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Message 893203 - Posted: 9 May 2009, 22:51:36 UTC - in response to Message 892949.  

To give you an idea of how much gas a cow emits: if the gas of 10 cows could be captured, it would provide heating for a small house for a year.

But unlike what you think, cows release hydrocarbon mostly by burping.


Ok, but...no one would want to live in that house anyway... LOL

I really enjoyed these "cow" facts! (Yeah, yeah, I'll admit it...I need waaaaaay more sleep!!)


Yep - a few years back I read somewhere that they sampled atmosphere and found significant gasses being produced by Ruminant Flatulations arising from Rural Areas I wondered if they ever took a sample of the air over Capitol Hill.


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Message 893377 - Posted: 10 May 2009, 15:19:59 UTC
Last modified: 10 May 2009, 15:21:39 UTC

The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis as a day for each family to honor its mother, and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

This holiday is relatively modern, being created at the start of the 20th century, and should not be confused with the early pagan and Christian traditions honoring mothers, or with the 16th century celebration of Mothering Sunday, which is also known as Mother's Day in the UK.

In most countries the Mother's Day celebration is a recent holiday derived from the original US celebration. Exceptions are, for example, the Mothering Sunday holiday in the UK.

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.

One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March.

The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In addition to Mother's Day, International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries on March 8.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY



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Message 893383 - Posted: 10 May 2009, 15:38:43 UTC - in response to Message 893203.  

To give you an idea of how much gas a cow emits: if the gas of 10 cows could be captured, it would provide heating for a small house for a year.

But unlike what you think, cows release hydrocarbon mostly by burping.


Ok, but...no one would want to live in that house anyway... LOL

I really enjoyed these "cow" facts! (Yeah, yeah, I'll admit it...I need waaaaaay more sleep!!)


Yep - a few years back I read somewhere that they sampled atmosphere and found significant gasses being produced by Ruminant Flatulations arising from Rural Areas I wondered if they ever took a sample of the air over Capitol Hill.

I understand they tried, but the probe melted before they could get a reading.
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Message 893442 - Posted: 10 May 2009, 17:09:31 UTC

Hamilton-Burr duel

The guy on the US ten-dollar bill is, of course, Alexander Hamilton and he was killed in a duel by Vice President Aaron Burr.

Hamilton was a revolutionary war hero and leading architect of the new American government. He co-authored the Federalist Papers, considered one of the most important contributions to American political thought. As Washington's right-hand man and the first US Secretary of the Treasury, he formulated an economic policy that got the then-new nation on its feet.

Aaron Burr was a colonel in the Continental Army and briefly served - as Hamilton did - with Washington at Valley Forge. In the election of 1800, he was in a deadlock with Thomas Jefferson for the presidency, with 73 votes each. The election went to the House of Representatives to be decided. There Federalist votes kept the election deadlocked until the 36th ballot, when Hamilton's influence gave the presidency to Jefferson. Burr, a Republican, became vice president.

Many at the time thought that the political mudslinging of Burr by Hamilton may have cost him the election. The animosity between the two men would continue until July 1804 when Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, and as was customary, was accepted.

The fateful day came on July 11, 1804 at Weehawken, New Jersey. Vice President Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton faced off, and Hamilton was mortally wounded. He was dragged from the duelling area and died the next day. While the nation mourned, Burr returned to complete his term as vice president but his success in the duel proved to be to his detriment. There was some talk of murder charges being brought against him, but as the rules of the duel were followed, no indictment was carried forward. He would later go on to be charged for treason for his ill-fated attempt to establish his own empire in the South.

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) served as US Vice President from 1801-05. He disliked Hamilton, accusing him of competing for political positions and the favours of married women in New York's high society.

Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr. Hamilton disliked Burr because the orphan Burr came from a relatively privileged background while he was the unacknowledged illegitimate son of a Jamaican planter


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Message 893631 - Posted: 11 May 2009, 12:21:01 UTC


The majority of the USS Arizona's crew went down with the ship; however, 337 crew members survived. Today, interments for deceased USS Arizona survivors are conducted on the ship. Over 25 interments have been conducted on the USS Arizona.

The blast that destroyed ARIZONA and sank her at her berth alongside of Ford Island consumed the lives of 1,177 of the 1,400 on board at the time - over half of the casualties suffered by the entire fleet on the "Day of Infamy."

A total of seven bombs hit the ARIZONA from her bow to stern.

The cost of raising the ARIZONA was estimated at more that $2,000,000. The decision was then made to let the battleship remain as a grave for her crew members. During a solemn cermony in March 1950, the Stars and Stripe were raised again over the ARIZONA. Every morning at 8:00 a detail goes out to the ARIZONA to raise the colors. Every evening at sunset, it returns to lower them, like on any commissioned ship in the Navy. However, contrary to popular belief, the USS ARIZONA is no longer in commission

Ships entering Pearl Harbor usually pass the ARIZONA. The officer of the deck calls the crew to attention and all hands salute the 900+ dead still at their battle stations on the sunken ARIZONA.


http://www.ussarizona.org/print-docs/print-history.html
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Message 894678 - Posted: 14 May 2009, 18:55:31 UTC

Cough Droplets Carry Thousands of Viruses

When mother said to cover your mouth when you cough, she was right. Researchers claim that as many as 20,000 viruses are expelled in an average cough. With the H1N1 virus spreading quickly throughout the world, airborne transmission of the influenza virus is a matter of increasing concern. An estimated 3,000 tiny droplets carrying between 195 and 19,500 influenza viruses are produced in a single cough and remain suspended in the air long enough to infect others. Wearing a mask or simply covering the mouth with a hand or tissue when coughing creates a barrier that helps prevent the dissemination of these viruses

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Message 894945 - Posted: 15 May 2009, 14:34:50 UTC

Bank of America started as Bank of Italy

Amedeo Giannini, son of Italian immigrants to the US, started the Bank of America in a converted saloon in San Francisco at 9 am on Monday, 17 October 1904. On the first day, 28 deposits totalled $8,780.

When an earthquake struck in 1907, he ran his bank from a plank in the street. Word quickly spread about his service and by 1916 he had several branches. By 1929, the bank was strong enough to withstand the Great Depression stock crash. Giannini changed the name to Bank of America in 1928 and remained chairman until 1963.

The Bank of Italy in Italy was created in 1893 through the merger of 3 of the 6 banks at the time: Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia and 2 Tuscan banks.

The Bank of England was founded by William Patterson after King William III of England found himself badly in need of funds to fight a war with France in 1694. Patterson provided the funds after the king agreed to order all the goldsmiths of London to stop issuing receipts as depositories for precious metals, forcing merchants to store their gold with the new bank. The Bank of England was finally authorised in 1946.

The Reichsbank of Germany was founded by Meyer Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812), who appointed his son Karl over the Bank of Naples, and his son Salomon over the Bank of Vienna. Later, his son Edmund presided over the Bank of Germany,and his son Nathan over the Bank of England.

By the time of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) there were 1600 banks in the US, issuing about 7,000 different kinds of bank notes.

In 1861, the US Congress authorised "promissory notes," calling them "greenbacks" to contrast in colour with notes issued by private banks. The US Treasury held the impressive sum of $346,681,016.



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Message 895428 - Posted: 16 May 2009, 14:37:34 UTC

The word "dollar" has its origins in the Roman Empire

A mining hole in the mountains of Bohemia produced so much silver it became the official source of coinage for the entire Holy Roman Empire. The mine was in a valley called Joachimsthal, and the coins came to have the same name: "Joachimstalers." Over time this became shortened to "Talers" and over more time, the American pronunciation of the word became the name for the currency that you would like to have in your pocket.

The $ 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

If you stack one million US$1 bills, it would be 110m (361 ft) high and weight exactly 1 ton. A million dollars' worth of $100 bills weighs only 10 kg (22 lb). One million dollars' worth of once-cent coins (100 million coins) weigh 246 tons.


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Message 895477 - Posted: 16 May 2009, 17:11:16 UTC - in response to Message 895428.  

The word "dollar" has its origins in the Roman Empire

A mining hole in the mountains of Bohemia produced so much silver it became the official source of coinage for the entire Holy Roman Empire. The mine was in a valley called Joachimsthal, and the coins came to have the same name: "Joachimstalers." Over time this became shortened to "Talers" and over more time, the American pronunciation of the word became the name for the currency that you would like to have in your pocket.

The $ 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

If you stack one million US$1 bills, it would be 110m (361 ft) high and weight exactly 1 ton. A million dollars' worth of $100 bills weighs only 10 kg (22 lb). One million dollars' worth of once-cent coins (100 million coins) weigh 246 tons.

That last bit, Is what I call heavy spending. ;)
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 895500 - Posted: 16 May 2009, 18:09:29 UTC - in response to Message 895477.  

The word "dollar" has its origins in the Roman Empire

A mining hole in the mountains of Bohemia produced so much silver it became the official source of coinage for the entire Holy Roman Empire. The mine was in a valley called Joachimsthal, and the coins came to have the same name: "Joachimstalers." Over time this became shortened to "Talers" and over more time, the American pronunciation of the word became the name for the currency that you would like to have in your pocket.

The $ 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

If you stack one million US$1 bills, it would be 110m (361 ft) high and weight exactly 1 ton. A million dollars' worth of $100 bills weighs only 10 kg (22 lb). One million dollars' worth of once-cent coins (100 million coins) weigh 246 tons.

That last bit, Is what I call heavy spending. ;)


I agree whole heartedly :o)

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Message 896428 - Posted: 18 May 2009, 14:37:14 UTC

Pittsburgh Firsts Part II

First Pull-Tab on Cans - 1962
The pull-tab was developed by Alcoa and was first used by Iron City Brewery in 1962. For many years, pull-tabs were only used in this area.

First Retractable Dome - September 1961
Pittsburgh's Civic Arena boasts the world's first auditorium with a retractable roof.

First U.S. Public Television Station - April 1, 1954
WQED, operated by the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Educational Station, was the first community-sponsored educational television station in America.

First Polio Vaccine - March 26, 1953
The polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas E. Salk, a 38-year-old University of Pittsburgh researcher and professor.

First All-Aluminum Building - ALCOA - August 1953
The first aluminum-faced skyscraper was the Alcoa Building, a 30-story, 410 foot structure with thin stamped aluminum panels forming the exterior walls.

First Zippo Lighter - 1932
George G. Blaisdell invented the Zippo lighter in 1932 in Bradford, Pennsylvania. The name Zippo was chosen by Blaisdell because he liked the sound of the word "zipper" - which was patented around the same time in nearby Meadville, PA.

First Bingo Game - early 1920's
Hugh J. Ward first came up with the concept of bingo in Pittsburgh and began running the game at carnivals in the early 1920s, taking it nationwide in 1924. He secured a copyright on the game and wrote a book of Bingo rules in 1933.

First U.S. Commercial Radio Station - November 2, 1920
Dr. Frank Conrad, assistant chief engineer of Westinghouse Electric, first constructed a transmitter and installed it in a garage near his home in Wilkinsburg in 1916. The station was licensed as 8XK. At 6 p.m. on Nov. 2, 1920, 8KX became KDKA Radio and began broadcasting at 100 watts from a make-shift shack atop one of the Westinghouse manufacturing buildings in East Pittsburgh.

Daylight Savings Time - March 18, 1919
A Pittsburgh city councilman during the first World War, Robert Garland devised the nation's first daylight savings plan, instituted in 1918.

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Message 897359 - Posted: 20 May 2009, 19:11:14 UTC

Can openers invented 48 years after cans

Cans were opened with a hammer and chisel before the advent of can openers. The tin cannister, or can, was invented in 1810 by a Londoner, Peter Durand. The year before, French confectioner, Nicolas Appert, had introduced the method of canning food (as it became known) by sealing the food tightly inside a glass bottle or jar and then heating it. He could not explain why the food stayed fresh but his bright idea won him the 12,000-francs prize that Napoleon offered in 1795 for preserving food. Durand supplied the Royal Navy with canned heat-preserved food while Appert would help Napoleon's army march on its stomach.

Tin canning was not widely adopted until 1846, when a method was invented to increase can production from 6 in an hour to 60. Still, there were no can openers yet and the products labels would read: "cut around on the top near to outer edge with a chisel and hammer."

The can opener was invented in 1858 by American Ezra Warnet. There also is a claim that Englishman Robert Yeates invented the can opener in 1855. But the can opener did not become popular until, ten years later, it was given away for free with canned beef.

The well-known wheel-style opener was invented in 1925. Beer in a can was launched in 1935. The easy-open can lid was invented by Ermal Cleon Fraze in 1959.

Since 1972, some 64 million tons of aluminum cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times. Still, cans represent less than 1% of solid waste material - about one quarter of all cans are recycled. Worldwide, some 9 million cans are recycled every hour. Which is good news, considering that it takes a can about 200 years to degrade if you bury it. It takes paper about a month to bio-degrade, a woolen sock about a year, and plastic hundreds of years.

Recycling cans saves 95% of the energy required to make aluminum from ore, or the equivalent of 18 million barrels of oil, or 10.8 billion kilowatt hours.

Used aluminum cans that are recycled return to store shelves within 60 days.

Canned petfood was introduced by James Spratt in 1865.
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Message 897414 - Posted: 20 May 2009, 21:05:38 UTC



A recent survey done by marriage experts shows

that the most common form of marriage proposal

these days consists of the words: "You're what?!?"



BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .
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Message 898028 - Posted: 22 May 2009, 2:41:02 UTC - in response to Message 897414.  



A recent survey done by marriage experts shows

that the most common form of marriage proposal

these days consists of the words: "You're what?!?"




LOLOLOL

Good One!!

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Message 898220 - Posted: 22 May 2009, 14:29:50 UTC

Welcome to the new millennium

At 00h00 1 January 2000 UT the sun rose along a line that runs from about 650km (404 miles) east of Kerguelen Island in the Indian Ocean to about 640km (398 miles) east of Amsterdam Island, through the Nicobar Islands, up along the Burma-Thailand border, through China, along the China-Outer Mongolia border, along the China-Russia border, through Siberia and out into the Arctic Ocean just north of the Poluostrov peninsula. At this time of the year, earth is tilted so that the North Pole is continually in darkness and Antarctica is almost continually in daylight.

It was also determined at the Washington Prime Meridian conference in 1884 that the International Date Line be drawn at 180 degrees - 12 hours ahead of GMT. So, when the new millennium was welcomed at midnight in Greenwich, England, many other nations were already dancing away well into the third millennium.

The first millennium consisted of 365,250 days. The second millennium of 365,237 days. The third millennium will consist of 365,242 days.

AD is short for Anno Domini, or "Year of our Lord," as proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church. Some non-Christians prefer the alternative designation "CE" for "Common Era."

The word "millennium" was first used in the 17th Century.

The International Date Line detours eastward through the Bering Strait to avoid dividing Siberia and then deviates around the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and some of New Zealand to follow the time zone boundaries of those places.



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Message 898766 - Posted: 23 May 2009, 21:05:40 UTC
Last modified: 23 May 2009, 21:07:57 UTC

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.


Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.


She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.


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Message 899039 - Posted: 24 May 2009, 17:51:45 UTC - in response to Message 892480.  

The Space Shuttle always rolls over after launch to alleviate structural loading, allowing the shuttle to carry more mass into orbit.

That roll also puts it on the proper trajectory for orbital insertion.


One:

As we explained in two earlier questions about max q, or maximum dynamic pressure, the Shuttle reaches a point about one minute after launch when the pressure force of the atmosphere rushing past the rapidly accelerating rocket reaches a peak. The roll maneuver is performed shortly before max q is reached because this "heads-down" orientation helps alleviate the stresses that the dynamic pressure loads cause on the vehicle's structure.

The second factor we need to consider is that for each mission, the Shuttle must launch at a certain azimuth angle in order to be inserted into the correct orbital plane. Since the launch pad (and therefore the Shuttle) sits in a fixed position, the Shuttle must perform a roll maneuver during ascent in order to orient itself to achieve the desired launch azimuth angle. If it were possible to rotate the launch pad prior to launch, the pad could simply be rotated to accomodate the launch azimuth angle, and the Shuttle could launch into a heads-down orientation while gradually pitching over during ascent.

Finally, the Shuttle orbits such that its cargo bay faces towards the Earth. The heads-down position assists in communications with the ground and allows instruments within the cargo bay to be pointed back towards Earth, which is required for many of the experiments carried within the bay. There is probably also some psychological benefit to the crew since they are given spectacular views of home rather than staring into the cold darkness of the great void of space.


Two:

radio frequency communication between the antennas on the Shuttle and the ground is better when the signals do not have to pass through the external tank, as they would if the Shuttle were on top.

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Message 899387 - Posted: 25 May 2009, 16:57:54 UTC
Last modified: 25 May 2009, 17:00:38 UTC

"Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God"
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier form of memorial to a nation's war dead, adopted by many countries after World War I. The Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial to the American dead of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, is in Arlington National Cemetery , just outside Washington, D.C. On Nov. 11, 1921, an unidentified soldier who had been killed in France was buried there in a temporary crypt over which a marble slab was placed; the completed tomb, a sarcophagus of Colorado marble placed on the original base, was dedicated as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Nov. 11, 1932. On Memorial Day, 1958, the bodies of two other unknown soldiers—one of whom had died in World War II, the other during the Korean War—were buried in the tomb, which was renamed the Tomb of the Unknowns. Remains of an unknown soldier from the Vietnam War were interred here in 1984, but later investigations revealed the soldier's identity, and they were removed. Deciding that scientific advances, including DNA tests (see DNA fingerprinting ), had made Vietnam War or future unknowns unlikely, the Pentagon announced (1999) that no new remains would be placed in the memorial.

The best known of other such memorials are those in Westminster Abbey in London and under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Similar tombs are in Baghdad, Russia, and elsewhere.

How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?
...21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his
return walk and why?
...21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

Why are his gloves wet?
...His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?
...He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

How often are the guards changed?
...Guards are changed every thirty minutes in the summer and every hour in the winter. When the cemetery is closed, the guard is changed every 2 hours. The tomb has been guarded every minute of the day since 1930.

How many Sentinels have been female?
...There have been three female Sentinels and 1 female Platoon leader.

**In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington , DC , our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson.



"Tomb of the Unknown Soldier." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2009 http://www.encyclopedia.com.
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Message 900032 - Posted: 27 May 2009, 14:20:34 UTC

Until the mid-1980s it was usually accepted that ice hockey was derived from English field hockey and Indian lacrosse and was spread throughout Canada by British soldiers in the mid-1800s. Research then turned up a mention of a hockey very similar to hockey, played in the early 1800s in Nova Scotia by the Micmac Indians, it appeared to have been mainly influenced by the Irish game of hurling; it included the use of a "hurley" (stick) and a square wooden block instead of a ball.

It was most likely that this game then spread throughout Canada via Scottish and Irish immigrants and the British army. The players adopted elements of field hockey, such as the "bully" (later the face-off) and "shinning" (hitting your opponent on the shins with the stick or playing with the stick on one "shin" or side); this later evolved into an informal ice game later known as shinny or shinty. The name hockey--as the organized game came to be known--has been attributed to the French word hoquet (shepherd's stick).

The term rink, referring to the playing area, was originally used in the game of curling in 18th-century Scotland. Early hockey games allowed as many as thirty players a side on the ice at any one time, and the goals were two stones, each frozen into one end of the ice. The first use of a puck instead of a ball was recorded at Kingston Harbour, Ont., in 1860

Rules were set by students at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, in 1879, and several amateur clubs and leagues were established in Canada by the late 1880´s. The game is believed to have been 1st played in the United States in 1893. By the beginning of the twentieth century the sport had spread to the UK and other parts of Europe. The modern game developed in Canada, and is now very popular in the USA and Eastern Europe.

The National Hockey League [NHL] is the most important league in the world; it comprises teams from the USA and Canada, but for many years almost all NHL players were Canadians. The winning team of this competition is awarded the Stanley Cup trophy. Ice Hockey was added to the Olympic Games in 1920, being one of the most popular events at the Winter Olympics.



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Message 901573 - Posted: 30 May 2009, 16:39:59 UTC

Pittsburgh First - Part III

The First Gas Station - December, 1913
In 1913 the first automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Company, opened in Pittsburgh at Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in East Liberty. Designed by J. H. Giesey.

The First Baseball Stadium in the U.S. - 1909
In 1909 the first baseball stadium, Forbes Field, was built in Pittsburgh, followed soon by similar stadiums in Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and New York.

First Motion Picture Theatre - 1905
The first theater in the world devoted to the exhibition of motion pictures was the "Nickelodeon," opened by Harry Davis on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh.

First Banana Split - 1904
Invented by Dr. David Strickler, a pharmacist, at Strickler's Drug Store in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The First World Series - 1903
The Boston Pilgrims defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to three in baseball's first modern World Series in 1903.

First Ferris Wheel - 1892/1893
Invented by Pittsburgh native and civil engineer, George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-1896), the first Ferris Wheel was in operation at the World's Fair in Chicago. It was over 264 feet high and was capable of carrying more than 2,000 passengers at a time.

Long-Distance Electricity - 1885
Westinghouse Electric developed alternating current, allowing long-distance transmission of electricity for the first time.

First Air Brake - 1869
The first practical air brake for railroads was invented by George Westinghouse in the 1860s and patented in 1869.

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