Discover Something New #3

Sunday: The nation of Japan consists of 4 main islands. But the nation covers over 3000 separate islands altogether.

Monday: All across the eastern US there are 1000s of earthen mounds, which were “discovered” by Europeans when they first arrived in America. They are basically big piles of dirt, but who could make them? Monk’s Mound in Illinois is 70 feet (21m) and covers as much area as the largest pyramid in Egypt. Serpent Mound in Ohio is in the shape of a snake, is 5 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and over 1330 feet long (1.5m X 6m X 405m). Another mound is in the shape of a bird that is 70 feet high and 700 feet wide (21m X 210m). The oldest are at least 2000 years old, and some believe them to be constructed as early as 3500 BC! And many of them had beautiful sculpture and ancient skeletons inside (http://www.ohioarch.org/PastArticles8.htm) So who build them? Well, Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries had dozens of theories. Maybe it was Vikings, or some other early European. People suggested that Egyptians, or Chinese, Hindus, Africans, Greeks, the people of lost Atlantis, or the Lost Tribe of Israel built them. One pastor even claimed that the Snake Mound was built by God to mark the place of the Garden of Eden. Anything was possible, except the Native American Indians. Maybe because this was during the time when whites were trying to claim Indian land as quickly as possible, and they didn’t want to think about Indians having a “civilized” history. Instead everyone like the idea that a civilized race of people had lived in America before, and the Indians had destroyed them. To make a long story short, (too late!), it wasn’t until 1894 that a Smithsonian researcher released his official opinion that the Indians had built the mounds. By then the Mound Building Civilization had indeed been destroyed.

Tuesday: For a population of 300 million in the USA, only about 1.8% of the population is engaged in farming to provide food.

Wednesday: Have you ever asked a small child “what does a doggie say?” Well, be careful, because what about animals from other languages? Think it doesn’t matter? Think again! It seems that even animals suffer from the language barrier, since they also speak different languages! (spellings are for how they sound in English, not the correct spelling in the language)
Dog Cat Pig Cow Frog Duck
English: Woof! Meow! Oink! Mooo! Ribbit! Quack!
Czech: HafHaf! Mnyaw! KroKro! Buuu! Kunyk! Kvak!
Japanese: Wan! Nya! Booo! Moe! KeroKero! Gwa!
French: Ouah! Miaou! Groin! Meuh! CoaCoa! CoinCoin!
(For many more, see: http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/)

Thursday: Did you know that if you put a heavy bookcase filled with books over your internet network cable, it can dramatically slow your connection speed? I didn’t!

Friday: All you Americans probably remember “Freedom Fries,” right? For everyone else, during the beginning of the war with Iraq, France didn’t like the idea of the war at all, and tried to stop America from going to war. During this time it became so popular and patriotic to dislike France that some restaurants renamed “French Fries” and called them “Freedom Fries!” Well, apparently this isn’t such a new idea. When America entered WWI against Germany in 1917, The Committee on Public Information officially announced that sauerkraut was now to be called “Liberty Cabbage.” Fortunately, neither name stuck.

Saturday: When Lenin rose to power in during WWI, his main goal was to stop the fighting with Germany. This was very popular with the Russian people, but not so popular with France and England, who would then be left to face the full force of Germany’s armies. Lenin was so focused on an end to the conflict, in fact, that the leaders of Western countries were absolute sure that Lenin was a German spy sent to “hijack” Russia’s part in the war. The interesting thing is that this theory is not as crazy as it sounds. Lenin moved to Austria in 1913, right before the war began (Austria and Germany were fighting together), where he was arrested one year later as a revolutionary. But he was released surprisingly quickly and allowed to live in Switzerland (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSlenin.htm). When he wanted to join the revolution in Russia in 1917, specifically to call the people to stop the fighting, he made a deal with Germany to travel on a sealed German train through Germany to Russia. (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/556/redscandals.htm) When he wrote a peace treaty with Germany he gave 25% of all Russian territory to Germany, which certainly didn’t change any opinions in France or England. Today, this theory is alive and well. At the events for 80 years after Lenin’s death, a reported asked on Russian man what he thought of Lenin. “I don't even know how to put it in respectable words” the man answered “he's a German spy who took power without the slightest idea about what to do with that power.” (http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/01/7840e170-c08c-46ac-80b1-b98eaf4e792e.html) Well, who knows?