Posts Tagged ‘history’
March 17, 2015
The world’s first Dairy Queen opened in Joliet serving ice cream cones for five and 10 cents. (Dairy Queen)
Dairy Queen celebrated its 75th anniversary on March 16.
I thought I was late to the party, but it turns out that the celebration was early. The first Dairy Queen shop opened in Illinois on June 22, 1940 – so we can look forward to more festivities. The company, however, chose to note the occasion by giving out free ice cream cones at various locations on March 16.
If you are not near a Dairy Queen store – or if they are still closed for the winter – or if you feel like doing it yourself, check out BraveTart’s recipe for a copycat Dairy Queen Blizzard here.
The next question is, can I find a Dairy Queen tattoo?
Well, yes . . .
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dairy Queen, food, history, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos | 2 Comments »
March 10, 2015
Today in 537 the first Siege of Rome and the start of the First Gothic War. Actually, Rome had been sacked by the Goths in 410.
No, not these Goths . . .
I’m talking about these Goths . . .
General Belisarius was appointed by Justinian I to take back Rome. He entered Italy from the east and rapidly took Sicily.
Map credit Cplakidas
Europe was a pretty disorganized place in those days after the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is a clever graphic depicting the changes in power.
From Wikipedia.
It would not be Tuesday without a tattoo. Here’s a Gothic one . . .
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged First Gothic War, General Belisarius, Goths, history, Justinian I, Siege of Rome, style, tattoo Tuesday, tattoos | 1 Comment »
March 4, 2015
Just kidding – but only because I do not have a handy Canadian five-spot.
The story here from Huffington Post. Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s seventh Prime Minister and first fracophone leader, is immortalized on the five dollar bill and bears a resemblance to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock (RIP Leonard Nimoy).
The Canadian government says that “Spocking” the bills is not illegal – nor is it encouraged, eh?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Canada, history, Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock, science fiction, Star Trek, whimsey, Wilfred Laurier | Leave a Comment »
February 10, 2015
February 10 marks the 189th birthday of Samuel Plimsoll an English politician and social reformer. He is best noted for the eponimous Plimsoll Line on merchant vessels – a line that indicate the maximum safe draft (and minimum freeboard) under various operating conditions.
Also a name for what I call sneakers:
[The name Plimsoll for rubber-soled canvas shoes] derived, according to Nicholette Jones’ book The Plimsoll Sensation, because the coloured horizontal band joining the upper to the sole resembled the Plimsoll line on a ship’s hull, or because, just like the Plimsoll line on a ship, if water got above the line of the rubber sole, the wearer would get wet.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birthday, history, Plimsoll line, Samuel Plimsoll, shipping | 2 Comments »
January 29, 2015
You think Juno was a blizzard?
This was a blizzard!
That is a Pershing tank helping to move a bus through the snow following the Thanksgiving Blizzard, or the Great Appalachian storm, of 1950. I do not remember the storm, but this is the one my parents always talked about.
From the Lakewood [Ohio] Sun Post:
Hundreds of motorists abandoned stalled autos. Stuck streetcars were strung along main arteries for miles. Bus routes were littered with coaches blocked by enormous drifts. Most plants closed, and some employees who did manage to report in were marooned on their jobs. Trucks laden with food couldn’t deliver. Babies were without milk, and groceries able to open were rationing it as well as bread.
More here.
From the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
The 5-day 1950 Thanksgiving blizzard began when an arctic air mass lowered temperatures to 7 degrees. The next day, 24 Nov., low pressure from Virginia moved into Ohio, causing a blizzard with high winds and heavy snow which closed the airport. Mayor Thomas Burke called for the National Guard and mobilized snow removal equipment to clear the 22.1″ of snow brought by the storm; however, snow drifts and over 10,000 abandoned cars blocked the effort. Burke declared a state of emergency, banned unnecessary travel, and later asked downtown businesses to stagger hours to reduce transit burdens. Nonessential cars were banned downtown. The storm weakened on Monday, but most area schools closed. The storm ended, and all guardsmen were dismissed by Wednesday, but Cleveland schools remained closed all week to keep children off transit lines. The auto ban lasted until the last CTS line reopened on Saturday; while parking problems remained, police no longer monitored traffic. Normal conditions returned as the temperature hit 53 degrees. The storm had paralyzed the area for a week and cost over $1 million and 23 lives.
“Great Appalachian Storm 1950-11-26 weather map” by NOAA Central Library, Silver Spring, Maryland – NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blizzard, blizzard of 1950, Cleveland, history, Thanksgiving blizzard, Thomas Burke, weather | 4 Comments »
January 28, 2015
Another interesting company that participated in the kit house phenomenon was Aladdin Homes of Bay City, Michigan. Aladdin was one of the most successful “readi-cut” home builders. In its seventy-year history, the company sold over 75,000 homes and remained successful, solvent and family-owned from 1906 until its closing in 1981.
In a fold-out flyer sent with the 1925 catalog, the company listed by name and city more than 1000 builders of Aladdin homes as well as government and corporate customers including the State of Michigan, the president of Liberia, Dow Chemical Co., Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. and Standard Oil.
Advertised as “Readi-cut” and “Built in a Day,” Aladdin and other kit home manufacturers revolutionized home buying and building for the middle class. From tiny workingman’s cottages to the thrifty investor, Aladdin homes provided a solid value and easy construction.
More history of the company and the houses here.
See also:
Lustron Homes
Quonset Huts
Dymaxion House
Heinlein House
Sears Houses
Futuro Houses
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aladdin Homes, architecture, design, history, housing, kit houses | Leave a Comment »
January 16, 2015
When I was a kid, wolves were the beasts that haunted my nightmares. Recurring nightmares about tricky wolves; wolves that wore blue overalls. I think Looney Tunes has a lot to answer for.
When I got older I realized that the critter above could be the real nightmare. Then I read about this guy.
The giant short-faced bear kind of blows any other bears right out of the water. This gigantic bear stood about 6.5 feet while on all four legs and was about 11-12 feet tall when standing upright on its hind legs. Evidence of members of this bear family are found in both North and South America. It was truly an impressive creature. Fossil evidence indicates that humans did not move into this bear’s environment until after its extinction. It also seems to have been the alpha predator because of the lack of fossil evidence for other large carnivores such as lions and scimitar cats in areas where short-faced bear traces are found.
I love bears, albeit with the greatest respect. I would not want to meet this one.
More here on twilightbeasts.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animals, bears, Friday, giant short-faced bear, history, nature, photography, sappy cat blogging, wolves | 5 Comments »
December 23, 2014
If you are curious about the history of conjuring arts, or want to brush up on your card tricks, the Conjuring Arts Research Center in New York may have what you are looking for . . .
When Bill Kalush, a former magician, founded the Conjuring Arts Research Center in New York City, he wanted to create a place that “was available for anyone . . . to be able to come in and find some of the rarest material — the things that you couldn’t find, almost anywhere else in the world,” as he told PRI. The materials’ subject? The ancient arts of magic and deception.
Kalush has assembled books dating from the 15th century until now. The books themselves are available for members of the public to look through, but Kalush is also digitizing them and translating them, PRI says. (Many are in Persian, French, Italian or another language.)
The oldest book is De viribus quantitates by Luca Pacioli, which is still being translated from its original Latin. So far, the library includes scans of about 2.5 million pages of various books. All of them are accessible through the center’s database, called Ask Alexander. The center also has around 20,000 letters written by magicians, PRI writes, some of which include tricks of the trade, others the gossip of the day.
The center is open to the public, but visitors looking for insight on perfecting their card tricks or conjuring up white rabbits must make an appointment first. There might be a wait, however. As Kalush told PRI: “We try to keep it as mysterious as possible and we do have an awful lot of interesting people visit.”
More Here.
Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?
And the tattoos:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged books, Conjuring Arts Research Center, history, magic, new york | Leave a Comment »
The world’s first Dairy Queen opened in Joliet serving ice cream cones for five and 10 cents. (Dairy Queen)
If you are not near a Dairy Queen store – or if they are still closed for the winter – or if you feel like doing it yourself, check out BraveTart’s recipe for a copycat Dairy Queen Blizzard here.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 
