Show Posts

Looking back here a few instances of things that have made a lasting impact on our culture and lifestyle of today.

There are many things in history that shape our views and values for generations, if not centuries ahead. Looking back here a few instances of things that have made a lasting impact on our culture and lifestyle of today. This is a peek in on the beginning of some of the things we take for granted every day.

10. The Magna Carta

Simply stated, the Magna Carta was a document written in 1215 that did not limit the King of England’s powers, but instead made him accountable to the law. This is one of the first examples of government, particularly a monarchy, being held to a standard by the people. Without this document, habeas corpus would not have come about. This is what only keeps me in jail over the weekend and not indefinitely without charges.

9. Communism in China

In 1927 the Chinese Communist Party was founded. How does this affect us today? I dunno, how about 1.3 Billion (yeah with a capitol “B”) all under one flag? That’s pretty impressive when you consider our family of 3(me & parents) can’t decide on dinner some nights.

8. The Treaty of Paris

The American Revolution marked the beginning of the end of imperialism in the world. Though it could be argued that imperialistic government reigned another 100 years or so, this is monumental is size and scope.

7. The Printing of the Gutenberg Bible

Before 1452 all print presses were painstaking affairs and just not practical. Most books were hand copied and thus vulnerable to mistakes being made. Books were rare, but the invention of the print press with movable type by Gutenberg changed that and the Bible he printed helped spread Christianity even further.

6. The Invention of Plumbing

The Romans might have conquered a vast portion of the world, but it was their need for cleanliness and order that left their marks on the these times. The roads have faded, and a majority of their far flung monuments have long since vanished, but fittingly enough, their cisterns and aqueducts remain.

5. Penicillin

November 26, 1941, penicillin was perfected. By the time the war was in full swing prices dropped from $20 a dose to $2.0 a dose. With a viable way to fight infection, millions of lives were saved.

4. First Written Text

The Sumerians from ca. 3000 BCE are credited with the first standardized written language. The idea was to help in government and with keeping tally on the public coffers and with tribute. So yes, wealth is the root of all evil, but most likely the root of writing as well. Oddly enough, this form of writing looks a lot like my own handwriting. Hmm. Maybe I am a Sumarien! I’d rather be a Cimmerian, but never mind.

3. Flight

The first manned flight was reported to have taken place in Paris in Paris by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes in 1783. Another 120 years passed before the Wright brother, Orville and Wilbur made their historical heavier than air powered flight in Kittyhawk, NC.

2. The Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and August 9th on Nagasaki. The first nuclear test was held months before the first bomb was dropped on human beings. This was the first use of a true “super weapon” and forever changed how we view ourselves and each other.

1. The Invention of the Telephone

It puts the “tele” in telecommunications. Telephones, and consequently telephone lines have no doubt established more to bring the world together than anything else. Why? Without it we’d still be getting mail 3 weeks late , but we also would most likely get through eating diner without interruptions. So there is some good with the bad.

1974

News Khabran / Stunningly Preserved 165-Million-Year-Old Spider Fossil Found

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:13:46 PM »

Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens known by around 120 million years.
The level of detail preserved in the fossils is amazing, said paleontologist Paul Selden of the University of Kansas and lead author of the study appearing Feb. 6 in Naturwissenschaften. “You go in with a microscope, and bingo! It’s fantastic.”

The fossils were found at a site called Daohugou in Northern China that is filled with fossilized salamanders, small primitive mammals, insects and water crustaceans. During the Jurassic era, the fossil bed was part of a lake in a volcanic region, Selden said.

Spider fossils from this period are rare, because the arachnids’ soft bodies don’t preserve well. The pristine fossil pictured in these photos was probably created when the spider was trapped in volcanic ash. The ultrafine clay particles squashed the spider without breaking up the animals’ delicate cuticle as more coarse sediment would, Selden said.

E. gertschi shows all the features of the modern members of the family, found in North America, suggesting it has evolved very little since the Jurassic period, Selden said. “The scimitar-shaped structure you notice out of the male is so distinctive,” he said. “Looking at modern ones, you think, well, it’s just a dead ringer.”

The findings also suggest this family of spiders, the Plectreuridae, was once much more widespread than it is today. Currently, the family has only been found living in California, Arizona, Mexico and Cuba. Yet 165 million years ago, they lived on a small continent called the North China Block.

“At some point something caused their range to contract to this part of southern North America,” Selden said. He speculates that changes in vegetation during an ice age or other climactic event wiped them out in other areas, “but they were still happy in these arid areas of the Southwest.”

1975

Gup Shup / 5 heaviest people in the history

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:01:14 PM »

Carol Yager (peak weight 727 kg/ 1,600 lbs)

Her peak weight reached up to 727 kg (16, 00 lbs). She was also famous for losing most weight by natural means. Carol Yager lost 521 lbs weight in just three months. Her skin was breaking down due to a bacterial infection that’s why she was admitted in Hurley Medical Center. She spent terrible time till her death. Carol Yager was unable to stand or walk because of her muscles were not strong enough. She died in a young of 34. Main causes of her death were kidney failure, multiple organ failure and morbid obesity.

Jon Brower Minnoch (peak weight 635 kg / 1400 lbs)

Likewise Carol Yager, Job Brower was also fat in his childhood. In the age of 12 his weight was 132 kg (292 lbs). He married to Jeannette, a woman of normal weight and had two sons. Minnoch was admitted to hospital for 16 months where he lost 419 kg but after being discharged, his weight doubled. He couldn’t improve any better and died on September 10, 1983, at age 42.

Manuel Uribe (597 kg / 1,316 lb)

Like other heavy people, Manuel Uribe is also living a hard life. He spends 9 years in bed from 2001 to 2009. Even he got married in bed with Claudia on October 26, 2008. On his wedding, he spoke loud and clear to all disheartened people saying “I am proof you can find love in any circumstances. It’s all a question of faith. I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life”.

Walter Hudson (544 kg / 1,200 lb)

World’s fourth heaviest power house was born in Brooklyn, New York. Walter came into lime light when he was trapped inside of his room’s door. Rescue team had to break the wall to take him out. He loved to eat as once he said and I quote “”I just ate and enjoyed it”. Although he announced his wedding plans but that remains a dream for his. He died few weeks later.

Rosalie Bradford (544 kg / 1,200 lb)

Rosalie Bradford was Foodaholic since her childhood. Like all other weight giants, she gained weight in young age. At the age of 14 her weight was 92 kg and 140 kg at the age of 15. Rosalie married and had one son. After her marriage, she mostly spent her time at home and gain more weight. All that depressed her much and she tried to kill her using painkillers. Her weight eventually reduced to 136 kg (300 lb). She died on November 29, 2006 in the age of 63.

1976