Friday Fact!
Christmas customs are centuries old. The mistletoe, for example, comes from the Druids, who, in hanging mistletoe, hoped for peace and good fortune. Use of plants such as holly comes from the ancient belief that such plants blossomed at Christmas. Comparatively recent is the Christmas tree, first set up in Germany and France in the 17th century.
The use of candles on Christmas trees developed from the belief that they appeared by miracle on the trees at Christmas. Colonial Manhattan Islanders introduced the name Santa Claus which is a corruption of the Dutch name for the 4th century Asia Minor St. Nicholas.
Xmas is a real word………. not just an abbreviation taking Christ out of Christmas. "X" is the symbol for the Greek letter chi. "X" or chi is the Greek initial for Christos or Christ. The word Xmas originated in 1551.
The term "Knickerbockers" traces its origin back to the Dutch settlers who came to the New World -- and especially to what is now New York -- in the 1600s. Specifically, it refers to the style of pants the settlers wore...pants that rolled up just below the knee, which became known as "Knickerbockers", or"knickers".
Through history, the Dutch settler "Knickerbocker" character became synonymous with New York City. The city's most popular symbol of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was "Father Knickerbocker", complete with cotton wig, three-cornered hat, buckled shoes, and, of course, knickered pants.
The Knickerbocker name had its first use in the world of sports in 1845, the Alexander Cartwright's Manhattan-based baseball team -- the first organized team in baseball history.
Thus, the Knickerbocker name was an integral part of the New York scene when the Basketball Association of America granted a charter franchise to the city in the summer of 1946. As can best be determined, the final decision to call the team the "Knickerbockers" was made by the club's founder, the legendary Ned Irish.
Irish's longtime right-hand man, Fred Pondesta, was present at the Knicks' birth and recalls that the name selection was easy, quick and uncomplicated. "The name came out of a hat," says Podesta, now 82 and still a Manhattan resident. "We were all sitting in the office one day -- Irish, (Public Relations Director) Lester Scott and a few others on the staff. We each put a name in the hat, and when we pulled them out, most of them said Knickerbockers, after Father Knickerbocker, the symbol of New York City. It soon was shortened to Knicks."
Source: The Knicks web site
Before the nineteenth century the technology wasn't available to measure the alcohol content of liquids accurately. The first hydrometer was invented by John Clarke in 1725 but wasn't approved by the British Parliament for official use until the end of the century. In the meantime, purveyors of spirits needed a way to determine alcohol content, and tax collectors demanded a way to ascertain exactly what their rightful share of liquor sales was.
So the British devised an ingenious, if imprecise method. Someone figured out that gunpowder would ignite in an alcoholic liquid only if enough water was eliminated from the mix. When the proportion of alcohol to water was high enough that black gunpowder would explode it was considered "proof" of the alcohol.
British "proof" contained approximately eleven parts by volume of alcohol to ten parts water. The American system of "proof" is simply double the alcohol percentage by volume at 60 degrees F. Eighty proof whiskey is actually 40 percent alcohol. The British "proof" is the equivalent of 114.2 US proof due to the odd ratio.
Source: Why do clocks run clockwise by David Feldman
Blood type distribution by population:
| O + | 1 person in 3 |
| A + | 1 person in 3 |
| B + | 1 person in 12 |
| O - | 1 person in 15 (universal donor) |
| A - | 1 person in 16 |
| AB + | 1 person in 29 (universal recipient) |
| B - | 1 person in 67 |
| AB - | 1 person in 167 |
Besides the letter classification, the "+" or "-" symbol represents
an
Rh factor. Rh comes from Rhesus monkeys on which blood typing
experiments were first run. Eighty-five percent of the population has
the Rh factor.
Rh factor is of importance to a pregnant woman. An Rh negative mother
that is carrying an Rh positive baby can produce antibodies against the
Rh factor. These antibodies will usually be too weak to harm the first
child, but will destroy the red blood cells of any subsequent
Rh-positive children. This reaction produces erythroblastosis fetalis,
or Rh disease, which results in jaundice, anemia, brain damage, and
often death, either before or shortly after birth.
When an Rh-negative woman has a child by an Rh-positive man, she is
given an injection of a substance called Rhogam immediately after the
birth. Rhogam is gamma globulin containing antibodies against the Rh
factor. By killing any of the Rh-positive red cells that have migrated
into the mother's circulation from the fetus, Rhogam prevents the mother
from building up immunity to the Rh factor. Thus, subsequent Rh-positive
children are not exposed to anti-Rh antibodies. This procedure has
largely eliminated Rh disease.
Source: Blood Care of North Texas and Microsoft Encarta '96
The idea of daylight saving was mentioned in a whimsical essay in 1784 by
Benjamin Franklin; it was first advocated seriously by a British builder,
William Willett, in the pamphlet Waste of Daylight (1907). Daylight saving
has been used in the United States and in many European countries since World War I, when the system was adopted in order to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power. Some localities reverted to standard time after the war, but others retained daylight saving. During World War II the U.S. Congress passed a law putting the entire country on "war time," which set clocks 1 hour ahead of standard time for the duration of the war. In the U.S during peacetime, daylight saving was a subject of controversy.
The Uniform Time Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1966, established a system of uniform (within each time zone) daylight saving time throughout the U.S. and its possessions, exempting only those states in which the state
legislature voted to keep the entire state on standard time. Under legislation enacted in 1986, daylight saving time begins at 2 AM on the first Sunday of April and ends at 2 AM on the last Sunday of October. Currently Arizona, Hawaii and parts of Indiana do not observe DST.
Source: The World Almanac '93 and Microsoft Encarta '96
Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball as a popular legend claims. Publications about the game were issued as early as 1835, when Doubleday was only sixteen. Further, through he is credited with inventing baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, it is known the Doubleday was enrolled at West Point from 1838 to 1842. At that time a West Point cadet was not allowed to leave campus until his last years of school; thus it was impossible for Doubleday even to have visited Cooperstown before 1841. Doubleday was, however, distinguished in other ways. He was a Union general during the Civil War and played a leading part in the battle of Gettysburg.
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The first organized baseball club was formed in 1842 by a group of young men in New York City. This group, led by Alexander Cartwright, called their club the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club
Sources: 2201 Fascinating Facts by David Louis and Microsoft Encarta ‘96
Before Benjamin Franklin's time, people thought there were two kinds of electricity. Franklin felt there was only one kind, with two appearances, one representing an excess of electrical fluid and one a deficit. There was no way of telling which was which, so he guessed. He had a fifty-fifty chance of being right. As it turned out he was wrong. To this day, electrical engineers
prepare their diagrams with electricity flowing the wrong direction. It doesn't matter in practice, the electrical devices work just the same. For example, if everyone goes into a door marked "exit and out the door marked "entrance" they are going the wrong way, but there's no holdup in the traffic.
Source: Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts
I used to work at a particle physics lab and this topic was often discussed. When studying particle physics one cannot deny that electrons are the objects in motion that creates electricity. Hence, energy flows from negative to positive. The schematic diagrams used to build the instrumentation that measured this and other phenomena are drawn incorrectly, showing
electrical flow from positive to negative, due to the incorrect "guess" mentioned above.
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FF Bonus, to make up for the one I missed last week
The desk of a recent President of the United States was said to be adorned by a framed notice saying "The Buck Stops Here." According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, a buck is an article placed as a reminder before a player whose turn it is to deal at Poker. The most commonly used article was a buckhorn knife. When it was your turn to deal the "buck" got
passed to you. Hence, the idea of shifting responsibility to someone else became the process of Passing the Buck.
Source: The Law of Delay by C. Northcote Parkinson
Contributed by Bill Lewis and his bookstore "Book Wizard" in Hurst,TX........With plenty of free parking! <GRIN>
Christopher Columbus part two
An absurd fiction of history is that when Columbus said that the world was round, everybody else thought it was flat. During the debates at the court of Queen Isabella, the true shape of the Earth was never an issue, its size was! The opponents of Columbus said he was underestimating the size, and that he could never sail west from Europe to the Orient. They were right. Except
for the accident of an unknown continent in between, Columbus would either have turned back or been lost at sea.
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When Columbus returned to Spain from his historic first mission to the New World, he brought back with him six Indians. On his second return, he brought back 500, with the suggestion that they be sold as slaves in Seville. Columbus's scheme was vetoed by Queen Isabella, who ordered that the Indians be returned to Haiti.
Source for both facts: Issac Asimov's Book Of Facts
Thanks to Lisa Watkins for bringing up that second fact! Enough is enough about
Columbus……On to something else next week!
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"Pull out all the stops", meaning to use every means at your disposal is a
reference to a pipe organ. Each pipe in an organ contains a "stop" which blocks
the flow of air. Pulling out specific stops allows sets of pipes to sound. An organist
wanting the loudest sound possible, "pulls out all the stops".
Source: Uncle Johns Fourth Bathroom Reader
October 12 is recognized as Columbus Day and is a legal holiday in many states that commemorates the supposed "discovery of America" by Columbus in 1492. The holiday is believed to have been organized in 1792 by the Society of St. Tammany more widely known as Tammany Hall of New York. Tammany Hall was a powerful political group during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The fact is that Christopher Columbus never set foot on any land considered North America. The closest he came was to land on an Island that is now Puerto Rico. Between 1492 and 1504, Christopher Columbus made four voyages from Spain to lands he later called the "New
World." On his first voyage, he explored parts of Cuba and Hispaniola in 1492 and 1493. From 1493 to 1496, he continued to explore those regions and also ventured to Puerto Rico and Jamaica. On his third voyage, from 1498 to 1500, he sailed along the northern coast of South America. On his final journey in 1502, Columbus explored the coast of Central America.
Columbus is widely revered in Spain, although he was an Italian born in Genoa. The explorer is considered by ALL the Spanish as the greatest hero in Spanish history. It was through his adventures that the Spanish had the largest Empire in the world with massive fleets, treasures and lands throughout the New World.
Sources: Microsoft Encarta 96 & The 1996 Information Please Almanac.
Thanks
also to Joey McNair (from the STOC) for contributing the Columbus Day idea and the last
paragraph.
The Peace Corps was created to promote world peace and friendship by training American volunteers to perform social and humanitarian service overseas. When President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address 35 years ago, he issued a call to service to Americans with the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country." He manifested this vision by creating the Peace Corps.
Originally an agency of the United States Department of State, the Peace Corps was created by executive order in 1961, and made an independent agency of the United States government in 1981. The volunteers help communities in developing countries improve their social and economic conditions. Each volunteer serves for a 2-year term. The organization has its national headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Requirements for a Peace Corps volunteer are that he or she be a U.S. citizen, be at least 18 years of age, and have not more than two dependents under the age of 18. Volunteers work or teach in rural and urban communities. They are involved in projects ranging from health to
education to agriculture. About 300 different job skills are utilized in the corps. In the 1990s volunteers were working in more than 100 countries throughout Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean, Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, and the Pacific.
The Peace Corps recognizes that the work of the volunteers should help satisfy the most pressing needs of developing countries. For example, in most developing countries, where 85 percent of the people work on the land, Peace Corps programming has shifted from education to agriculture and related rural programs.
Source Microsoft Encarta 96 and the Peace Corps web site
Think it is impossible to become a millionaire during your lifetime? Sure, a lucky person may hit the Lotto, or get a visit from Ed McMahon but if you would rather count on a sure thing consider the following. Money invested at a return of only 9 % per year (a conservative growth mutual fund) will double in only 8 years. In order to amass 1,000,000 at age 65 look at the
following chart.
Age 57 $500,000
Age 49 $250,000
Age 41 $125,000
Age 33 $62,500
Age 25 $31,250
Age 17 $15,625
Age 9 $7,813
If you can invest $31,250 at age 25 you will be a millionaire when you retire without saving another dime from that point on. The advantages of doing this include eliminating the worry over the liquidy of Social Security and / or Corporate pensions, not to mention the flexibility and freedom of a comfortable retirement.
I can assure everyone that this is not hard to do if you start young. It just takes discipline to get the job done!
Source: The Dallas Morning News
When Congress scrapped the 55 MPH national speed limit in December 1995, safety officials and insurance companies warned darkly that traffic deaths would soar. Still many states raised there speed limit to 65, a few went to 70 or 75, and Montana eliminated daytime speed restrictions. The U.S. department of transportation forecast that up to 6,400 more people
would die each year.
During 1996 only 109 more deaths were reported which is statistically insignificant compared to the total number of 41,907 highway deaths reported in 1995. In Montana 15 fewer people were killed in 1996 than 1995.
Source: U.S. News & World Reports, July 28, 1997
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Dr. Seuss coined the word nerd in his 1950 book "If I Ran the Zoo"
The Great Seal of the United States is actually two sided. (See the back of a dollar bill) The front side contains an American Eagle with his wings spread. The eagle holds 13 arrows in one claw and the other claw holds an olive branch containing 13 leaves. The shield contains 13 red and white stripes. The number 13 is repeated several times because there were 13 colonies when the seal was created. The scroll above the eagle contains the words E pluribus unum meaning "From many, one."
The reverse side of the Great Seal contains a pyramid that symbolizes strength; it is unfinished to suggest the work ahead. The eye above represents the all-seeing deity. Annuit Coeptis is the motto above the eye. It means, "He [God] favored (smiled on) our undertakings." Below the
pyramid is a scroll bearing the Latin motto Novus ordo seclorum "New order of the ages". The base of the pyramid is inscribed with the date MDCCLXXVI or 1776.
Source: Microsoft Encarta 96
Colonel Sanders
Harland Sanders began selling food to hungry travelers from his service station in Corbin Kentucky during the 1930’s. He didn't have a restaurant then, but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station.
As more people started coming just for food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today.
Sander's fame grew. Governor Ruby Laffoon made him a Kentucky Colonel in 1935 in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. And in 1939, his establishment was first listed in Duncan Hines' "Adventures in Good Eating."
In the early 1950s a new interstate highway was planned to bypass the town of Corbin. Seeing an end to his business, the Colonel auctioned off his operations. After paying his bills, he was reduced to living on his $105 Social Security checks.
Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, the Colonel devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement on a deal that stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada. That year, he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million to a group of investors including John Y. Brown Jr., who later was governor of Kentucky from 1980 to 1984. The Colonel remained a
public spokesman for the company. In 1976, an independent survey ranked the Colonel as the world's second most recognizable celebrity.
After a series of other sales, in 1986 Kentucky Fried Chicken was purchased from RJR by Pepsico for $840 million.
Source: The KFC web site
Capsaicin
Chili Peppers get their "heat" from a tasteless, odorless chemical called capsaicin, which irritates certain nerves in the nose and mouth. The highest concentration of the chemical is found in the chili known as the habanero. Scientists rate pepper "hotness" in Scoville units, a measure of capsaicin concentration. Plain old bell peppers rate a zero, jalapenos, 2,500 to 5,000 units; habaneros zoom as high as 300,000; pure capsaicin is a skin-blistering 15 million Scoville units.
The body is known to become less sensitive to capsaicin after repeated exposure, which is what allows "chili heads" to consume hot peppers with less irritation than most folks. Capsaicin is also insoluble in water but is soluble in alcohol making beer a much better way to quench a hot mouth than water.
U.S. News and World report August 18-25, 1997
The Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen was known to his fellow Germans as "der rote Kampfflieger " (The Red Battle-Flyer) for his 80 heroic air victories against the Allies during World War I. He was born in Brestau Germany in 1892 and served in the cavalry and the infantry before joining the German air service during the war. Richthofen led a unique group of fighter pilots that became known as Richthofen's Circus. Richthofen painted his plane red to flaunt his prowess in the air. The British referred to him as the Red Baron and many British pilots painted the noses of their planes red to announce their intentions to hunt down and kill the Red Baron.
The Red Baron is most often thought to have flown a red Fokker triplane however, for most of his career and 78 of his kills he flew a an Albatros D.II biplane. Richthofen was shot down after he followed the Sopwith Camel piloted by the British flyer Wilfred May deep into British
territory. The shot is commonly believed to have come from Australian gunners on the ground, but might have also come from the guns of Canadian flier Authur "Roy" Brown who was coming to May’s aid. The Baron’s body was recovered by British forces, and he was buried with full military honors.
Source: Microsoft Encarta 96 and Red Baron: An Ace for the Ages by Shane Simmons @1995 Aviation History Magazine
UPS
Jim Casey was 19 years old in 1907, when he started the American Messenger company in Seattle. His business consisted of only six messengers, two bicycles and a telephone…..but within a year he added 6 motorcycles and a Model T Ford. By 1918 he was handling the deliveries of 3 of Seattle’s major department stores. By the end of World War 1, Casey had changed the name of the business to the United Parcel Service, and focused exclusively on delivering for department stores. In 1953 UPS expanded service to 16 metropolitan areas and started expanding its service. By 1993, UPS was delivering 11.5 million packages and
documents a day for more than one million regular customers.
Source Uncle Johns 4th Bathroon Reader and the UPS web site.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian religious group, founded in 1872 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the American clergyman Charles Taze Russell, with congregations in more than 200 countries. Members of the group originally were known by the popular name of Russellites. The name Jehovah's Witness comes from a passage within the Old Testament.
Members of the group believe in the second coming of Christ; they regard themselves as practitioners of primitive Christianity and consider each Witness a minister. Jehovah's Witnesses stress Bible study and absolute obedience to biblical precepts. The group's teachings are spread
primarily by members who preach from door to door and distribute literature to passersby on street corners. Bible study classes frequently are conducted in private homes. The meeting places of Jehovah's Witnesses are called Kingdom Halls.
Witnesses acknowledge allegiance solely to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. They refuse consequently to salute any flag, vote, perform military service, or otherwise signify allegiance to any government. This policy has brought them into conflict with governmental authorities in many countries, including the United States.
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Christ began his invisible reign as king in 1914. They believe that soon the forces of good, led by Christ, will defeat the forces of evil, led by Satan, at the battle of Armageddon. Thereafter Christ will rule the earth for a thousand years. During this millennium
the dead will rise again, and all people will have a second opportunity to achieve salvation. At the end of the millennium Satan will return to earth, and he and those who support him will finally be destroyed. A perfect humankind will then enjoy eternal life on earth.
The aurora borealis (Northern lights) consists of rapidly shifting patches and dancing columns of light of various hues. Extensive auroral displays are accompanied by disturbances in terrestrial magnetism and interference with radio, telephone, and telegraph transmission. The period of maximum and minimum intensity of the aurora follows almost exactly that of the sunspot cycle, which is an 11-year cycle.
Studies made during and after the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year indicate that the auroral glow is triggered when the solar wind (normal solar emission) is enhanced by an influx of high-energy atomic particles emanating from sunspots. The electrons and protons penetrate the magnetosphere of the earth and enter the lower Van Allen radiation belt, overloading it. The
excess electrons and protons are discharged into the atmosphere over an area centering on the north and south magnetic poles and extending about 20° away from them. These particles then collide with gas molecules in the atmosphere, thereby exciting the molecules and causing them to emit light.
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The opening shot in the movie Star Wars features a star field then the appearance of a huge space ship that moves overhead.This dramatic scene is enhanced by surround sound. This opening scene forced George Lucas to pay a fine then resign from the Directors Guild because his movie did not begin with opening credits as they required.
Mata Hari was the trade name of a Dutch courtesan and double agent during WW1. She was born Gertrude Margarete Zelle and was well educated by nuns. During the early 1900's she gave up her life with her husband who was a Dutch army captain in favor of a life as an erotic
dancer. Mata Hari settled in Paris and soon was recruited as a spy for both the Germans and French. She obtained important military information through her liaisons with high ranking Allied officers. The French soon caught on to her activities and she was executed by firing squad in
1917. Prior to her execution she ordered that the French provide her with a specially tailored suit and new gloves for her execution. They complied as she had provided them with useful information as well.
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I was asked how much each type of candy costs per unit. This is all the data I have now but will report on the other types of candy as I put it in the jar.
Mini Snikers, Milky Way and Three Musketeers cost about 7 cents each.
Mini Hershey Assortment candy costs about 5.5 cents each.
Mini Tootisie Rolls costs about a penny each.
Reeces JR costs about 5.2 cents each.
Aspirin was originally a trade name for Bayer's pain reliever acetylsalicylic acid or ASA. Willow bark is the original source of the drug that was known by the Greeks more than 2,500 years ago. In the early 1970's researcher John Vane discovered that aspirin relieved pain not by working as an anesthetic to deaden pain but rather by working to reduce the production of
prostaglandins. This discovery explained why aspirin seemed to work to relieve headache pain as well as the pain of a sprained ankle without affecting anything else.
Prostaglandins are fatty acids that are manufactured by nearly every cell in the human body. These acids serve many biological functions. In particular a certain prostaglandin known as PGE2 increases the sensitivity of pain receptors and produces discomfort, inflammation, fever and irritation in areas of the body that are injured and / or not functioning properly. PGE2 is also known to constrict blood vessels which is one of the most common causes of a headache. Hence aspirin works peripherally or directly at the source of pain or discomfort rather than centrally in brain like morphine does.
The practice of using ten pins in the game of bowling originated in colonial America as a means of circumventing a gaming law. An eighteenth-century ordinance in Connecticut ruled that "bowling at nine pins" was illegal, and offenders were often jailed or placed in stocks. To get around this law, bowlers added an extra pin to the game, so that they would be playing "ten
pins" rather than "nine pins." The name stuck, and so did the number of pins.
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The word "tip" meaning a gratuity, was originally an acronym standing for "To Insure Promptness."
Zen is short for Zen Buddhism. It is sometimes called a religion and sometimes called a philosophy. Choose whichever term you prefer; it simply doesn't matter.
Historically, Zen Buddhism originates in the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Around 500 B.C. he was a prince in what is now India. At the age of 29, deeply troubled by the suffering he saw around him, he renounced his privileged life to seek understanding. After 6 years of struggling as an ascetic (self denying person) he finally achieved Enlightenment at age 35. After this he was known as the Buddha (meaning roughly "one who is awake"). In a nutshell, he realized that everything is subject to change and that suffering and discontentment are the result of attachment to circumstances and things which, by their nature, are impermanent. By ridding oneself of these attachments, including attachment to the false notion of self or "I", one can be free of suffering.
There are two major Zen sects. One called Rinzai which emphasizes sudden shock and meditation on paradoxical statements such as "the sound of one hand clapping". The Soto sect prefers the method of quite sitting and observation without mental comment in order to free ones self of suffering.
The teachings of the Buddha have, to this day, been passed down from teacher to student. Around 475 A.D. one of these teachers, Bodhidharma, traveled from India to China and introduced the teachings of the Buddha there. In China Buddhism mingled with Taoism. The result of this mingling was the Ch'an School of Buddhism. Around 1200 A.D. Ch'an Buddhism
spread from China to Japan where it is called (at least in translation) Zen Buddhism.
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Try to see it once my way........ Everything's Zen.......everythings Zen.....I don't think so!
Bush........from the album Sixteen Stone
LSD is an abbreviation of the German expression for lysergic acid diethylamide. It is produced from lysergic acid, a substance derived from the ergot fungus which grows on rye or from lysergic acid amide, a chemical found in morning glory seeds.
LSD is extremely potent due to its similarity to a chemical found within the brain. Use of the drug produces effects similar to certain aspects of psychosis. The drugs most noted effects include vertigo, and a sensation of fantastic images of extraordinary vividness and colors.
The drug is usually sold in the form of tablets, thin squares of gelatin "window panes", or impregnated paper "blotter acid". A normal dose is between 30 to 50 micrograms.
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Unrelated Fact:
Pac-Man is the most popular arcade game of all time. The manufacturer, Namco, originally named it Puck Man, but re-titled the game for fear that vandals might scratch out part of the letter P in the games marquee and labeling. Hmmmmmmm.
What do spoiled milk, yogurt, rancid butter and sore muscles have in common? Why lactic acid, of course. The stiffness and soreness often felt after a strenuous work out is caused by a build up of lactic acid within the affected muscles. The acid is produced when sugars are metabolized
for energy in the absence of oxygen. Put another way, sugar ferments within your muscles because the body is unable to provide enough oxygen to properly produce the energy needed to perform the work required. The difference between the milk products and your muscles is that in the milk the fermentation is caused by bacteria. The best way to prevent muscle soreness (besides sitting home and drinking beer) is to continue your workouts and adding aerobic activities to increase the amount of oxygen your body can deliver to the muscles. I am living proof that this works!
A gasoline's octane rating has much more to do with profit margin for the refiners and retailers of fuel than it has to do with better performance of your automobile. Gases octane rating specifies the fuels ability to resist pre-ignition. The higher the number the more resistance it has
to igniting too soon. Pre-ignition causes a knocking and pinging sound as well as hesitation that can be very destructive to your engine if it occurs continuously.
Most late model cars (newer than about 10 years) have anti-knock sensors that provide feedback to the engine's control system. In most cases the control system reacts to knocking by adjusting spark plug timing to compensate for pre-ignition. A few high performance vehicles
require higher octane fuel, do to engine design, but for the most part an octane rating of 87 will work fine.
Tests conducted by Consumer Reports magazine confirmed the fact that high octane fuel provided no more power, acceleration or gas mileage then the less expensive regular grades of gas. The magazine also reported that most gasoline grades and many different brands come from the same storage tanks at the same refinery. The distinctions in octane and other additives such as detergents and anti-oxidents come when the product is pumped to the tanker trucks and these additives are mixed in.
Consumer Reports recommends that you purchase the octane rating recommended in your cars owners manual. Additives such as detergents are beneficial and are available in regular gasoline grades at regular gasoline prices. Simply put, if you use the gas octane rating specified in your
manual and you are getting a detergent additive at a reasonable price…….higher octane gas will just waste your money.
Lady Godiva (1040?-1080?) was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, known to have persuaded her husband to found monasteries at Coventry and Stow. According to legend, she obtained a reduction in the excessive taxes levied by her husband on the people of Coventry by consenting to ride naked through the town on a white horse. Only one person disobeyed her orders to remain indoors behind closed shutters; this man, a tailor known afterward as Peeping Tom, peered through a window and immediately became blind.
The oldest form of the legend is in the 13th-century Flores Historiarum (Flowers of the Historians). A festival in her honor was instituted as part of Coventry Fair in 1678.
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Greek athletes were not impeded by costumes. They exercised nude. "Nude" in Greek is gymnos. The derivative gymnazein means "to exercise (nude)" A gymnasion was a place where Greek athletic exercises were performed "in the nude". Hence the source of our word gymnasium, without the nude part.
Thanks to Bill Lewis for the Word Origin book that he brought to me from his book store, Book Wizard. Book Wizard is located on Pipeline Road in Hurst.......with plenty of free parking. <grin>
Histamine is a naturally occurring substance that is found in many plants and animals. In humans, the substance is manufactured by a blood cell known as a basophil or "mast cell", In response to certain stimuli, such as an injury, infection or allergy, these cells release histamine, which immediately produces a dilation of the blood vessels. This dilation is accompanied by a lowering of blood pressure and an increased permeability of the vessel walls, so that fluids from the blood escape into the surrounding tissues. This reaction causes the "runny nose" and "watery" eyes which often accompanies the common cold. Other reactions to increased histamine levels include swelling at or around the site of an injury and itching caused by an irritant.
Histamine also causes contraction of involuntary muscles, especially of the genital tract and gastrointestinal canal, with an accompanying secretion by associated glands. Because histamine stimulates the flow of gastric juices, it is used diagnostically in patients with gastric disturbances. The ability of the body to localize infections may be due to the secretion of histamine and the
subsequent increased local blood supply and increased permeability of the blood vessels
In the 1930s the Italian pharmacologist Daniel Bovet (1907-92), working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, discovered that certain chemicals counteracted the effects of histamine in guinea pigs. The first antihistamines were too toxic for use on humans, but by 1942 they had been modified for use in the treatment of allergies. More than 25 antihistamines, including the heavily advertised drug Claritin, are now available.
Benito Juarez was a Zapotec Indian, born high in the mountains of Mexico in the early 1800's . Benito began his political career as governor of the state of Oaxaca in 1847 and rose in prominence when he was exiled to New Orleans after he objected the corrupt activities of General Santa Anna.
During 1861, Benito returned to Mexico as president, to institute a new constitution. Laws were enacted that removed special privileges and political powers from the hands of the church. One of Benito Juarez' first actions as president was to suspend interest payments on foreign debts.
This angered the Europeans, especially the French and in 1861 Napoleon III organized an invasion of Mexico..
Mexican guerrilla forces, determined to protect their capital, decided to make their stand defending the strategic town of Puebla. On May 5,1862 a small band of Mexican fighters successfully defended their positions against the best trained and equipped army in the world. One year later, the French returned to Puebla and captured the town.
The Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo does not celebrate Mexico's independence nor does it commemorate a successful war. The holiday celebrates Benito Juarezs' reforms and his guerrilla forces ability to defeat the French at Puebla. These actions eventually led to the end of European domination and the strengthening of the Republic of Mexico.
And you thought Cinco de Mayo was just an excuse for brewers to sell beer! <grin>
Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain from China in 1842 after the first of two Opium Wars. At the time China was a society closed to Western influence but a "corrupt lust" for opium (introduced by the British) by many Chinese allowed British merchants to become quite wealthy from the import of the narcotic from India. In 1839 the Chinese government confiscated opium warehouses in an attempt to suppress its negative influence on its society. Britain responded by sending warships to Canton and won a quick victory. The war ended with the signing of the treaty of Nanking . Britain gained control of Hong Kong and access to 5 other ports.
A related fact:
The word "joint" that refers to a disreputable gathering place comes from the joints found in bamboo pipes that were often used in opium dens to smoke the drug.