

 

The Fight for Civil Rights
The struggle for civil rights had defined the ‘60s ever since four black students sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, in February 1960 and refused to leave. Their movement spread: Hundreds of demonstrators went back to that lunch counter every day, and tens of thousands clogged segregated restaurants and shops across the upper South. The protesters drew the nation’s attention to the injustice, brutality and capriciousness that characterized Jim Crow. In general, the federal government stayed out of the civil rights struggle until 1964, when President Johnson pushed a Civil Rights Act through Congress that prohibited discrimination in public places, gave the Justice Department permission to sue states that discriminated against women and minorities and promised equal opportunities in the workplace to all. The next year, the Voting Rights Act eliminated poll taxes, literacy requirements and other tools that southern whites had traditionally used to keep blacks from voting. But these laws did not solve the problems facing African Americans: They did not eliminate racism or poverty and they did not improve the conditions in many black urban neighborhoods. Many black leaders began to rethink their goals, and some embraced a more militant ideology of separatism and self-defense.

 

READ MORE: Civil Rights Movement: Timeline, Key Events

 

The lasting legacy of the Greensboro Four (above from left:

David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan and Joseph McNeil)

was how the courageous moment grew to a revolutionary movement.

 

The Radical ’60s
Just as black power became the new focus of the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s, other groups were growing similarly impatient with incremental reforms. Student activists grew more radical. They took over college campuses, organized massive antiwar demonstrations and occupied parks and other public places. Some even made bombs and set campus buildings on fire. At the same time, young women who had read The Feminine Mystique celebrated the passage of the 1963 Equal Pay Act and joined the moderate National Organization for Women were also increasingly annoyed with the slow progress of reform. They too became more militant. The counterculture also seemed to grow more outlandish as the decade wore on. Some young people “dropped out” of political life altogether. These “hippies” grew their hair long and practiced “free love.” Some moved to communes, away from the turbulence that had come to define everyday life in the 1960s.

 

The Summer of Love

1967 "Fantasy Fair" in Mill Valley one of the first in a series of

music events during the Summer of Love.

GALLERY: 12 IMAGES
 

The Death of the 1960s
The optimistic ‘60s went sour in 1968. That year, the brutal North Vietnamese Tet Offensive convinced many people that the Vietnam War would be impossible to win. The Democratic Party split, and at the end of March, Johnson went on television to announce that he was ending his reelection campaign. (Richard Nixon, chief spokesman for the silent majority, won the election that fall.) Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, the two most visible leftists in American politics, were assassinated. Police used tear gas and billy clubs to break up protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Furious antiwar protestors took over Columbia University in New York as well as the Sorbonne in Paris and the Free University in Berlin. And the urban riots that had erupted across the country every summer since 1964 continued and intensified. Shreds of the hopeful ‘60s remained. In the summer of 1969, more than 400,000 young people trooped to the Woodstock music festival in upstate New York, a harmonious three days that seemed to represent the best of the peace-and-love generation. 

 

READ MORE: Woodstock, the Legendary 1969 Festival, Was Also a Miserable Mud Pit

 

By the end of the decade, however, community and consensus lay in tatters. The era’s legacy remains mixed–it brought us empowerment and polarization, resentment and liberation–but it has certainly become a permanent part of our political and cultural lives.

 

Source: Wikipedia - 1960s  |  The 1960s History
 

Edited September 28, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - NURSERY RHYMES

Illustration of "Hey Diddle Diddle", a well-known nursery rhyme

Did you know.... that a nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term only dates from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From the mid-16th century nursery rhymes begin to be recorded in English plays, and most popular rhymes date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The first English collections, Tommy Thumb's Song Book and a sequel, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, were published by Mary Cooper in 1744. Publisher John Newbery's stepson, Thomas Carnan, was the first to use the term Mother Goose for nursery rhymes when he published a compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle (London, 1780). (Wikipedia)

 

All the Nursery Rhymes You Sang as a Child Are Creepy as Heck
By Kevin Alexander |  Published on December 2016 

Like most humans, I was indoctrinated into the cult of nursery rhymes at an early age. Their easy language and catchy hooks get lodged in your brain instantly, but for the most part, these songs lay dormant in some neuron storage facility toward the back of my hippocampus until I had a child of my own. As I dutifully sang these songs with my daughter to uphold one of the many tenets in the parent-child contract, I started to notice that some of these songs are really, really strange -- subversive, even. At the very least, creepy as heck. Naturally, being a high-powered investigative journalist, I scoured weird old British texts (courtesy of the Victorian-era British Society for Nursery Rhyme Reform), read through NPR radio transcripts, and combed through weird subreddits in an effort to uncover the hidden meaning behind a few of the most popular nursery rhymes. And from now on, I’m only letting my daughter listen to recordings of whale noises.

 

"Three Blind Mice" 
I’d always assumed this was a straightforward tale of a trio of mice that had the misfortune of blindly walking into a farmer’s kitchen, but shame on me for taking it at face value. It's actually a story about England’s sociopath Queen Mary I, who got the nickname “Bloody Mary” because she burned scores of Protestants at the stake (284 in all; there’s a Wikipedia page that lists each of them, if you’re truly morbid). The three blind mice in this story are supposedly the Oxford Martyrs, three Anglican bishops who refused to renounce their Protestant beliefs, and were executed by Mary for “blindly” following Protestant learnings rather than Catholic ones. Isn’t learning a hoot?!

 

 

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" 
Because I love fun, here’s another homicidal Queen Mary story. First off, “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” refers to Mary's contrarian decision to reverse her half-brother Edward VI’s Protestant reign and restore Roman Catholicism to England. The second line, “How does your garden grow?” is most often thought to be about Protestant graveyards growing larger after her killing spree. “Silver bells” and “cockle shells” are likely both torture devices. And “pretty maids all in a row” is supposed to be about either offing Lady Jane Grey (a.k.a. the Nine Day Queen put in place by Edward) or, um, miscarriages. Wait, why did I agree to do this story again?

 

 

"London Bridge Is Falling Down"
So most historians think that this refers to the Norwegian King Olaf II (a.k.a. the Frozen snowman king) attacking and knocking down the London bridge in 1014, which gave the throne back to Æthelred the Unready, which is my second favorite king name after his successor, Sweyn Forkbeard. Anyway, that part seems relatively mundane and I’m all about Viking tales, but there is another theory that comes from an old belief that a bridge would collapse without a human sacrifice buried within its foundation. So the “man to watch all night” is actually the spirit of the dead human watching over the bridge. But let’s maybe stick to the Olaf version. 

 

 

"Rub-a-Dub-Dub"
In the American version, the story of three tradesmen (the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker) all hanging out in a tub seems like it might be progressive in some ways. That version is warped from the original, which goes, “Hey, rub-a-dub, ho, rub-a-dub, three maids in a tub. And who do you think were there? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, and all of them going to the fair.”  According to an NPR interview with a London librarian, even back in the 14th century, British tabloids loved hearing tales of the well-to-do caught up in scandalous affairs. And so this song we sing with our children, which has spawned many bath toys, actually tells the story of upper-class tradespeople hanging out at a fair and getting caught checking out a bath filled with naked ladies in it. Relatedly, 14th century fairs seem more edgy than I’d imagined. 

 

 

"This Old Man"
I’ve always been a little bit creeped out by this ditty about an old man playing “nick-nack” on various things owned by the song’s writer. In the end, it turns out this is just a standard case of the English hating on poor Irish people after the potato famine. Most sources I’ve found believe “This Old Man” refers to the influx of Irish beggars going door to door in England after the famine, either to sell knickknacks or to literally play a rhythm called "nick-nacks" using spoons in hopes of getting some change. The “paddy whack” is a derogatory term for literally hitting an Irish person (just as a “paddy wagon” referred to either the Irish cops driving it or the Irish drunks inside it), and the old man “rolling home” seems to allude to the use of caravans, or the old man using his money from those lucrative knickknack sales to get boozed up. Sigh. The emotional impact this story is having on me is significant. 

 

 

"Rock-a-Bye Baby"
If you take this song literally, it is about the intelligent idea of putting a baby on top of a tree -- but no one in England ever created children’s songs you could take at face value, so OF COURSE this is actually about how everyone believed King James II had a boy smuggled into the birthing room during his wife’s pregnancy so he could claim a Catholic heir and install an absolute monarchy. The “wind” that knocks the baby’s cradle down (a.k.a. the House of Stuart) is the Protestant wind blowing from the Netherlands, where James' son-in-law William of Orange and Protestant daughter Mary eventually captured the crown during the Glorious Revolution.  So, to answer the obvious question: yes, this song is actually about a fake birth starting a religious war. 

 

 

"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" 

According to a book by a former prison governor, this is just your standard children’s song referencing Wakefield Prison, a.k.a. “Monster Mansion,” and the mulberry tree in its exercise yard used by women prisoners. 

 

 

"Baa Baa Black Sheep"

This isn’t creepy so much as just complaining about King Edward’s wool tax, which gave a third of the cost to the King (“the Master”), a third to the church (“the Dame”), and the rest to the farmer, who could barely cover his expenses (the original version said “but none for the little boy who cries in the lane”). Compared to the others, this is basically the happiest nursery rhyme of all time.

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Nursery Rhyme  |  Famous Nursery Rhymes Meanings
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - KANGAROOS

Did you know.... that the kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, and western grey kangaroo. Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. The Australian government estimates that 42.8 million kangaroos lived within the commercial harvest areas of Australia in 2019, down from 53.2 million in 2013. (Wikipedia)

 

Amazing Facts About Kangaroos
BY HAYLEY HARDING  |  JULY 21, 2015  |  UPDATED: JUNE 28, 2021

Kangaroos are more or less synonymous with Australia: They appear on the "Australian Made" logo, coins, and even the coat of arms for the country. Here are some more cool facts about these magnificent marsupials.

 

1. MALE KANGAROOS LIKE TO SHOW OFF.

A study in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society showed that female kangaroos like a little muscle on their romantic partners. Male kangaroos with larger biceps seem to have more success with mating, and some have even been spotted flexing their guns to attract attention.

 

2. NO, THE WORD KANGAROO DIDN'T COME FROM A MISTRANSLATION.

A lot of people think the English word kangaroo emerged after Captain James Cook had his ship repaired in what is now Cooktown after it was damaged on the coral reef. There are a couple stories here, but one of the most prominent is that Cook asked a local what the animal was, and the local responded with what sounded like kanguru. The word supposedly meant "I don't know," but that was debunked by linguist John B. Haviland 's study on Guugu Yimithirr, the language of the area. There's a debate over what Cook wrote in his journal to describe the animal, but it was later found that gangurru does refer to a species of kangaroo in Guugu Yimithirr.

 

3. KANGAROOS ARE DIFFERENT FROM WALLABIES.

While kangaroos (which grow to about 8 feet tall) are much bigger than wallabies (which stand between 12 and 24 inches tall), there's more to it than just size. A wallaby has brighter coloring than a kangaroo, and they also have different teeth, which is how scientists distinguish the two. Wallabies also eat leaves while kangaroos prefer grass.

 

4. THERE ARE TERMS FOR KANGAROOS DEPENDING ON THEIR SEX AND AGE.

For many animals, males are boars or bucks while females are sows or does. These terms occasionally apply to kangaroos as well, but they're also referred to as jacks or boomers for males and jills or flyers for females. Young kangaroos are joeys (of course). A group of kangaroos is a mob or troop, and a group of tree kangaroos are called a colony.

 

5. KANGAROOS CAN HOP INCREDIBLY EFFICIENTLY.

Kangaroos are the largest animal known to hop. They have feet specially designed for it and use their tails for balance and to help them move. But why do they do that? Scientists say it's the most energy efficient way to get around, which is important, because kangaroos have to cover large distances with little food or water. They're also pretty good at swimming. It's the only time they can move their hind legs independently of each other. Other than when they're in the water, they really can't get around on all fours.

 

6. KANGAROO MEAT IS A TRADITIONAL FOOD.

Kangaroo meat was a source of food for Aboriginal people. Their meat is thought to help combat obesity because it's really lean—about 2 percent fat. If you want some, though, you'll have to be careful how you get it. Kangaroos are protected by federal legislation in Australia, and their meat usually only comes from specially licensed hunters as a part of population control programs.

 

7. CARS AND KANGAROOS DON'T MIX.

Kangaroos are sort of like the Australian equivalent of deer. They get confused when they see headlights of cars and end up jumping in front of them. Kangaroos are much faster and heavier, though, so the impact can be much worse. To help solve this problem, cars that frequent areas without roadside assistance can be fitted with "roo bars"—similar to bull bars—to limit damage.

 

8. THE MASCOTS OF SEVERAL U.S. UNIVERSITIES ARE KANGAROOS.

Kangaroos represent colleges and universities across the U.S. Austin College in Sherman, Texas, had its mascot supposedly come from Kangaroo Kourts, where upperclassmen would "try" freshmen. The University of Missouri-Kansas City's debate team picked their mascot back in 1936. And the University of Akron in Ohio's female kangaroo Zippy even won the Capital One Mascot of the Year in 2007.

 

9. KANGAROOS AREN'T CONFINED TO AUSTRALIA.

Kangaroo at Toronto Zoo

Although they're definitely the symbol of the nation, kangaroos aren't only found on the Australian mainland. You can also find them in nearby Tasmania and New Guinea. Occasionally, they can also be found in Europe and America, but that's usually only if they break out of zoos.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Kangaroo  |  Cool Kangaroo Facts
 

Edited September 30, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SIMON & GARFUNKEL

Art Garfunkel (left) and Paul Simon
performing in Dublin, 1982

 

Did you know.... that Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk-rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including "The Sound of Silence" (1965), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "The Boxer" (1969), and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide. (Wikipedia)

 

10 Facts About Simon & Garfunkel
Hello darkness, my old friend...

by Maria_Pro  |  Dec 26, 2017

Paul and Art grew up in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Forest Hills in Queens, New York. Their friendship started in 1953 when they were in the sixth grade. Both of them participated in school play adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Paul Simon played the White Rabbit, and Art Garfunkel played the Cheshire Cat.

 

Art Garfunkel recalled:

“As I entered Parsons Junior High where the tough kids were, Paul Simon became my one and only friend. We saw each other’s uniqueness. We smoked our first cigarettes. We had retreated from all other kids. And we laughed.” That first stage appearance was followed by the duo forming a street-corner doo-wop group, The Peptones, with three other friends, and learning to harmonize together.

 

 

Simon & Garfunkel named their duo Tom and Jerry at first.
They played at high school discotheques and decided to name their duo after the famous cartoon about cat and mouse. They released the first single called “Hey Schoolgirl” in 1957. The song made it to #49 on the charts which was quite a success for the 16-year-olds.

 

 

 

"Mrs. Robinson" was originally "Mrs. Roosevelt."

The work part of one of their most well-known songs started out as “Mrs. Roosevelt,” with lyrics suggesting that the song could have been written about Eleanor Roosevelt. Once the song was included in the 'The Graduate' movie soundtrack, they changed the name to 'Mrs. Robinson' to fit the main female character of the same name.

 

 

 

Bob Dylan turned down Paul Simon’s proposal to record a song together.
When working on material for his latest album 'So Beautiful Or So What,' Simon reached out to Bob Dylan to record a duet. Even though they toured together in 1999, Simon’s proposal went unanswered for reasons that are unknown to this day.

 

In an interview with Uncut, Paul Simon said:

I thought Bob could sing, put a nice voice on the verse from So Beautiful Or So What that begins: 'Ain't it strange the way we're ignorant/ how we seek out bad advice.' I thought it would be nice if he sang that, since his voice has become so weathered I thought he would sound like a sage. I sent it to him, but I didn't hear back. I don't know why.

 

 

The Boxer song took Simon & Garfunkel over 100 hours to record.
Parts of the song was recorded at Columbia Records studios in both Nashville and New York City. The chorus vocals were recorded in St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University in New York. The church had a tiled dome that provided great acoustics. With all this material to work with, a standard 8-track recorder wasn't enough, so the album's producer, Roy Halee, brought Columbia boss Clive Davis into the studio to demonstrate his problem and lobby for a new, 16-track recorder. Davis agreed and bought the new machine.

 

 

 

There are no rhymes in the entire America song.
The entire song is prose. Gerry Beckley, a founding member of the band America, explained to Songfacts:

"There's not one line that rhymes and I will tell some of the best songwriters you've ever met that particular element and you can see them stop and go through it in their head. We're oblivious to that being an ingredient because we're so involved in the story. You're not sitting there going, 'That didn't rhyme, wait a second.' It's not an issue."

 

 

 

Paul Simon gave Bernie Sanders permission to use "America" in a campaign ad.
It was Sanders' campaign for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

 

Simon told Billboard magazine:

"Look, here's a guy, he comes from Brooklyn, he's my age. He voted against the Iraq War. He's totally against Citizens United, thinks it should be overturned. He thinks climate change is an imminent threat and should be dealt with. And I felt: Hats off to you! You can use my song."

 

 

 

Producer Tom Wilson overdubbed the original, acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence” without the duo’s knowledge.
Wilson listened to the song several times, considering it too soft for a wide radio release. Afterwards, he turned on The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which gave him the idea to remix the song, overdubbing rock instrumentation. He added electric guitar, bass, and drums, and the new sound took the song to #1 in the U.S. pop charts.

 

 

 

The heavy metal band Disturbed covered “The Sound of Silence” in 2015.
Their cover hit #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Digital Songs and Mainstream Rock charts, and is their highest-charting song on the Hot 100, peaking at number 42.

 

Draiman said:

"It's a song that my parents can play for their friends with pride without having to warn them not to be frightened ahead of time. I have fans saying, 'Finally, me and my mom can actually agree on music for once!'"
 

Paul Simon endorsed Disturbed's version after the band performed the song on Conan in 2016.

 

 

 

Simon & Garfunkel's final 1970 album "Bridge Over Troubled Water" topped the charts for 10 weeks.

Critically and commercially successful, the album had three #1 singles: "Bridge over Troubled Water," "Cecilia," "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)." It topped the charts in over ten countries and received two Grammy Awards, plus four more for the title song. It sold around 25 million records and was ranked on several lists, including at number 51 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Simon & Garfunkel  |  Simon & Garfunkel Facts
 

Edited October 2, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CHUPA CHUPS

Did you know... that Chupa Chups is a Spanish brand of lollipop and other confectionery sold in over 150 countries around the world. The brand was founded in 1958 by Enric Bernat. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck". (Wikipedia)

 

Chupa Chups – The Most Playful Lollipop
by Jim Edwards  |  July 22, 2021

Chupa Chups is a lollipop brand that has been around since 1958. Enric Bernat, the firm’s creator, used to work at the Granja Asturias jam factory. After getting the idea to make lollipops, he renamed the jam company “Chupa Chups” and founded the first lollipop company. The colors of Chupa Chups are supposed to evoke fun, happiness, and youth. The Chupa Chups general design is playful –  the flow and form of the wrapper demonstrate the Chupa Chups playful nature. In addition, the majority of the colors chosen are bright and vivid.

 

 

History of Chupa Chups
Created by Eric Bernat, a Spaniard in 1958, Chupa Chups is currently owned by Perfetti Van Melle, an Italian-Dutch multinational. The company also owns several brands such as Smint, Mentos, and Fruit-tella. Enric Bernat was employed by Granja Asturias, a company that used to make apple jam, in the early 1950s. After he broached the concept of producing lollipops, the investors exited. Bernat took over this company in 1958 and changed it to Chupa Chups. He developed the production machines and marketed a striped bonbon on the wooden stick for each peseta. Bernat came up with the idea of lollipops from his experience with melting sweets and having sticky fingers. Shopkeepers were told to place Chupa Chups close to the cash register. This was within reach of children’s hands instead of the typical placement behind the counter. This is one of the reasons they became so popular with little kids around the world!

 

 

Chupa Chups business was a success. Bernat’s sweets were sold in 300,000 stores within five years, and the self-funded private firm expanded internationally. The lollipop sticks were initially made of wood. However, they were later replaced with plastic sticks. Chupa Chups Lollipops first appeared in Japan in the 1970s, then spread to Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. Finally, it extended into North American and European markets in the 1980s, and most Asian nations, including South Korea, in the 1990s. In 2003, 4 billion lollipops were sold annually in 150 countries. The company employs 2,000 people and sells 90% of its products abroad.

 

Chupa Chups Flavors
Chupa Chups come in a variety of flavors. They include grape, apple, orange, pineapple, lime, peach, banana, cherry, blueberry, watermelon, Cola, peach cream, chocolate vanilla, strawberry cream, mocha, coffee, and many more.

 

Fun Facts About Chupa Chups

1. Chupa Chups have the same birth year as some of the stars. The stars include The Smurfs, Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson.
2. They were not initially referred to as Chupa Chups. Instead, they were known as GOL, changed to CHUPS, and later rebranded to Chupa Chups.
3. After the lollipop hit the stands, they were only available in seven flavors. They include Coffee & Cream, Lemon, strawberry & cream, orange, Chocolate & Vanilla, and Mint.
4. Salvador Dali, a popular artist, created the brand’s iconic logo. The sketch was made on the back of a newspaper.

 

 

Chupa Chups Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• How Many Flavors of Chupa Chups Are There?

Chupa Chups has over 100 flavors that are available globally, that includes sugar-free varieties.

• Why Are Chupa Chups So Hard to Open?

This is because two wrapper layers are twisted together and then sealed at the bottom using heat.

• What Is the Most Popular Chupa Chups Flavor?

There are four popular iconic flavors. They include Watermelon, Strawberry & Cream, Cola, and Strawberry. Among the four, Cola is the most favorite to many people.

 

 

Video: Salvador Dali and Chupa Chups
Wow, if you love these lollipops like we do, this is really interesting. Salvador Dali is connected to Chupa Chups, which explains the fun label design! We had no idea either, until we watched this. Check it out…

 

 

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Chupa Chups  |  Facts About Chupa Chups
 

Edited October 2, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GEOGRAPHY

Ortelius world map 1570

 

Did you know.... that geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth and planets. The first person to use the word γεωγραφία was Eratosthenes (276–194 BC). Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. Geography is often defined in terms of two branches: human geography and physical geography. Human geography is concerned with the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies, and interactions with the environment by studying their relations with and across space and place. Physical geography is concerned with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. The four historical traditions in geographical research are spatial analyses of natural and the human phenomena, area studies of places and regions, studies of human-land relationships, and the Earth sciences. Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical sciences". (Wikipedia)

 

Weird and Wacky Geography Facts

by Mental Floss

 

The world is a big, mysterious place, where sometimes facts defy logic. Here are some mind-bending geography facts that might surprise you.

 

1. AFRICA IS IN A PRETTY CENTRAL LOCATION.
Africa is the only continent that is in all four hemispheres: north, south, west, and east. It’s therefore also the only continent to have land on the prime meridian and the equator.

 

2. ALASKA IS BOTH THE WESTERNMOST AND EASTERNMOST STATE.

Satellite photo showing the Seven Mountains of Semisopochnoi
Alaska is the westernmost and northernmost state in the United States, which makes a lot of sense when you look at a map. But more surprisingly, the state manages to be the easternmost state as well. Parts of Alaska are so far west that the state actually stretches into the eastern hemisphere. Longitude lines converge at the top and bottom of the globe, so Pochnoi Point, Alaska, has the easternmost longitude of any point in the country.

 

3. THERE ARE THREE COUNTRIES THAT ARE COMPLETELY LANDLOCKED BY ANOTHER COUNTRY. 
Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City are the only countries to be surrounded by just one other country. Lesotho is landlocked within South Africa while San Marino and Vatican City are surrounded by Italy.

 

4. RENO, NEVADA, IS WEST OF LOS ANGELES.

Dog Valley, west of Reno, an area of active faulting
Even when looking at a map, this fact is hard to wrap your head around. Despite being in Nevada (and nearly 300 miles from the ocean), Reno is roughly 86 miles farther west than the coastal city Los Angeles.

 

5. MAINE ISN’T AS FAR NORTH AS YOU THOUGHT.
Estcourt Station, Maine, is the northernmost community of New England. Despite being the highest town in the contiguous United States east of the Great Lakes (and therefore associated with frigid winters), it’s surprisingly farther south than other cities across the Atlantic. London, for example, is nearly 300 miles north of the small Maine community, and Estcourt Station is also farther south than Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels.

 

6. CANADA HAS A LOT OF LAKES.

Canada is the second largest country in the world, so it may not come as a surprise that it has a lot of lakes. But it might shock you that the country has more than half of all the natural lakes in the world. An impressive nine percent of the country is covered in fresh water.

 

7. THE ENTIRETY OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION COULD EASILY FIT IN TEXAS.
If the entire world were as densely populated as New York City, the whole population would only cover 250,404 square miles. That means the entire world could fit into the state of Texas. For comparison, if the world had the same population density as Houston, Texas, it would cover 1,769,085 square miles. Even then, being able to hypothetically fit over 7 billion people in an area smaller than half the United States is pretty impressive.

 

8. AUSTRALIA MAY BE SURROUNDED BY WATER, BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE THE WORLD’S LONGEST COASTLINE.

Being its own continent and completely surrounded by water, you’d think Australia would easily have the honor of being the country with the longest coastline. However, that title goes to Canada. Canada has 152,100 miles of coastline, compared to Australia’s measly 16,000 miles. In fact, Australia ranks seventh on the list of the world’s longest coastlines, coming in behind Indonesia, Greenland, Russia, Philippines, and Japan.

 

9. MT. CHIMBORAZO IS CLOSER TO SPACE THAN MT. EVEREST.
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth, so it would stand to reason that the top of the mountain would be the highest point on Earth (and therefore closest to space). But when you remember that Earth is slightly oval-shaped, things get interesting. Our planet is slightly inflated around the equator, meaning countries like Ecuador and Kenya have a bit of an edge. With this added elevation, the top of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo (which is only 20,564 feet tall) is closest to the stars.

 

10. ANTARCTICA IS HOME TO ALMOST ALL OF THE WORLD’S FRESH WATER.

90% of Earth fresh water is in Antarctica
At 14 million square kilometers (about 5,400,000 square miles), the ice sheet in Antarctica is the largest solid ice mass on the planet. The enormous frozen structure contains about 90 percent of all the fresh water on Earth.

 

11. CHINA AND RUSSIA ARE BOTH BORDERED BY 14 COUNTRIES.
Although China is just a little more than half the size of Russia—the largest country in the world—they share the same number of land neighbors. The 14 countries bordering China are: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Geography  |  Facts About Geography

Edited October 3, 2021 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DISCO ERA

Did you know.... that Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars. While performers garnered public attention, record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the genre. Films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Thank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity. (Wikipedia)

 

 

History of Disco

by Mental Itch

 

Disco is one of those complicated terms that means different things to different people. Most of us probably associate disco with the movie Saturday Night Fever and a phase of popular music and fashion that was isolated in the 1970s, but this perception does not fully define disco itself. In fact, disco music is a part of the ongoing story of electronic dance music, one that evolved into something else rather than ending and being just a phase in the early 1980s. In this article, we are going to find out everything about disco music and how it changed the world. 

 

Background

Disco music and culture developed in numerous different countries such as in North America and Europe in the late 1960s. New York City was particularly a lush ground for disco, however, places such as Paris, Berlin and many other cities also had played their fair share of deeply important roles when it comes to disco music. In Europe, disco music has a noticeably electronic sound that has influences from avant-garde groups, such as Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. And in the United States, disco music has more funk, soul, blues, and R&B vibes, while having evident close ties to both the gay culture African-American community. And at some point, even if they seem completely different from each other, European and American disco eventually influenced one another, while also moving in different paths.

 

Discotheques 

The word disco came from the word discotheque, back in the ‘80s this term was used to call a dance club. This term makes perfect sense because the dance club acts as a cultural and social place that was as relevant to the disco music itself. During this time, small clubs and private party spaces in New York City and Berlin, with a good sound system and who could rent knowledgeable DJs, can host late-night dance parties without having to think about hiring a live band. In New York City, these kinds of disco clubs were vital for the gay community, because they needed a space that is free from violence, judgment, and harassment. These discotheques were just as important as the music that emerged from these spaces. Since these dance clubs or discotheques are designed for all-night dancing, the music is required to be consistent, beat-driven and made specifically for dancing. This resulted in disco music being away from the long-established ‘verse-chorus-verse’ song structures and turned into expansive, open-ended tracks that could be remixed by DJs. This progressed in some circles until concluding in the house and techno genres of the 1980s. In Europe, electronic dance music saw success by going in the opposite direction and re-establishing itself into the more pop-friendly synth-pop genres in the 1980s.

 

The Rise of Disco in the 1970s
Even if disco began very much like an underground phenomenon, the genre emerged into the mainstream scene during the mid-1970s. Disco stars like the Bee Gees, Abba, and Gloria Gaynor, experienced massive success throughout the ‘70s, this also brought disco music out of the clubs and onto the charts and pop radio at the same time disco clubs became a popular entertaining area for millions of people outside of the original underground scene. Probably the most famous, and notorious discotheque in the 1970s would be Studio 54 in New York City. Even celebrities from all over the world went to Studio 54  just to party and dance to the latest disco records, do illegal drugs, and enjoy the peak of American decadence. Clubs such as Studio 54 also symbolized both the over-the-top glitz and glamour of 1970s disco and the excesses, superficiality, and hedonism of the era. However, in the United States, disco quickly emerged, enjoyed its wild success, and then shortly went out of fashion. As social specialists put it, the American’s repercussion to disco in the 1980s was motivated because of its associations with African-American culture and gay culture. On the other hand, disco never experienced the abrupt loss of popularity in Europe but rather it morphed into other genres, like synth-pop, Italo disco, and eventually house and techno.

 

Iconic Disco Artists

• Chic – During the late ‘70s, the band Chic scored several danceable hit songs that seems to be a little bit sophisticated compared to other disco hit songs during that time. They produced songs such as Everybody Dance, Le Freak, and Good Times which all became the best songs of the ‘70s.
• Kool and the Gang – During the disco era, several soul artist such as Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross transitioned creating disco songs. But no one did a better transition as Kool and the Gang. They went from being soul, funk, jazz, and then settling on creating disco tracks. They produced the hit songs Jungle Boogie, Funky Stuff, and Open Sesame which made the cut for the Saturday Night Fever’s soundtrack.
• Village People – Popularly known for their outrageous costumes on stage, the Village People were formed during the beginning of the disco movement in the late 1970s. Their target audience was the gay community but they ended up being a mainstream success. They released successful songs such as Key West, Macho Man and The Y.M.C.A..
• The Bee Gees – The disco era wouldn’t be complete without the Bee Gees. They produced the hit songs that define the disco era such as Staying Alive, If I Can’t Have You, Night Fever, Tragedy, How Deep is Your Love, You Should Be Dancing, and Too Much Heaven. 
• Donna Summer  – This five-time Grammy award winner is often hailed as the Queen of Disco because she scored several it songs such as I Feel Love, Love to Love You Baby, Last Dance, and Hot Stuff. 

 

The Legacy of Disco

During the 1980s and 1990s, disco became part of the popular language to describe anything that had gone out of fashion with terms such as ‘dead as disco.’ And in the 21st century, this no longer seems like a fair assessment. In fact, if we listen to early hip-hop tracks, such as the Sugar Hill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ you can quickly notice that the disco influence is obvious. When you trace the history of  house, techno, or what we call today as EDM, you will notice that disco music is the obvious point of its origin. Today the influence of disco can be felt in everything from avant-garde synth music to 80s inflected pop music.

 

Trivia Facts That You May Not Have Known About Disco

by Keith James  |  July 2013

 

You grew up in the 70's. You lived it to it's fullest from your platform shoes to the bell bottoms and all the way up to your headband and the psychedelic thoughts that swam around in your head underneath. You may think you know everything there is to know, but here's some facts about the Disco music and those that played it that you might not've known... Till Now.

 

What does the 'K.C.' in KC and the Sunshine Band stand for?

 

They're not really super secret initials but rather a play on the band's founder's last name, Harry Wayne CASEY.

 

 

What disco artist served 4 months in jail at the age of 17 for stealing $30k worth of tires?

The guy that could make women fall at his feet just by speaking, low sexy-voice-owning Barry White did. He then decided to ditch his thug ways for music and has now been responsible for a zillion births since then! He then cleaned up his ways even further and became such a devout Christian that he turned down a voice role on South Park... Dang.

 

 

What radio host wrote Disco Duck which went on to sell 6 million copies?

 

None other than Rick Dees that many of us came to know on his Weekly Top 40 show. You may not also know that the guy that did the Disco Duck voice on the track was only paid a $50 bill for his talent (hmmm, at 6 million copies the record company made out like a bandit!) Another neat Rick Dees fact: he was fired from his radio show in L.A. and the guy that replaced him was none other than Ryan Seacrest. Can you imagine Rick as the American Idol host?

 

What rock band actually did a disco tune in 1979?

None other than fire-breathing costumed rockers, KISS!!! Gene Simmons knows no bounds when it comes to marketing their band with whatever happens to be popular at the time and these guys pranced on lit up floors with disco balls above their heads to go with their pyro show that was already in place.

 

How old is the Disco Ball, really?

 

Turns out this wasn't invented during the Disco Era but was borrowed from at least 50 years beforehand and probably earlier! Clubs in the 'flashy' 20's had these babies up and there are reports that they were around during the Civil War era too!

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Disco  |  Disco Facts  |  What You Might Not Know About Disco

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SAMA-BAJAU

Did you know... that the Sama-Bajau refers to several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah; or are known by the exonym Bajau. They usually live a seaborne lifestyle and use small wooden sailing vessels such as the perahu (layag in Meranau), djenging (balutu), lepa, and vinta (pilang). Some Sama-Bajau groups native to Sabah are also known for their traditional horse culture. (Wikipedia)

 

The Bajau People: “Sea Nomads” Of The Far East
By Kara Goldfarb  |  Checked By Jaclyn Anglis
Published May 25, 2018  |  Updated December 8, 2020

 

The Bajau people have long lived on the waters of Southeast Asia, where they've evolved into sea-dwelling beings with bodies like no other humans on planet Earth.

 

Bajau people at sea near Semporna,

Malaysia in 2017.

 

They live on the waters of Southeast Asia, dwelling in boats and living off the sea with hardly even a homeland that they call their own. They have little sense of time and age — hardly any clocks, calendars, birthdays, and the like for them. And they’ve even evolved for life on the sea, with internal organs and body capabilities unlike our own. They are the Bajau people, sometimes called “sea gypsies,” and they’re unlike any other humans on all of planet Earth. 

 

Traditional lepa boat of the Bajau people.

 

History Of The Bajau People

A chieftain of the Bajau people. 1954.

 

The precise origin of the Bajau people remains unknown. But we do know enough to trace the basic path of their story. An ethnic group of Malay origin, the Bajau people have lived almost exclusively on the water for centuries. While other "sea nomad" groups have existed in history, the Bajau may be the last seafaring people still in existence today. They reside in Southeast Asia, in the waters southwest of the Philippines. A migratory people, they drift from place to place and remain unattached in any official sense to any of the neighboring countries. Without an official state record or even much of a written history to call their own, the story of the Bajau people is rooted in their own unique folklore and traditions, with oral history passed down from generation to generation.

 

One such tale that captures the thrust of their story tells the tale of a man whose actual name was Bajau. A very large man, his people would follow him into the water because his body mass would displace enough water such that the river would overflow, making it easy for the people to collect fish. Eventually, they came to call on him for the sole purpose of helping to harvest fish. Neighboring tribes, jealous of the advantage he gave to his people, plotted to kill him by throwing poison arrows at Bajau. But he survived, the fellow tribes gave up, and the Bajau people lived on.

 

Masters Of The Ocean

A Bajau regatta in Semporna. 2015.

 

Making their living primarily off of fishing, the Bajau people live on long houseboats known as lepas. Residing primarily on the waters off Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, they usually come ashore to trade or seek shelter during storms. When they do live not on boats, it's typically in small dwellings built on stilts over the water. Because the Bajau are exposed to the water so often and so early in life, they develop a mastery of the ocean that's hard to match. Children learn to swim young and begin fishing and hunting as early as eight years old. As a result, most of the Bajau are expert freedivers. They are able to dive down to depths more than 230 feet, can stay submerged 60 feet underwater for several minutes, and usually spend a total of around five hours a day underwater. In fact, they've evolved to live on and under the water in ways that make them scientifically distinct from other human beings. Research published in the journal Cell in 2018 found that the Bajau people have spleens 50 percent larger than the average human of neighboring areas. When people dive, the spleen contracts and a reservoir of oxygenated red blood cells are released into the bloodstream. A larger spleen means a larger reservoir of red blood cells and thus more oxygen and a greater ability to stay underwater.

 

The Bajau have also developed remarkable underwater vision. These skills give them the advantage of being able to hunt for harder-to-come-by sea treasures like pearls and sea cucumbers. Each day, divers will spend hours underwater during which time they capture between two and 18 pounds of fish. And the only thing they wear to make the dives easier are wooden goggles, no wetsuits or flippers. Because they spend so much of their time diving, many of the Bajau people wind up with ruptured eardrums thanks to the pressure underwater — and some will purposefully perforate their eardrums to make diving easier.

 

 

Experience what it's like to dive and hunt with the Bajau in this clip from a 2013 BBC documentary.

 

In addition to diving, they use nets and lines to fish, as well as handmade spear guns for spearfishing. Melissa Ilardo, a geneticist who spent three summers with the Bajau people said, "They have complete control of their breath and body. They spear fish, no problem, first try."

 

The Bajau People Today

A Bajau man poses with his daughter. 2015.

 

Today, more and more Bajau people are being made to live on land (some groups have long lived on land as there is no one completely unified group of people identified as Bajau). For several reasons, it's possible that the current generation could be the last able to sustain themselves off the water. For one, the global fish trade has disrupted the fishing traditions and ecosystems of the Bajau people. Higher competition in terms of fishing has compelled the Bajau to start utilizing more commercial tactics to catch fish, including the use of cyanide and dynamite. The Bajau have also switched to using a heavier wood to make their boats because the lighter wood they used to use came from a tree that's currently endangered. The new boats require engines, which means money for fuel. The stigma associated with being nomadic has also forced many to give up their lifestyle. Being accepted by surrounding cultures gives them access to government programs that provide aid and benefits they wouldn't otherwise receive. But for the Bajau people, fishing isn't just a trade and the water isn't just a resource. At the heart of their identity is their relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants. So when it comes to conservation, it's not just about conserving the marine life, but their culture as well — and the waters they've called home for centuries.

 

Source: Wikipedia - Sama-Bajau  |  Facts About the Bajau People
 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CINEMATOGRAPHY

Did you know..... that cinematography is the art of motion picture photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sensor or light-sensitive material inside a movie camera. These exposures are created sequentially and preserved for later processing and viewing as a motion picture. Capturing images with an electronic image sensor produces an electrical charge for each pixel in the image, which is electronically processed and stored in a video file for subsequent processing or display. Images captured with photographic emulsion result in a series of invisible latent images on the film stock, which are chemically "developed" into a visible image. The images on the film stock are projected for viewing the motion picture. (Wikipedia)

 

FACTS ABOUT FILMMAKING AND THE HISTORY OF FILM

BY CHRISTIAN ROEMER

 

Even though digital is the medium of choice these days, for about a hundred years or so, film reigned supreme. Pictures, movies, and even audio was recorded on film-like tapes. Movies – and film in particular – have changed dramatically over the course of their lifetimes, and it’s interesting to wonder if film will even exist in 50 years.

 

For the sake of posterity and looking back at how primitive original film and movie technology was – although revolutionary at the time – we thought we would dig up 10 fun facts about the history of film and cinematography. After all, film has been around for more than 130 years, believe it or not. Technology has come a long way, and in the future when kids have no idea what film is, which is already happening today, we can point to these facts and remind them that the world wasn’t always a digital playground full of cell phones and USBs.

 

1. WHEN WAS FILM INVENTED? THE 1890S

Motion pictures date all the way back to the 1890s when the first moving picture cameras were invented. However, the very first moving picture – The Roundhay Garden Scene – was actually a product of the 1880s. In 1888, French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed his family prancing around in a circle in a whopping two second clip. While that seems insignificant now, it’s innovation is what would eventually lead to commercialized cameras and motion pictures. Before the advancement of the Hollywood scene, movies were somewhat boring. They started out short and only included a single scene that was about a minute long. They were typically silent - except...

 

2. THE EARLIEST SHORT FILMS WERE SOMETIMES ACCOMPANIED BY BANDS

 

Grandma's Reading Glass - George Albert Smith - 1900

 

What fun would it be sitting in a theatre while random, everyday scenes scrolled by silently on a screen? Awkward. To make up for the lack of sound in a film, sometimes a band would play live music while the movie was playing. After all, who wants to hear someone going to town on a bag of popcorn in a deaf theater?

 

3. THE PANORAMA SHOT WAS DEVELOPED IN 1987

Panning shot of a chicken running, at a slow shutter speed of 1/40 second

1987 is the year panning cameras were first used in film production, meaning the pan shot, also known as the panorama shot, was invented then. Before, cameras were stationary, so you had to move the entire camera and tripod to get any kind of movement. This was a huge advancement in film making and cinematography as an art form.

 

4. EARLY CAMERAS FILMED AT 16 FRAMES PER SECOND (FPS)

By today’s standards, a 16 frames per second speed is pretty slow. For perspective, modern 35mm cameras film at 25 FPS. If you want your mind blown, some modern video games are played at 250 FPS. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

 

5. 13 FRAMES PER SECOND IS THE SLOWEST SPEED THE HUMAN BRAIN WILL PROCESS IMAGES CONSECUTIVELY

13 FPS is the minimum speed that the human brain needs in order to process consecutive images as movement. Anything less than that and the human brain will process each frame as a separate picture. 16 FPS is pretty close to 13, which is why old movies look so choppy and unnatural.

 

6. THE FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH FILM WAS PRODUCED IN 1906

The Australian film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was the first feature length film in history. You can see the cast, box office, and budget details on IMDB. It was over an hour long, and the reel length was about 4,000 feet. To put that in perspective, a small 5-inch reel of film holds up to 200 ft., a 6-inch holds 300 ft. and a 7-inch 400 ft. Depending on the size of the reel that, movie is housed in, that’s at least 10 reels of 7-inch film and at most 20 reels of 5-inch film. Imagine that! Crazy enough, it was almost lost forever, but a few pieces of the The Story of Kelly Gang film surfaced in 1975, which helped preserve some of the history-making movie.

 

7. THE FIRST MOVIE THEATERS OPENED IN 1907

The Nickelodeon

Before 1907, most movies were shown in traditional theaters or at carnivals. With the advent of movie theaters, the films became the main attraction themselves.

 

8. A 1,000 FOOT LONG FILM WILL PRODUCE 11 MINUTES OF FOOTAGE AT 25 FPS

A standard reel of film that runs at 25 FPS is 1,000 feet long. This 1,000 feet of film will produce about 11 minutes of footage. That means that projectionists at movie theatres had to change reels many times during a single motion picture to keep it going uninterrupted. Unlike today, where everything is digital and automated.

 

9. THE TITANIC MOVIE WAS 17.7 REELS LONG WHEN RELEASED

Titanic came out in 1997 when film reels were still the only way to project a movie. With a run time of 3 hours and 15 minutes, each copy of Titanic was 17.7 reels long. That means, at 25 FPS, it consisted of over 17,700 feet of film. That’s over 3 miles for a single movie.  For reference, the Titanic was 883 feet long … that’s nearly 20 Titanic's long.

 

10. MOVIE THEATRES NOW USE DIGITAL LIGHT PROCESSING (DLP)

The Christie Mirage 5000, a 2001 DLP projector

Most movie theaters these days use digital video projectors. The technology is called DLP which stands for Digital Light Processing. Since modern films are projected digitally, movie studios don’t ship huge reels of film to the theaters anymore, which in reality is a giant time and money save. Now, they just send the videos via the internet, satellite, or hard drive. Another huge advancement in the film industry! The improvements in film have brought many different ways for individuals to capture and create their own movies and memories over the years. Whether you have tapes, film, photos, or audio recordings, Legacybox can help digitize your memories so they can be enjoyed by generations to come.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia - Cinematography  |  Film History Fun Facts
 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by DarkRavie