Did You Know ?

Greatest Snowfall in One Day

2012-02-02T22:04:00.004-05:00

Did you know....
In Silver Lake, Colorado on April 14,1921 this town received the greatest amount of snowfall in 24 hours than any other place in the US It measured up to 75.8 inches. That's almost 7 feet of snow, and we have trouble with a few inches....Another impressive record of 63 inches was registered in Georgetown, Colorado on December 4, 1913. How would you like to shovel those driveways??

Football "huddle"

2012-01-31T17:24:00.004-05:00

Did you know the "huddle" in football began in 1894 when a deaf football player,Paul Hubbard, the quarterback player at Gallaudet University, using sign language, had his team group around him to prevent the opposition from seeing his signals.

Ken Griffey Jr.

2012-01-31T17:02:00.004-05:00

Did you know the only father and son to hit back-to-back home runs in a major league baseball game were Ken Griffey Jr., and his father Ken Griffey Sr.?
In 1990 and 1991, Griffey Jr and his father became the first son and father to play on the same team at the same time. In his father's first game as a Mariner, on August 31, 1990, the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored. On September 14, the pair hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first off California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill, becoming the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs. The duo played a total of 51 games together before Griffey, Sr., retired in June 1991.

Toilet Tissue/Paper

2010-06-25T13:43:00.008-04:00

Did you know...
Toilet tissue/paper isn't as old as you may think...
Needless to say we have NOT always had Toilet tissue/paper; and it was some time before it was invented even though people saw the need for such an item long before it became a household necessity. So what did people use before toilet paper??? First it was the hand,(gross!) grass, (that's a little better) leaves, (much better if they were soft) corn cobs and even rocks.(that must have been hard) The ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay; ancient Romans used sponges on the ends of sticks, that were kept in jugs filled with salty water. Mid-easterners commonly used the left hand, which is supposedly still considered unclean in the Arabian region. But as time goes on we started to realize how much easier and more hygienic a piece of paper could be, so enters the newspaper; Newspapers could be found in almost all "Outhouses". Then there was the Farmers Almanac, which even had a hole in it so it could be hung in the outhouse just for that purpose. Then of course there was the Sears and Roebuck catalog. The catalog became the "king" of the outhouse, until they started making the pages glossy, but by then we had toilet paper. So who invented this much needed and used item? Some say it was Joseph Gayetty who produced the first commercially available toilet paper in the U.S. in 1857. The tissue was moistened with aloe and sold in packages of 500 individual sheets, each one with a watermark bearing Gayetty’s name. It was sold as a medical product, but was not very successful. Three brothers, Edward, Clarence, and Thomas Scott began selling their toilet paper from a push cart in Philadelphia in 1867. It seems the paper was in much demand so in 1879, Edward and Clarence Scott founded the Scott Paper Company (the third brother, Thomas, went into the publishing business instead). Scott toilet paper was sold in rolls that were, apparently, unperforated in the early years. In addition, the company did not market their products under the Scott brand at that time. By 1883, at least one patent had been issued for a toilet paper roll holder that had a serrated cutting blade. The Albany Perforated Wrapping (A.P.W.) Paper Company was selling rolled, perforated (and medicated) toilet paper by 1885—and possibly as early as 1877.
A 1935 ad for Northern Tissue boasted that it was “splinter-free,” but this does not suggest, in any way, that all toilet paper prior to theirs had splinters!
The first two-ply toilet paper was sold by St. Andrew’s Paper Mill in England in 1942. But no matter who invented toilet paper, Gayetty or Scott, We give thanks. We now have a choice of 1 ply, 2 ply, or 3 ply toilet paper, with aloe or other softeners, or even moist wipes. So now you may ask who invented the toilet???

Uranus, The Planet of Many Moons

2010-03-05T11:19:00.005-05:00

Did you know...
Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, has many moons, as much as 27 that we know of.
Uranus, the only planet whose name is derived from a figure from Greek mythology rather than from Roman mythology:
The name Uranus means "small light" and refers to the pale light emitted by the planet as seen from Earth. It takes Uranus 84 (Earth) years to revolve around the Sun. Uranus has 27 known natural moons. All of these moons have names chosen from characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. The five main moons are named
Miranda,no not the warning to criminal suspects in police custody but from a character in the play "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare
Ariel,also a character from the play "The Tempest" by Shakespeare who was a lively sprite in attendance on Prospero and from "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope
Umbriel,who was a moody spirit in poet Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock"
Titania, The Queen of the Fairies and wife of Oberon in Shakespeare's Midsummer-Night's Dream
Oberon from the legendary king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, written in the mid-1590s, in which he is Consort to Titania, Queen of the Fairies.

The moons Titania and Oberon were spotted by Sir William Herschel on January 11, 1787, six years after he had discovered the planet itself. The other spherical moons, Ariel and Umbriel were discovered in 1851 by William Lassell and in 1948 Gerard Kuiper discovered Miranda. The remaining moons were discovered in 1985 and after, either during the Voyager 2 flyby mission or with the aid of advanced Earth-based telescopes.

The 27 moons of Uranus, When discovered, by whom/what

Cordelia 1986 Voyager 2
Ophelia 1986 Voyager 2
Bianca 1986 Voyager 2
Cressida 1986 Voyager 2
Desdemona 1986 Voyager 2
Juliet 1986 Voyager 2
Portia 1986 Voyager 2
Rosalind 1986 Voyager 2
Cupid 2003 Showalter and Lissauer
Belinda 1986 Voyager 2
Perdita 1999 Voyager 2
Puck 1985 Voyager 2
Mab 2003 Showalter and Lissauer
Miranda 1948 Kuiper
Ariel 1851 Lassell
Umbriel 1851 Lassell
Titania 1787 Herschel
Oberon 1787 Herschel
Francisco 2003 Holman et al.Detected in 2001, published in 2003.
Caliban 1997 Gladman et al.
Stephano 1999 Gladman et al.
Trinculo 2001 Holman et al.
Sycorax 1997 Nicholson et al.
Margaret 2003 Sheppard and Jewitt
Prospero 1999 Holman et al.
Setebos 1999 Kavelaars et al.
Ferdinand 2003 Holman et al.Detected in 2001, published in 2003.

The Rape of the Lock (a poem by Alexander Pope) and the names of the moons of Uranus which derived from this poem :
Ariel, Umbriel, Belinda

The Plays by William Shakespeare from which most of the moons of Uranus derived their names:
o A Midsummer Night's Dream: Titania, Oberon, Puck
o The Tempest: (Ariel), Miranda, Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, Stephano, Trinculo, Francisco, Ferdinand
o King Lear: Cordelia
o Hamlet: Ophelia
o The Taming of the Shrew: Bianca
o Troilus and Cressida: Cressida
o Othello: Desdemona
o Romeo and Juliet: Juliet, Mab
o The Merchant of Venice: Portia
o As You Like It: Rosalind
o Much Ado About Nothing: Margaret
o The Winter's Tale: Perdita
o Timon of Athens: Cupid

Simple Backout Clause.

2010-02-16T11:43:00.003-05:00

Did You Know....
No Congress, no President has been strong enough to stand up to the foreign-controlled Federal Reserve Bank. Yet there is a catch - one that President Kennedy recognized before he was slain - the original deal in 1913 creating the Federal Reserve Bank had a simple backout clause. The investors loaned the United States Government $1 billion. And the backout clause allows the United States to buy out the system for that $1 billion. If the Federal Reserve Bank were demolished and the Congress of the United States took control of the currency, as required in the Constitution, the National Debt would virtually end overnight; the need for more taxes and even the income tax, itself would come to an end. Thomas Jefferson was concise in his early warning to the American nation, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Come Join The Celebration

2010-02-12T07:53:00.005-05:00

Did You Know...
It is possible to get over ONE MILLION visits to your BLOG!
Don't think so??? Well Tina at TUTU TINA has done just that!
Break out the champagne....Put on your party hat and go to TUTU TINA's to help her celebrate this event.
For a big thank you to all her visitors Tina is giving away
(Drum roll please!...) MONEY and ADVERTISING on her blog.
Why is her blog so interesting? She is always helping others make their blog better.
She has so much to offer I can't begin to list them here.
What I like most is she makes it simple and fun.
While there you may want to sign up for a prize....

Here's how to enter:
All you need to do is blog about this giveaway on your blog, then leave a comment with your blog link at TUTU TINA to let her know where it is. That's all! Easy enough HUH???

1st prize - $15.00 and 3 months of free advertising!
2nd prize- $10.00 and 2 months of free advertising!
3rd prize- $5.00 and 1 month of free advertising!

Advertisements are in a special top spot and the winners will receive their prize money into their Paypal account.

Draw Dates:
Feb 12: 3rd prize
Feb 19: 2nd prize
Feb 26: 1st prize

Just click TUTU TINA to see her blog.

Expiration Dates ??

2010-02-03T16:41:00.005-05:00

Did You Know...
For most foods the expiration date indicates the last day the food should be eaten?
BUT not for EGGS...for eggs there is an exception:
Federally graded fresh eggs in their shells are safe for consumption for three(3) to
five(5) weeks after the expiration date on the carton, as long as they are not cracked and kept under refrigeration.
So don't throw away your eggs if they have reached the date on the carton, you can still eat them safely.

What is in Your Bible?

2009-11-15T16:16:00.006-05:00

Did you know...

* Jesus said no one has gone to heaven except Himself
* "Christmas" is not mentioned in the Bible
* "Three Wise Men" appear nowhere in the Bible, and none are ever mentioned visiting baby Jesus in a Bethlehem manger
* The Bible doesn't say Jesus died on a Friday, or rose from the grave Sunday morning
* There were not just two of every kind of animal aboard Noah's Ark
* The word "Easter" has vanished from today's Bibles
* The practice of decking a tree with silver and gold is actually condemned by God
* God wanted to kill Moses
* Animals had meaningful discussions with people
* The Bible calls the devil "god"

Did you know?

* Moses did not write the Ten Commandments
* Jesus did not come to make everyone understand His message
* A "live forever" diet is mentioned
* The Bible does not say Eve bit into an apple
* Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not Jews
* Jesus had a group of "other" apostles in addition to the famous 12
* Jesus made personal appearances on Earth in the OLD Testament
* Women's breasts are celebrated in the Bible
* Nagging wives are mentioned
* God ordered many of his own people to get divorced
* God mandated the slayings of thousands of men, women and children
* There's a person who didn't eat or drink anything for 80 days
* God ran lotteries
* A giant, outdoor night-light blazed every night for 40 years
* Jesus wasn't the only guy to walk on water
* Someone tried to buy the Holy Spirit
* There are magic tricks in Scripture

If this surprised you then you should get this book and read it...It will shock you! Shocked by the Bible will have you searching for things you thought were there, but aren't. A must read...Go here to read more or to purchase. Shocked By The Bible And before you ask I don't make a commission off the sales. I just want you to be informed.

Serial Killers

2009-11-11T15:43:00.005-05:00

Did You Know...
Most serial killers lived and did their killing in the USA?
For all we know there are even more than what is listed here.
Funny thing is most are men. BTW this list doesn't include the ones that never got caught...wonder where they are today?
Do you know who your neighbor really is?

Serial Killers in
United States of America

* Charles Albright: convicted of murdering three prostitutes in Dallas, Texas; sentenced to life imprisonment in 1991

* Joe Ball: AKA "The Alligator Man"; killed at least 20 women in the early 20th century in Texas

* Herb Baumeister: suspected of killing 20+ men along I-70; fled and committed suicide after remains of 11 were found on his Westfield, Indiana property

* David Berkowitz: AKA "Son of Sam" and "The .44 Caliber Killer"; convicted of six murders in New York

* Bloody Benders: family who killed guests at their inn in Labette County, Kansas in 1872

* Robert Berdella: convicted of killing six men in 1988 in Kansas City, Missouri; sexually tortured and dismembered his victims

* Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr: AKA the "Hillside Strangler"; killers of 13 women and possibly involved in three other killings

* Richard Biegenwald: convicted of killing five people in the early 1980s in the Asbury Park, New Jersey area; suspected in at least six other murders

* Arthur Gary Bishop: Utah man who murdered five young boys; executed in 1988

* Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris: kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered five girls in 1979

* Terry Blair: Kansas City serial killer and rapist; active 1982–2004

* William Bonin: AKA "The Freeway Killer"; with several accomplices, claimed the lives of 20 boys in California

* Robert Charles Browne: convicted of two murders in Colorado; confessed to 48 murders

* Jerry Brudos: AKA "The Lust Killer" and "Shoe Fetish Slayer"; killed at least five women in Oregon

* Ted Bundy: law student who raped and murdered more than 35 women in six states; executed in Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989

* David Carpenter: AKA the "Trailside Killer"; murdered five women on San Francisco-area hiking trails between 1979 and 1981

* Michael Bear Carson and Suzan Carson: nomadic hippie killers involved in the counter-culture movement; suspects in 12 homicides; sentenced to life imprisonment for three San Francisco Bay Area murders in 1983

* Dean Carter: murdered at least four women

* Richard Chase: AKA "The Vampire of Sacramento"; murdered six people in California the 1970s

* Doug Clark and Carol M. Bundy: AKA "Sunset Strip Killers"; killed at least seven people during 1980

* Carroll Cole: killed 16 people between 1948 and 1980; executed in 1985

* Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown: multi-state killers whose killings took place during two months in 1984; convicted of murder in three states

* Ray Copeland and Faye Copeland: oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States at the ages of 75 and 69; convicted of killing five men; modus operandi was to hire unskilled drifters as farm hands and later kill them

* Dean Corll, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks: committed the Houston Mass Murders in the 1970s

* Juan Corona: California killer convicted of murdering 25 men in 1971

* Charles Cullen: nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania who killed as many as 40 patients through lethal injection

* Andrew Cunanan: murdered five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace, in a cross-country journey during a three-month period in 1997, ending with Cunanan's suicide, at the age of 27

* Jeffrey Dahmer: Milwaukee, Wisconsin cannibal who kept heads, skulls and body parts in his apartment for sexual gratification; convicted of 15 murders, but believed responsible for at least two others

* Albert DeSalvo: AKA "The Boston Strangler"; convicted of unrelated rapes; DeSalvo was never indicted for the Strangler murders, although he did confess to them. A married man who worked as a maintenance man.

* Westley Allan Dodd: raped and murdered three boys in 1989; executed on January 5, 1993

* Ronald Dominique: confessed to raping and murdering at least 23 men in Louisiana; sentenced to eight life sentences in 2008

* Nannie Doss: AKA "The Giggling Granny" and "The Jolly Black Widow"; serial poisoner who killed 11 family members

* Paul Durousseau: murdered seven in southeast United States between 1997 and 2003; may have killed while stationed in Germany with the Army

* Mack Ray Edwards: convicted of murdering three children after confessing to the murders of six in Los Angeles County between 1953 and 1969; claimed at one point to have killed as many as 18

* Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck: AKA the "Lonely Hearts Killers"; killed at least three women and one child in the 1940s but suspected in up to 20 murders in New York and Michigan

* Albert Fish: AKA the "Werewolf of Wisteria"; sadist and pedophile who cannibalized several children; convicted of one murder, confessed to 2 others,claimed to have molested 100 children

* Wayne Adam Ford: AKA "Wayward Wayne"; confessed to murdering four women; believed to have killed others

* Kendall Francois: serial killer from Poughkeepsie, New York who targeted prostitutes; after strangling the women, he would store them in various crawl spaces in and around his home

* Joseph Paul Franklin: racist serial killer who targeted interracial couples and attempted to assassinate Larry Flynt and Vernon Jordan; convicted of 11 murders and confessed to nine others

* John Wayne Gacy: AKA "Killer Clown"; killer of at least 33 men and boys; kept bodies buried under his Chicago home

* Gerald and Charlene Gallego: AKA the "Gallego Sex Slaves Killers"; kidnapped, raped and killed victims in the late 1970s; most of them were teenagers

* Carlton Gary: convicted of the murders of seven elderly women in Georgia

* Donald Henry "Peewee"" Gaskins: AKA "Meanest Man in America"; convicted of nine murders; confessed to more than 200; executed on September 6, 1991

* Ed Gein: two known victims, one suspected victim, four missing persons; elements of Gein's life and crimes have inspired, at least in part, the films Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and the novel/movie The Silence of the Lambs

* Janie Lou Gibbs: Georgia poisoner who killed five family members

* Kristen Gilbert: AKA the "Angel of Death"; nurse convicted of killing four by epinephrine injection

* Lorenzo Gilyard: killed up to 13 prostitutes in the Kansas City area 1977 to 1993

* Harvey Glatman: Californian rapist and killer of three women; lured women to pose for "bondage photographs"; executed September 18, 1959

* Jeffrey Gorton: convicted of two rape-murders in Michigan, suspected of more

* Dana Sue Gray: convicted of murder of three elderly women and attempted murder of a fourth in California

* Vaughn Greenwood: convicted of nine counts of murder, including eight of the "Skid Row Slasher" killings in southern California

* Belle Gunness: Norwegian-born murder-for-profit killer who killed her suitors and children in Indiana

* Anna Marie Hahn: German-born murder-for-profit killer who poisoned five elderly men; executed in 1938

*Robert Hansen : Alaskan baker who killed prostitutes at his cabin; convicted of four murders but admitted to 11 others

*Donald Harvey: AKA "Angel of Death"; hospital orderly; confessed to more than 80 "mercy killings" with 37 confirmed killings

* William Heirens: AKA "The Lipstick Killer"; confessed to three murders spanning from June 1945 to January 1946

* Dr. H. H. Holmes: active from 1890 to 1894 during Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; convicted of only one murder but definitively tied to at least eight more and confessed to a total of 27

* Waneta Hoyt: New York woman who murdered her five children

* Michael Hughes: killed four women in the Los Angeles area between 1992 and 1993; charged in 2008 with raping and murdering four additional women between 1986 and 1993

* Leslie Irvin: AKA "Mad Dog"; convicted of killing six people in Indiana in the mid-1950s; his Supreme Court case set a precedent for fair trials of highly publicized defendants

* Phillip Carl Jablonski: killed at least four women in California and Utah

* Keith Hunter Jesperson: Canadian serial killer convicted in the United States

* Vincent Johnson: AKA the "Brooklyn Strangler"; a homeless crack addict who killed at least five prostitutes

* Genene Jones: Texas pediatric nurse who poisoned infants in her care; convicted of only one murder but suspected of 10 or more others

* Patrick Kearney: necrophiliac convicted of 21 murders in California and admitted to seven other murders

* Edmund Kemper: started killing when he was 15 years old in Santa Cruz, California; convicted of six murders and implicated in four others

* Tillie Klimek: Chicago woman who poisoned five husbands; sentenced to life imprisonment

* Paul John Knowles: raped and murdered 18 people

* Randy Kraft: convicted of the murders of 16 young men and boys; suspected of 51 others in California

* Timothy Krajcir: confessed to killing more than nine women—five in Missouri and four others in Illinois and Pennsylvania

* Peter Kudzinowski: killed children in New Jersey in the 1920s

* Leonard Lake and Charles Ng: ex-Marines and survivalists; killed at least 11 people and suspected of 25 in Wilseyville, California; collected and murdered female sex slaves

* Derrick Todd Lee: AKA the "Baton Rouge Serial Killer"; convicted of two murders; linked by DNA evidence to five others

* Henry Lee Lucas: convicted of 11 murders and confessed to approximately 3,000 others, although most of his confessions are considered outlandish; a task force set up to investigate his claims suggested that the true number of his murders may be as high as 213

* Rhonda Belle Martin: Alabama poisoner who murdered six family members; suspected of poisoning at least nine; executed in 1957

* Michigan murders (John Norman Collins and Gary Leiterman): committed separately in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor between 1967 and 1969

* Frederick Mors: Austrian who killed 17 elderly patients by poisoning in New York

* John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo: AKA "Beltway Snipers"; Muhammad is convicted of seven murders so far and awaiting prosecution for nine others; Malvo was convicted of, plead guilty to, or confessed to at least nine murders

* Herbert Mullin: schizophrenic in Santa Cruz, California who killed people to prevent earthquakes; convicted of 10 murders and confessed to three others

* Earle Nelson: AKA "Gorilla Man"; necrophiliac convicted and hanged for one murder; implicated in about 20 others

* Marie Noe: murdered eight of her children between 1949 and 1968

* Gordon Stewart Northcott: AKA the "Wineville Chicken Coop Murders"; California man who confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering nine young boys with the aid of his mother, Sarah Louise Northcott in the 1920s; suspected of the murder of nearly 30, executed in 1930

* Carl Panzram: murderer, rapist and arsonist; convicted of two murders; confessed to 19 others; executed in 1930

* Gerald Parker: AKA the "Bedroom Basher" raped and murdered five women and killed the unborn baby of a sixth woman in Orange County, California

* Christopher Peterson: AKA the "Shotgun Killer", confessed to shooting seven people with a shotgun in a killing spree spanning from October 30, 1990 to December 18, 1990 in Indiana.

* Dorothea Puente: convicted of three killings in Sacramento, California during the 1980s; suspected of six others

* Dennis Rader: AKA the "BTK Killer"; killed ten people between 1974 and 1991 in Sedgwick County, Kansas

* Richard Ramirez: AKA the "Night Stalker"; terrorized Los Angeles in 1984 and 1985; convicted of 14 murders

* David Parker Ray: convicted of rape and torture and sentenced to 224 years in prison; FBI believes he was responsible for the deaths of 60 women in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

* Paul Dennis Reid: killed seven people during armed robberies between February and April 1997

* Ángel Maturino Reséndiz: killed nine people in Texas, Kentucky, and Illinois

* Gary Ridgway: AKA the "Green River Killer"; convicted of murdering 48 women in Washington state

* Joel Rifkin: murdered 17 women in the New York City and Long Island areas

* John Edward Robinson: AKA the "Cyber Sex Killer"; lured victims through the internet; convicted of murdering six women in Missouri and Kansas

* Dayton Leroy Rogers: murdered at least six women in Oregon

* Danny Rolling: pleaded guilty to murdering five students in Florida; executed in 2006

* Michael Bruce Ross: raped and murdered seven women in Connecticut; executed May 13, 2005

* Efren Saldivar: respiratory therapist who killed six patients, possibly as many as 120

* Altemio Sanchez: AKA the "Bike Path Rapist"; responsible for three murders and numerous rapes spanning a 25-year period in Buffalo, New York; currently serving three consecutive 75 years-to-life sentences for the murders

* Heriberto Seda: New York City copycat killer of the "Zodiac Killer" active from 1990 to 1994; convicted of shooting eight individuals, killing three; sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998

* Gerard John Schaefer: Florida police officer who killed up to 34 women and girls

* Tommy Lynn Sells: convicted of only one murder; admitted to murdering dozens of people across the United States, possibly in excess of 70 although only six are confirmed

* Arthur Shawcross: AKA "The Genesee River Killer"; convicted of 12 murders; confessed to one more

* Robert Shulman: convicted of murdering five prostitutes between 1991 and 1996

* Lemuel Smith: confessed to the murders of five people, including an on-duty female prison guard

* Morris Solomon Jr.: handyman who killed six young women between 1986 and 1987 in Sacramento, California

* Anthony Sowell: Cleveland, Ohio man arrested in November 2009; 10 bodies found on premises

* Gerald Stano: convicted murderer of 41 women; executed in 1998

* Cary Stayner: killed four women in Yosemite, California

* Michael Swango: physician and surgeon who poisoned over 30 of his patients and colleagues

* William Suff: AKA the "Riverside Killer"; killed up to 19 women near Riverside, California

* Marybeth Tinning: New York woman who smothered nine of her children to death

* Ottis Tool:Henry Lee Lucas' accomplice; convicted of six murders in Florida; confessed to but never tried for Adam Walsh's murder

* Maury Travis: St. Louis area torture killer of 12-17 prostitutes from 2000 to 2002

* Chester Turner: murderer of women in Los Angeles, California; convicted of 12 murders and linked through DNA evidence to another

* Henry Louis Wallace: Charlotte, North Carolina killer of at least nine young women from 1992 to 1994

* Coral Eugene Watts: convicted of two murders; admitted to killing 80 people in Texas and Michigan; possibly guilty of 100 murders

* Nathaniel White: convicted of stabbing to death six women in the Hudson Valley, New York area from 1991 to 1992

* Wayne Williams: convicted of two murders; police claim his arrest solved 23 others in a string of 29

* Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood: Michigan duo who murdered five elderly nursing home residents in their care and claimed to have killed another

* Randall Woodfield: AKA the "The I-5 Killer" and "The I-5 Bandit"; convicted of four murders; believed responsible for 14 others

* Aileen Wuornos: shot six men dead in Florida; executed in 2002

* Robert Lee Yates: murdered at least 13 women in Spokane County, Washington

Elephant

2009-11-09T16:17:00.001-05:00

Did you know...
The Elephant is the only mammal that can't jump?
Could it be because of their weight or from weak knees?

Interesting Facts about Michael Jacksons 10 top Songs

2009-10-27T13:49:00.003-04:00

Did You know the

top 10 Michael Jackson songs of all time, as rated by AOL Radio listeners? Let us know what your favorite MJ song is in the comments.

1)
From the Album: 'Thriller'

Did you know... MTV named the 14-minute-long video as the greatest music video of all-time. 'Thriller' was the seventh and final single released from the album of the same name. The original name for the song was 'Starlight Love.'

2) 'Billie Jean'

Album: 'Thriller'

Did you know... The song was almost removed from 'Thriller' after a disagreement occurred between producer Quincy Jones and Jackson. The video brought MTV into the mainstream, and it was reportedly the first video the channel aired by a black artist.

3) 'Beat It'

Album: 'Thriller'

Did you know... For the 25th anniversary re-release of 'Thriller,' a remix was included titled 'Beat It 2008,' which featured additional vocals by Fergie, although a parody song released in 1984 by "Weird Al" Yankovic was much more popular. That spoof, 'Eat It,' was recorded with Michael's permission and won a Grammy for Best Comedy Recording.

4) 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''

Album: 'Thriller'

Did you know... The phrase at the end of the chorus -- "Mama-se, mama-sa, mama-ma-coo-sa" -- are taken from a 1973 song 'Soul Makossa,' by Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango. "Makossa" means "dance" in Duala, a Cameroonian language. Jackson has never lip-synched this song on any of his tours since 1984.

5) 'The Way You Make Me Feel'

Album: 'Bad'

Did you know... Michael wrote this song in response to his mother, Katherine Esther, who wanted him to write a song with a "shuffling kind of rhythm." For his 30th anniversary concert in 2001, he performed the song alongside Britney Spears. However, CBS cut her from the footage and her performance did not air.

6) 'Smooth Criminal'

Album: 'Bad'

Did you know... Michael does one of his most memorable dance moves in the music video for 'Smooth Criminal,' where he seemingly defies gravity and leans forward without bending his knees and keeps his heels firmly in place. While he used wires for the video, his team patented a special type of shoes in 1993 that he wore for his stage performances. Before Michael leaned forward, the shoes would become attached to the stage through special pegs, thus leaving concert fans wondering, "How did he do that?"

7) 'Man in the Mirror'

Album: 'Bad'

Did you know... When Jackson played 'Man in the Mirror' on his Dangerous World Tour in 1992, stuntman Kinnie Gibson dressed like him and flew out of the arena wearing a jet pack.

8) Album: 'Bad'

Did you know... The song was originally set to be a duet between Jackson and Prince, but Prince declined and told Jackson and producer Quincy Jones that "it would be a hit without [him]." The full music video of the song is an 18-minute short film with Jackson portraying a young man named Daryl who once was "bad" and tries to prove to his old friends that he still has an edge after spending time in prep school.

9) 'Rock With You'

Album: 'Off The Wall'

Did you know... This was one of the last big songs from the disco era, hitting No. 1 on both the Pop and R&B charts.

10) 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough'

Album: 'Off the Wall'

Did you know... The song was MJ's debut single from 'Off The Wall' and the first solo recording that he had creative control on.

Gender of Santas Reindeer?

2009-10-12T08:42:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
We have never figured out what sex Santas reindeer are?
The Confusing Sexual Identity of Dasher, Dancer, and the rest of Santa's Reindeer

You all know Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donder and Blitzen but, do you know what sex they are?

For years, many people have assumed that these reindeer were male. Then along comes the Alaska's Department of fish and game and tells that Santa's reindeer are most likely female.

The reason being that while both male and female reindeer have antlers, the bucks shed them between the end of October and the middle of November, while the does keep their antlers until January. Which means quite simply that Santa's reindeer, are according to science, females.

But there is nothing scientific about Santa or his Reindeer, so I decided to do a little research into the matter and try to discover for myself what sex those darn reindeer are.

The most logical place to start was where it all began with Moore's poem a visit by St. Nick. I was pretty sure I knew the poem by heart but just in case I had missed something I reread the poem. Nowhere in this work does it mention what sex any of these reindeer are. So, Mr. Moore was absolutely no help in solving this perplexing question.

Next I did a through Internet search to discover who first pronounced these reindeer to be of the male gender. Again I came up empty-handed. It seems as though no one actually made such a pronouncement; people just seemed to assume that the reindeer were males.

In fact, the first mention of any of the original eight reindeer being male came in the 1964 movie, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. In this animated show Donder is Rudolph's father. Ironically, in the original story of Rudolph written by Robert May, not only is Donder not Rudolph's father, but Rudolph was not even born at the North pole.

To further confuse this very sensitive issue, Moore's original poem does not refer to a reindeer named Donner, the reindeer's name is actually Donder--the name Donner became accepted as one of Santa's reindeer when the song Rudolph written by Johnny Marx became popular.

So how did Santa's reindeer end up being thought of as male? Many believe it is because Moore bestowed on them masculine sounding names, like Dasher, Comet and Blitzen.

While this may be part of the explanation, one only has to look at the name Vixen and its meaning to conclude that at least one of Santa's reindeer must be female. While Dancer and Prancer could be either sex.

The truth of the matter is the sex of these reindeer is as much a mystery now as it was in the beginning. It is perhaps a mystery that shall never be solved.

The question is do we really care? I for one don't care much if these reindeer are male or female, as long as my gifts arrive on time, gender will never be an issue.

Original article: The Confusing Sexual Identity of Dasher, Dancer, and the rest of Santa's Reindeer - written by Martha lownsberry on Factoidz

Coconut Water

2009-10-11T17:17:00.003-04:00

Did You Know...
The water inside a young coconut is identical to human blood plasma. Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm), not to be confused with coconut milk. As the fruit matures, the coconut water gradually is replaced by the coconut meat and air. A very young coconut has very little meat, and the meat is very tender, almost a gel. Coconut water has long been a popular drink in the tropics, especially in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands like Hawaii and the Caribbean, where it is available fresh, canned or bottled. It is naturally fat-free and low in food energy (16.7 calories or 70 kilojoules per 100 grams).Coconut water is also used as an intravenous fluid in some developing countries where medical saline is unavailable. Many lives have been saved from using coconut water as an intravenous fluid.

Tarot Cards

2009-10-07T09:12:00.002-04:00

Back in the 1300's these cards were just a game. Now some believe tarot cards can predict the future. Are they just like any other card game? What do you think?

2009-09-27T11:34:00.002-04:00

The Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, was seen from space in 1990. Like the Northern Lights, the Southern Lights appear when the solar wind interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

What's in a name?

2009-09-20T03:20:00.003-04:00

Did you know?...

Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first U.S. president whose name contained all the letters from the word 'criminal'. The second was William(Bill) Jefferson Clinton.
Now look at what we find in the name Barack Hussein Obama.Junior: Crook, sinner, omen, crime,

Butterflies and Moths

2009-09-15T13:31:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
the wings of butterflies and moths are actually transparent?

The iridescent scales, which overlap like shingles on a roof, give the wings the colors that we see. Contrary to popular belief, many butterflies can be held gently by the wings without harming the butterfly. Of course, some are more fragile than others, and are easily damaged if not handled very gently.

Did you know...
butterflies taste with their feet?

Their taste sensors are located in the feet, and by standing on their food, they can taste it!

All butterflies have six legs and feet. In some species such as the monarch, the front pair of legs remains tucked up under the body most of the time, and are difficult to see.

Did you know...
butterflies don't have mouths that allow them to bite or chew?

They, along with most moths have a long straw like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices, used much like the straw that comes with your soft drinks from McDonald's. When not in use, the proboscis remains coiled like a garden hose.

Some moths, like the Luna moth doesn't have a proboscis. Their adult lifespan is so very short they do not eat at all. They simply seek a mate, reproduce, then die.

The Asian Vampire moth pierces the skin with its strong, sharp proboscis and drinks the blood of animals. So there really are vampires, just not the kind we see in movies, humans!

Did you know...
the butterfly doesn't spin a cocoon?

You will often erroneously hear and read that the adult butterfly emerges from its cocoon. Moths spin cocoons of silken threads, often using leaves to help surround themselves.

Caterpillars shed their final skin to reveal a pupa. The outer skin of this pupa hardens to form a chrysalis which protects and hides the amazing transformation that is occurring inside.

Pupae take on a wide variety of appearances, depending on the species of butterfly. Some hang from beneath leaves or twigs. Others are girdled to the side of a stem much like a worker on a telephone pole. Some are smooth and shiny while others are rough and even spiky. Some are beautifully colored with dots and lines of gold while others are drab and barely noticeable. No matter what the design, the function is the same - to lessen the chances of being eaten by a predator and to increase the likelihood of producing an adult butterfly or moth.

Did you know...
most butterflies fly during the day, and most moths fly during the night.The best way to identify a butterfly from a moth is to look at its antenna. A butterfly's antenna have knobs at the ends of their feelers, and the ends of the moth's antenna is either feather like or plain. Most butterflies rest with their wings held up above their bodies and most moths rest with their wings spread out flat. Typically butterflies have brightly colored wings and moths have dull colored wings. Most butterflies have slender, hairless bodies, while most moths have a fat abdomen and furry bodies. Most moths have tiny hook or bristle hooking the forewings and hind wings together. Butterflies do not have this hook. Moths have existed about 100 million years longer than butterflies. So although butterflies and moths appear very much alike, there are quite a number of differences.

Rainbows

2009-09-08T12:55:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
It doesn't have to rain for us to see a rainbow it can be seen in the early morning dew, in the fine mist from a waterfall or in the spray of water from the ocean. But it must be from some sort of water as the rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky (or other places) when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. They take the form of a multicolored arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch. A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colors; the discrete bands are an artifact of human color vision. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (popularly memorized by mnemonics like Roy G. Biv or (R)un O)n Y)ou G)reat B)ig I)vy V)ine

Contrary to popular belief, the light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total internal reflection, and some light does emerge from the back. However, light coming out the back of the raindrop does not create a rainbow between the observer and the sun because spectra emitted from the back of the raindrop do not have a maximum of intensity, as the other visible rainbows do, and thus the colors blend together rather than forming a rainbow.

Julia Child a spy?

2009-08-27T13:09:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
Julia Child was not a natural born Frenchwoman?
The popular TV chef and author, Julia Child was born Julia McWilliams, on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena, California. The eldest of three children, Julia was educated at San Francisco's elite Katherine Branson School for Girls, where at a towering height of 6 feet, 2 inches—she was the tallest student in her class. In 1930, she enrolled at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Upon her graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked in the advertising department of the prestigious home furnishings company W&J Sloane.
In 1948 the Childs, Julia and husband Paul, moved to France. While there, Julia developed a penchant for French cuisine and attended the world-famous Cordon Bleu cooking school. Following her six-month training—which included private lessons with master chef Max Bugnard, Julia banded with fellow Cordon Bleu students Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to form the cooking school L'Ecole de Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Gourmands). With a goal of adapting sophisticated French cuisine for mainstream Americans, the trio collaborated on a two-volume cookbook titled Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). Published in the U.S., the 800-page book was considered a groundbreaking work and has since become a standard guide for the culinary community. Then living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Julia promoted her book on the Boston public broadcasting station. Displaying her trademark forthright manner and hearty humor, she prepared an omelet on air. She got rave reviews and "The French Chef" TV series on WGBH in 1962 was born, like "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", it succeeded in changing the way Americans related to food, while also establishing Julia as a local celebrity. Shortly thereafter, The French Chef was syndicated to 96 stations throughout America. For her efforts, Julia received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1964 followed by an Emmy Award in 1966.

But French cooking was not her only trade...
Several years ago it was also revealed that Julia Child was a spy in a secret organization formed by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Second World War.
She also helped work on a project to develop a shark repellent, to stop sharks from exploding underwater mines. A chef and a spy, as well as a chemist, Julia Child not only taught us to cook she helped save thousand of lives.

How to know when a person is telling a lie!

2009-08-25T13:34:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
It's easier than you may think to become a human lie detector.
Everyone tells a lie ever now and then (politicians and car salesmen more often)
and most give themselves away with their eyes and/or body language.

Look for Suspicious Behaviors

By themselves, each of these behaviors can just be signs of stress, or even a person's natural mannerisms. One can occur by chance, but when two or more of these behaviors suddenly appear at a moment when lying could be expedient, you should be skeptical. For example, when you ask a salesman how reliable that used car is, it suggests he's lying. BUT look out Politicians and car salesmen, they have perfected lying and you may miss these little quirks.

Here's the top eight list of suspicious behaviors:

A change in the voice's pitch.
A change in the rate of speech.
A sudden increase in the number of "ums" and "ahs."
A change in eye contact. Normally, one makes eye contact one-quarter to one-half of the time. If suddenly, at the convenient moment to lie, he's staring at you or looking away, beware.
Turning his body away from you, even if just slightly.
Suddenly being able to see the white on the top and bottom of a person's eyes, not just the sides.
A hand reaching, even if momentarily, to cover part of the face, especially the mouth.
Nervous movement of feet or legs.
Of course, in order to notice a change, you need a baseline. So you must first watch the person when talking about innocuous issues.

A Mixed Signal

Also look for mixed signals. When someone's telling the truth, her words, her face and her body language are all congruent. For example, if a person is honestly saying that she likes you, her face is usually relaxed, offering a gentle smile and warm eyes. Her body is calm and open. But when she's lying, something is usually inconsistent. In the most obvious case, she may be saying she likes you, but she's not smiling. She may even have a clenched fist. Better liars can muster a smile, but it doesn't look natural. Even better liars can put on a convincing smile, but their eyes aren't smiling. Still better liars can control their entire face, but their bodies seem closed or cold. Look for mismatches between words and body language.

When you've gotten a signal -- a change in body language or a mixed signal that the person may be lying -- ask for more information about the same topic. Are those same lying signs apparent? That can confirm your suspicion.

Of course, there's no foolproof way to detect lying. Some people are terrific at covering themselves up, especially if they are naturally emotionally flat or have practiced their lying skills over many years -- certain political leaders come to mind. But if you look for behavior changes and mixed signals at lying-expedient moments, you will improve your BS detector.

Numbers on Stickers found on Fruit and Vegetables

2009-08-04T13:54:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Or have you ever even thought about what
those little stickers, that are so hard to remove, found on your fruit and vegetables in your supermarket tells you about that item?
As much as we may dislike them, these little stickers or labels attached to the fruit or vegetables do more than speed up the scanning process at the checkout stand. The PLU code, or price lookup number printed on the sticker, tells you how the fruit was grown.
It's something we all should know but were never told because most people don't know
what they mean. Well here is the information about them and it may surprise you to know that those stickers tells us more than just the price per item.

Any fruit or vegetable that has a sticker that starts with the number four (4) means it's commercially produced and NOT organic.

Any fruit or vegetable that has a sticker that starts with the number eight (8) means the fruit was GENETICALLY ALTERED

Any fruit or vegetable that has a sticker that starts with nine the number (9) means it's ORGANICALLY GROWN and instead of four numbers total on the label they have five numbers.

There you have it...Now you can purchase your fruits and vegetables knowing a little more about what you are putting in your body.

Short assortment of facts

2009-08-03T16:08:00.002-04:00

Did you know...

Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
It was the fashion in Renaissance Florence to shave them off!
Some women still do that today, Then draw them on.

Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels
which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating!
So wiping my hands on that pure white lining cloth is acceptable?

Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
While leaving NO tip in a USA restaurant is an insult to all who work there.

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!
Another reason to recycle.

Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill!
And I thought they moved in the direction of which the wind blew!

Almost half the newspapers in the world are published in the United States and Canada!
Does this mean we are hungry for the news or do Americans and Canadians just read more?

The Philadelphia mint produces 26 million pennies per day!
Sad fact is that it cost more to mint the penny than what it is worth.

A Play on Words

2009-08-03T12:00:00.005-04:00

Did you know..
There are sayings and signs that actually mean what they say but
when you read them without punctuation they turn out to be funny.
With a simple use of the correct punctuation they would mean exactly
what the writer wanted us to read. But on signs we don't use these
much needed punctuation and it causes the sign to have a funny meaning.
Like the traffic sign we see on streets where children play the sign reads

SLOW
Children
at Play

Just how slow these children are is not stated so we have to drive carefully.

At a local Church it says
Thinking of committing Suicide
Let the Church Help

Sometimes what we mean to say just doesn't come out right!
But it's always good for a laugh...
Have you seen a funny sign in your town?
Leave it in the comment area for all to see...

Cannabis used for paper

2009-08-01T09:24:00.005-04:00

Did you know...
The Constitution was written on paper made from Hemp?
What is hemp? The common name for plants of the entire genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use.
NO! You can't get a high from this type of Cannabis.
Industrial hemp is produced in many countries around the world. Major producers include Canada, France, and China. While more hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country, the United States Government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes. So don't try growing it in the USA or you may get arrested.
Our drug control officials needs a little more education about this type of Cannabis.

UGH!....The American Cockroach!

2009-07-26T12:56:00.004-04:00

Did you know...

An American Cockroach can live 9 days without its head?
The reason the body dies is because it can't eat so it
starves to death. It will keep on moving even though it
can't see where it is going. I for one detest cockroaches
but I found this little tid-bit of information interesting.
The American cockroach is also called a waterbug, the Bombay canary, and the Palmetto bug. Despite its name, the American cockroach is not native to North America but was most probably introduced via ships from Africa. It is worldwide in distribution.
No mater what name we choose to call them by, it's still a cockroach... Ugh!

The Incredible Edible Egg! But which one?

2009-07-23T18:29:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
There is a Guidelines for choosing eggs:

White vs. brown eggs: There is no difference between white and brown eggs. The color of the shell is determined by the breed of the hen. White shelled eggs typically are from hens with white feathers, while brown shelled eggs are typically from hens with brown feathers. The only difference between white and brown eggs is the color - there is no difference in flavor or nutritional value.

Organic Eggs: Organic eggs are produced from hens that have been fed a special feed in which all of the ingredients were grown without the aid of commercial fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Organic eggs come from hens that have outdoor access during the day and are able to run around outside in an area covered with natural vegetation.

Fertile Eggs: Fertile eggs are simply eggs that can be incubated and developed into chicks. Fertile eggs have higher production costs so they are more expensive for the consumer and they also spoil more quickly than non-fertile eggs.

Free range vs. Cage free: Free-range chickens usually have a covered shelter and access to an outside scratch yard. They are pasture-fed and can get worms and bugs, which is the ideal feed for health and strong immunity.

Cage free chickens do not live in cages but typically live inside a hen house without access to the outdoors.

Vegetarian eggs: Hens are fed a special feed containing ingredients of plant origin only. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of conventional eggs. The hens are kept in cages and therefore are not classed as "free-range".

Omega-3-Enhanced Eggs: Hens that produce omega-3 enhanced eggs are fed a special vegetarian diet that consists of canola, linseed and flax seed., which in turn, results in these eggs being higher in omega-3 fatty acids than conventional eggs.

Barn-laid eggs: The hens are kept indoors, in large barns covered with straw and are separated into pens rather than into small cages.

Conventional or Standard eggs: These eggs come from chickens fed conventional food, which includes GM (genetically modified) grains, GM soy and pesticides. The chickens are kept in small cages, anything between 3 to 7 hens per cage, so there is not enough room for the hens to exercise.

Gas Icon on Dashboard

2009-07-07T12:42:00.005-04:00

Did You Know...
Contrary to what I have been told, and after days of reasearch I have found that the little icon of a fuel pump located on our vehicles dashboard does NOT always tell us which side of the car we pump gas into our fuel tank. Even though some of these icons are correct we can not depend on this icon to always be correct. On some older cars the fuel tank inlet is located under the tag at the rear of the vehicle, but the icon has it on the right. In some vehicles the icon has it on the right but the intake is located on the left. So you can never depend on this when pulling into place to pump your gas. To save being embarrased when pulling up to a pump to get gas check where the intake is before you drive the vehicle.

Money, Worth or Worthless

2009-06-18T08:12:00.005-04:00

Did you know...
The money we use today isn't worth the paper it is printed on?
Look at a dollar bill and you will see it is no longer backed by silver or gold.
It says it is a "Federal Reserve Note." Whereas a real dollar is backed by silver, says so right there on the bill. Now we all know that the Federal Reserve Banks are a privately owned bank and has nothing to do with our government, with the exception of being the bank our government borrows money from which has to be paid back with interest, to run this country. When and how did they take over the printing of money with no backing? So this small oversight has made our money worthless. In order for this piece of paper to be of any worth it has to be backed by silver or gold or some precious metal. This is another way the rich owners of the Federal Reserve Banks are taking over our country. When will "we the people" get the courage to stand up to them and their thieving ways? If we do nothing they will soon own the world and we will all be slaves to them. But when you think about it we are already their slaves,(taxes) Through the illegal IRS which is another branch that is NOT a part of government. They have already reached other countries that are not part of the United States. How far will they go to take control of the world? We need a president who will fight the federal reserve banks and take back what is rightfully ours. Money printed with a backing of silver or gold so it can be worth what denomination is printed on it.

Snake Venom

2009-06-05T09:24:00.007-04:00

Did you know...
that kids ask the most unusual questions about everything, and
most of the time we adults can't answer the question because we just don't know what the answer is. Here is some questions kids asked that I didn't know so if you have the correct answer I will be happy to hear it.

1.How can a poisonous snake hold venom in its body without poisoning
its-self?

2.Will this snakes venom kill another snake of the same species if it gets bitten?

Then came some I could answer but the students thought I was just making it up
so I wouldn't look too stupid.

4 Where do we get the anti-venom used in hospitals for snake bites on humans?
From horses...I went on to explain.

Antivenom has been around for at least 100 years, but the techniques of producing antivenom have not really altered during this time. What normally happens is a very large animal is immunized over a long time with very small amounts of snake venom, so it won’t harm the animal; traditionally they have used horses.

So what they do is milk the snake,they hold its head and force the fangs over the edge then add pressure to get the venom to drip out into a glass vile then take a very little amount of the venom and inject that into the horse.

In very small quantities, so the horse will not be affected at all, it’s only a tiny amount. The horse will then raise antibodies against this antigen that’s been injected in the same way that humans immunize themselves against smallpox.

Over a period of time, about eight months or so, the horse will then become hyper-immune. Every so often, some serum is then drawn from the horse and immunoglobulins are purified from that, and from that you can split the immunoglobulins into smaller components. These would then be infused intravenously to a person who has been bitten by a poisonous snake.

5. Do all snakes lay eggs?
No, some give birth to live snakelets.
Pigmy rattlesnakes are just one example of a snake that gives birth to live snakelet, Another name for newly born snakes is a neonate which simply means a newly-born snake. Finally there is the broadly accepted term: hatchling (which would be a newly-hatched snake)This applies to snakes born from eggs.

CORRECTION: They no longer use horses to produce the antivenom.
They now use sheep to produce the serum. Sheep serum is not as likely to
cause allergies. This was brought to my attention by Angie Malone.
Thanks Angie for your expertise.
Read more here http://www.snakebitenews.com/html/releases/1_31_01.html

Drivers License, Then and Now

2009-05-26T16:13:00.002-04:00

The first driver's license ( or permit to drive) was issued to the inventor of the modern automobile, Karl Benz, in 1888.
He was required to have the license to drive his car because the citizens of Mannheim complained of the noise and the smell.
Benz requested and received this written permission by the Grand Ducal authorities to operate his car on public roads. Thus the birth of what we call a drivers license. But this license wasn't requires in the USA until August 1, 1910, after many automobile-related fatalities began to soared in North America. North America's first driver's licensing law went into effect in the U.S. state of New York, though it initially applied only to professional chauffeurs. The state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before receiving a license in July 1913. In the United States as well as some other countries that do not use national identification cards and because of the widespread use of cars, driver's licenses are often used as a de facto standard form of identification. Now we have to be of a certain age and pass a written and drivers test to obtain a license to drive. There are different test for different types of trucks and/or automobiles/vehicles that you must take to drive a vehicle other than a car/4 wheel truck.

On March 27, 2008, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that Washington's enhanced driver's license will be the first such license approved under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Enhanced licenses essentially combine a regular driver's license with the same specifications of the new Federal passport card. Thus in addition to proving driving privileges, the enhanced license also is proof of U.S. citizenship, and can therefore be used to cross the US-Canadian and US-Mexican borders by road, rail, or sea, but not by air. I expect this to eventually be in every state and every driver can obtain an Enhanced Drivers License.

The Radio and First Broadcast

2009-05-17T13:15:00.003-04:00

Did you know...

Radio owes its development to two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone, all three technologies are closely related. Radio technology began as "wireless telegraphy" However, it all started with the discovery of "radio waves" - electromagnetic waves that have the capacity to transmit music, speech, pictures and other data invisibly through the air. Many devices work by using electromagnetic waves including: radio, microwaves, cordless phones, remote controlled toys, television broadcasts, and more.

Nikola Tesla's original concept was demonstrated in his famous lecture at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in 1893. The four circuits, used in two pairs, are still a fundamental part of all radio and television equipment.

Nikola Tesla patented the basic system of radio in 1896. His published schematic diagrams describing all the basic elements of the radio transmitter which was later used by Marconi.

In 1896 Tesla constructed an instrument to receive radio waves. He experimented with this device and transmitted radio waves from his laboratory on South 5th Avenue. to the Gerlach Hotel at 27th Street in Manhattan. The device had a magnet which gave off intense magnetic fields up to 20,000 lines per centimeter. The radio device clearly establishes his piority in the discovery of radio.

Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio communication. He sent and received his first radio signal in Italy in 1895. By 1899 he flashed the first wireless signal across the English Channel and two years later received the letter "S", telegraphed from England to Newfoundland. This was the first successful transatlantic radiotelegraph message in 1902.

The first extended broadcast of the human voice was transmitted through the air on December 24, 1906 from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. A Canadian engineer, Reginald Fessenden, had worked for Thomas Edison in his New Jersey Laboratory, and later became a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

The First Soft Drink Manufacturer in USA

2009-05-06T15:44:00.006-04:00

Did you know...

The first carbonated soda manufacturer in the USA was Dr Pepper?

I bet you thought it was Coca Cola...
But Dr Pepper is one year older than Coca Cola.

Don't you just love surprises?

A young pharmacist from Waco, Texas, named Charles Alderton invented the first soft drink "Dr Pepper" in the year 1885.

He worked at a corner drug store by the name of Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store where Carbonated drinks were served at the soda fountain at the front of the store. Alderton invented his own recipes for soft drinks by mixing tasty syrups or other ingredients with the carbonated water and tasting them. He and the owner of the drug store soon found one of his drinks was becoming very popular. His customers originally asked for the drink by asking Alderton to shoot them a "Waco".
For several years, Dr Pepper was sold only as a fountain drink.

Wade Morrison, owner of the drug store changed the name to "Dr Pepper" after a friend (some claim he was the father of the girl Wade was in love with) who gave him his first job, Dr. Charles Pepper. Later in the 1950s the period was removed from the "Dr Pepper" name.

As demand from other drug stores with soda fountains grew, Alderton and Morrison had trouble making enough "Dr Pepper" for the customers. That's when Robert S. Lazenby came to their rescue. Lazenby was the owned of The Circle "A" Ginger Ale Company in Waco. Yeah, Ginger Ale is older than Dr Pepper. Lazenby after tasting, was impressed with this new drink "Dr Pepper". Since Alderton did not want to pursue the business and manufacturing end of soft drinks he agreed that Morrison and Lazenby should take over and become partners.

In 1891, Morrison and Lazenby formed the Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became the Dr Pepper Company.

In 1904, Dr Pepper was introduced to 20 million people attending the World's Fair Exposition, in St. Louis. The same world's fair that introduced hamburger and hot dog buns as well as the ice cream cones to the public.

The Dr Pepper Company is the oldest major manufacturer of soft drink concentrates and syrups in the United States. What makes Dr Pepper different from other soft drinks...cane sugar. Dr Pepper is the only soft drink still made with cane sugar.

Oh, I almost forgot...the 10, 2, and 4 you see on the older bottles are the times suggested to drink a Dr Pepper to keep up your energy.

The 8th Wonder of the World

2009-04-30T09:03:00.006-04:00

Did you know...

Willard Wigan has created sculptures so small you can not see them
with the naked eye yet they are painted and in correct detail. The sculptures are so small they fit inside the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin.
He uses a hair off the back of a housefly to paint them. He carved a dollhouse so little it fits inside the eye of a needle and inside the dollhouse is a doll smaller than a blood cell. An elephant he carved from a fragment of a grain of sand is worth $300,000.

When asked how he started he said...

“It began when I was five years old,” says Willard. “I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to where my dyslexia didn’t hold me back and my teachers couldn’t criticize me. That’s how my career as a micro-sculptor began.”

Private collectors of Willards work include HRH Prince Charles, Sir Elton John, former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, Lord Bath and former Davis Cup Captain and leisure tycoon, David Lloyd.

This is some of the most amazing art work I have ever seen.
You can see more of Willards micro-sculptures here http://www.willard-wigan.com/gallery.aspx

How to Stop Paying Credit Card Interest

2009-04-29T11:31:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
There is a legal way to get out of paying that high interest on your credit cards.
And it is so simple to do.

Everyone who has a credit card gets more offers to apply for other cards almost daily.
It may be a good time to take the time to really check out these offers. Check each offer to see if they are offering a "NO INTEREST" for 12 to 16 months with a NO transfer fee. If you find one like that, then it's time to take advantage of this "no interest" offer. Just think how much you can pay down the principal when you have no interest to pay.

You may want to pay a little more during this no interest time to get that card paid off. But don't fret if you still owe more than a thousand at the end of the time allotted then it may be time to transfer that to a new "no interest" card. Before you do this check to see if the card you have is charging for this transfer. It may still be a good choice even if they do charge a fee, the highest I have found is around $50 to $75 but that would be less than what you would pay in interest on a thousand dollars in a year.

I have done this with 3 credit cards and it worked fine. I am now making money with my credit cards. Want to know how I am doing that, click here--> Credit Cards...How to Earn From Them

Human Lungs

2009-04-25T08:17:00.004-04:00

Did you know...

The right lung is larger than your left even though your heart lies more in the left than the right? Some think of their lungs as being empty space but in reality they are
much like a sponge with small holes throughout them. The left lung is divided into two lobes and the right into three lobes. Together, the lungs contain approximately 1500 miles (2,400 km) of airways and 300 to 500 million alveoli, having a total surface area roughly the same area as a singles badminton court. The surface area is roughly the same area as one side of a tennis court. Now that's a big area... Furthermore, if all of the capillaries that surround the alveoli were unwound and laid end to end, they would extend for about 620 miles.

Pet Hair

2009-04-22T11:15:00.008-04:00

Did you know...

You can recycle your pets shedded fur? Yeah, I too thought this was a joke
when I first heard about it, but people are doing it. Some find it disgusting,
nasty or just plain crazy. But stop and think about it we wear all kind of fur
from animals, and from some even their skin...I'm thinking, Leather!
So why not wear fur from our pets?
Those long haired dogs and cats shed a lot of fur that could be made into warm blankets or throws or muffs, even hats.
Here are a few sites that you can visit to learn more about spinning your pet's
fur so you can make whatever item you want. Oh, I almost forgot to mention this,
The fur from a dog or cat is warmer than wool from a sheep.

http://www.vipfibers.com/index.html

http://www.spinningstrawintogold.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=9

http://www.jimsrepair.net/thefuzzyfarm/index.htm

http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/20070504/how-can-i-reuse-or-recycle-shedded-animal-hair

If you want to see how your pets fur is spinned into fiber just take a look at Martha Stewarts blog
http://www.themarthablog.com/2008/02/paw-paws-yarn.html

Railroads & Trains (Locomotives)

2009-03-29T15:18:00.004-04:00

Did you know...

Wagonways or Roads of Rails, as they were also called, were being used in Germany as early as 1550.
These primitive railed roads (what we now call railroads or railways) were made of wooden rails over which horse-drawn wagons, carts and carriages were pulled with greater ease than over dirt roads, were the beginnings of our modern railroads.

Iron replaced the wood in the rails and the wheels on the carts by 1776. The Wagonways soon became known as Tramways, which spread though out Europe. Even with the new rails horses still provided all the pulling power. It was kinda tricky keeping the wheels on the rails. Then in 1789 an Englishman, William Jessup, designed flanged wheels. The flange was a groove that allowed the wheels to better grip the rail, this was an important design that carried over to our modern locomotives today.

The invention of the steam engine in 1699 by Thomas Savery, was critical to the invention of the modern railroad and trains. In 1769 Frenchman Nicholas Cugnot builds a steam carriage. In 1803, a man named Samuel Homfray decided to fund the development of a steam-powered vehicle to replace the horse-drawn carts on the tramways. Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) built that vehicle, the first steam engine tramway locomotive. On February 22, 1804, the locomotive hauled a load of 10 tons of iron, 70 men and five extra wagons the 9 miles between the ironworks at Pen-y-Darron in the town of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales to the bottom of the valley called Abercynnon. It took about two hours.

The very first passenger train ran from Swansea to Mumbles (Wales) on March 25th,1807 .

Tweet My Blog

2009-03-16T13:45:00.004-04:00

Did You Know....

You can Instantly Transform Your Twitter Account Into
A Traffic Monster & Automatically Drive A
Stampede Of Traffic To Your Wordpress Blog!

...And You Have Nothing To Lose Because It's
ABSOLUTELY FREE! In Fact We Will Even Pay You
Just For Using This Amazing Plugin!

So click on the Tweet My Blog box below now and start using it today!

Why we wear shoes

2009-03-11T14:09:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Shoes or footwear or footcovers were used so long ago that we take them for granted.
Just ask yourself what would you have done to stop the pain on the bottom of your feet if you had to hunt for food in your bare feet whether in grass or on rocks. Can't you just imagine how that must have hurt. So sooner than later someone came up with the idea of covering the feet with animal hide to protect their feet from this pain.

Studies of the foot bones of ancient humans suggest that some form of sturdy footwear was worn by human beings beginning between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago.
Before words like "ouch" was used the primitive man had to make his way over rocks and discovered the need for covering his feet to protect them. So the first shoes, which were probably sandals, were mats of grass, strips of hide, or even flat pieces of wood. These were fastened to the soles of the feet by thongs that were then bound around the ankles. Of course, in colder regions, these sandals didn’t protect the feet sufficiently, so more material was added and gradually the sandals developed into shoes. Among the first civilized people to make shoes were the Egyptians. They used pads of leather or papyrus, which were bound to the foot by two straps. In order to protect the toes, the front of the sandal was sometimes turned up.

The Romans went a step further and developed a kind of shoe called the calceus They had slits at the side and straps knotted in front. There were different forms of the calceus, to be worn by the different classes of society. In some of the cold regions of the earth, people developed a kind of shoe independently.

For example, they sometimes wore bags padded with grass and tied around the feet. In time, these first foot coverings developed into the moccasins of the Eskimo and the Indian. As far as our modern shoes are concerned, their beginnings can be traced to the Crusades. The Crusaders went on long pilgrimages, and they needed protection for their feet, so it became necessary to create shoes that would last a long time.

The shoes found with the 5,300-year-old “Ice Man” in the Tyrolean Alps were made of skins and braided-bark netting and stuffed with straw and moss. The sandal, a very early form of the shoe, was worn in Egypt, Greece, and Rome; a more ancient example (c.8000 B.C.), woven from plant materials, was found in an Oregon cave. An early form of the boot was also known in Greece and Rome. The characteristic shoe of the Middle Ages was the soft, clinging moccasin, which extended to the ankle. It was highly decorated and was of velvet, cloth of gold, and, increasingly, of leather.

In time, leather shoes of great beauty began to appear in Italy, France, and England. Shoes have always been subject to whims of fashion. For example, at the time of King James I of England, high heels and very soft leathers were fashionable in society. It made for difficult walking, but people insisted on wearing them. At one time, before the appearance of the high heel, long-toed shoes were considered fashionable. The shoes were very narrow, and the toes were 12 and 15 centimeters long, and pointed.

In the American colonies, the earliest known shoemaker was Thomas Beard, who arrived in Salem, Mass., in 1629 and was under contract to make shoes for the Pilgrim colony. Early shoemakers worked at home, in small shops, or as itinerant workers who went to homes to make up the annual supply. Hand processes were used until c.1833

Your Body and Water

2009-03-06T11:26:00.002-05:00

Did you know...

Water is truly the elixir of life for the human body. Our
bodies are mainly water as the percentages below show:

* Lean muscle tissue is 75% water
* Saliva is 95% water
* Blood is 90% water
* Lymph is 94% water
* Lungs and brain are 80% water

Why is water necessary to live:

- Water cleanses your body and removes toxic wastes. If
toxic wastes build up, they can lead to obesity,
constipation or diverticulitis. Also the toxins are
absorbed into the bloodstream and lead to inflammation and
disease.

- Water helps keep joints comfortable and lubricated.
Dehydrated cartilage causes friction in the joints that can
lead to degenerative joint disease and arthritis.
Water may be the answer to elevating the pain of arthritis.

- Water keeps your blood thin and makes it easier for the
heart to pump it through the body. When blood is too
thick, it causes increased stress on your heart to pump it.
It also shuts down blood vessels, making it harder for
nutrients to get to the vital organs.
Water may help diabetics control their blood sugar.

- Water keeps your skin smooth, healthy and young-looking.
Dehydrated skin is rough, dry and wrinkle-prone.
Water may help prevent wrinkles.

- Water is vital to the brain--80% of your brain is water
and it needs water to function and have energy.
Water may make your memory.

- Just a 5% drop in bodily fluids will cause a 25-30%
energy loss in most people, and a 15% drop will cause death.
Water may help you run that extra mile.

We need water to stay healthy, cleanse our systems
and replenish the fluids our bodies need.

How much water do we need?

It's been a common practice to recommend 8 (8 oz.) glasses
of water a day, but that's truly just a bare bones minimum.

Every day we lose over 2 quarts (64 oz.) of water through
our normal bodily functions alone, so we need to take in at
least enough water to replace what we lose...but our bodies
need more than that.

A good guide is to strive to drink a quart of water (32
oz.) for every 50 pounds of body-weight.

I know what you're thinking--"I'll be in the bathroom more
often."

That's True, but what's wrong with that? It's a good thing--
you're cleansing your body of wastes and toxins. Would you
rather have them inside of you to cause sickness or
disease? I don't think so.

An easy way to tell if you're drinking enough water is by
the color of your urine. If it's dark yellow, you need
more water. Ideally, your urine should be clear and
colorless or barely have a tint of yellow.

Note that water means water.

Water is NOT:

- Soda
- Club soda, sparkling water or mineral water
- Gatorade, Propel or other sports drinks
- Vitamin water or other flavored waters (they're
processed and can contain sweeteners and additives)
- Coffee or tea
- Juice
- Fruit-flavored beverages such as Hi-C, Hawaiian Punch or
Sunny-D
- Beer, wine or liquor (nope--sorry but that scotch and water you
like doesn't count)
- Other beverages made with water, such as Kool-Aid,
lemonade or Crystal Light
Why can't we count these beverages?
Because the additives take away the alkaline in water.

When and how to drink?

You should drink water freely throughout the morning,
afternoon and evening. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
to make it more alkaline--lemons are very alkalizing to
your body.

Avoid drinking large quantities with or immediately after
meals because the water can dilute your digestive enzymes
and make digestion less efficient.

If you're thirsty after a meal, it's OK to sip water, but
wait at least 2 hours after a meal to drink a large glass.

It's also essential to drink water before, during and
after a workout.

Filtered or unfiltered?

When it comes to drinking water, remember this: All water is
NOT created equal. Since our bodies are alkaline, our
water must be alkaline too. Thanks to acid rain and the
chemicals added by municipalities, that's not always a
given.

Regular (unfiltered) tap water is acidic and contains
harmful toxins like fluoride and chlorine. Avoid tap water
(this includes water fountains) at ALL possible cost, no
matter what you may read in the news.

The best sources of alkaline water are distilled water or
filtered water (using reverse osmosis, Brita filters or
similar filtering).

Ionized water is also very alkaline, but the down side is
that ionization systems can be pricey. If you can swing
it, though, it's worth it.

What about bottled water?

Some people think bottled water is the best. Not always.
Here's a list of common brands of bottled water and their
pH (remember--anything 7.0 or greater is alkaline, less
than 7.0 is acidic):

San Pellegrino spring water--4.49 (acidic)
Perrier--4.91 (acidic)
Pellegrino sparkling water--5.28 (acidic)
Aquafina--5.96 (acidic)
Volvic--7.07 (alkaline)
Whistler Water--7.18 (alkaline)
Dasani--7.2 (alkaline)
Evian--7.53 (alkaline)
Canadian Mountain--7.96 (alkaline)
Vittel--7.98 (alkaline)

Other sources of water

Your daily water intake doesn't have to just come from a
glass or bottle.

Eating high water content foods is an ideal way to help get
your body's water needs. Not only are they alkaline by nature,
but they also contain essential nutrients that your body needs
to stay healthy.

High water content foods work perfectly with our bodies--
The water from fresh fruits and vegetables carries the
nutrients from those fruits and vegetables into the
intestines, where they're absorbed by the body.

Then, the same water that brought the nutrients in carries
wastes away from the body.

It's That Time again! TAX TIME

2009-03-04T15:40:00.001-05:00

It's that time again (TAX TIME) and millions will be giving their money to the
private Federal Reserve Banks owners once again. What do they do with this money and why can't the IRS show us the law that would make it legal? WAKE UP AMERICA...You have been lied to. Here is part 1 of 11 videos that will or should open your eyes to their (IRS) illegal ways. And you thought our government was looking out for us when all they were doing was lying to us so they could help these bankers steal our hard earned money. It's time we put our foot down and said "NO MORE" I refuse to be a slave to the IRS.

Roller Skates

2009-02-28T14:49:00.003-05:00

Did you know...

Roller Skates have been around for years.

Ahaa but the times have changed...They went from 8 wheels to 3, 4, or 5 in a row ,along with a new name, Blades or In-line skates.

Remember the old roller skates that hooked onto your shoes, you know, the ones that would sometimes come loose and bring us to our knees? We endured a lot of skinned knees and elbows in the name of fun. Once the wheel was invented we wanted to use it in all forms of transportation. Bicycles, tricycles, skates, cars, motorcycles and in any other form we could dream up. Didn't you ever wonder who thought up this device that hooked onto our shoes that you could roll around on?

The first patented roller skate was introduced in Belgian in the year 1760. The inventor was John Joseph Merlin.
But his invention did not become very popular until years later. His grandson Bernard Tyers, aged 13 from Waterford, Ireland was the first person to test the initial prototype of the roller skate.
Then in 1863 James Plimpton from Massachusetts invented the "rocking" skate. It was this improvement of the roller skate that allowed skaters to turn easily around corners, which opened the door for the masses to enjoy roller skating.

Eventually, roller skating evolved from just a pastime to a competitive sport, beginning with roller hockey. This sport became so popular that in 1992 it even made an appearance in the Olympics. The National Sporting Goods Association statistics showed, from a 1999 study, that 2.5 million people played roller hockey. Other roller skating sports include speed skating, figure skating and roller derby. Roller skating popularity exploded during the disco era but tapered off in the 80’s and 90’s. Inside roller rinks spread over the world and it became another fun pastime for the young and old. The roller skates today have the base and wheels made onto a lace up high top or low top shoe.

1743: First recorded use of roller skates, in a London stage performance. The inventor of this skate is lost to history.
1760: First recorded skate invention, by John Joseph Merlin, who demonstrated a primitive inline skate with metal wheels.
1819: First patented roller skate design, in France by M. Petitbled. These early skates were similar to today's inline skates, but they were not very maneuverable; it was very difficult with these skates to do anything but move in a straight line and perhaps make wide sweeping turns.
Rest of the 19th century: inventors continued to work on improving skate design.

An advert for an early 20th century model which fit over ordinary shoes.1863: The four-wheeled turning roller skate, or quad skate, with four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was first designed, in New York City by James Leonard Plimpton in an attempt to improve upon previous designs, The skate contained a pivoting action using a rubber cushion that allowed the skater to skate a curve just by leaning to one side. It was a huge success, so much that the first public skating rink was opened in 1866 in Newport, Rhode Island with the support of Plimpton. The design of the quad skate allowed easier turns and maneuverability, and the quad skate came to dominate the industry for more than a century.

$43,000 Dead Bird Shoes

2009-02-18T10:11:00.003-05:00

Did you know...
You can wear dead animals on your shoes? But it will cost a bundle.

Would you like to strut around with some real dead animals on your feet? You can now if you can afford the price. Designer Bruno Frisoni for Roger Vivier not only thinks you do, but he's willing to bet that at least some of us are willing to pay through the nose for the privilege. The Dovima, as the shoe is named, is beautiful (and a little creepy) thanks to the rose pink-dyed taxidermy birds perched delicately on each toe. Each stuffed bird also has a crystal-encrusted head and is further complemented by 24 ct gold-coated mesh, silk, ribbons, and crocodile-skin rosettes. Plus every pair comes with special protective crocodile or snakeskin platforms that attach before you wear them to keep the shoes from ever touching the ground. All for just $43,000 and three months of waiting after you order. Will you need to get in line to purchase these shoes? At that price who knows? Some women will be fighting to be the first to wear these creepy shoes. Wonder if we can specify what bird we want on our shoes? What bird would you like perched on your toes?

Ice Cream

2009-02-07T12:19:00.005-05:00

Did you know...
No one knows who invented Ice Cream!
Maybe because it has been around for so long no one can take credit for having made this sweet tasting creamy treat. In the beginning it was just flavored ice or snow.
Like the "Icies" or "snowcones" we make today.

The Roman emperor Nero ordered ice to be brought from the mountains and blended it with different fruits. In the 5th century BC, the Greeks mixed ice with honey and fruit, prepared cones of ice and sold them in Athens. Some credit the discovery of Ice Cream to the Chinese who used snow and saltpeter to cool syrups poured into containers. Why salt? Salt brings down the freezing point of ice, this method proved effective in making ice creams. Perhaps, it was the Chinese who eventually brought ice cream to Europe. But no one is sure about that either. So I guess it would be best to say Ice Cream just evolved over time.

In 1533 the Italians are believed to have introduced ice cream recipes in France. As time went on people began to add cream or milk to the mixture to make it smoother.

Even though we will never know who the first person was to make Ice Cream we still enjoy this frozen tasty treat today and in many ways and flavors.

Ice Cream at one time was the choice of the rich and they wanted to keep it a secret. So much so that Charles I of England offered a lifetime pension to his ice cream maker on the condition that the formula for making ice cream would be kept in secrecy. During those times, ice creams were a novelty and remained being a specialty for years to come. The wealthy lot of the society wanted to keep ice creams for themselves only.

In 1718, a recipe for ice cream was published in Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts.

*Nancy Johnson patented the hand-cranked freezer, thus establishing the widely used method of making ice creams. Hand-cranked Ice Cream Maker
*Jacob Fussell developed a commercial ice cream plant in 1851.
*In 1897, Alfred Cralle introduced an ice cream scoop and mold.

Here's an interesting fact...In the state of Kansas, at one time, it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie. Hummm wonder if it was okay to be served on Apple Pie?

Scorpion Queen

2009-02-03T10:59:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know I promised you something else but this just had to be seen by everyone.
These are POISONOUS little creatures that you are seeing here.
Would you take the chance of being stung by living with 5,000 Scorpions for a month or more? I know I sure wouldn't. The sting of one may not kill you but it can make you so sick you may wish it had. Even the thought of them crawling around on my body while trying to eat or sleep gives me the willies! Some people do strange things to get in the news. I wonder why people do things like this.

Ice Cream Cones

2009-01-18T13:13:00.004-05:00

Did You Know...
The first (patented)Ice Cream Cone wasn't in the shape of a cone it was in the shape of a cup.
Truth is it was and still is a waffle that was used to hold the ice cream to keep people from breaking or walking off with the liquor glasses that were being used as serving dishes. These thin waffles were also known as "wafers," "oublies," "plaisirs," "gaufres," "cialde," "cornets," and "cornucopias."

No one really knows who invented these cones but they have been in use since the 1700's or even earlier. Until recently, historians seem to think that Italo Marchiony who got a patent in 1903, was the inventor. But just recently Steve Church of Ridgecrest, California discovered a long forgotten patent for an Apparatus for Baking Biscuit Cups for Ice Cream by Antonio Valvona of Manchester, England. This patent, by Antonoio Valvona, clearly shows that the ice cream cone had been around prior to Italo Marchiony's patent.

Antonio Valvona of Manchester, England received Patent No. 701,776 on June 3, 1902 for an "Apparatus for Baking Biscuit Cups for Ice Cream."
The biscuits he baked were really edible waffles. While the waffles were still warm, he folded them into the shape of a cup (with sloping sides and a flat bottom). His waffle cups made him the most popular vendor on Wall Street and soon afterward, he had a chain of 45 carts operated by men he hired.

When cones became popular after the 1904 St. Louis Fair, Marchiony tried to protect his patent through legal channels but failed. Since Marchiony's patent was for only the specific mold construction and there were lots of other ways to mold cones, his patent was not much good. Marchiony's ice cream and wafer company thrived in Hoboken, New Jersey until his plant was destroyed by fire in 1934. He retired from his business in 1938.

In 1912, According to some historians, cones were rolled by hand until 1912, when Frederick Bruckman, an inventor from Portland, Oregon, patented a machine for doing the rolling. In 1928, Nabisco bought out Bruckman's company and rights.

In the 1850s The first true ice cream cone, used exclusively for ice cream only, appears to have been the invention of Carlo Gatti, the Italian immigrants living in the Manchester, England area during the inter-war period in the middle 1800s. The food trade, and in particular ice cream, provided a living for many Italian families. These immigrants were grossly exploited labor, often lodged in poor conditions and paid little. They progressed from pushing barrows to acquiring horse-drawn vans to sell their ices.

Carlo Gatti (1817-1878), came to London from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland,and may well have been the first person to sell ice cream. He came to London in 1847 and sold refreshments from a stall. He sold pastries and ices in little shells. "The Penny Ice," also know as "halfpenny ices," caught on rapidly and Gatti was at the forefront of selling ice cream to the ordinary man or woman, who had previously been unable to afford a taste of such luxury. He was so successful that he and others encouraged many more Italians to immigrate to London to help sell.

During the 1770s, ice cream was referred to as "iced puddings" or "ice cream puddings." The cones used were referred to as wafers. During this period, wafers were considered as "stomach settlers" and were served at the end to the meal to calm digestion. They eventually became luxurious treats and were an important element of the dessert course. When rolled into "funnels" or "cornucopias," they could be filled with all sort of fruit pastes, creams, and iced puddings.
So the true inventor of the ice cream cone may never be known but we have a general idea of why they are used.

Today these wafers or cones come in different flavors, colors, shapes and sizes.

Now I guess you are wondering how was Ice Cream found or invented....
That will be our next Did You Know article, so visit again to find out.

Birds That Can't Fly?

2009-01-07T15:56:00.004-05:00

Did you know...
There are many birds that can't fly. Does that make you wonder why they are called birds? When you think of a bird do you not think of one that can soar high above the trees? Is it a bird just because it has feathers? I guess our scientist think so but did you know why these birds can't fly?

It is believed by some that most flightless birds evolved in the absence of predators, on deserted islands, and lost the power of flight because they had few enemies — although this is likely not the case for the ratites; the ostrich, emu and cassowary, as these all have claws on their feet which can be use as weapons against predators.

The 2 key differences between flying and flightless birds are the smaller wing bones of flightless birds and the absent (or greatly reduced) keel* on their breastbone. The keel anchors muscles needed for wing movement. Flightless birds also have more feathers than flying birds. This and perhaps their weight has something to do with them being flightless. There have been over 40 recorded birds that can not fly. Some are extinct now. The last known ones that still live and most people know are the many varieties of the Penguins, Emu and the Ostrich. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island Rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the Ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg) (although some extinct species did grow to a larger sizes). Ostriches were once farmed for their decorative feathers. Today they are raised for meat and for their skins, which are used to make leather. The Emu is also being used for a source of food as well as their oils in a topical applied pain reliever.

*A keel in bird anatomy is an extension of the sternum which runs axially along the mid-line of the sternum and extends outward, perpendicular to the plane of the ribs. The keel provides an anchor to which a bird's wing muscles attach, thereby providing adequate leverage for flight. Keels do not exist on all birds; in particular, some flightless birds lack a keel structure.

First Women to Wear Pants

2008-11-26T11:53:00.005-05:00

Did you know...
Elizabeth Smith Miller is often credited as the first woman to wear pants.
Miller was a suffragette. Her goal in the 1800s was to help women in the United States win the right to vote. She also aided slaves seeking freedom – her home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Miller designed a pair for herself. They were long baggy pants that narrowed at the ankle and were worn over skirts. These early pants were designed to give women more freedom of movement while still preserving the decency expected of Victorian dress. After Miller debuted this style of pant, a few other women donned them. However, they were highly criticized in the mainstream media. Most of the women who wore them were active in the women's rights movement.

Amelia Jenks Bloomer, another suffragette, made and wore Pantaloons, as they were called at the time. Bloomer advocated a style of dress that would be less restrictive for women than the traditional style of her time: corsets, petticoats and floor length skirts.

Most likely it was Fanny Wright who was actually the first woman to wear pants. Wright was a Scottish woman who became a U.S. citizen in 1825. She is known as a writer, feminist, abolitionist and social reformer. Wright was the co-founder of the Free Inquirer newspaper, which she used to share her views on society.
For a few years of her adult life Wright lived in a socialist commune called New Harmony in the 1820s. There she dressed in loose bodices and ankle-length pantaloons with dresses cut to the knees. Today, Wright's style would be considered bohemian.

Women like Wright, Miller and Bloomer were strong advocates for womens rights and advanced the equality movement with their brazen dress and strong opinions. However, the sight of women in pants remained controversial for many, many more years.

* Susan Molinari, a Congresswoman from New York, caused a stir as recently as 1990 when she became the first woman to wear pants on the floor of the House. Molinari was giving a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives and she expected what she said to make news. Instead, her outfit got all of the headlines.

* The powerful woman's group, The Committee of 200, an invitation-only group of successful women entrepreneurs, lists among its members the first woman to don pants for a White House event.

* Katherine Hepburn was the first actress to wear pants in a major motion picture.
* Mary Tyler Moore created a controversy, wearing capri pants as Dick Van Dyke's television wife Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

* Charline Arthur, a country western star, was the first female singer to wear pants while performing on stage in the mid 1940s.

* During World War I, as women went to work in factories, they started to wear pants. However, the practice was still frowned upon.

* Marlene Dietrich furthered the cause when she wore pants in the 1930 film Morocco.
* Rosie the Riveter, the iconic symbol of women during World War II, made pants more popular for women.

* By the 1950s, jeans and capris had become standard attire for women.

In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced long trousers for women as a fashion item, leading to the era of the pantsuit and designer jeans and the gradual eroding of the prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace, and fine restaurants.

Thanks to those women who stood up and proclaimed pants as womens wear we can
now strut our stuff in all kinds of pants, Even tuxedos.

Largest Land Animal

2008-11-13T12:46:00.002-05:00

Did you know
The African Bush Elephant is the largest land animal, the African bush elephant reaches up to 24 feet in length and 13 feet in height. It is the largest of the three elephant species and can weigh up to 11 tons or more and live up to 70 years, longer than any other mammal except humans. African bush elephants are herbivores and need to eat about 350 pounds of vegetation daily. Herds consist of related females and their young, and are managed by the eldest female, called the matriarch. The adult male elephant rarely joins a herd and leads a solitary life, only approaching herds during mating season. These elephants are characterized by their two large ears, pillar-like legs, thickset body and a large head with a muscular, mobile trunk. Two prominent tusks are present in both sexes not just the males as some think. Females give birth to a single calf after 22 months of gestation, the longest gestation known among mammals. These calf sometimes weighs more than 100 kg. The baby feeds on the mothers milk until the age of 5, but also eats solid food from as early as 6 months old. They have no predators because of their strength and bigness. They can run up to 25-30 MPH.They are also known as the African savanna elephant. The largest on record was a bull weighing 12,274 kg (27,060 lb) and standing 4.2 meters (13.8 ft) high, the body of which is now mounted in the rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The Toothbrush

2008-10-20T08:07:00.002-04:00

Did You Know...

The toothbrush as we know it today was not invented until 1938.That doesn't mean we did not have other ways to clean our teeth. An earlier forms of the toothbrush has been in existence since 3000 BC. People in our ancient civilizations used a "chew stick," which was a thin twig that they would chew on the end of to make it frayed. These 'chew sticks' were rubbed against the teeth to clean them.

Much later around 1498, in China, the toothbrush was invented. It was made from boar bristles. (the stiff, coarse hairs taken from the back of a hog's neck) These bristles were attached to handles made from bone or bamboo. Even though many styles of the toothbrush were made the boar bristles were not replaced until 1938, when nylon bristles were introduced by Dupont de Nemours. The first nylon toothbrush was called "Doctor West's Miracle Toothbrush". Later, Americans were influenced by the disciplined hygiene habits of soldiers from World War II. They became increasingly concerned with the practice of good oral hygiene and quickly adopted the nylon toothbrush.

Some other interesting toothbrush facts:

* The first mass-produced toothbrush was made by William Addis of Clerkenwald, England, around 1780.
* The first American to patent a toothbrush was H. N. Wadsworth, (patent number 18,653,) on Nov. 7, 1857.

Nutmeg a Poison?

2008-10-15T08:17:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Contrary to it's name NUTmeg, is not a nut but a seed or pit of the fruit of the Nutmeg tree.
The Nutmeg tree produces two spices — mace and nutmeg.
Nutmeg is the seed kernel inside the fruit and mace is the lacy covering (aril) on the kernel.
Pierre Poivre (Peter Piper) smuggled nutmeg seeds and clove seedlings to start a plantation on the island of Mauritius, located off the east coast of Africa, near Madagascar. In 1796 the British took over the Moloccas and spread the cultivation to other East Indian islands and then to the Caribbean. Grenada now calls itself the Nutmeg Island because the use of the nutmeg was so successful. They even designed their flag in the green, yellow and red colours of nutmeg and included a graphic image of nutmeg in one corner of the flag. Even though it is a spice it does have medicinal uses. When used in small dosages nutmeg can reduce flatulence, aid in digestion, improve the appetite and treat diarrhea, vomiting and nausea as well as relieving the aches and pain of headaches and arthritis.
It is used as an everday spice for cooking, mostly in pies, cookies, cakes or puddings. In soups it works with tomatoes, slit pea, chicken or black beans. It complements egg dishes and vegetables like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, beans onions and eggplant. It flavours Italian mortadella sausages, Scottish haggis and Middle Eastern lamb dishes. And don't forget it's tasty use in eggnog and numerous mulled wines and punches, what would they be without this spice??? BUT It can be extremely poisonous if injected interavenously.
Wonder if you can overdose on this tasty seed just by eating too much??
Dear reader, what do you think?

Continents

2008-10-07T08:24:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
All the continents begin and end with the same letter?
eg., Asia, Africa, (North) America, (South) America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
Some people argue that there are only 6 continents because the South and North Americas' share the same name, America. Sometimes they are referred to as
"The Americas." There have been many scholars who think these continents when fitted together, like puzzle pieces, would form one big mass of land. What do you think?
Has this big mass of land slowly divided over the many years to form these separate
land masses that we call continents?

Arabic Numbers

2008-10-06T08:07:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Arabic numbers were NOT invented by Arabs, but were invented by the Hindus of India.
The reason that (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are known as Arabic numerals despite their Indian heritage is that it was the Arabs who adopted the system from India in the ninth century and introduced it to Europe in the tenth. Europeans therefore wrongly attributed the numerals to the Arabs, even though the Arabs themselves called them "Hindu numerals." Today they are the most common symbolic representation of numbers in the world.

Shark Skin

2008-10-04T09:31:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
The skin of a shark is made up of "tiny teeth"
Which are called dermal denticles? This protects them from
the many parasites that try to attach themselves to the shark.
Did you know... it is true that some sharks will die if they can not move.
While moving, water passes through the mouth of the shark and
over the gills — this process is known as "ram ventilation".
While at rest, most sharks pump water over their gills to ensure
a constant supply of oxygenated water. A small subset of shark species
that spend their life constantly swimming, a behaviour common in pelagic sharks, have lost the ability to pump water through their gills. These species are obligate ram ventilators and would presumably asphyxiate if unable to stay in motion.

High-tech Bathrooms

2008-10-03T17:10:00.001-04:00

Did you know...
Bathrooms have come a long way over the years. Way back when, they were only found outside the home.
Today, they're poised to become the epicenter of high technology inside the home.
At least in Japan. We've come a long way since the "outhouse"

First Navy Jack Flag

2008-09-08T15:41:00.003-04:00

Did you know
why the rattlesnake is on the First Navy Jack Flag?

The rattlesnake was used as a symbol of resistance to British repressive acts in Colonial America. Flags bearing rattlesnakes and bearing the simple warning "Don't Tread on Me" were flown on the first ships of the Continental Navy in the Delaware River in 1775.
Why the rattlesnake?... The rattlesnake has been a favorite symbol of independence throughout America's history. Adopted as a uniquely American icon by early patriots, such as Benjamin Franklin, the rattlesnake represents American unity. Individually, its rattles have no sound, but united they can be heard by all. And while it does not strike unless threatened, once provoked, the deadly rattlesnake never surrenders.

Peanut Butter

2008-09-02T16:49:00.005-04:00

Did you know
We were taught in school that George Washington Carver invented Peanut Butter BUT it was in use as early as 950 B.C.
Peanut butter was even served at our first Olympic games, long before G.W. Carver was even born. The ancient Incas used peanuts and were known to have made it into a paste-like substance that we now call Peanut butter. Peanuts emigrated from South America to Africa by early explorers and then traveled by trade into Spain, these explorers then traded the product to the American colonies. The first commercial peanut crop was grown in Virginia in the early to mid 1840's and in North Carolina beginning around 1818.Although agricultural chemist, George Washington Carver did NOT discover peanut butter he did discovered three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. An unknown doctor is the one who first invented Peanut butter as we know it today.

First Olympic Games

2008-08-19T17:40:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles
(the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic Games for which
we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally
believed that the Games had been going on for many years already).

At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), won the sole
event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192 meters (210 yards).
This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history.

The very first MODERN Olympic Games opened the first week of April in 1896.

Since the Games were not well publicized internationally, contestants were not
nationally chosen but rather came individually and at their own expense.
Some contestants were tourists who happened to be in the area during the Games.
Athletes wore their athletic club uniform rather than a national team one.

Pole vaulting,
sprints,
shot put,
weight lifting,
swimming,
cycling,
target shooting,
tennis,
marathon and gymnastics
were all events at the first Olympics.

The swimming events were held in the Bay of Zea in the Aegean Sea.
Gold medalist, Alfred Hoyos Guttmann described it: "I won ahead of the others
with a big lead, but my greatest struggle was against the towering twelve-foot
waves and the terribly cold water."
Approximately 300 athletes participated, representing thirteen countries.

Pink Flamingo

2008-08-04T13:09:00.002-04:00

Did you know...The flamingo is a white bird that turns pink from the food it eats?
The flamingo's characteristic pink colouring is caused by the Beta carotene in their diet.
The source of this varies by species, but shrimp and blue-green algae are common sources;
zoo-fed flamingos may be given food with the additive canthaxanthin, which is often also
given to farmed salmon to make their meat pink. Some wild flamingoes are such a dark pink
they are almost red in color.

The Fountain Pen

2008-07-28T11:48:00.002-04:00

Did you know...

The reservoir fountain pen dates back to 953, when Ma'ād al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib by using gravity and capillary action.

These writing instruments we call "fountain pens" that were designed to carry their own supply of ink have existed for over one hundred years.

The oldest known fountain pen that has survived today was designed by a Frenchmen named M. Bion and dated 1702.

The fountain pen's design came after a thousand years of using quill-pens.

Early inventors observed the apparent natural ink reserve found in the hollow channel of a bird's feather
and tried to produce a similar effect, with a man-made pen that would hold more ink and not require constant
dipping into the ink well. However, a feather is not a pen, only a natural object modified to suit man's needs.

Filling a long thin reservoir made of hard rubber with ink and sticking a metal 'nib' at the bottom was not
enough to produce a smooth writing instrument. Lewis Waterman, an insurance salesman, was inspired to improve
the early fountain pen designs after destroying a valuable sales contract with leaky-pen ink.
Lewis Waterman's idea was to add an air hole in the nib and three grooves inside the feed mechanism.

All pens contain an internal reservoir for ink. The different ways that reservoirs filled proved to be one of the
most competitive areas in the pen industry. The earliest 19th century pens used an eyedropper; by 1915, most pens
had switched to having a self-filling soft and flexible rubber sac as an ink reservoir. To refill these pens, the
reservoirs were squeezed flat by an internal plate, then the pen's nib was inserted into a bottle of ink and the
pressure on the internal plate was released so that the ink sac would fill up drawing in a fresh supply of ink.

Here are the different types of fillers that have been used over the years...

The Button Filler: Patented in 1905 and first offered by the Parker Pen Co. in 1913 as an alternative
to the eyedropper method. An external button connected to the internal pressure plate that flattened
the ink sac when pressed.

Lever Filler: Walter Sheaffer patented the lever filler in 1908. The W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company of Fort Madison, Iowa
introduced it in 1912. An external lever depressed the flexible ink sac. The lever fitted flush with the barrel of the pen when it was not in use. The lever filler became the winning design for the next forty years, the button filler coming in second.

Click Filler: First called the crescent filler, Roy Conklin of Toledo commercially produced the first one. A later design by Parker Pen Co. used the name click filler. When two protruding tabs on the outside of the pen pressed, the ink sac deflated. The tabs would make a clicking sound when the sac was full.

Matchstick Filler: Introduced around 1910 by the Weidlich Company. A small rod mounted on the pen or a common matchstick depressed the internal pressure plate through a hole in the side of the barrel.

Coin Filler: Developed by Lewis Waterman in an attempt to compete with the winning lever filler patent belonging to Sheaffer. A slot in the barrel of the pen enabled a coin to deflate the internal pressure plate, a similar idea to the matchstick filler.

Peregrin Williamson, a Baltimore shoemaker, received the first American patent for a pen in 1809.

William Purvis of Philadelphia invented and patented improvements to the fountain pen in 1890.
He made several improvements to the fountain pen in order to make it a "more durable,
inexpensive, and better pen to carry in the pocket."
Purvis used an elastic tube between the pen nib and the ink reservoir that used a suction action to return any
excess ink to the ink reservoir, reducing ink spills and increasing the longevity of the ink.

John Scheffer received a British patent in 1819 for his half quill, half metal pen that he attempted to mass manufacture.

John Jacob Parker patented the first self-filling fountain pen in 1831. However, early fountain pen models were plagued
by ink spills and other failures that left them impractical and hard to sell.

Coffee "Bean"

2008-06-16T08:06:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
The coffee bean is not a bean at all, it is the seed of the coffee plant (the pit inside the red or purple fruit). The fruits better known as coffee cherries or coffee berries, most commonly contain two stones rounded on the outside and flat on the other side, with their flat sides together forming a round pit. Coffee beans consist mostly of endosperm that contains 0.8 - 2.5 % caffeine, which is one of the main reasons the plants are cultivated. Coffee beans are an important export product for some countries.

The name "coffee bean" derives from the Arabic language (qahwa - "coffee" and bunn - "berry"). The name bean is not botanically accurate as the Coffee plant is not a member of the Fabaceae family. These pits are roasted and ground to make coffee grounds,coffeemeal and coffee powder.

Species of coffee plants include Coffea arabica, Coffea benghalensis, Coffea canephora, Coffea congensis, Coffea excelsa, Coffea gallienii, Coffea bonnieri, Coffea mogeneti, Coffea liberica, and Coffea stenophylla.
The seeds of different species produce coffee with slightly different taste.

Your Life Span

2008-06-13T17:01:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Your life span may depend on where you live?

10 Shortest Life Span States

On average, an American can expect to enjoy about 78 years of life on this planet, according to a report by the United Nations. Factors such as genetic predisposition and lifestyle choices can extend or abbreviate this amount of time, but did you know that the area in which you live can play a part as well? Here, the states with the shortest life expectancies, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau and supported by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

1. District of Columbia. Perhaps since state and world affairs weigh heavy over their heads, people residing in the nation's capital live a mere 72.6 years, but it's more likely due to the polluted air and homicide rates, which are the highest in the country. Washington, D.C., also sees the highest incidence of prostate cancer and diabetes, and the district ranks third among states with the heaviest drinkers.

2. Mississippi. Boasting the highest rate of obesity in the United States, Mississippi is in a dead heat with the District of Columbia for the greatest occurrence of diabetes per capita and the most people living below the poverty line; a Mississippian tends to live only about 73.7 years.

3. Louisiana. Not only is 30 percent of Louisiana's population obese; it also ranks ninth among states with the highest overall cancer rates, has some of the highest murder stats, and its capital, Baton Rogue, is among the most polluted cities. No wonder a Louisianan has a life expectancy of just 74.4 years.

4. Alabama. Subject to a prevalence of heart disease and diabetes and an obesity rate of 28.1 percent, inhabitants of the Heart of Dixie, 24.8 percent of whom are smokers, will be lucky if they live to a meager 74.6 years old.

5. South Carolina. The Palmetto State has the highest crime rate, and 28.5 percent of its population is obese, which are probably major contributors to an average South Carolinian's life span of 74.9 years.

6. and 7. Tennessee and West Virginia. Residents of both these states are expected to live an even 75 years. Tennessee has a high incidence of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, and it ranks third among states with the most smokers. West Virginia is the second most obese state in the nation.

8. Arkansas. The state's obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease statistics are remarkably high. To make matters worse, 15.6 percent of its people live in poverty, which might further explain why residents of Arkansas live only about 75.1 years.

9. and 10. Kentucky and Oklahoma. Considering that the Bluegrass State has the most smokers, the highest incidence of lung cancer among men, and a population that is 27.4 percent obese (plus one of its major cities, Lexington, creates the highest carbon footprint of all major U.S. metropolises), it's actually surprising that Kentuckians live to the relatively ripe old age of 75.3. And not one but two of Oklahoma's urban centers made it onto the American Podiatric Medical Association's list of the 10 Worst Walking Cities of 2008-Oklahoma City at No. 1 and Enid at No. 6. That, combined with a prevalence of heart disease and a notable suicide rate (the 11th highest in the nation), surely play a role in its top 10 spot.

The Liberty Bell

2008-06-06T17:30:00.002-04:00

Since the 4th of July is just around the corner I thought a little information about the Liberty Bell was in order, to remind us why we rang this bell and still celebrate this day.

Did you know...
The Liberty Bell got it's crack in March 1753 when the bell was hung from temporary scaffolding in the square outside the State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was rung to try out the sound.

To the dismay of onlookers, the bell cracked. Isaac Norris, speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, wrote "I had the mortification to hear that it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper without any other violence as it was hung up to try the sound."

While waiting for a replacement the bell was rebuilt by John Dock Pass and John Stow of Philadelphia, whose surnames appear inscribed on the bell. Pass and Stow added copper to the composition of the alloy used to cast the bell, and the tone of the new bell proved unsatisfactory. The two recast the bell yet again, restoring the correct balance of metal, and this third bell was hung in the steeple of the State House in June 1753.

The Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a bell that has served as one of the most prominent symbols of the American Revolutionary War. It is a familiar symbol of independence within the United States and has been described as an international icon of liberty and justice.

According to tradition, its most famous ringing occurred on Monday, July 8,1776, to summons people to the State House. There the Declaration of Independence was "proclaimed" (read aloud) by Col.John Nixon of the Philadelphia Committee of Safety.

The bell had also been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. Historians today consider this highly doubtful, as the steeple in which the bell was hung had deteriorated significantly by that time.

The Liberty Bell was also known as the "Independence Bell" or the "Old Yankee's Bell" until 1837, when it was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society as a symbol of the abolitionist movement.

When looking closely at the Liberty Bell you may see that the state of Pennsylvania is spelled incorrectly but The spelling "Pensylvania" was an accepted variant at the time.

Run Your Car on Water

2008-06-02T13:21:00.003-04:00

Did You know...
You can run your car on water?
Why isn't our government doing this...is it because they are afraid to say "NO" to these large oil companies that has a monopoly on oil, or is it because they are one of them who is getting richer from us, the consumer?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-05-29T12:12:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
The Chocolate Chip Cookie was discovered by accident when Ruth Wakefield ran out of
bakers chocolate? If not for this little idea of Ruth Wakefields, the world might never have tasted those sweet delights. Born in 1905, Wakefield grew up to be a dietician and food lecturer after graduating from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. Along with her husband Kenneth, she bought a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn, where she prepared the recipes for meals that were served to guests.

In 1930, Wakefield was mixing a batch of cookies for her roadside inn guests when she discovered that she was out of baker's chocolate. Not really knowing if it would work
or not, she substituted broken pieces of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate, expecting it to melt and be absorbed into the dough to create chocolate cookies. That didn't happen, but the surprising result helped to make Ruth Wakefield one of the 20th century's most famous women inventors. When she removed the pan from the oven, Wakefield realized that she had accidentally invented what we know as "chocolate chip cookies."

Some accidents or ideas can really pay off very sweetly.

Liquid Paper

2008-05-24T15:16:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
You don't have to graduate from high school to become famous, you just have to need something so bad you set out to invent it and that's just what
Bette Nesmith Graham, who was born in 1924 in Dallas, Texas, did.

She dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen and went to secretarial school. By 1951, she had worked her way up to the position of executive secretary for W.W. Overton, the Chairman of the Board of the Texas Bank and Trust. It was at this time that Graham and her colleagues at the bank began experiencing trouble with the new IBM electric typewriters.

Tired of having to retype entire pages because of one small error, Graham who had an unstoppable attitude was determined to find a more efficient alternative. Little did she know her frustration would lead to her becoming one of the most famous women inventors of the 20th century.

The idea for the "Mistake Out" product came to her while watching painters at the bank, if they made a mistake they just covered it up with more paint.
So quick-thinking Bette copied their technique by using a white, water-based tempera paint to cover her typing errors. Soon every secretary at the bank was begging for her cover-up.

She sold her first batch of "Mistake Out" in 1956, and soon she was working full-time to produce and bottle it from her North Dallas home. Her son Michael – who would later achieve fame as a member of the pop group The Monkees – and his friends helped to fill the growing number of orders for Mistake Out.

Bette continued experimenting with the substance until she achieved the perfect combination of paint and several other chemicals. The refined product was renamed "Liquid Paper" in 1958 and, was in great demand, Graham applied for a patent and a trademark that same year.

Bette Graham's Liquid Paper Company experienced tremendous growth over the next decade and by 1967, the company had its own corporate headquarters and automated production plan. Sales were in excess of one million units per year. In 1975, she moved operations into a 35,000-sq. ft. international Liquid Paper headquarters building in Dallas. She sold the company to Gillette Corporation four years later, just six months before her death in 1980.

Will computers put a damper on the sales of liquid paper or will the demand still keep it on the shelves in the stores...? What do you think?

Scotchgard

2008-05-23T06:44:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
Scotchgard the first stain repellent and soil release textile treatments which have grown into an entire family of products was invented and discovered by Patsy Sherman
born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1930 while working at the 3M company? One of the lab assistants accidentally dropped a glass bottle that contained a batch of synthetic latex she had made and some of the latex mixture splashed on the assistant's canvas tennis shoes. Patsy Sherman and her colleague, Sam Smith, were working on another project when they observed that the accidental spill on the white tennis shoe would not wash off nor would solvent remove it.
But the most amazing thing was the area where the solvent splashed resisted soiling. They recognized the commercial potential of its application to fabrics during manufacture and by the consumer at home.

Scotchgard was first sold in 1956, however, Patsy Sherman and Samuel Smith obtained the U.S. patent in 1973, for the method for treating carpets, now known as Scotchgard. The name Scotchgard is a combination of the words Scotch and a misspelling of the word guard.

Patsy Sherman was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame in 1983. Patsy Sherman and Sam Smith jointly hold 13 patents in fluorochemical polymers and polymerization processes.

So go ahead and put your feet up… the dirt will wash off.

Disposable Diapers

2008-05-21T13:13:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
A woman born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1917 by the name Marion Donovan had a hard time getting her invention of the disposable diaper on the market. She made the first diaper cover from an old shower curtain. Her design did not cause diaper rash and did not pinch the child's skin. The soon-to-be famous female inventor subsequently perfected her invention, adding snap fasteners in place of the dangerous safety pins. She called it "Boater" because she thought they looked like a boat. But no manufacturers would even consider her invention, so she struck out on her own, and the Boater was an unqualified success from the day it debuted at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949. A few years later in 1951 Donovan applied and received a patent. She then promptly sold the rights to Keko Corporation.

Her next project was a fully disposable diaper, for which she had to fashion a special type of paper that was not only strong and absorbent, but also conveyed water away from the baby's skin. She took her finished product to every large manufacturer in the country, but once again she found no takers. Incredulously, everyone she talked to told her that the idea was superfluous and impractical. It was not until nearly a decade later, in 1961, that Victor Mills drew upon Donovan's vision to create the disposable diaper we know as Pampers.

Marion Donovan earned a total of 20 patents in her lifetime and also received an Architecture degree from Yale University in 1958.

I for one am thankful for this famous woman inventor who deserves the undying gratitude of new parents around the globe.

The Disposable Cell Phone

2008-05-19T09:20:00.005-04:00

Who said it's a mans world?
I have been asked to do some post about women inventors.
So I went in search of some women who actually have patents
on useful items. I was surprised to see just what these women
invented, and I bet it will be a surprise to you too.
So this week will be dedicated to these women and their inventions.

Did you know...
The Disposable Cell Phone was invented by Randice-Lisa "Randi" Altschul?
A woman who was known for her inventions of toys and games.
Randi thought up the invention after being tempted to toss her cell phone out of her car window in frustration over a bad connection. But she realized cell phones were too expensive to lose or throw away. After clearing the idea with her patent lawyer and making sure no one else had already invented a disposable cell phone, Randi Altschul together with engineer Lee Volte, patented both the disposable cell phone and the super thin technology needed for the Phone-Card-Phone and other intended products.

In November of 1999 Randice-Lisa "Randi" Altschul was issued a series of patents for the world's first disposable cell phone. Trademarked the Phone-Card-Phone®, the device is the thickness of three credit cards and made from recycled paper products.
Yeah, she was still thinking "green". This is a real cell phone (outgoing messages only) with 60 minutes of calling time and a hands free attachment. You can add more minutes or throw the device away after your calling time is used up. However, with the planned additional magnetic strip the cell phone would double as a credit card, swipeable for purchases with free airtime credits as a bonus. The retail price of the invention should average around twenty dollars, with a two or three dollar rebate for returning the phone instead of trashing it. These cell phones are now available around the world.

Don't let frustration over an item get to you just think of a way to improve it.

Tune in tomorrow to learn more about women inventors.
Please leave a suggestion for a post on this blog.
Who or what do you want to read about?

Cows and milk

2008-05-12T16:37:00.005-04:00

Did you know...
The average cow produces about 19,825 pounds of milk a year.
That comes to 2,305 gallons of milk a year. A good milk cow will
produces about 8 gallons of milk daily. The average milk cow
produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
That's enough for 128 people to have a glass of milk every day.
A milk cow drinks from 25 to 50 gallons of water every day.
Contrary to what most people have been lead to believe a cow
does not have 4 stomaches but only one with 4 chambers.
Before the milking machine was invented farmers could only milk
about 6 cows in an hour. Now they are able to milk more than 100.
The 6 cows in the picture are breeds of cows that produce milk.
The white and black Holstien (lower right)is the best of the milk producing cows.

Credit Cards.... Earn from them !

2008-05-10T10:41:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
You can earn money when using your credit card? Well you can if it has a cash back like the Discover card, or any other credit card that gives a cash back reward when you make a purchase with it. First it's best to start with a new card that has no charges on it, then use it to make the same purchases that you intended to pay cash for. Now don't go and spend this cash but put it in your bank account or in a safe place so it will be available for use in 28 days. This money will be used to pay your Credit Card in full each month. No interest and no bad credit. It will actually make your credit better.
With the cost of gas and food this cash back reward will build up over a period of time. It's like getting free money to do your Christmas shopping. Why not put your credit card to work for you? It's so simple to do and you can bet the money sure will come in handy.

QASSIA

2008-04-28T13:02:00.008-04:00

Did you know...
You can get unlimited quality backlinks to your website or blog when you join and use Qassia?

What is Qassia you ask...

Qassia is a program that will give you credit for sharing your intelligence.
Everyone is an expert on something and at Qassia you can let the world know just how smart you are. At Qassia You earn credits as well as share in the ad revenue sharing system which is the best on the internet. The more credits you earn, the better your websites or blog will rank. You get a backlink to your website for every "intel" you add. It's free to join and you get to advertise your blogs and /websites to all the members.

What's an intel?
An intel is a short article You write. It can be about whatever you want it to be, within limits, of course. After all this is a family site so we try to keep it clean of bad language and pornographic materials.

You can earn Qassia dollars when you screen the latest incoming intel written by other members and earn easy credit! You get $8 inQassia dollars for every intel you screen. Not only that but you earn for every referral that joins and writes an intel.
It's fun and easy so come on over and join us. We are anxiously waiting to read your first intel. Oh, your ready, then click on our funny name QASSIA and it will take you there!

The Circus

2008-04-23T10:25:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
The circus is believed to have originated in Ancient Rome. The Roman amphitheatre was called a circus after the Latin word for “circle” and was most often used for gladiatorial combat and chariot races. The modern circus started in England in 1768. A former sergeant major named Philip Astley started organizing shows featuring trick riders on horses galloping in a circle.

The first circus in the USA was held in Philadelphia on April 3, 1793. John Bill Ricketts, a Scottish horseman put on the first circus show. It was not held in a huge tent or in an enormous sporting stadium like circuses are today. He built a roofless amphitheater of wood which was called "Circus" - that's how the name came about. John Bill Ricketts, with the help of his brother performed tricks on horseback. A clown and a tightrope walker - both friends of the brothers - were the other acts that were added to the show later. George Washington, our first president, attended this circus many times.

The "big top", otherwise known as the circus tent, was first used in 1825. The use of the tent enabled circus acts to set up and take down a show very quickly, making travel easier.

The circus became a form of entertainment for all ages and grew from a one ring act to many rings with what we call a "ringmaster" in the center ring. The first two-ring circus was introduced in 1872, and the first three-ring circus was in 1881. The multiple rings enabled spectators to enjoy three different acts performing all at the same time. The ringmaster still wears the fashionable riding clothes as did John Ricketts.

The first clown to perform in a circus was a man named McDonald
I think you may have heard and/or seen a clown by that name, haven't you?

It is estimated that there have been more than two thousand circuses in this country.

P.T. Barnum was never an owner of any circus. He was actually a museum owner for most of his career; however, his name carries strong associations with the circus. While never owning a circus of his own, Barnum worked with many co-owners to market and produce some of the most popular circuses of the late 19th century

Toque (Chefs Hat)

2008-04-22T10:11:00.005-04:00

Did you know...
A toque blanche (French for "white hat") is a tall, round, pleated, starched white hat worn by chefs. Chefs have been wearing toques for more than 400 year.
All toques are not created equal, the culinary student's hat is (7 inches) 2 inches shorter than a cooks hat and a cooks hat is (9 inches) 2 inches shorter than a chefs hat.(11 inches and taller) The taller the toque the more experienced the chef. In the days before the toque was white the rank of a chef was known by the color of the toque they wore.
The many folds or pleats on a toque are believed to signify the many ways that an egg can be cooked. Some executive chefs have as many as 100 pleats in his/her toque.
The French chef Marie-Antoine Careme wore a toque 18 inches tall with 100 pleats.
Can you think of 100 ways to cook an egg? I sure can't!

Saddles

2008-04-18T08:36:00.004-04:00

Did you know...

The earliest saddles were simple pads attached with a surcingle** in or around 800 BC. The saddle tree came into use around 200 BC, and paired stirrups by 322 A.D.
There is evidence that man first began taming and riding the horse possibly as early as 4000 BCE. Though this has been disputed by some. It is not known precisely when horseback riders first began to use some sort of padding or protection, but a blanket attached by some form of surcingle was probably the first "saddle," followed later by more elaborate padded designs. The saddle was a status symbol for the wealthy and was emblished with elaborate leatherwork, precious metals, jewels, and embroidery.

Saddles in the styles seen today date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, modern saddle comes in a wide variety of styles, each designed for a specific equestrianism discipline, and each require careful fit to both the rider and the horse.

Parts of a saddle:

* Tree: the base on which the rest of the saddle is built. Usually made of wood or a similar synthetic material, it is eventually covered in leather or a leather-like synthetic. The tree size determines its fit on the horse's back as well as the size of the seat for the rider.

* Seat: the part of the saddle where the rider sits, it is usually lower than the pommel and cantle to provide security

* Pommel or Pomnel (English)/ Swells (Western): the front, slightly raised area of the saddle.

* Cantle: the back of the saddle

* Stirrup: part of the saddle in which the rider's feet go, provides support and leverage to the rider.

* Leathers and Flaps (English) or Fenders (Western): The leather straps connecting the stirrups to the saddle tree and protecting the rider's legs from sweat.

* D-ring: a "D"-shaped ring on the front of a saddle, to which certain pieces of equipment (such as breastplates) can be attached.

* Girth or Cinch:(surcingle) A strap that goes around the horse's barrel that holds the saddle on.

**A surcingle is a strap made of leather or leather-like synthetic materials such as nylon or neoprene, sometimes with elastic, that fastens around a horse's girth area.

"Let's Play Ball"...Baseball

2008-04-17T19:09:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
The modern version of the game of baseball was developed in North America? It began in the eighteenth century. Historians believe it evolved from earlier bat-and-ball games, such as cricket and rounders, brought to the continent by the British and Irish immigrants. By the late nineteenth century, baseball was widely recognized as the national sport of the United States. The game, sometimes referred to as "hardball" is very similar to the game of softball.

The first documentation of a baseball game in North America is Dr. Adam Ford's contemporary description of a game that took place in 1838 on June 4 in Beachville, Ontario, Canada. This report was related in an 1886 edition of Sporting Life magazine in a letter by former St. Marys, Ontario, resident Dr. Matthew Harris.

In 1845, Alexander Cartwright of New York City led the codification of an early list
of rules (the so-called Knickerbocker Rules), from which today's rules have evolved. He had also initiated the replacement of the soft ball, which was used to play rounders, with a smaller hard ball. While there are reports of Cartwright's club, the New York Knickerbockers, playing games in 1845, the game now recognized as the first in U.S. history to be officially recorded took place on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, with the "New York Nine" defeating the Knickerbockers(on their own field) 23–1, in four innings.

In the 1860s Semiprofessional baseball started in the United States. In 1869, the first fully professional baseball club, the Cincinnati Red Stockings was formed and went undefeated against a schedule of semi-pro and amateur teams. By the following decade, American newspapers were referring to baseball as the "National Pastime".
The first attempt at forming a "major league" was the National Association, which lasted from 1871 to 1875. "Let's play ball" is the cry from the home plate Umpire that many fans of this game love to hear.

Perk-Up Scents

2008-04-11T12:47:00.002-04:00

Did you know...
Different scents can help you perk-up?

Peppermint: People who do tasks like typing and filing can do it faster and more accurately after sniffing peppermint oil. So theres a good reason to pop that peppermint candy in your mouth while at work.

Jasmine: Can stimulate the brain waves that amp up alertness. Drinking a cup of hot jasmine tea could help you remember what you need to be doing..

Cinnamon: Inhaling this spice can improve your mood, vigor and concentration. Put a little sprinkle on your tissue and place it in your desk drawer. Every time you open the drawer you'll get a little boost.

Coffee: This may be why so many people have a cup of coffee just sitting there. The smell can boost your energy. Don't drink coffee? A small dish of coffee beans works just as well.

Lemon: This clean scent effects the brain as a mood enhancer and a source of stamina.
Squeeze a little into your next glass of water, while standing around the water cooler.

Healthy Benefits

# According to research, essential oils of ginger, spearmint, and sweet fennel may alleviate chemotherapy-induced nausea.
# Because of how our olfactory receptors work, scents can elicit responses in our moods and emotions. Vanilla is the scent of romance and can boost your sex life.

Worlds First Newspaper

2008-04-06T12:16:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
The first newspaper was printed and published over 400 years ago?
Not in America but in Germany.
The "Relation" a Strassburg, Germany newspaper was printed in 1605 by Johann Carolus. It has been recognized by the Association of Newspapers as being the worlds first published newspaper. But there were papers or daily handwritten news sheets, which were posted by the government in the Roman Forum from the year 59 B.C. to at least A.D. 222 and which were filled with news of such subjects as political happenings, trials, scandals, military campaigns and executions. First or not the news has been circulated around the globe for many years. In 1990 there were 1,611 daily newspapers which is 14% less than in 1940, before the TV was in wide use. The TV, internet and other electronic devices that deliver the news will be the death of all newspapers.

How many Languages?

2008-04-02T08:40:00.003-04:00

Did you know...
Of the roughly 6,912 known languages and dialects spoken in the 191 countries of the world, only 2,287 have writing systems (the others are only spoken)

Gold, give it up or go to jail!

2008-04-01T17:26:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
Under orders of the creditor (the Federal Reserve System and its private owners) on April 5, 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Presidential order 6102, which required all Americans to deliver all gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates to their local Federal Reserve Bank on or before April 28, 1933.

Any violators would be fined up to $10,000, imprisoned up to ten years, or both for knowingly violating this order. This gold was then offered by the Fed owners to any foreign, non-U.S. citizen, at $35.00 per ounce. Over the entire previous 100 years, gold had remained at a stable value, increasing only from $18.93 per ounce to $20.69 per ounce.

Since then, every U.S. citizen (by virtue of their birth certificate) has become an asset of the government, pledged at a specific dollar amount to pay this debt through future taxation. Thus, every American citizen is in debt from birth (via future taxation), and is, for all practical purposes, property of the creditors, the privately owned Federal Reserve System.

Tomato, Fruit or Vegetable

2008-03-31T13:37:00.003-04:00

Did you know...

It is neither
It is actually a berry!
But then again most berries are considered a fruit!

Botanically, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: therefore it is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. However, the tomato is not as sweet as the foodstuffs usually called fruits and, from a culinary standpoint, it is typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal,like vegetables, rather than as a dessert,like fruits. The term "vegetable" has no botanical meaning and is purely a culinary term. BUT the USA Supreme Court in 1893 declared the tomato a vegetable because they were usually eaten with a meal rather than as a dessert, like fruit and berries. The court did not reclassify the tomato for botanical purposes other than for paying a tax under a tariff act.

Due to the scientific definition of a fruit, the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with US tariffs. Nor is it the only culinary vegetable that is a botanical fruit: eggplants, cucumbers, and squashes of all kinds (such as zucchini and pumpkins) share the same ambiguity. Notice most of these grow on vines.

The massive "tomato tree" growing inside the Walt Disney World Resort's experimental greenhouses in Lake Buena Vista, Florida may be the largest single tomato plant in the world. The plant has been recognized as a Guinness World Record Holder, with a harvest of more than 32,000 tomatoes and a total weight of 1,151.84 pounds. This one-of-a-kind plant yields thousands of tomatoes at one time from a single vine. Yong Huang, Epcot's manager of agricultural science discovered the unique plant in Beijing, China. Huang brought its seeds to Epcot and created the specialized greenhouse for the fruit to grow. The vine grows golf ball-sized tomatoes which are served at Walt Disney World restaurants. The world record-setting tomato tree can be seen by guests along the Living With the Land boat ride at Epcot.

Chewing Gum

2008-03-28T10:11:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
Wrigley's was NOT the first manufacture of chewing gum.
People have enjoyed chewing gum-like substances in many lands and for many, many years. Some of the things they chewed were thickened resin and latex from certain kinds of trees. Others were from various sweet grasses, leaves, grains and waxes.

Lumps of spruce gum were sold in the eastern United States during the early 1800s, making it the first commercial chewing gum in this country. Sometime in 1850, sweetened paraffin wax became popular and eventually exceeded spruce gum in popularity. But that was soon replaced by chicle, the natural gum from the tropical evergreen tree, Manilkara chicle, native to southern North America and South America.
Chicle was used to make the first flavored chewing gum.

In 1850 Mexican General Santa Anna introduces chicle to Thomas Adams, who began to experiment with it as a substitute for rubber. Adams tried to make toys, masks, and rain boots out of the chicle, but every experiment failed. Despite the failures Adams continued to look for a way this chicle could be used. One day he popped a chunk in his mouth and found it to be very satisfying and pliable, but not very flavorful.

In 1870 Adams and his sons opened the first chewing gum factory making Adams New York No. 1.
In 1871 Adams created a licorice-flavored gum called Black Jack. This was the first flavored gum. But the flavor did not last long. On February 14, 1871 Adams was issued the patent on his chewing gum.

In 1880 a man named William White experimented with flavors after receiving a shipment of chicle. He solved the problem by adding sugar and corn syrup to the mix. The first flavor he used was peppermint and it stayed in the gum during chewing.

Adans Gum company is now part of Cadbury-Adams Company.

Hand-cranked Ice Cream Maker

2008-03-25T19:09:00.009-04:00

Did you know...
The first hand-crank ice cream maker was invented by a woman named Nancy Johnson back in 1847. She applied and received a patent for it on September 9, 1847. She later sold her rights to William Young for just $200. He gave it the name of “Johnson Patent Ice-Cream Freezer.” At least with this name he still gave credit to the inventor.

Windshield Wipers

2008-03-23T13:18:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
Before Henry Ford's Model A was manufactured, Mary Anderson of Birmingham, Alabama was granted a patent for a "window cleaning device" in November of 1903. Her innovative invention
could clean snow, rain, or sleet from a windshield by using a handle inside the car.
Her goal was to improve driver vision during stormy weather. This device was later
named "windshield wiper" which was a swinging arm device with a rubber blade that was
operated by the driver from within the vehicle via a lever.

By 1916 the manually driven windshield wiper became standard equipment on all American cars.

Meanwhile another woman inventor named Charlotte Bridgwood invented the first automatic windshield wiper. Charlotte Bridgwood, who was the president of the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company of New York, patented her electric roller-based windshield wiper called the "Storm Windshield Cleaner" in 1917. Her electric Storm Windshield Cleaner used rollers rather than blades and was electrically driven, freeing the hands for safer steering of the car.

But, her product was not a commercial success. It wasn't until a few years later, in 1923, that automatic windshield wipers became standard features on cars.

Tennis Anyone?

2008-03-22T16:25:00.006-04:00

Did you know...
the first tennis raquet was made of human flesh?
Before you go eeek let me explain. The first games of tennis were played by French monks in the 11th or 12th century and they used their hands to swat the ball.It was more like the game of handball, played first by hitting against a wall, then later over a crude net. Because hitting a ball with one's hand proved to be a little too uncomfortable after a while,the players began using gloves.Some sewed netting between the fingers of the gloves.

By the 14th century, players had begun using what we could legitimately call a racquets, with strings made of gut bound in a wooden frame. Tennis at this time was an indoor game.

In 1874, Major Walter C. Wingfield registered his patent in London for the equipment and rules of an outdoor lawn game that is generally considered the first version of what we call tennis today.

A racquet with a metal head existed as early as 1889, but it never saw widespread use. The wooden frame didn't undergo any real challenge until 1967, when Wilson Sporting Goods introduced the first popular metal racquet, the T2000.
The metal was stronger and lighter than wood so it became a top seller.
Now tennis racquets are custom made to fit your playing needs.

The Zipper

2008-03-18T15:16:00.004-04:00

Did you know...
Elias Howe,the man who invented the sewing machine received a patent in 1851 for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' But Elias did not pursue marketing his clothing closure and as a result, Howe missed his chance to
become the recognized 'Father of the Zipper.'

Some forty-four years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent. Being first to market gave Whitcomb the credit of being the "Inventor of the Zipper", However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper.
Mr. Whitcomb Judson, of Chicago, called it a 'Clasp Locker' and it was a complicated
hook-and-eye shoe fastener.
Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its' public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little commercial success.

Later the Swedish-born Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer, was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. His good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter, Elvira Aronson, led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal.
He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.
He busied himself at the design table after the death of his wife, and by
December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

He increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or
eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by a slider, and
increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. The patent for the 'Separable Fastener' was issued in 1917. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The 'S-L' (or scrapless machine) took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.
The popular 'zipper' name came from the B. F. Goodrich Company, when they decided to use Gideon's fastener on a new type of rubber boots or galoshes and renamed the device the zipper, the name that lasted. Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper during its early years. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments. It was first used on children's clothing.

Aglets, What's that?

2008-03-05T12:24:00.004-05:00

Did you know...
The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
These aglets keep the shoelace ends from fraying, thus
making it easier to lace the shoes.
Aglets have been around since the 8th century or even as early as the 5th century.
At one time aglets were made from metal, glass or even stone and were
highly ornamental. The first agets were used on the ends of ribbons to fasten clothing together. This was of course before the button and buttonhole was invented.
Then in 1790, a gentleman by the name of Harvey Kennedy invented the modern
shoelace and by 1791 all shoelaces came complete with aglets on the ends.
The first shoelace aglets were made from stone and tin. The wealthy had aglets made from
precious metals such as gold and silver up until the 19th century. Plastic aglets came into
use at the turn of the 20th century. Agets can be changed to your liking.

The Light Bulb

2008-03-05T11:09:00.004-05:00

Maier's images of (left) Swan's 1883 version of his light bulb, and (right) Maxim's bulb, which was actually patented by Black inventor Lewis Latimer.

Did you know...
9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
But this isn't true; Joseph Wilson Swan, a physicist and chemist, invented the first light bulb in 1860.
Swan's light bulb design was substantially that used by Thomas Alva Edison in America nearly 20 years later. In 1880, after the improvement of vacuum techniques, both Swan and Edison produced a practical light bulb.
Lewis Howard Latimer, a pioneer in the development of the electric light bulb, was the only Black member of Thomas A. Edison's research team of noted scientists. While Edison invented the incandescent bulb, it was Latimer, a member of the Edison Pioneers, who developed and patented the process for manufacturing the carbon filaments.

The Betsy Ross Flag, Or is it?

2008-03-04T13:49:00.003-05:00

Did you know...
During the Revolutionary War, several patriots made flags for our new nation. Among them were Cornelia Bridges, Elizabeth (Betsy) Ross, and Rebecca Young, all of whom were from Pennsylvania, and John Shaw of Annapolis, Maryland.

Although Betsy Ross, the best known of these persons, made flags for 50 years, there is no proof that she made the first Stars and Stripes. It is known that she made flags for the Pennsylvania State Navy in 1777. The flag popularly known as the "Betsy Ross flag," which arranged the stars in a circle, did not appear until the early 1790's.

Signing of the Declaration of Independence

2008-03-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

Did you know...
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. The last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Jacob Shallus, a Pennsylvania General Assembly clerk, "penned" the Constitution for a fee of $30 ($261.45 today). Governor Morris was responsible for the wording of the Constitution. It was stored in various cities until 1952, when it was placed in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. During the daytime, pages one and four of the document are displayed in a bullet-proof case. The case contains helium and water vapor to preserve the paper's quality. At night, the pages are lowered into a vault, behind five-ton doors that are designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. The entire Constitution is displayed only one day a year, September 17, the anniversary of the day the framers signed the document.

Thirty-nine men signed the Constitution.

The Dollar Sign $

2008-02-27T15:25:00.002-05:00

Did you know...
The $ (Dollar) sign was designed in 1788 by Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, using a combination of Spanish money symbols.

The $ sign is used in many countries other than the United States, including the use for the Argentine peso, Brazilian real, Cape Verde escudo, Chilean peso, Colombian peso, Cuban peso, Dominican peso, Mexican peso, Tongan pa'anga and Uruguayan peso. Other countries that trade in their currency as dollars are Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Liberia and others.

No Fed', No Tax!

2008-02-25T14:21:00.006-05:00

President Andrew Jackson

Did you know...
If there was No "Fed," there would be no need for a direct tax.

Without the central bank (Federal Reserve Banks) siphoning off the wealth of our nation, there would be no need for a personal income tax.

President Andrew Jackson booted out the central bank; his speech can be read here:

http://alpha.furman.edu/~benson/docs/ajveto.htm

This battle fought by Jackson was a huge deal back then and he refused to back down. Jackson was the last honest president with the guts to stand up to the international bankers who are literally stealing US blind.

"The greatest party battle of Jackson's presidency centered around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When Jackson appeared hostile toward it, the Bank threw its power against him.

"Clay and Webster, who had acted as attorneys for the Bank, led the fight for its recharter in Congress. "The bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!" Jackson, in vetoing the recharter bill, charged the Federal Reserve Bank with undue economic privilege.

"His views won approval from the American electorate; in 1832 he polled more than 56 percent of the popular vote and almost five times as many electoral votes as Clay."

Please note that the words "a private corporation but virtually a Government sponsored monopoly" comes directly from the White House's web site.
What a huge admission!

On line, you can also read Congressman Louis McFadden's indictment on the Federal Reserve Corporation. It is a very concise explanation of how the international banking cartel has been sacking this country's wealth since 1913.

Don't be fooled by this chant around the country for a flat tax, a consumption tax, sales tax or any other kind of personal income tax. There is absolutely no authority in the U.S. Constitution to implement any of these forms of taxation without apportionment. It is for this reason and this reason alone, that when it became apparent that the 16th Amendment was not going to be ratified by the states, fraud was committed and it was simply "proclaimed" ratified by then Secretary of State Philander Knox.

We don't need any direct taxation and these popular mantras are just new lies to replace old lies. Any one of these forms of taxation will still feed the cancer: the central bank. Any one of these forms of taxation is just another way to fleece the American people to enrich the pockets of the international banking cartel. Please consider the words of Congressman Ron Paul:

"Strictly speaking, it probably is not necessary for the federal government to tax anyone directly; it could simply print the money it needs. However, that would be too bold a stroke, for it would then be obvious to all what kind of counterfeiting operation the government is running. The present system combining taxation and inflation is akin to watering the milk: too much water and the people catch on."

Please don't fall for these alternative taxing SCHEMES. The banking cartel doesn't care what form it is they fleece your hard earned dollars (flat tax, fair tax, sales tax, etc.) - just as long as they continue to steal from us:

Beware alternative taxing schemes
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43242

Make IRS check payable to stockholders of private Fed
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43820

April 15 ... again
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44036

What we need to do is take away the magical money machine called the "Fed," which will force Congress to live within its means and fund only those activities specifically enumerated by the supreme law of the land in Art. 1, § 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

National ID Card a Farewell to Freedom!

2008-02-25T11:12:00.005-05:00

A Farewell to Freedom

Did you know...
The national identity card which becomes law in May 2008, is an ID card that will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are essentially homing devices used to track people. America is moving headlong into a fascist police state. Don't we have any rights to say NO! Come on America citizens... Wake up! Every state should "Just say NO!" Maine has declined this invasion of privacy, why shouldn't all states? I for one refuse to say Farewell to Freedom.

The Federal Reserve Banks First Investors/Owners

2008-02-16T21:36:00.007-05:00

Did you know...
Contrary to belief the Federal Reserve Banks are NOT owned by our government but by rich private investors who take your tax dollars then loans the money to our government
with an added percentage just like your credit cards. The IRS is not a legal branch of the Federal Government. You volunteer to give these rich men a part of your money when you sign a w-2 form. Since this money does NOT go to our government opt not to volunteer. You cannot buy or own stock in the privately owned Federal Reserve. That privilege is reserved for the money interests, i.e., the Rockefellers, Rothschilds and other global elites. The federal debt cannot be paid down, much less paid off. None of these alternative taxing schemes will make a dent in the expanding bubble that is going to burst because the banking cartel can't continue to prop up the debt load much longer. The day of reckoning is coming. Get the facts ... because knowledge is power.It's your money, keep it in your pocket. It's your choice... Wake up America and read your tax books.

Debt of the USA

2008-02-16T21:18:00.003-05:00

Will Uncle Sam ever be free of this Ball and Chain?

Did you know...
The reason the USA is in so much debt is because the USA Government does
NOT get the tax dollars you pay as Federal Tax. It goes to a privately owned bank.
Just before John F. Kennedy was assassinated he was working on getting this tax eliminated. He purposed to having our own money press so the US government would not have to borrow from the Federal Reserve Banks.

Who really killed J.F.Kennedy

2008-02-16T20:15:00.008-05:00

Did you know...
This question is still asked even though there is proof of who masterminded the assassination?
Fear keeps those who know the truth imprisoned in silence.

This is part 1 of 3. See more at YouTube
Look for part 2 and 3 of "Was it Johnson?"

Womens High Heels

2008-02-15T10:02:00.005-05:00

Did you know...
The average increase in the protrusion of a woman's buttocks is 25% when she wears high heels. The high heel may have been invented by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The first high heels were wore by men to make them taller. Most of all womens fashions were taken from men or were fashioned from menswear.

The First Car

2008-02-15T09:12:00.004-05:00

Henry Fords First Car 1896
Did You Know...
The first car was NOT invented by Henry Ford?
It was a product of Karl Benz (Carl Benz)
In 1885 Karl Benz, a German mechanical engineer, designed and built the world's first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine. The first car had only 3 wheels,one in front and 2 in back.
America's first gasoline-powered automobile was the 1891 Lambert car invented by John W. Lambert. The Duryea Brothers founded America's first company to manufacture and sell gasoline-powered vehicles. Then Henry Ford came along and improved the assembly line for automobile manufacturing (Model-T), invented a transmission mechanism, and popularized the gas-powered automobile. So most of the work was done before Henry even got started. Feeling smarter now?

First Harley-Davidsom Motorcycle

2008-02-14T13:16:00.009-05:00

The First Harley Davidson Motorcycle

Did you know...
That the motorcycle was invented before the car?
IN 1903 William S. Harley, age 21, and Arthur Davidson, age 22, joined forces to make available to the public the first production of the Harley-Davidson® motorcycle? The bike was built to be a racer. The factory in which they worked was a 10 x 15-foot wooden shed with the words "Harley-Davidson Motor Company" crudely scrawled on the door. BUT this was not the first American motorcycle. In 1867, Sylvester Howard Roper invented a two-cylinder, steam-engine motorcycle that was powered by coal. This is considered the first motorcycle. He also invented a steam engine car. Then in 1885, Nicholaus August Otto who invented the first gas-engine attached the engine to a wooden bike and it was the first gas powered motorcycle.