The Whitest Marble in the World

Photo of the Lincoln Memorial courtesy 123rf.com

The marble used in the beautiful Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C. comes from my home state, Alabama.  Alabama marble is the state stone, and is mentioned in the state song (yes, states have representative stones like they have state flowers, state birds, etc.).  This marble is used in banks and other buildings throughout the United States and the world.  It has been called the whitest marble in the world, and rivals the wonderful Italian marble.  For more information click here1 and click here2 and click here3.  What did you learn today?

Largest Colorless Diamond in the World

Photo of the Tower of London at night courtesy 123rf.com

The largest colorless diamond in the world is the Cullinan I.  The 530.20-carat pear-shaped diamond is in a scepter that is part of the British Crown Jewels, which are located in the Tower of London and are on public display except when in use by Queen Elizabeth II.  For more information click here and click here.

What did you learn today?

15 Sedona Vortexes

Photo of Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona courtesy 123rf.com

Iron ore, silicon dioxide, and sandstone content in rocks can cause rocks to have a magnetic field.  In Sedona, Arizona there are 15 locations that exhibit intense positive or negative magnetic fields, powerful enough to cause the human body to react.  These areas are called vortexes and are sought out by people for physical-health and spiritual reasons.  For more information click here and click here.

The First Photograph of the Moon

The earliest extant photograph of the moon:  Draper, John W., “First Astronomical Photograph - Draper's Moon Daguerreotype,” Greenwich Village History, accessed January 6, 2012, http://aphdigital.org/GVH/items/show/119.

On this day in 1839, French photographer Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (1789–1851) took the first photograph of the moon.  This photograph was burned in the March 8, 1839 fire that destroyed Daguerre's laboratory.  The photograph was actually a daguerreotype, an early method of photography named after Louis Daguerre.  During this photographic process a silver-coated copper plate is treated with iodine vapor.  Prior to this invention, pictures of the moon for texts and articles had to be drawn by hand.

My favorite moon photos are those with astronauts walking around, because they make me imagine what that might feel like.  What are your favorite moon photos?

The Tower of London

Photo courtesy FreeImages

The central White Tower in the Tower of London, a castle keep, was built by the Norman, William the Conqueror (1028-1087), to signify the power he had over the Anglo-Saxons he had recently conquered at the Battle of Hastings.  Crowned William I on Christmas Day in 1066, he was the first Norman King of England.  Lacking confidence in the strength of the local building materials, William imported Caen stone from Normandy and built the edifice on top of Roman ruins, another move to signify his power over the country.  For more information, see the Royal Armouries Museum website.

If you have been to the Tower of London, what is your favorite area?

Where is the Driest Desert on Earth?

Photo courtesy of FreeImageFinder.com

The Atacama Desert is a 600-mile (1,000 km) strip of land on the South American Pacific Coast, running through Chile and Peru.  Outlying less-dry areas of the desert run through Bolivia and Argentina.  The Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world with no rainfall having been recorded since rainfall records began being kept.  It is also the highest desert on earth, and one of the coldest deserts on earth.  Since certain bacteria and sea-life fossils have been found in gypsum boulders (similar to rocks on the planet Mars), it is believed that the Atacama Desert was once underwater.

For more information in addition to the above links, see the websites of the Gypsum Association and the ALMA telescope, which is the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope erected in the Atacama Desert by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The World's Best Diamonds Are...

Photo of the Hope Diamond courtesy of the Smithsonian

Most people in the U.S. know that the largest deep blue diamond in the world, the Hope Diamond, is housed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.  What you may not know--I did not know--is that it is believed to have been mined from the legendary and now depleted Golconda diamond mine in India.  The diamonds that came from the Golconda mine are identified by a complete lack of nitrogen, making them the most beautiful diamonds in existence, with their own special classification of IIa.  Only 2% of all diamonds qualify for this classification.  Golconda diamonds are some of the largest diamonds in the world, and are also characterized by their unique "old-world" cuts.

The Golconda mines were opened in about the 4th century B.C., and were depleted by the mid-1800's.  Some of the most famous diamonds in the world come from the mine, including the pink Darya-i-Nur (Sea of Light) that is set in a brooch, and the pink Noor-ol-Ain that is set in a tiara, both of which are in the collection of the Iranian Crown Jewels; and the Orlov that is set in the sceptre of Catherine the Great.

For more information, see the DiamondVues website, and the AllAboutGemstones website.