Do you know who Edmund Burke was?

I'll post about him next time. He was famous of many nice quotations.

"No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing beacuse he could only do only a little"

" There is but ONE law for all, namely, that law of our CREATOR, the law of humanity, justice, equity- the law of nature, and of nations."

Since thanksgiving celebration in the US is approaching, I decided to post something about thanksgiving and how this celebration started. Read on.

THANKSGIVING DAY in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys ( yum..yum...yum..), stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2006) is November 23rd.

The Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early settlers of the Plymouth Colony. Their leadership came from a religious congregation who had fled a volatile political environment in the East Midlands of England for the relative calm of Holland in the Netherlands. Concerned with losing their cultural identity, the group later arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America.

In 1609, a group of Pilgrims left England for religious freedom in Holland. Few years later they were becoming concerned, seeing that their children spoke Dutch and were learning to live in Dutch life style. They considered the Dutch ideas a threar to their children's education.

After 11 years, on September 6, 1620, the Pilgrims set sail to New World on a ship names Speedwell. They had trouble with this ship and bought the "Mayflower" in Plymouth, England. They loaded this ship with 44 Pilgrims called the "Saints" and 58 others called the Strangers.
The trip to the New World was long, cold and damp. It took 65 days. The Pilgrims were afraid that their wooden ship would catch fire if they heated their food, so they ate only cold food. By the time land was sighted on November 9th, many passengers had become sick and one had died.

Most people think that the land that the Pilgrims sighted was Plymouth, Mass., but they had actually seen Cape Cod first. They did not settle until they reached Plymouth on November 11, 1620. The first winter was very cold. Most of the days it snowed and sleeted, which made it hard to construct their settlement. In March, the weather began to turn warmer and the health of the Pilgrims improved. Of the 102 original passengers, less than 50 survived the first winter.

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

On March 16, 1621, one of the most important events took place. An Indian brave walked into the Pilgriins settlement and spoke, "welcome" in English. This Indian's name was Samoset and he was a member of the Abnaki tribe. Captains from fishing boats that sailed of the coast, had taught him to speak English. He spent the hight and left only to return with another Indian named Squanto. Squanto spoke better English than Samoset. Sqaunto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean to Spain and England. In England he learned to speak English.The October harvest was very successful. The Pilgrims had enough food to make it through the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetable, fish packed in salt and meat to be smoked. The Pilgrims were getting settled. They had much to celebrate and be thankful for. They were at peace with their Indian neighbors, had houses and food.

The Governor of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, decided to start a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and their neighboring native Americas. At this feast were Squanto, Samoset and other Indian friends. Their Chief Massasiot and ninety braves came to celebrate with the Pilgrims for three days.

In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

*Source: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims 2. http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/
3. http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/becky.html

Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German interdisciplinary scientist, who became famous for his theory of continental drift arguing that the continents on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were drifting apart.

In 1912, he noticed that the shapes of continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together (for example, Africa and South America). Francis Bacon, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini, Benjamin Franklin, and others had noted much the same thing earlier. The similarity of southern continent fossil faunae and some geological formations had led a relatively small number of Southern hemisphere geologists to conjecture as early as 1900 that all the continents had once been joined into a supercontinent known as Pangaea. The concept was initially ridiculed by most geologists, who felt that an explanation of how a continent drifted was a prerequisite and that the lack of one made the idea of drifting continents wholly unreasonable. The theory received support through the controversial years from South African geologist Alexander Du Toit as well as from Arthur Holmes. The idea of continental drift did not become widely accepted as theory until the 1950s in Europe. By the 1960s, geological research conducted by Rovert S. Dietz, Bruce Heezen, and Harry Hess along with a rekindling of the theory including a mechanism by J. Tuzo Wilson led to acceptance among North American geologists. The hypothesis of continental drift became part of the larger theory of plate tectonics. This article deals mainly with the historical development of the continental drift hypothesis before 1950.

David Rice Atchison (August 11, 1807 – January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. Frequently serving as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, he is probably best known as the focus of an urban legend claiming that, for one day, he was de jure President of the United States.

Some claim that Atchison technically was President of the United States for one day—Sunday, March 4, 1849. Outgoing President James Polk's term expired at noon on the morning of March 4, and his successor, Zachary Taylor, refused to be sworn into office on the sabbath (Sunday). Taylor's Vice Presidential running mate, Millard Fillmore, likewise was not inaugurated. As President Pro Tempore of the Senate from the prior U.S. Congress, under the presidential succession law in place at the time, Atchison was technically Acting President.

However, while it is true that the offices of President and Vice President were vacant, Atchison in fact was not next in line. While the terms of James K. Polk and Vice President George Mifflin Dallas expired at the first moment (noon EST) of March 4, Atchison's tenure as President Pro Tempore did as well. He also never took the oath of office, although there is no constitutional requirement, then or now, for an Acting President to do so. No disability or lack of qualification prevented Taylor and Fillmore from taking office, and as they had been duly certified as President-elect and Vice President-elect, if Taylor was not President because he had not been sworn in as such, then Atchison, who hadn't been sworn in either, certainly wasn't.

Atchison was sworn in for his new term as President Pro Tempore minutes before both Fillmore and Taylor, which might theoretically make him Acting President for at least that length of time; however, this also implies that any time the Vice President is sworn in before the President, the Vice President is the de facto Acting President. Since this is a common occurrence, if Atchison is considered President, so must every Vice President whose inauguration preceded that of the President. Obviously this is not the case. Therefore, while one could argue that Atchison was legally President for a few minutes (though even this much is highly debatable), claims that he should be considered an "official" President are surely incorrect.

When asked what he did on March 4, 1849, Atchison replied, "I went to bed. There had been two or three busy nights finishing up the work of the Senate, and I slept most of that Sunday." He jokingly boasted that his "presidency" was the "most honest administration this country ever had."

Despite this, a museum exhibit in his honor (claiming to be the country's smallest "presidential library") opened in February 2006 at the Atchison County Historical Museum in Atchison, Kansas.

Atchison was 41 years and 6 months old at the time of his "presidency," which, if it had been official, would still make him the youngest President in American history. Theodore Roosevelt, the youngest to serve, was 42 years and 11 months old when he was sworn in following the death of William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy, the youngest to be elected, was 43 years and 7 months old when he was inaugurated in 1961. As President Pro Tempore, Atchinson served as Acting Vice President on two separate occasions, from October 20, 1852 to March 4, 1853 and from April 18, 1853 to December 4, 1854.

Atchison is buried in his home of Plattsburg, Missouri, where a statue honors him in front of the Clinton County Courthouse. His grave marker reads "President of the United States for One Day."

Atchison, Kansas is named for him. The town subsequently gave its name to the famous Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.

1. prolix - Tediously prolonged; tending to speak or write at excessive length.
Synonyms: voluble, wordy
Usage: She was engaged in editing a prolix manuscript, trying to cut the length by at least a third.

2. vitreous - Of, relating to, resembling, or having the nature of glass.
Synonyms: vitrified, glassy
Usage: The windows were covered with a clear, vitreous substance that kept out the wind.

3. mercurial - Quick and changeable in temperament.
Synonyms: quicksilver, erratic, fickle, volatile
Usage: Her mercurial nature made it difficult to gauge how she would react.

4. pinguid - Fat; oily.
Synonyms: oily
Usage: His car was splattered with some sort of pinguid substance, and washing it only
seemed to spread the mess.

5. reverberating - Characterized by reverberation.
Synonyms: resonating, resounding, reverberative, rolling, resonant
Usage: It was a sombre snowy afternoon, and the gas-lamps were lit in the big reverberating
station.

6. apogee - The point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth;
the farthest or highest point.
Synonyms: culmination, apex
Usage: Their achievements stand as an apogee of centuries of development.

7. cerumen - A soft yellow wax secreted by glands in the ear canal.
Synonyms: earwax
Usage: A buildup of cerumen was irritating Billy's ear, so his mother gently cleaned the area
with a cotton swab.

8. attrition - A rubbing away or wearing down by friction.
Synonyms: corrasion, detrition, abrasion
Usage: General Washington was not so concerned with winning large battles as he was with
waging a steady war of attrition, gradually wearing down his foe.

9. windbreaker - A trademark used for a warm outer jacket having close-fitting, often elastic,
cuffs and waistband.
Synonyms: anorak, parka, windcheater
Usage: George's windbreaker was torn, and he shivered in the cold night air.

10. face-off - A hostile disagreement face-to-face.
Synonyms: confrontation, encounter, showdown
Usage: The relationship between the two officers deteriorated until they had a noisy face-off
at the chief's office.
11. lyceum - (noun) A school for students intermediate between elementary school and college;
usually grades 9 to 12.
Synonyms: secondary school, Gymnasium, lycee, middle school
Usage:"That lyceum has ruined him," she added, remembering the insistence with which the
chevalier had spoken of the evils of education in such schools.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN



Sixteenth President if the United States (serving from 1861 to 1865), and was the first president from the Republican Party.

Born: February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Hardin County, Kentucky

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.


A portrait of Lincoln as seen on the U.S. five dollar bill.

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

October 31 in History

Battle of Britain Is Won (1940)
The Battle of Britain was the first major failure of the Germans in WWII. The Royal Air Force (RAF), outgunned and outmanned, defeated the German Luftwaffe and thwarted Hitler's plan for an amphibious invasion, which he had hoped would put a quick end to the war. The event was not only a testament to the courage of British pilots, but it also marked the first time a major battle was fought entirely in the air.

Battle of Britain
Part of World War II
Heinkel He 111 over London, 7 September 1940
Date:
July, 1940 – May, 1941
Location:
United Kingdom airspace, mostly over southern England
Result:
British victory
Combatants
United Kingdom
Germany
Commanders
Hugh Dowding
Hermann GöringAlbert Kesselring
Strength
700 fighters
1,260 bombers, 316 dive-bombers, 1,089 fighters
Casualties
1,547 aircraft, 27,450 civilian dead, 32,138 wounded
2,698 aircraft
Western Front (World War II)
France - The Netherlands - Dunkirk - Britain - Dieppe - Normandy - Dragoon - Arnhem - Scheldt - Hurtgen Forest - Aachen - Bulge - Plunder - Varsity

Charles Atlas (Oct. 30, 1892- Dec. 24, 1972)

Born Angelo Siciliano, in Acri, in Calabria, Italy. He was better known as "Charles Atlas," was dubbed "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man" in a NYC contest in 1922. Siciliano had been a small and weak child, but, inspired by the strength of a tiger at the zoo, he built up his endurance by working muscle groups against one another.

The Charles Atlas advertisements popularized the phrase "98-pound weakling". His most famous advertisement featured a weak scrawny kid who decides to bulk up after getting sand kicked in his face at the beach. Although the original ads stated "I turned myself from a 97 pound weakling into the World's Most Perfectly Developed Man", the phrase was most commonly rendered in the media as 98 pounds, possibly due to trademark issues. It may also derive from the British usage "seven-stone weakling": 7 stone = 98 pounds. His company did so well that it emerged from the Stock Market Crash of 1929 unscathed. As many as 30 million people have bought his mail order course, which is still offered today. "Charles Atlas" was selected by Forbes Magazine as one of the 20th Century's "Super Salesmen", and named one of the Most Influential People of the Twentieth Century by Times Sunday Magazine. Known throughout the world as a strongman, he is considered a founding father of modern-day body-building and fitness, and of isometric exercise.

1. incognizant
Definition: (adj.) Lacking knowledge or awareness; unaware.
Synonyms: unaware
Usage: He was incognizant of the new political situation and needed his brother to brief him on the details.

2. rigmarole
Definition: (noun) Confused, rambling, or incoherent discourse; nonsense.
Synonyms: rigamarole
Usage: Now I want to know what that rigmarole you told me this morning meant

3. prodigal
Definition: (adjective) Rashly or wastefully extravagant.
Synonyms: profligate, spendthrift, extravagant
Usage: Her prodigal spending left her with a mountain of bills and an empty bank account.

4. palmate - Having a shape similar to that of a hand with the fingers extended.
Synonyms: webbed, palm-shaped
Usage: A pair of large, palmate antlers hung over the hunter's mantelpiece.

5. eidetic - Of, relating to, or marked by extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall of visual images.
Synonyms: representational
Usage: Thanks to her eidetic memory, she was able to remember every detail of the scene when sketching it later.

6. palpable - Capable of being handled, touched, or felt; tangible.
Synonyms: tangible
Usage: Anger rushed out in a palpable wave through his arms and legs

7. lucid - Easily understood; sane; translucent or transparent.
Synonyms: pellucid, clear, limpid, rational
Usage: Though in his lucid moments he knew it was untrue, he was pleased to hear it.

8. bereft - Deprived of something.
Synonyms: bereaved, lovelorn
Usage: He had released my arm and was standing rigid and motionless in the center of the illuminated roadway, staring like one bereft of sense.

9. clemency - A disposition to show mercy, especially toward an offender or enemy.
Synonyms: mildness, mercy, lenience, reprieve
Usage: He was willing to show clemency, promising not to report the theft if his property was returned.

10. rapport - Relationship, especially one of mutual trust or emotional affinity.
Synonyms: resonance
Usage: They had an excellent rapport and would never keep secrets from one another.

11. coagulum - A lump of material formed from the content of a liquid.
Synonyms: clot
Usage: His nose began to bleed again when a hearty sneeze dislodged the coagulum that had formed inside his nostril.

12. contretemps - An unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an awkward clash.
Synonyms: encounter, skirmish
Usage: After his contretemps with the police, he resolved to drive more slowly in the future.

13. glossa - A mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity.
Synonyms: tongue, clapper, lingua
Usage: The creature had an enormously long glossa that it used to catch insects.
14. habitue
Definition: (noun) A regular patron.
Synonyms:regular, fixture
Usage: He was a habitue at the bar, but he never had more than two drinks in a night.

Escalator was originally a combination of the word 'scala', which is Latin for steps, and the word 'elevator', which had already been invented. The verb form of the word is (to) escalate and is commonly applied to the use of increased force in warfare. The word Escalator started out as a trademark of the Otis Elevator Company. Otis, however, failed to police its usage sufficiently, so escalator became a generic term in 1950. But until then, other manufacturers had to market their escalators under different names. The Peelle Company called theirs a Motorstair, and Westinghouse called their model an Electric Stairway. The Haughton Elevator company (now part of Schindler Group) referred to their product as simply Moving Stairs.

An escalator is a conveyor transport device for transporting people, consisting of a staircase whose steps move up or down on tracks that keep the surfaces of the individual steps horizontal. A moving walkway, moving sidewalk, travelator, or travellator is a slow conveyor belt that transports people horizontally or on an incline in a similar manner to an escalator. In both cases, riders can walk or stand. The walkways are often supplied in pairs, one for each direction.

In 1892, Charles A. Wheeler patented ideas for the first practical moving staircase, though it was never built. Some of its features were incorporated in the prototype built by the Otis Elevator Company in 1899. Jesse W. Reno invented the first escalator and installed it as an amusement ride at Coney Island, New York in 1897. This particular device was little more than an inclined belt with wooden slats or cleats on the surface for traction. The incline was as steep as 25°. Reno sold this machine to the Otis Elevator Company in 1899, and together they produced the first commercial escalator which won a first prize at the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle in France. Some escalators of this vintage were still being used in the Boston subway until 1994.

In Hong Kong, tens of thousands of commuters travel each work day between Central, the central business district, and the Mid-levels, a residential district hundreds of feet uphill, using a long distance system of escalators and moving sidewalks called the Central-Mid-Levels escalator. It is the world's longest outdoor escalator system (not a single escalator span), at a total length of 800 m. It goes only one way at a time; the direction reverses depending on rush hour traffic direction. The

Today's Bible Verse:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9