Daily post
On this day in history: 1st December
Quote of the day :
If you can correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.
~ Lao Tzu
Chosen pic of the day :
The picture below made me smile. (It’s a pin from Yvette Cormack in Pinterest)
{ Slow down! }
Chosen youtube of the day :
Jasper Carrott with ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas
On this day…
Born today:
- Actor, comedian and screenwriter, Richard Pryer
- Actor, director and screenwriter, Woody Allen
- Actress and singer, Bette Midler
- Artist and entrepeneur, Madame Marie Tussaud
- Author, Henry Williamson (Tarka the Otter, lovely book)
- Singer, Matt Monro
- Sing and song-writer, Gilbert O’Sullivan
- Vocalist, Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult)
- King, Louis VI of France (1081)
- Japanese warlord, Takeda Shingen (1573)
- German chemist, Martin H Klaproth (born 1743, discovered Uranium, 1789)*
*(I won’t throw fire on the oil of rumoured uranium mines in Libya and elsewhere that are at least 8,000 years old, nor the claim Oppenheimer believed the first nuke was recorded in the Indian epic of Mahabharatha, nor the ‘evidence’ that shows some ancient or alien race detonated a thermonuclear device around 48,000 b.c in the area that would later become Bombay). However, if you are curious, at least about the Indian epic part of it, you can get it for free on Kindle: Maha-bharata The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse
Also on this day in history
100 years ago today Henry Ford’s first automobile assembly line begins production, reducing the time it takes to build a car from 10 hours to two. (2:38 I read elsewhere). Go back another 50 odd years to 1862 and 151 years ago President Abraham Lincoln gives his State of the Union address to Congress. (cite: Biography.com)
1868 saw the opening of London’s Smithfield meat market.
23 years ago the wall fell down. No, not the Berlin wall, that was a year earlier (Nov 9th, 1989), this was the one separating France and Britain. It December 1st, 1990 that the two sides of the Channel Tunnel merged.
Bibliophiles might be more interested in the year 1835, when Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales. Or perhaps more likely, 1887, when the first Sherlock Holmes story appeared in print: "Study in Scarlet"
You may well be wondering about, watching or downloading your favourite movies to your phone, but a century back the choice wasn’t quite so wide for venues. According to Historyorb, the world’s first cinema only opened up in 1906, and you had to travel to the Cinema Omnia Pathe in Paris for the December 1st premiere.
Taking to the air, 1921 saw the first helium-filled dirigible make its maiden flight, while just a year later, still stateside, the RAF’s Captain Turner made a little aviation history, introducing skywriting to the world. If you are curious, he wrote, "Hello USA".
Bingo was invented today too, by Edwin S. Lowe.
Tom Mix, number 6
House! I wonder when the number of nicknames actually started. And where, for that matter. Skegness, Blackpool? Rhyl? Probably Scarborough and Whitby.
In tech, in 1936, Bell Labs tested coaxial cable for TV use. Starting which science, today, but in 1959, saw 1959 both the first color photograph of Earth from outer space and the 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica.
Trending at this moment:
In Yahoo it’s a selection of celebrities, most of whom I’ve never heard of, broadband deals for some strange reason and, at least appropriate enough, Christmas jumpers. You know the type, reindeers, snowmen, I <3 Santa and generally worn by people who know what they look like and don’t care, or think they like smart and don’t care. I have a strong urge to Google for images of celebs in tacky sweaters! Yep, goes with the territory I guess, they don’t disappoint, though many I saw were neutral enough for most tastes.
Across Google, in the US, like everywhere else is the death of actor Paul Walker, a train derailment and – way ahead of these, of tech companies and their offerings like the iPad Air is how badly football team, the Patriots played today.
Twitter users meanwhile are more interested in #FictionalCharactersIWantToMarry.
Feature image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay
(Font used: Victorian LET)