History Schmistory: August 6th: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s…. a Supernova!

1181 – The Supernova is first observed by Japanese and Chinese astronomers.

 

NASA/ESA [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

NASA/ESA [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: August 6. Rastafar-from English

1962: Jamaica becomes independent from Britain.
jamaica-673591_640

Monkeys vs Apes…

As the world goes Ape-y for the new Planet of the Apes movie, it is important to know why we call them apes and not monkeys. One easy distinction is that almost all species of monkey have tails while apes do not. Also, though many apes enjoy swinging through the trees like Tarzan, they actually live on the ground, whereas monkeys are arboreal (tree dwellers) and spend most of their time jumping through the tree-tops, more like squirrels.


“Hey, I’m just a monkey!”

History Schmistory: August 5th: Hou-dunnit!

1926 – New York. 

Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini is submerged in an underwater coffin. It take’s him 1 1/2 hours to escape.

 

David Blaine's got nothing on this guy! By McManus-Young Collection (Library of Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

David Blaine’s got nothing on this guy!
By McManus-Young Collection (Library of Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: August 5. The Original “Harry”

1100: Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. This particular Henry was not significant enough for Shakespeare, and conveniently skipped.

Revolutionary Dayz

As we observe (or some of us anyway) the details of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s trial, many are reminded of how remarkable Egypt’s non-violent overthrow was. Really. If it was in France it would have been a bloody mess…

One more time with feeling!

Ludicrous Latin: Ventis secundis, tene cursum.

Favorable winds, stay the course. …Or, as we would put it: 

 

History Schmistory: August 4. It was good to be Queen -Mother

1900: Queen Elizabeth, ‘the Queen Mother’ is born. Not to be confused with Elizabeth II, who will most likely live forever.

By Allan warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Allan warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ludicrous Latin: Lorem sed nulla tam turpi damnata

“Alright, but you’re so darn* ugly.”

History Schmistory: August 3. La Scala-kazam!

1778: La Scala Opera House opens in Milan, Italy, with a show by F. Murray Abraham’s character in Amadeus.
By ungenannt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By ungenannt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Speaking of mediocre composers, here’s a Marco classic!

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