[Freddy]

eric l said:

I thought the expression came from the Harper's Ferry Arsenal, in the days of the"war between the states". According to what I learned, this was the first instance where the locks, the stocks and the barrels came from different suppliers for each item. But I can not trace back my source.

Actually, interchangeable parts came before the Civil War. Eli Whitney of MA received a pattent. The folks down at the Bunker (Breed's) Hill Monument in Charlestown, MA claim it came from the British Brown Bess musket used in the American Revolution. Several sites claim this. The first wriiten use comes from Sir Walter Scott in 1817. It could have been around some time before he used it, or Scott could have originated it.

[Michaelangelica]

The Japanese were recieving shipment(s) of uranium via the Phillipines by German U-boat as early as 1942.They were paying in gold bulion stolen from Korea and China and from their extensive heroin trafficking operations

There own A bomb programme statrted in 1930s

Current nuclear activities in Japan
Wikepedia says
http://en.wikipedia...._atomic_program

Quote

Since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is a staunch opponent of nuclear arms on all government levels. However, Japan does make extensive use of nuclear energy in nuclear reactors, generating a significant percentage of the electricity in Japan.
Japan has the third largest nuclear energy production after the U.S. and France, and plans to produce over 40% of its electricity using nuclear power by 2010. Significant amounts of Plutonium are created as a by-product of the energy production, and Japan had 4.7 tons of plutonium in December 1995. Japan has also developed the M-5 three-stage solid fuel rocket, similar in design to the U.S. LG-118A Peacekeeper ICBM.
While there are currently no known plans in Japan to produce nuclear weapons, it has been argued Japan has the technology, raw materials, and the capital to produce nuclear weapons within one year if necessary, and some analysts consider it a "de facto" nuclear state for this reason.

[Michaelangelica]

Heard on the radio today an interview with a tattoo artist
Sailors 17 18C, 19C? England (often dragooned into service) would have an image of Jesus Christ tattooed on their backs to stop them getting the lash!

and
on TV tonight the man who wrote the words for "Amazing Grace" John? Newton was disciplined in the British Navy in 19C for being disloyal and insubordinate (I think he was dragooned too).
He traded in slaves until he was about thirty. He was the Captain of many slave ships. His health declined and he retired from the sea and then became the first English C of E minister appointed who had no university degree. (He had noble patronage) He went on to write hundreds(maybe 1,000+) of hymns.He also was a/an ( important(?)) supporter and encouraged Wilberforce in his anti-slavery campaign.

Hymns were written so they could be sung to any tune.
The tune we associate with Amazing Grace now was probably a Scottish folksong but it first came to notice in Virginia(?).

Two (at least) people sang Amazing Grace as they were going down the stairs of the Twin Towers on 911,encouraged by others trapped in the stairwell.

[alexander]

The word "fuck" was originally a quite acceptable word and was recorded in the english dictionary as early as 1598. The word most likely comes from the Old German "ficken/fucken", meaning "to strike or penetrate". Unfortunately through 1800ds the word fell behind the "veil of decency" until in 1785 it was recorded in Francis George's Dictionary of Vulgar Words...

[alexander]

And i know this doesnt really belong on the history forum, but in any case, you guys are looking for good facts to know, i think sesquipidalians fit that requirement as well.

Cool words to use (at least i use them and people are like wth did you just say) :

to absquatulate - to depart
flocinaucinihilipilification - is an estimation of something as being worthless
honorificabilitudinitatibus - honorableness
licentious or lewd - going beyond customary or propper bounds
yclept - called, named, styled

there is more...

[Michaelangelica]

alexander said:

The word "fuck" was originally a quite acceptable word and was recorded in the english dictionary as early as 1598. The word most likely comes from the Old German "ficken/fucken", meaning "to strike or penetrate". Unfortunately through 1800ds the word fell behind the "veil of decency" until in 1785 it was recorded in Francis George's Dictionary of Vulgar Words...

Anglo saxon words were felt to be uncooth by the Normans. Hence we have many duplicate words for the same thing 'pig' 'pork' etc.
When the historical, old, charming, folk-songs talk of lads and lasses getting into "country matters" you can imagine what they are talking about.

Much English archeology is based on the 'place names' of localities. The names can indicate who was living in those places -anglo ,celt, norman,viking, saxon etc. There is even an eridite journal on 'place names'.

So much history for such a tiny island.

[Turtle]

Church clerics tried unsuccessfully to block people from using Ben Franklin's invention, the lightning rod, on religious grounds.

[ughaibu]

July 21st, 1950.
An elephant fell from the Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen (the world's earliest, still employed, monorail) into the river Wupper.

[Michaelangelica]

Modern history
There are now 3,000 accessories available to buy for the mac ipod

[InfiniteNow]

Turtle said:

Church clerics tried unsuccessfully to block people from using Ben Franklin's invention, the lightning rod, on religious grounds.

These religious grounds, do they differ somehow from earth grounds or equipment grounds?




God's favorite smiting tool is lightning... maybe the church clerics had something to hide?

[Turtle]

InfiniteNow said:

These religious grounds, do they differ somehow from earth grounds or equipment grounds?




God's favorite smiting tool is lightning... maybe the church clerics had something to hide?

You hoist me on my own petard!? I acknowledge your adept wordsmithery. In point of fact, at the time of Franklin's invention the tallest buildings in Europe (and the US) were churches. When a thunderstorm approached, the habit was to send bell-ringers into the church to peel out a warning and as a result many were struck by lightning and killed. Only when the puplic complained did the churchy's stop the practice, but they continued to protest Franklin's rod. Spare the rod and spoil the child, or burn him to a frazzle.

[Michaelangelica]

Turtle said:

You hoist me on my own petard!? .

I recently said that to a guy I was accusing of ageism in his writing on the net.(being smart)
It turned out he was 90.
You can't win them all:doh:

This Quirky History fact surprised me. I thought that the link between the plague rat/fleas/man and the plague (Bubonic) had been made before the 20C. Not so
It turns out that the link between infected rat/fleas/man was made by two New South Wales (later to become a state of Australia) men, J. Ashburton Thompson and Frank Tidswell.
Their discovery followed an outbreak of bubonic plaque in the Rocks area of early Sydney in 1900. It was spread by fleas from infected rats that had come ashore from ships. Once the link to rats was realised quarantine measures were taken and thousands of rats destroyed. The disease was eradicated in Australia by 1906:)

I believe there are still deaths from Bubonic plague in USA today.

[alexander]

The word barbarian was used by romans to describe those who did not spealk Greek

According to tradition, the first engineer to build a bridge across the Tiber in Ancient Rome was given the name Pontifex, meaning "bridge builder." The Pontifex was seen as someone who "connects" people, and that symbolism was so powerful that Roman high priests--including Julius Caesar--later adopted the title Pontifex Maximus. During the Roman Imperial age, the emperor was always the Pontifex Maximus. The title eventually passed from Roman emperors to the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the Pope still carries the title Pontifex Maximus.

Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

Everyone in the Middle Ages believed that the heart was the seat of intelligence.

Napoleon took 14,000 French decrees and simplified them into a unified set of 7 laws. This was the first time in modern history that a nation's laws applied equally to all citizens. Napoleon's 7 laws are so impressive that by 1960 more than 70 governments had patterned their own laws after them or used them verbatim.

[Michaelangelica]

alexander said:

The word barbarian was used by romans to describe those who did not spealk Greek

and Latin?
because thay Bar . . Bar. Bar. babbled
(Their speach sounded like babble-is there a Roman word for that?)

[Michaelangelica]

ughaibu said:

July 21st, 1950.
An elephant fell from the Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen (the world's earliest, still employed, monorail) into the river Wupper.

Why?

Do elephants often take trips on monorails and swan dive into rivers?