Egyptians in Rural VA — Part 1

In 2001, I was working as Office Manager for an Austrian company, Schiebel Technology, that manufactured land-mine detectors and a new remote-controlled mini-helicopter – this was back when the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were really starting to come into use. It was called the Cam-Copter. The company had sold 4 systems to the Egyptian Navy and 8 Naval officers were scheduled to come to the US for training.

And then 9/11 happened…..we figured they would surely re-schedule but the owner, Hans, said no. He had to send over another trainer from Austria because the two Mikes who worked as training officers immediately re-enlisted to work with the Army UAVs. The office was located on the old Vint Hill Farms Station Army base. It was deactivated in 1997 and the land sold in 1999.

So, we had our work cut out for us – well, I did anyway. The Egyptians were due in about 10 days. We contacted the FBI, the State Patrol, and the local Sheriff’s office to notify them there were foreign nationals on their way. I printed up and laminated ID cards for them that gave a brief explanation of who they were, why they were here, and provided a contact phone number.

Every single one of them, to a man, supported the US in those horrible days. They were truly outraged that we had been attacked and were unfailingly polite and respectful. When I would ask them what they wanted to do, it was ALWAYS “go to the mall.” Sheesh! I DESPISED going to the mall! *sigh* Oh, well, duty calls. They all bought so much crap, they joked about getting their “pregnant suitcases” to the airport!!! We had to use my roommate’s trailer to get it all in!

I took them for a tour of Skyline Drive. Along the way, at one of the stops, there was a man who had stumbled and fallen on the rocks. He was bleeding pretty heavily and two of the Egyptians were medics. They immediately jumped in to care for him.

They were always looking for things to do on the week-ends and part of my responsibility was arranging for entertainment. Wajdi (who wanted to be a chef – he LOVED my big country kitchen) wanted to rent a car and go somewhere, suggesting Florida. I said, naw, way too boring, nothing but old retired people, and you already know what beaches are like. No, I said, YOU need to go to NY!

So he rented a car and off he went to NYC. As he was walking around, people kept asking him if he was from Spain. He kept explaining, no, I am from Egypt. About the sixth time someone asked him that, he decided to just say yes – it was easier. As chance would have it, there was an undercover FBI agent nearby who overheard him. He immediately approached him and gave him the 3rd degree about lying. Wajdi said at one point, he was thinking “Should I call a lawyer? No, I’ll just call Judy.” I was their American Mom!!!

One day, their minder/translator, Mr. Shehata (a guy from the Egyptian company with whom Schiebel partnered) came to me and said one of the guys had a problem and he was hoping I could help. He had been making calls to a 900 number, had spent his personal money, and was now broke.

I went over to the hotel and at first, got the brush-off. I put my foot down and insisted I wanted to talk to their Regional Manager and finally got a hard-copy printout of the calls. As I went through them, I could see that calls were made during the day, when they were at Vint Hill training. So, back to beard the Regional Manager in his den. I ended up getting ALL of his money refunded to him. After that, I was a Goddess and could do no wrong!!!!

Mr. Shehata is the only one in a suit

They were scheduled to fly out on Christmas day. Magdi and Aziz stayed at our house Christmas Eve, sharing our gift opening and celebrating with us. Truly amazing, wonderful group of guys! Except for Aymon, the one at the drums!!! His name became “Troublemaker Aymon” after he taught Gage what fun it was to throw a nerf ball into the ceiling fan!!!! We had soooo much fun!!!!

Gage jammin’ on his new guitar with Aymon

Before they left, they took all of us (me, my roommate Tom, Heather, and Gage) out to eat at the Olive Garden to show their appreciation for all we had done for them.

Stay tuned for Part 2 – that’s the spicy part!

Crimson Rosella

What does it look like?

Description: 

There are several color forms of the Crimson Rosella. The form it is named for has mostly crimson (red) plumage and bright blue cheeks. The feathers of the back and wing coverts are black broadly edged with red. The flight feathers of the wings have broad blue edges and the tail is blue above and pale blue below and on the outer feathers. Birds from northern Queensland are generally smaller and darker than southern birds. The ‘Yellow Rosella’ has the crimson areas replaced with light yellow and the tail more greenish. The ‘Adelaide Rosella’ is intermediate in color, ranging from yellow with a reddish wash to dark orange. Otherwise, all the forms are similar in pattern. Young Crimson Rosellas have the characteristic blue cheeks, but the remainder of the body plumage is green-olive to yellowish olive (occasionally red in some areas). The young bird gradually attains the adult plumage over a period of 15 months.

Similar species: 

The adult Crimson Rosella is similar to male Australian King-Parrots, but differs by having blue cheeks, shoulders, and tail, a whitish, rather than red, bill and a dark eye. Immature Crimson Rosellas also differ from female and immature King-Parrots by having blue cheeks, a whitish bill and a more yellow-green rather than dark green coloring.

Where does it live?

There are several populations of the Crimson Rosella. Red (crimson) birds occur in northern Queensland, in southern Queensland to south-eastern South Australia and on Kangaroo Island. Orange birds are restricted to the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia, while yellow ones are found along the Murray, Murrumbidgee and neighbouring rivers (where yellow birds meet red birds they hybridise, producing orange offspring). Red birds have been introduced to Norfolk Island and New Zealand.

Habitat: 

Throughout its range, the Crimson Rosella is commonly associated with tall eucalypt and wetter forests.

What does it do?

Feeding: 

Crimson Rosellas are normally encountered in small flocks and are easily attracted to garden seed trays. Once familiar with humans, they will accept hand held food. Natural foods include seeds of eucalypts, grasses and shrubs, as well as insects and some tree blossoms.

Breeding: 

The Crimson Rosella’s nest is a tree hollow, located high in a tree, and lined with wood shavings and dust. The female alone incubates the white eggs, but both sexes care for the young. The chicks remain dependent on their parents for a further 35 days after leaving the nest.

SOURCE: BIRDSINBACKYARDS.NET

Know-It-All Tuesdays: Star-Spangled Banner Trivia

I found this trivia article on HISTORY.COM.

1 True or False? Francis Scott wrote his verses intending them to be a song not a poem.

2 Was Key a prisoner on the English ship Tonnant when he wrote the ballad?

3 How many men were required to hoist the flag flying over Fort McHenry?

4 What was the original name of The Star-Spangled Banner?

5 In what year did the Star-Spangled Banner become our national anthem?

6 How many versus are in the Star-Spangled Banner?

7 Did Key support the war?

8 What was Key’s occupation?

9 Was Key a slave owner?

10 Was Key tone deaf?

Want to see how you did?

ANSWERS:

1 True

 “The Star Spangled-Banner” was not a poem set to a melody years later. Although Key was an amateur poet and not a songwriter, when he composed his verses, he intended them to accompany a popular song of the day. “We know he had the tune in mind because the rhyme and meter exactly fit it,” says Marc Leepson, author of the Key biography What So Proudly We Hailed. The first broadside of the verses, printed just days after the battle, noted that the words should be sung to the melody of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key was quite familiar with the tune, having used it to accompany an 1805 poem, which included a reference to a “star-spangled flag,” he had written to honor Barbary War naval heroes Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart.  Although Key composed the patriotic lyrics amid a burst of anti-British euphoria, “To Anacreon in Heaven” was ironically an English song composed in 1775 that served as the theme song of the upper-crust Anacreontic Society of London and a popular pub staple.

2 No

In his capacity as a Washington, D.C., lawyer, Key had been dispatched by President James Madison on a mission to Baltimore to negotiate for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prominent surgeon captured at the Battle of Bladensburg.  Accompanied by John Stuart Skinner, a fellow lawyer working for the State Department, Key set sail on an American sloop in Baltimore Harbor, and on September 7 the pair boarded the British ship Tonnant, where they dined and secured the prisoner’s release under one condition—they could not go ashore until after the British attacked Baltimore. Accompanied by British guards on September 10, Key returned to the American sloop from which he witnessed the bombardment behind the 50-ship British fleet.

3 11 men
In addition to a thunderstorm of bombs, a torrent of rain fell on Fort McHenry throughout the night of the Battle of Baltimore. The fort’s 30-by-42-foot garrison flag was so massive that it required 11 men to hoist when dry, and if waterlogged, the woolen banner could have weighed upwards of 500 pounds and snapped the flagpole. So as the rain poured down, a smaller storm flag that measured 17-by-25 feet flew in its place. “In the morning, they most likely took down the rain-soaked storm flag and hoisted the bigger one,” Leepson says, “and that’s the flag Key saw in the morning.”

4 When Key scrawled his lyrics on the back of a letter he pulled from his pocket on the morning of September 14, he did not give them any title. Within a week, Key’s verses were printed on broadsides and in Baltimore newspapers under the title “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” In November, a Baltimore music store printed the patriotic song with sheet music for the first time under the more lyrical title “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

5 During the Civil War, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was an anthem for Union troops, and the song increased in popularity in the ensuing decades, which led to President Woodrow Wilson signing an executive order in 1916 designating it as “the national anthem of the United States” for all military ceremonies. On March 3, 1931, after 40 previous attempts failed, a measure passed Congress and was signed into law that formally designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem of the United States.

6 4 verses

The version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” traditionally sung on patriotic occasions and at sporting events is only the song’s first verse. All four verses conclude with the same line: “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” (In 1861, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a fifth verse to support the Union cause in the Civil War and denounce “the traitor that dares to defile the flag of her stars.”)

7 No. Ironically, the man who created one of the lasting patriotic legacies of the War of 1812 adamantly opposed the conflict at its outset. Key referred to the war as “abominable” and “a lump of wickedness.” However, his opposition to the war softened after the British began to raid nearby Chesapeake Bay communities in 1813 and 1814, and he briefly served in a Georgetown wartime militia.

8 Lawyer. Although Key loathed politics, he was a prominent figure in Washington, D.C. “He was an important player in the early republic,” Leepson says. “He was a very successful and influential lawyer at the highest levels in Washington.” Key ran a thriving law practice, served as a trusted advisor in Andrew Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet” and was appointed a United States Attorney in 1833. He prosecuted hundreds of cases, including that of Richard Lawrence for the attempted assassination of Jackson, and argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court.

9 Yes. While he advocated for some enslaved people seeking freedom, Key too owned slaves. He hailed from a large slave-owning family and often helped slave owners recapture their escaped slaves. Despite this, Key opposed slave trafficking and became one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, which shipped thousands of free Black people to Africa to establish a homeland there.

10 Most likely. Key was much more adept in his legal day job than he was as an amateur poet. Most of the odes he composed were never meant to be seen beyond family and friends, and none came remotely close to realizing the popular fame of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In addition to being a middling poet, Key also had a hard time carrying a tune. “Key’s family said he was not musical,” Leepson says, “which means he likely was tone deaf.”

SOURCE: HISTORY.COM

Iowa State Flower: Wild Rose

Wild roses tend to stir one’s thoughts towards Medieval times of knights, kings, queens, princes, and princesses, as many of them date back well into our history. The botanical term for them is “Species Roses.” Though this term does not conjure up the same emotions, it is the classification where you will find them listed or placed for sale in rose catalogs and nurseries. Keep reading to learn more about the types of wild roses and how to grow them in the garden.

Where Wild Roses Grow

In order to grow wild rose plants properly, it helps to know more about them, including where wild roses grow. Species roses are naturally growing shrubs that occur in nature with no help at all from man. Wild species roses are single bloomers with five petals, almost all of them are pink with a few whites and reds, as well as a few that go towards the yellow coloration. Growing wild roses are all own root roses, which means they grow upon their own root systems without any grafting as is done by man to help some of the modern roses grow well in varying climatic conditions. In fact, wild roses are the roses from which all others we have today were bred, thus a special place they do hold in the mind and heart of any Rosarian. Species or wild roses tend to thrive on neglect and are exceptionally hardy. These tough roses will grow in just about any soil conditions, at least one of which is known to do very well in wet soil. These wonderful roses will produce beautiful rose hips that carry over into winter and provide food for the birds if left on the bushes. Since they are own root bushes, they can die way down in the winter and what comes up from the root will still be the same wonderful rose.

Growing Wild Roses

It isn’t difficult to grow wild rose plants. Wild rosebushes can be planted just like any other rosebush and will do best in areas where they get plenty of sun and the soils are well drained (as a general rule). One variety that does well in wet ground, however, is named Rosa palustris, also known as the swamp rose. When growing wild roses in your rose beds, gardens or general landscape, do not crowd them. All types of wild roses need room to expand and grow into their natural states. Crowding them, like with other rosebushes, tends to cut down on air flow through and around the bushes which opens them up to disease problems.

Wild Rose Care

Once their root systems are established in their new homes, these tough rosebushes will thrive with a minimum of wild rose care. Deadheading (removal of old blooms) them really is not necessary and will cut down or eliminate the wonderful rose hips they produce. They can be pruned a bit to maintain a desired shape, again be careful how much of this you do if you want those beautiful rose hips later!

Types of Wild Roses

One of the wonderful wild roses found here in my home state of Colorado is named Rosa woodsii, which grows to 3 or 4 feet (91-120 cm.) tall. This variety has pretty pink, fragrant blooms and is listed as a drought resistant rosebush. You can find this growing happily throughout the mountains west of the United States. When deciding to add one or several of the species roses to your gardens, keep in mind that they do not bloom all season like many of the modern roses will. These roses will bloom in spring and early summer and then are done blooming as they begin setting those wonderful multi-use rose hips. To obtain a rosebush that is very close to its wild rose beginnings, look for an aptly named variety like “Nearly Wild.” This one offers the same beauty, charm, low maintenance, and toughness of a true wild rose but has the added magical kiss of repeat blooming. Part of the charm that wild roses carry is the common names that they have been given over their years of existence. Here are a few types of wild roses you may like to grow in the garden (the year listed is when the rose was first known in cultivation):

Lady Banks Rose – Rosa banksiae lutea (1823)

Pasture Rose – Rosa carolina (1826, Native American variety)

Austrian Copper – Rosa foetida bicolor (before 1590)

Sweetbriar or Shakespeare’s Eglantine Rose – Rosa eglanteria (*1551)

Prairie Rose – Rosa setigera (1810)

Apothecary Rose, Red Rose of Lancaster – Rosa gallica officinalis (before 1600)

Father Hugo, Golden Rose of China – Rosa hugonis (1899)

Apple Rose – Rosa pomifera (1771)

Memorial Rose – Rosa wichuraiana (1891)

Nootka Rose – Rosa nutkana (1876)

Wood’s Wild Rose – Rosa woodsii (1820)

SOURCE: Gardening Knowhow Stan V. Griep

What Shall We Make Today?

In honor of National Ice Cream Pie Day, today’s recipe is another no bake summer dessert…Ice Cream Pie!

Ingredients

1 carton Ice Cream, 1 – 1.5 QT (Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream)

1 tub (8oz) Frozen Whipped Topping (like Cool Whip)

Your Favorite Toppings (You can use chopped Oreos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s Syrup)

1 Graham Cracker Crust, store bought (or Keebler’s Oreo Crust)

Instructions

Soften the ice cream and frozen whipped topping to room temperature so it is easy enough to mix.

Once ice cream is soft, mix with cool whip and your favorite toppings. Pour into crust

Top with extra toppings of your choice and freeze for about 1-2 hours. Serve frozen.

The possibilities are endless…

ENJOY!

Summer Picnic Hacks

I found these creative picnic hacks at onecrazyhouse.com:

Turn a chip bag into a bowl!  This hack comes via thisgrandmaisfun.com. You begin by turning down the top of the bag (purely for aesthetics).

Poke the corners in to prevent the bag from falling over.

As you roll the bottom up, the chips will come to the top. When you need to, roll up some more!

Use a six-pack drink container to hold the utensils!

Use a shower cap to keep cold foods cold!

Use a fitted twin sheet to cover your picnic table!

Create a “sticky finger station” for wipes and such to avoid constant running in and out of the house!

This hack I never heard of, but would love to try: Cooler Corn!  From the onecrazyhouse website:

Did you know you can cook corn in a cooler? Yeah, me too. We’ve all heard of corn on the cob but how much do you know about the different ways you can make it? And keep it hot during your picnic? Cooler corn is probably the easiest way ever to cook corn on the cob.

Just boil some water in a pot on the grill and make sure the water is boiling hot. Place some ears of corn in a clean cooler then fill the cooler with water and firmly shut the lid. The corn cooks and doesn’t get cold. It’s basically science but it’s cool!

SOURCE: ONECRAZYHOUSE.COM

How to Get Rid of Hiccups

From the bestlifeonline website:

How to Get Rid of Hiccups: 6 Tips from Doctors

Sometimes uncomfortable and occasionally a bit embarrassing, getting the hiccups can be a—hic!—surprising interruption. That said, they happen to everyone occasionally, and they’re usually no cause for concern. Still, you may be wondering what exactly they are, what causes them, and, of course, how to get rid of hiccups when they occur. Read on to learn doctors’ six best tactics for nixing them quickly.

What Are Hiccups?

Everyone has gotten the hiccups at some point in their lives, but few people understand what actually occurs when they strike.

Raj Dasgupta, MD, chief medical advisor for Fortune Recommends Health, explains that hiccups happen when the diaphragm, the muscle that separates the chest from the belly, suddenly and involuntarily contracts. “When that happens, you take in air, and your voice box closes shut, which is what causes the ‘hic’ sound,” he says.

What Causes Hiccups?

Most often, hiccups happen in response to minor stimuli.

“The most common causes include having an overly full stomach, drinking soda or other fizzy drinks, and swallowing air (for example, when you are chewing gum),” Dasgupta says, adding that eating spicy food or having acid reflux is also a common trigger. “Of course, sometimes the exact culprit behind your hiccups can be a mystery,” he adds.

That said, persistent or intractable hiccups may result from a greater underlying cause. This can include gastrointestinal conditions such as GERD or gastritis, certain lung conditions, chronic illnesses that affect the central nervous system such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis, and certain types of cancer, the Cleveland Clinic says.

According to Tori Hartline, DC, MS, a pediatric and prenatal chiropractor and the owner of Sunlife Chiropractic, most hiccups occur “due to a reflex initiated by the brain that affects the diaphragm. This reflex is often triggered when the phrenic, vagus, or sympathetic nerves are irritated,” she explains.

How long do hiccups last?

Hiccups are generally short-lived, and they tend to resolve themselves with time. “Most hiccups are fleeting, lasting just a few minutes. However, in rare cases, they can linger for days or even weeks,” Dasgupta says.

Is there any way to prevent hiccups?

You can’t prevent hiccups with 100 percent accuracy, but you can exercise certain habits that will make them less likely to occur.

“Preventing hiccups is tricky as the triggers can vary. Eating slowly, avoiding carbonated beverages, and managing stress could all help prevent them,” Dasgupta says. If you’re sensitive to eating spicy foods, avoiding high-heat dishes may also help reduce your incidence of hiccups.

6 Ways to Get Rid of Hiccups Fast

If you’re looking for a fast-acting hiccup cure, there are a few strategies that may help. However, since hiccups typically resolve on their own, it’s also perfectly fine to wait out your symptoms.

1 Hold your breath.

One of the first methods to try if you want to get rid of hiccups is to hold your breath for five to 10 seconds.

“While sitting, pull your knees up to your chest and lean forward. Hold this position for 30 seconds to one minute, if possible,” Dasgupta recommends.

2 Breathe into a paper bag.

Experts from Harvard Medical School say that another effective way to curb the hiccups is to breathe into a paper bag. They note that this increases the amount of carbon dioxide you inhale, which reminds your brain to resume normal breathing in order to get more oxygen.

Try to keep the rhythm slow and steady, using deep, diaphragmatic breathing techniques to expand your abdomen rather than your chest with each inhale. “Controlled, deep breathing from the diaphragm can ease spasms,” Hartline explains.

3 Gargle with cold water.

If that doesn’t work, you can try gargling with icy cold water, Dasgupta suggests.

“Short-term exposure to cold water can stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the main nerve in the autonomic nervous system that regulates breathing and heart rate. This stimulation can trigger a relaxation response, which can hopefully interrupt those annoying hiccups,” the doctor says.

Hartline adds that just splashing cold water on your face can also stimulate the vagus nerve.

4 Distract yourself.

Sometimes, stopping the hiccups is an issue of mind over matter, says Harvard Health Publishing. Distracting yourself can help them pass more quickly.

Try reading, meditating, listening to a podcast, or tasting a strong flavor (for example, sucking on a lemon)—all of which will get your brain busy with other things.

5 Stimulate the related nerves.

Hartline says anything you can do to stimulate the nerves associated with the hiccups may help you get relief by relaxing the diaphragm. One way to do this is by stimulating the skin that covers the spinal nerves near the neck by tapping or rubbing the back of the neck.

Another is to stimulate the pharynx—or back of the throat—by gently poking it with a long cotton swab, she says. If the latter feels uncomfortable, humming can send vibrations from your voice box to the vagus nerve, producing a similar effect.

6 Do some low-impact exercise.

Finally, getting a little bit of physical activity can help lessen your symptoms. “Gentle exercise can help regulate breathing and relax the diaphragm,” says Hartline.

World Records

In extremely rare instances, hiccups have lasted for years—or even decades. According to Guinness World Records, a man named Charles Osborne holds the record for the longest bout of hiccups, having hiccupped without interruption for 68 years, from 1922 to 1990.

Conclusion

Most of the time, hiccups will come and go without any notable cause or repercussions, lasting just a few minutes. However, if you feel your hiccups have persisted for an abnormally long period of time or if they’re causing extreme discomfort, it’s a good idea to check in with your doctor.

SOURCE: BESTLIFEONLINE.COM

     Lauren Gray

125 Interesting Facts About Everything Part 4

Fact: Frankenstein’s Creature is a vegetarian

Both Victor Frankenstein and Creature are fictional characters in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In the classic novel, Creature says, “My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.” This is one of the interesting facts you should definitely share with your vegetarian friends!

Fact: Medical errors are a top cause of death

According to a Johns Hopkins research team, 250,000 deaths in the United States are caused by medical error each year. This makes medical error the third leading cause of death in the country.

Fact: Sloths have more neck bones than giraffes

Despite the difference in neck length, there are more bones in the neck of a sloth than a giraffe. There are seven vertebrae in the neck of a giraffe, and in most mammals, but there are 10 in a sloth’s. While they’re on your mind, here are some adorable sloth pictures you totally need to see.

Fact: Bees can fly higher than Mount Everest

Bees can fly higher than 29,525 feet above sea level, according to National Geographic. That’s higher than Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.

Fact: Ancient Egyptians used dead mice to ease toothaches

In Ancient Egypt, people put a dead mouse in their mouth if they had a toothache, according to Nathan Belofsky’s book Strange Medicine: A Shocking History of Real Medical Practices Through the Ages. Mice were also used as a warts remedy in Elizabethan England.

Fact: Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch

He’s also been called out for only having the bars of a Navy commander, but the so-called cap’n held his ground on Twitter, arguing that captaining the S.S. Guppy with his crew “makes an official Cap’n in any book!”

Fact: Paint used to be stored in pig bladders

The bladder would be sealed with a string and then pricked to get the paint out. This option wasn’t the best because it would often break open. American painter John G. Rand was the innovator who, in the 19th century, made paint tubes from tin and screw caps.

Fact: Humans have jumped farther than horses in the Olympics

The Olympic world record for the longest human long jump is greater than the world record for longest horse long jump. Mike Powell set the record in 1991 by jumping 8.95 meters, and the horse xtra Dry set the record in 1900 by jumping 6.10 meters.

Fact: The Terminator script was sold for $1

James Cameron is the award-winning director of movies like Titanic and Avatar. In order to get his big break with The Terminator, he sold the script for $1 and a promise that he’d direct it. Of course, this movie has some of the most famous movie quotes of all time in it.

Fact: Pigeon poop is the property of the British Crown

In the 18th century, pigeon poop was used to make gunpowder, so King George I confirmed the droppings to be the property of the Crown.

Fact: Onions were found in the eyes of an Egyptian mummy

Pharaoh Ramses IV of ancient Egypt had his eyes replaced with small onions when he was mummified. The rings and layers of onions were worshipped because people thought they represented eternal life. This aligns with the reason for mummification: to allow the pharaoh to live forever.

Fact: Abraham Lincoln was a bartender

You know that the 16th president of the United States fought for the freedom of slaves and the Union, but what you didn’t know is that he was a licensed bartender. Lincoln’s liquor license was discovered in 1930 and displayed in a Springfield liquor store. According to Wayne C. Temple, a Lincoln expert, Congress wanted to fire Ulysses S. Grant in 1863 because he drank a lot, and Lincoln’s response was to send Grant a supply of whiskey.

Fact: Beethoven never knew how to multiply or divide

The renowned pianist went to a Latin school called Tirocinium, where he was taught some math but never learned multiplication or division—only addition. Once, when he needed to multiply 62 by 50, he wrote 62 down a line 50 times and added it all up.

Fact: Japan released sushi-inspired Kit Kats

For a limited time in 2017, Tokyo’s Kit Kat Chocolatory shop made three types of the chocolate bar that were inspired by sushi but didn’t actually taste like raw fish. The tuna sushi was raspberry, the seaweed-wrapped one tasted like pumpkin pudding, and the sea urchin sushi was the flavor of Hokkaido melon with mascarpone cheese. All were made with puffed rice, white chocolate, and a bit of wasabi.

Fact: An espresso maker was sent into space in 2015

Coffee lovers will appreciate this interesting space fact: Samantha Cristoforetti was the first astronaut to get a warm and cozy piece of home sent to her while in orbit. The Italian Space Agency worked with Italian coffee manufacturer Lavazza to get the coffee capsules into space.

Fact: The word “aquarium” means “watering place for cattle” in Latin

Of course, today’s aquariums aren’t for cows. The first aquarium that looks like what you’d imagine was created in 1921 and opened in 1924 in England.

Fact: An employee at Pixar accidentally deleted a sequence of Toy Story 2 during production

Ed Catmull, the cofounder of Pixar, wrote in his book, Creativity Inc., that the year before the movie came out, someone entered the command ‘/bin/rm -r -f *’ on the drive where the files were saved, and scenes started deleting. It would have taken a year to recreate what was deleted, but luckily another employee had a backup of the entire film on her laptop at home.

Fact: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne started Apple Inc. on April Fools’ Day

The three technology innovators signed the documents to form the Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976. But the company was not fully incorporated until January 3, 1977. Thirty years later, the company was renamed Apple Inc. and is no joke. In 2018, Apple became the country’s first trillion-dollar company.

Fact: The inventor of the tricycle personally delivered two to Queen Victoria

In 1881, Queen Victoria was on a tour on the Isle of Wight when her horse and carriage could not keep up with a woman riding a tricycle. Intrigued by the bike, the queen proceeded to order two. She also asked that the inventor, James Starley, arrive with the delivery. Though you might associate tricycles with toddlers, Queen Victoria made them cool among the elite at the time.

Fact: Your brain synapses shrink while you sleep

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Sleep and Consciousness studied mice to observe what happens to their brains while they sleep. Dr. Chiara Cirelli and Dr. Giulio Tononi found an 18 percent decrease in the size of synapses after a few hours of sleep. Don’t worry, though—this nighttime brain shrinkage actually helps your cognitive abilities.

Fact: A waffle iron inspired one of the first pairs of Nikes

Bill Bowerman was a track and field coach in the 1950s who didn’t like how running shoes were made. He first created the Cortez shoe but wanted a sneaker that was even lighter and could be worn on a variety of surfaces. During a waffle breakfast with his wife in 1970, he came up with the idea of using the waffle texture on the soles of running shoes. Waffle-soled shoes made their big debut in the 1972 U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Fact: Boars wash their food

National Geographic reported that at Basel Zoo in Switzerland, zookeepers watched adult and juvenile wild boars pick up sandy apples and bring them to a nearby creek in their environment to wash before eating. Though some items like sugar beets were eaten without the human-like behavior, the boars brought a whole dead chicken to the creek to wash before chowing down. One ecologist called this a “luxury behavior.”

Fact: Baseball umpires used to sit in rocking chairs

People have been playing baseball since the mid-19th century. In the early days, umpires would officiate the games while reclining in a rocking chair located 20 feet behind home plate. By 1878, the National League also declared that home teams must pay umpires $5 per game.

Fact: The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutes

In 1914, Abram Pheil paid $400 (which would be $8,500 today) for a 23-minute plane ride. The Florida flight flew between Saint Petersburg and Tampa, where only 21 miles of water separate the cities. Pheil, a former mayor of Saint Petersburg, and the pilot, Tony Jannus, were the only passengers. This momentous flight paved the way for air travel as we know it.

Fact: The world’s first novel ends mid-sentence

The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is considered the world’s first novel. After reading 54 intricately crafted chapters, the reader is stopped abruptly mid-sentence. One translator believes the work is complete as is, but another says we’re missing a few more pages of the story.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

Weird Wednesdays: The George Stickney House

In Bull Valley, there exists one of the strangest homes in Illinois. It is located in rural McHenry County, Illinois, near Woodstock. The house I am talking about is the George Stickney House (also referred to as the Stickney Mansion).

You will notice right away something odd about this house: there are no sharp corners. The design of the home is Italianate. It is a beautiful home. Since 1979, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stickney was the first in the township when he arrived there in 1835. Stickney was a very prosperous farmer, and he acquired enough money to build the home of his dreams. The home was built in 1856.

Aside from being a farmer, Stickney was a Spiritualist. He performed séances that were attended by many, including the most elite in the area. This influenced the design of the home. As a Spiritualist, Stickney believes that spirits hid in the corners. So problem solved: he got rid of the corners.

According to Haunted Places.org

Because of George Stickney’s belief in spiritualism, he designed his house with no 90-degree angles inside so that no spirits would be caught in the corners. The Stickneys had 10 children, but only 3 lived to adulthood, and they are said to have regularly conducted seances on the 2nd floor to speak to their children. Currently the building houses the local police department, and many spooky events occur here. Tenants after the Stickneys, and later, police officers, have noted apparitions, moving objects, electrical phenomena, doors opening by themselves, and more. The Holcombville Cemetery where the Stickney children are buried lies nearby, and they are said to haunt the entire neighborhood along with the spirit of a passenger killed in the crash of American Airlines Flight 191.

(The Stickney House is now the Bull Valley Police Headquarters and Richard Vance is a Village Administrator and Police Officer.)

From thegeorgestickneyhousemariahruiz.blogspot.com:

The story on the house is that George and Sylvia Stickney had ten children, but only 3 survived to adulthood. George and Sylvia were Mediums, which means they could talk to the dead. They would hold seances to communicate to their children who passed away. They also allowed others to come into their house so that they also can talk to their loved ones. George and Sylvia wanted to build a house that would be easier to communicate with their children. The Stickney’s believed that 90-degree angles were bad for spirits because the spirits would get stuck in the corner and house the evil spirits. When building their mansion, they wanted everything to be rounded so that the spirits can move freely, even the ceiling is rounded. Rumor has it that a 90-degree angle in the house is were George Stickney died. Richard confirmed that wasn’t true.  The house was searched and documented and there was no 90-degree angles found at the time of George’s death. He also confirmed that George’s death was never documented, so no one knows how he died. 

I asked Richard Vance what type of experiences he had in the house. He told me some stories about what happened to him and other officers. He said the spirits like to move things around on his desk. They have made his stapler vibrate vigorously, they stood all of his pencils on their erasers and things have flown off of shelves. He even told me that he has seen a lot of different spirits and talked to them as well. The spirits like to move around chairs. There are specifically two chairs that are upstairs that move often. They like to move them close together or stack them on tables. Richard told me he has talked to spirits threw a voice box.  He didn’t get into details with what was said but he has communicated with them. Richard described how it feels when a spirit touches you. He said, “There body feels like a spiderweb meshed into human figure, a cold, electric shock when they touch you.” Richard says that the spirits touch him all the time. They touch him on his face, hands, and arms. One time he had his gun on his side and a spirit poked him underneath his gun. Throughout the interview, Richard Vance kept reminding me that the house isn’t bad. The Stickney’s were good people, they just wanted to talk to their dead children.

Sylvia Stickney is the most active spirit in the house. Everyone that works there has seen her and say she is very beautiful. Sylvia Stickney wears a white gown and she loves children.  Richard informed me about an experience a little boy had while visiting the Stickney house. The boy was very scared to go inside because of what he had heard about it. When asked if he was still scared later on, he replied, “No, the nice women told me that I shouldn’t be scared, so I’m not scared anymore!” When they asked the little boy to describe what the women looked like, he pointed to the picture of Sylvia Stickney.  

Richard Vance told me about the most active places and times of the house. The Stickney family is the most active spirits in the house besides the Indians. Richard believes that the Indians were on the property before the Stickney family built there home. He said that the spirits are more active from 5pm to 8pm and on the weekends. Richard said that the Stickney house still celebrates Mayday, which is the most active day out of the year. Mayday is a celebration on May 1st, which was a very big holiday in the 1800’s where everyone would celebrate with dancing and singing outside. The Stickney’s held tons of parties on Mayday. Whenever it rains, the house is more active as well. Richard confirmed what I read online that the second floor of the house and the staircase is the most active.

(You can read about Maria’s experience when she visited the second floor at the link posted above.)

SOURCES: ATLAS OBSCURA

                  HAUNTED PLACES.ORG

                  thegeorgestickneyhousemariahruiz.blogspot.com