The honey bee, Apis mellifera, became the official state insect in 1983 through the lobbying efforts of a fifth grade class. The honey bee is significant in Utah history, as Utah was first called by its Mormon settlers, “The Provisional State of Deseret,” a Book of Mormon word meaning honey bee.
Five U.S. states do not, apparently, have a designated official state insect: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island. According to WP, anyway.
The Lord Howe Island stick insect is one of the largest of all insects, reaching almost six inches in length. It was thought extinct in 1920, after rats were introduced on Lord Howe Island, but was rediscovered in 2001 on the barren Ball’s Pyramid about 14 miles from Lord Howe. A group of four were taken to Australia and the breeding program has brought their population to 9000. There is currently some debate about reintroducing them to Lord Howe Island, but the rats are still there. The insect is unusual in the insect world in that males and females pair bond, even sleeping with they male’s legs curled around the female.
The “honey trap” is a ploy often used by intelligence and counter-intelligence services; the trap can be either male or female. For example, in 1986 when Mordechai Vanunu was on the verge of giving evidence of Israel’s nuclear weapons to British newspapers he was lured to Rome for a romantic tryst by “Cindy”, actually Mossad agent Cheryl Ben Tov, and then abducted. (Vanunu ended up serving 18 years in Israeli prison, 11 years of it in solitary confinement.)
The beautifully euphonious word ‘mellifluous’ comes from the Latin words mel (‘honey’) and fluere (‘to flow’).
The Hindu ritual Aśvamedhá (अश्वमेध) is an elaborate ritual performed only by the King. An old stallion is set free to wander for one year, accompanied by a hundred of the Kingdom’s finest young men, then brought home for celebrations and ritual sacrifice. The word Aśvamedhá comes from the roots for ‘horse’ and ‘mead’ because in the oldest form of the ritual the King would take a bath with the slaughtered horse immersed in fermented honey.
The ancient Druidic religion of Ireland practiced a very similar ritual; the Gaulish personal name Epomedeus is considered cognate to Aśvamedhá. This is just one of several strong clues that the Druidic and Hindu religions had a common source.
The “Italian Stallion” is a nickname for movie character Rocky Balboa, first played in 1976 by Sylvester Stallone. It was also an alternative title for Stallone’s 1970 film debut and first starring role, in a soft porn movie titled The Party at Kitty and Stud’s. In that role Stallone worked for two days and was paid $200.
When Sen. Walter Mondale (D-Minn.) was selected by Jimmy Carter as his running mate in 1976, he wrote a memo to Carter laying out his expectations of his service as Vice President, if elected. The memo has since become something of a template for successful Presidential-Vice Presidential partnerships.
Walter Mondale has been retired from the Vice Presidency for more than 34 years. This is the most ever of any US VP.
On this day, 34 years ago (3 April 1981) the Osborne 1 personal computer was introduced at the 7th annual West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco. It preceded the launch of the IBM Personal Computer by almost four months.
When the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series, it was their third championship in five years: 2010, 2012, and 2014. The Giants became only the second National League team to ever do this, and the first in 68 years. The last time it was done was during the World War II years when the St. Louis Cardinals won championships in 1942, 1944 and 1946.
The Yomiuri Giants, based in the Bunkyo section of Tokyo, are the oldest franchise in the Japanese major leagues. Their name and logo, in English, were based on the New York (now San Francisco) Giants. Their chief rival is the Osaka-based Hanshin Tigers.
One of the most famous incidents in the hsitory of the New York Giants came in the bottom of the ninth in the final game of the 1951 playoff when Bobby Thomson hit an easy fast-ball over the fence against the Brooklyn Dodgers thereby winning the pennant. In the on-deck circle for the Giants was rookie Willie Mays, who went on to become the greatest player who ever lived.
The second greatest baseball player ever, Babe Ruth, died at the young age of 53. Cancer got him. Because of his fame, Ruth had access to some experimental cancer treatments, and he was one of the first cancer patients to be treated with both chemotherapy and radiation. Prior to that, cancer patients were typically treated with one of the other, but not both.
The Sporting News shows Ty Cobb as the 3rd greatest baseball player ever; however their objectivity may be questioned since they show Mays at #2 behind Ruth.
The harbour wall at Lyme Regis in England is known as ‘The Cobb’. It is the setting of one of the more dramatic incidents in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ was a 1969 hit for Tommy James and the Shondells. Although one of their biggest hits, they claim it is NOT a song about crystal meth or acid, but was inspired by the Bible.
The song has been in on the soundtrack for numerous TV shows and at least 6 feature films. It has been covered many times, by artists like Concrete Blond and Tito Puente.
A 15th wedding anniversary is a ‘crystal’ anniversary.
May be questioned? May be?
Please continue the game.
The National Park Service is encouraging bell-ringing across the country on April 9 for the 150th anniversary of Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House: Join the National Park Service in Ringing “Bells across the Land: A Nation Remembers Appomattox” - Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for “maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people.” In 2012–2013, the National Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, and an additional 15,506 metres of manuscript material.
The Library is located on the shores of Lake Burley-Griffin in Canberra.