Darwin Day - February 12, 2020

DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Darwin Day

We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

Charles Darwin

There was a pivotal moment in history when we began to look at ourselves, and at life, in a new way. It changed not just how we perceived ourselves, but how we were related to all the other life and species on Earth. We came to realize, along the way, that we were kin, however distant, of every lifeform on Earth, and that moment was both aggrandizing and humbling, all at once. That moment was when Charles Darwin brought the idea of Law of Natural Selection into the limelight of the scientific world, and we began to see with clear eyes how everything, absolutely everything, was connected.

History of Darwin Day

Darwin was absolutely fundamental to the understanding of life and the species of the world as we know it today. Charles Robert Darwin was born in 1809, and grew to become a naturalist and geologist who would come to change the world. He was fascinated by the number and variety of fossils from around the world, and the species in their great diversity, and so set out on a five-year voyage on the Beagle to sail around the world to study life in all its forms.

While his theories were originally rejected by the science of his day, it came to be seen as incontrovertible fact as more and more data was collected and more species were discovered. DNA research pushed it even further, as we started to see the connections between species in the very genes that composed them. It was impossible not to see that some species originated from other species, and that even man itself had a shared ancestor with the primates. Science would never be the same.

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

“The Year is 1919” 

Just one hundred years ago !!! 

What a difference a century makes!

Fuel for cars was sold in drug stores only.

Joke of the Day

MIX ALCOHOL & AMERICAN LITERATURE

What do you call it when you mix alcohol and American Literature?

Tequila Mockingbird.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Word of the Day

cockloft

Cockloft in red

MEANING:

noun: A small loft just below the roof.

ETYMOLOGY:

From cock (rooster), from Old English cocc, of imitative origin + Old English loft (sky). Apparently roosters love to roost up high and this is the highest place, indoors, in the house. Earliest documented use: 1580.

USAGE:

“There’s also ... stairs leading to the cockloft, which has twin beds.”
Liz Bird; The 30 Cosiest Cottages in Britain; The Times (London, UK); Nov 28, 2015.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

Idiom of the Day

SEE EYE TO EYE

To agree with someone
We don’t see eye to eye when it comes to politics, but I do like her as a person.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

This Day in History

1733 - Savannah, GA, was founded by English colonist James Oglethorpe.

1878 - Frederick W. Thayer patented the baseball catcher’s mask.


1892 - In the U.S., President Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a national holiday.


1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.

1918 - All theatres in New York City were shut down in an effort to conserve coal.


1924 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential political speech on radio.


1924 - "The Eveready Hour" became radio’s first sponsored network program. The National Carbon Company was the first sponsor of a network show.


1961 - The Miracles' "Shop Around" became Motown's first million-selling single.


1968 - Jimi Hendrix returned home to Seattle where he received a key to the city and an honorary high school diploma. He also played for the students of Garfield High School from which he had dropped out.


1971 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney died at the age of 95. The company closed for business for one-half day as a memorial to the company's founder.


1985 - Johnny Carson surprised his audience by shaving the beard he had been wearing on "The Tonight Show."

1997 - David Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


2001 - The space probe NEAR landed on the asteroid Eros. It was the first time that any craft had landed on a small space rock.


2004 - Mattel announced that "Barbie" and "Ken" were breaking up. The dolls had met on the set of their first television commercial together in 1961.



DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, February 12

You are a strong-minded person who is not always tactful, even though you are gifted with expression, but generally very straightforward. You love a good competition, particularly on a mental level. Success is important to you, and you usually achieve what you set out to do. Impatience can be a problem that you gradually manage better as you mature in life. Your visual memory is excellent and artistic taste quite refined. Famous people born today:

1663 Cotton Mather, American Puritan minister (Salem witchcraft trials), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1728)

1809 Abraham Lincoln, American politician (R) 16th President (1861-65), born in Hardin County, Kentucky (d. 1865)

1809 Charles Darwin, English naturalist (Origin of the Species) conceived the theory of evolution by natural selection, born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (d. 1882)

1934 Bill Russell, American basketball star (Boston Celtics, Olympic-gold 1956), born in West Monroe, Louisiana

thanks, Amy

READERS INFO

1.

(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:

Fleas can leap up to about 130 times their own height.

The average person spends 3 months of his/her lifetime sitting on the toilet!

The bark of Redwood Trees can be up to 2 ft. thick?

2.

1809 -

(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)

Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer and politician. He served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April. Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the government, and modernized the economy. 

 

On May 18, 1860,  Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

3.

Savannah Book Festival 2020

Feb 13 - 16, 2020 | Savannah, GA

As an avid reader of imaginative novels and attention-seeking Facebook statuses, you'll find many benefits of attending the Savannah Book Festival. A book worm like yourself will joyfully wiggle its way into a magical world of bestselling works, celebrity author appearances and the sweet smell produced from turning pages. Dab your finger with a lick of saliva, turn the page over and see a wealth of new content waiting to be discovered in Savannah, Georgia.

further information: 2020 Savannah Book Festival

4.

Search for Meaning Book Festival 2020

Feb 24, 2020 | Seattle, WA

Seattle University|901 12th Avenue

Attracting some of the finest authors from around the world, the Search for Meaning Book Festival is host to a who’s who of the contemporary literary world. The festival features numerous best-selling authors whose works encompass a diverse range of styles and genres including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Held as an annual daylong event, the festival provides guests with the opportunity to attend keynote speeches and book signings and interact with the participating authors.

further information: Search for Meaning Festival

5.

Riverside Dickens Festival 2020

Feb 22 - 23, 2020 | Riverside, CA

Main Street between University Avenue and 11th Street|Main St & University Ave

David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol are just some examples of Charles Dickens' literary genius that you may remember hearing about. Here's your chance to celebrate the English author's significant impact on literature with a smashing cup of tea, steampunk sports and an afternoon with the late wordsmith's entertaining impersonator. Should your nose start itching for not being buried in a book, you can join the book discussion group to examine his innate gift for storytelling.

further information: Riverside Dickens Festival

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower .

Pictures of the day

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to more than 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in U.S. history. Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared millions of slaves free in 1863, King said "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free". Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. This photograph, taken by Rowland Scherman, features King and fellow civil rights activist Mathew Ahmann (with glasses) among a crowd of other protestors during the March on Washington.

TV SCHOOL

A couple watches a television literacy program. This photo is part of a series on the impact that media has on the lives of people in rural Brazil.

The average US wage in 1919 was 22 cents per hour.

knit
thanks, Sheri 

Bizcocho

knit
thanks, Violet

Exploring Waves pattern by Laurie Lee

knit

Sweater

knit

Snowstorm Poncho from Hobbii

knit

Wasabi Hat pattern by Linda Irving-Bell

The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

Crochet Pattern of the Day: 

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Mindfulness Shawl

Woven Beanie

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year.

crochet ... Valentine's Day
thanks, Adele

FEBRUARY HEARTS BAG

crochet
thanks, Doris

Soft Dice

crochet

Woolly Waves Sweater

crochet

Criss Cross Hat

crochet

Woodstock

A dentist earned $2,500 per year.

RECIPE

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

Grilled Broccoli With Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and Balsamic Vinegar Recipe

A veterinarian between $1,500 and 4,000 per year.

CROCKPOT RECIPE
thanks, Cora

Slow-Cooker Pizza

And, a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

SWEETS

thanks, Gloria

Learn How to Make Brown Sugar in Minutes

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.

ADULT COLORING

Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE DUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."

CRAFTS ... Valentine's Day

thanks, Hazel

DIY Valentine Treat Bags

More than 95 percent of all births took place at home

CHILDREN'S CORNER ... Valentine's Day

thanks, Sonja

Secret Message Valentine

The American flag had 45 stars .. 

PUZZLE

Pebble Heart Jigsaw Puzzle

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada was only 30. 

WORD SEARCH

administrate ahead ambition angle ballot boredom bound

catch choice credit deliver digital domicile efficient enemy

flood gondola hotel images kneel

lean opposite pioneer pixel predictable purse

remain rode scout shell teal trade trauma understand

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at local corner drugstores.  Back then pharmacists said, "heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach, bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health!" 

SUDOKU ... very hard

solution:

The Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4 Heart disease

5. Stroke

QUOTE

thanks, Helen

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Sugar cost four cents a pound.
CLEVER 

thanks, Mia

This simple site has emails ready to copy, paste, and send for different scenarios, like rescheduling an appointment or staying home sick from work. Recommended is that you dont use a breakup template though. ;-)

Canned Emails - a minimal site with prewritten emails.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, And, used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

EYE OPENER 

thanks, Ella

These Royal Fashion Hacks Used By Meghan, Kate, and Diana Are Truly So Genius

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. -Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (12 Feb 1809-1882)

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was neither a Mother's Day nor a Father's Day. 

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and, only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

It is impossible to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

OPTICAL ILLUSION

A series of slits moving rapidly past your eye allows you to see images in short bursts.

Such rapid but fragmented views of moving objects can make the objects appear to jerk along, change speed, or even move backward.