Tag: Discover
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Ainu: Japan’s Aborigines
The Ainu people are native to much of northern Japan, including some of the big island of Honshu and particularly the northernmost island of Hokkaido. The Ainu also inhabit Sakhalin, a Russian island north of Hokkaido, and some lived in the Kuriles, an island arc off northern Japan now occupied by Russia. The Japanese began…
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A Jumbo Size Story
Jumbo now means a large size of something, without being defined. For example, the menus of seafood restaurants often feature jumbo shrimp. Typically the size range is large, extra large, and jumbo The original Jumbo was an African elephant, captured in 1862 in the Sudan, shipped to France and in 1865 to the London Zoo.…
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Dixie Didn’t Come from Down South
“Dixie” has been another name for the US South since the before Civil War. It usually means the states of the Confederacy plus Arkansas and Kentucky, which did not join the others. “Dixie” comes from two British surveyors who in the years 1763-1767 laid out the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The surveyors were Charles…
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The Oldest Living Things are Bristlecone Pine
Bristlecones Pines are far smaller than the thousand-year old ancient redwoods or Sequoias, but can be far older. The really ancient ones live at high elevations, not far from the tree line, where growing conditions are harsh. The trees face high winds, severe cold and low rainfall. They are native to the U.S. states of…
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Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet is an impressive American naval accomplishment that is all but forgotten today. The name comes from the fact that American battleships were then painted white. The idea of an American fleet circumnavigating the globe originated with President Teddy Roosevelt, the most naval-minded of any American president. American naval strength had grown…
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Greenland Shark
The Greenland Shark lives in cold Arctic seas. The shark grows slowly, and has the longest known lifespan of any vertebrate, perhaps as long as five hundred years. These sharks are not sexually mature until they are a hundred years old—these centenarians don’t need Viagra! They are quite large, up to 21 feet in length…