Cool Fact of the Day
Smog Monument
What town has a monument commemorating its smog?
In 1948 the town of Denora, Pennsylvania had a steel mill with blast and open hearth furnaces,
a zinc smelter, a wire mill, and two nail galvanizing plants. Between them, they released enough
air pollution to darken the skies, and accumulated grime had to be frequently washed from the
walls by Denora's citizens.
Denora's smog reached a peak during an extended thermal inversion between October 27 and
31, in which a warm layer of air hovered over the town. Because the town lies in a valley
surrounded by hills the pollution was completely trapped, becoming ever more toxic. During that
tragic event 6,000 of Denora's 14,000 residents became ill, 20 died immediately, and 30 more
died later.
The Killer Smog of Denora was a wake-up call. The Surgeon General declared that smog was
a health hazard, helping to trigger the creation of the Clean Air Act and other laws to protect the
environment. Today there is a monument in Denora commemorating the deadly smog of 1948.
The health effects of air pollution:
igc.org
One measure of air pollution is opacity, the amount of light that can pass through the
atmosphere:
eta-is-opacity.com
Air pollution is even a problem in the remote Arctic:
features.learningkingdom.com
Cool Word of the Day
gimcrackery [n. JIM-krak-uh-ree]
Gimcrackery means a display of cheap or showy objects or useless trinkets. (The individual
objects themselves can be called gimcracks.) Example: "The shelves of her grandmother's home
were filled with gimcrackery and family photographs."
Near synonyms of gimcrack include knick-knack, gew-gaw, bauble, and trinket.
The word first appeared in English between 1770 and 1780 and is of unknown origin. It may
have come from the Middle English gibecrake (small ornament).
Person of the Day
Mary Katherine Goddard, 1738-1816
pioneering newspaper publisher, editor, postmaster
In an era when few women rose to prominence, Mary Goddard was a striking exception. The
Connecticut native became a noted newspaper publisher and editor, and may have been the first
American woman to serve as postmaster, a position she held in Baltimore, Maryland from 1775
until 1789.
Goddard began her career in Providence, Rhode Island, at a print shop owned by her brother.
She later worked with her brother in Philadelphia and Baltimore, where she joined him in the
newspaper business. While in Baltimore, she was credited as being both the editor and the
publisher of the "Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser."
It was that newspaper which, on February 19, 1783, announced that the British had agreed to
recognize the legitimacy of the United States of America -- the first newspaper in the fledgling
country to do so. Previously, Mary Goddard was among the first to report on the Battle of
Bunker Hill in 1775, and in 1777 she published the first printed copy of the Declaration of
Independence listing its signers.
More about Mary Katherine Goddard:
baltimoremd.com
Quotes of the Day
Sincerity; Some thoughts on sincerity:
"The primary condition for being sincere is the same as for being humble: not to boast of it, and
probably not even to be aware of it."
-- Henri Peyre, French novelist
"Sincerity is an opening of the heart, found in very few people. What we usually see is merely a
cunning deceit to gain another's confidence."
-- La Rochefoucauld, French epigrammatist and moralist
"The spontaneity of a slap is sincerity, whereas the ceremony of a caress is largely
conventional."
-- Ugo Betti, Italian writer
Gizmo of the Week
Transistor
A transistor is an electronic device invented by the team of William Shockley, John Bardeen,
and Walter Brattain at the Bell Telephone laboratories in 1947.
Like the vacuum tube, the transistor is able to amplify an electric current, detect radio waves,
and serve as a switch. However, unlike the vacuum tube, the transistor is highly reliable,
requires little power, turns on instantly, and is cheap to manufacture. As well, a transistor has
high vibration and shock tolerance while occupying little space. These qualities made the
transistor particularly suited to its first commercial application -- the hearing aid.
A year later, in 1954, transistor radios appeared, and a little later, the first transistorized
computers. In 1956, Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain shared the Nobel Prize for their invention.
A tutorial on transistor operation:
netcentral.co.uk
Today in History
May 9th
1671: Blood Stole Crown Jewels from the Tower of London
Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as Colonel Blood, stole the crown jewels from
the Tower of London with the help of his friends. The gang managed to make their way out of
the Tower, but were soon apprehended. Tried and found guilty, Blood convinced King Charles
II that his death would set off a revolution and was subsequently pardoned.
Some believe that Blood worked as a double agent:
clarelibrary.ie
1754: First U.S. Published Political Cartoons Appeared
The first published political cartoons in the American colonies appeared in The Pennsylvania
Gazette, a newspaper founded by Benjamin Franklin. Many of the early cartoons did not have
the element of satire so common in today's political cartoons.
Examples of early cartoons:
earlyamerica.com
1936: Italy Formally Annexed Abyssinia
After an 8-month occupation, the fascist government of Italy formally annexed Abyssinia, now
Ethiopia. Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini announced in front of 400,000 people at the Piazza
Venezia in Rome that by controlling Abyssinia, Eritrea, and Somaliland, Italy now had its own
Empire.
More about Mussolini:
ftp.bbc.co.uk
1945: Surrender of Germany to Allied Forces Began
The unconditional surrender of Germany to the Allied forces began, which virtually ended World
War II. The surrender document was signed the day before, in what became known as the
Victory in Europe (V-E) Day. A separate German surrender to the USSR was signed near
Berlin, Germany, and also came into effect on May 9th.
A photograph of the celebration:
historyplace.com
1950: "Schuman Declaration" Initiated European Integration
The Second World War had only been over for five years when French Foreign Minister Robert
Schuman presented an address to the international press outlining a plan for an unprecedented
level of cooperation between nations that had so recently been locked in mortal combat. Citing
the economic advantages to all parties and the need to overcome the legacy of conflict and
mistrust, Schuman called on European countries to coordinate and pool their coal and steel
production "as the first concrete foundation of a European Federation." He proposed that
Germany join the organization on an equal footing, a proposal that was gladly accepted by
German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
Within three years the European Coal and Steel Community was established along the lines that
Schuman suggested, and four years later the Treaty of Rome established the European
Economic Community (EEC), with Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and
France as members. The EEC has now evolved into the European Union, and in addition to the
six original members, it has added Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, and the United Kingdom to its membership, with five former Iron-Curtain nations under
consideration as candidate members.
The European Union has emerged as a "European Federation" very much in keeping with
Schuman's vision: within the Union, goods, services, capital, and people now move freely, and a
single currency is being introduced. Thus the "Schuman Declaration" is seen as the start of the
process of European integration, and May 9 has been celebrated as European Day.
In a sense Robert Schuman was ideally suited for the role he took in helping the former enemy
nations overcome the past and embark on an era of cooperation. His family came from
Lorraine, and he was a German national for the first 33 years of his life, until Lorraine reverted
to France in 1918.
1960: "The Pill" Approved By FDA
Margaret Sanger (1883-1966) was an American nurse who opened the first birth-control clinic
in the U.S. in 1916 and founded the organization that later became Planned Parenthood
Federation. Believing that women's social advancement depended on their taking control of their
own reproductive lives, she wanted to encourage the development of a more practical and
effective alternative to the contraceptives currently in use. In 1950, when Sanger's friend
Katherine McCormick inherited more than $15 million from her husband, she consulted Sanger
on how to put the legacy to good use. Sanger urged her to use the money to subsidize the
scientific research into oral contraceptives. As one of the first female graduates of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McCormick was able to make knowledgeable decisions
about funding research.
Supported by Katherine McCormick's funds, Gregory Pincus, a biochemist at the Worcester
Foundation for Experimental Biology, and John Rock, a gynecologist at Harvard Medical School,
developed a hormone-based birth-control pill that used synthetic progesterone and estrogen to
repress ovulation in women. The clinical tests that started in 1954 yielded good results, and by
1960 the pill was ready for commercial production, subject to approval by the Food and Drug
Administration. On May 9, 1960 the FDA formally approved Enovid-10, the world's first
commercially produced birth-control pill. It quickly became known as simply "The Pill."
Oral contraceptives have since been used by the majority of American women and have had an
enormous impact on our society and on the feminist movement.
Read more about The Pill's development and its impact:
allsouthwest.com
Holidays & Events
May 9
Royal Windsor Horse Show, Victory Day
ENGLAND: ROYAL WINDSOR HORSE SHOW
The Royal Windsor Horse Show was founded in 1943 as a means to raise money for the war
effort. It started out as a dog and horse show but legend has it that a disobedient dog stole some
chicken from King George VI's plate during the ceremonies. The pup's dastardly deed prompted
a ruling banning dogs from the show. To this day the British Royal family continues to support
and even compete in this event, Britain's largest outdoor equestrian show.
Official site of the Royal Windsor Horse Show:
royal-windsor-horse-show.co.uk
A feature on the 2000 show:
thejoyofhorses.com
RUSSIA: VICTORY DAY
May 9 is celebrated as Victory Day in Russia. It marks the end of World War II and honors
Russians who died in the war. This national holiday is marked by military parades, speeches, and
rallies throughout the country. War veterans wear their medals and are presented with flowers
by children. The day ends with fireworks.
The Soviet Union named it the Great Patriotic War:
vor.ru
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