Fact of the Day

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - 

Did you know.... While we’ve come a long way from being solely reliant on the sun’s rays to chart the day, the core principles of determining time remain largely the same. Nowadays, some people wear a trusty wristwatch, whereas others glance at their phone for a quick update. No matter your preferred method of tracking the hours, here are six timely facts about clocks and other timekeeping devices.

 

1. The Oldest Working Mechanical Clock Is Located at an English Cathedral

England’s Salisbury Cathedral dates back to the 13th century, and is home to one of four surviving original copies of the 1215 Magna Carta. The cathedral is also the site of the world’s oldest working mechanical clock, a machine dating back to 1386, if not earlier. Composed of hand-wrought iron and intertwined with long ropes that extend halfway up the cathedral walls, the Salisbury Cathedral clock is the brainchild of three clockmakers: Johannes and Williemus Vriemand, as well as Johannes Jietuijt of Delft. The clock operates thanks to a system of falling weights, which are pre-wound once each day, and the device is designed solely to denote each passing hour. It once sat in a detached bell tower before falling into disuse around 1884. Thankfully, the mechanism was rediscovered in 1929 and later restored in 1956; prior to that restoration, the clock had successfully chimed for nearly 500 years on over 500 million separate occasions. It continues to operate today.

 

2. Pennies Are Used to Maintain the Accuracy of Big Ben’s Clock Tower

London’s Elizabeth Tower, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, boasts one of the most recognizable clock faces in the world. Inside the tower’s belfry is where one can find “Big Ben” — though many use the name to refer to the tower as a whole, it actually refers to the mechanism’s grandest and most prominent bell. Name-related confusion aside, the clock is notable for another reason, too: Its accuracy is regulated using old pennies and, on occasion, other coins. Due to external atmospheric conditions such as air pressure and wind, the exact time depicted on the face of Elizabeth Tower can fall ever so slightly out of sync with reality. In order to right these wrongs, old pennies — coins that existed prior to England’s switch to decimal coinage in 1971 — are added to the bell’s pendulum, which in turn alters the daily clock speed by 0.4 seconds per penny. The process is a long-standing one, having been used to regulate the time as far back as 1859. In 2012, three of the 10 coins relied upon for this purpose were, for a brief time, swapped out for a five-pound crown commemorating that year’s London Olympics.

 

3. 19th-Century Maritime Signals Inspired Times Square’s New Year’s Ball

The New Year’s Ball drop in Times Square, New York, is a beloved annual tradition, though its origins had nothing to do with revelry. In fact, the ball drop was inspired by a 19th-century timekeeping mechanism targeted at maritime crews. “Time balls” — which dropped at certain times as a signal to passing ships and navigators to set their on-ship chronometers — first appeared in Portsmouth Harbor in 1829 and later at England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. In fact, the giant red time ball located in Greenwich continues to operate today. The balls were the culmination of an idea suggested by a man known as Robert Wauchope, who promoted the concept of visual clues located ashore to help passing ships tell time. Wauchope originally suggested the use of flags, though orbs that moved up and down were finally settled upon instead. Though these time balls were initially made to help mariners keep track of time, they soon became an attraction among locals, as people would come to watch the ball fall, in a precursor to today’s New Year’s Eve crowds.

 

4. Medieval Engineer Ismael al-Jazari Invented an Elephant Clock

Throughout the 12th and early 13th centuries, few inventors pioneered more mechanisms in the world of robotics than Ismael al-Jazari, who lived and worked in what is now Turkey. Al-Jazari was so influential at the time that he’s believed to have even inspired the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Among al-Jazari’s most notable timekeeping inventions was an elephant clock, colorful illustrations of which appeared in his 1206 manuscript, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. The clock was an intricate device constructed atop the back of a copper elephant, containing several moving parts as well as a scribe to denote the passing of time. The entire clock relied upon a water-powered timer, which was made up of a bowl that slowly descended into a hidden tank of water. As that bowl sank, the scribe noted the number of minutes. Furthermore, every half hour a ball would be triggered to fall and collide with a fan, which rotated the device’s dial to show how many minutes had passed since sunrise. That same ball ultimately dropped into a vase that in turn triggered a cymbal to begin the cycle anew. The whole mechanism not only incorporated this Indian-inspired timing technology, but also Greek hydraulics as well as design elements from Egyptian, Chinese, and Arabian cultures.

 

5. The World’s Most Accurate Clock Is Located in Boulder, Colorado

Located in the basement of a laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is a clock considered to be the world’s most accurate. Invented by scientist Jun Ye, the clock is so precise that it would take 15 billion years for it to lose a single second of time. That absurd number dwarfs the traditional 100 million years that it takes many modern atomic clocks to lose a second. The first atomic clock was constructed in 1949 by the National Bureau of Standards, and helped scientists to accurately redefine the measurement of a second by the year 1967. Prior to that point, a second had been calculated as 0.000,011,574 of a mean solar day, which proved to be inaccurate due to the irregular rotation of the Earth. Ye’s new clock optimizes the techniques of those early atomic clocks, using strontium atoms that are arranged in a 3D lattice to tick at 1 million billion times per second. While that science-heavy explanation may not be entirely clear to the average person, Ye’s atomic clock can be summed up like this: It’s really, really accurate.

 

6. French Revolutionary Time Instituted a System of 10-Hour Days

While societies around the world may not agree on much, one thing that’s generally accepted is that each day is 24 hours long. Back in 1793, however, during the French Revolution, France took an oppositional stance and adopted a new timekeeping concept. This decimal time concept included 10-hour days, 100 minutes every hour, and 100 seconds per minute. In essence, its base 10 method of timekeeping was proposed as a simpler way to note how much time had passed on any given day. This new timekeeping plan officially started on November 24, 1793, and was immediately met with resistance and confusion by the public. People were unwilling to change their old habits for telling time, despite French clockmakers producing new mechanisms that featured both traditional timekeeping methods and the new decimal-based technique. In the end, decimal clocks lost their official status in 1795, though the concept wasn’t quite dead yet. France tried yet again in 1897, this time proposing a variant that incorporated 24-hour-long days with 100 minutes per hour, but that proposal was scrapped in 1900.

 

 

Source: Timely Facts About Clocks and Timekeeping Devices

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - OWLS

Did you know.... For centuries, people have looked to owls as symbols of wisdom, mythical guides and protectors, and sometimes even spooky harbingers of death. About 250 species of these captivating birds, with their penetrating stares and mysterious vibes, live on every continent except Antarctica. Here are a few fantastic facts about them, from their asymmetrical ears to their unexpected connection to a medieval poet.

 

1. Owls Can Turn Their Heads 270 Degrees

No, owls can’t turn their heads completely around (as a popular myth suggests), but they can swivel three-quarters of the way. They have a few anatomical adaptations that make it possible, such as extra neck vertebrae that allow their heads to turn and rotate at multiple angles. But until a few years ago, it wasn’t clear how owls could do these moves without also twisting their arteries and cutting off blood to their brains. In 2013, a team from Johns Hopkins University injected dye, representing blood flow, into several owls that had died of natural causes, and then manipulated the birds’ heads. The dye pooled into “reservoirs” under the animals’ jaws, which suggested that when owls pivot their heads, these reservoirs maintain a supply of blood for their brains.

 

2. Owls Can’t Move Their Eyes

An owl’s eyes are proportionally enormous, comprising up to 5% of the animal’s body weight (for comparison, human eyes make up about .0003% of our total weight). Their huge size — along with pupils that dilate extra widely and a reflective layer at the back of their eyes to utilize available light — are adaptations for zeroing in on the movements of tiny rodents and other prey at night. However, they can’t move their eyes much in their tubular sockets. Owls do, however, have binocular vision (the ability to merge information from two eyes into one image, like humans), which increases their depth perception and allows them to judge the distance to their prey accurately.

 

3. Lopsided Ears Give Owls Excellent Hearing

They’re usually not very noticeable, but owls do have ears, and they serve an important role in hunting. Their ears are often situated asymmetrically, with the right ear a little higher than the left in most species. Sounds made by their prey, like rodents scratching in leaf litter, will hit each ear at slightly different times, allowing the owl to triangulate the location of the sound. Most owls also have circular patterns of specialized feathers to channel sound into the ears. These anatomical arrangements pay off: Experiments with barn owls have shown that their incredibly sensitive hearing helps them find prey in complete darkness; they will often hover over prey and listen to its movements before striking. Great gray owls have also been observed successfully striking prey hiding under a layer of snow.

 

4. Their Silent Flight Has Inspired Quieter Machines

Owls sport specialized feathers that muffle the sound of their wings flapping and let them sneak up on a meal. The feathers on the leading edges of their wings have comblike structures that dampen air turbulence and cut down on “whooshing” noise, while finer feathers on the top and trailing edges further break up the sound, resulting in a virtually silent flight. Engineers have tried to mimic this quality when designing quieter aircraft, wind turbines, drones, fan blades, and more.

 

5. Not All Owls Are Night Owls

Most of the world’s owl species are nocturnal — they’re more active at night, with physical adaptations for hunting by moonlight. In North America, these denizens of the dark include the adorable, football-shaped northern saw-whet owl and the diminutive eastern and western screech owls. Some species can be seen hunting at dawn or dusk as well as at night; barred owls, great horned owls, and long-eared owls are considered crepuscular (most active at twilight). Diurnal species are primarily active during the daytime: Short-eared owls and snowy owls can often be seen flying over grasslands in search of rodents, while northern pygmy owls and northern hawk owls live in forests and are seldom spotted.

 

6. A Group of Owls Is Called a “Parliament”

This collective noun has an unusual literary source. In The Silver Chair, one of the books in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, a talking owl named Glimfeather calls for his fellow owls to form a parliament; the group of birds advises the novel’s two protagonists on their quest. Lewis was actually riffing on a literary antecedent, Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century poem A Parliament of Fowls, in which the narrator dreams that Nature gathers birds together to choose their mates. Thanks to the worldwide popularity of Lewis’ Narnia books, people began using the word “parliament” to define a group of owls by 1968, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

 

 

Source: Fascinating Facts About Owls

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SUSTAINABLE COMPANIES

Did you know.... Earth Day is on April 22, and this year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” As consumers, we have the power to directly impact our planet by shopping sustainably, supporting businesses that follow sustainable practices, and limiting our use of single-use plastics. Here are a few companies that will help you lead a more sustainable lifestyle on Earth Day — and every day.

 

All featured products and deals are selected independently and objectively by the author. Interesting Facts may receive a share of sales via affiliate links in content.

 

1. Etee

Etee makes sustainable household products for everyday living. The company uses the most effective eco-friendly, cruelty-free ingredients, and also gives back to organizations that help support sustainability and local communities. On Etee’s site, you’ll find skin care products, household cleaners, and beeswax food bags to help limit your use of plastic produce bags.

 

2. Grove Collaborative

Grove is a one-stop shop for sustainable brands you love, including Seventh Generation and Burt’s Bees. When you place an order, you’ll have the option to subscribe to products you’ll need regularly — and you’ll also get free shipping on orders over $49. To remain true to Grove’s sustainable mission, every order is plastic neutral, every shipment is carbon neutral, and by 2025 Grove will be 100% plastic-free.

 

3. Honest

The Honest Company creates safe, effective products for families. Through thoughtful, transparent ingredient selection and commitment to constant innovation, their breakthrough formulas won’t compromise performance. From baby diapers and wipes to wellness supplements and gift sets, the Honest Company’s range of products makes it easy to shop for almost anything.

 

4. Stasher

Easily eliminate one of the most-used plastic products from your home — single-use plastic bags — with Stasher’s silicone bags and bowls, which range in size from tiny pocket bags to 8-cup bowls. Thanks to Stasher’s Pinch-Loc seal, the bags and bowls are totally leak-free, easy to clean, and dishwasher-, microwave-, and oven-safe up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Stop using plastic bags and switch to Stasher today.

 

5. Simply Straws

Plastic straws are among the most notorious plastic products for pollution — and we all know the compostable paper straws don’t hold up very well. Switch to dishwasher-safe glass or stainless steel straws for your hot and cold drinks, and start living greener today.

 

6. Papaya Reusables

Reduce your paper waste with Papaya’s reusable paper towels. Just one sheet replaces 17 rolls of paper towels. They’re naturally antibacterial, 100% compostable, and dry quickly on their hook. They also come in fun patterns, simple solids, and bright colors to match any kitchen or bathroom.

 

7. Public Goods

Find organic, healthy, and delicious grocery essentials at wholesale prices through Public Goods. Get your coffee, canned goods, noodles, and more, packaged and delivered sustainably. Every shipment is carbon offset, and a tree is planted for every order.

 

 

Source: Sustainable Companies for Your Home and Family

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - GEORGE ELIOT

Did you know... Mary Ann Evans, later known by her pen name, George Eliot, was born in 1819 on the grounds of the Arbury Hall Estate in Warwickshire, England, where her father worked. She had a good education in a staunchly religious environment, learning French, Italian, and Latin and studying the Bible. Her path began to change when she met a ribbon manufacturer named Charles Bray who was a self-taught freethinker and radical. She began to question everything, including her religious beliefs, which greatly annoyed her father. But her course had been set, and soon she began to write — and what a writer she was. In 1859, her first complete novel, Adam Bede, was published to instant critical success — and much speculation as to who this George Eliot fellow could be. The novel also introduced a new form of realism and psychological analysis into modern fiction, something that would be further developed in her later novels, such as The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda. Her novel Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life initially received mixed reviews, but literary critics of the 20th century reevaluated the novel, hailing Eliot’s use of realism in historical events, her examination of rural society, and the themes of political reform, education, and the status of women. Middlemarch is now widely considered her greatest work and one of the greatest novels in the English language. Today, George Eliot is viewed as one of the most important Western writers of all time. But there are aspects of her life and work that are not so well known, ranging from her literary accomplishments beyond fiction to what was seen at the time as a scandalous love life.

 

1. She Had More Than One Reason to Use a Pen Name

Eliot decided to write under a pseudonym in 1857. She wanted to avoid the stereotype of women’s writing at the time, which was considered lighthearted and frivolous. She also wanted to shield herself from scandal, as she was an unmarried woman living with a married man. She told her publisher that the pen name would serve as “a tub to throw to the whale in case of curious enquiries.” It is likely that she chose the name George in tribute to her lover, George Henry Lewes. She chose Eliot because she found it to be “a good, mouth-filling, easily pronounced word.”

 

2. Charles Dickens Had His Suspicions About George Eliot’s True Gender

Charles Dickens wrote a letter to Eliot in 1858 in praise of her first published work, Scenes of Clerical Life. Dickens began with “My Dear Sir,” but soon respectfully explained his doubts regarding her gender: “I have observed what seem to me to be such womanly touches, in those moving fictions, that the assurance on the title-page is insufficient to satisfy me, even now.” In 1859, after the publication of her first complete novel, Adam Bede, Eliot revealed her true identity — partly in response to a number of imposters who were claiming authorship. This prompted Dickens to write her another letter in praise of her work, this time addressed to “My Dear Madam.” Despite revealing her true identity, Eliot continued to publish under her pen name.

 

3. She Didn’t Only Write Novels

Eliot’s greatest literary achievements were her novels, but she wrote more than fiction. Her first prominent literary work was an English translation of David Strauss’ The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined — a controversial work that questioned the literal truth of biblical texts. The Earl of Shaftesbury called Eliot’s translation “the most pestilential book ever vomited out of the jaws of hell.” Along with her various translations, Eliot wrote for and edited the left-wing journal The Westminster Review. She also published two volumes of poetry, but her poems never achieved the same success as her novels.

 

4. Her Romantic Life Was Scandalous in Its Day

Eliot’s lover, George Henry Lewes, was a man of many talents: dramatist, novelist, biographer, literary critic, philosopher, scientist, and editor. But today he is remembered primarily for his decades-long relationship with the famous author. Lewes was a married man and couldn’t obtain an official divorce, but he and Eliot lived openly together until his death in 1878. It was a scandal at the time, and Eliot became estranged from many family members and friends, but it never tore the couple apart. After moving to Germany with Lewes in 1854, Evans wrote to a friend explaining her views on the relationship: “Light and easily broken ties are what I neither desire theoretically nor could live for practically. Women who are satisfied with such ties do not act as I have done — they obtain what they desire and are still invited to dinner.”

 

5. She Was a Harsh Critic of Other Women Authors

Eliot used a pen name partly to avoid being pigeonholed among what she saw as the “less serious” female authors of her day. She was not afraid of criticizing these authors, and did so very publicly in her essay “Silly Novels by Lady Novelists.” She described these works as having a “particular quality of silliness that predominates in them — the frothy, the prosy, the pious, or the pedantic.” She made it very clear, however, that “fiction is a department of literature in which women can, after their kind, fully equal men.”

 

6. She Gave Us a Few Modern Words and Phrases

Eliot coined, or at least popularized, a number of words and phrases that we use today. Among them are the words “chintzy” (meaning gaudy or trashy), “floppy,” “lampshade,” and “lunchtime.” She was also the earliest person to have used “pop,” short for “popular,” in relation to “pop music.” She wrote in a letter, “There is too much ‘Pop.’ for the thorough enjoyment of chamber music they give.”

 

7. Virginia Woolf and Vincent van Gogh Were Both Fans

Virginia Woolf greatly admired Eliot, both for her writing and the way she lived her life. She called Middlemarch a “magnificent book which with all its imperfections is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.” Vincent van Gogh was also inspired by Eliot, who, alongside Charles Dickens, was one of his favorite authors, in part due to her vibrant depictions of provincial life. In a letter to his brother, van Gogh explained how Eliot’s novel Felix Holt, the Radical, was “a book that touched me deeply, and it will no doubt have the same effect on you.” He sent his brother a copy of the book along with the letter.

 

Source: Facts About Trailblazing Writer George Eliot

 

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - SUPERBLOOMS

Did you know..... April showers bring May flowers… and in some cases, many more flowers than expected. Superblooms — aka the massive, all-at-once bloom of millions of wildflowers in the same area — create vibrant floral tapestries that cover hillsides, valleys, and even deserts. Superblooms are a remarkable reminder of Mother Nature’s unpredictability, often drawing in crowds by the thousands to witness rare seas of flowers. Let these six facts about wildflower superblooms grow your knowledge about this floral phenomenon.

 

1. Superblooms Are Years in the Making

Superblooms are an astounding sight to see — valleys, meadows, and deserts filled with the burst of thousands upon thousands of blooms. But much of that awe comes from the fact that superblooms are generally unpredictable; to have a successful superbloom means that weather conditions have to be perfectly timed. The burst of flowers typically occurs in more arid regions of the country — think some areas of Southern California — when warming spring temperatures pair with an adequate amount of precipitation during the previous fall and winter months. Billions of wildflower seeds, which have sometimes laid dormant underground for years waiting for the right conditions, emerge all at once, creating the phenomenon of thousands of buds opening simultaneously. However, not every winter produces enough water for an annual superbloom. Years with soaking rains, especially after years of drought, often give the best chances. Even with enough precipitation, a potential wave of floral blooms is up against other challenges, like climate conditions. Temperatures that are too hot or too cold can impede germination or growth for plants that do sprout, while herbivores in search of food can feast on vulnerable seedlings before they can debut their buds. And if the flowers bloom before pollinators are ready to emerge, there can be fewer viable seeds for future plants.

 

2. Some Superblooms Follow A Pattern

Death Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth (once reaching a record temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913), and also the driest spot in North America — two characteristics that don’t seem particularly flower-friendly. Yet Death Valley is home to a regularly occurring superbloom that fills the desert with millions of blossoms, featuring species such as the yellow desert sunflower and the pink desert sand verbena. On average, the area receives a scant 2 inches of rain per year, but in years with more frequent precipitation and few damaging windstorms (which can batter delicate plants), superblooms are more likely. Death Valley’s conditions seem almost timed, combining perfectly about once a decade, with the most recent superblooms occurring in 2016, 2005, and 1998 — and even then, the phenomenon is short-lived, often lasting just a few weeks until temperatures tick upwards.

 

3. Any Big Bloom Can Be Called a “Superbloom”

The word “superbloom” has typically come to mean a massive bloom of the same flower species all at once, but the term doesn’t have a scientific basis. Instead, it’s a phrase that emerged among news agencies to describe the phenomenon to the general public. Many researchers agree that since there’s no scientific definition of what does (and doesn’t) count as a superbloom, a bloom of any size could technically be described as one. According to Richard Minnich, an earth sciences professor, “it’s all in the eye of the beholder.”

 

4. Some Superblooms Can Be Seen From Space

Acres of blooming fields can overwhelm the senses from the ground, making it hard to see just how large a superbloom might be. Amazingly, those floral booms can sometimes be seen from space, giving Earth-dwellers a chance to appreciate their magnitude with help from satellite imagery. In 2019, the Landsat 8 satellite used by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey recorded an orange poppy superbloom in Southern California’s Walker Canyon. The photos, taken 480 miles above Earth, show miles of hillside covered in the state’s official flower, along with hundreds of parked cars from visitors who flocked to the area.

 

5. Superblooms Can Disappear As Quickly As They Happen

Predicting when, or if, a superbloom might happen is difficult, but so is determining how long one might last. In California and other Western states, superbloom season generally begins in late winter, with lower elevations seeing blooms emerge between mid-February and mid-April. Higher elevation areas tend to remain cooler for longer, meaning superblooms in those regions are more likely to occur between April and July. When flowers do emerge, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay around long. Depending on the species, some wildflower superblooms can last upwards of two months, but weather conditions can quickly shrivel the show — as in March 2015, when a heat wave in the Mojave Desert ended a poppy bloom after just two weeks.

 

6. You Can Help Protect Superblooms

Massive wildflower blooms can attract thousands of visitors hoping to snap the perfect picture and experience the amazing view, but steady streams of admirers can actually harm the potential for future superblooms. Floral ecosystems are fragile and can become stressed from large numbers of people who trek off-trail and through the blooms. Walking through the flowers can also cause the spread of invasive plants if seeds are carried in on shoes and gear, and heavy foot traffic can trample blooms and keep them from dropping seeds that would fuel the next generation of flowers. Many botanists say it takes just two steps to ethically enjoy current flower explosions (and those in years to come Stay on the trail and take with you only photos and memories of the wildflower wonder.

 

 

Source:

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - EMILY DICKINSON

Did you know.... If Americans know of only a handful of U.S. poets, one of them is likely to be Emily Dickinson. She’s described as a kind of nun of poetry — a single woman who stayed home in a white dress writing poems only for herself. But her full story is more complex. Emily Dickinson was not entirely reclusive; she thrived on her written correspondence, something like people today who spend hours socializing online, and shared her poetry with her inner circle. Despite her voluminous output, very few of her poems were published during her lifetime — and none with her permission. Find out more about this fascinating woman of letters below.

 

1. Emily Dickinson Kept Up Lifelong Friendships

Emily Dickinson rarely left the grounds of her home after 1865, when she was in her mid-30s, for reasons that are unclear. But she was social. Scholars have about a thousand of her letters to at least a hundred friends and family members — which may only be a fraction of all the letters she wrote. She often enclosed a poem in her letters. In a 40-year friendship, she sent Susan Dickinson, her brother’s wife, more than 250 poems. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the author of an Atlantic Monthly article that encouraged young people to write, received about 100 of her poems.

 

2. Emily Dickinson Stopped Attending Church in Her 30s

In her most famous poem, “I heard a Fly buzz–when I died–”, she takes on a question most of us wonder about at some point: What is it like when we die? In the poem, she imagines people at her bedside waiting for the “King” to “Be witnessed-in the Room.” Instead she hears a fly and then enters darkness.  Does this suggest a lack of faith? Again, it’s not clear. As a young girl, Emily attended services with her family every week, and participated in daily religious observances at home. Her mother was Calvinist, and in Emily’s teen years, several of her friends and her sister, father, and eventually her brother joined that Protestant movement. She resisted, saying to a friend, “I am one of the lingering bad ones.” By her late 30s, she had stopped attending services. However, her poetry continued to approach religious themes.

 

3. Her Father Was a U.S. Congressman

Dickinson was born into a prominent family. Her grandfather, one of the founders of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, overextended himself and lost the family’s land holdings. While most of the family left, her father, Edward Dickinson, stayed in Amherst and worked hard to reestablish the family’s standing. He succeeded, eventually entering politics and becoming a state representative and senator, then a U.S. representative.  As a child, Emily was afraid of him. She came to see him as “the oldest and the oddest sort of foreigner,” a lonely man, despite his longtime residence in Amherst. However, he was appreciated. After he collapsed while giving a speech in the state legislature on a hot June morning in 1874, and then passed away, the town of Amherst shut down for his funeral.

 

4. She Composed Almost 1,800 Poems

Envelopes and scraps of paper suggest that Dickinson wrote notes spontaneously. Relatives say that she wrote at a table in her bedroom and at one in the dining room, where she could see the plants in her conservatory, and recited aloud in private. “I know that Emily Dickinson wrote most emphatic things in the pantry, so cool and quiet, while she skimmed the milk; because I sat on the footstool behind the door, in delight, as she read them,” her cousin Louisa wrote in her journal. Among her papers discovered after Dickinson’s death were 40 handmade books that included more than 800 of her poems. All in all, she wrote close to 1,800 poems.

 

5. Only 10 of Her Poems Were Published in Her Lifetime

While Dickinson was alive, only 10 of her poems were published. Scholars believe that she did not authorize any of the publications, half of which appeared in the Springfield Daily Republican. (All were credited to “anonymous.”) The paper’s founder, Samuel Bowles, was a family friend, to whom Emily had sent about 40 of her poems.

 

6. Her White Dress Was Not Unusual

In her late 40s and early 50s, Dickinson wore a white cotton dress with mother-of-pearl buttons that was typical attire at home for women at the time. It could easily be cleaned with bleach. Did it mean anything to Emily that her dress was white? Her survivors chose to have her buried in white, within a white casket, when she died at age 55. It’s also true that the poet heroine of Aurora Leigh, a nine-book novel in verse by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of Emily’s favorites, wore white. But scholars don’t know if choosing that color had any particular significance for her.

 

 

Source: Fascinating Facts About Emily Dickinson

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ENGINEERING FEATS

Did you know.... The ancient pyramids, Eiffel Tower, and the Panama Canal are just a few testaments to human ingenuity throughout the ages. As building technology has advanced, engineers have been able to create ever more impressive structures. Buildings grow taller, bridges stretch longer, and tunnels dig deeper. Indeed, some of the newest marvels seem to defy the laws of physics and nature. From one of the world’s tallest bridges to the tide barriers protecting Venice, here are eight amazing engineering feats from around the globe that you might not know about.

 

1. Three Gorges Dam (Yichang, China)

Three Gorges Dam in China’s Hubei Province gives the Hoover Dam a run for its money. When completed in 2006, the Three Gorges Dam was the largest dam in the world, measuring more than a mile in length and 607 feet above ground at its highest point. It also remains the world’s largest hydroelectric facility, with the capacity to generate 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The reservoir created by the dam is so large that ocean freighters can carry cargo inland from Shanghai. The dam took almost 100 years from initial conception to completion, but is now an incredible feat of engineering.

 

2. Millau Viaduct (France)

Many consider the Millau Viaduct, the brainchild of English architect Norman Foster, to be a work of art. One of the world’s tallest bridges, reaching 1,125 feet tall, it is located in the Massif-Central region in southern France. The steel bridge traverses the River Tarn valley and helps to alleviate heavy tourist traffic between France and neighboring Spain. When crossing the bridge, it is not unusual to look out of one’s car window at the clouds below. The Millau Viaduct is also the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge, extending 8,071 feet.

 

3. Venice Tide Barrier (Venice, Italy)

Flooding has long been a problem in the Italian city of Venice. In recent decades, the problem has worsened, and the rising waters have threatened to destroy centuries of history. Engineers hope that the solution lies in MOSE, the Italian acronym for the Venice Tide Barrier. The concrete island (which some say resembles a James Bond villain’s lair) and huge yellow floodgates faced several decades of funding and construction issues, before finally opening in 2002. It proved its worth in 2020, when extreme high tides were held at bay. Since then, the barriers have been closed more than 30 times, helping to prevent disaster.

 

4. Great Man-Made River (Libya)

Several major engineering feats of the last century have involved supplying freshwater to desert regions. The Libyan government refers to their Great Man-Made River as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” and they have reason to be proud. The “river” is actually one of the world’s largest irrigation projects — work began in 1983 and is still ongoing. The project consists of a huge network of 1,752 miles of pipelines and 1,300 wells to pump water from deep beneath the Sahara Desert to cities along the coast of Libya. In addition to providing drinking water, it has made agriculture possible in vast areas of previously arid land.

 

5. Bailong Elevator (Zhangjiajie, China)

The Bailong Elevator makes enjoying the spectacular scenery of China’s Zhangjiajie National Forest Park much easier. What was once an arduous hike to the top of the mountains to see the impressive gorges and waterfalls has been replaced by the world’s highest outdoor elevator. However, a ride in one of the double-story glass-and-steel cars is not for the faint-hearted, as it ascends 1,082 feet in about 90 seconds. Still, thousands of visitors each day take the Bailong Elevator (also nicknamed the Hundred Dragon Elevator) to witness the region’s natural wonders. The construction was controversial, given that the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but proponents argued that it would help to prevent further erosion of delicate mountain trails.

 

6. Itaipu Dam (Brazil and Paraguay)

Containing enough concrete to build five Hoover Dams, the Itaipu Dam stands at the border of Brazil and Paraguay. The project took a decade to complete and required moving 50 million tons of rock to shift the course of the Paraná River. It is one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world. The dam contains 20 generators that can produce 14 gigawatts — enough to provide electricity to about three-quarters of all Paraguayan households, plus parts of southern and central Brazil.

 

7. Palm Islands (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

In addition to having the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai has made headlines with a giant human-made archipelago shaped like a palm tree. There are plans for three islands, but, as of 2022, only Palm Jumeirah is complete. The island — which took six years and $12 billion to build —  is also the only island which will be open to the public. It features apartments, hotels, and resorts, all linked to the mainland by a monorail. To create each island, more than 53 million pounds of sand have been dredged from the Persian Gulf.

 

8. Kansai Airport (Osaka, Japan)

As Japan’s second-largest city grew, its previous old airport could not handle the daily influx of flights and had no room to expand. A new airport was built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, connected to the mainland via a six-mile bridge. Kansai International Airport opened in 1994 and can receive up to 100,000 passengers a day. While the design could withstand earthquakes and tsunamis, it could not handle another unforeseen problem: The island began to sink into the muddy layer at the floor of the sea. A complex series of sensors and hydraulic jacks have resolved the issue (for now), but the solution made the airport one of the most expensive civil engineering works in history, costing upwards of $20 billion USD.
 

 

Source: Incredible Engineering Feats From Around the World

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - RADIO

Did you know.... Although radio is sandwiched between two revolutionary communication technologies — the telegraph and the television — the medium has remained remarkably resilient. First broadcast at the end of the 19th century, radio continues to provide the soundtrack to countless commutes. However, its importance goes far beyond local shock jocks and Top 40, and it still underpins the modern world. Here are six amazing facts about radio, from its remarkable discovery to its transformation into a world-changing communication system.

 

1. Radio Waves Were Theorized Before They Were Discovered

The scientific community knew about radio waves before anyone discovered actual evidence of them. In 1865, Scottish mathematician and physicist James Clerk Maxwell predicted the existence of radio waves in a paper titled “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field,” based on a presentation he gave before the Royal Society in December 1864. He also developed a set of electromagnetism equations known to history as “Maxwell’s equations.” Although Maxwell gave due deference to his predecessor Michael Faraday, who had discovered electromagnetic induction among other principles of electromagnetism, many consider Maxwell’s work — which predicted various waves along the electromagnetic spectrum — a pivotal moment in the history of science and technology. These waves remained theoretical for more than 20 years, until German physicist Heinrich Hertz demonstrated radio waves for the first time in his laboratory in 1888 — forever transforming the history of communication.

 

2. The First Reported Transatlantic Radio Transmission Might Never Have Happened

Although Hertz got his own unit of frequency for his trouble, the undisputed giant of early radio is Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. After studying the work of Maxwell, Hertz, and other influential physicists while growing up, Marconi sent a radio signal more than a mile at his estate in Pontecchio, Italy, in 1895. Sensing both opportunity and celebrity, Marconi took out several patents and demonstrated his system throughout Europe. Then, on December 12, 1901, Marconi set out to prove that radio waves were not impacted by the curvature of the Earth. With a transmitter set up in Newfoundland, Canada, and another in Cornwall, England, some 2,100 miles away, Marconi waited for the three clicks (the letter “S” in Morse code) coming from Cornwall to prove that his invention — and the radio waves it produced — could work across long distances. Accompanied by his assistant George Kemp, Marconi believed he heard the expected three clicks, proving that his invention worked. Kemp also agreed that he heard the clicks. Today, many experts are skeptical that the pair actually heard the clicks, since Marconi had many motives to act as if they did (and Kemp may have gone along). There were no independent witnesses, and it’s highly implausible the technology would have been capable of producing a transatlantic transmission at the time. It’s likely we’ll never know for sure what really happened that day.

 

3. The Most Powerful Radio Station Ever Was in Cincinnati, Ohio

In May 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in the White House, and the world’s first “super station,” WLW, came to life near Cincinnati, Ohio. The station used an 831-foot, 500-kilowatt tower capable of sending a signal halfway around the world. The project was designed as a temporary experiment to spread radio waves far and wide, but unfortunately, its immense power and operating costs proved to be too much. Stations far away from Cincinnati but still within range of the 700-hertz frequency complained of constant interference. People living close to the tower also reported hearing the broadcast vibrating along metal kitchen pans, barbed-wire fencing, or even bedsprings. After five years, Congress decided 500 kilowatts was simply too powerful, and limited broadcasts to 50 kilowatts — the current limit for AM clear-channel stations today.

 

4. The First Radio Commercial Was for a Real Estate Developer in NY

In August 1922, New York radio station WEAF created something that would change the radio industry forever — it broadcast the very first radio commercial. The ad spot was for an apartment complex in Jackson Heights, Queens. Although radio ads are an obvious innovation now, one worry among early radio stations was how to make money from the service, since people weren’t charged for the endless stream of programming itself. Initially ads may not have seemed like a profitable strategy given the limited number of listeners, but economics changed as more radios began to find their way into American homes. Between 1923 and 1930, the number of Americans who owned at least one radio jumped to 60%, meaning that there were enough listeners for the radio ad business to be booming.

 

5. Radio Is an Extremely Important Tool for Astronomers

Because radio waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum — one of the fundamental forces of nature — stars, quasars, planets, galaxies, and dust galaxies emit them. Some of the earliest attempts to use radio to investigate the stars came at the turn of the 20th century, when astronomers attempted to pick up radio emissions emanating from our sun. Today, radio astronomy is an entire field of dedicated scientists pointing massive radar arrays at the stars in an effort to glimpse things unseen by the naked eye. One of the most impressive radio telescopes in the U.S. is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope located in West Virginia. The telescope is the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world, and the machine is so sensitive to radio waves that Wi-Fi is illegal in the 13,000-square-mile “National Radio Quiet Zone” surrounding the telescope.

 

6. The Eiffel Tower Avoided Destruction Because of Radio

It’s hard to imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower, but the iconic tower wasn’t meant to stick around forever. Gustave Eiffel originally built his eponymous tower for the Exposition Universelle of 1889, and the city only leased the land to Eiffel for 20 years. After that, the land was to be returned to Paris and the tower demolished. Knowing the destruction in store for his precious monument, Eiffel set about finding some way to make the tower both useful and symbolic. On November 5, 1898, the Eiffel Tower participated in an early demonstration of radio when a signal was sent from the tower’s tip to the Pantheon some 2.5 miles away. In the early 20th century, Eiffel doubled down on transforming his monument to progress into a full-fledged radio tower. By 1908, radio waves emanating from the Eiffel Tower could reach distances of more than 3,500 miles, and its creator had successfully proved its strategic worth. The Eiffel Tower then proved vital during World War I as it intercepted radio messages sent by the Central Powers. Today, the tip of the Eiffel Tower is still home to various radio antennas.

 

 

Source: Radio Waves Were Theorized Before They Were Discovered

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BODY LANGUAGE

Did you know.... In 1967, psychologist Albert Mehrabian and his colleagues claimed that nonverbal expression or body language makes up 55% of communication, while tone of voice accounts for 38%, and actual spoken words only 7%. Though his studies were limited, Mehrabian’s 55-38-7 rule is often used — and misused — as proof of the huge impact of body language in society. Today, body language is used to decode celebrity interviews on YouTube, determine truthfulness in the criminal justice system, and predict presidential election winners. Here are some facts, and a few myths, about body language.

 

1. Charles Darwin Thought Body Language Was a Result of Evolution

Darwin’s 1872 book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, attempted to untangle the relationship between emotions and the involuntary actions associated with them. He examined classic examples of emotional expression, such as a person’s eyes widening in surprise, or someone blushing when embarrassed or flattered. Darwin proposed that these “serviceable habits” evolved in humans over time; later, anthropologist Margaret Mead counter-argued that body language was culturally determined. It wasn’t until the second half of the 20th century that psychologists, including Mehrabian, began to define and quantify the functions of nonverbal expression, a field of study known today as kinesics. (The extent to which nonverbal expressions are learned or evolved is a subject of ongoing debate.)

 

2. Body Language Expressions Can Be Incredibly Quick

Body language is generally defined as nonverbal communication through conscious or unconscious movements. Conscious movements, like smiling, emphasize the emotion you feel (happiness or delight, say). Unconscious movements, in contrast, may be so quick or subtle that other people may not consciously notice them, but will recognize that something about your expression has changed. Body language expert David Matsumoto has said these “microexpressions” can be as fast as one-fifteenth of a second.

 

3. Body Language Can Unveil Your True Feelings

Body language can reveal emotions you may be trying to hide or that contradict your words. You might tell your spouse that you’re not upset that they forgot to take out the trash (again!), but your crossed arms and tensed shoulders imply otherwise. Unconscious gestures or facial movements can be even more revealing, since you’re not aware that they’re giving you away. In a classic example, it’s often believed that unconsciously avoiding eye contact when you’re speaking to someone indicates that you’re lying. The belief may be mistaken; some researchers suggest that it’s not the lack of eye contact, but a microexpression of guilt (which may vary from person to person), that reveals someone’s lie.

 

4. Facial Expressions Are Universal

According to Matsumoto, all humans demonstrate the same expressions for emotions the world over, because we have the same facial muscles and structure, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or culture. (However, culture helps determine what emotions are expressed when, and how those expressions are perceived.) Gestures, however, are defined by culture and other factors, and fall into two categories. “Speech illustrators” are hand movements that enhance what the speaker is saying, and can be more or less subtle according to cultural norms. “Emblems” are culturally specific gestures, like a thumbs-up to mean “OK” or “good.” Every culture has its own specific emblems, yet Matsumoto argues that some are becoming near-universal — for example, an up-and-down head nod for “yes.”

 

5. Body Language Is Not an Exact Science

Body language can mean different things depending on the context, but law enforcement and business entities often view it as more foolproof than it really is. Police officers may look for body language cues to determine if suspects are lying during interrogations, though some research has found that these cues are not correlated with deceit. Stereotypes about body language (like the aforementioned aversion to eye contact) can also affect court proceedings and verdicts. In companies, hiring managers may look for body language cues to choose job candidates based on their perceived honesty or attitude. These scenarios can end up with a person being unfairly judged based on an imperfect reading of body language.

 

6. Body Language Has Torpedoed Presidential Candidates

One of the most popular uses of body language is to decode the performances of presidential candidates, especially during debates — and it doesn’t always work out well for the candidates. In 1960, Richard Nixon’s presidential hopes went up in flames when he sweated and fidgeted next to the cool and confident John F. Kennedy during the first televised presidential debate. The debate showed how important body language would become in voters’ perceptions of candidates; every prior debate had been broadcast only on radio.

 

 

Source: Facts About Body Language

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - BETTE DAVIS

Did you know... As the star of The Little Foxes (1941), Now Voyager (1942), and All About Eve (1950), Bette Davis was one of the biggest names of the classic Hollywood era. Yet she was not your typical leading lady, often playing outspoken and even unsympathetic characters. This beloved icon, with her instantly recognizable heavy-lidded eyes, had a career that spanned almost 60 years. Here are six facts about the memorable Bette Davis.

 

1. Bette Davis Started Her Career on the Stage

Bette Davis got her start on the stage after developing an interest in acting at a finishing school, Cushing Academy in Massachusetts. However, when she applied in 1928 to take classes in New York with renowned director and actress Eva Le Gallienne, the latter rejected her as “a frivolous little girl.” She then became a star pupil at John Murray Anderson’s dramatic school and joined a stock theater company operated by George Cukor, who would later direct dozens of Hollywood hits. In 1929, she earned rave reviews for the Broadway hit Broken Dishes. The following year, a scout for Universal Studios saw her in Solid South and invited her to screen test.

 

2. Davis Failed Multiple Hollywood Screen Tests

Her first Hollywood screen tests did not go very well. Davis arrived in Hollywood with her mother, but the studio representative sent to meet her at the train left because he claimed not to see anyone who looked like an actress. A movie executive watched one screen test and announced she had no sex appeal. In others, she was rejected because of crooked teeth. She even once recalled fleeing the room, screaming, after seeing herself on-screen. Universal eventually offered her a contract, but she was given small, forgettable roles. Davis was preparing to return to New York when Warner Bros. offered her a contract — and then she was on her way to stardom.

 

3. She Fled the U.S. and Was Sued by Warner Bros. Studio

Davis soon developed a reputation for being strong-willed. Although she got better parts with Warner Bros. and was the studio’s first Best Actress Academy Award winner, she became frustrated with male stars getting better opportunities. She also hated the studio deciding when and where she could work. In 1936, she went to the U.K. to make two films, a move that caused Warner Bros. to sue her for breach of contract. She ultimately lost the case and returned to Hollywood. However, the case did lead to her getting more respect, with a new contract from Warner Bros. and better roles.

 

4. Davis Had a Famous Feud with Joan Crawford

One of Bette Davis’ most memorable later roles was in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). The feud between her and co-star Joan Crawford was mirrored by their on-screen loathing of one another. Crawford had been married to a Pepsi executive and was on the company’s board, and so Davis insisted on a Coke machine being installed in her dressing room during the production, among other episodes. By some accounts, Davis hit Crawford so hard in one scene that Crawford required stitches. Davis was nominated for an Academy Award, but Crawford actively campaigned against her. It was Crawford who accepted the Oscar on awards night — on behalf of Anne Bancroft, who could not be there to accept it in person. In later years, both actresses spoke of their respect for each other, although Davis criticized Crawford’s vanity.

 

5. Davis Shares the Record for Most Consecutive Academy Award Nominations

Davis is one of two actresses with five consecutive Academy Award nominations. She shares the honor with Greer Garson, who beat Davis to win for Mrs. Miniver (1942). In 1962, she became the first person to have been nominated for 10 Oscars, a feat surpassed only by Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, and Jack Nicholson. A write-in campaign for her part in Of Human Bondage (1934) adds another, unofficial, nomination. She won the Best Actress Award for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). A win for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? would have made her the first three-time winner in a non-supporting category.

 

6. She Was the First Woman to Receive the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award

In 1977, Bette Davis became the fifth (and first female) recipient of the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. The award is given to a performer “whose work has stood the test of time.” In announcing her as the winner, the AFI said, “She is that rarest of creatures — the consummate professional.” By the 1970s, she was still doing some movies, including Death on the Nile (1978). She was also taking more television roles. Davis continued to act through the 1980s, despite a stroke and breast cancer. Her final role was with fellow Hollywood veteran Lillian Gish in The Whales of August (1987). Davis died in France two years later.

 

 

Source: Fascinating Facts About Bette Davis

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - OPRAH WINFREY

Did you know..... From her rise to prominence by way of a quarter-century run as the host of an eponymous talk show, Oprah Winfrey has undertaken an extraordinary career journey that made her, among other things, the first woman to own and produce her own talk show, a 2013 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and one of the few celebrities famous enough to be known solely on a first-name basis. Here are six more facts about the wildly successful screen personality, entrepreneur, and philanthropist appropriately known as the “Queen of All Media.”

 

1. Her Real First Name Is "Orpah"

According to her birth certificate, we’ve been saying the media queen’s first name incorrectly all this time. Born in January 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the future TV host was named “Orpah,” after a woman in the Bible’s Book of Ruth. However, the unusual name immediately caused confusion among family, who adopted a slightly different version of the moniker for their newest member. As she later explained during one early audition tape, “No one knew how to spell in my home, and that’s why it ended up being Oprah.” Her birth certificate still reads “Orpah,” but to everyone who knows her — which now includes millions of fans around the world — she’ll always be “Oprah.”

 

2. Oprah Initially Wanted No Part of Daytime Talk Television

A few years after beginning her TV career as a news anchor at age 19, Oprah was dismayed to learn that executives at Baltimore’s WJZ-TV wanted her to co-host a daytime talk show. (She reportedly worried that she “wouldn’t be taken seriously as a journalist.”) According to Kitty Kelley’s Oprah: A Biography, the newscaster begged her bosses to reconsider and left their meeting “with tears in her eyes” when she realized she had no other option. But something clicked while she conducted interviews during the August 1978 debut of People Are Talking, and Oprah realized that “this is what [she] was meant to do.”

 

3. A Date With Roger Ebert Sent Her Career in a New Direction

Fans are well aware of Oprah’s long-term relationship with Stedman Graham, but lesser known is her brief but consequential dating history with famed movie critic Roger Ebert. During one dinner together in the mid-1980s, Oprah revealed her uncertainty on how to handle offers to take her show into national syndication. Ebert, by then already a TV veteran as co-host of At the Movies, did some quick calculations that showed the staggering amount of money she stood to earn from a syndication deal. The financial tip wasn’t enough to save their fledgling romance, but it did point Oprah in the right direction and pave the way for the syndicated launch of The Oprah Winfrey Show in September 1986.

 

4. She Made Her Film Debut With an Assist from Quincy Jones

Her early television success notwithstanding, Oprah remained hopeful of realizing her dream to become an actress. She finally got the opportunity she’d been waiting for in the mid-1980s, when music producer Quincy Jones, who was trying to pull together a big-screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, was captivated by the then-still-relatively-unknown TV host and recommended her to his casting agent. Despite her lack of professional acting experience, Oprah wound up with the part of Sofia, a choice that was validated when she earned a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1985 film. She went on to found her own production company, Harpo Productions, through which she continued to satisfy her acting ambitions, with roles in movies including Beloved (1998) and Selma (2014). She also earned acclaim for her performance in The Butler (2013), and starred alongside Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling in 2018’s flashy film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.

 

5. Oprah Acted on an Employee's Tip to Launch Her Book Club

Among the most popular recurring segments of her show, Oprah’s Book Club grew from a love of reading shared with an intern named Alice McGee. After several years of bonding over the books they were enjoying, McGee, who had risen to become a senior producer, suggested to Oprah that they open up the literary discussion to audience members. Although her team was hesitant to support the idea at first, they determined that it could work if audiences were given enough time to read a book. So on September 17, 1996, Oprah’s Book Club hit the airwaves with her recommendation of Jacquelyn Mitchard’s The Deep End of the Ocean. In the 15 years that followed, Oprah recommended some 70 books, from Toni Morrison’s Paradise and Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory to John Steinbeck’s East of Eden and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The segment encountered a few bumps along the way — most famously when the September 2005 selection A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, was revealed to have been partially fabricated, despite being marketed as nonfiction — but its success and influence were undeniable. Authors whose books were chosen often saw massive increases in sales, a boost that became known as the “Oprah Effect.” The original Book Club ended with her show in 2011, but recent years have seen newer iterations in O, The Oprah Magazine and on Apple TV+.

 

6. Oprah Despises Chewing Gum

Oprah has famously shared a list of her favorite things almost every year since the 1990s, first on her eponymous talk show, and then in O, The Oprah Magazine and, more recently, on her Oprah Daily website. One thing you’ll probably never see on the list? Chewing gum. As she shared during a 2018 appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, she “intensely” dislikes the stuff. Her aversion stemmed from a grandmother who left gum all around the house. “She would put it on the bedpost,” Oprah recalled. “She would put it in the cabinet. She would put it everywhere around. And so as a child, I would bump into it, and it would, like, rub up against me.” The media queen has since attempted to eradicate any traces of gum from her life, with limited success: “It’s barred at my offices, nobody is allowed, but when I go out into the world, I can’t bare it,” she told Colbert. “It’s a thing. It creeps me out.”

 

 

Source: Facts About Oprah Winfrey, the “Queen of All Media”

Edited May 2, 2023 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - MEMORABLE THEME SONGS

Did you know.... It’s been said that we live in a golden age of television due to the plethora of high-quality programs available on cable and streaming services. While that may be true, and recent programs such as Game of Thrones and Stranger Things deserve credit for delivering engaging opening-credit sequences, it’s clear to most TV fans that the heyday of the catchy, finger-snapping theme song passed well before anybody knew what a streaming service was. Here’s a look back at seven memorable theme songs that were every bit as beloved as the shows they represented.

 

1. "Gilligan's Island"

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale of how this beloved theme song came to life. Needing to sell the idea that his deserted-island comedy could start each week with an expositional theme song — a relatively new concept in the 1960s — Gilligan’s Island creator Sherwood Schwartz performed a song that he had penned on the fly, “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” to a room of CBS executives. The song was well-received, and  according to Jon Burlingame's book TV's Biggest Hits, Schwartz then teamed with George Wyle, who wrote the holiday song "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” to reshape the music into what he called a "sea chantey." The now-familiar singalong was modified after season one to include mention of the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), who had previously been lumped together as "the rest." Schwartz later reprised his exposition-packed theme song formula to similar results with The Brady Bunch.

 

2. "The Addams Family"

Occasionally, gold springs forth from penny-pinching roots. Upon learning that Charles Addams' cartoons about a spooky family were being adapted for television, and that producers were planning to skimp on the music budget, composer Vic Mizzy reportedly offered to write its theme song for free. Per TV's Biggest Hits, his cost-cutting solution was to bang out a ghoulish-sounding tune, “The Addams Family Theme,” on the harpsichord, with his "creepy and kooky" lyrics overdubbed to give the effect of a chorus. Mizzy was also prominently involved in the title-sequence choreography, which famously features the cast snapping in unison. Amazingly, the song nearly was left out of the 1991 big-screen remake of The Addams Family, before producer Scott Rudin wisely changed course to heed the expectations of the fan base.

 

3. Batman

Composer Neal Hefti worked with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, but his greatest musical challenge may have been when he was asked to score ABC's campy adaptation of the DC Comics superhero Batman. Hefti eventually found the proper tone for his “Batman Theme” by way of a 12-bar blues progression with driving bass and percussion, rounding out the sound with a group of vocalists (not horns, as has been rumored) belting out "Batman!" in unison. Rewarded with a Grammy for his struggles, Hefti also gleefully took credit for his lyrical efforts, mentioning how one chorus member commemorated the recording with the notation: "Word and Music by Neal Hefti."

 

4. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

Already known for writing the rock classic "I Fought the Law," Sonny Curtis delivered his greatest contribution to the world of TV soundtracks after learning of CBS' plans to develop a series for Mary Tyler Moore of The Dick Van Dyke Show fame. Working off a treatment that provided few details of a woman striking out on her own at a big-city news station, Curtis took about two hours to write a song that immediately impressed the producers. Per Burlingame, "Love Is All Around" was then rounded out by former big-band arranger Pat Williams, although its status as an ode to female empowerment wasn't yet complete. That would come after the lyrical changes to the season two opener, which included the tweaking of the line "you might just make it after all" to the more emphatic "you're gonna make it after all."

 

5. "The Jeffersons"

Ja’Net DuBois had already compiled an impressive list of credits, including roles on Broadway and the sitcom Good Times, when she confessed to producer Norman Lear that she yearned for more creative opportunities. Lear offered her the chance to write the theme song to his upcoming spinoff of All in the Family, and DuBois promptly teamed with '60s hitmaker Jeff Barry to pen a song that reflected her attempts to rise from humble beginnings. The result was "Movin' on Up," the opener for The Jeffersons, which featured DuBois' powerhouse vocals about claiming "a piece of the pie" above the singing and clapping of a 35-member choir.

 

6. "Cheers"

In 1982, Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo learned that their song "People Like Us" had interested the producers of a new sitcom about a group of Boston barflies. Unfortunately, "People Like Us" was already attached to their musical, Preppies, so Portnoy and Angelo hammered out a few alternate selections on piano — all of which failed to impress their would-be clients. The duo eventually hit upon a wistful tune that gave way to a rousing chorus about finding sanctuary amid like-minded souls, and following a rewrite to make the lyrics more universal, Portnoy was given the honors to record the number before Cheers hit the airwaves in September. Preppies soon closed production on Broadway, but "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" took flight as the endearing theme of this primetime favorite.

 

 

Source: The Stories Behind 7 Memorable TV Theme Songs

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - UNUSUAL LANDMARKS

Did you know... From the Colosseum to the Empire State Building, global landmarks are enduring symbols of art, history, and innovation. But the world is also filled with unusual buildings that make us stop in our tracks, contemplate the motives of their creators, and ask “Why?” Read on to discover 10 of the most unusual landmarks in the world, from a church that resembles the glass slipper of a giant Cinderella to a jaw-dropping temple scaled by a 17-story dragon.

 

 

1. Church of St. George, Lalibela, Ethiopi

While many of the planet’s most-famous landmarks are visible from a distance, you need to get within a stone’s throw to see this one. The Church of St. George is a centuries-old religious monument hewn from volcanic rock and embedded into the earth. This crucifix-shaped church stands almost 100 feet tall yet barely reaches above the earth’s surface. Access is via sunken tunnels that lead to a labyrinth of chapels and sanctuaries. The church is one of the UNESCO-protected Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela, named for Ethiopian King Lalibela, who supposedly built them from the 12th century as part of a dream to construct a New Jerusalem.  

 

2. Copenhill, Copenhagen, Denmark

From afar Copenhill looks like a typical industrial plant with smoke billowing from its chimney. Get closer and you’ll spot adventurists traveling up and down the sloping roof of this shiny, metal-clad structure — and soon realize that Copenhill is an innovative and futuristic recreational park. There’s opportunities to ski, snowboard, sled, and hike. It’s even possible to scale the outside via the world’s highest climbing wall. All of this activity occurs on top of a waste-to-energy plant that helps to power thousands of city homes — part of a mission to turn Copenhagen into a carbon-neutral capital, and to offer alpine sports in a mountainless country.

 

3. High-Heel Wedding Church, Budai Township, Taiwan

The High-Heel Wedding Church is an all-glass structure that resembles the glass slipper of a giant Cinderella. This 56-foot-tall and 36-foot-wide shoe-church consists of 320 pieces of blue glass. It’s billed as a non-denominational wedding venue and has an open-air stage set in the shoe’s collar. There’s also a sentimental and folkloric tale behind the creation. As the story goes, Blackfoot disease ravished the region many years ago; to save several local women from death, they had to have their feet amputated and thus lost their dream of walking down the aisle in high heels.

 

4. Kubuswoningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Situated in Rotterdam’s Old Port is an ambitious and bizarre housing experiment by Dutch architect Piet Blom. Blom was tasked with redeveloping the port area after it had suffered severe destruction during World War II. The Cube Houses are his attempt to challenge the theory that “a building has to be recognizable as a house for it to qualify as a house.” Each of the colorful three-floor cubes is slanted at 53.5 degrees and perched atop a hexagon-shaped pillar. Some form part of a pedestrian walkway that crosses a busy city thoroughfare. To help visitors appreciate the houses, one of the two super-cubes functions as the Show Cube Museum.

 

5. Longaberger Basket Building, Newark, Ohio

If you are in the business of making baskets, then it only seems logical that your headquarters should resemble one of your products. The Longaberger Basket Building is a kitschy seven-floor replica of the Longaberger company’s Medium Market Basket. The basket-building has two handles that are heated during the cold Ohio winters to avoid icing. It is illuminated at night, invoking the image of a basket-shaped UFO. Former company president Jim Klein and company founder Dave Longaberger both faced challenges from dyslexia, and Klein later called the building a “symbol of overcoming adversity, of what you can achieve.”

 

6. The Pyramid of North Dakota, Nekoma, North Dakota

During the Cold War, the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was established in Cavalier County, North Dakota, to protect the U.S. from Russian ballistic missiles. It featured missile silos, launching silos, and the Pyramid of North Dakota. The latter, a Mayan-like temple structure, was built as a radar for tracking missile movements. However, due to lack of effectiveness in practice, as well as financial and safety concerns, the complex was only operational for a few days. Today it stands as a stark reminder of the Cold War era and an example of military overindulgence. Plus, it’s a worthy side trip for anyone crossing North Dakota’s farmlands via Route 66 —  you’d be forgiven for thinking at first glance that it was a set from a doom-laden science fiction movie.

 

7. Tiger and Turtle Magic Mountain, Duisburg, Germany

Imagine a rollercoaster with all of the usual twists, turns, and steep drops. Now picture one that is made specifically for pedestrians and recreates the thrill and adrenaline of amusement park rides — without the actual ride. Tiger and Turtle Magic Mountain is the brainchild of German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth and pays homage to the restructuring and redesigning of the historically industrial Ruhr Valley. But what about the name? It represents the speed of a tiger and the visitor’s ability to experience it at a turtle’s pace. Sadly, it’s not possible to complete the loop on foot — you can blame physics and gravity for that.

 

8. Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden

The futuristic Turning Torso in Malmö is a reinvention of Spanish artist and architect Santiago Calatrava’s marble sculpture called the Twisting Torso. Calatrava himself designed this mixed-use residential tower, which rotates a full 90 degrees as it rises to its tip. The core of the 623-foot-tall contemporary tower contains the elevators and stairs; spiraling around it are nine cube-shaped units. Each unit has five floors that are used for office spaces and residential apartments, and there is also a 49th-floor observation deck. The tower soars above Malmö’s redeveloped Western Harbor and is the tallest building in Sweden.

 

9. Wat Samphran Temple, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand

Away from the typical Thai tourist trail and scarcely mentioned in guidebooks is the extravagant Wat Samphran Temple. Also known as the Dragon Temple, it has an exotic dragon sculpture that curls all the way up a 17-story cylindrical pink tower. The 80-meter height (262 feet) of the tower is symbolic of the age that Buddha died, while the dragon’s five claws stand for the five precepts of Buddhism. Perhaps best of all, the dragon doubles as a tunneled walkway that lets visitors walk to the top of the tower, where panoramic views await.

 

10. World’s Largest Rocking Chair, Casey, Illinois
If you find yourself lost in the small city of Casey, Illinois, then you can orientate yourself by looking for the World’s Largest Rocking Chair. Recognized by the Guinness World Records, this landmark stands an incredible 56 feet tall and 33 feet wide and towers over Casey City Hall. The chair had to actually rock to earn it world record status, so 10 strong residents were called upon for the task. Wondering what the connection is between the city and a giant rocking chair? It’s part of Big Things in a Small Town, a plan by a local artist to increase tourism in the city. Casey now boasts 12 Guinness World Records, including the largest golf tee, wind chime, and wooden shoes.

 

 

Source: Most Unusual Landmarks on the Planet

Edited May 4, 2023 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - CINCO DE MAYO

Did you know....  Cinco de Mayo may translate to “Fifth of May,” but there is a lot more to the annual springtime celebration of Hispanic heritage and culture in the United States than the many margarita-soaked festivities that ensue all over the nation. So before you throw on your sombrero and head to tequila town, take a shotful of these five hechos you may not have known about the holiday.

 

1. Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico’s victory against France at the Battle of Puebla.

We drink margaritas on this day because a small, rag-tag group of Mexicans beat the odds and defeated a much larger, better-equipped French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The battle was part of the larger Franco-Mexican War that lasted another five years—France wanted to take over the North American country after a cash-strapped Mexico defaulted on some European loans—and resulted in Mexican victory. The first Cinco de Mayo celebrations are said to have occurred in California not long after the conclusion of the Battle of Puebla, where overjoyed Mexican gold miners whooped and hollered and shot off guns and fireworks.

 

2. Congress passed a resolution recognizing Cinco de Mayo.

In the mid-20th century, Cinco de Mayo became more of an American celebration of Hispanic heritage and culture than a Mexican holiday. Cinco de Mayo earned widespread adoption in the United States during the 1960s and El Movimento (the Chicano Civil Rights Movement), and Congress passed a resolution in 2005 to recognize the “historical significance” of the holiday.

 

3. Los Angeles hosts one of the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

Each year, downtown LA blocks off major streets and welcomes hundreds of thousands of people to Fiesta Broadway, an afternoon of music, food and crafts in honor of Hispanic heritage. Fiesta Broadway dates back to 1990, and was modeled after Miami’s famous Calle Ocho street party.

 

4. Cinco de Mayo’s signature liquor dates back to the 16th century.
Tequila, the staple of many a modern Cinco de Mayo celebration, is derived from the agave plant. Its modern incarnation is brewed from the blue agave native to the Jalisco region of Mexico, and dates back to the 1500s when the Spanish occupation introduced the European art of distilling. But before that, the Aztec people had brewed a beer-like beverage called pulque from a related agave plant (the maguey) for centuries. Only priests could drink it, and how it was invented is the stuff of myth. Several popular legends include one involving a drunken opossum pulling nectar from the plant, and another asserting that ancient gods sent lightning to split the plant and reveal the nectar to humans.

 

5. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day.

Many of those celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. mistake it for Mexico’s Independence Day. Mexico’s Día de la Independencia is September 16. On that day in 1810, the Spanish priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla gave a rousing speech calling for Mexicans to launch a revolution against Spain and in support of racial and class equality. Eleven years later, Spain accepted Mexico’s declaration of independence.

 

 

Source: Fun Facts About Cinco de Mayo

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ESPIONAGE

Did you know.... Spies have always been a source of excitement and intrigue. Fictional characters like James Bond (who was partially based on one of the real-life spies below) tend to glamorize the profession, but the stories of the real men and women spying behind enemy lines are notable for their brilliance, determination, and in many cases, sheer luck.

 

1. Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall was an American who worked for the State Department in various European countries until 1939. When World War II broke out, she enlisted in the French ambulance corps in Paris, but managed to escape to Britain after France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. There, she was recruited by a spy working for the British government. After completing training, Hall adopted the disguise of a New York Post reporter and was sent back to Nazi-occupied France in August 1941. Hall quickly built up a spy network and used a brothel to gather information from German troops. Eventually, she was sitting atop the Gestapo's most-wanted list and was chased out of France by Klaus Barbie, The Butcher of Lyon himself. She walked for three days across snow-covered mountains in the dead of winter to make her escape into Spain. As if that weren’t enough for one war or lifetime, Hall wanted to return. Britain wouldn't allow her to cross French lines because of the target on her back, so she finally convinced her American homeland to do so. Posing as an old milkmaid, she went back to France in 1944 and this time, did even more damage to the German invaders. She called airdrops for resistance fighters, sabotaged trains, and blew up bridges all before the Allies even made it into France. Oh, and she accomplished everything with only one leg; she'd lost her left leg below the knee to a hunting accident in 1933 and used a wooden prosthetic for the rest of her life. Hall was often called the "la dame qui boite" — the lady with the limp.

 

2. Shi Pei Pu

Shi Pei Pu was a male Chinese opera singer and playwright in the 1960s. After meeting a French embassy clerk, Bernard Boursicot, the two became fast friends. Under the guise of teaching him Chinese, Shi and Boursicot began meeting regularly, and that's when Shi told the naive Frenchman a fantastical tale. Shi was born a girl, but because her parents wanted a boy, they raised her as a boy. For Shi's whole life, because she lived in Chairman Mao's China, she could not risk being outed for lying about her identity. Men playing female parts in Beijing's opera was not uncommon, and because Shi was small, had delicate features, and had dressed and lived as a man, Boursicot did not suspect he was being lied to. The two began an affair, and eventually Boursicot began stealing embassy documents pertaining to the USSR that Shi could use to improve her standing in the Chinese Communist Party. Bouriscot bounced around the globe, doing foreign service stints from Beijing to Paris to New Orleans to Mongolia. The first time he left China, perhaps as a means to secure her long-con honeypot, Shi told Bouriscot she thought she might be pregnant. When he returned two years later, she presented a picture of a little boy, whom Bouriscot wouldn't meet until the child was 7. But it was enough to keep him hooked, and though he had other relationships when he wasn't in Beijing, he always returned to Shi. This ruse lasted for two solid decades. When Shi and Bouriscot were eventually arrested in Paris in 1983 and charged with espionage, Shi admitted that he was a man — and had been a man — the whole time.

 

3. Pearl Witherington

Pearl Witherington was born in Paris to British parents in 1914. When Germany invaded France in 1940, it took her family months to escape to Britain. Witherington started working for the British Air Ministry, but was determined to get her revenge on the Nazis. In 1943, she joined Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) and parachuted into occupied France to work as a courier posing as a cosmetics saleswoman. For the next few months, "Marie" smuggled weapons into France for the resistance and "harassed" German troops — meaning to exhaust or impede their forces. In May 1944, her superior in the SOE network was caught and arrested by the Gestapo. Witherington, who then changed her code name to Pauline, took over his operation. Her team interrupted train lines some 800 times, preventing the German army from moving troops and supplies toward Normandy. She rallied and led a 3,000-person guerrilla network and saw the surrender of 18,000 German troops. Her campaign was so effective that the Nazis offered 1 million francs for her capture. After the war, she continued living in France. She died in 2008 at the age of 93.

 

4. Sidney Reilly

Perhaps one of the best markers for a spy is how little is truly known about them. Around the turn of the century, a Russian-born British spy who went by the name of Sidney Reilly moved between regimes and behind enemy lines with surprising ease. He later became known as the "Ace of Spies," and was Ian Fleming's inspiration for his James Bond novels Details of his life have been obfuscated by myth and the occasional lack of hard evidence, but by most accounts, he was known for his charismatic personality, womanizing, and the ability to get into and out of the tightest of situations. During the Russo-Japanese War, he worked as a double agent for Britain and the Japanese Empire. During World War I, he provided detailed information about Germany’s naval development program. After the war, he went to Russia determined to take down Lenin (including participation in a failed assassination attempt) and the Bolshevik regime. Eventually, in 1925, his cover was blown and he was arrested by Soviet officials. He was executed that November, but, of course, a lack of evidence allowed room for rumors that he'd escaped, defected, faked his death, or was perhaps just donning a new identity and was still working in the field.

 

5. Cher Ami

Cher Ami is the only non-human on this list, but no less deserving of recognition. During World War I, many military battalions still relied on carrier pigeons to get information back and forth. Unfortunately, pigeons were also very risky. Despite their small size and speed, they could be shot down by enemy gunners and their messages intercepted. In fact, gunners were trained to shoot down pigeons because they were so valuable. On October 4, 1918, some 500 American soldiers found themselves pinned behind enemy lines. Things were looking dire as pigeon after pigeon was shot out of the sky. Since other American troops didn’t even know where they were, they were getting bombed by their own allies. There was only one pigeon left, named Cher Ami, and with it, the last hope of the soldiers in the "Lost Battalion." They attached a note that gave their location along with the friendly message regarding the bombardments: “For heaven’s sake, stop it.” Cher Ami flew headfirst into enemy gunfire. He was shot through the chest just after takeoff, but managed to finish the 25-mile journey. When the allies read the message, they adjusted their artillery fire and saved the lives of 194 trapped American soldiers. Cher Ami survived and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, one of France’s highest military honors. He returned to the United States with his handler, and can now be seen (in stuffed version) at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

 

 

Source: Fascinating 20th-Century Spies

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - TELEPHONE

Did you know.... Most of us are familiar with the story of the first telephone call: On March 10, 1876, Boston University professor Alexander Graham Bell reached for the curious invention on his desk, rang up his trusty assistant, and said, "Watson, come here… I want you to look at this text." OK, maybe not quite. But the moment did mark a seismic change in the history of communications — the birth of a creation that enabled people to bridge the gap across towns, cities, countries, and eventually the world, before being repurposed as a means for sending misspelled messages and watching silly videos. Here are six facts about the ubiquitous, sometimes irritating, but nevertheless remarkable telephone.

 

1. Bell Wasn’t the First to Build a Working Phone

While Alexander Graham Bell is known as the “father of the telephone,” he wasn’t the first to conceive of its existence. Italian-born inventor Antonio Meucci and the German physicist Johann Philipp Reis had both previously fashioned functional sound-transmission devices, and Illinois inventor Elisha Gray submitted a “patent caveat” — a type of preliminary application meant to essentially save one’s space in line — for his version of the phone on the very same day that Bell filed his patent. Gray eventually launched a protracted legal battle for the rights to the patent, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bell in 1888.

 

2. Telephone Numbers Were Once Controversial

Telephone numbers were first used in 1879, after a measles epidemic hit Lowell, Massachusetts, keeping many of the local switchboard operators — on whom the earliest telephone systems depended — out of work. The response was to designate phone subscribers by number, allowing new operators to quickly get up to speed without knowing the hundreds of local subscribers by name, although management initially worried that customers would object to numerical identification as dehumanizing. In the 1960s, after most American communities had adopted an alphanumeric system that included the name of the local exchange, customers did indeed balk at the switch from the alphanumeric system to all-digit phone numbers, with organizations such as the Anti-Digit Dialing League emerging to remind the phone overlords that human beings existed within the sea of numbers.

 

3. The First Pay Phone Appeared in the 1880s

A 19th-century Connecticut machinery polisher named William Gray endured a scare when he was unable to access a phone to call a doctor to treat his ailing wife. The good news: His wife recovered, and the experience drove Gray to develop a coin-operated phone that would be available to the public, and not just those who could afford an expensive private subscription service. His first pay phone appeared in a Connecticut bank in 1889, and by 1902, there were approximately 81,000 such contraptions around the country. That number swelled to 2 million by the end of the century, before reversing as cellphone ownership became commonplace — leaving only about 100,000 remaining pay phones to be found by 2018.

 

4. A Disgruntled Undertaker Created the Automated Phone Exchange

Around the same time that Gray was tinkering with his pay phone, a Kansas City undertaker named Almon B. Strowger was looking to circumvent the operators he felt were diverting would-be customers to a competing business. The solution was an electromagnetic-powered automated exchange, which earned a patent in 1891 and was up and running in La Porte, Indiana, the following year. Although the operator workforce continued to thrive into the next century, their population began to dwindle with the onset of improved automated technology in the 1930s. By 2021, there were reportedly just 5,000 employees classified as “telephone operators” by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

5. The First Cellphone Call Was Placed in 1973

The first mobile telephone call took place on June 17, 1946, from a car stocked with 80 pounds worth of transmission equipment. However, the handheld cell as we know it can be traced to the work of Motorola executive Martin Cooper, who demonstrated his company’s prototype with a call from a Midtown Manhattan street on April 3, 1973. The first cellphone hit the market 11 years later, in the form of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, a 2-pound behemoth that offered customers the chance to talk uninterrupted for 30 minutes (following a 10-hour charge time) for the whopping price of $3,995.

 

6. The First Smartphone Was Introduced in 1992

The next major evolutionary step in phone history came with the introduction of IBM’s Simon Personal Communicator in 1992. A cellphone capable of sending and receiving pages, faxes, and emails, it was the world’s first smartphone, even if the term hadn't been coined yet. As with many technological trailblazers, Simon was oversized, expensive, and short-lived. Following the phone’s commercial release in August 1994, IBM sold only about 50,000 units before discontinuing the product early the following year. But there was no going back on the idea, and by early 2023, there were more than 6 billion smartphone subscribers around the world.

 

 

Source: Fascinating Facts About the Telephone

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - STAR WARS

Did you know.... Few films have had as profound an impact on cinema as the original Star Wars and the multibillion-dollar franchise it inspired. For nearly 50 years, fans have been dressing up as Jedi, stormtroopers, and Sith, and imagining their own adventures in a galaxy far, far away. In fact, the films have had such a cultural impact that May 4 (“May the Fourth Be With You”) is essentially an official holiday for Star Wars fans the world over. Here are seven little-known facts about Star Wars, exploring both the production of the films and the inspiration behind the saga’s most iconic characters.

 

1. Filming the Original “Star Wars” Almost Caused an International Conflict

Although Star Wars is famously set in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas used real-world sets and locations to stand in for extraterrestrial locales throughout the original trilogy. The ice planet Hoth in Empire Strikes Back was filmed near the town of Finse, Norway, while the forest moon of Endor scenes made use of the giant redwoods near Crescent City, California. One of the most iconic locations in all nine films is the Skywalker homestead on the desert planet of Tatooine. Lucas decided to shoot these scenes, which kick off the entire Star Wars franchise, in the desert of Tunisia (though parts were also filmed in Death Valley, California). In the mid-1970s, Tunisia had a tense relationship with the Libyan government, run by Muammar Gaddafi. Star Wars filmed in Nefta, Tunisia, not far from the Tunisian-Libyan border. The biography George Lucas: A Life details how the Libyan government originally perceived the production as a military buildup along the border, mistaking a Jawa Sandcrawler for military hardware. Libyan inspectors even crossed the border to confirm that these otherworldly vehicles posed no real military threat. Thankfully, the matter ended smoothly.

 

2. Darth Vader’s Look Is Based on a Real Japanese Samurai

The inspiration behind the original Star Wars is famously pulled from a variety of sources. The iconic title crawl that sets up the space drama in the film’s opening seconds can be found in 1930s adventure serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. The space battles between TIE fighters and X-Wings are a direct reference to WWII dogfighting, and the concept of the Jedi is likely lifted from the pages of Frank Herbert’s Dune. But the most iconic character in the entire saga is undoubtedly Darth Vader, and his look is based on a very real historical figure — a Japanese samurai warlord named Date Masamune. Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist behind the original trilogy of films, was influenced by Japanese samurai armor, and especially the jet-black armor of Masamune, who was born in 1567. The helmets are the most alike, but McQuarrie also borrowed the extended neck piece from Masamune’s armor. Vader’s helmet includes additional influences from helmets worn by the German army during WWII, all used to create the most ominous villain the galaxy (and moviegoers) have ever seen.

 

3. “I Have a Bad Feeling About This” Is Said in Every "Star Wars" Film

The entire Star Wars saga is filled with little Easter eggs and references to other characters and events throughout the franchise. One that can be easily missed is the phrase “I have a bad feeling about this,” said in every single Star Wars film (and sometimes even uttered multiple times). The phrase is also found in one-off live-action films, animated TV shows, video game series, and novels, and has become a kind of “in-joke” among Star Wars creators. Notably, The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars saga, appears to be the only exception, as no character seemingly utters the famous phrase on screen. But director Rian Johnson confirmed that BB-8 actually delivers the line in binary, after which Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac, retorts, “Happy beeps here, buddy, come on.”

 

4. “The Last Jedi” Invented Porgs To Digitally Mask Real-Life Puffins

One of the most important locations in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi is the remote island on the planet Ahco-To, where a disgruntled Luke Skywalker spends his self-imposed exile and subsequently trains an adamant Rey. These scenes were shot on a very real Irish island called Skellig Michael. Although perfect for creating a much-needed sense of isolation, the island is also a wildlife preserve for puffins. The puffins became a real problem during the many scenes filmed on the island, as they constantly flew into shots and disrupted production. By law, The Last Jedi crew couldn’t mess with them, so according to Jake Lunt Davies, a creature concept designer on the film, the team decided to design an in-universe creature that lived on the island and digitally replaced any puffins that got in the shot with them. Hence, Porgs were born.

 

5. 'N Sync Was Almost in “Attack of the Clones”

Turn back the clock to 2001, and pop culture was obsessed with both the new Star Wars prequel franchise and the boy band 'N Sync. At the behest of George Lucas’ daughter (along with the daughter of producer Rick McCullum), the members of 'N Sync were offered minor roles during the final battle on Geonosis. Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass declined the invitation, supposedly too tired from touring, but the other three band members — Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick — donned Jedi robes and shot their scenes for the film. The moment was particularly special for Fatone, who had an entire room of his house dedicated to Star Wars memorabilia. Sadly, the footage wasn’t used in the final cut, and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo instead became a little-known piece of Star Wars history.

 

6. The Original “Star Wars” Almost Wasn’t Made

It’s almost unfathomable that a movie studio would pass up the opportunity to make Star Wars, but in the mid-1970s, George Lucas’ little indie film was perilously close to never being made. Lucas first tried to get the rights to Flash Gordon in order to make his own big-screen version, but when he was unable to secure a deal, he decided to make his own space adventure. Once he had the idea, he needed the money, but United Artists, Universal, and even Disney (which later bought the franchise rights for $4.05 billion in 2012) all passed on funding the film. Finally, 20th Century Fox agreed to finance the project, not because they thought the film would be any good, but mostly to secure a relationship with the up-and-coming director. With an initial budget of only $8 million (eventually bumped up to $11 million) and plenty of disasters during filming and post-production, Star Wars was born from both financial and artistic adversity, yet it has gone on to inspire generations of fans around the globe.

 

 

Source: Fun Facts About "Star Wars"

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - DIGITAL-ERA ACRONYMS

Did you know.... When it comes to the many acronyms used in texting and online, IYKYK (if you know, you know), but if you don’t, things can get confusing quickly. Made popular by fast-paced digital communication, these acronyms may be here to stay (although the lexicon is constantly growing). We might remember with fondness the simple days of LOL and BRB, but we’ve since moved on to more elaborate initialisms such as “ELI5” and “PEBKAC.” So, DYK (do you know) some of the most popular acronyms of today? If not, DW (don’t worry) — you will soon.

 

1. YMMV

“Your mileage may vary.” This is a clever way to say that the results, opinions, or experiences are different for everyone. The original phrase dates back to the 1970s and ’80s when auto manufacturers would promote their estimated mileage. Ads would state, “Your mileage may vary.” Today, the acronym can be seen on online reviews and chat forums. For example, “The battery life on my wireless headphones lasts through the work day, but YMMV.”

 

2. ELI5

For when you have no idea what’s going on: “ELI5,” or, “explain like I’m 5.” Literally, explain this to me as if I am a child. Aside from inserting some humor into what might be a frustrating situation, it’s a request for a simple explanation instead of a lengthy, complicated one. Like so many popular acronyms of today, ELI5 was born on Reddit (r/explainlikeimfive).
 

3. PEBKAC

The office IT support will be able to tell you that this one means, “problem exists between keyboard and chair,” meaning, the problem is the user. This is also a good way to poke fun at yourself after misreading an email or having a slow start to your Monday. (Another variation of this is “PIBKAC,” or “problem is between keyboard and chair”).

 

4. ICYMI

As a favorite among journalists and social media gossip accounts, “ICYMI” means “in case you missed it.” This initialism is usually used with a sense of enthusiasm, as in, “ICYMI — The Biggest Wins on the Red Carpet.”

 

5. IIRC

“If I recall correctly.” This handy abbreviation has been recorded online since at least the early 1990s, but is making a resurgence thanks to Reddit and other online forums. (A variation of this is “if I remember correctly”).

 

6. IMHO

This is a useful one for maintaining friendships. “IMHO” means “in my humble opinion.” The related, and slightly better known, “IMO” stands for “in my opinion,” but that one might come off a little brash at times. It can also help determine facts from opinions in chat situations. (“In my honest opinion” is another variation of this).

 

7. AFAIK

“As far as I know,” the budget meeting is still tomorrow. “AFAIK” is useful office lingo, but don’t mix it up with “AFAIC.” While equally useful, “as far as I’m concerned” has a much different context.

 

8. TL;DR

Here’s the rare instance where punctuation is inserted into the internet abbreviation for the message that reads, “Too long; didn’t read.” This handy acronym can be used as an interjection or at the end of a very lengthy message or article, just before a summary. For example, “TL;DR — We will be moving our weekly meetings to Tuesday.” In this usage, it’s easy for readers to skim down to a summary, but it’s also been adopted as a snarky response to an overly long explanation.

 

9. FTFY

“Fixed that for you.” This one can come off as genuine or rude, depending on its context. For example, if a friend tells the group chat, “The Beatles are the best band,” and you reply, “The Eagles. FTFY,” it’s generally understood that it’s good-natured teasing. This can also be used more literally when giving a coworker something that you revised, for example. Tread lightly with this acronym — it can sometimes be seen as aggressive, especially when correcting someone’s work.

 

10. TFW

TFW it’s Friday! “That feeling when” is also related to “MFW,” or “my face when.” It’s a snappy and easily relatable intro for situations ranging from pre-vacation excitement to the dog chewing up a new pair of shoes. Typically, the acronym will be accompanied by an image, GIF, or emoji.

 

 

Source: DYK These 10 Digital-Era Acronyms?

Edited May 9, 2023 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - COLOR PURPLE

Did you know.... The color purple is many things — a quirk of human biology, a spectral anomaly, and a symbol of power and prestige that stretches back into time immemorial. These six facts explore the amazingly rich, scientifically complicated history of that intriguing mix of blue and red we call purple.

 

1. The Word “Purple” Is Related to the Greek Name for a Specific Mollusk

The origins of the word “purple” lie in the ancient Greek porphura, which also means “purple.” However, the word is also a reference to a particular mollusk — a sea snail, to be precise. Known as the purpura mollusk (Stramonita haemastoma), this sea snail and another known as the dye murex (Bolinus brandaris) were the primary means by which the ancient Phoenicians of the Levant developed a purple dye known as Tyrian purple (named after the city of Tyre, where it was manufactured). Starting possibly as far back as the 16th century BCE, Phoenicians (whose name derives from a Greek word for “purple”) derived the dye from dehydrated mucus glands behind the creature’s rectum. Each mollusk yielded extremely limited amounts of dye, requiring a staggering 12,000 mollusks to produce just one gram of the stuff.

 

2. The Color Purple Technically Doesn’t Exist

Our eyes perceive color in the visible spectrum due to particular wavelengths: Red is the longest wavelength, at 700 nanometers, whereas violet is the shortest, at 380 nanometers. This is why the invisible wavelengths just below this threshold are known as ultraviolet, or UV rays (and why wavelengths directly above 700 nanometers are known as “infrared”). The color purple, however, is what physicists call a “nonspectral color,” meaning it isn’t represented by a particular wavelength of light, but is instead a mixture of them as perceived by our brain. While some people use violet and purple interchangeably, the two colors are distinct; violet (which is part of the visible spectrum) has a more bluish hue, whereas purple is more red. The cones in our eyes receive inputs, and our brain uses ratios of these inputs to represent subtleties of color. Purple is therefore a complete construction of our brain, as no wavelength represents the color naturally. But purple isn’t alone — the same can be said for other colors such as black and white, as well as particular hues mixed with grayscale, such as pink and brown.

 

3. Only One National Flag in the World Contains Purple

Expert vexillologists (people who study flags) have noticed a strange color conundrum: Only one national flag in the world contains the color purple, and that flag belongs to the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica. The flag, adopted on November 3, 1978, after the country gained independence from Great Britain, features a green field representing the island's forests, accompanied by yellow, white, and black crosses. At its center is a red disk with 10 stars (for the 10 parishes on the island) — all encircling the purple plumage of the sisserou parrot (Amazona imperialis), the country’s national bird. Although Nicaragua and El Salvador do feature rainbows on their flags, purple technically isn’t found in a spectral rainbow (see above), so the flag of Dominica stands alone in its purple splendor.

 

4. Carrots Used to Be Purple

Your average supermarket orange carrot originally evolved thanks to the Dutch during the 16th century. But when the cultivated carrot first appeared some 5,000 years ago in Central Asia, it’s thought that they were often a bright purple rather than the orange we know today. An unsupported myth suggests that the Dutch purposefully cultivated orange carrots to honor their national hero William of Orange, but the more likely reason is that the orange-hued varieties tasted better, stained less, and were overall well adapted to the country’s mild, wet climate. Although you’ll likely have to hunt farther afield than your local Piggly Wiggly, some varieties of carrots today still retain the original purple hue.

 

5. In Elizabethan England, It Could Be Illegal To Wear Purple

From ancient times until as recently as the 19th century, the color purple was closely associated with royalty — often because they were the only class that could afford such luxury, which was extremely expensive to produce in the days when the color was still made from sea snails. Persian kings and Egyptian rulers wore the illustrious hue, and Julius Caesar similarly donned a purple toga, setting a 1,500-year-long trend for subsequent emperors in Rome and Byzantium. The color was so intimately tied with the ruling class that the children of kings, queens, and emperors were said to be “born to the purple.” By the 16th century, however, things slowly began to change, as a wealthy merchant class began snatching purple-dyed garments of their own. In 1577, fearing that such lavish spending on “unnecessary foreign wares” could bankrupt the kingdom, Queen Elizabeth I passed sumptuary laws that essentially outlined a strict dress code based on class. Of course, the color purple (and crimson) was reserved for her majesty and her extended royal family, “upon payne to forfett the seid apparel.”

 

6. The First Synthetic Dye Was Purple

Royals and the super-wealthy might have retained their grip on the color purple if not for an 18-year-old British chemist named William Henry Perkin. In 1856, Perkin failed to create a synthetic form of quinine, a compound used to treat malaria. When cleaning out the brown sludge in his beaker with alcohol, he noticed the mixture from the failed experiment turned a brilliant purple — a color he eventually called “mauveine.” This happy accident was the world’s first synthetic dye, and Perkin quickly discovered that his serendipitous creation was immensely cheaper to produce, and lasted longer, than the naturally occurring alternative. The exclusionary tyranny of royal purple was over, and even Queen Victoria herself soon began wearing garments dyed in the brilliant synthetic purple.
 

 

Source: Amazing Facts About Purple

[DarkRavie]

Fact of the Day - ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Did you know.... Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most widely influential women of the 20th century — so much so that serving the longest-ever term as First Lady (1933 to 1945), during World War II no less, is only one bullet point on her resume. As an educator, activist, political adviser, and journalist, Roosevelt touched lives all over the world, helped change the course of history, and clearly spoke her mind, even when her views were bolder than those of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After her death in 1962, she left behind an incredible legacy of social justice, taking forward-thinking stances on issues such as school integration, women in the workplace, and immigrants’ rights. Her personal life is almost as interesting, including her untraditional marriage to FDR. What was her first connection to the Roosevelt family? How did she enter social service? Just how thick was her FBI file? These six facts about Eleanor Roosevelt might teach you something new about the national icon.

 

1. Eleanor Roosevelt Was Teddy Roosevelt’s Niece

Eleanor had presidential connections far before her marriage to FDR, and when the time came, she didn’t even have to worry about taking his last name (she was born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt). She was Theodore Roosevelt’s niece; her father was Teddy’s younger brother Elliott. In case you’re wondering, FDR comes from a different branch of the Roosevelt family. He was Teddy’s fifth cousin (and fifth cousin once removed to Eleanor). The family was split into two distinct clans, both based in New York and each with its own distinct culture and ethos; FDR came from the Hyde Park Roosevelts, while Teddy (and Eleanor) came from the Oyster Bay Roosevelts.

 

2. Eleanor Roosevelt’s First Career Was Teaching

Public service was deeply meaningful to Eleanor throughout her life, including in her younger days. Not long after turning 18, she started teaching at the Rivington Street Settlement House, a social services facility serving New York City’s Lower East Side, particularly its immigrant population. She continued teaching even as her family’s political responsibilities increased. In 1926, she, along with suffragist Marion Dickerman, bought a K-12 private school for girls called the Todhunter School, also in New York City. Eleanor was a popular teacher, and covered a variety of subjects: history, current events, literature, and drama. After her husband was elected governor of New York in 1929, she continued to teach, even though the position required living in Albany. She commuted back and forth between the capital and the city several days a week.

 

3. Her Marriage Wasn’t Strictly Monogamou

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s marriage started out, at least from the outside, as pretty ordinary. They were married in 1905, and had six children between 1906 and 1916. In 1918, however, Eleanor found out that Franklin was having an affair with Lucy Mercer, her former social secretary, which was devastating — at least, at first. The pair remained married as close, supportive partners — Eleanor was hugely supportive of Franklin’s continued political career after he was stricken with polio, and the pair even retained their pet names for one another — but pursued romantic relationships elsewhere, although biographers aren’t sure how physical those relationships got. Franklin continued seeing Mercer, and was even with her when he died in 1945. Eleanor, meanwhile, found relationships with both men and women.

 

4. She Wrote a Newspaper Column for Nearly 30 Years

Starting at the very end of 1935 and continuing until her death in 1962, Eleanor kept a regular, nationally syndicated newspaper column called “My Day.” Eventually, it appeared in 90 different U.S. newspapers, detailing both her actions of the day and causes she supported — including ones that perhaps diverged a little from FDR’s views. After her husband’s death, she spoke even more freely about her viewpoints, and chose to keep advocating through her writing instead of running for office herself. Some newspapers dropped her column after she advocated for the election of Adlai Stevenson II in his run against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, leading United Features Syndicate to instruct her to limit her support for candidates, which she did not do. For the majority of the run, Eleanor published six columns a week; only after her health began to decline in the last couple of years of her life did she cut that down to three.

 

5. She Publicly Resisted Racial Segregation

Eleanor’s lifetime overlapped with some particularly dark chapters in America’s treatment of its Black citizens, and by 1939, she was using her platform to loudly and publicly speak against racism and segregation. In 1939, she resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution, announcing her departure in her column, after the group refused a venue to prominent African American musician Marian Anderson. She and some other presidential advisers, as well as NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White, took the issue to FDR, and Anderson eventually appeared at a much bigger venue — the Lincoln Memorial — performing for a crowd of 75,000. Even as FDR remained more tepid in opposing segregation, Eleanor kept swinging. When she learned in 1938 that a series of public meetings in Alabama called the Southern Conference for Human Welfare was split down the middle and segregated by race, she tried to sit in the Black section. When a police officer threatened to remove her, she moved her folding chair to the center of the aisle between the white and Black sections, where she stayed for the rest of the conference. Even after facing staunch criticism from conservatives after the Detroit Race Riots of 1943 — she had supported integrating the local housing project at its center — she kept going, and even led civil rights workshops in schools. She was far from perfect, and even opposed a proposed 1940s march on Washington for racial equality, although she did arrange a meeting between organizers and FDR. But she continued to speak out against segregation for the rest of her life, including strongly advocating for school integration in both her column and in person, especially around the time of Brown v. Board of Education. Her last column before her death emphasized the connection between school integration and aggressive police tactics.

 

6. The FBI Investigated Eleanor Extensively for Communist Activity

Between her support for civil liberties and doing stuff like inviting a student advocacy organization accused of communist connections to crash at the White House while they waited to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Eleanor was pretty unpopular with J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. It didn’t help that she called Hoover’s tactics “Gestapo-ish,” either. She was the subject of one of the largest single files from the era, adding up to around 3,000 pages. In addition to investigating her friends, family, and colleagues, the FBI tracked the existence of supposed “Eleanor clubs,” which white Southern segregationists claimed were secret organizations planning uprisings that would cause their Black domestic employees to turn against them. It turned out that, of course, they were just rumors started by segregationists, who expressed fear of having to work in the kitchen or pay higher wages.

 

 

Source: Interesting Facts About Eleanor Roosevelt