This blog is about everything and anything. Every day we find out something new and want to share our new knowledge with you so that you can say: "Oh really? I never knew that". Just like we did.
The word "snake" originates from Proto-Indo-European (language believed to have been spoken about 4000 BC) "snag- (sneg-)" which means "to crawl, creeping thing".
There are about 2,700 species of snakes, of these 375 are venomous (with about 250 able to kill a human). It is estimated that lightning kills more people than snake venom.
Snakes are found in many habitats including in the water, forests, deserts and prairies, but most snakes are found in tropical regions.
A land snake considered by many herpetologists (specialist dealing with reptiles and amphibians) to be the most venomous is the inland taipan (also known as the Inland Taipan). Its bite can contain enough venom to kill 200,000 mice (or 100 adult humans).
Green symbolizes growth, renewal, health, and environment. But it is also a colour of jealousy or envy and inexperience.
Being the colour of growth, green also symbolizes prosperity. It is the colour of the back of U.S. currency (greenback), and thus carries a connotation of money and wealth.
In heraldry green represents youth and hope.
There are twenty seven shades of green, including Brunswick Green, Lime, Pine Green, and Swamp Green. The human eye discerns the most shades in that color.
The flag of Libya is plain green with no design or insignia. Currently, it is the only national flag in the world with just one color.
The tenpin bowling was originally a rather popular game with nine pins in Europe. It was carried to the United States with Dutch settlers in that format.
In the US ninepin bowling soon become popular and attracted so many sleazy gamblers, that it was eventually prohibited by the gambling law in Connecticut. So, people just added an extra bowling pin to evade this law.
The first standardized rules of the game were established in New York in 1895, the same year the American Bowling Congress was formed. In 1917 was founded the Women's International Bowling Congress.
The first rubber bowling ball was introduced in 1905, until then the balls were made of hard wood called 'lignum vitae'. Today the tenpin bowling balls should weigh between 10 and 16 pounds (4.5 to 7.2 kg), and have a diameter of 8.5 inches (21.6 cm).
The first friction match was invented by English chemist John Walker in 1827. This matches produced rather unpleasant odour when burning, and in 1831, Frenchman Charles Sauria added poisonous white phosphorus to remove the smell. The workers involved in production of these dangerous new matches suffered phossy jaw, a type of bone cancer, while young girls carrying boxes of matches on their heads were bald by age 15.
Early matches were made manually, and a diligent worker could produce about 5000 match sticks per hour.
Sweden is now the biggest producer of matches in the world. In the United States the largest wooden match manufacturer is Diamond. It produces 12 billion matches each year.
The modern ball point pen was invented in 1938 by the Hungarian journalist Laszlo Josef Biro who first tried using the ink used in newspaper printing in a fountain pen. It did not work out though, as the too thick ink would not flow into the nib. So, together with his brother, a chemist, he developed a new kind of pen, which used a freely moving ball as a nib.
Biro patented his invention in 1938 in Paris after fleeing Hungary, and in 1943, when the family moved to Argentine the other patent was filed.
Then a British government official decided that the new pens worked much better than fountain pens at high altitude, and bought the British licensing rights soon after the patent was filed. (The question is though why the aircrews needed the pens at high altitude?)
Laszlo Biro is so highly respected in Argentina that Argentina's Inventor's Day is celebrated on Biro's birthday, September 29.
See the Biromash, ballpoint pen drawing, at biro-art.com.
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