Today is the birthday of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, who popularised wellington boots. 10 things you didn't know about wellies.
- It
was during the Napoleonic wars that the Duke of Wellington decided
he wanted more practical boots for his cavalry to wear. He used to
wear Hessian boots, named after the German soldiers who wore them,
and thought that with some modifications, these boots would be
ideal. He asked his shoemaker, Hoby of St James Street in London to
modify them into a simpler leather boot.
- Now,
of course, they're made of rubber and we have Charles Goodyear and
his associate Hiram Hutchinson to thank for that. After inventing
the vulcanisation process which made rubber more durable, Goodyear
told Hutchinson about his idea. When Hutchinson emigrated to France,
he spotted a gap in the footwear market as all the agricultural
workers wore wooden clogs. The farmers loved the new rubber boots.
They were later adopted by British troops, as they helped prevent
trench foot during wartime.
- They're
popular among the aristocracy and country gentry who are known for
wearing Green ones. The royal family are often pictured wearing them
when relaxing in the country. Other famous wellie wearers include
Paddington Bear and William, the title character in the 1990's
children's series William's Wish Wellingtons, in which a pair
of wellies has the power to grant wishes. They're also worn by the
crews of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race before and after the race.
Oxford wears Blue ones, Cambridge wears green ones.
- Throwing
a wellington boot as far as possible, or welly wanging, is an actual
sport with a world championship which takes place in Upperthong
Village. Welly wanging was invented by British troops during the
first world war who'd wang their wellies when they got bored waiting
for the fighting to start.
- African
miners do a “welly boot dance” to keep their spirits up while
working.
- There's
even a song about wellies. The Welly Boot Song was recorded
by Scottish Comedian Billy Connolly in 1974.
- Size 19 feet? It would take a gallon of custard to fill one of your
wellies.
- Hunter
Boot Ltd are arguable the best known producer of wellington boots.
In 2008 the company made special gold wellies which they sent to
every member of the British Olympic team who won a gold medal at the
Beijing games. They've also designed welly-like boots called Hubble
boots, especially for Cows.
- The
largest sized Hunters wellington boot was a size 18, commissioned
for a vet in Derbyshire. The largest welly ever made was built in
Queensland Australia and was 8 metres high.
- The
world record for the largest number of people taking part in a race
wearing wellington boots is 3,194. The race took place in Killarney, Ireland in May 2014.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Larry Niven, science fiction author, was born on this date in 1938. Here are some things he said:
- Everything
starts as somebody's daydream.
- We
learn only to ask more questions.
- In
the world of words the imagination is one of the forces of nature.
- Sometimes
there's no point in giving up.
- For
each human being there is an optimum ratio between change and
stasis. Too little change, he grows bored. Too little stability, he
panics and loses his ability to adapt.
- That's
the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they
really hate is lousy programmers.
- Fear
is the brother of hate.
- Never
fire a laser at a mirror.
- Anything
you don't understand is dangerous until you do understand it.
- The
Unexpected always comes at the most awkward times.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Today is World Wish Day. Here are 10
things you can make a wish on, and why we do it.
- Stars.
This might be a falling star, or meteorite, or the first star to
appear in the evening. Ptolemy, Greco-Egyptian writer and
astronomer, believed that shooting stars meant the gods were looking
down and listening to people's wishes. You must see the shooting
star yourself. If wishing on the first star to shine in the evening,
recite this rhyme: "Star light, star bright, First star I see
tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish
tonight."
- Candles.
The ancient Greeks believed that smoke was a means of conveying
prayers to the gods, which is the origin of wishing on candles. You
can wish on a candle which goes out by itself before burning all the
way down, but the best known candle magic is wishing on birthday
candles as they are blown out. You have to burn all the candles out
in one breath for your wish to come true.
- Wishbones.
Wishing on the tailbone of a cooked fowl dates back to the
Etruscans, an ancient Italian civilization. They believed Chickens had prophetic powers and you could divine the future according to
the location of grains a rooster chose to peck at. When a chicken
was killed, people would leave the wishbone out in the sun to dry.
People believed the bone retained the power of the prophetic chicken
and that their wishes would be granted if they touched it. It was
the ancient Romans who added the idea of two people pulling the bone
apart and the person who got the larger bit of bone being the one
whose wish would come true.
- Dandelions. Dandelions which had gone to seed were commonly used by girls in the
19th century to divine whether or not the object of their affection
returned their love. If they could blow off all the seeds with one
breath, then he did. This tradition evolved to encompass any kind of
wish, not just the romantic kind.
- Wishing wells. For ancient pagans, the well was a source of a much needed
commodity and they would frequently place statues of their gods
beside a well to protect it. This led to the idea that the gods
watched over wells in general. A coin thrown into a well was an
offering to the gods in the hope the gods would grant the wish.
While the belief that gods are watching over wells, fountains or any
other man-made pool of Water, it's still believed that the bigger
the denomination of the coin thrown in, the more likely the wish
will come true. There's also a rule that the coin should be of the
currency of the country you are in - so chucking in your left over
holiday coins won't work.
- Eyelashes.
More 19th century folklore. When an eyelash falls out there are
several things you can do with it - place it on your fingertip, on
the back of your hand, or on the tip of your nose. Then blow it off.
If you succeed in blowing the eyelash off on the first go, your wish
will come true.
- Ladybirds
(or ladybugs). These insects are so called after the Virgin Mary,
who was often portrayed in a Red cloak in medieval times. Back then,
the appearance of ladybirds on crops was taken as a sign of a good
harvest to come. Although we know today that's probably because the
ladybirds are eating the things that eat the crops, the idea that
it's lucky to have one land on you has survived.
- White Horses have been seen as sacred in numerous religions and
mythologies. There are numerous traditions stating that if you see a
white horse you can make a wish on it. There are some rules and
caveats attached in some traditions, such as, you can only wish
before you can see the horse's tail, or that your wish will only
come true if, after you make it, you can see a red-haired woman. In
other traditions, it was necessary to count White horses and your
wish would only come true after you'd seen a hundred of them.
Another horse related wish superstition is that if you see a jockey
wearing racing silks away from a race track, you can make a wish.
- If
you happen to be standing under an Oak tree when an acorn falls,
pick it up, turn around three times and then make your wish. To
further ensure your wish comes true, take the acorn home with you
and keep it on your windowsill for three days. This one probably
derives from the fact that Druids believe the oak tree is sacred, or
an old Norse belief that keeping an acorn in your window prevents
your house from being struck by Lightning. Carrying an acorn around
was once believed to stop a woman from ageing.
- A
fairy ring is a circle of Mushrooms or other fungi, or may simply be
a ring of grass which is greener than that around it, for no
apparent reason. They have long been seen as places of supernatural
significance which in various legends mean they're dangerous and you
must stay away, or they are lucky. It's said if you stand in the
middle and turn around three times, you can make a wish. If the
fairy ring is still there after three days, you can wish on it
again.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
This date in 1937 saw the birth of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein. 10 things you might not know about him:
- His
father was a shepherd who died from cancer before he was born. His
older brother also died from cancer at around the same time. His
mother plunged into such a severe depression over the deaths that
she attempted suicide. When Saddam was born, she wanted nothing to
do with him so he was taken in by an uncle who was a member of the
Ba'ath Party. He returned to his mother when she remarried, but his
step-father treated him badly so he ran away at the age of 10 and
went back to his uncle.
- He
studied law for three years before dropping out to join the Ba'ath
Party.
- Hence
he was close to his cousins growing up and eventually married one of
them – Sajida – when he was 21. He later had a second wife who
was never officially recorded. Her name was Samira and needless to
say, Sajida was furious about it. There were even rumours that he
had an additional two wives.
- The
name Saddam means “one who confronts” in Arabic.
- Before
coming to power in 1979, he achieved some good things. As
vice-chairman of his party, he set up a literacy programme, built
roads and schools, set up a healthcare system. His literacy
programme even won a UNESCO award.
- He
even pledged to send money to the USA to help “homeless and
wretched Americans”. He also made donations to a church in America
– the Chaldean Christians, a Christian sect with roots in Iraq.
The church was based in Detroit, and its leader, Reverend Jacob
Yasso had sent congratulations when Saddam took power. The donation
resulted in Saddam being presented with the keys to the city of
Detroit. He is one of only 10 people to have that honour conferred
upon them.
- He
wrote a book. Not, as you might expect, a book on wars and military
tactics, but a romance novel called Zabiba and the King. It
was published anonymously in 2000 but newspapers in Iraq got hold of
the idea that he might be the author. It was after this that it
became an best seller and was turned into a musical.
- In
the 1990s, he commissioned a copy of the Qur'an written in his own Blood, as a thank you to God for helping him overcome the dangers
he'd faced in his life. It's estimated that 50 pints of blood would
be required to complete it. While blood donation experts maintain
that it would take at least nine years to safely donate that much
blood, Saddam's calligrapher Abbas Shakir Joudi completed the
project in two. Whether Allah was likely to have been impressed is
debatable since Islamic law forbids using blood to write a Qur'an.
- While
being held by the Americans, his guard reported that the only time
Saddam looked really defeated was when they ran out of his usual
breakfast cereal and he had to eat Fruit Loops, which he hated.
- His
captors let him plant a small garden with a date tree which Saddam
liked to spend time in, taking care of the plants. He used to feed
the birds which visited the garden, too.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Today is National Crow and Raven Day. I covered Ravens already so here are 10 things you might not know about crows.
- Crows
are part of the Corvidae family, which includes ravens, rooks, jays
and magpies. How are they different from ravens and rooks? Ravens
are larger and rooks are smaller.
- There
are about 40 different species of crow.
- A
group of crows is called a murder. They hold funerals. Kind of. When
one of the murder dies the other members of the group gather around
the dead bird. Part of the reason is to work out what killed it. If
it was killed by a predator the others will band together to chase
the perpetrator away. This is called mobbing. They don't touch the
dead crow, so they're not there to eat it. They've often been found
to be hesitant to re-visit a place where a crow has died.
- Not
all species of crow band together as murders. Some are solitary. In
some species the young and non-mated adults live together in what is
called a roosting community.
- They
are much maligned for damaging crops, but recent studies have found
they may actually be doing good by eating crop damaging insects.
- They
will, in fact, eat almost anything – small animals, eggs, insects,
seeds, nuts, fruit, worms and carrion. They've even been observed
eating garbage. They sometimes store food in short term caches in
trees or on the ground.
- When
it comes to making baby crows, the mating pair (who mate for life)
build a nest which will be 15-60 feet/4.6-16 metres above the
ground. A brood will be 4-5 eggs which take 18 days to hatch. The
parents feed then until they are 60 days old. Juvenile birds, the
older siblings of the brood, will often help by defending the nest
while the parents are out foraging, or bringing some food along
themselves.
- They're
highly intelligent and have bigger brains than we do in proportion
to their size. A crow's brain is 2.7% of their body weight while a
human Brain only accounts for 1.9%. They are sometimes said to be
smarter than most undergraduates – so definitely smarter than most
people who voted for Brexit. Crows have regional dialects in the
sounds they make, and if they find themselves in a new social group
it will imitate that group's “accent” in order to fit in.
- Scientists
have taught crows to interpret Traffic Lights and use them to their
advantage. They've learned that they can crack Walnuts by taking
them to a junction with traffic lights and placing the nut on the
road when the light is Red. When the light turns Green they fly away
and watch as the wheels of passing vehicles smash the nut open for
them. They will wait until the light turns red again before flying
down to eat the nut.
- The
crow's nest on a ship gets its name from the practice of Viking
sailors who used to carry crows or ravens in a cage attached to the
top of the mast. When visibility was poor, they'd release one of the
birds because they would head towards the nearest land, and the ship
would follow the bird. That's one theory, anyway. Some naval
historians have argued that no traces of a birdcage have been found
on any Viking ships and so the name merely derives from the fact
that crows build high nests.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
In
Scandinavia, today is the name day for people called Teresa. Theresa
is an alternative spelling. The name comes from the Greek verb
meaning to harvest. 10 famous Teresas.
- Mother Teresa, also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, the Albanian nun
who founded the Missionaries of Charity in India.
- Teresa
Brewer, an American singer whose hits include Music! Music!
Music! and Till I Waltz Again With You, which was one of
the first songs Elvis Presley performed in public, when he was in
the 12th grade.
- Saint
Teresa of Avila, 16th century Spanish saint
who founded the Discalced Carmelites.
- Theresa
May, second female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- Teresa
Bond, fictional character, the wife of James Bond in On Her
Majesty's Secret Service.
- Teresa
the fashion doll, Barbie's best friend.
- Teresa
Edgerton, American fantasy author.
- Teresa
of the Two Sicilies, Empress consort of Dom Pedro II of Brazil.
- Theresa
Lawson, perpetrator of one of the largest fraud cases in New
South Wales, Australia. She was a payroll clerk with Woolworths, who
falsified the accounts so she could steal A$2.7 million over three
years until she was caught with A$10,130 in her handbag. The rest of
the money was never recovered.
- Teresa
Sickles, wife of Daniel E Sickles, a New York State Assemblyman.
She is known because her husband killed her lover, Philip Barton
Key, who happened to be the son of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the
US national anthem. Sickles was the first person in the US to plead
temporary insanity as a defence. He was acquitted.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
25 April is Huntingdonshire Day. 10 things you didn't know about Huntingdonshire.
- Huntingdonshire
is a district of Cambridge, and a historic county of England. It
lost its official county status in 1974.
- In
the 1990s there was a campaign for it to become an administrative
county again although the Local Government Commission found that
while some people were quite vocal in wanting an independent
Huntingdonshire most of the people living there were content to
remain part of Cambridgeshire.
- Some
of the people who'd wanted Huntingdonshire to become a county again
set up the Huntingdonshire society to promote awareness of the
historic county. It was they who decided that 25 April should be
Huntingdonshire Day Because it is the birthday of Oliver Cromwell,
who was born in the town of Huntingdon.
- The
society also established a county flag for the area, a hunting horn
on a Green field, in 2009.
- Its
boundaries haven't changed since Anglo Saxon times.
- In
1154, Henry II declared that the whole of Huntingdonshire was a
royal forest, meaning one reserved for hunting. His proclamation
didn't last – by the 18th century it was mostly
farmland.
- The
administrative centre is in the market town of Huntingdon, which
means “Huntsman's Hill.” A couple of facts about Huntingdon –
it has a cultivar of elm tree named after it, and it was hit by a Tornado during the largest ever tornado outbreak in the UK in 1981.
- Other
major towns are Ramsey, St Ives (not to be confused with the one in Cornwall), St Neots and Yaxley.
- Huntingdonshire
includes part of the Fens of East Anglia, which in years gone by
used to freeze in winter and people would skate on them and play a
game similar to ice hockey, a forerunner of the game of bandy, now
an IOC accepted sport.
- As
well as Oliver Cromwell, other people associated with the area
include Samuel Pepys, who went to school there, former Prime
Minister John Major, who was the MP for Huntingdonshire and
Catherine of Aragon, who died there.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
The Banyan Tree Birthday Party is a celebration in Lahaina Town, Hawaii in honour of a banyan tree planted there on April 24 1873 by William Owen Smith.
- The
scientific name for the Banyan tree is Ficus benghalensis.
They are members of the fig family.
- In
fact, when we talk of Adam and Eve wearing fig leaves to cover their
naughty bits, we get that from John Milton's Paradise Lost,
where he writes that Adam and Eve made clothes from banyan leaves.
- The
word banyan derives from the Gujarati word for a merchant or trader,
since merchants would often conduct their business from under the
shade of these trees.
- They
are the largest trees in the world in terms of the area they cover.
The largest one is in Andhra Pradesh, India, and has a a canopy of
19,107 m2. Its branches spread over 8 acres. This tree is known as
Thimmamma Marrimanu, after a woman who threw herself on her
husband's funeral pyre. The tree is said to have grown from one of
the poles from the pyre. There is a small temple under the tree,
since people believe that infertile couples will conceive a child
within a year if they pray there.
- The
first European to see one and write notes about it was Alexander the Great, when he arrived in India in 326BC. Theophrastus, the founder
of modern botany used those notes to inform his work.
- Krishna stood beneath a banyan tree at Jyotisar when he delivered the sermon
of the Bhagavad Gita. Hindu texts also speak of a banyan tree that
grows upside down with its roots in heaven and its branches
delivering blessings to humanity.
- There
are some Banyan trees growing in Hawaii, too, although they are not
native there. People who have planted banyans in Hawaii include
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Amelia Earhart and Louis Armstrong.
- The
banyan tree has been the national tree of India since 1950.
- The
tree appears on the coat of arms of Indonesia. Here, it symbolises
the unity of Indonesia - one country with many far-flung roots.
Because it is a huge tree, it also symbolises power.
- The
seeds of the banyan tree germinate in cracks on other trees, sending
down roots to the ground. The roots thicken and harden and become
like tree trunks. The roots suck up nutrients from the soil and as
the banyan tree grows, it will eventually smother the host tree,
which, after it dies will be eaten by beetles and fungi, leaving a
hollow middle.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Today is Peppercorn Day. The peppercorn is the fruit of the pepper plant. Here are 10 things you might not know about pepper.
- Black pepper, Green pepper and White pepper all come from the same plant,
Piper nigrum. The difference lies in how the fruit is ripened
and processed. Black pepper is made from the whole fruit, cooked and
then dried. White pepper is made from the seed only and green pepper
from unripe fruit.
- The
pepper plant is a perennial flowering vine native to south Asia. Vietnam, Indonesia and India are the largest producers. The biggest
consumer, buying up 18% of the world's pepper, is the USA.
- The
Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II had peppercorns stuffed up his nose as
part of the mummification process.
- Pepper
was once so valuable in Europe that it was used as Money. Hence we
get the term “peppercorn rent” although today it means you're
getting the place for next to nothing. It was a luxury item that
only the rich could afford. It was worth more than Silver in weight.
It was one of the reasons that Vasco da Gama set out to find a route
to India by sea in an attempt to gain some of the control of the
spice trade from Italy.
- The
chemical compound that makes pepper pungent is called piperine. This
chemical was discovered and isolated from the plant by Hans
Christian Ørsted in 1819, and makes up between 4.6 and 9.7% of
black pepper.
- It
isn't known why pepper makes people sneeze. One theory is that it's
the piperine that irritates the nostrils.
- Pepper
was used as a folk remedy as well as a seasoning. It was used to
treat constipation, insomnia, abscesses, toothaches and even eye
problems. The latter would be treated by applying a salve made from
pepper directly to the eye, which was not only ineffective but
probably more painful than the original problem. It was one of the
few medicines a Buddhist monk was allowed to carry.
- Today,
about 20% of the world's spice trade is accounted for by pepper.
- Pepper
contains vitamin K, manganese, Copper, Iron and calcium.
- Pepper
needs to be stored in an airtight container and out of the light as
both light and evaporation makes it lose flavour. The best way to
use it is by grinding the whole peppercorns directly onto the food.
They knew this in the Middle Ages – pepper mills were found in
kitchens as early as the 14th century. Before that,
people would use a pestle and mortar to grind it up.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Robert Oppenheimer, the US physicist, known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb, was born on this date in 1904. Here are ten things you might not know about him.
- Robert
was his middle name. His first name was Julius, after his father.
His father was a German immigrant, who'd arrived in the US in 1888
with no money, no qualifications and unable to speak English, He got
a job with a textile company and within ten years was a company
executive.
- His
mother Ella was a painter from Baltimore. His parents collected art
and had in their collection three original Van Gogh paintings.
- At
school, Robert was interested in English and French literature as
well as science, finally deciding to major in chemistry.
- He
went to Harvard, a year later than he was supposed to because he'd
gone down with colitis during a family holiday in Europe and had
been convalescing in New Mexico. During his time there he learned to
ride a Horse and developed a lifelong love of riding. He would later
buy a ranch in New Mexico, and called it Perro Caliente, which is
Spanish for “Hot dog”, the exclamation he made when he first
heard the ranch was available to lease.
- After
Harvard, he studied in Europe, in Cambridge and the University of
Göttingen, where he took such an active part in class discussions
that he annoyed the other students to the extent that one of them
organised a petition saying they'd boycott the class unless he shut
up.
- He
worked with some well known scientists including Max Born and Linus
Pauling. However, his relationship with Pauling came to an abrupt
end after he propositioned Pauling's wife. She turned him down and
told her husband about it.
- As
a young man, he was so involved with his work that he had no idea at
all about current affairs, because he never read newspapers or
listened to the radio. He claimed he'd only heard about the Wall
Street crash six months after it happened, from a friend. He also
claimed that he didn't even vote until 1936. In the 1930s, though,
he became concerned about what was going on in the world. For two
years, he gave 3% of his salary to help scientists fleeing Nazi
Germany.
- In
1940 he married Kitty Peuning. He was her fourth husband. He was
also carrying on with a woman called Jean Tatlock. Both women had
Communist views. Hence he was under investigation by the FBI for
potentially being a communist. While he agreed with the Communist
Party on several issues, he denied he was ever a member of it.
- His
famous quote, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds"
is a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, originally spoken by Prince
Arjuna as he takes on his multi-armed form.
- A
chain smoker, he died from throat cancer in 1965, aged 62.
See also: Robert Oppenheimer quotes.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
According
to legend, the city of Rome was founded on this date in 753 BC. Here are 10 things you might not know about Rome.
- According
to legend, Rome was founded by Romulus. He and his Twin brother
Remus were abandoned by their mother and raised by a she-wolf, until
a shepherd adopted them. Romulus eventually killed his brother to
become Rome's first ruler. The mascot of the city is the she-wolf.
The twins were actually princes from a nearby city called Alba
Longa, which was destroyed by Rome in the seventh century BC.
- Rome
has been the capital of Italy since 1870. Before that, the capital
was Florence.
- There
are 900 churches and 280 fountains in Rome. One of these is the
Trevi Fountain. Around 3,000 euros are thrown into this fountain by
tourists every day. The idea is that if you toss a coin into the
fountain over your left shoulder using your right hand, you will
return to Rome. The money is collected up at night and given to a
Catholic charity which helps needy families. However, it should be
noted that anyone who tries to gather up some of the coins for
themselves will find themselves in trouble as it is illegal to do
so.
- Another
popular sight to see when in Rome, is the Spanish Steps. They're not
actually Spanish. They were paid for by a Frenchman and built by
Italian architects. They're called the Spanish Steps because at one
time, the Spanish Embassy was based at the bottom of the steps.
- Traditionally,
Rome has seven hills. Actually, it has rather more than that, since
the city has grown somewhat. The seven original hills are Aventine,
Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal.
However, the highest point in Rome, despite being fairly central,
isn't one of them. It's Monte Mario at 139m (456ft), north of Vatican City.
- The Colosseum was called the Amphitheatrium Flavium when it was first
built. The Flavian emperors who built it wanted their names attached
to it rather than simply calling it “The Big Thing” which is
what the word Colosseum meant. The original Colosseum was a huge
statue, or colossus, of one of the emperors which used to stand
outside.
- The
Pantheon was built in about 126 AD, commissioned by the Emperor
Hadrian, and still has the world's largest dome made from
unreinforced concrete.
- Stray Cats have rights in Rome. About 300,000 of them are allowed to roam
free, even in some of the ancient ruins.
- Only
about 10% of the Eternal City has ever been excavated. 90% of the
ancient city remains buried under homes and businesses, which means
most of it may never be uncovered and studied.
- At
the Knight of Malta gate on Aventine Hill there is a green wooden
door with a tiny keyhole. If you look through it, you get a perfect
view of the Vatican. No-one knows if it was designed to be this way
or if it's merely coincidence.
NEW!
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Available on Amazon:
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
