Apr 13, 2013
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States. Franklin was polymath, a leading
author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster,
scientist, musician, and inventor. Next week is the anniversary of
his death.
Born: January 17, 1706, Boston - Died: April 17, 1790, Philadelphia
In his will, the left 1,000 pounds each (about $4,400 at the time) to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston, but the cities were not given access to the money immediately. Franklin required that the money be held in trust for 100 years after his death. After that, the cities could remove a portion of the trust money to establish a trade school, but not all of the money could be withdrawn; some had to remain for another 100 years.
When the trusts became due in 1990, Philadelphia’s was worth $2 million. Philadelphia used the $2 million windfall to provide scholarships for area high school children. Boston’s trust, which withdrew less money during the trust’s second century, was worth $5 million. Boston used the $5 million to fund the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, which was established out of the trust’s funds which were withdrawn 100 years earlier.
Born: January 17, 1706, Boston - Died: April 17, 1790, Philadelphia
In his will, the left 1,000 pounds each (about $4,400 at the time) to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston, but the cities were not given access to the money immediately. Franklin required that the money be held in trust for 100 years after his death. After that, the cities could remove a portion of the trust money to establish a trade school, but not all of the money could be withdrawn; some had to remain for another 100 years.
When the trusts became due in 1990, Philadelphia’s was worth $2 million. Philadelphia used the $2 million windfall to provide scholarships for area high school children. Boston’s trust, which withdrew less money during the trust’s second century, was worth $5 million. Boston used the $5 million to fund the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, which was established out of the trust’s funds which were withdrawn 100 years earlier.
Wordology, Arcuate
The back pocket of Levi jeans has a
double arch design called the Arcuate for which the company holds a
trademark. Arcuate means 'curved like a bow'.
During World War II, the US government ruled that the design served no practical purpose, was only decorative, and due to wartime rations involving cotton, did not allow the company to use extra thread to create the arcuate. To maintain the trademark during those years, the company painted the design on the jeans.
During World War II, the US government ruled that the design served no practical purpose, was only decorative, and due to wartime rations involving cotton, did not allow the company to use extra thread to create the arcuate. To maintain the trademark during those years, the company painted the design on the jeans.
Renminbi and Sterling
Now that Australia joins a host
of nations that are bypassing the US Dollar as the world's "reserve
currency" and trading currency directly with China, I thought it
might be good to discuss confusion about the name of the Chinese
currency.
Renminbi is the name of China’s currency, but yuan is the denomination of bills. It is equivalent to Britain’s currency, which is sterling with its pound as denomination of bills. The number of renminbi per dollar or sterling per dollar is incorrect. Renminbi and Sterling are the currency, but not a unit of the currency. Prices and exchanges are measured in yuan and pounds, not Renminbi or Sterling.
The primary unit of renminbi is the yuan. One yuan is subdivided into 10 jiao , which is subdivided into 10 fen. Renminbi banknotes are available in denominations from 1 jiao to 100 yuan and coins have denominations from 1 fen to 1 yuan.
During the past two years - China and Japan economies bypass dollar and engage in direct currency trade, China and Russia drop dollar for direct trade, China and Iran bypass dollar, India and Japan bypass dollar, Iran and Russia replace dollar with rial and ruble in trade, India and Iran transact directly in rupees, Brazil bypasses dollar for direct China currency, Australia and China bypass dollar for direct currency trade.
Renminbi is the name of China’s currency, but yuan is the denomination of bills. It is equivalent to Britain’s currency, which is sterling with its pound as denomination of bills. The number of renminbi per dollar or sterling per dollar is incorrect. Renminbi and Sterling are the currency, but not a unit of the currency. Prices and exchanges are measured in yuan and pounds, not Renminbi or Sterling.
The primary unit of renminbi is the yuan. One yuan is subdivided into 10 jiao , which is subdivided into 10 fen. Renminbi banknotes are available in denominations from 1 jiao to 100 yuan and coins have denominations from 1 fen to 1 yuan.
During the past two years - China and Japan economies bypass dollar and engage in direct currency trade, China and Russia drop dollar for direct trade, China and Iran bypass dollar, India and Japan bypass dollar, Iran and Russia replace dollar with rial and ruble in trade, India and Iran transact directly in rupees, Brazil bypasses dollar for direct China currency, Australia and China bypass dollar for direct currency trade.
How to Raise a Genius
Laszlo Polgar was a Hungarian
psychologist who decided to make his children part of an educational
experiment. Polgar believed that "geniuses are made, not born" and
argued that children could achieve exceptional things if trained in
one subject from an early age. He set out to turn his children into
prodigies of whatever they showed interest in. The goal was to make
the children happy with what they achieved
Laszlo wrote a book on how to raise a genius and proved the hypothesis by raising three chess grandmasters, two of them became record-breakers and one became the first female to beat the top ranked male.
He and his wife Klara raised three daughters, and decided that their specialist subject would be chess. He trained the girls in chess from when they were very small. Despite their intense training, the girls were happy and well adjusted.
Their youngest daughter, Judit, was a child prodigy. At age five, she beat a family friend in chess without even looking at the board. She started competing in tournaments at age six. Eventually at age 15, Judit achieved the status of Grandmaster and became the youngest person to do so. She has beaten Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, and six other world champions. Her older sisters are Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia.
Judit Polgár was ranked number 36 in the world on the July 2012 FIDE rating list with an Elo rating of 2709, the only woman on FIDE's Top 100 Players list, and has been ranked as high as eighth in 2005. Last month, March 2013 she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary Commander's Cross with Star.
Laszlo wrote a book on how to raise a genius and proved the hypothesis by raising three chess grandmasters, two of them became record-breakers and one became the first female to beat the top ranked male.
He and his wife Klara raised three daughters, and decided that their specialist subject would be chess. He trained the girls in chess from when they were very small. Despite their intense training, the girls were happy and well adjusted.
Their youngest daughter, Judit, was a child prodigy. At age five, she beat a family friend in chess without even looking at the board. She started competing in tournaments at age six. Eventually at age 15, Judit achieved the status of Grandmaster and became the youngest person to do so. She has beaten Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, and six other world champions. Her older sisters are Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia.
Judit Polgár was ranked number 36 in the world on the July 2012 FIDE rating list with an Elo rating of 2709, the only woman on FIDE's Top 100 Players list, and has been ranked as high as eighth in 2005. Last month, March 2013 she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary Commander's Cross with Star.
Hypnic Jerk
That feeling
of falling when you are about to go to sleep is called a hypnic
jerk. You are just between awake and asleep when suddenly you are
falling. Then you jerk awake and maybe even experience a quick
hallucination or two.
When you wake up suddenly for whatever reason, your brain reacts by searching for stability under your hands and feet. It doesn't detect it because you are likely lying down. This leads to a panic reaction similar to falling. Scientists think the brain is simply misinterpreting your muscles relaxing as falling.
When you wake up suddenly for whatever reason, your brain reacts by searching for stability under your hands and feet. It doesn't detect it because you are likely lying down. This leads to a panic reaction similar to falling. Scientists think the brain is simply misinterpreting your muscles relaxing as falling.
Graham Cracker Facts
During the 1820s, Sylvester Graham
created the eponymous cracker as part of his diet plan thought to
increase physical wellness, sexual purity, and spiritual health. The
Presbyterian minister's mission was to rid the world of sexual
immorality. He believed a vegetarian diet, devoid of spices and
sugars, combined with avoiding foods made with overly processed
flours would do away with the greatest evils of his day, lustful
thought and masturbation. Of course, neither Graham crackers nor his
diet have ever been shown to cure sexual urges.
Graham flour is essentially a type of non-bleached, finely ground whole wheat flour. Among other things made with this flour, Graham made bland crackers. They were not the sweet treat we enjoy today.
Nabisco began making Graham crackers with bleached white flour and oils. The germ is rarely used today so the crackers have a longer shelf life.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will found the minister’s ideas useful at their Sanitarium in Battle Creek Michigan. Dr. Kellogg imposed the vegetarian diet on his patients with the belief that it could cure some of their troubles.
The brothers made their own Graham crackers on the premises. Once, Will left out some prepared wheat used to make Graham crackers. When he came back to finish the cooking, the dough had become hard and stale. Because he could not afford to waste a whole batch’s ingredients, he used it in the baking process anyway. Rather than get thin wafers after extruding the dough through rollers, he ended up with hard crispy flakes, similar to the corn flakes we eat today. Now you know how Graham crackers and Kellogg's corn flakes are related.
Graham flour is essentially a type of non-bleached, finely ground whole wheat flour. Among other things made with this flour, Graham made bland crackers. They were not the sweet treat we enjoy today.
Nabisco began making Graham crackers with bleached white flour and oils. The germ is rarely used today so the crackers have a longer shelf life.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will found the minister’s ideas useful at their Sanitarium in Battle Creek Michigan. Dr. Kellogg imposed the vegetarian diet on his patients with the belief that it could cure some of their troubles.
The brothers made their own Graham crackers on the premises. Once, Will left out some prepared wheat used to make Graham crackers. When he came back to finish the cooking, the dough had become hard and stale. Because he could not afford to waste a whole batch’s ingredients, he used it in the baking process anyway. Rather than get thin wafers after extruding the dough through rollers, he ended up with hard crispy flakes, similar to the corn flakes we eat today. Now you know how Graham crackers and Kellogg's corn flakes are related.
Origin of Marshmallows
I would be remiss if I mentioned
Graham crackers and did not speak about marshmallows at the same
time. Marshmallows date back to as early as 2000 BC and Egyptians
made individual marshmallows by hand by extracting sap from a mallow
plant and mixing it with nuts and honey.
The official name of the mallow plant is Althea officials and it is a pink-flowered plant. Marshes are the native growing ground for the mallow plant; hence the name marshmallow. Mallow plants are native in Asia and Europe and are also grown in eastern United States.
During the 1800s, candy makers in France took the sap from marshmallow plants and combined it with egg whites and sugar. The mixture was whipped by hand and took the form of the marshmallow we know today.
Candy makers replaced the sap taken from the marshmallow plant with gelatin, which enabled the marshmallow mixture to maintain its form and reduced the labor intensive process of extracting sap from the mallow plant. The gelatin was combined with corn syrup, starch, sugar, and water to create the fluffy texture of the marshmallow. The gelatin ingredient is essential for extending the shelf life of marshmallows because of the moisture it infuses into the candy. Thus, by replacing the previous egg whites with gelatin, marshmallows maintain their elastic and spongy qualities much longer than they had previously.
The marshmallow made its way to the United States in the 1900s and grew in popularity in the 1950s when it was used in a variety of recipes. Even though Americans were a little behind when it came to the marshmallow, they are now the number one consumers of the fluffy candy, buying more than 90 million pounds per year.
In 1948, Alex Doumak created an extrusion process to make marshmallows. Through this process, the marshmallow substance was pressed through tubes, cut into equal pieces, cooled, and then packaged - just the perfect size for s'mores.
The official name of the mallow plant is Althea officials and it is a pink-flowered plant. Marshes are the native growing ground for the mallow plant; hence the name marshmallow. Mallow plants are native in Asia and Europe and are also grown in eastern United States.
During the 1800s, candy makers in France took the sap from marshmallow plants and combined it with egg whites and sugar. The mixture was whipped by hand and took the form of the marshmallow we know today.
Candy makers replaced the sap taken from the marshmallow plant with gelatin, which enabled the marshmallow mixture to maintain its form and reduced the labor intensive process of extracting sap from the mallow plant. The gelatin was combined with corn syrup, starch, sugar, and water to create the fluffy texture of the marshmallow. The gelatin ingredient is essential for extending the shelf life of marshmallows because of the moisture it infuses into the candy. Thus, by replacing the previous egg whites with gelatin, marshmallows maintain their elastic and spongy qualities much longer than they had previously.
The marshmallow made its way to the United States in the 1900s and grew in popularity in the 1950s when it was used in a variety of recipes. Even though Americans were a little behind when it came to the marshmallow, they are now the number one consumers of the fluffy candy, buying more than 90 million pounds per year.
In 1948, Alex Doumak created an extrusion process to make marshmallows. Through this process, the marshmallow substance was pressed through tubes, cut into equal pieces, cooled, and then packaged - just the perfect size for s'mores.
The Booth Brothers
On April 14, 1865, just days after the
end of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln attended a
play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. and was shot. He died the
next day.
Before the assassination, John Wilkes Booth was well known as a stage actor. He was the son of a famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and two of his brothers, Edwin and Junius, Jr., were also actors. Edwin was more famous than John Wilkes, before the assassination.
Months before the assassination of Lincoln, Edwin Booth was on a train platform in New Jersey. A young man was waiting in line to buy a ticket. He was pushed up against the idle train car and as the train began to move, the lad fell into the gap between the platform and the train. Booth grabbed him by his coat collar and brought him safely back onto the platform.
The young man knew who Edwin Booth was, but it was a few months later that Edwin Booth learned that the young man, whose life he saved was Robert Lincoln, the oldest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. History suggests that Edwin was comforted by his deed as he was a staunch supporter of the North.
Before the assassination, John Wilkes Booth was well known as a stage actor. He was the son of a famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and two of his brothers, Edwin and Junius, Jr., were also actors. Edwin was more famous than John Wilkes, before the assassination.
Months before the assassination of Lincoln, Edwin Booth was on a train platform in New Jersey. A young man was waiting in line to buy a ticket. He was pushed up against the idle train car and as the train began to move, the lad fell into the gap between the platform and the train. Booth grabbed him by his coat collar and brought him safely back onto the platform.
The young man knew who Edwin Booth was, but it was a few months later that Edwin Booth learned that the young man, whose life he saved was Robert Lincoln, the oldest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. History suggests that Edwin was comforted by his deed as he was a staunch supporter of the North.
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