Today In History - May 8

On May 8, 1886 (122 years ago) John S. Pemberton's new headache remedy, Coca-Cola, went on sale for the first time in Atlanta, GA.

Famous Swords: Durendal

Roland was a legendary figure in medieval Europe. He was popular amongst minstrels who turned his life into an epic tale of the noble Christian killed by Islamic forces. In French Medieval literature, Roland was the chief official in Charlemagne’s court, and may have been Charlemagne’s nephew. According to Ludovico Ariosto's poem, Orlando Furioso, Roland’s unbreakable sword Durendal (enchanted by various Christian relics) once belonged to Hector of Troy, and was given to Roland by Maugris.

The sword is said to contain within its hilt a tooth of Saint Peter, blood of Saint Basil, hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of holy clothing belonging to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In order to prevent it from being captured by the ambushing Saracens, Count Roland attempted to destroy the sword by beating it against rocks high in the mountains. Durendal proved indestructible, however, and he ended up cutting a narrow mountain pass in the Pyrenees now called La Brèche de Roland. When this attempt to destroy the sword failed, Roland hurled it into a poisoned stream.

Roland was later killed in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in 778, when the Basques ambushed Charlemagne’s war party returning from victory in Spain. Local folklore claims Durendal still exists, preserved in Rocamadour, France.

Wild's Maxims

During the 18th century, Jonathan Wild (1682-1725) was perhaps the most famous criminal of Great Britain. While he was the nation’s leading policeman, he organized a gang of theives to steal valuables and return them as ‘recovered items’ after the stories broke and rewards were offered. Wild would collect these rewards, and cut in the theives for a portion of the profits. Wild also made common practice of arresting members of rival gangs as theives. He manipulated the press and the nation's fears to become the most loved public figure of the 1720s – but this love turned to hate when his villainy was exposed. He was convicted and hanged in 1725.

Here are some of the maxims that guided the notorious Jonathan Wild:

• Never do more mischief than is absolutely necessary for success.
• Never forgive an enemy.
• Foment [Promote] jealousies in your gang.
• A good man, like money, must be risked in speculation.
• Keep hatred concealed in the heart, but wear the face of a friend.
• Know no distinction, but let self-interest be the one principle of action.
• Counterfeit virtues are as good as real ones, for few know paste from diamonds.

Famous Swords: Naegling

In the Old English epic poem by the same name, Beowulf, a hero of Geatland (what is now southern Sweden), battles three antagonists: Grendel, Grendel's mother and later in life (after returning to Geatland and becoming a king) a dragon. He is mortally wounded in the final battle, and after his death his body is returned to Geatland for burial.

Naegling is the name of one of the swords used by Beowulf, and the name may well stem from jeweled nails on its hilt. Beowulf wins the sword from a fight between the Geats and Frisians. The sword does not survive Beowulf's final encounter with the dragon, but instead snaps in two. An important note is that the sword breaks not because of the dragon's strength, but rather the force the hero himself puts behind it.

Ancient Greek Hand Measures

In today's world of laser levels and tape measures, it's a wonder how the ancients were able to build anything, let alone complete some of the greatest architectual acheivements in history. So how did they do it? With standard measurements, of course! But how do you measure something without a yardstick or a ruler? Well, you use what you got...

Ancient Greek Hand Measures

4 fingers.........................1 palm
12 fingers........................1 span
16 fingers........................1 foot
24 fingers........................1 cubit

Coincidentally, a "finger" measured 0.76 inches.

Beware of DARTH SCHMIDTIOUS

Recently, we bought this wireless router so we can take our Wii system online. The router has some ports in the back for additional ethernet cables, so I got the idea to hook up our Playstation 2 to expand our online gaming experience. The Playstation 2 doesn't have a wireless connection option, and ours was one of the original models, so you have to buy the network adaptor. I called around, and found a local dealer that had one. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Hi, I'm looking for a Playstation 2 network adaptor. Do you have any of those?"

Them: "Yeah, I got one - used."

Me: "Does it have the startup disk?" (I had done some research.)

Them: "Yeah, it's brand new in the box."

Me: "Oh, brand new? I thought you said used."

Them: "Yeah, sure. Brand new. Whatever."

Me: "How much is it?"

Them: "Uh, $15.49."

Me: "$15?"

Them: "Yeah, sure. $15. Plus tax."

I got the impression that if I would have wanted a used one for $10, he would have broken it out of the box and sold it to me used.

Anyhow, when I got to the "store", it was exactly what you'd expect. There were a couple of racks of used games, a TV in the corner with an XBox and some chairs, a zillion tiny electronic parts on the sales counter and two brothers (one was arguing with his mom on the phone.) I got the adaptor (new, in box) and an ethernet cable from Wal-Mart. We went home and hooked up the PS2 without incident.

Now we're playing StarWars: Battlefront online and loving it! I mean, the original game is fun, but there's something about lighting up other human players that enhances the experience. And you get the added fun of revenge.

So if anyone out there likes to play Battlefront online, watch out for DARTH SCHMIDTIOUS. That's us! The name took a little work, 'cuz we wanted something that was Star Wars-related and would work if either of us was playing. We also wanted to incorporate our own identity into it. And then there's the spelling of 'Schmidtious'. We tried 'Schmidtyous' and 'Schmidtius' before settling on 'Schmidtious'.

Famous Swords: Ascalon

In 303, the Roman Emporer Diocletian issued an edict authorizing the systematic persecution of Christians across the Empire. Count George, a member of Diocletian’s personal guard, was ordered to participate in the persecution but instead confessed to being a Christian himself and criticized the imperial decision. An enraged Diocletian ordered his torture and subsequent execution. After his death, George was venerated by Christians as a martyr of the faith. By the fifth century the cult of Saint George had reached the Western Roman Empire, and in 494, George was canonized as a saint by Pope Gelasius I.

The episode of St George and the Dragon was a legend brought back with the Crusaders and retold in the Romance genre. The sword with which St George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, named after the city of Ashkelon in Israel. In the fully-developed Western version, a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene" (perhaps modern Cyrene) in Libya. In order to collect water, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time. To do this, they offer the dragon a daily human sacrifice (the victim is chosen by drawing lots) and one day, this happened to be the princess. She begs for her life, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon just as St George is passing through on his travels. He faces the dragon, slays it and rescues the princess. The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.

Stretch Ferrari

Check out this stretch Ferrari 360 Modena. It's 23 feet long with eight seats and electric gullwing doors. It's the handiwork of Style Limousines in Manchester, England, which spent more than £200,000 modifying the rear-engined 3.6-litre V8. This limo can accelerate to 60mph in under six seconds!

Famous Swords: Angervadil

Frithiof is the main character of a legendary saga from Iceland that dates to c.1300. Frithiof “the bold” was the son of King Thorstein and the bravest among men. He had been raised together with a girl name Ingeborg by their foster-father Hilding. Both Frithiof’s and Ingeborg’s paternal fathers die in war, and Ingeborg’s two brothers (now kings) become jealous with Frithiof's excellent qualities. They deny him Ingeborg's hand and take her to another kingdom. Still, Frithiof visits Ingeborg and they continue to love each other.

The two evil brothers then send Frithiof away to another kingdom to take tribute. While he is away, they burn down his homestead and marry Ingeborg to an older king named Ring. When Frithiof returns with the tribute and learns about what has transpired, he leaves the country and becomes a Viking. After three years he returns, and spends a winter with the dying king Ring. Ring appoints Frithiof earl and makes him the care-taker of his child with Ingeborg. After Ring dies, Frithiof and Ingeborg marry and he becomes the king of Ringerike. He then declares war on Ingeborg's brothers, killing one of them with his sword, Angervadil, and making the second one his vassal.

Other Winds of Note

Most Americans are familiar with the dry Santa Ana winds of Southern California. They result from the buildup of air pressure in the high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. When upper level winds are favorable, this high altitude air mass spills out of the Great Basin and is propelled gravitationally towards the southern California coastline, generally as a northeasterly wind.

Hear are some other famous wind patterns from around the world:

• Chinook - Dry, warm westerly wind of the North American Rocky Mountains.
• Pampero - Northwesterly summer wind of the Andes.
• Puna - Violent winds of the Peruvian Puna district which last for four months.
• Samiel - Suffocating, sand-laden wind of the Sahara and Arabian deserts.
• Bora - Violent and bitter winter wind on the Adriatic Sea.
• Helm - Cold, northeasterly wind in the Vale of Eden.
• Harmattan - Violent and very dry winter wind of the African interior.
• Bise - cold north Alpine wind.
• Williwaw - Violent cold seaward wind associated with the Straits of Magellan.
• Samoor - The south wind of Persia, which ‘softens the strings of lutes’.

Famous Swords: Arondight

In the Arthurian legend, Sir Lancelot is one of the Knights of the Round Table. In most of the French romances and works, he is characterized as the greatest and most trusted of Arthur's knights, and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories – but Arthur's eventual downfall is also brought about in part by Lancelot, whose affair with Arthur's wife Guinevere destroys the unity of Arthur's court. Sir Lancelot named his legendary sword Arondight.

Today in History - March 9

On March 09, 1074 (934 years ago) all married Roman Catholic priests were excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII.

Our New Neighbors

Recently, we’ve been seeing some small birds fluttering around our hanging plant baskets in the front of our house. We just assumed they were drinking the water that had collected in the baskets. Last night, I was getting one of the baskets down to water it and a bird flew out of the thing when I went to grab it! I carefully took it down, and found the reason why the birds have been hanging around:

To give you some scale, the eggs are slightly larger than jelly beans. I know it’s just a bird’s nest, but this thing amazes us! Just think how many trips those little birds had to make to get all those sticks and straws up into the basket, and then form it into an almost perfectly round nest. I guess they didn’t approve of the shoddy birdhouse I built in the backyard. Or maybe they were just looking for a better location with a nicer view. Anyhow, we’re excited to have some new neighbors.

We were careful not to touch the nest or the eggs, and after we gave the plant some water we cautiously hung the basket back up. I knew the parents were concerned about their new home, because one of them tried to fly back to the basket before I got it all the way hung up!

As it turns out, the nest is right in front of our bedroom window, so later in the spring I’m sure we’ll hear the tiny screeches of baby birds in the morning. I don’t think it will bother us, though, because we’ve got parakeets that love to sing and screech, and we can pretty much tune them out.

We’ll keep a careful eye on our new neighbors, and I’ll let you know when the birdsong starts up!