Oldest & Youngest Modern Olympics Medal Winners

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The oldest Olympics medal winner was Oscar Swahn of Sweden.  At the age of 72 years and 281 days he won a silver medal in shooting in 1920.

The youngest Olympics medal winner was Inge Sorensen from Denmark.  At the age of 12 she won a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in 1936.

For more information click here to view the fabulous TopEnd Sports: The Sports & Science Resource website.  What did you learn today?

England and the Father of the Modern Olympics

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Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-937) was a French aristocrat, who chose as his occupation the life of an intellectual, became an educator and historian, and wrote on many topics including education, history, literature, and sociology.  He was profoundly impressed by the physical education opportunities in England, and helped to promote and expand them there, but was not successful in convincing France to do the same.  He romanticized Ancient Greece, and also had strong views about physical education and its effect on society.  All these interests, his theories about physical education, and his idealism caused him to want to revive the Olympic Games, to found the International Olympic Committee, and to take an active part in the administration of the beginning of the modern Olympic games.

The Pierre de Coubertin Medal, also known as The True Spirit of Sportsmanship Medal, is considered the highest award given at the modern Olympics, even higher than any gold medal.

There is a statue of him at the Gateway of Dreams in the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.  There is also a statue of him where he was buried in Lausanne, the seat of the foundation of the modern Olympics; but as he desired, his heart was buried in a monument near the Olympia ruins, the site of the Ancient Greek Olympics.

For more information click here. and click here.  What did you learn today?

Why Male Cats Are Called Tomcats

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Male cats used to be called "rams" or "boars" until a popular novel was published in 1760 about a cat named Tom.  The Life and Adventures of a Cat has been attributed to the British author William Guthrie, but authorship hasn't been verified.  For more information click here.  For more terms relating to cats click here.

What did you learn today?

Multiple Prizes for the Victors of the Ancient Greek Olympics

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No mere medal was awarded to the winners of the Ancient Greek Olympics.  The prizes were as follows:

1.  500 drachmai, which was a fortune at the time.

2.  A wreath made of olive sprigs, which was the favored plant of the patron god of the games, and was highly prized by the victors as it was believed to carry mystical powers.

3.  A free meal in the City Hall every day for the rest of their lives.

4.  A statue of themselves erected at Olympia's holy sanctuary for the gods that included their name, the names of their family members, and the city where they lived, which would insure their fame and guarantee their heroic status for eternity.

5.  A poem written by a famous poet of the day, which would spread their fame and insure their eternal heroic status.

For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Olympics' Symbols and Facts

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The five Olympics rings stand for the five continents that participate in the Olympics:  Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.  The colors of the rings in the Olympic flag--blue, yellow, black, green, red--were chosen because at least one of those colors is found on the flag of every nation.  205 countries will participate in this year's Olympics.  The motto of the Olympics is "Swifter, Higher, Stronger".  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Who Was At The Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

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Many famous people from all walks of life participated in the ancient Olympic Games including Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Demosthenes, Hippocrates, and other physicians, philosophers, musicians, artists, historians, poets, and more.  Married women were not allowed to attend the games until after Kallipateira the Pherenice taught her son the art of fighting and trained him for the games, where he won and she was discovered in attendance dressed as a man, and thereafter all women were allowed to attend.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Where the Olympic Flag Lives

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At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor of the current host city passes the flag on to the mayor of the next host city, and the flag remains displayed in the town hall of the next host city for four years, until the next Olympic Games.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

How the District of Columbia Got Its Name

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On this day in 1790 the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, was established as the seat of American government with the signing of the Residence Bill.  The city, Washington, was named in honor of President George Washington during his presidency.  The district, District of Columbia, was a feminine form of Columbus, which was used after the Revolutionary War in patriotic poetry and songs describing America and her being a land of freedom.


For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Lemon-Aide...

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My favorite lemon is the Meyer lemon, almost edible right off the tree, more lemon flavor than pucker.  I was first introduced to the Meyer lemon when I lived in San Jose, California, where more houses have citrus trees in their back yards than don't.  Indeed, I had a Meyer lemon tree in my yard, frozen lemon juice in my freezer, and more lemon pies, cakes, bars, butters, sauces, and lemonade than I and my friends could keep in our iceboxes, so most of those spent a lot of time in our freezers, too.

Very often I enjoy what the French call lemon presse or citron presse (click here for the recipe; I make mine with delicious Kal Pure Stevia Extract, not that bad junk sold in grocery stores).  I drink it especially when I've had a heavy meal or my stomach just isn't feeling quite right.  Being in a small city in East Texas right now, I don't have regular access to Meyer lemons except when I travel, so I often substitute limes in this hot drink.

Some doctors have been touting the health benefits of lemons, and I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago that some doctor said if everyone drank a lemon presse without the sugar every day we could virtually wipe out inflammation and illness.  Click here for more ideas about the curative powers of lemons.

So, what didn't I know about lemons:  the native home of lemons is unknown, but many suspect that it is India.  By 200 A.D. lemon trees were introduced in Italy, and by 1300 they were cultivated widely throughout the Mediterranean region and Asian countries.  The oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine, Florida, had lemon trees producing fruit by its founding in 1565.

Click here for more information about lemons.  By the way, click here for the best recipes using Kal Pure Stevia Extract.  What did you learn today?

How Turks & Caicos Got Their Name

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The Turks and Caicos Islands are located in the Caribbean Ocean.  One of the stories concerning their name is: "Turks" comes from the native cactus shaped like a fez; and the term "caya hico" meaning "string of islands".  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

How The Heart Got Its Shape

The shape of the heart symbol, which symbolizes love, bears little resemblance to the human heart, so I wondered about the origin.  There are several different ideas about the origin of this symbol going back to anywhere from the 7th century BC up to the 17th century. 

One idea is the heart shape of the now-extenct silphium plant from North Africa was used for birth control in the 7th century BC, and so became associated with sex and then eventually love.

Another idea proposes that the heart-shaped ivy leaf used to decorate early Christian burial sites eventually evolved to represent human life, which was believed to be driven entirely by the heart.  The human heart was rarely seen due primarily to religious bans on autopsies and the fact that surgery as is known today did not exist.  The heart was believed to be not only the seat of life but also the seat of emotion, so the heart-shaped ivy leaf eventually became associated with the emotions of love.  Blood is red, so the monks who painted illuminations in manuscripts eventually painted the heart symbol red.

Yet another idea proposed is that 17th century Saint Mary Margaret saw the sacred heart in this shape in a dream or vision.

For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Insalata Caprese's SWISS Origins?

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Insalata Caprese is my favorite salad, and it's so pretty, too.  It's a composed salad like Salade Nicoise, which means it's assembled on a platter, not tossed in a bowl.  Many assume that because of its name the salad originated on the Isle of Capri, but some say it originated in Switzerland!  It was possibly named because a Capri native, who worked as a maitre d' at a hotel in Switzerland, had it so often that hotel patrons asked for the salad that the man from Capri made.

For more information click here and click here.  For the original recipe that also includes suggestions for wine pairings click here.  What did you learn today?

Almanacs Through The Ages

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Almanacs go back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans.  The earliest Roman almanac, the "dies fasti", listed days when legal business should and should not be conducted.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Farmer's Almanac History

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Wednesday was the first day of summer, and the summer solstice.  So, I went to The Farmer's Almanac for information, just as my grandparents and great-grandparents used to do. 

The Farmer's Almanac has been published continually since 1792, and there is something in every annual publication for everyone, no matter their occupation or location.

For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

A Dalmatian For Your Coach

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In England Dalmatians are still called English Coach Dogs or Carriage Dogs.  In the 19th century, Dalmatians were trained to run alongside coaches and carriages to chase away highwaymen (robbers), and to keep dangerous animals away from the horses.  For more information click here1 and click here2 and click here3.  What did you learn today?

The Surgeon's Chainsaw

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Surgeon Bernard Heine invented the chainsaw in 1830 to use in orthopedic surgery and brain surgery.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Time Before Clocks

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At the music convention this weekend, everyone was very much aware of the time as competitions, awards ceremonies, and other events all started strictly on time.  This made me wonder about clocks.

The first mechanical clock was erected in a tower in Italy in 1335.  Prior to this, people used water-clocks and marked candles, among other things, to keep up with the time of day.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

History of Fathers' Day

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Today is Fathers' Day in the U.S.A.  It became an official holiday in the 1970's, but people began thinking about a day to honor fathers as early as 1907, and some began celebrating it in June 1910.  It is celebrated on the third Sunday in the month of June.  For more information click here and click here.  Then click here for a chart showing the different dates Father's Day is celebrated in countries around the world.  What did you learn today? 

Kayaking History

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I have always enjoyed canoing and white-water rafting, but of late I have become a kayaking enthusiast.  Early kayaks were covered in sealskin and used primarily for hunting.  Kayaking became popular as a sport in the 1800's, and became an Olympic event in 1936.  For more inforomation click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Magna Carta Anniversary & Impact

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On this day in 1215, King John of England sealed the Magna Carta that he was forced to sign on June 10.  The Magna Carta limited the king's powers, freed the church from royal influence, enumerated citizens' liberties, limited taxation, allowed for the formation of a powerful parliament, and is considered to be the beginning of constitutional government in England.  It is considered an influence on, if not a precursor to, the American constitution.  What I didn't know is King John had no intention to honor the document, which caused the conflict that had precipitated the writing of the document to resume.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?