What I thought I knew: The camels that had one hump had a name starting with "D" and the camels with two humps had a name starting with "B". (Because, you know, putting the letters on their sides, "D" is like a hump while "B" is like 2 humps.) Camels also store water in their humps.
What I learned: Camels do not store water in their humps, it's a common myth. They store fat in their humps. This fat provides them with nutrition, so they can go a long time without food. Their bodies also conserve water - e.g. they can keep from sweating too much.
Camels with one humps are called dromedary camels while the ones with two humps are called bactrian camels.
Source: Camel Information
31 January 2006
30 January 2006
29 January 2006
The World's Oceans
What I already knew: I thought that the earth only had 4 oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. I also knew that the Pacific was the largest of the oceans.
What I learned: The earth actually has 5 oceans, as the Southern Ocean was recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) only as recently as 2000. The name is used to describe the waters surrounding Antarctica. But many still dispute the existence of a 5th ocean, preferring to use "South Pacific" or "South Atlantic" or whatever to describe those waters.
The largest ocean is indeed the Pacific, followed by the Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans (in that order.)
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia article "Ocean". Its list of authors can be found here.
What I learned: The earth actually has 5 oceans, as the Southern Ocean was recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) only as recently as 2000. The name is used to describe the waters surrounding Antarctica. But many still dispute the existence of a 5th ocean, preferring to use "South Pacific" or "South Atlantic" or whatever to describe those waters.
The largest ocean is indeed the Pacific, followed by the Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans (in that order.)
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia article "Ocean". Its list of authors can be found here.
28 January 2006
Amish Rumspringa
Thanks to the reality show "Amish in the City", today I learnt that the Amish people have a rite of passage called "rumspringa" where young adults (in their late teens or so), have an opportunity to experience life outside the strict rules of the Amish. So it's basically a sort of "rebellious" phase where they can explore the world outside (although usually not wandering far from home), and after the experience, they can decide whether they want to be baptized and make a life commitment to the Amish lifestyle, or whether they want to leave their Amish life along with their family and friends, and start a whole new lifestyle. Most Amish teens do get baptized into the church, though.
27 January 2006
The Lindbergh Baby
What I knew: I recognized the name and knew it was a famous mystery. So, pretty much nothing.
What I learned: It was a U.S. case that happened in the 1930s, which explains a lot of my ignorance of it. The son of Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean, and widely regarded as a hero had been kidnapped in 1932.
The kidnapper left no fingerprints but left a note demanding a $50k ransom. A media circus ensued and the public followed the story with great interest. The baby was never seen alive again and his corpse was allegedly found about 2 months later. There hasn't been medical evidence to prove this, though.
Over 2 years later, an illegal German immigrant by the name of Bruno Hauptmann was jailed for the crime, after the marked ransom money was discovered in his garage and it had been found he'd used some of it. Hauptmann pleaded innocent, but was convicted and executed for the crime anyway. He received 2 offers to confess, both of which he declined. The first was $90,000 from a newspaper - the money could've helped his wife and child. The second was a last minute offer to change his sentence to a life sentence instead of an execution.
The main questions still remaining are whether Hauptmann was actually guilty and whether the corpse found was of the Lindbergh baby. There is a lot of evidence to show that the investigation was badly handled, by the authorities and by Charles Lindbergh himself.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from NJ.com: The Lindbergh Trial and the Wikipedia article "Lindbergh kidnapping". Its list of authors can be found here.
What I learned: It was a U.S. case that happened in the 1930s, which explains a lot of my ignorance of it. The son of Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean, and widely regarded as a hero had been kidnapped in 1932.
The kidnapper left no fingerprints but left a note demanding a $50k ransom. A media circus ensued and the public followed the story with great interest. The baby was never seen alive again and his corpse was allegedly found about 2 months later. There hasn't been medical evidence to prove this, though.
Over 2 years later, an illegal German immigrant by the name of Bruno Hauptmann was jailed for the crime, after the marked ransom money was discovered in his garage and it had been found he'd used some of it. Hauptmann pleaded innocent, but was convicted and executed for the crime anyway. He received 2 offers to confess, both of which he declined. The first was $90,000 from a newspaper - the money could've helped his wife and child. The second was a last minute offer to change his sentence to a life sentence instead of an execution.
The main questions still remaining are whether Hauptmann was actually guilty and whether the corpse found was of the Lindbergh baby. There is a lot of evidence to show that the investigation was badly handled, by the authorities and by Charles Lindbergh himself.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from NJ.com: The Lindbergh Trial and the Wikipedia article "Lindbergh kidnapping". Its list of authors can be found here.
26 January 2006
Napoleon and his supposed complex
What (I thought) I knew: Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military leader and had an inferiority complex about his height which led him to overcompensate.
I also recognized the name "the Battle of Waterloo" but didn't really know anything about it.
What I learned: Napoleon's shortness is a myth. He was 5'2 in French feet, which equals about 5'6 to 5'7 in British feet, equivalent to just under 1.7m. He was a bit taller than the average Frenchman around his time. Additionally, he commonly surrounded himself with soldiers including his elite guard who were 6 feet or taller.
He also had a nickname - "le petit caporal" which many non-French people assumed meant he was small, but actually it's more like a term of endearment.
Napoleon's final defeat came at Waterloo in 1815 in Belgium.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia article "Napoleon I of France". The list of authors can be found here.
I also recognized the name "the Battle of Waterloo" but didn't really know anything about it.
What I learned: Napoleon's shortness is a myth. He was 5'2 in French feet, which equals about 5'6 to 5'7 in British feet, equivalent to just under 1.7m. He was a bit taller than the average Frenchman around his time. Additionally, he commonly surrounded himself with soldiers including his elite guard who were 6 feet or taller.
He also had a nickname - "le petit caporal" which many non-French people assumed meant he was small, but actually it's more like a term of endearment.
Napoleon's final defeat came at Waterloo in 1815 in Belgium.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia article "Napoleon I of France". The list of authors can be found here.
25 January 2006
Our calendar year, the Roman calendar and the Julian calendar
What I already knew: In our calendar year, the months January and February were added on later (there used to be 10 months). This is why September, the 9th month has the prefix "Sept" for 7th, and October, the 10th month has the prefix "Oct" for 8th.
I also knew that July was named after Julius Caesar and August was named after Augustus Caesar.
What I learned today: The Roman calendar started out as a lunar calendar with the following 10 months:
However, there were problems with this Roman calendar, (which I didn't really learn about,) and Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46BC, which had 365 days with a leap year every four years. As a result, the year 46BC was 445 days long.
The Romans later renamed Quintilis (originally 5th month), as Iulius (after Julius Caesar) in 44BC and renamed Sextilius (originally the 6th month), as Augustus (after Augustus Caesar) in 8BC.
In 1852, the Julian calendar was modified by Pope Gregory XIII into the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar we use today.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia articles "Roman Calendar" and "Julian Calendar". The list of authors can be found here and here.
I also knew that July was named after Julius Caesar and August was named after Augustus Caesar.
What I learned today: The Roman calendar started out as a lunar calendar with the following 10 months:
- Martius
- Aprili
- Maius
- Junius
- Quintilis
- Sextilis
- September
- October
- November
- December
However, there were problems with this Roman calendar, (which I didn't really learn about,) and Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46BC, which had 365 days with a leap year every four years. As a result, the year 46BC was 445 days long.
The Romans later renamed Quintilis (originally 5th month), as Iulius (after Julius Caesar) in 44BC and renamed Sextilius (originally the 6th month), as Augustus (after Augustus Caesar) in 8BC.
In 1852, the Julian calendar was modified by Pope Gregory XIII into the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar we use today.
This material is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some information from the Wikipedia articles "Roman Calendar" and "Julian Calendar". The list of authors can be found here and here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)