Tag: History

• July 22, 2020

  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…
• July 21, 2020

  Gung Ho!

  Possible ads: US Marine interests, World War 2, dictionaries, etc. Gung Ho! Is a term associated with the U.S. Marines. The word has come to mean someone who has a strong attitude and dedication to some cause. It still has an association with the Marines, although it’s mostly historic, centering on World War 2. Gung…
• July 21, 2020

  The Brazil Nut Effect

  Ever open a can of mixed fancy nuts, and find all the Brazil nuts on the top, with all the tasty nuts on the bottom? This is popularly called “The Brazil Nut Effect.” People usually think that the largest and heaviest nuts should be on the bottom of the can. That’s not the case, though/…
• July 20, 2020

  The Yellowstone Caldera

  Yellowstone National Park is famous worldwide for features like geysers and hot springs. These spectacular phenomena are caused by geothermal activity deed under the park. It’s a big park, some 3,472 square miles, mostly in Wyoming. There is a huge lake of magma—molten rock—under the Park, called the Yellowstone Caldera. It is big, very big.…
• July 20, 2020

  Wampum

  Wampum was a kind of ceremonial money used by peoples native to the east and northeast of what is now the United States. It was made by stringing cylindrical beads made from the shells of several kinds of shellfish.  White beads were made from the shell of the Channeled whelk and purple beads from the…
• July 19, 2020

  Deadly and Small, the Derringer

  Some people’s names come to be used as the names of things, like Ah Bing and the Bing Cherry. That’s the case with “derringer,” which means a very small pistol.  The original derringer was invented in 1852 in Philadelphia. The inventor was Henry Deringer (1786-1868). The inventor’s name, with a slight change in spelling, came…