Emancipation Day

Emancipation Day is celebrated in many former British colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates in observation of the emancipation of slaves of African origin. It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of servitude.

The municipality of Washington, D.C., celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 enslaved persons in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation.

Other geographies celebrate different days as the Emancipation day. For eg.:

• Carribean – August 1
• Florida – May 20
• Texas – June 19
• British Virgin Islands – First Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of August

The sinking of Titanic

We’ve all heard about it, we’ve all seen it (in the movie). And hence I remember Apr 14 as the day when Titanic sank. But then why is it such a big deal? Simply because it was supposed to be an “Unsinkable ship” and it sank in its first journey. . One of the other things that makes the Titanic so fascinating is that she represented the best of technology when she set sail on her ill-fated voyage in 1912, and it took the best of technology in the form of sonar, satellite tracking, and deep-dive technology to locate her grave 73 years later. Here’s the story.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic, largest ship afloat, left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City. The White Star Line had spared no expense in assuring her luxury. A legend even before she sailed, her passengers were a mixture of the world’s wealthiest basking in the elegance of first class accommodations and immigrants packed into steerage.

The Washington Post announces the disaster

She was touted as the safest ship ever built, so safe that she carried only 20 lifeboats – enough to provide accommodation for only half her 2,200 passengers and crew. This discrepancy rested on the belief that since the ship’s construction made her “unsinkable,” her lifeboats were necessary only to rescue survivors of other sinking ships. Additionally, lifeboats took up valuable deck space.

Four days into her journey, at 11:40 P.M. on the night of April 14, she struck an iceberg. Her fireman compared the sound of the impact to “the tearing of calico, nothing more.” However, the collision was fatal and the icy water soon poured through the ship.

It became obvious that many would not find safety in a lifeboat. Each passenger was issued a life jacket but life expectancy would be short when exposed to water four degrees below freezing. As the forward portion of the ship sank deeper, passengers scrambled to the stern. John Thayer witnessed the sinking from a lifeboat. “We could see groups of the almost fifteen hundred people still aboard, clinging in clusters or bunches, like swarming bees; only to fall in masses, pairs or singly, as the great after part of the ship, two hundred and fifty feet of it, rose into the sky, till it reached a sixty-five or seventy degree angle.” The great ship slowly slid beneath the waters two hours and forty minutes after the collision

The next morning, the liner Carpathia rescued 705 survivors. One thousand five hundred twenty-two passengers and crew were lost. Subsequent inquiries attributed the high loss of life to an insufficient number of lifeboats and inadequate training in their use.

The remains of the Titanic were found in 1985 by Dr. Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and marine biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When he located the Titanic, he saw that, as some survivors reported, the ship had broken apart. He believed the weight of the water-filled bow raised the stern out of the water and snapped the ship in two just before it sank. Debris falling out of the ship was strewn over a 1/2 mile across the sea floor. The bow and the stern were found nearly 2000ft. apart.

Keeping her location a secret, Bob Ballard used GPS to find theTitanic again when he returned the next year. He hoped to prevent treasure seekers from finding her and plundering the ship for booty such as coffee cups inscribed with RMS Titanic. On this second expedition, he visited the ship several times by submarine. On his last descent, he left a plaque honoring the 1500 victims and asking that subsequent explorers leave their grave undisturbed.

Australopithecus sediba

In what could rewrite the story of human origins, palaeontologists have discovered two ancient skeletons in South Africa, which they claim suggest that true humans may have emerged later than previously believed.

An international team, led by Lee Berger of University of Witwatersrand, has spotted the 1.9 million-year-old fossils of the two skeletons — possibly from a mother and son, having human and ape-like traits — in a South African cave.

It is suggested that this species, called Australopithecus sediba, may be a transitional species between the southern African Australopithecus africanusand either Homo habilis or even the later Homo erectus (Turkana boy, Java man, Peking man). The species has long arms, like an ape, short powerful hands, a very derived, Homo-like pelvis and long legs and was capable of striding and possibly running like a human, although the femur and tibia are fragmentary and the foot is more primitive.

Read the full article here.

Antikythera Wreck

The Antikythera wreck is a shipwreck that was discovered by sponge divers off the coast of the Greek island, Antikythera.

In October 1900, a team of sponge divers led by Captain Dimitrios Kondos had decided to wait out a severe storm hampering their sail back from Africa on the island of Antikythera, and they began diving for sponges off the island’s coastline. In 1900, divers usually wore standard diving dresses — canvas suits and copper helmets — which allowed them to dive deeper and to stay submerged longer.

The first to lay eyes on the shipwreck 60 metres down was Elias Stadiatos, who quickly signaled to be pulled to the surface. He described the scene as a heap of rotting corpses and horses lying on the sea bed. Thinking the diver had gone mad from too much carbon dioxide in his helmet, Kondos himself dove into the water, soon returning with a bronze arm of a statue. Until they could safely leave the island, the divers dislodged as many small artifacts as they could carry.

Another artifact that came out from the Antikythera Wreck is the Antikythera mechanism which is an ancient mathematical calculator to determine astronomical situations.It was recovered in 1900–01 from the Antikythera wreck, but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe.

The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and for the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 18th century clocks. It has over 30 gears, although some other believe there were as many as 72 gears, with teeth formed through equilateral triangles. When a date was entered via a crank (now lost), the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon, or other astronomical information such as the location of other planets. Since the purpose was to position astronomical bodies with respect to the celestial sphere, with reference to the observer’s position on the surface of the Earth, the device was based on the geocentric model.

You can see how the device works on youtube.

Gregorian Calendar vs. Julian Calendar

The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and came into force in 45 BC. It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day is added to February every four years. Hence the Julian year is on average 365.25 days long.

The Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582. The reformed calendar was adopted later that year by a handful of countries, with other countries adopting it over the following centuries.

The Gregorian calendar reform contained two parts, a reform of the Julian calendar as used up to Pope Gregory’s time, together with a reform of the lunar cycle used by the Church along with the Julian calendar for calculating dates of Easter. It reduced the number of leap years from 100 to 97 every 400 years, by making 3 out of 4 centurial years common instead of leap years.

The Gregorian calendar modifies the Julian calendar’s regular cycle of leap years, years exactly divisible by four, including all centurial years, as follows:

“Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100; the centurial years that are exactly divisible by 400 are still leap years. For example, the year 1900 is not a leap year; the year 2000 is a leap year.”

The introduction of the Gregorian calendar allowed for realignment with the equinox; however, a number of days had to be dropped when the change was made. For example, Poland, Portugal and Spain adopted the calendar in 1582, by dropping 10 days in October that year, whereas Sweden and Poland had a 30-day February in 1712.

Click here to read more.

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, on that date in 1840.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840, in a marquee erected in the grounds of James Busby’s house (now known as the Treaty house) at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British subjects. There are significant differences between the Māori and English language versions of the Treaty, and virtually since 1840 this has led to debate over exactly what was agreed to at Waitangi. Māori have generally seen the Treaty as a sacred pact, while for many years Pākehā (the Māori word for New Zealanders of predominantly European ancestry) ignored it. By the early twentieth century, however, some Pākehā were beginning to see the Treaty as their nation’s founding document and a symbol of British humanitarianism. Unlike Māori, Pākehā have generally not seen the Treaty as a document with binding power over the country and its inhabitants. In 1877 Chief Justice James Prendergast declared it to be a ‘legal nullity’, and it still has limited standing in New Zealand law.

Bombay Stock Exchange

Have been dealing in stocks for more than a year now. Thought I might as well look up the history of the exchange I so frequently trade in. The Bombay Stock Exchange. Staying in Mumbai, I pass by BSE every other day. This tall BSE structure had very humble beginnings.

Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage, now spanning three centuries in its 133 years of existence. What is now popularly known as BSE was established as “The Native Share & Stock Brokers’ Association” in 1875.

It also has the greatest number of listed companies in the world, with 4700 listed as of August 2007 (Not many companies have been added post it, people dreaded releasing IPOs in recession you see).

Some landmarks in its 133 year old history were

1830′s Business on corporate stocks and shares in Bank and Cotton presses started in Bombay.

1860-1865 Cotton price bubble as a result of the American Civil War

1870 – 90′s Sharp increase in share prices of jute industries followed by a boom in tea stocks and coal

1978-79 Base year of Sensex, defined to be 100.

1986 Sensex first compiled using a market Capitalization-Weighted methodology for 30 component stocks representing well-established companies across key sectors.

The BSE traces its history to the 1850s, when stockbrokers would gather under banyan trees in front of Mumbai’s Town Hall. The location of these meetings changed many times, as the number of brokers constantly increased. The group eventually moved to Dalal Street in 1874 and in 1875 became an official organization known as ‘The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association’. In 1956, the BSE became the first stock exchange to be recognized by the Indian Government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act. The Bombay Stock Exchange developed the BSE Sensex in 1986, giving the BSE a means to measure overall performance of the exchange.

Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage, now spanning three centuries in its 133 years of existence. What is now popularly known as BSE was established as “The Native Share & Stock Brokers’ Association” in 1875.

Industrial web theory

Industrial web theory is the military concept that an enemy’s industrial power can be attacked at nodes of vulnerability, and thus the enemy’s ability to wage a lengthy war can be severely limited, as well as his morale—his will to resist. The theory was formulated by American airmen at the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) in the 1930s. The Tactical School, in formulating the doctrine, rejected the idea of attacking civilians.

The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and “the Tactical School”, was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world.

Traditional military targets had primarily been fielded enemy forces and concentrations of supplies held in rear areas. After aerial bombardment became a possibility, tactical targets such as communications (supply and signal lines) and troop concentrations became the focus of bombing efforts. The industrial web theory instead targeted choke points and bottlenecks in an enemy’s economic and industrial base, deep inside the interior of an enemy nation. If precision bombing could be used to destroy an industrial node with resulting paralysis of enemy industry, the particular node was given serious consideration as a target.

Suitable targets included railroad lines, junctions and marshaling areas, oil drilling and fuel refining industries, iron ore mining and transportation, steel refining and manufacturing industries, electric power generation and distribution, and, in general, all forms of transportation.

Joker

Am sure the history and beginnings of a Joker/Clown would date back several centuries. Plus as it has happened with many other characters… its beginnings might just be unknown… But let me give it a try.

Wiki refers to Joker as Jester

A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster or buffoon was a person employed to tell jokes and provide general entertainment, typically by a European monarch. Jesters are stereotypically thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their hats were especially distinctive; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points, each of which had a jingle bell at the end. The three points of the hat represent the donkey’s ears and tail worn by jesters in earlier times.

In societies where freedom of speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester—precisely because anything he said was by definition “a jest” and “the uttering of a fool”—could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for. Monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side.

All royal courts in those days employed entertainers and most had professional fools, sometimes called licensed fools.

The tradition of court jesters came to an end in Britain when Charles I was overthrown in the Civil War. As a Puritan Christian republic, England under the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell had no place for such fripperies as jesters.

Ball point pen

All of us have used a ball pen at some point in our life (I use the word All instead of most here)… Its has a cylindrical body filled with ink and a roller ball which when moved against paper (or other surfaces) creates a mark on the surface. Its become such a commonplace now. What would be interesting to know is its history and evolution.

The manufacture of economical, reliable ballpoint pens resulted from a combination of experimentation, modern chemistry, and the precision manufacturing capabilities of 20th century technology. Many patents worldwide are testaments to failed attempts to make these pens commercially viable and widely available. The ballpoint pen went through several failures in design throughout its early stages. It has even been argued that a design by Galileo Galilei (during the 17th century), was that of a ballpoint pen.

The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on 30 October 1888, to Kayleigh frost Loud, a leather tanner, who was attempting to make a writing implement that would be able to write on the leather he tanned, which the then-common fountain pen couldn’t do. The pen had a rotating small steel ball, held in place by a socket. Although the pen could be used to mark rough surfaces such as leather, as Loud intended, it proved to be too coarse for letter writing and was not commercially exploited.

In the period between 1904 and 1946, there was intense interest in improving writing instruments, particularly alternatives or improvements to the fountain pen. Earlier pens leaked or clogged due to improper viscosity of the ink, and depended on gravity to deliver the ink to the ball. Depending on gravity caused difficulties with the flow and required that the pen be held nearly vertically.

The invention of the “Biro” pen

László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor, was frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted in filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, and the sharp tip of his fountain pen often tore his pages of newsprint. Bíró had noticed that the type of ink used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge free. He decided to create a pen using the same type of ink. Since, when tried, this viscous ink would not flow into a regular fountain pen nib, Bíró, with the help of his brother George, a chemist, began to work on designing new types of pens. Bíró fitted this pen with a tiny ball in its tip that was free to turn in a socket. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball rotated, picking up ink from the ink cartridge and leaving it on the paper. Bíró filed a British patent on 15 June 1938.

In 1940 the Bíró brothers filed another patent, and formed Bíró Pens of Argentina. The pen was sold in Argentina under the Birome brand (portmanteau of Bíró and Meyne), which is how ballpoint pens are still known in that country.